What an (Iron)woman!

Over the weekend, I watched a friend and colleague achieve an impressive long-term goal. Those of you who already follow me on twitter know my news: Jessica is a half-IRONWOMAN!

That’s right. Jessica set her sights on her goal and worked steadily toward the prize, which in this case was among one of the coolest, greenest medals I have seen in a long time.

20130715-125808.jpgYes, those are bicycle gears. What an incredible medal!

For folks not familiar with Ironman and half-Ironman races, this was the Musselman. The triathlon includes a 1.2-mile swim in Seneca Lake, a 56-mile bike ride in the northern Finger Lakes and a half-marathon (run) in and around Geneva, New York.

I headed to Geneva Saturday afternoon and quickly met up with Jessica, who had headed to the race site one day earlier. Despite what she may say, she appeared to be pretty calm about her pending race the following morning.

At dinner that night, we learned that a local man, Michael Coyle of Irondequoit, died from injuries he suffered in a crash while racing the mini-Mussel, a sprint triathlon that was part of Musselman weekend. We were shocked. Race organizers announced the news and told everyone they would hold the Sunday race as scheduled.

I won’t give you a detailed rundown of Sunday — Jessica is going to share her thoughts with you all next week! Instead, I’m going to share a few high-lights and photos.

First: Here’s a cool Storify of tweets from race weekend! You might recognize my name — as a few of my tweets are in there.

The day was incredible. We arrived shortly after sunrise and were greeted to this stellar view:

20130715-183711.jpgSunrise in Seneca Lake State Park

I managed to catch Jessica at each of her transitions. The swim to bike and the bike to run, and again at the end. Here’s my fave pic:

20130715-183903.jpgJessica waves and smiles as she bolts from the water

I brought my phone charger and found a plug. As a result, I could tweet like a madwoman. And I did.

Saw and chatted with a few friends from Rochester as they cheered along others and volunteered.

I spent a good chunk of time lying by the lake. Ah. What a day.

20130715-184156.jpgWhat a view (and my legs look huge)

And I managed to snap a shot of the race winner Doug MacLean of Ithaca. He was impressive to watch (and fun to chat with later!). Congrats Doug!

I had a lot of down time while Jessica rode her bike so I volunteered in the food tent. One woman donated more than 1,000 HOMEMADE chocolate chip cookies for the athletes.

(Side note- Red Jacket Orchards apple juice is incredible. Tri it. Haha, I’m funny.)

20130715-124457.jpgSee? My shirt and pin.

I’ve never been thanked by so many people in my life. You are welcome. You are all the inspiration.

Check back to Scoot next week for a recap of Jessica’s race!

Have you ever considered or completed a triathlon? What entices you? What scares you? Tell us in the comments!