F-DOT

Time for the IronFan 2009 blog post! This year, it was Steve's turn. He made the commitment to basically devote a year of his life to training for this race and I was stoked to be there for the big day.

It all started on Saturday night at around 9pm. The crew arrived and it was time to get the decorations ready. Boys will be boys and of course a competition ensued...
Obviously, Eric won. But to Tim's credit, it may have been because he was laughing about a little joke I made comparing the pre-blown up balloons to something else. I'll let you use your imagination there.

Our sign wasn't quite as awesome as the one Steve whipped out for Tim last year, but we did our best. I think it turned out pretty sweet myself. We filled it with pictures of Steve's year in training. It was fun to look at all of the memories as we put the pictures on.

While Eric, Rog, and Emma headed off on yard sign patrol, Tim, Jessi and I set out to decorate some houses. We tried to start with Greg's house, but a bunch of people were outside and we had no idea if Greg was one of them. So, we pulled up slowly with the lights off, saw people in the driveway, and tuned on the lights and sped off. Let the mayhem begin. Five minutes into it and we were already cracking up. We headed to Steve's house knowing that he was already in bed "sleeping."

This year we actually brought a ladder. Imagine that!

Jessi was all over the window paint.

We all took turns throwing the 500 feet of crepe paper we had into the tree. On Tim's second throw, the crepe paper got stuck. We couldn't leave it. We needed it! In true IronFan form, Timmers started climbing the tree to get it.
There was just one problem: a beehive in the tree! Timmers retrieved the crepe paper but ended up getting stung on the ear in the process. After that, he was attacked by the bees. They didn't bother Jessi and I at all, they knew the perpetrator and were out to get him! If you look closely on Tim's shoulder in the picture below (click on it to make it bigger), you can actually see a bee!
Steve made the silly mistake of telling me that he didn't think his roommate would appreciate confetti all over the place like we did for Tim last year. You know what that meant!

Up next, we headed to Greggor's house. Thankfully, it looked like everyone was in bed.

See how sneaky we are? You can't even see us in the picture below!

This next picture encapsulates IronFan decorating perfectly. You know when you're trying to be quiet so everything is hysterical and you can't laugh loud? It's always bound to happen. Note the crossed legs - Jessi's just trying to keep her pants dry!

I hopped in bed at 12:30am and set the alarm for 3:30am - otherwise known as zero o'clock! This is the only day of the year you will catch me up that early and not complaining about it! Eric and were at the Thompson's at 4:30 and we were off. Before heading to the beach, we stopped on the bike course to put up the awesome signs the Tri Fusion sign crew had made the night before.

And I thought we were so smart to think of bringing a ladder the night before!

Tri Fusion Row

Then, we were finally on our way to the beach. I love watching the athletes before the race starts. The energy is literally pulsing through the park. I can only imagine what is running through the athletes' minds, or at least what would be running through mine. I found Steve and a bunch of other Tri Fusionites and wished them luck. Once the race started, we found a great spot in the front row of the swim exit. And yes, Mega Fusion was out in full force! You have never really cheered until you've done it with a megaphone! Did you know what even when you whisper into those things, everyone can hear you? :)
Thanks to Rog and his expert driving, we planted ourselves in some awesome spots on the bike course. We got to see the athletes multiple time. This year, the weather was cold and windy. It's usually just the opposite. Little did we know what it would look like during the run!

All of our peeps looked awesome on the bike. They were going strong and responding to our cheering which always makes it that much more fun to be out there. Once we hit the run course, it was clear that the rain was rolling in. We were cheering right by the lake and it was windy and downright cold. I felt bad for the athletes. I just hoped they had their heart rates up high enough to stay warm.

Here's Jessi and I running with Steve. It's always hard to do this because once you start, you don't want to stop, but you have to or you risk the athlete being disqualified. The second time we saw Steve, he said, "Is it supposed to hurt this bad?" He still had a smile on his face, but it's never easy to know your friend is in pain and not be able to do anything about it.
By the time we made it to the finish line, it was really coming down and we had our umbrellas up. It was awesome to celebrate such an incredible accomplishment with Steve. He blew his goal time out of the water, although he might tell you differently, don't believe him! He reeeeal fast!

I love celebrating such a huge victory with friends. I get all choked up and just beam with pride like a mother would. Steve, the amount of time and work you put into your training this year was truly admirable. Your dedication astounded me. You worked your ass off (almost literally) and it really showed. Eric and I are thrilled for you that you have earned the coveted title Ironman and very proud to call you our friend.

You were A+ times a million. No doubt about it!

I also want to give a special shout out to Greggor here. You never really know how an Ironman is going to pan out. Sometimes, despite ample training, your body simply says, "no, thank you." It happened to Greg this year. Although it was gut wrenching to watch him struggling, it was beyond inspiring to watch him push to the end. He had every opportunity to stop. It wasn't his first Ironman and he's doing another one in August. But instead, he dug deep, like to the depths of the ocean deep, and finished the race, and for that I have so much respect and admiration for him! Way to go, Greggor!

Another IronFan day down...let the count down begin until the next one. Can't wait!