A Few Things Overheard

George: So, what is the most you would let me spend on a bike?

Me: I have no comment.

George [laughing]: You don't want to divulge that information?

Me: No. Why do you ask?

George: Come look at this bike. [I join him at his computer.] It's a Felt B2 with the electronic shifting.

Me [seeing the $6,499 price tag which, for some reason, he failed to point out]: That's more than I am willing to spend.

George: Really? But it's got electronic shifting!

Me: No.

See. It's all my fault that the economy isn't recovering faster. I won't let George spend $6,499 on a bicycle. I'm so mean.


In other news...



The following comments were overheard at A Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine [pictured above], which Jack must go to every year or the earth will stop circling the sun and life as we know it will end in cataclysmic disappointment. Unfortunately, the train ride features Thomas songs played over and over.

Nick: Am I being punished for something?



George: I wonder if I died on my bike ride and am in hell. We should make all the Gitmo prisoners have multiple days out with Thomas. They'll talk for sure. But it's probably against the Geneva Convention. Cruel and unusual punishment.

Me: Will those screaming toddlers please shut up. Can't they see I have a cold?

Jack [singing happily, loudly, and off-key]: Thomas the Tank Engine, rolling along....

Race Day Update #4: The Call

My cell phone rang a few minutes ago. I saw George's name on the caller ID and knew it could only mean one thing. He was calling from the medical tent, where he was taken for severe dehydration during mile 15 of the marathon. He said he just couldn't drink enough. The wonderful medical staff is pumping fluids into him and getting him warmed up, and he will be fine in a little while.

Many thanks to all who have virtually cheered him on and said prayers for a safe race. He will be fine, but I imagine that he will want to return to Madison one day and get revenge on the course for this.

Race Day Update #3: Bike to Run

Reader Jayne asked why the athletes pee in their wetsuits. I have no idea. Clearly they celebrate the fact with giant banners. Last year, our friend Keith, a former Navy Seal, peed in his wetsuit while standing next to George before starting their practice swim on the Friday before the race. They even briefly discussed their experience of the obligatory pee. I personally think it's gross and can't imagine doing it, but then there are good reasons why I'm not in a wetsuit in the first place, and I'd never tell a Navy Seal what he should or should not do because heaven knows how many ways he could kill me with his bare hands if he took the notion.

Jayne, I promise to ask George if there's any reason for it and get back to you.

My uncle Darius has now quit reading my blog forever. He hates the word pee.

Well, back to the race. George started his marathon looking good but vowing he's not going to kill himself on the run. What a relief. He spotted me yelling at him on a long straight-away and immediately slowed down so I could take pictures and he could talk to me.


I like that he wore his old Air Force cycling team jersey for this year's race. He rode with the AF team for RAGBRAI, a week-long, 600+ mile ride across Iowa, years ago. It makes me proud to see him wearing the flag on his sleeve the day after 9/11 observances. One day, I need to write about 9/11. But not yet. It's still too fresh.


He took off running again. I yelled, "I love you, George!" He yelled back, "I love you, too, Honey-Bunny."

And I grinned like a teenager.

How many 45-year-old men would publicly refer to their wives as Honey-Bunny? I'm a lucky woman.


And there he goes.

George finished his 112-mile bike ride in 6:09, which is just six minutes slower than last year. Add that to the longer transition times and he's about 12 minutes off last year's pace. Given how interrupted his training was this summer, I think he's doing GREAT! His first bike split put him at a similar pace to last year as well. If he can maintain that, he should be finishing a little before 8:00 central tonight.

Now, allow me to introduce Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman. He started announcing this morning at 6:30, and he won't stop until midnight tonight. The man is a rock star in triathlon. Mike is the one who makes all the pain, all the suffering, all the sweat and cramps and blisters worth it. He's the one who makes each person's finish official by shouting joyfully to the world that "You are an Ironman!"


Check out the streaming video HERE, and you'll hear Mike's voice calling out each Ironman finisher's name and home town. How I pray he gets the chance to butcher our name again this year when he says, for the fourth time, "George Raihala, you are an Ironman!"

