15 years!

15 years ago today I married my best friend and Team Brodnik was born. I'm so grateful to say he is still my best friend......and now an Ironman! Happy Anniversary to us and Happy Birthday to Team Brodnik!!!    No big celebration.......a simple lunch for two!

Ironman Mark

He did it!!  Thanks for all your support!!

7am mass swim start.  Looks like a tsunami of 2500 swimmers!

Go Team Brodnik!

Heading out on the bike course!

Showing our love!

Heading out for his 3rd bike loop.

2 events down, 1 to go......just a little marathon!!

On the run course plugging along.

At an aid station getting salt tablets from his special needs bag.

Team Brodnik at the Finish Line! 

This is what an Ironman looks like after 12:49:18 on the course!

9pm packing up and going home.

Welcomed home by a huge chalk "M dot" and lots of loving signs!

Countdown.....1 days

Less than 12 hours away from start.  He is ready.  It will be a great day!  Thanks for the support you have shown our family.  We appreciate you! 

Countdown.....2 days

This morning I volunteered in the registration tent.  It was energizing......so inspiring to see many of the athletes.  It reminds you how unfair it is to judge someone from their looks.......athletes of all sizes, shapes, ages and abilities will compete.  Incredible!!  I love to hear each person's story......because there is usually one of perseverance and strength.   I saw an older gentleman who was being pushed around in a wheelchair and was told he does many Ironman events.  His bib is #2994.   Saw another guy with a prosthetic leg from knee down.  He's done 8 Ironmans this year to celebrate his strength since losing his leg.  He is #1600.    Talked to a guy from CA who had a training buddy who was hit by a car on his last training ride this week.  He is still in the hospital.  So heart breaking.  That is my biggest fear for Mark......simply not making it to the starting line after 6+ months of training.  I believe this is a race of mental strength & discipline as much as physical strength.......true of any endurance event. These athletes will be digging deep and their mind will give up before their body.  One thing that struck me today as I helped register the athletes was their excitement and positive, friendly attitudes.  No complaining or grouchy grumps in this crowd!   They are happy to be alive!  Love it!

 Mark registering.

 This is the table I worked at for 4 hours today.

 Photo op!

 Bike transition where all the bikes will be racked. 
Only bikes allowed...no gear.

Mark has to take his bike down on Saturday afternoon.

 This is the changing tent where he will change clothes to prepare for the next leg of the event.  There is a men's and women's tent.

 With all the names of the athletes, they created a "M dot"....the Ironman "M".   They sell everything Ironman including this as a poster or on apparel.  Consumerism at its best! 

5 transition bags....green one is for "morning clothes".  Two blue ones are for stuff when he's on the bike.  And the two reds ones are for the run.  It's a huge effort to make sure you put all the right stuff in the right bag.  Mark has to fill them, label them and turn them in on Saturday.

The bib

Bonus......beautiful jewelry!  He has to keep this tag on now until the end of race day to ID him as an athlete who has paid and registered.

Countdown.....3 days

Uno, dos, tres.......only a few to go!    Today was his last swim workout......short at 1100 meters.   He will run at lunch.   He is anxious....can't wait for the day to get here. Me, too!

Below is a rough outline of how he is predicting the day will go.......a range of fast to slow times. It's so hard to predict a race of this magnitude......lots of unknowns.   His bib # is 2011.  You will be able to check his status online at http://ironmanarizona.com/  and look for the link called IronmanLIVE.

Tomorrow he will check-in during the morning and will attend a mandatory meeting in the evening.  I am volunteering tomorrow morning at the check-in station.  Should be fun.   Stay tuned for more......

Countdown.....4 days

Four days......today he rode his bike for an hour before the sun was up.....brrrrr!  He also enjoyed his last massage before race day.

We designed hats and shirts for our family for the event.   We put a Roman/Greek spin on the typical "swim/bike/run" stick figures.  The "swim" is symbolized by Neptune, the Roman God of the sea.  The "bike" is depicted as the Greek God Helios who drove the sun chariot across the sky each day.  Get it.....chariot...bike!    For the "run" we picked Mercury, the Roman God of messengers with a winged hat and winged sandals.

 If you are in Tempe in the late afternoon when Mark is running, look for the red hat and gray shirt and wings on his sandals! 

Countdown.....5 days

Only a handful of days left.  Today he was up at 5:30am and out the door to the local high school pool to swim 1800.  Then at lunch time he did a 30 minute run.  Winding down for sure!

Countdown.....6 days

Today is a rest day......no training.  Since Mark's official training plan began in June, Mondays have been rest days.....need time to recover from the beating of long weekend rides and runs.   Mark is feeling good....no nagging injury or new pains.   Let's hope we can ride this right into race day.  I'm feeling nervous for him and can't wait for Sunday to come.   The weather is looking more favorable.  The rain seems to be pushing out, although it will be cooler on Sunday. 

Countdown.....7 days

One week out from the big day.  Last night it rained and the roads are still pretty wet so Mark opted to do his 3 hour ride on the trainer this morning. 

The weather forecast is not cooperating!  Next Sunday is now calling for rain.  Really!?!? Keep praying that pushes out.  Too much rain before the start of the race could close the lake.  What a bummer that would be!!  A wet bike course can be dangerous.....not to mention, riding in cold & wet weather for 6 hours is not so fun.

Countdown.....8 days

This morning Mark is swimming 3000M in Tempe Town Lake.....his last open water swim in the lake before Ironman.   He's half way through the swim right now.  The current water temp is 61 F and the air temp is 56 F.   Brrrr!!!   He's wearing a wetsuit, of course!!   After the swim he'll do a 90 minute run.   Yes, he is tapering (reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition).......believe it or not!!!!    I've pushed him to get massages and he's done one a week for the last 4 weeks.  He's seeing the benefit and hopefully it will pay off on race day.   Moving on......

Countdown.....9 days

9 days until Arizona Ironman. 
Weather forecast looks fair......75 and partly sunny.  
Praying for no rain.
Mark's bib # is 2011.  Funny it happens to be the year.

Zoo

Happy Veteran's Day!!!!  

Thanks to my dad and all those who have served our country! 

Kids had the day off of school so we went to the zoo.  We love the zoo. 

We experience something new every time we go. 

 Kids thought this lion looks like Aslan from Narnia.

Sting rays are a favorite.  We timed our visit during feeding time. 

A wet, fishy experience but so fun!!   

Drama & Music

6th Grade Greek Tragedies..........Luke enjoys acting which is surprising because he tends to be reserved and doesn't like much attention.  He's a talented artist and had fun creating his mask for this production.  He worked in a group with 4 other students and they wrote their own tragedy.

Orchestra concert.......first one of the year. 

Luke plays sax in the middle school orchestra. 

Luke looks so short next to his very tall 8th grade fellow saxophonists.  

Halloween

Happy Halloween! 

At our house, we had a Mad Scientist, Renaissance Princess and Martin Kratt from the PBS show Wild Kratts about animals.....Peter loves animals.  That is a monkey around his neck.

 Our neighborhood friends.......that's a gnarly group!!