What No One Tells You About Your First Ironman

It's been a stretch since I crossed the finish line at Ironman Wisconsin, my first 140.6-mile journey. I've been obsessing over this race for years. Thinking about it in quiet moments, pivoting my life around training for this seemingly impossible feat. I still can't believe I did it.

In honor of **finally** cutting the bracelet off my wrist, I thought I'd gather the facts that surprised me about my first journey to the Ironman finish.

Nakedness. I am not an overly modest person. I rock a bikini, run in a sports bra, blog about my IUD and post half-naked selfies. But. Even I was surprised with the blatant and abundant nudity in T1 and T2. Volunteers dump out your stuff, help you out of your clothes and get your dressed again, fast. But it's so much naked.

Aid station buffets. I've never seen aid stations as well-stocked as on the Ironman run. Someone said they were catered aid stations and I truly understood that on the course. At every station, there was: water, Perform, Bonk Breaker bars, chews, chomps, GU, oranges, bananas, cookies, chips, pretzel and flat coke. And I might be forgetting something.

Silly support. There are so many witty signs on the course, along with hilariously attired spectators. Drag queens, speedos, superheros, they're all out there. A lot of the signs were too inappropriate to share, but believe me, they helped.

M-dot obsession. I now own two finisher's jackets (thanks mom!), a pint glass, two hats, a backpack and a trailer hitch, all with the Ironman logo. Without the paraphernalia, how will anyone ever ask me about my Ironman?

Announcement. There is nothing more exhilarating than hearing Mike Reilly say "You Are An Ironman." Watch the videos on YouTube and you'll know what I mean. Don't be bummed when your name is announced wrong. You're still an Ironman.

Blues. I have post-race depression, no doubt. It's not a "I can't get out of bed thing" but more of a nagging "what do I do now" sensation. Don't get my wrong, I'm THRILLED that I was able to finish. But now my schedule is far more open and I wonder what the hell normal people do at 5 a.m. (I'm guessing it isn't bike on a trainer in the garage while watching trashy TV on Amazon prime .... )

Addiction. Once is not enough. Not nearly enough. I want to do all the Ironmans now. I lost an hour of time because of technical errors. I will do the Ironman and I will rock it. I won't be able to afford to do this again anytime soon, but one day, I'll be back. And I'll be awesome.