ironman

• Today was Uncle Dan's Ironman race.  He's been working towards it for a while now, and luckily he chose to do the race in Whistler, and it was close enough that we could watch!  So exciting
• He got up at 3am and started his pre race ritual.  He eats toast and jam...three slices at 3:00, two slices at 4:00 and 1 slice at 5:00
• Auntie Becca drove him to the bus at 4:30.  He dropped off all his stuff for the rest of the day, then rode to Alta Lake where the swim took place
• Auntie Becca and I went back to the condo and had a little breakfast, then biked over to Alta Lake.  It was so fun to arrive at the start line.  The whole place was buzzing with excitement.  He swam the course in 1 hour and 36 minutes
• After the swim, we biked back to the condo, picked up the kids and went down to the road to wait for him to bike past.  Unfortunately, we were using the tracker app that Ironman provides, and we thought he was further away than he was, and we totally missed him when he passed.  Bummer
• The bike portion is long, so we went back to the condo, had a little rest and some lunch, then headed into the village to hopefully catch a glimpse of him when he arrived back in Whistler (they biked all the way to Pemberton, and back up to Whistler).  We got to see him ride in, then again after his transition.  He looked really tired.  It was extremely hot and apparently the hill stretching from Pemberton to Whistler is brutal.  He said he had to give himself a little pep talk as he changed from his bike to his running gear.  The biking took 6 hours and 52 minutes
• Then we headed over to the camp site where Uncle Dan's friend Greg was staying.  It was right on the run route, so we camped out there and actually saw him three times.  Katie, you were pretty cute. You ran with him for a bit.  He said he appreciated the encouragement
• Then we raced back down to the village to make sure we were there when he crossed the finish line.  Again, the atmosphere was electric.  So fun to be there.  The run took 5 hours and 9 minutes, so the total time was 13 hours and 33 minutes.  Amazing.  I can't believe anyone can move that much in one day.  After he finished he headed to the medical tent because he was having cramps in his calf, which had bothered him the entire run
• Auntie Becca waited for him, and I took all the kids back to the condo and tucked them into bed.  Then I headed back into the village to find them and watch the final finisher.  I can't even believe Uncle Dan was able to stand.  I was tired...and I had only watched the race.  It was so fun to cheer on the final people.  They were so happy (or maybe relieved?) to finish, and because there were so few of them, they got loud, enthusiastic cheers all the way to the finish.  The music was great, and everyone had cowbells.  So much fun
  
  **I actually filmed the day and I'm going to attempt to make a little film.  I forgot to take many photos...so thanks Becca for lending me some of your phone pics!