Then, it will all be worth it.

Race Day Update #1: 2.4-Mile Swim

Don't let this picture, taken at 5:30 this morning before the swim start, fool you. George was very nervous this morning. His tummy was in knots and he wasn't sounding very positive or optimistic. I tried some motivational talk, and he told me to shut up. Well, not those words, but that message. I seriously hope he perked up when he hit the refreshing, 68-degree water, or today will be not just merely painful, but very painful.


And please note the red bike pump in this picture. I carried that around for a while this morning, just like a whole bunch of other Iron Mates, Iron Sherpas, and Support Crew for the lunatics racers.

As we walked out to the swim start, we overheard a very upset athlete yelling at someone on the phone, asking where his support crew was. I hope he got in the water on time.

George may have felt somewhat better when I snapped this around 6:40 AM just before he headed into the water, but it was hard to tell. He wasn't saying much. He KNOWS what he's gotten himself into. This is Ironman attempt number SIX, for heaven's sake.



This year's start had me identifying with this guy...George and I saw him perched atop a building near the Capitol yesterday. The crowd was worse than last year, and I had to climb a wall to see over the heads of the four-person-deep mass near the lake wall.


And in case you were wondering, this banner hanging off the helix said, "Wave if you're peeing in your wetsuit!"


The professional triathletes start at 6:50, and the rest of the racers start at 7:00. This year, over 2,600 started, and 1,200 were Ironman Virgins. That's a lot of inexperience in the water. It's easy to panic in the press of bodies, but there are divers under water and lots of kayaks, small boats, and sailboards to rescue anyone needing help.

That mass start resembles salmon spawning. George said he was going to be close to shore, out of the main press of bodies, but it looked like lots of other folks had the same idea. I took this picture from my perch, over the heads of the people at the wall. The closest racers looked really close! It'll be interesting to hear how the swim went for George this evening.


His swim time was a bit better than he expected. He came out of the water at 1:19, and then had a 13+ minute transition time. He's going to hate that long transition, but he looked really good as he ran toward his bike. I was perched on the walkway right above him, and he heard me and waved. So glad about that. Last year, I screamed and he never heard me. Oh, George's call sign in the military was Spot, so I generally yell out Spot. In case you're wondering why I labelled him Spot in this picture....


He headed out looking strong, and now it's a waiting game.


If you want to follow his progress today, you can do so HERE. His bib number is 1639, or you can search by his name. George Raihala. Not Spot.

Later today, I'll post a link to streaming video of the finish. If you've never watched an Ironman finish before, it's an incredibly moving experience. Mike Reilly, the official voice of Ironman, calls everyone's name, tells where they are from, and then yells, "You are an Ironman!" Oh, I get goosebumps typing that!

Be back later!

Friday in Madison

We had a good night's sleep and awoke to bright blue skies and a crisp autumn wind in Madison this morning. The usual plan on Friday is to start with a mocha and coffee cake at Starbuck's. The Capitol looked so lovely with its blue backdrop.


Then, we head down to the water where George and a bunch of other Ironman participants do an easy swim. George snapped this picture of me on my rock, where I sat and talked to people and read while he went off on his swim.

I definitely have the better deal here.


Today, the breeze made the water a bit choppy. Here, George concentrates on peeing in his wetsuit before he begins...something of a disgusting tradition with IMers. I'll bet the guy behind him is doing the same thing.

Here he is getting out of the water after his swim. He claimed it was very refreshing. It just looked cold to me.


Here's a shot of our hotel. We're on the third floor corner, which will no doubt mean a lot of noise on race night. But if that's the price you pay for having a view of Starbuck's, I'm willing to pay it.


Have I mentioned that Starbuck's opens at 4:00 am on race day? Well, it does. Thank the coffee gods!

Don't you think Starbuck's should be paying me for all this advertising? Seriously.

