We made it!! We were all exhausted and after leaving the airport and we had to take a really bumpy, sort of nauseating hour long bus ride from the airport to the Summit de Nieges. It was well worth the travel. The hotel, the village and the Iron man festivities were all amazing!
One of the restruants at Mont Tremblant.
This finish line I have dreamt about my whole life. When I started running years ago I wanted to be a part of the Olympics. I didn't have to win, I just wanted to go. I wanted to run across the finish line flanked by people all over the world and bow under the big blue banner. This wasn't the Olympics but it was as close as I could get to officially be a part of an international experience on a level that included the best athletes in the world at the sport. I did it! I made it, I earned my spot and bragging rights on the world stage. I was a little emotional taking the picture as I thought about all I had done, and would still need to do, to cross that line and I couldn't wait for the opportunity.
The official Iron man symbol.
View from the gondola that shuttled people from the top of the resort down to the Iron man village.
More views....
And more beautiful views from the gondola.
Our stop, the beautiful Sumit de Neiges.
Mont Tremblant as seen from the balcony of our room.
The back of our hotel, the Sumit de Neiges. Aren't the colors and the rockwork beautiful? Most of the buildings were designed with these rich colors and natural stonework.
Let's make a wish. Maybe they wished for me to swim like a fish, bike fast and safe and run strong!
Hanging with Gaga and Papa while I checked in for the race. I was so happy that they wanted to come and see me compete. It was extra speical to have them along for the trip and I know the kids loved spending time with them.
Gaga has arrived in Canada!
Papa has arrived in Canada!
More of the beautiful scenery arond Mont Tremblant.
All checked in for the race and scouting out the merchandise. I am blessed with an amazing husband that insisted we arrive on Thursday for early check in. If you have ever raced in an triathlon before you can understand the process of checking in. For those of you unfamiliar I will try and give you an idea of how it works. Everyone is identified by thier race number. At check in you must fill out perinent health information, emergency contacts and insurance information. For this race I had to weigh in (something new) so in the event of an emergency they could adminsiter medications (yikes)! Then you are ushered to another line where you get all your bike number tags, swim cap and race timing chip. They take a quick picure and send you out the door. Thankfully, this took me all of about 20 minutes. On Friday, the rest of the race must have arrived. The check in process took all day. Folks were waiting in line for hours!
Lucas was begging for this Iron man bear for sure....which Gaga got for him! He proudly carried it around all weekend. I was able to pick up some really cool merchandise with my name on it. I usually wait and look around for a few days before I decided on the perfect souveinir. This event was not the case. The stuff was flying off the shelf. We were lucky to get the stuff we wanted in the right sizes on day one! By day 2 most of the cool stuff was GONE.
Quick picture of the family infront of the Ironman village where some really cool vendors were marketing the latest and greatest tri-gear. David and I later explored the area sans kids to check out the gear. David loves, loves looking at all the gizmos and tri specific merchandise.
The finish line! 2 days away.....
Watching Gaga and Papa head up to the hotel on the gondola.
Wonderfully exciting, amazing day. I was a bundle of nerves but having the kids and mom and dad around for the race was calming.
Having some fun at the splash park outside the hotel. It was warm in Mont Tremblant but I didn't think it was warm enough for water fun! That just goes to show you that kids never get cold when playing in water. I think the first couple of days were in the upper 70s and low 80s and on race day the temperatures were cooler, great for racing!
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