Ironman Augusta Relay weekend Part 1...

Ahhhhhhhh the EPICNESS of a roadtrip to an IRONMAN is life changing. I promise you will never be the same after an Ironman weekend. Here is my recap...


THE START OF TEAMTAGYOURIT...
A fellow blogger and runner Nicole had put up a post about the Ironman Augusta Relay and how cool it would be to form a team. She knew she wanted to run and just needed a swimmer and a cyclist. With my background and love of swimming, I was quick to raise my hand on the swim part. Then Laura came on board for the bike portion. TEAMTAGYOURIT was born...

Laura, myself, Nicole, and the best sherpa in the world Michelle!

THE ROAD TRIP...
My TEAMTAGYOURIT teammates picked me up around 9:30 Friday morning. I was super pumped to get on the road with Laura, Nicole, and Michelle. I had never met Laura and only met Nicole twice at races. I was super excited about finally getting to know these ladies outside of social media. Let me tell you they are ah-mazing. We had about a 6.5 hour drive from Mobile to Augusta, so we settled in for a longgggg drive.  Michelle was one of Lauras friends and was such a great support sherpa for us this weekend. She also likes to drive, so Im like YESSSSS! I hate it. LOL. We may have had some fun in a truck stop...
 

We also loaded up on plenty of healthy snacks for the road. Laura made her delicious quinoa bites and I will post the recipe soon for you all.
 

ANYWAYS, we made it to Augusta around 6:30 and decided to not rush over to the expo since it closed at 7 and wait till the morning to check in. So we drove over to the marina so we could check out the start line...
 

I was super excited to check out the start because this was my start line since I was the swimmer in the relay group. I really wanted to go for a swim after seeing people getting in the water. I didnt have my swimsuit or wetsuit with me and we were going for dinner so I settled with putting my feet in...
 

Yes, it was a little cold! LOL!

After my polar foot dip in the Savannah River, we headed ove to Nacho Mamas for dinner and met up with my fellow relay swimmer Rebecca for some amazing tacos, a few beer, and IM talk. the place was packed with Ironman participants from everywhere. We actually met a super nice woman standing in line that gave us a few pointers on the race. She had done it last year and was the last "official" finisher of the race. She finished and thats all that matters. I LOVED talking to her. 
 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Saturday morning we had planned to get to the expo at 9 to check in and then head to the bike transition so that Laura could do a quick ride with a group of athletes to check the bikes out for Sundays race. When we got to the expo we realized that their was a HUGE line to check in so we skipped that part and headed to the transition area. Laura headed off to meet Cynthia for the group ride and Nicole, Michelle, and I took off for some harbor sight seeing...
 

We checked out the start dock again. There were a ton of athletes getting in the water and again I was jealous. lol! Check out this guys MDot tattoo...

 

By the time we left the swim start it was time to meet back up with Laura and get in line to check in.I have never seen a line like this for check in. Ironman Louiseville didnt have a line like this. it was ridiculous. However I was able to see a fellow blogger while waiting. The ever so amazing Alan...
 

He was playing sherpa all weekend with his 2 friends competing. See the line up there. Ridiculous. After checking in and getting our bags we shopped a little and had a little ART therapy...
 

It was a very small expo and kind of disappointing but oh well.

After the expo we headed to check in Laura's bike at bike check in and snapped a couple pics of the transition area...
 

On the way out I saw the awesome Megan who was doing her first half Ironman which by the way she KILLED! She signed up for IMChoo, so watch out...


We headed to a local bar and grill for a late lunch. I ordered the deconstructed peanut butter banana honey bacon burger with sweet potato fries. A little protein/carb load. It was the bomb...
 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel so that I could change and and grab my wetsuit for a little practice swim down the river...
 

 

I ended up swimming half the course with these other to awesome ladies so that we could check out the water. I was def in my element. I didn't want to get out...
 

Figuring out my race day game plan? Who knows!
 

After swimming and chilling out by the water, we stopped at Whole Foods for a lite dinner and headed back to the hotel to relax, eat, and go to bed early.


We had an early wake up call...

Up next...


RACE DAY, STAY TUNED!