Monona Terrace is race central. Everything happens around it or in it. The roof has wonderful views of the swim course on one side and the Capitol on the other. On race day, this place is packed and unless you get there early and stake a claim on a bit of rail, you'll only see the back of people's heads. Ask me how I know that.


Here's the helix that racers must run up after swimming 2.4 miles in order to reach the transition area to jump on their bikes and ride 112 miles. It's just diabolical of the race planners to arrange things this way. It's also impossible to get a spot on the helix to cheer your Ironman on. If you're behind the race barricade that spirals up it on race morning, it'll feel like you're in a mosh pit.

But then, I've never been in a mosh pit, so I'm really just guessing about that.


The finish line hasn't been set up yet, but it'll be between the Capitol and Monona Terrace, beyond where you see the big Ford sign and across from the building in the forefront on the left. The medical tent will be off the picture to the right. I hope we don't have to visit it this year, but at least you know it's comfortingly close to the finish.



One of my favorite things about Ironman is how friendly everyone is. Just about everyone is looking to chat with, well, just about anyone. On an elevator ride in our hotel today, a French pro bike racer who has raced in the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta d'Espana commented on George's yellow LiveStrong wristband. Then he told us the story of how he put Lance Armstrong on the spot at the Tour de France by asking if he would ever finish Ironman Hawaii. Apparently, Lance was taken aback and babbled a bit. Sounded like he didn't commit.

But really, it wouldn't surprise me in the least for Lance to get around to doing an Ironman at Kona. Anyone who would do the Tour de France at his age is crazy enough for Ironman, too.

And speaking of nice people, here's a picture of Nicole, whose blog I Think...Therefore I Blog is one of my favorites. She drove into Madison to have coffee with me at Starbuck's. She's such a smart, fun person on her blog and in person, and I hope she doesn't think I'm a total dork in person. Really, I worry about these things because I'm soooo much more interesting on the internet than in real life. And doesn't she have awesome hair? That's natural curl. I asked. Because I'm jealous. Or is it envious? Whatever. I want natural curl like Nicole's.


So on the whole as well as in every particular, Friday has been a completely wonderful day. As I finish up this post, George is surfing for a restaurant for tonight. I'm wanting Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine, and he seems to be aiming for Indian/Nepalese. He just mentioned Asian fusion, too. Oops, that is vegetarian. Right out for Mr. Carnivore. But if the rest of our day is any indication, the meal tonight is bound to satisfy.

And if not, well, it will hardly matter. I ate enough yummy calories last night at the Irish pub to cover me for DAYS. After all, I won't be the one burning 8,000 calories on Sunday.

We're in Madison!

We arrived in Madison a few hours ago and checked into our ideally-situated hotel. The room is awesome...a corner room with a curved wall of windows on the third floor. I'd need a wide-angle lens to show you.



We have a view of the Capitol building and, more importantly, Starbuck's. Well, you could see Starbuck's if it weren't for that tree, but trust me, it's there. I've already had a mocha.


George registered, a process that's much easier on Thursday than Friday, when everyone who couldn't come today tries to register. He sailed through, signed the waivers, got weighed, picked up his race chip, transition bags, and such.

Below is a picture of half the parking lot that will be the home of about $5 million dollars worth of bicycles on Saturday.


The scope and scale of this race astounds me every year. Almost 3,000 racers are signed up this year. We'll see how many start Sunday morning.

I bought a Support Crew T-shirt to wear on race day. George refuses to buy any Ironman gear until after the race. He's very superstitious about the race and doesn't want to jinx his chance of finishing by being all optimistic.

He does, however, have an unnatural lust for this bike. I just asked him to tell me again the name of the bike, and he replied with something that sounded vaguely Latin with overtones of Japanese and involving the phrase electronic shifting, I think. If you really want to know, I'll ask him to type it in the comments. Whatever it is, he wants it.


He told me that he would not mind in the least if I bought it for him on race day.

I love him so much. He really knows how to make me laugh.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Honestly, how much can be packed into three days of our lives? It's crazy here, I tell ya!

