2011? No idea

So I was finally going to reveal my 2011 schedule and plans, and I had big plans!  I was going to announce that I would not be "Triathlon Mom" for the year....... but "PREGNANT Triathlon Mom"!  That's right, I was going to have a baby in July so would enjoy a few sprint races and a few running events, and then enjoy the summer and get back to competition in the fall and 2012.  Instead, we found out at 10 weeks that we won't be having a baby after all, at our exciting 10 week visit Monday we found out I'm not having a baby, I'm having a miscarriage.  :(

So now,  I have no idea what is in store for 2011.  I don't know if we'll try again or not, if I'll race in 2011 or not, and it's killing me.  I love to have the next season planned, know what I have to look forward to and work toward.  I had a 2 year plan 3 days ago.  It's very motivating, now I have zero motivation.  I actually am not motivated to compete right now at all, can you believe that?  I'm sure it will come back eventually, but my whole world is turned upside down right now.  It's amazing how many plans and hopes and dreams can be made in 10 weeks.  It's so hard to have them all gone now.  I didn't bring it up on my family blog -which you're welcome to read, just don't stalk my kids  ;) - because I didn't want it misunderstood, but I would guess most of you could understand this side of it too.

This baby was timed out so well!  We don't normally have great control over when we get pregnant, but we were fortunate to have it happened when I wanted.  We'd have a baby in July, I'd be able to do a competitive Olympic tri in October, and then have a 5-6 month old when it was time to really start training hard.  Now I have no idea.  I'll stop beating around the bush and just say it.  I wanted to race Ironman St George in 2012.  Yes I understand my baby would have been under a year old, but I've been through this a few times now and I knew what I was getting myself in to.  But now everything's a mess.  I age up in 2013, so it's race it again in 2011 or 2012.  Sure I could do another race, but this one is most convenient for my family and I and our budget, and probably my best shot at qualifying.  But now I have no idea where to go from here.  If I didn't care about qualifying, I'd just do any race, whenever the time was most convenient, probably Vineman in California in August even though it isn't Ironman brand.  IF, huge IF we decided to try again and IF we got pregnant quickly, I'd be due anywhere from October to December 2011.  There is absolutely no way I can leave a 1-2 month old home with my husband for even 3 or 4 hours while I go off and train.  It's not fair to him and it's not fair to the baby and frankly I don't know that I'll be up to a 50 mile ride, 10 mile run 8-10 weeks postpartum.  I've done 5 mile races and sprint tri's at 5-7 weeks out, but that's about it.

 Ironman, triathlon, training, these are not my life.  I love them a lot and they make me and my life better, but my family does come first.  I'm just so sad this happened.  So mad and disappointed it happened.  I'm going from such a high to such a low.  So confused about where to go from here.  I had no intentions of racing IMSG in 2011.  I have no real base right now to build off of, we don't really have the money for the entry, and it was just wasn't in our plans.  I really wanted to watch this year and see how it plays out and be totally ramped up and excited and ready to go at it in 2012.  And I don't know that I can say we're done having kids, and if we're not done, I'd rather get on with it so they're not any farther apart.  Now I just don't know.  I hope my husband and I are able to figure things out quickly for my mental sake, and I hope I'm able to get some motivation to want to go out and do anything, swim, bike, or run.  Right now really sucks.  I'm all of the sudden not pregnant, can't be excited for the great spring and summer I was looking forward to getting my big pregnant belly out there and being active.  Please don't misunderstand all this talk about my own selfish timing for racing and such.  I am VERY much saddened and grieving over this loss, this baby.  This is just an outlet for me to talk about the less important but still important part of this loss for me.  Thanks for reading if you got this far.

I want this shirt!

LOVE IT!

SO cute!  Husband are you listening?  This would be an excellent Christmas present for this Triathlon Mom!!  Thanks for pointing out the link Paul!

CEP compression sock review

The stockings all hung by the chimney with care......sorry, couldn't resist  :)

So after attending a Powertri clinic about compression apparel I walked away with a pair of CEP compression socks.  I'm telling you people, if you're local, come to the clinics!  They're free, they're always informative, and you often times leave with product of some kind.  I answered a question right, so I got a pair of socks.  Come to the clinics!  And if you can't, you can watch them live online, or recorded online here.  Here is a link to the compression clinic I refer to in this review.

