Long days coming home

The downside to traveling across the world is that you have to travel across the world to return home.  We knew that the airport was going to be incredibly chaotic as 6000 athletes tried to travel home with their bikes, and we made sure we allowed ample time to navigate that.  Finnair did the best they could to accommodate us.  They set up six check-in counters specifically for Ironman athletes so that other passengers wouldn't be so inconvenienced.  

Even with the extra service, we were in the check-in line for a long time.  As far as I could see in the airport there were athletes and their bikes.  It was completely unreal.  We were some of the lucky ones whose bikes made it on our flight and made it home.  I would say about 75% of the athletes weren't that lucky.  Some were delayed by a few days and some were delayed by weeks.  

All of my kids are amazing airlines travelers, I have gotten really lucky with them.  Since this was an international flight the boys had their own movie screens, and since I wanted them to get back on Mountain Standard Time as quickly as possible, I let them stay up all night playing games and watching movies.  They thought it was the best thing ever!  At least until we landed in Denver and they were tired beyond all reason.  They all went to school the next day (since they woke up at 3:00am) but barely survived the day.  Hopefully the next couple of days will come easier to them and they can make up the week's worth of school work they missed.

 

Linnaistensuo Mire

After a long couple days of racing we were relaxing back at the house before realizing it was our last night in Finland and we weren't ready to go!  There was a short walk nearby through a mire and even though the kids were tired after a long couple of days they were willing to go explore a bog.  A walkway ran the length of the bog which made our walk that much more fun.  The younger kids dashed ahead to see how far they could make it.  

Cambrie enjoyed prancing down the walk-way dreaming of what it would be like to be a witch that lived in a bog.  

We stopped for a couple of photos but spent most of the time being fascinated by the ground.  It really was thick and boggy.  When we poked it with a stick it would get sucked in.  It was so cool!  We found more mushrooms and a couple of ravens that really added to the ambience of the place.  

Honestly, it was a such a cool quick adventure.

Ski Museum

After Jeremy's race we had some time to kill before we could leave the venue.  Luckily there was still one adventure on our list we hadn't done yet, the ski museum and the ski jumps, and they were right there.  Jeremy changed out of his race clothes and we went exploring.  The kids laughed and kind of groaned when they heard we were going to a museum for skiing, but the museum was very interactive and I think they caught a glimpse of the importance of skiing in the Finnish culture.  But first, let's start with the games!  Ski jumping with figurines.  

Snowball fights.  

Biathlon shooting simulator.   

Ski jumping simulator. It was hard to pull them away from the lure of a top score to see the rest of the exhibits.

The exhibits talked about how the children in Finland would have to ski for exercise at school, and my kids did not think that sounded like a good time.  There was information on their gold medal athletes at the Olympics, and the Nordic Games that Finland hosts every year.  I thought it was awesome information.

After the museum we walked up to the ski jumps.  There was an elevator we could take to the launching platform and once again I was left in awe at the guts these jumping athletes have. I was a little surprised that the runway doesn't launch them upwards but outwards and they still get so much distance.  During the winter months the pool at the base of the jumps is covered for their landing zone.  That is a really far way to fly!  

Look at the views from up top though.  It was incredible.

Lahti 70.3 World Championships Day 2

Humm...it's like we've done this before!  Race day for Jeremy went incredibly smoothly.  We knew exactly where to park, where to spectate, where to wait, and the best places for pictures.  There wasn't any fog for his race start so the day felt like it started immediately.  The day before, during the pre-race anthems, we were surprised to hear "Be Still My Soul" blaring from the loud speakers being sung by one of Finland's great tenors.  We hear a lot of music before a race but never a hymn.  Come to find out it was originally "Finlandia" but had been adopted as a hymn later.  This morning I was hoping they would play it again so I could record it.  It was so peaceful hearing that ring out across the harbor.  Jeremy was excited about the race and feeling so good.  

He told me he was going to do a front flip off the dock and I wasn't sure if I believed him or not.  My mom and I found a place to watch and waited to see a flipping athlete start his race with style.  We mentioned it to a few of the other spectators near us and we all laughed when we did indeed see him flip off that dock.  

