Well, this month was filled with excitement and anticipation of what we've been waiting for for the past year...Ironman Arizona. Ehren signed up for the event a year ago and has been working very hard the last few months to prepare for the 2.4 mi. swim, 112 mi. bike and 26.2 mi. run. With less than 6 weeks before race time he injured his achilles...so was unable to train properly for the last 5 weeks. In the end he managed ok. The injury was bothersome, but after so many miles, everything hurts! He finished with his goal time of less than 11 hours (10.53hrs) so he was happy. A feat few people will do in a lifetime. It was a marathon day for all of us. The kids and I were up at 5.15 to take him to the race site. We spent from 8a.m. to 6.30 pm on site. It was a great spectator course as the participants did laps on the bike and run. We saw him about 8 or 9 times during the event. It was about the time we were ready for a "break" from the day...back to the hotel, when Ehren was in his run. Couldn't leave...that was the hardest part of the day for him...so we stuck by to make sure we cheered him on! We got poured on for about 5min. (it never rains there!!), and we were all exhausted by the end of the day. We were all proud of him and happy it was done. :-).
On our pre-race day (when Ehren was checking in his bike, transition clothes, etc.) I took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo. They had a blast and saw a load of animals. I always feel...ya see one zoo, ya see them all...but not for kids! They had a great time.
Our day after the race we drove the 5.5 hrs to Anaheim where we spent a couple days at Disneyland and stayed in the Disney Grand California Hotel. This was a whole new experience ...as well as we had a character breakfast with some of the Disney characters. The kids had a great time. On our first day we met the Johnson family and on our second day we met my friend Jackie who drove down for the day. We had a ball. Of course, this was perfectly planned as Ehren felt like a million dollars after the 140 mile race! :-) Needless to say, he didn't feel that bad and was fine walking around Disney for two days. We then drove to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with the Johnson's again and got in some quick visits before the long drive home!
Not much else to tell. This was our Nov. It was very busy and slipped by us at the blink of an eye. We're now ready for the holidays and a bit of a slow down (and to have Ehren around more). This year we have the van Melle side of the family coming for Christmas. We're excited to have them all arrive and be able to spend a Christmas together!
