70.3

THE ATHLETES:

We don't do stickers on our car.  But if we did, we would have some real winners.  Ironman.  13.1. 70.3.  5150.  And soon to be, 140.6.  We don't want to brag or anything...at least not on the car! The blog, is a different story.  It's made for bragging.  Even if we bloggers don't like to admit it.  Hey, I don't even like to admit I'm a blogger!

Oceanside half-ironman was a blast!  That might be a a bit of a stretch.  But, it was way better than last year, for 2 main reasons.  First, from the athlete's perspective, Royal had a better race.  He was much more comfortable with each portion of the race and the run, which was a little painful last year, went great for him.  Second, from the spectator's perspective, the kids and I brought along some friends.  A few good friends were also competing, so the Dyer family joined us on this excursion.  We had traveling companions, kids to play with, Julie dancing down the sidelines, pizza, and lots of diet coke...a blast!

Greg comes into the turnaround point

Royal heads to the finish line

THE SPECTATORS:

our plot of sand, squished between the parking lot and the race barricades 

bounce house and face painting

The kid's zone was a new thing this year.  We stumbled upon it at the end of the race as we were searching the athlete's tents for the men.  We did get to play a little while the men finished refueling and resting.  A bounce house was set up and Abbey spotted a face painting table and had some whiskers put on just for fun.

finisher smile

(due to parking issues, this is the only shot I have of Royal and his bike...we were lucky we made it to see the run, after parking and walking for MILES!)

Swim. Bike. Run.  My kids know it by heart.  We just take it one bumper sticker at a time.  Just wishing there was a sticker for the driving/parking/spectating/photo shooting/cheering/timing..with 3 little people in tow.  It's no party.  It's a marathon in and of itself.