And I've gotta say, even with the 'pause to peel' factor, Robbie B's stripping crew was so fast it was actually pretty hard to catch pictures of our guys. For a lot of people, by the time I recognized them (soaking wet, sometimes still wearing swim cap) I'd get the camera up just in time to catch their back flying away towards T1.
Stripper Captain Tri Blogger Robbie B.
Taconite Boy getting stripped by (of course!) Tri-Mamma. This also shows why it was so tough to get pictures. You can tell how far back I was, how many people I was trying to see through and a portion of the VIPs who were actually escorted inside the chute and blocked our view (this was taken after we finally got their self-important, oblivious butts to sit the hell down and stop completely blocking the view from the cheap seats.)
Stripper Tri-Mamma sending Greyhound on his way.
Iron Wil speeding from the stripping station towards T1.
Tri-Mamma wringing out her soaking wet shirt - stripper's occupational hazard! 
The legendary Frank Farrar peeled and ready to tackle the bike.I saw and cheered for and cowbelled several other Tri Bloggers - Stu and Roman and IM Able and on and on - but the pictures I snapped of them simply didn't come out. But I was still glad I got to be there for them, and even cooler was that some of them even saw me and waved back.
As soon as the swim was over I pulled out my phone to commence battle with the Madison Twighlight Zone of No Cell Reception so I could hook up with the Iron Sherpas and get my next assignment. It's really pretty frustrating - my phone will go from 2 bars to zero in the middle of a call... when I'm standing in the exact same spot. And because it's constantly struggling to maintain a signal, instead of holding a charge for a couple days the battery dies in 3 or 4 hours. And, of course, because I'm slightly outside my service area I'm charged extra for all that convenience and reliability.
Eventually got through to Iron Pol and Iron Mark and met up with them at the top of the Terrace, and then hooked up with 21st Century Mom and IronJenny! It was my first time meeting them and I hadn't realized I'd have the chance, so that was a definite treat.
Iron Mark, me, Iron Pol, 21st Century Mom, Iron Jenny
Our next task as Iron Sherpas was to locate a computer and wi-fi so the centralized blog could be updated with the swim pics. At a minimum some of us needed to off-load pictures to free up memory card space. Me, Iron Mark and Iron Pol decided to get my laptop since I was only parked about 3 blocks away and try the wi-fi at Starbucks right up the street.
On the way I couldn't help taking a picture of the Capitol building because it just looked so gorgeous.
While doing this I saw the 'low battery' warning and my heart stopped. It wasn't even 11:00 yet! They'd JUST finished the swim - there were two legs to go!! And I had fully charged it before leaving!!! This camera has held a charge for entire vacations where it was used for hundreds of pictures, so to say I was surprised and upset to lose my battery just a few HOURS into Ironman would be an understatement. More Madison Battery Sucking Twighlight Zone, I guess. And of course I had not packed the charger, because I'd never needed to before. Thankfully I was with the Iron Sherpas and we were all sharing picture taking duties, so I had them to fall back on. I was determined to get a shot of Iron Wil finishing, so I shut it down to conserve what was left and hoped like crazy I could squeeze another shot or two out of it 12 hours down the road.
We successfully offloaded Mark and Pol's pix to my laptop, but (as we'd feared) couldn't catch a Wi-Fi signal where we were, and (this should come as no surprise at this point)... my laptop battery was suddenly down to nothing (in a mere 30 minutes, from a full charge). And after seeing my misfortune, Mark and Pol wanted to recharge their camera batteries. We all agreed we were in dire need of electricity and hiked to Starbucks. Overpriced Wi-Fi was plentiful, but no electric outlets to be had. We decided to try our luck at Monona Terrace, figuring the odds were good a convention center would have a Wi-Fi situation. We were not to be deterred in our bloggy commitment to keeping the folks at home updated on the progress of our beloved athletes.
Luckily the gamble paid off. We found a quiet hallway with outlets and a handy shelf just right for setting up a laptop station. Pol quickly discovered Wi-Fi was an option, but only if we ponied up 10 bucks for a one day account. Iron Mark and I couldn't offer our wallets fast enough - it was more than worth it to have such a convenient location and to not be lugging everything around downtown Madison. So while Mark and Pol worked on that, I curled up on the floor and tried to rest and let the discomfort in my belly subside. Running around downtown lugging backpacks and laptop computers had put a serious dent in my physical reserves.