On Monday, we took Jack to the Newport Aquarium for his birthday, as we do every year. When I asked him what his favorite part was, he said, "The Nemo fish." So here are the Nemo fish:


And here is the happy birthday boy:


Jack's birthday was all about Thomas the Tank Engine. Literally. The cake, the decorations, the presents were ALL Thomas. What a happy kid he was!


Jack won't build Thomas tracks for himself, so Nick took over our library (which we have blocked off from Daisy, who would no doubt enjoy chewing the wooden tracks to pieces) and built a huge Island of Sodor for Jack that included his new Tidmouth Sheds and Coal Hopper. What a good big brother!


Tuesday, Jack's official birthday, was also the first day of school. Jack was very excited and happy to climb on the bus.


Today, however, he woke up late, lost part of his morning routine as a result, and pitched a fit about going to school. As we stood on the front porch waiting for the bus, he said, "I'm very frustrated with you, Mommy." As the bus pulled up, he stomped away, glanced back at me, and made an ugly face. "Jack, that's not nice," I said. In a lightning-quick change of mood, he stopped, turned, and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I made an angry face at you. I love you." All smiles, he headed down the drive to the bus.

Nick is a rather jaded fifth grader who would rather pick up dog poo than admit that school is the least little bit fun. This makes getting the annual first-day-of-school picture rather challenging:


Daisy is now big enough to stand on her back legs and put her whole head on the kitchen table. I snapped this picture Monday night when she was sniffing at the Greek lasagne George made. Her new height served her well last night when she sneaked two pieces of bacon off George's BLT and started to swallow them whole before I pulled them out of her mouth. We've started buying bacon by the slice so we can limit how indulgent we are with it, so there were no extra slices to replace those two puppy-contaminated ones. George, who once shared a Tootsie Pop with Hoover, said he'd eat them anyway.

And he did. Bacon is bacon, folks.


My plan to celebrate the first day of school with a morning spent at Barnes & Noble cafe was derailed by Jack's plan. On Monday night, he told me, "Mommy, I have a plan. Listen. Tomorrow after school, I will go to my room and you will decorate the table with Thomas and put out my cake. Then, you will call me down and yell, 'Surprise!' Okay, does that sound like a plan?"

Unfortunately, I didn't have stuff to decorate the table for his birthday. In all the craziness of the last week, I forgot all about it. Plus, he made it clear that his life would be incomplete without "Spencer, the fastest engine on the Island of Sodor." So I spent my day making Jack's plan come true.

Wednesday, I made my plan come true...sort of.


I made it to Barnes & Noble by 9:30, and prepared my table for a celebratory breakfast and some uninterrupted blogging. Breakfast was tasty, and I was filled with a good feeling of sugary, caffeinated satisfaction. The computer, however, started acting up after about ten minutes, moving slowly. Suddenly, the screen went totally blank, then came back after about ten seconds totally distorted, with everything enlarged and pixellated. Then, the screen went black again and came back normal.

Good feeling gone. AIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Was I being hacked? Had I been infected with a virus? WHAT WAS WRONG!!!!

I clicked to shut down the computer and up pops the screen that says something like DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER...configuring Windows udates 1 of 16.

Good lord. Sixteen Windows updates. I sat there staring at the screen for about ten minutes, waiting. Just waiting. It was a relief to know that the shenanigans were the result of an overabundance of windows updates, but OH MY GOSH! I closed the system, packed up, and headed to Michael's, where I consoled myself with a few supplies for upcoming Halloween craft projects.

Maybe I'll get to blog at the bookstore NEXT week.

Yesterday afternoon, I had to take Daisy to the vet for shots and a check up. She checked out healthy, and the vet, who doctored Hoover, told her she had some big paws to fill. Daisy enjoyed her visit to the vet, made friends with everyone and every dog there, and we went home. Later, when George returned from his post-work run, he noticed that Daisy's face was swollen. She looked like a sharpei and was scratching at her head. Poor little pup!

I called the vet, who asked me to bring her immediately. Apparently, she had a reaction to part of the vaccine. The vet gave her a shot and me some prednisone to give her at home. George took this picture when we got back home. Her whole face looked so distorted and puffy.


