IMWI Weekend Adventure - Friday

By Friday I'd been sick for about 3 days, and was starting to realize it maybe wasn't just a bad allergy attack like I'd originally thought. But I was going to Madison come hell or high water, and a runny nose wasn't about to stop me.

Husband loaded my van while I printed out a giant pile of paper. Directions to Madison, directions to my hotel, directions from my hotel to Monona Terrace, directions from my hotel to Simply Stu's, maps of the courses, volunteer parking passes, volunteer shift schedules... you get the idea. I had so many printouts it was ridiculous.

I took a bunch of antihistamines and cold medicine (still wasn't sure what I had, so was covering all bases) and took off for Madison. Got to my hotel to discover that they had not actually added my reservation for Friday night, which I had called in more than two weeks prior. Lesson learned: there is an 8am volunteer meeting on Saturday, and even if you're just volunteering late Sunday it's a good idea to arrive Friday night.

Thankfully they were not too full. While I was waiting for the guy to check me in, I saw a group of lean, tan and fit people come in wearing shiny bracelets and it hit me: this was Ironman weekend. These were potential Ironmen, right here in front of me.

Silly? Absolutely. But as someone who can still only dream about it, this was the closest I had ever been in real life to actual Ironman athletes. We chatted briefly, they thanked me for volunteering, and I wished them a good race as we parted ways.

I had about a half hour to chill out before heading over to Stu's for dinner. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Far as I knew, I was the only non-racing tri-blogger planning to show up. I don't why because I'm not shy at all, but the prospect of meeting people I've admired through cyberspace so long, like TriSaraTops and Iron Wil - had me all discombobulated. And the fact that dinner was at Simply Stu's was just plain surreal. Of course, they were all normal, wonderful people and I was silly to be worried.

TriSaraTops, me and Iron Wil at Simply Stu's.

Finding Stu's house was easy - it was the one with all the cars sporting bike racks and tri stickers. I had the dumbest thought as I parked (Literally: "OMG, that's Iron Wil's car!") and then I reminded myself these people are just like me, just farther along in the sport, and went in.

It was great. Wil recognized me right away and gave me a big hug. Everyone was really sweet and fun to talk to and it was really cool to connect the real people with the blogs I've been reading for so long. (It was also funny that people kept making remarks about imagining our faces with frames around them.)

As for Stu - what a great guy. He's truly as enthusiastic about the sport as he sounds in his podcast, and it is infectious. His attentiveness towards doing whatever he could to help the athletes with any information they needed before the big day was impressive. And I have to give credit to Mrs. Stu, who is one amazing woman! She doesn't get the tri thing at all, thinks we're all a bit nutty and and was making jokes all night - totally cracking us up. It's a testament to her understanding and generosity that she welcomed 20-odd strangers for dinner at her home for something she's not even interested in.

After dinner some of the athletes left for the "official" athlete information meeting and the rest stayed, where the IMWI veterans gave them pointers for the race. I can't tell you how lucky I felt to be among all these athletes on the eve of their big race. Hearing the questions they asked, the details they discussed... it made me want it for myself even more than I already did.

Like the true tri-geeks that we are, the evening ended with us watching the IMWI 2005 and Kona 2005 shows Stu had recorded. I lost count of how many times someone made some highly geeky comment, everyone in the room nodded in understanding/agreement, and then someone bust out with some variation on "it's so great to be with my own people!"


IMWI 2005 Athletes at Simply Stu's - Back Row:Manitoba Guy, Simply Stu, TriThomps, Chris (XT4?), Chris (Chivalry.net), Front Row: Michelle, Iron Wil, TriSaraTops, Pharmie