From there, Mark headed out to catch the Verona Shuttle for optimal bike-course picture taking. Then a really nice guy (friend of Roman's, his name eludes me at the moment) joined Pol and I and we headed over to State Street to catch lunch and cheer the first runners on the course.
After inhaling some decadent pizza with the guys we went back to Monona and I left my beloved laptop in Pol's custody while he shot pics of our folks coming off the bike. I went inside to rest my legs and stretch out my poor achin' back a bit in the short time I had before my gear bag shift started.
Gear bags was just as fun as I remembered it, and this year was a lot more challenging because I was at the very front of the room instead of the back. I quickly learned that when you're up front you only have 2 or 3 seconds to find a bag before the racers zooms past, and I could barely keep up with my one station. In the back, there's enough lag time to cover multiple stations with little trouble.
It was even more fun this year because the volunteers were really into it, cheering and clapping and yelling for many of the racers. Made the time fly by for us, and the athletes who came in dragging a bit after the bike really seemed to enjoy the boost.
I got to see a lot of our people come through - Bolder and Simply Stu and Taconite Boy and Roman and Greyhound and I'm sure there were more. I got a hug from Pharmie and she showed me her road rash from the bike accident. I was thrilled to see Iron Wil come through, running and smiling and looking strong and focused. It was truly fantastic to see after last year's hypothermic T2 extravaganza and just know it was her year, and that she was going to conquer this race.
The only downer in T2 was seeing IM Able's gear bag was missing as soon as I arrived and knowing it was too soon for her to have come through. Since they only let gear bags be checked out early if someone has dropped for medical reasons, I was really worried something bad had happened to her. Even though I was sorry her race day didn't go as planned, it was a relief when I found out later she had pulled herself out due to illness, and hadn't been forced out due to a terrible accident or injury.
Iron Pol returned my computer just as my gear bag shift ended and then headed out to onto the course to run with some of our people. I stopped by my van for a bit to lock up my computer and recharge my phone for the 3rd time that day. Mark met me there to offload some more pictures, then we headed back to Monona. We commandeered one of the athlete checking stations and went through our team list, updating all their current stats and extrapolating potential finish times.
On our way to the stands at the finish we managed to bump into Wendy, and we hung out with her until she went to be near the family area for her brother Brent's finish. Then Mark and I chilled out in the stands for something like 3 hours. (He's one cool dude and I highly recommend, if you ever find yourself stuck in bleachers for 3 or 4 hours, doing so with him.) We were exhausted (he'd been at the site since 4:30 am, me since 6:30) and both facing drives back home that night, but we were determined to stick it out to see our team finish.
Our patience was rewarded with the finishes of quite a few Tri Bloggers, and I was even lucky enough to bump into Boomer and Kona Shelley in the stands just after his race. Boomer looked so great after finishing I couldn't help risking my battery to get a shot of him and Shelley, his intrepid Iron veteran escort for the evening.
After a few trips back to the Terrace to scope out the latest athlete tracker stats and some creative sign language across the crowd from Little Miss Runner Pants, we got word on Iron Wil and knew she was getting close. Just as we were starting to look for Wil, we were also treated to Pharmie's big finish.
After following her story for the last two years and being there for part of the insanity that was IMWI 2006, my heart was bursting when I finally saw Iron Wil come running down that chute with a huge smile on her face. I ran as fast as my 7 month pregnant bod would allow me to around the stands to the back of the athlete area, where I found Wil's husband looking through the gate at Wil hugging Pharmie. I told him the guards would let him in for his wife, and even though I knew I could get in (still wearing my Iron Crew shirt and special access wrist band) I stayed outside the gate and waited patiently. I felt like going in would have been an imposition on a moment between her husband and fellow finishers.
She came out soon enough and gave me a great big hug and I couldn't help crying. It's hard to explain how you can be so proud of someone else's accomplishment... maybe it's a testament to her warm, open heart and brilliant writing, that she has brought so many of us together and impacted us so deeply.
Then I pulled out the camera and used the last of the battery to get the picture that mattered most that day:
After seeing Wil head off to handle post-race logistics, Mark and I agreed we were done. Even though we knew Frank Farrar was maybe half an hour out, we just didn't have anything left to give. Besides, I knew I could always see Frank finish on YouTube. We quietly skirted the madness of the finish line in search of our cars.