By bedtime, she looked one hundred percent better. This morning, she and Jack sat on the steps looking so cute I had to snap a picture.



Finally, last night, George made the decision to do Ironman Wisconsin on September 12. With the troubles he had in training earlier this summer gone, he decided to go for it. Mom's coming to watch the boys and Miss Daisy. If you live near Madison and want to meet for coffee at the Starbuck's near the Capitol Building, shoot me an email.

Hopefully nothing crazy will happen to get in the way of THAT plan.

Mason Kids' Triathlon Race Report

There is a saying in triathlon (though I imagine it applies to any athletic competition) that you should train like you're going to race. This means that George goes on really long runs without his iPod because you can't wear an iPod during a race, he practices open water swims in a wetsuit, and he tries to figure out nutrition for the long, long bike ride by going on long, long bike rides.

Two months ago, George asked Nick if he wanted to do the Mason Kids' Triathlon again this year. Nick's answer: YES! But he only really trained for the bike portion. This showed in his race, where he placed 28th out of 82 participants in the bike. His average pace was almost 15 miles per hour. Go, Nick! The swim and run, however, were not so much fun.

And here he is, waiting his turn to jump into the water, full of excitement and hope and energy:


Cool action shot:


Sometimes, swimming looks like floating. Sometimes, it looks like no fun at all.


"Thank heaven THAT is over!"


"I like to ride my bicycle, my bicycle, my bicycle...."


"I have to RUN?!? A half mile?!?! No way, dude. I'm strolling. That's all I got. Besides, it's hot. Africa hot."


"I'm relaxed. I'm loose. I'm tired."



He actually did start running at some point and sprinted across the finish line looking quite strong. When asked if he wants to race next year (at double the distance since he will age up), he said yes. When asked if he will train for all three events, he said, emphatically, yes.

IM Moo, Race Update #3

See that half-crazed expression? It's what victory looks like at an Ironman. It also signals the end of George's odd-year losing streak. 2009 is a FINISH!

George didn't do as well as he wanted, but he did do a personal best at 12:36:46. He finished in 799th place. We'll see tomorrow what the final count of finishers is, but he's definitely in the top half.

We did make a quick trip to the medical tent for some chicken broth and gatorade, but he's fine.

Unfortunately, our friend Keith didn't finish his first Ironman. His race went a lot like George's 2007 Lake Placid race, so we know the disappointment he and Mary feel. Man, it stinks. I'll be checking on several other people tonight to see their finishes, like Rose's husband, and will report those as well.

For now, I'd like to say thanks to all of you who have been reading and following and praying. It's been a blast sharing this experience with you, and I have more to share after we get home...especially photos.

Blessings,
Susan

IM Moo, Q & A

How do they manage the swim? Do they all go at once?

The pros do start ten minutes ahead of everyone else, but there are still several thousand athletes starting the swim at one time. The swim is probably the most dangerous part of the Ironman. People get kicked, hit, pushed under by people swimming over them, and generally treated like spawning salmon. Often, slow swimmers will seed themselves too close to the front, and that makes a bad situation worse.

How/what do they eat? I find it really hard to exercise vigorously for a good while after I've eaten--but they need the energy. I know some marathoners down Gu (or something like it)--is that what IMers do?

They all do different things. Some Ironmen load their transition bags with Big Macs and fries, sandwiches, fruit and other real food. Others, like George, rely on sports nutrition products (drinks, gels, bars), plus the bananas available in aide stations on the course. George uses a custom blended powder that is supposed to help him recover some of the salts he sweats out so heavily. George started his day with a peanut butter and honey sandwich. He’ll end it, more than likely, with a big burger and fries after the finish!

Both times George DNF’ed, he was severely dehydrated and cramping from loss of salt and potassium. He’s a particularly salty sweater, which makes it hard for him to handle heat like they are having today. He seems to be okay right now, but about half-way through the marathon is when he gets in trouble. I’m sitting on pins and needles for his third run split to post.

