The Stacy Family: I'll Take One Ironman Please

Well, it's over...my husband is officially an IRONMAN!! Last weekend, Reed and I made the trek to Louisville, Kentucky for the Ford Ironman Louisville. This was Reed's first ever full Ironman. As you may recall, he has done three half-Ironmans and multiple local triathlons but never a FULL Ironman. An Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run...are you tired yet?!! Reed has been dreaming of completing an Ironman and has been training so hard for the past year...maybe longer! He has been so dedicated to training properly and doing his best. He would train twice a day during week days and do his long bike rides or runs on the weekends. I must say, I cannot be any prouder of him than I am right now. He constantly amazes me with his athletic abilities, dedication and drive to succeed in this sport.

The actual race was on Sunday, August 28th. This one was a little different in the swim aspect of the race in that the competitors didn't start according to their age group. It was a first come, first serve type of swim start where the earlier you got there to get in line, the earlier you got into the water. Reed was about the middle of the pack so I'm guessing he probably jumped into the Ohio River around 7:45 or 8 am. His swim time was 1 hour and 15 minutes...SO FAST! There was only one transition area (which was nice for me!) and it was near our hotel (even better!). There were shuttles that were available for the spectators and I jumped on one ASAP to head to La Grange to see him come through on the bike...the course had two loops (at mile 38 and mile 68) so I could see him twice!! After that, I jumped back on the shuttle and headed back to downtown Louisville and the transition area to see Reed come off the bike and head out for the marathon. The marathon was through the downtown area so it was nice to be able to see him several times and cheer him on! I then headed to the finish line and pushed my pregnant self up front so I could see him come across that line and hear the announcer say, "Reed Stacy, YOU are an Ironman!" It literally gave me chills to see it and I cryed my eyes out when he finished...definitely one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever experienced! I (selfishly) will gladly encourage Reed to train for these events and enter these races for the rest of his life if that's what he wants to do because seeing him finish was a feeling that I want to experience again!! It's AWESOME!! All-in-all, Reed was very happy with his overall time: 12 hours and 24 minutes!! He will definitely do one again in the future but will concentrate on smaller distance races next year. My husband is an IRONMAN!!!