It’s time! I can’t believe how fast that went. All the events, the miles, my butt hurting from biking for what felt like days. Listening to Cindi pour out endless wisdom on how to improve on my many faults. Watching the Madison Multisport family participate in so many events and reading about the many personal goals shattered. Now its time to make it happen!
I remember saying those exact words to my three-year-old daughter, four years ago when we were sitting in the rain at the first Tri 4 Schools event. I remember the rain not bothering her because she was all ready to go in her tiny swim suit. That first event had a rain delay. We sat in the back of my truck and ate animal crackers and apple slices talking about how much fun it will be when the race starts. Her biggest concern was what color water noodle she would get. I now wonder if she relatively half as nervous as I am.
Let’s start at the beginning of this busy year. I sold a house, moved three ladies into an apartment, bought a house, moved three ladies into said house, celebrated a birthday party for a 1yo and a 7yo, got older myself, invested in my career, all to find out that training for an Ironman was the easy part! I know that I am ready. Mentally I am crossing the finish line, physically Ill catch up to my mind sometime around 8pm on Sunday. Ha Ha.
I wanted to mention a couple things that are important to me about this event. I have been involved with the Ironman program for over seven years. I remember my first time attending the event. Somehow I thought that “catcher” would be a fun place to watch the race. It was described something like “Help out with supporting the athletes as the cross the finish line.” It really meant spending three hours helping a lot of people stand up as they crossed the finish line as the announcer screams at them, ‘YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!’ It was one of the best experiences that I have had in Madison. They just completed the Ironman and I got to share that with them. Every year after that I have volunteered in many different places. To me, this is what makes the event so fun. The support around it. This includes family, friends and those countless swarms of volunteers that come out to support us. This is the same feeling that I support for our kids. All the kids that come out participate in Tri 4 Schools events. I have been the motorboat captain for the swim event for a couple years. I have a small job to make sure that the motorboat volunteers have everything they need to support the athletes. Make sure that they know where to be and to make sure they understand how important this is to the athletes. This is significant to me because I have watched thousands of athletes swim past me, cheering them on, wondering what that feels like to compete at that level. Now it’s my turn.
This brings me to why I support Tri 4 Schools. The training for this Ironman may almost be over, but the purpose still needs our support. My little three-year-old triathlete is now seven with NINE tris to her name. She and her little sister need programs like this to build self confidence, focus, and independence. I am very proud to have represented Tri 4 Schools. I am proud of their leadership. I am also extremely proud of all the kids that worked hard to say they finished their race. This will be for them.
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