IMSG Official AZ Support Thread (Page 7)

Congrats to all of you IMSG finishers. The pics are fantastic. So inspirational. Can't wait to read race reports and see more pics.

Wow!  Everyone did an amazing job!!  Was able to get text msg's from Aaron through the day yesterday and you all did so awesome!!  Such a tough course, and you have to respect anyone for just trying it!

Yeah baby that is my year!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

Hi all! I got a little sidetracked yesterday and didn't update very much. The race was brutal... it made IMAZ look like a cake walk. I took lots of videos and pictures and will post as soon as I get home to Tempe tonight.

Congratulations to everyone who attempted IMSG. I was watching the race online yesterday and the course looked very tough. What an amazing accomplishment to finish a race like that and o do it in the times you did was amazing. I will be interested in hearing your race reports in the coming weeks and find out how you guys did on pacing, nutrition, the cold swim and the hills. I wish I would have been there in person to cheer you on but you had a big group of us back in AZ that was supporting you guys and gals all day long. Very inspirational.

Congrats to all... it was great to see updates yesterday on this thread... sounds like a great, but very tough, course.. congrats again. Can't wait to read some race reports and see more pics.

Wow! Thanks y'all for all the cheers! I am SURE it helped! That was a spazzstastic day out there (you know, like "fun"), and I can't wait to write the report!

Hey, congrats, everyone, for showing or for finishing! And super thanks to mirg and elliot! It was great seeing you out there!

Hi all!

I'm back from St. George and have posted all my pictures on Facebook. You can click on this link to view:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2657457&id=10009103&l=27efbfb1c1

If anyone would like the full-size image of these pictures please let me know.

Here's my "spectator report" from Saturday's race:

First off, I thought spectating was the hardest thing ever!  It so hard to keep track of everyone throughout the day.  One thing I learned: you always need to have your camera out. I took many pictures/videos of peoples backs... Or, I had to chase them down the road to get a pic/video  This was the first race I've spectated.. and it really made me antsy to be out there and race with the athletes.

Friday: I got in around 2pm and met up with the Donahues for lunch.  I gave some pretty good tips to them and gave Jen my Trionz magnetic energy bracelet for good luck (and energy/stability).  I walked around the "Ironman village" to check out all the cool stuff.  Amazingly, I didn't buy anything.  

I went to the volunteer meeting at 5:30pm for our volunteer meeting... picked up my shirt for body marking.

Met up with Dean, Kim, and Robin afterward and talked about the race at their condo.

Saturday: 
2:45am:  Woke up, checked out, and drove to Sand Hollow Lake w/ Kevin (mirg).  First group of athletes showed up around 4:30am.

Pre-race: Walked around T1 and body marked athletes.  For the first time, they had temporary tattoos that they offered to athletes during registration.  According to our body marking captain, about 90-95% of the athletes opted to have the temporary tattoo (which was done 2-3 days before the race).  However, WTC told our captain they needed the same amount of body marking volunteers as if none of the athletes had temporary tattoos.  This was a "test" of the temporary number tattoos.  If it worked (and it seemed like it did) our body marking captain expected this temp tattoo option to be available at future Ironman races.  I only marked 3 people... but got on TV twice!! They even interviewed me!  Kevin and I spent most of our time looking for BTers. We saw and talked to Andy, Jen, Josh, Adela, and Robin.  We walked around T1 several times but never found Dean or Kim

The weather couldn't have been more perfect in the morning. Blue skies, calm calm winds...  It was a bit chilly out though.  The winds really starting to pick up later in the the day (starting in the early afternoon). Got some great video footage of the swim start on Dean's camera.  The lake and its surroundings were awesome.  This course was incredibly beautiful... and incredibly tough.

We took pictures and videos of almost everyone at the "bike out" mount line.  Many athletes were having problems warming up after their swim.  Kevin and I saw a couple athletes carried off shivering uncontrollably.  The swim was another impressive and inspiring mass start (deep water start). 

Went back to Kevin's in-laws house to take a nap at 10am.  We both only got a couple hours of sleep the night before so we were pretty tired.

Got back to downtown St. George around 3pm and watched the first pro cross the line at 8:40 and change... unbelievable.

Kevin and I hung out around the finishing stretch/run turnaround for much of the race.  I found out about Kim's cutoff and called her to make sure she was okay.  She was a bit upset but  I am honestly SO proud of her for taking on such a challenging course for her first Ironman.  It was a great experience and she shouldn't be upset about anything  I walked over to a nearby restaurant to pick some food up for her... and some beer.

