The Last Two Days of McBRAAM

I flew to Atlanta last Wednesday to be reunited with my cycling husband!  Twenty six days apart is the longest we have ever gone in our marriage.  To say that I missed him would be a gross understatement, but I'm so glad that Les, Lance, and Pops had this amazing trip of a lifetime together!

It was dinner time by the time I made it to Perry, Georgia.  I made a quick stop at the hotel then met them at Rusty's in the middle of their dinner.  I spent Thursday and Friday playing SAG - Support and Gear - with Mr. SAGMan.  Here's a sampling of how the days played out:

6:00-6:30 a.m. - Up and at 'em! (this hurt, because it was 3:00 a.m. California time.) 
Breakfast time at the hotel.  Les and Lance fueled up with oatmeal, waffles, eggs, coffee, juice, milk, yogurt and fruit.  SAGMan headed to the ice machine to fill the ice chest that had accompanied them on the journey.  Water bottles were filled and the van was reloaded.

7:00 a.m - Final pre-ride check-in.
Short devotion and prayer led by SAGMan.  This was an important part of each day.  It lasted about five minutes, but each day the three of them focused on thanks for safety so far and continued safety for that day.

7:30 a.m. - Roll out!
Les and Lance would start riding.  SAGMan would drive 15-20 miles down the road to a predetermined location.  I followed in my rental car on Thursday and led the way on Friday.  We would ride and wait, ride and wait.  Surprisingly, we really didn't wait that long.  We all have Life360 on our phones - Les' phone was in the SAGWagon, Lance had his phone in his jersey and I had mine with me.  I had watched their progress from afar for 26 stages and it was cool to see them so close.  Les and Lance would get more water for their water bottles, eat a snack, take off jackets, tell us our next stop, and roll out again.

2:00 - Final check-in
When the guys had about 15 miles of riding left they would have one final check-in with Pops.  At that point Pops would head to the chosen hotel for the night (typically Days Inn or something similar.)  He would get checked in and bring in the bags they would all need for the evening/next day.

3:00-4:00 p.m. - Roll in
As soon as the guys got to the hotel they would do three things:  start re-fueling, shower, and upload their data.

5:30 p.m. - Dinner
Les was very consistent with what he ate most nights - chicken, pasta, pizza.  They stayed away from fried foods and heavy meat.  They needed a good balance of protein to recover and carbs to fuel the next day.

7:30 p.m. - Nightly Prep
Bikes were checked, tires pumped, water bottles cleaned.  Les would write his nightly blog.  Bedtime snack.

9:30-10:00 p.m. - Lights Out

They did this for 28 days.  Some days the miles were longer than others, but they rode every single day for 28 days.  Remarkably, they didn't have any mechanical issues and they didn't get rained on a single time!

Friday afternoon was so exciting.  Les and I had plans to stay on Tybee Island for a couple of nights while Lance and Pops were going to drive back to Cookeville, Tennessee.  I checked in to the Admiral's Inn, then Pops and I wandered around waiting for the triumphant entry.  I'll write a separate post about Tybee Island - it's a cool place!

Right about 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 27th, Les and Lance made their final left turn from Butler Avenue on to 16th Street.  They rode the Strand Avenue traffic circle where Pops and I had a small group waiting.  (I attracted a bit of attention standing on a bench, hollering, with two phones in my hand - one for pictures and one for video!)

Les took his shoes and socks off and walked right on to the beach and into the ocean carrying his bike!  It was such a cool moment - I am SO glad I was there!  So much happiness with these three.

After several more minutes of savoring the accomplishment we headed to the hotel.  Lance took a quick shower and Les unloaded his things from the van.  We borrowed one of Pops' suitcases to bring home with us - Les had put some supplies in the rental van in boxes and we needed a way to get things home.

The final moments before Lance and Pops drove away were so sweet.  We stood by the van and gave thanks to God for such an amazing journey.  I listened as these three men shared final words after 28 days of constant contact.  It's pretty cool when you love your family as much as these three do.

#TBT ~ 2012 Backyard Olympics

 
I don't follow the Olympics very closely but I do know they are going on right now.  Major kuddos to Kristin Armstrong for winning her third gold in the cycling time trial.  She won in 2008 and 2012 and she rocked it this year the day before she turned 43!  And in case you're wondering, she is not the ex-wife of Lance Armstrong, she just shares the same name!

Four years ago Les' brother, Lance, came to visit us while the Olympics were going on.  He brought his youngest daughter, Hannah, along and she and I had our own Backyard Olympics.  We were awesome, scoring only gold and silver in diving, swimming, pool float running, cannon balling...

As our Olympics continued I was reminded that I am no longer 11. We were discussing different dives and flips when I told Hannah how is use to be able to do a cartwheel off the diving board. We don't have a diving board, so Hannah headed for the grass. Unfortunately, so did I. My cartwheel was executed perfectly until I started the descent. My left hamstring went one way while the rest of my leg went another!

Do you follow the Olympics closely?  I'm pulling for all the US marathoners, especially Meb!

Do you remember when the Summer and Winter games took place in the same year and then you waited four more for the next Olympics?  Do you prefer them every 2 years or every 4?  I think I prefer the old way, it seemed like they took up so much of the year with the winter and summer games. Now it feels like they just happened.

Since We Last Talked...

Warning:  very photo heavy post!  It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here the past 10 days or so... 

