It's a New Day

I've had one hell of a weekend. I set out for Wisconsin Saturday afternoon to reprise my camping skills because there were 3,000 athletes in Madison looking for hotel rooms. My campground was $28 and 20 minutes away from the start of Ironman Wisconsin. I slept like a rock in my pro-level camping set up. Hint: Frog-style bike lamps make great tent nightlights. And a heated mattress pad made 46-degree overnight temps just fine.

I then made my way to Monona Terrace to check out the expo and have dinner. It still gets me the same as it did last year.

The magnitude of it all is incredible. This is was millions of dollars of bikes look like.

Sunday morning was another early, early day. I was at the Helix of Monona Terrace watching my athlete friends completing the same journey I did a mere 12 months ago.

The view from the Ironman gift shop is actually perfect.

Then I headed out to Old Sauk Road to hang out at the top of Timber Lane Road for a few hours and enjoy some beverages.

I ended up running roughly 19 miles of the marathon with my friends, cutting through crowds and such to spectate throughout the evening. When it was all said and done, I didn't go to bed until 3 a.m. but I was more convinced than ever this would be happening today:

Coffees and confirmation e-mails. I'm in. Ironman Wisconsin is a go. The house is booked and my credit card has been charged.

Time to get to training. #Ironbitch is back.