As soon as the swim was over I pulled out my phone to commence battle with the Madison Twighlight Zone of No Cell Reception so I could hook up with the Iron Sherpas and get my next assignment. It's really pretty frustrating - my phone will go from 2 bars to zero in the middle of a call... when I'm standing in the exact same spot. And because it's constantly struggling to maintain a signal, instead of holding a charge for a couple days the battery dies in 3 or 4 hours. And, of course, because I'm slightly outside my service area I'm charged extra for all that convenience and reliability.
Eventually got through to Iron Pol and Iron Mark and met up with them at the top of the Terrace, and then hooked up with 21st Century Mom and IronJenny! It was my first time meeting them and I hadn't realized I'd have the chance, so that was a definite treat.
Iron Mark, me, Iron Pol, 21st Century Mom, Iron JennyOur next task as Iron Sherpas was to locate a computer and wi-fi so the centralized blog could be updated with the swim pics. At a minimum some of us needed to off-load pictures to free up memory card space. Me, Iron Mark and Iron Pol decided to get my laptop since I was only parked about 3 blocks away and try the wi-fi at Starbucks right up the street.
On the way I couldn't help taking a picture of the Capitol building because it just looked so gorgeous.
While doing this I saw the 'low battery' warning and my heart stopped. It wasn't even 11:00 yet! They'd JUST finished the swim - there were two legs to go!! And I had fully charged it before leaving!!! This camera has held a charge for entire vacations where it was used for hundreds of pictures, so to say I was surprised and upset to lose my battery just a few HOURS into Ironman would be an understatement. More Madison Battery Sucking Twighlight Zone, I guess. And of course I had not packed the charger, because I'd never needed to before. Thankfully I was with the Iron Sherpas and we were all sharing picture taking duties, so I had them to fall back on. I was determined to get a shot of Iron Wil finishing, so I shut it down to conserve what was left and hoped like crazy I could squeeze another shot or two out of it 12 hours down the road.We successfully offloaded Mark and Pol's pix to my laptop, but (as we'd feared) couldn't catch a Wi-Fi signal where we were, and (this should come as no surprise at this point)... my laptop battery was suddenly down to nothing (in a mere 30 minutes, from a full charge). And after seeing my misfortune, Mark and Pol wanted to recharge their camera batteries. We all agreed we were in dire need of electricity and hiked to Starbucks. Overpriced Wi-Fi was plentiful, but no electric outlets to be had. We decided to try our luck at Monona Terrace, figuring the odds were good a convention center would have a Wi-Fi situation. We were not to be deterred in our bloggy commitment to keeping the folks at home updated on the progress of our beloved athletes.
Luckily the gamble paid off. We found a quiet hallway with outlets and a handy shelf just right for setting up a laptop station. Pol quickly discovered Wi-Fi was an option, but only if we ponied up 10 bucks for a one day account. Iron Mark and I couldn't offer our wallets fast enough - it was more than worth it to have such a convenient location and to not be lugging everything around downtown Madison. So while Mark and Pol worked on that, I curled up on the floor and tried to rest and let the discomfort in my belly subside. Running around downtown lugging backpacks and laptop computers had put a serious dent in my physical reserves.
From there, Mark headed out to catch the Verona Shuttle for optimal bike-course picture taking. Then a really nice guy (friend of Roman's, his name eludes me at the moment) joined Pol and I and we headed over to State Street to catch lunch and cheer the first runners on the course.
After inhaling some decadent pizza with the guys we went back to Monona and I left my beloved laptop in Pol's custody while he shot pics of our folks coming off the bike. I went inside to rest my legs and stretch out my poor achin' back a bit in the short time I had before my gear bag shift started.
Gear bags was just as fun as I remembered it, and this year was a lot more challenging because I was at the very front of the room instead of the back. I quickly learned that when you're up front you only have 2 or 3 seconds to find a bag before the racers zooms past, and I could barely keep up with my one station. In the back, there's enough lag time to cover multiple stations with little trouble.
It was even more fun this year because the volunteers were really into it, cheering and clapping and yelling for many of the racers. Made the time fly by for us, and the athletes who came in dragging a bit after the bike really seemed to enjoy the boost.
I got to see a lot of our people come through - Bolder and Simply Stu and Taconite Boy and Roman and Greyhound and I'm sure there were more. I got a hug from Pharmie and she showed me her road rash from the bike accident. I was thrilled to see Iron Wil come through, running and smiling and looking strong and focused. It was truly fantastic to see after last year's hypothermic T2 extravaganza and just know it was her year, and that she was going to conquer this race.
