My IronMan

Late last summer, our family was boating.

Chris jumped in the water, and said I'm swimmin' to the other side.

He said, "I'm training for the IronMan"

I laughed, because he had never participated in any kind of athletic race before.

Little did I know, he was totally serious.

By fall he was starting to train.

Running, indoor swimming, and biking.

The IronMan comes every year to Boise.

It's 70.3 miles.

Each athlete swims about a mile in cold waters,

bikes 56 miles into the head wind and uphill in the desert,

and then runs for 13 miles.

It's an incredible feat, one that I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

On June 8th, Chris was prepared and ready to compete as an IronMan.

He was totally successful at his race.

(Click on the W to find his race stats.)

I stand in awe, our whole family does.

Race Day was little warm, into the high 80's.

I was nervous for him to start. He didn't seem to nervous himself.

Calm and Confident was his demeanor for race day.

I made him French Toast for breakfast that day.

(Is that good a good meal befor an IronMan race?)

Chris is on the left in the red shorts,

he is headed to the start the race with his brother, Trent.

Trent competed with him, which I think makes it a little more fun.

(Is fun the right word to describe this type of race?!)

Luckily, we could track him from the IronMan website.

He got a good time for his swim,

so then I felt a little better about the rest of his race.

Later, The kids and I barely made it in time to watch him bike past.

He was racing faster than I thought.

He was still smiling and waving before he headed up the hill.

This is me and the kids cheering him on during the bike race.

I missed getting a good photo of Chris running.

Here's a good one of Trent.

Ingrid, he's calling out your name in this photo!

He was looking for you.

Chris held it together for the 13 mile run.

He finished in under 7 hours.

It was so exciting to cheer him on.

What a great feeling, to set a goal, work at it steadily over time,

and then accomplish the goal.

Yes, he is an IronMan, for sure.

Love you Chris.

You can do anything you set your mind to do.