Hey Greg...Guess what???

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!! That is what the announcer said as Greg finished a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run! Holy cow...that is far! I could make this post 4 pages long, but I wont...I will just give the highlights! What a day! We had to get there 2 days early for all the hype, festivities, and preparations. Picked up the bike Thursday, Athlete dinner and meeting that night, having everything checked into transition by Friday afternoon and then mentally getting ready for race day!

The day started early with Greg, Lorie, and Ryan out the door at 5:45 to get into transition and body marked! I met up with him at the water at about 6:30 for a last good luck and kiss...Then we did see them one more time right before they went into the water! et the race begin...2400 athletes running into the ocean at once! What a mess...it looks like a bunch of hungry seals all fighting for the same meal. You get kicked, grabbed, swam over, swam under, and yes there is yelling too. It is a 2 loop swim and they run on the sand in between! It was good to see him come out of that first loop (He was the only one wearing a tube bottom, so he was easy to pick out) He had a great swim at 1:09. Then after the wetsuit strippers and showers he was off to T1. We saw him again as he was leaving transition. It would be about 6 hours from here til he would return...or so we thought! Greg's dad and brother had flown in for the day! We were heading to the car to start out onto the bike trail to follow Greg - only to find the car had been towed...not a good thing! I was a bit nervous! I was there to watch the race, not track down the car. Brad worked his magic and we ended up getting the car back , a valet ride to pick it up and not paying the fine...Don't ask questions when Brad is involved. It was only a minor 20 minute set back!

We were off on the course. I had worked on a spreadsheet to see where we would be able to see Greg. We passed the 3 friends in the race and I knew that Greg had been the first one out of the water so he was still up ahead. We kept driving and driving...I started thinking that we had to have missed him in the bathroom or something. No way was he this far ahead! We said one more stretch and then we would turn back...sure enough, there he was. 30 minutes ahead of what he thought he would do... he looked great and said he felt great . I was so relieved. We talked a minute driving along side of him then decided to head back to meet him at T2! I missed him again. As we were walking up the street to transition, here he came already started on the run. He looked strong. The run is where he struggles the most so I was nervous for what the next 4 1/2 hours would bring. We found us a comfy spot where we would spend the next 4 hours. It is a 2 loop run course so were would see him 3 times. We calculated and recalculated and knew Greg would be finishing around 11:30. He had hoped for a sub 12 hour race - not thinking it could be this great! Everything feel into place for him! That was exciting. It has been a year of training - very intense training the past 18 weeks. His nutrition was good, his body held up and all around it was the perfect race day for him! (You never know what you will get.)

The finish line was the best! Seeing him round that final corner at 11:27, it was pretty amazing! It was a long day for us all and the emotion set in. What a huge accomplishment. I cannot even begin to describe the feelings there only to say that there is not much that beats it...And I was on the sideline! Do I want to do it someday??? No question...but for now, I am mom and seeing what it takes to prepare, I just could not fit it in right now with our busy life. It may be 10 years out but someday I will hear...JACQUE ARNETT...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!