There’s no place I’d rather be on the second Sunday in September (how is it September?!) than Madison for IRONMAN Wisconsin. I debated not going this year because of the 17-hour drive home from Colorado a few days prior – more on that soon – but I just couldn’t miss volunteering and cheering at my favorite race. And for a hot minute – with an eff it, what do you have to lose?, from coach – I even debated signing up to race. If active.com would have had a live link on Thursday… Sunday could have been really fun – or ended in a complete disaster three weeks after Mont-Tremblant!
Anyway, as soon as I rolled into town on Saturday, I dropped off Luma with friends Pat and Katie for a few hours (thanks for watching her!) and headed out for one super windy loop of the bike course. I forgot just how fun (hard!) it was – especially with an 11-23 cassette – and how awesome the original loop is (rollers! freshly paved Stagecoach! Timber Lane!). I way over biked, but I was just so damn happy to be out riding one of my favorite routes ♥
It’s not a trip to Madison without biking one loop of the course.
For the third year in a row, I volunteered bright and early on race morning at run special needs drop off – the best spot for a couple reasons. One, you’re done early enough so you can watch the swim from the helix. And two, you get to give pre-race hugs to friends and well wishes to everyone racing. All the emotions! I spent the rest of the day cheering for Coeur Sports teammates and friends at the Midtown climb and the halfway point + finish on the run. Sundays don’t get much better.
All in all, it was an incredible + inspiring day, filled with sweaty hugs and high-fives – and counting down the days until I get to do my favorite race again ♥ (Although it was really tempting, I didn’t sign up for 2019, in case you’re wondering 🙂 )
All the oat milk lattes from Colectivo (I had two).
Women’s champ Linsey Corbin – and with a new course record!
Luma was such a trooper all day ♥ (also, talons… omg)
3 Comments
Volunteering can be so much fun! I missed being out ON the course, cheering for my friends and chatting with people (maybe sipping a beer or two during the day) that’s one of the reasons why I retired from the mic.
It really can! I can’t say enough about all the amazing volunteers at IMWI and every ironman I’ve done. Still so cool that you were a race announcer – do you think you’ll come out of retirement to do it again? 🙂 Hope you’re well, Amy!
I’m doing very well! Thanks for asking 🙂 No, I won’t be returning to announcing-it stopped being fun. I didn’t have 5 mins of fun this summer when I was volunteering. I ended up wishing I had stayed home with my family, or was out on course cheering/volunteering with friends, or just doing my own biking/swimming thing.
Have a great week!