On October 14th, Chris accomplished a big bucket list item! He completed the Louisville IRONMAN.
It's been months and month of training in the making!
The night before we got him tattooed. He tried to give me instructions on how to put on his numbers. I laughed at him. Hello?! We have two young children. I'm pretty well versed in the application of temporary tattoos.
675 was his athlete number; 35 is his age group.
Suited up, ready to jump in the Ohio!
The race was delayed due to weather and water conditions, but he finally got started just before 9 AM.
He came out of the water, suited up and went out on his 112 mile bike ride!
One of Chris's best friends, Dave, and I were out ALL day tracking Chris. We saw him out of the water, a few times on the bike, off the bike and a few times on the run. It was so nice having a buddy driving around town with.
ALL smiles coming off the bike. The bike is the worst part for me. It is very nerve wracking with him being gone for so many hours, going so fast on hilly roads. On this particular day, I could NOT WAIT for him to get off. Dave and I watched several bikers go by shaking, unable to control their bodies and bikes. It was SO COLD and so few athletes were dressed appropriately.
It was a long (and extremely cold and wet!) day so the girls only came out for the last 6 hours. They met Chris off the bike and were so excited to hold up their poster and cheer him on!
High-fiving runners at mile 14.
We saw a lot of fun costumes!
Going a little stir crazy at the finish!
Chris had a very good swim and an even better bike, but the run was tough for him. That's his hardest of the three events and, since it comes last, it can really take a toll on him. His knees started bothering him but he pushed through and just after 9:30 we got to see him run down the FInisher's Chute and hear the magic words "CHRIS HUGHES, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" It was so awesome!
I'm very very proud of him. It takes A LOT of dedication to train for an IM race. Very early mornings before work, late evenings and a ton of weekend training hours. There were so many days that he went out training that I know he didn't want to. Go Chris go!