We walked down to the swim exit to wait for him, knowing that he might be a little slower than usual because he was still nursing sore ribs from a jiu jitsu roll.  He came out looking happy and I knew he was going to love the bike.  

While we was out riding we went back to the house to retrieve the kids.  I wasn't sure how they were going to do cheering two days in a row but they were pros.  We found a park where the boys could play, Cambrie could sit by a tree and sketch, and McKenzie could be the cute cheerleader she is.  

Even though the weather started well for Jeremy, it turned into a wet and rainy day which is exactly the kind of weather he loves racing in.  He flew on on course and was flying on the run.  

I could tell he was hurting when he came down that finish chute but he handled the day a lot better than I did.  

How awesome that we could both race in Finland!

Swim 36:28, T1 3:55, Bike 2:25:11, T2 4:01, Run 1:39:07, Overall 4:48:42

Lahti 70.3 World Championships Day One

Good morning!  It is race day number one for the women!  We had grown used to an early morning fog at the swim start these past few mornings so I wasn't surprised to have fog on race morning.  It meant we had a lot of time to wait.  A lot of time to decide if I was nervous or not.  It was a world championship but I wasn't feeling predatory.  I was feeling too chill and I wish I had been ready to slay the race.  

This race start was a little different than others I am used to, we dove off a dock.  Watching the pro women dive off was awesome.  

I just hoped that my goggles would stay on during the dive.  I executed a near perfect dive, if I do say so myself, and my goggles stayed put.  I was a little off on my sighting during the swim and missed the lead pack.  I came out fifth which was just okay.  I sped through transition and was out on the bike.  It was such a great course!  It was gently rolling which meant I could always keep power on my pedals and I was flying. I was pushing the best watts I've ever pushed in a 70.3 and was feeling pretty fantastic.  Unfortunately that only lasted the first half of the ride and then I started to fade.  I wasn't able to keep my speed or power up and started falling back down the rankings.  

I have always relied on my better than average run to keep my position.  Unfortunately there are a lot of better than average, and excellent runners at a world championship, and my run was not stellar.  I lost so much ground.  The run was hilly with steep descents that killed my quads.  I was not prepared for that.  My kids haven't been to my races in awhile and I love the extra boost it gives me to see them out on course!  

Ultimately I was only feeling ok about my performance.  It was a shame because it was such a beautiful venue and an amazing opportunity I wish I could have really taken advantage of it.  Top ten was 4:40, but I feel like top 25 should have been an given.  I was five minutes out from that.  The competition was so tight and I need to remember that at a world class event, there is no room for mistakes.  Tomorrow is Jeremy's day and it will be fun to be the one on the sidelines cheering.

Swim 29:24, T1 4:00, Bike 2:36:57, T2 3:47, Run 1:42:12, Overall 4:56:21  

Race prep and ice-cream

While we have been seriously enjoying the vacation aspect of this race-cation, we do ultimately have to race at the end of the week.  The expo definitely had an international flair with different languages being spoken at every turn.  My favorite part of the expo was all of the different MDot displays set up.  It's kind of fun looking back through the years and thinking I've qualified for all of the world championships in this picture!  I now have history! (P.S. I felt really goofy rocking McKenzie's shorts while she was out in my running gear.)  

Jeremy loves finding his name.  It's been so much fun having both of us qualify for these events in the last couple of years.  Sharing these experiences is so much better!  

Dropping off our bikes we were able to explore the harbor a little.  

The architecture at Sibelius Hall was very cool.  I love bricks!  

Also, who doesn't love giant game pieces scattered around?  

The kids obviously enjoyed getting ice-cream more than anything else we did that day.  The dishes we bought were really creative; pirates with swords and black licorice, cotton-candy mermaids, Santas in boba, it was all so tasty.  

With all of our exploring we still hadn't had a chance to explore the bike course.  (Jeremy and I had done some practice swims at the lake which were awesome, but we have not photographic evidence of that.)  The bike was going to be beautiful.  It took us through more forests and past some small villages.  Towards the end of the course was an old church and cemetary that was so picturesque.  Honestly, everywhere I turned in Finland there was something else beautiful to look at.