So anyway, I was thrilled to have a pair, and like some women, questioned and questioned what color to get, and eventually ended up with pink which I like.  The pink is pretty trendy with the ladies so if you want to be different, pink might not be your choice.  Believe me, I considered the lime green  :)   I was excited to get them when I did since my husband and I were going to run the Halloween Half Marathon in a couple weeks and it is a very downhill course, perfect testing grounds.

Compression is about lowering muscle vibration/bounce during impact, but more importantly, all about blood flow and keeping it from pooling in your feet and calves. Compression wear,  proper compression wear keeps the blood flowing well which improves oxygenation of the blood, improving lactic acid metabolism. We're all going to produce lactic acid, it's just an energy cycle, but with the proper oxygen in your blood it can get flushed out more efficiently. CEP's socks and sleeves (the term for calf sleeves, socks without the foot part basically) do not have to only be used during activity, but can be used before and after as well. As explained at CEPsocks.com, "Pre-exercise - muscle activation and reduction of injury risk, During Exercise - optimized performance and stabilization, reduced muscle strain, Post-Exercise - quicker and shorter recovery phase"

Now I've had compression wear, but only true recovery tights, these ones from Zoot, not active wear.  I think I notice a difference with the recovery tights, but it can be hard to tell how much with recovery only stuff, I do think it's beneficial though.  Maybe I'll wear one leg on one leg off sometime.....ok, probably not....maybe.  I was hoping for a more noticeable difference with the CEP socks since you use them during.  CEP even "consistently see increases in athlete's performance by up to 5% as well as a drastic reduction in recovery time and increase in lactic acid metabolization.".  5%?  Do the math, that's a savings of 12 minutes in a 4 hour marathon, or 4.5 minutes in a 1:30 half marathon.  That's pretty significant for a pair of socks my friends.  I didn't get to test them out for speed, but I did for distance, elevation drop and lactic acid metabolism.  And let me tell you, watching people at the finish line of this race really proved it.  Everyone was protecting their calves and complaining how bad they hurt, which is understandable on such a steep downhill course.  Been there, done that, many a time.  The pain for me?  Nada, nothing, zipp!  Seriously, my calves felt the same way they did when we started the race.  My poor husband, several friends, and dozens of people on the race's Facebook page were dying right after and for several days, but I honestly felt no pain or discomfort at all.  And I don't attribute that to running slower than my usual race pace since I was with my husband.  I ran a 10 mile downhill long run with my husband and friend at a pace slower than my race pace the week before and I came away considerably sore, but not this race day.  These results were unlike anything I've ever felt.  This is definitely something I will be using in my next half marathon or marathon, for sure!

So now that you're intrigued, let me tell you a little bit more about CEP.  They are a company from Germany (thanks to Sarah for the correction) and have just penetrated the athletic scene in the U.S. over the last couple years and are now the most popular brand of compression socks at Kona, the 140.6 Ironman World Championships.  They come from a medical background making true medical grade compression necessary for some people's day to day health.  They make excellent quality stuff, not just slightly snug socks that look cool (or not depending on who you're talking to).  Check out the science here. as well as the CEP link above.  I've tried on 3-4 different popular brands and these guys have it right.  They have a left and right sock as our feet are not the same, they have more Achilles and ankle support than any other brand I've tried, and they're long enough.  That's a big issue with a lot of brands, especially calf sleeves (socks without the foot part, used mainly for shorter triathlons), some can come very short.  The sole in these socks is also really nice and padded.   I don't feel like I"m going to put a hole in these in a few months.  They are built anatomically, of course allowing room for your calf, true graduated compression, these socks are not just straight up tube socks, you in fact have to measure your calf to choose your size, not just choose small, medium, large.  And just a tip, the women's socks are the same, just shorter, so if you're a man with shorter legs consider getting the women's so that you don't end up with a lot of fabric under your knee.  And tall women, works both ways, find your calf measurement on the mens chart and buy a man's if you have really long legs.  CEP is great with a 30 day money back guarantee too, so you can give them a try.  Did I mention they're the lowest price tag brand out there?  Yeah, they are!  I LOVE selling people on CEP because it's such good quality stuff, honestly the best that I've tried, but for significantly less than the other big brands like Zoot, Skins, and 2XU.

