Saturday, August 12, 2017

Michele McKee, You are an Ironman!

Sometime soon I'm going to find more eloquent words to write about my Mom being a freaking IRONMAN, but for now I just want to put some pictures and little details on my blog about her big race and simply say that watching her accomplish this dream may well be the proudest moment I'll ever have in my life. I love her, I'm so proud of her, and she is an inspiration.

Ash, Jord, Chase and I met in Sebastopal (a teeny and darling little town outside of Santa Rosa) on the day before the Ironman competition. We left most of the kids with grandparents and felt freeeeee and excited to spend some quality time with siblings and spouses. We laughed--and gagged--through the most disgusting BBQ that small town had to offer and thanked our lucky stars that at least their root beer on tap was Mug; and extra carbonated. After dancing and singing around Safeway and buying every flavor of ice cream they had to offer we turned in for an evening of games, hot tubbing, junk food and watching shooting stars from our little Air BNB homestead. I really hit the jackpot when it came to siblings and their spouses only sweeten the deal. It was such a fun night.

On the day of the race all of us felt the weight of what our Mom was about to attempt and there wasn't a settled stomach among us. We had an early morning planning meeting with Dad (and donuts) at his hotel room and then we were off to cheer the day away, which sounds fun but was more stressful than you can ever imagine. Because of a glitch in the tracking system we spent the first half of the day sure that she wasn't going to finish the race (because of strict time requirements) and while we would cheer and smile and encourage her when she rode past on her bike inside we all thought we'd throw up and cry and maybe even die on the inside. We all let out a huge sigh of relief, and maybe even a few squeals, when the tracking system readjusted to a new route and we learned that Mom would actually be finishing the bike with almost an hour to spare!

Watching Mom finish the bike portion of the race was the moment when I realized that this was going to happen. It was GOING to happen, like for sure. My Mom was going to be an Ironman! (Because for anyone else a marathon is a pretty big deal but for my mom, nah! We knew the run would be a piece of cake if she could just get through the swim and bike, and it was.) I can't explain the elation and relief I felt when I saw her jump off that bike and put her hands high to the heavens. She started yelling, "I did it! I did it!" and I joined in, "You did it, Mom! You did it!" The tears flowed easily and my heart swelled with pride.

About 26.2 miles later my Mom ran across the finish line and the announcer said the words she's been training a year to hear, "Michele McKee, you are an Ironman." A rockstar Ironman at that, with a nice shiny medal to prove it. I felt awfully fan-girlish and even still can't help but mention my Mom's crazy accomplishment in normal and totally unrelated conversation. But can you blame me? 

And just in case you were wondering, there were nine adults super sore the next day and one that felt great...want to guess the batting order?! After nearly 16 hours of competition my Mom ached for maybe a half a second on Sunday night, but other than that felt perfectly perfect. Can you believe that? She's the prettiest and coolest freak of nature I have ever known! We couldn't be prouder.  


The McKee siblings were the only soda drinkers at the yucky BBQ place and we all ordered Root Beer without even realizing the coincidence. I love this cute crew (X2 because I liked both pictures!)

Good company, gross food, great memory!

SUCH a fun game Jord and Mad introduced us too. They always have the best games and the best youtube videos. I'm getting so old and they help keep me young and informed!

7 am planning meeting at Dad's pad (with a couple dozen donuts over J's shoulder!) We have our amazing IronMcKee shirts on and are ready to cheer for our #1!

Finishing a few posters in the room. This one went from Dad's brain to my board and was a fan favorite!

Isn't it the greatest when sisters are also best friends? I hope with every fiber of my being that my Quinn and Cora have this kind of bond. One things for sure, they can look to us for an example of sister obsession!

I love this little trooper baby. She honestly just chilled the day away in our arms and was so easy.

Blurry elevator selfie. At this point we're feeling a little relief because we know Mom finished the swim in time. 




One things for sure, we were going to make sure you both saw and heard us on those sidelines.



This picture was taken at the bottom of a huge hill she was about to climb like a boss. This was still at the point of the race where we didn't think she'd finish and just looking at this picture brings a pit to my stomach. Oh gosh I'm so glad this race is over. And more than that I'm so glad it went our way!

I wouldn't be surprised if Lucy Lu has a future in cheerleading. That girl loved to shake it and cheer!


Logan took SO many fabulous photos of Mom on his nice camera and I can't wait to see them all. This is a pic of a pic of her being a babe on a bike!

We tried to write posters that were going to be super motivating to Mom during her race. I had been taking notes on some of the little phrases she liked to tell herself on the course and one thing which made her excited was to know she was halfway done, or as she would say, "on the back half." We made sure we were holding this sign high when she passed 56 miles on the bike!

THIS IS EVERYTHING!!! This is the moment my Mom stepped off her bike and realized that the hardest part was over. My eyes sting and my heart sings over this picture.

This was when my Mom first started the run and was offering me a kiss on her way to mile 4. I accepted, as you do!

Doug and Carly (James' cousins on his Dad's side of the family) live in Santa Rosa and spent the afternoon with us cheering on Mom. They brought sandwiches and snacks for my whole family and as always, were rays of sunshine and happiness. The entire McKee crew decided they want to adopt them into the family--they fit right in! They are such good examples to me of optimism, joy and selflessness and I want to be JUST like them. 



Some ladies from my Mom's ward drove down to cheer her on for the marathon and it totally surprised her. She felt so loved, and so did all of us. We are so grateful that they came and brought such cute signs to boot!


Mom's mental game was strong as steel but when we could see she was getting a little tired and the cow bell was no longer pulling it's weight we pulled out all the stops for our retired Spartan cheerleader. Ash and I weren't meant to be cheerleaders, or Ironmen for that matter, but I think our hip shaking and made-up cheers were just the comic relief she needed to push her through mile 10 and beyond. 

Shoe lights on and on her way to the finish line--literally only steps to go from this point. I know this is blurry, but do you see that smile?! Michele McKee, you are an Ironman!

The absolute strongest woman I know in every single way.

I love this picture of these lovebirds looking at each other. As with so many things in life, these two both worked and sacrificed so that my Mom could accomplish this dream. She ran the race and she got the medal, but in so many ways he deserves one as well. I'm so grateful for the example he has set of how to love and support your spouse. They are couple goals if I ever saw it!

She TOTALLY did not need our help to walk or stand or anything, but forgive us for wanting to parade her around the finish line like our most prized possession! She is awesome, and could have easily been carrying us around at this point!


Grammie, her sister Ann and one of her friends were also there cheering her on through the whole race!

A medal hard-won!


The original plan for post-race food was Denny's since they're open late and can accommodate a big group but after sitting in their lobby for ten minutes without so much as a look in our direction we peaced out of that joint in search of friendlier (and faster) fries. In N Out was lucky enough to be graced by the presence of this Ironman who was on an adrenaline high and was loving all the stories of her race. An animal-style cheeseburger and so many fries later we all left to find the closest pillow for our sleepy heads (except Mom of course, who was up all night with excitement!) 

Congrats again IronMcKee, and thanks for doing an Ironman so that we had an excuse to get together! I love you!

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