The only downer in T2 was seeing IM Able's gear bag was missing as soon as I arrived and knowing it was too soon for her to have come through. Since they only let gear bags be checked out early if someone has dropped for medical reasons, I was really worried something bad had happened to her. Even though I was sorry her race day didn't go as planned, it was a relief when I found out later she had pulled herself out due to illness, and hadn't been forced out due to a terrible accident or injury.
Iron Pol returned my computer just as my gear bag shift ended and then headed out to onto the course to run with some of our people. I stopped by my van for a bit to lock up my computer and recharge my phone for the 3rd time that day. Mark met me there to offload some more pictures, then we headed back to Monona. We commandeered one of the athlete checking stations and went through our team list, updating all their current stats and extrapolating potential finish times.
On our way to the stands at the finish we managed to bump into Wendy, and we hung out with her until she went to be near the family area for her brother Brent's finish. Then Mark and I chilled out in the stands for something like 3 hours. (He's one cool dude and I highly recommend, if you ever find yourself stuck in bleachers for 3 or 4 hours, doing so with him.) We were exhausted (he'd been at the site since 4:30 am, me since 6:30) and both facing drives back home that night, but we were determined to stick it out to see our team finish.
Our patience was rewarded with the finishes of quite a few Tri Bloggers, and I was even lucky enough to bump into Boomer and Kona Shelley in the stands just after his race. Boomer looked so great after finishing I couldn't help risking my battery to get a shot of him and Shelley, his intrepid Iron veteran escort for the evening.
After a few trips back to the Terrace to scope out the latest athlete tracker stats and some creative sign language across the crowd from Little Miss Runner Pants, we got word on Iron Wil and knew she was getting close. Just as we were starting to look for Wil, we were also treated to Pharmie's big finish.After following her story for the last two years and being there for part of the insanity that was IMWI 2006, my heart was bursting when I finally saw Iron Wil come running down that chute with a huge smile on her face. I ran as fast as my 7 month pregnant bod would allow me to around the stands to the back of the athlete area, where I found Wil's husband looking through the gate at Wil hugging Pharmie. I told him the guards would let him in for his wife, and even though I knew I could get in (still wearing my Iron Crew shirt and special access wrist band) I stayed outside the gate and waited patiently. I felt like going in would have been an imposition on a moment between her husband and fellow finishers.
She came out soon enough and gave me a great big hug and I couldn't help crying. It's hard to explain how you can be so proud of someone else's accomplishment... maybe it's a testament to her warm, open heart and brilliant writing, that she has brought so many of us together and impacted us so deeply.
Then I pulled out the camera and used the last of the battery to get the picture that mattered most that day:
After seeing Wil head off to handle post-race logistics, Mark and I agreed we were done. Even though we knew Frank Farrar was maybe half an hour out, we just didn't have anything left to give. Besides, I knew I could always see Frank finish on YouTube. We quietly skirted the madness of the finish line in search of our cars.
I was a few miles outside Madison, driving in the dark as I watched the clock count down to midnight with a twinge of regret that I wasn't watching it from the stands. But I'd been up and around for 19 hours and had nearly a hundred miles to drive. I'd put myself through more than enough that day, especially for being 7 months pregnant. Besides, I'd seen what I'd gone to see, spent time with wonderful people and gotten more enjoyment out of the entire weekend than I'd thought possible considering my physical limitations. So, once again, I told myself "there's always next year."
10 comments:
Thanks so much for that! Its maybe as close as I'll get to an ironman but it almost feels as though I was there :)
Great photo of Wil too :)
Great recap and nice pics. :)
Great report - I loved reading it and I am so ready for Kona. Hopefully the airline people won't be annoyed by my cowbells in my luggage.
Thank you Thank you for the tips on the cowbells....it will make everyone around be happier. :-)
Love..love..LOVE the pics and what a great story for such a great day!!! It was such a pleasure meeting you.
Meeting you at IM Moo was a treat, especially after the race. Thank you for being there for us athletes and taking some great photos.
Stay tuned...
Great photos! Nice post!
Glad to have had you out there and hope I can return the favor sometime soon!
What a great series of reports from the Sherpa perspective (probably as close to IronMan as I'll EVAH get!) Your pictures are great and the ones of you are stunning!
Superb sherpa report, Siren!!
And wonderful pix. Again, I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to meet you.
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