A few more details I want to give you, a lot of people, myself included, see these and say "no way, I'm running in the middle of summer, I'm going to be way too HOT in those!".  Not so though, the socks have many ventilation channels, and actually help keep you cool when the water you splash on yourself at aid stations runs down your legs.
Socks vs Sleeves.  The socks are better for recovery than sleeves, can be worn for longer periods of exercise, and in my opinion are the best choice if you compete in half-full marathons or half-full Ironman races.  The sleeves lack the foot part obviously which interferes with circulation a bit, but are a good choice for shorter distance triathletes who don't want to take the time to put them on after the swim.  With a sleeve you still get benefit but you can wear it under your wetsuit.  You can also wear sleeves after with flip flops if you don't want closed toed shoes post race.  CEP also recommends you don't wear the sleeve for more than 2 hours of running, a sock is better suited for the 13.1 distances and up for most people.
And finally, how to put these on.  I didn't use them in Ironman St George this year obviously, but plan to the next time I race a half or full Ironman, especially such an arduous course like St George.  But I can't afford 5 minutes struggling to get them on.  If you're like me, you scrunch your socks up, push your feet in and are off.  Try that with a compression sock, go ahead  :)  It's going to be VERY hard to scrunch them (think trying to stretch a dozen+ elastics all together) and stretch them enough to get your foot in.  And add moisture to your foot and it gets even funner.  But Matt Frazier the CEP rep who came to the clinic showed us a great technique.  You fold down the top half of the sock inside out over the foot part, slide just the foot part (with leg section over top) on over the heel, then you can simply pull the leg part up.  Make sense?  Try it, even with a normal sock, so much easier.  I could easily say I could have these on in under a minute with this technique.

So there you go, a long review, I apologize, but I hope it helped some of you.  Compression isn't just a fad, and with great quality brands like CEP out there, you can find out what it's all about for yourself.  Powertri carries their full line of running/triathlon socks and sleeves (CEP does actually make other socks for many different uses like walking, hiking, winter sports, soccer, etc), so you can come in, get measured and try them on for yourself, or you can always order online.  My athlete discount code does sweeten the deal some too.  :)  Oh and it can get even sweeter.  Check out this link to win a free pair of socks or sleeves of your choice simply by submitting a photo of you wearing CEP in your next race.  Race and train on friends!!

My little runner

One of them anyway, they all like to run! 

But I thought this picture from the Thanksgiving day races my family did was classic. 

Cute little thing

Favorite Person Friday

Ok so I won't really do one of these regularly, but my twin sister Stephanie definitely deserves it right now!  We are the best of friends!  We had a rough growing apart patch during high school, but since then as we've gotten married we've become super close.  She lives in Michigan, but we still know exactly how one another will feel in a given situation and can confide anything.  We'll still end up dressing alike unknowingly when we're together which I find fun.

Her first race shirt!!

Anyway, she started running in the summer after what I think she told me what a bug from watching Ironman St George.  Can't say I didn't know it would happen  :)   I'm really proud of her.  She's had some aches and pains since she started that I'd like to go away sooner than later, but she's still going.  I got to get her a 'coach to 5k' plan together and she followed it.  So on Thanksgiving we ran the Earn Your Turkey 4 miler together while she's out here for the holiday.  Her first race, I'm honored to have run it with her and she did great!  Was breathing quietly the whole time, never walked or complained, and we ended up finishing in 42 minutes, 3 minutes faster than she thought she could go!!

It was so fun running together.  I wish we could be neighbors so we could meet outside our houses in the morning and run a few miles together just chatting and enjoying the sunrise.  Someday, but until then we'll just make it a point to run together any time she's here or I'm there (our next race is already plotted for May).  And someday out there, she'll do a triathlon, I just know it......right Sis?   ;)
We watched my kids race after and all of them ran happily and self motivated, that's all I would ask for.  I'm so grateful for family.  I love my kiddies and husband to death, as I do the rest of my family, especially my sister with whom I share such a special bond.  You did great Sis!  Come back soon!!

Guess what I got to race in??

