Alive and (mostly) well.

Oh. Holy. Cow.

OUCH!

I knew it would be rough, when yesterday I was envious of an elderly person with a walker. Nope, I'm NOT prone to violent behavior, but that walker looked pretty darned good...

The GREAT news - is that I'm alive and well. YEA! Yesterday afternoon, Mom, Dad, and I made the journey from Coeur d'Alene to Bainbridge Island, WA via car, while Nathaniel got to fly. Yes, he spent 3+ hours in the Spokane International Airport and yes, many beers were consumed on his part. But as he cheerfully stated as we picked him up from the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge, "What else is there to do in the Spokane airport?"

Bainbridge Island is stunning, though. The lack of wireless is a little tough for Nathaniel and me - but (mostly) we're adapting beautifully. There WILL be a race report in a few days - I just need to finish writing it. And NO - it will NOT take me 10:49 to write - that much I can promise.

48 hours after finishing my first Ironman and, well.... it still seems a bit surreal. The distance STILL seems daunting, but during the race it really wasn't all that bad. So many people had warned me about the "time warp" - how time passes so quickly during the race. And I couldn't agree more.

I WOULD like to add that the training is (mostly) much more difficult than the race. If you can get through the training, you can (mostly) get through the race. Those last 10 miles on the run, though... Holy Quad Malfunction Batman! Suffice to say, I'm happy that I stuck with my regular (and mostly heavy) training shoes. That support really helped towards the end... but enough about that.

The other thing that I didn't realize - was how much fluid my body would retain. Post race, and the cankles that I'm sporting would make any Grandmother proud. The compression socks help to a certain extent - but let's be honest folks. A little bit of fabric has nothing on my body at this point. The fluid (I'm assuming) is the result from the injured and damaged tissues, and it'll only be a matter of time before it goes away.

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Until then, I'll stick with jeans. And compression hosen. No shorts, skirts, capris, OR heels for me, thank you very much. Luckily we've got another 5 days until we set sail. So all is (mostly) safe.

I hope that everyone else - spectathletes and athletes alike - are recovering well from the past weekend's events. Thank you to EVERYONE for your kind comments and wonderful support. I will never forget my first Ironman - even though my inability to walk "normally" has people giving my sympathetic glances from across the street. I swear, that I'm walking slower than I did post-surgery last year.

But hey - I'm still over the moon about my race. So there you go.

And with that, I'm (mostly) done. Washington State is beautiful, and I'm enjoying my time with Nathaniel and the parents. Our host has been most gracious and I'm getting the itch to explore the island via rented bike or through wooded trails.

Unfortunately my legs have other ideas.

The kayaks though...we may go out tomorrow and explore. Good enough for me. And the cankles.

Until the next time...