Still in shock....

So this is a quick little post to say that Ironman Lake Placid is done and over with and I had a good race (not a great race - which I will explain in detail later) but prior experiences helped me out a TON on Sunday.   

Enough so that I was able to get on the podium for the 2nd time in the 6 years I've been racing Ironman and this was for 4th place in the M25-29 age group.  (that's me on the left end) And was finally able to punch a ticket to the big island of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii for the Ironman World Championships in October.  

I'm still pretty much in shock with the entire thing because this has been something I have tried to chase down and DREAMED about for the last 6 years and I finally get a chance to get to Hawaii.   I mean, I didn't even think it weas really possible for me to qualify, and here I am heading to race.  I thought it was realistically a really big pipe dream.  You know when you are a little kid and you pretend that you are rounding the final turn of the track and breaking the tape at the Olympics?  For the last 6 years, I've dreamed about running down Ali'i drive and stepping foot on Dig Me beach to swim in the crystal clear waters without a wetsuit.  (it will be a welcome change from the brown lake water around here!) But for me, this is my Olympic dream being realized and I cannot believe it...

A later report will be for my race report and I'll throw that up as soon as I get some good pictures sent to me.  But a heart felt thank-you goes to everyone that was there cheering me on, helped me out in the days prior, sent a text, tweeted, emailed and said HI out on course and gave words of encouragement along the way.  They were all heard and appreciated immensely.  It sounds cliche, but I couldn't have done it without everyone's support.  Thank you Mahalo.  Cheers and I'll get the report up soon.