What is the longest training George did? Would he do, say, a 75-mile bike ride immediately followed by a 15-mile run? (I can't even walk right after a 45-minute bike ride, so I'm in total awe.)

I think George actually trains fewer hours than most IM participants. He tries to push harder rather than longer, but it varies every year. In 2006, he did RAGBRAI (a 600+ mile ride across Iowa in one week), and that helped him finish IM Wisconsin that year. This year, he did several 75-80 mile rides and one 110-ish mile ride about a month ago. Most of his rides are around 50 miles, though. He calls a 25-30 mile ride an “easy spin.” (insert rolling eyes here!)

He does do “bricks”: a ride followed by a run. His are not usually that long, though. The longest run George did was around 12 miles, but he had several injuries this year, so his run training was perhaps slower than usual because of that.

He swims at the YMCA several times a week, and takes his wetsuit out to a local lake for open-water swims a couple of times.

Most years, he participates in several shorter, Olympic distance triathlons starting in May, and some years, he does a half-Ironman. Most IMers would think his lighter training schedule crazy, but it allows him to balance work, training, and family very nicely. He’s very good about spending plenty of time with the boys, and will incorporate Nick’s triathlon training with his own this winter by having Nick ride his bike while George runs.

Any other questions? I'll try to answer them. Once George his back, he may correct my answers, LOL! My perception and his sometimes are different.

IM Moo, Race Day Update #2

Woohoo! George came off the bike just a bit later than when he predicted, and he was running uphill when I saw him. That's just evil for the race planners to have such a long uphill out of T2 (or the bike-to-run transition). Okay, evil may be a strong word, but wow, many of the runners looked beat when they were just starting!

Here he is just catching sight of four women screaming his name.

Here's the smile he mustered for the camera. Good thing I caught it, even if I did almost chop his head off. You try shooting a moving target with a Nikon Coolpix.


The smile went away quickly. He's tired, poor guy. He's just gone 114.4 miles. He's entitled to be tired.

The volunteers had smeared George with sunscreen, and as he ran away from me (up the dang hill!), I noticed he had lots of salt on his black tri-suited butt. I hope he heard me yell "Take SALT!"

A few amusing observations:

1. After a small group of runners passed out of T2 and couldn't hear me, I muttered, "You all still have a marathon to run. You guys are CRAZY!" A woman passing by on the sidewalk replied, "Amen, sister!"

2. If you can't find someone to talk to among IM spectators, you're seriously introverted. Everyone wants to talk, meet and greet, share information on their racer. On Friday, I met Rose, who teaches children with autism and sings professionally. Mary and I ran into her today and spent a few hours waiting for the guys out of T2, along with Rose's friend Kaarina. Put four women together with ripped dudes in sports gear running past, and you've got a recipe for a good time. All we needed was pina coladas, 'cause it was hot. Here's a pic of Rose and Kaarina:

Don't they look friendly? I tell you, I'm just lovin' everyone in Madison today.

3. It's hot. Africa hot. (Name that movie....) Okay, so it's not exactly Africa hot, but it's 82 and sunny. You try doing 140.6 miles in this heat. Just spectating is hot and sweaty work. Ten days ago, NOAA was predicting a high of 64 degrees. They lie. They lie like a bad rug. Oh, for a 64-degree race day!

4. I'll say it again. Ironman athletes are crazy. Insane. Mad. Loony. Nuts. And I love them all. Kaarina's boyfriend, Rich, had just passed through T2 to start his marathon a few minutes before the winner of the whole dang race finished. It's gonna be a long marathon for some folks.

5. This observation is not so amusing. Guys are already DNF-ing. We saw a racer whose race was over around 1:30. Ouch. Another racer came out of the medical tent as we passed who'd clearly been in a bad bike wreck: broken arm and hand, horrible road rash. George has DNF'ed twice and no two ways about it: it sucks. Men and women train hard for the better part of a year, spend gobs of money on gear and travel and registration fees, and sometimes, the outcome isn't what they hoped. Pray for them, please.