Les and his 83 year old dad

On Sunday, March 13th, we were up at 4:00 a.m. to get to the North Shore.  Les raced in the Pineapple Hill Sprint Road Race and I worked the registration.  He got second in his age group!

Sunday night Les' day arrived from Guam.  Bill was stationed on Guam in the 1950s during the Korean War and wanted to go back for a visit.  We convinced him to extend his trip a few days and stay with us.  Lots of people say they're going to come see us, but he was our first guest so we played tourist Monday through Wednesday.  We visited the Polynesian Cultural Center on Monday:

I got up early and went for a run on Tuesday morning.  My IT band is feeling so much better!  I signed up for the Ford Island Bridge 10k on April 2nd, so I was glad to be able to run again.  We then rented kayaks and headed out to the bay.  I don't have a waterproof phone case, so it stayed in the car.

We woke to a short rain storm on Wednesday morning, followed by a spectacular rainbow.

Les and Bill went for a short hike (I had laundry to do that couldn't wait.)

We then drove Bill to Tantalus, showing him our running/cycling playground with its amazing views.

One more stop took us to Pearl Harbor and a tour of the USS Bowfin Submarine.

We dropped Bill off at the Honolulu airport and then it was time for me to pack!  I spent Thursday through Saturday on the Big Island, attending a Ladies Conference through our church organization.  Our theme was "Be" and our Thursday night banquet was filled with black and yellow and lots of laughter!

Cheeks for days...

I had great plans to run.  I mean, our hotel was literally steps from the finish line of the run portion of the Ironman World Championship.  But time was against me - our sessions started early in the morning and finished late at night.

There was also some great eating at various restaurants (and not so great eating of meals provided by the hotel!)  Spicy Shrimp Egg Rolls from Bubba Gump.  With this view...

Saturday afternoon I flew back to Honolulu and went straight to our church for music practice, preparing for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.  Then it was home and another early wake up yesterday morning because Les had another race!  This time it was a 40k time trial - something he's never done before.  Our friend, Bill, won the whole thing.  This was Les' before picture.  I forgot to take an after - he was dripping with sweat!  40k (24.8 miles) in 1:13:08, average speed 20.4 mph in very windy conditions.

Riders going out every 30 seconds

And here we are ~ another Monday!  Les rode his bike to work and I decided to join him for part of it.  We rode the Kalanianaole Highway until it ended then I turned around and rode home while he rode the crowded streets of Waikiki to get to his office.  Just a little over 13 miles in under an hour.

We've had a lot of fun, but I am very ready to get back to my normal routine!

What's new in your world?  Do you ever play tourist in your own town/state?

Mexico Beach Community Garden Turkey Trot

Galina, Rick, Reese, Les, Bill, Kathy, Leksi

We spent last week in Florida for the annual Thanksgiving reunion.  I didn't take my laptop and just enjoyed beautiful weather, running, family, and lots of food!  A total of 59 family members, descendants of Earl and Marie McElhaney were in attendance.  We were literally kids from one to ninety-two - one of Les' aunts is 92 and a great grandson is one!

We ended up with seven family members running the Turkey Trot.  Les planned to walk/run with his dad.  His brother-in-law, Rick, and nephew, Reese, are fast and would be done before the rest of us.  I thought I might try to run it at a fast pace and see what would happen.  I had no pace strategy since I didn't know anyone in my age group who was running.

While we were waiting for the race to start, our two nieces decided they wanted to run with me.  (The race organizers didn't charge for kids, unless the parents wanted to pay.)  We don't see them very often, so my plans went out the window and I decided to just enjoy the family time.  Of course when the siren went off, both girls took off sprinting!  I wasn't worried about it, I just ran my own pace.

About a half mile in I caught Leksi as she was taking her first walk break.  We finished the first mile in 9:07, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't last.  "This is long," occurred during the second mile, but I have to say the girl is spunky!  She walked and ran the entire thing and didn't complain.  I tried doing run two minutes/walk 30 seconds intervals but that didn't seem to work.  I switched my strategy to blocks.  Run two blocks, walk one block.  They were really short blocks!  We also spent time doing fractions - "how much of three miles have we gone now?"

The mighty fisherwoman, later that same day!

We had one more turn before the finish line.  I told Leksi when we made the turn to sprint to the finish line and she did!  Our splits were 9:07, 10:47, 11:51, and 7:51 for the final tenth of a mile!  We finished in 32:49.

Les and his dad finished in 50:26.  My father-in-law wanted to finish in under 52 minutes.  Pretty awesome for an 83 year old!

They only gave out the top finisher in each age group, but only went to 60+.  Bill was the only one over 80, placing fifth of seven in the 60+ group.  He beat out a 65 year old and a 73 year old!

Reese took third in his age group (19 and under) and was 7th overall finishing in 21:25

I took third in my age group (50-59.) This was the first time I've ever placed in my age group.  The winner was only a couple minutes faster than me, I think I actually could have won it if I was running on my own!  But I don't regret spending those 32 minutes with my youngest niece, she may never want to run with me again.

Rick took first in his age group (40-49) and was 6th overall finishing in 20:57.  I'm pretty sure beating Reese by 28 seconds felt pretty good! All in all, a pretty decent showing for our family!

This was a fun race, only in it's third year.  In 2013 there were only 20 runners and no registration fee.  There were 165 finishers this year.  We paid $15 this year for the no t-shirt option.  There were runners, walkers, kids, strollers, and dogs.  I think it's what a Turkey Trot should be!