Ironman 2008

This year, my Ironman experience was going to feel a bit different. I have never watched it when my person wasn't doing it. Don't get me wrong, Ironman is an incredible thing to watch even if you don't know anyone out there, but there is something about watching someone you genuinely love and care about achieving such a monumental goal. However, over the course of this year, Team A+ has come into existence, and Jessi and I decided that Tim was going to be the lucky recipient of our Ironfan-ness!

It all started on Saturday night. After a quick shower to clean up from Trailblazer, I headed to Jessi's house where Steve met up with us to be on sign patrol. We had prepared signs earlier in the week to put in people's yards so that they would see them when they got up the morning of the race. We had handed out a lot of them which left us with signs for the north side. However, the south hill ones never made it into south hill hands, and since one person only had a PO box listed for his address and Steve knew where he lived but couldn't really give directions, we were going to be driving clear across town!

We started out at Starbucks (obviously) and pumped up the music. I can only imagine what Steve was thinking in the back seat as Jessi and I were singing to "Bust it Baby."
We brought our trusty friend, Claudia, along for the ride. Thank goodness for her! As Steve said, "That b@#%h actually knows what she's talking about!" I think my favorite quote from Claudia was, "Please make the next possible legal U-turn." I think what she really wanted to say was, "Learn how to follow directions, idiot!" Here she is in all her glory.
One of my favorite stops for the night was this one. We were greeted by this sign when we pulled onto the dirt road that led to the house we were going to.
Obviously, the rules did NOT apply to us, the hardcore Ironfans! I turned off my head lights and crept down the drive. There was more than one house and we couldn't really see the addresses, so we made Steve jump out and get closer. At this point, Jessi and I already had the giggles. Steve was all freaked out that he was going to get eaten by a dog or shot for trespassing. As you can imagine, this sent Jessi and I into hysterics.

Everyone got signs, but our Team A+ captain was in for much more! We texted Andy to make sure Tim was in bed and rolled up to the house. When we parked, we were all whispering our strategy inside the car as if Tim might be able to hear us! We got out and set to work. I started cutting streamers while Jessi started pumping up balloons. It was pretty windy and they started flying everywhere. Steve headed down the street to catch them which was so funny to watch. He picked one up and it popped sending a huge BANG!!! out into the neighborhood. It seriously sounded like a gun shot on the otherwise silent street. Like a little girl, Steve came sprinting back to Tim's house and threw himself on the lawn like he was hiding - from what, I'm not sure, but I thought I might just piss my pants! After 2 more balloons popped, we decided maybe we wouldn't use them.

Steve and I set to work getting the streamers on the garage while Jessi and her sore-as-all-hell butt (she took the meaning of Ironfan to a whole new level this weekend) proceeded to TP the trees and bushes with streamers.


Jessi and I brought a sheet to spray paint A+ on, but Steve looked at us like, "Please!" and whipped this sign out!!! Freaking amazing!!!
Now the only problem was how we were going to hang it. We sure didn't bring a ladder! Jessi threw out this plan and it was a go!

Here's the finished product. Yes, that is confetti on the drive way!

Up next, we headed to the south hill. Despite being caught in a tsunami, we got all of our signs delivered and started to long drive home. I got in bed at mightnight and my alarm went off at 4:45. Perfect!

We made it out to Cd'A with plenty of time to see Tim and a bunch of other Tri Fusionites getting their wet suits on. I always wonder what is going through these people's minds at this point. They have worked their butts off for this, and it's go time. I'm pretty sure I would crap my pants - literally!

Tim was pretty calm and even gave Jessi and I a thank you card for supporting him. He had it with him in his bag. Are you kidding me??? Only Tim would do something like that!! So sweet!

We headed down to the water to watch everyone warm up and gave our final well wishes to Tim.
Watching this swim start is like nothing you've ever seen. If you still haven't gone out to watch it, you HAVE to go next year. It's unbelievable.

We headed out to the bike course and found an awesome spot where people would pass us multiple times while completing their 2 loops. It was a blast to cheer for everyone, especially since there were so many people from the club racing.

Steve, me, Andy, and Roger

The smartest thing I brought this year was a blow horn that I "borrowed" from a friend. It was freaking awesome! We could cheer for people long after they passed us and they could still hear us. Here's Rog getting ready to use it.

In true Ironfan form, I peed behind a tree. Jessi caught me right after I finished.

Here we are cheering on the run course. Again, we got to see most people 4 times out there. I love that people's names are printed on their numbers. It's awesome to be able to cheer for them specifically by using their name. I reserved the blow horn for Tri Fusion members, but there were a few random people who asked me if I would use it for them too. Obviously, I obliged!
I would have to say the best part of my day by far was watching Tim. He had a fantastic swim and smoked the bike. I knew he was hurting on the run and to watch him push through it literally brought tears to my eyes. He wanted to finish in under 12 hours and you better believe he did it! I was just beaming with pride for my A+ captain. Tim, it was an honor to cheer for you and I am beyond proud to be on your team! Way to go!!!

Congrats to everyone who competed in this year's Ironman. Whether it was your 1st or your 5th, I take my hat off to all of you. You earned that title so wear it with pride!