More when the race is done!

PS Several people have asked questions about the race. I'll try to answer them all in another post. In case you hadn't noticed, I am hugely impressed by these crazy athletes, and it's more than a little amazing that so many finish this grueling race. I'll share George's training schedule and other Ironman trivia soon. Stay posted!

IM Moo, Race Day Update #1

Wow. Four a.m. came really early. George hopped out of bed, downed a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and said he felt "chipper." I asked if that meant he was ready to go 140.6 miles. He emphatically replied, "I just said I was 'chipper.'"

We headed out to Minona Terrace. George was in the zone and not very talkative. I, on the other hand, had my mocha from Starbuck's and had to make myself shut up. We hung out inside for a while with our friends Keith and Mary.

This is Keith's first Ironman. Doesn't he look happy? He's gonna smoke George, by the way.

This hallway fills rapidly with people hanging out in the warmth, but this year, it's not quite so cold out, so a bit after 6:00, we headed outside and down the helix ramp to the swim start. George and Keith seemed eager to get going as they passed into the "athletes only" area. Mary and I hugged them and told them to have fun.

Wives say the dumbest things sometimes.

Sunrise over the lake was beautiful. Without a wide-angle lens, I can't really show how many boats, kayaks, and surf boards were out on the water already, waiting to keep a watchful eye on over 2,400 athletes.

I want this guy's job. Doesn't that look so peaceful? He was really useful once the race started. A swimmer got disoriented and started going off course. He redirected the guy, herding him back where he belonged.

Swimmers started getting in the water well before 6:30 for a 7:00 start. The pros get in first and start ten minutes ahead of everyone else at 6:50, but it takes over half an hour to get that many people to walk over the chip reader (a mat on the shore) and into the water. IM Moo has a deep-water start, so the racers are treading water for a while before the canon goes off.

The 7:00 start looked more like salmon spawning than anything else. Bodies churning in the water, bumping into each other, swimming over each other, kicking each other. No, thank you. I'll stay on shore.

This athlete ran into trouble right away. He had zipper failure on his wetsuit. The kayaks were on him in a flash, and the crew helped get the zipper back together.

The elbow in the air (foreground) belongs to Zipper Dude. He rejoined the race. What a bummer of a start, though.

This smiling, happy face belongs to Drew, who took our email addresses and will send me and Mary pictures he took with his fancy camera. He's done three IM races himself, and was super pumped to be shooting this race. It's easy to be happy when you're not one of the spawning salmon.

This smiling, happy face belongs to Nurse Fran, who wasn't technically on duty yet, but she couldn't resist keeping an eye out at the start anyway. About a minute after I took this shot, she ran off...

...because she spotted this athlete being brought to the dock. She was the first medic on the scene. God bless her and all the paramedics, nurses, and doctors out for the race today. Fran came back after handing her patient off to a doctor. She said he got kicked in the face and everything went black for a bit. He seemed fine and would be allowed to join the race if the doctor cleared him. Fran didn't wait to find out what happened, though. She came back to the shore and kept her eyes on the course, looking for someone else in need.

For spectators, a big frustration is finding just the right spot to see your athlete and cheer him or her on during transitions. Mary and I attempted to get on the helix ramp, which all the athletes have to run up for the swim-to-bike transition. We realized that wasn't going to happen. Too many people, too much shoving. We found a great spot inside where we could see the guys, but not one of the pictures turned out. At least George and Keith both heard us yelling for them.

I did snap a few very bad pictures of George getting his bike. That's him behind the woman in the foreground.

You can just see George's profile and the last part of his race number (1464) on his helmet. The blue handlebar tape is on his bike.

George's official swim time was 1:19. Keith came out at 1:10. So far, so good.

To follow George's times, go to Ironman.com and put his name or number (1464) in the Athlete Tracker. The tracker shows his splits, transition times and so forth. Later today, there will be video of the finish line, which I'll link to after George gets off the bike, which should be sometime around 2:00 p.m. Central Time.