______
Dean - Another AWESOME performance. First BTer to cross the line. He gave Kevin and I high-fives as he was running down the final stretch with a HUGE smile on his face.  You rock dude.

Andy - He had a great race as well! I saw him standing in the potty line in the morning. He seemed very confident and ready to race. Amazing bike split and a gutsy performance throughout the day considering his bike accident/injury a few months back.

Robin - I thought she was the biggest surprise of the day. I don't know why it was such a surprise to me because her training and attitude was great going into the race.  I was trying to base peoples finishing times by their previous run splits.  I missed taking a picture/video of her because she was way ahead of schedule!  She did a superb job of pacing herself throughout the day.  I can really tell she had previous Ironman race experience (same for Andy as well). Congrats Robin.

Josh - Congrats on your first IM! I think I saw him the most during the race.  His camo arm sleeves really stuck out, so it was easy to spot him  

Jen - I think it was the most fun spectating her.  Kevin and I had a Gaga chant going for her everytime we saw her.  At the run turnaround, she smiled and waved as she did a little skip for us.  Congrats on your first Ironman, Jen.

Kim & Adela - They didn't make the course's *challenging* bike cutoffs but I am just as impressed/inspired/happy for them as everyone else. This is corny as hell, but they are an Ironman in my book. They both trained really hard for this and both went into this race with great attitudes. It took A LOT of guts to even start this race.  It was fun seeing their progress throughout their training as they both made considerable improvements. I'm excited to watch them take on future Ironman races.  You both having NOTHING to be upset about and I am very proud of you.

I couldn't believe how hard it was to spectate. By the end of the night, I was exhausted!  Thanks to Kevin's in-laws for letting me stay out that place / feeding me.






 

Thanks for writing that up elliot. I really enjoyed your report, and I'm sad to have missed that awesome event.

Elliots AWESOME spectator report reminds me I need to write up a RACE report ASAP!  I will try and condense :p

Thanks Elliot for being a great spectator and writing something up that wasn't completely comprised of Hangover quotes and Lady Gaga lyrics.

Thanks to all that were cheering and following and of course the peeps I saw out on the course. I really shouldn't have been out there but yet I was able to surprise myself. I have learned a lot about myself and my body and the people around me along the way to my 7th finish, especially after my crash.

Thanks again!

Now that I've gotten back to my computer I wanted to add my gratitude to all of the support we received.  I have to be honest that there was more than one time that I was going dial it back but thought twice knowing that those splits were being posted   Also, a big thank you to Elliot and Kevin for coming up to St. George.  I'm dedicating the 35 minutes below my goal to you.

My report is up:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=206270

Omega posted some of these pics on his training log - I cannot begin to describe how gorgeous St George is:

Swim



Start of Bike



End of first bike loop



Mile 21 of run



My SIL is a prof photographer...I cannot WAIT to get her pics!!!

My biggest regret in this race is not getting some El Liot Fashion advice for the finish line shot!

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_photo.asp?EVENTID=60045&PWD=&ID=...

You look fantastic! Great muscle definition on the legs too!

Congratulations to everyone.  Great post Elliot, I can't wait to read the race reports.  Some day I hope to take on an Ironman, so to me, you all are amazing people that have accomplished something I only dream about attempting right now.  What a commitment just to get through the training aspects let alone, what sounds like a very tough course.  So when are the potential tattoo's going to start getting posted? 

Race report, such as it is, is up: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=206412



 

Awwww! What a great thread we had going here! Thanks for the support everyone, and I love the spectator report, Elliot! Saturday just wasn't my day. I really should have made a trip to St. George before the race so I could have been a little more "mentally" prepared for those hills. I don't know if it would have helped, but that course definitely requires some practice. I picked a really tough one for my first. Lesson learned. It was quite upsetting to hear the bad news that I didn't make the 5:30 cut-off, and even more upsetting to have random spectators "congratulate" me as I walked back to my hotel with all my gear. But I still learned a lot from the experience, and I'll apply it to IMAZ 2011. We're gonna finish this, Kim!!!

On another note, it looks like I'll be breaking a promise that I accidentally made. One of the race officials who removed my timing chip made me promise that I'd come back to St. George next year and kick this course in the . I was too busy crying like a sissy, so I just nodded my head. Sorry, dude. I'm breaking my promise. Aint no f'ing way I'm doing that course again!