No no, no cool Ironman or anything like that, just a 5k, but that's not the super cool part.  The race was fun and all, I got to run at my old high school, but I got to race IN the Altra Intuition road shoe!!  These aren't available to the public yet, but will be soon!  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but my husband is 1 of 3 co-founders of Altra Running, a high energy innovative thinking company creating new and unique and awesome running shoes!
There are plenty of running shoe manufacturers you might say, why one more, how are they any different?  Their concept lies in 4 key things

• Foot shaped design - last time I checked my feet and toes weren't pointed in the middle like most running shoes.  Altra's shoes are rounded toes, wide in the toe box allowing the toes to spread out while running.  Try running barefoot on a soft surface sometime, or heck just stand barefoot on the ground.  Your toes will naturally spread out a little.  Altra's shoes make that possible, allowing you a bigger more powerful platform (your wide toes) to push off from.
• Zero drop - meaning zero hight deviation between the front of the shoe and the back, no chunky heel.  It does not mean NO material/cushion (the term cushion is very misused/misunderstood) under your foot, it simply means a flat natural surface to work off of.  No one's heel is raised off the ground when barefoot.  A large heel grabs the ground first, and a heel strike equals more impact and less efficient running, you're basically putting the brakes on.  You should try running in these, or just barefoot, it is so much easier to land on your mid foot underneath you, it's lovely
• Gender specific shoes - Here's my favorite term ever - 'Pink it and shrink it'.  That's what every other running shoe does for their women's line.  Add some pink and make the shoe narrower.  Last time I checked my feet were not the same shape as my husbands.  Women's feet are anatomically different in their bone structure.  So these guys at Altra made a true female specific last (or model for what the sole of the shoe is made from).  I can attest it really is different, and great!
• Learn To Run Initiative - Altra has a motto: Learn to Run, Live to Run, Love to Run.  Part of that is running with good form.  Not only will it make you faster and reduce your chances at injury, but it will make running more enjoyable!  So many people start and stop or never even start running because they don't understand how, it doesn't feel good, it's hard, I can't run.  Not true!  With some form guidance and the knowledge that you have to start out slowly, anyone can run if they want to.  You can read more about it here.  There are 4 simple steps to good form, it's worth your time.  Altra isn't just in this to sell shoes, their mission is to improve your running experience.

So anyway, the shoes are set to release to specialty running stores (contact yours and tell them you want Altra!) and online probably too, by April 1st (maybe Feb/March for the road shoe, Instinct and Intuition), but the boys just got back from the biggest running retailer expo in the country, The Running Event, in Austin, TX this week, and of course they needed demo shoes to show to the world.  Well after being rushed from the factory overseas, a couple came home with us and I get to wear the Intuition around for a while.  Yay!  It's been a long hard road getting this far so it's great to hold the real thing in your hand.  And it's almost time for everyone else to be able to too!

One quick note I thought I'd make, I mentioned barefoot running a lot in the 4 points above.  When people say barefoot running, they don't usually mean truly bare feet.  Yes some people do run many miles that way, and no they aren't tribal.  Barefoot Running usually means natural running by wearing minimalist shoes or simply running barefoot some of the time.  The misconception starts when people think they're supposed to throw their shoes away and never use them again.  Well yeah, that might make some people question the validity and safety of this barefoot movement going on.  This isn't the case though!  Barefoot running is meant as a drill, a strength tool, strength training for your feet if you will.  By taking your shoes off once a week and running on a soft surface for 30seconds-30 minutes you will improve your running.  Your feet will get stronger, joints more resistant to injury, and you'll teach your body better form.  It's much harder to reach way out in front of you and heel strike barefoot.  Most people land closer under their body and take faster shorter strides when barefoot.  So for the beginner barefooter, seriously, start at 30 seconds one day a week and don't run fast, just a easy to doable pace.  The next week add 30 seconds or a minute working your way up to maybe a mile or two after several weeks.  That's a great distance, you don't really need to go past it.  You must start gradually though as our feet are very babied and weakened by traditional shoes.  Those arch supports?  A crutch for most people.  Barefoot running will strengthen your arches.  I am not a wing nut barefoot proponent.  I'm a proponent for strong feet and joints and proper form, and incorporating a few minutes of running barefoot on a soft surface will help you achieve that.

Checking out the shoes pre-race  :)

And just like barefoot running, when the Altra Running shoes do come out, you'll start gradually with them, and there will be guidelines in the box telling you that.  Most shoes don't expect as much out of your feet or legs, and the positive change in form that will happen with a zero drop shoe will take time for your muscles to adjust to.  I've been running in modified zero drop shoes for about a year now.  We take regular running shoes into a cobbler, or shoe-smith if you will, and they cut out a section of the heel, glue it back together so we can have a closer attempt at zero drop, but the real thing?  Oooh baby it's nice!  I was 'blessed' with bunions (bony protrusion by my big toe) on both feet and they make finding any kind of shoe a challenge.  The Intuition felt so great, in fact, I could hardly feel them at all.  The shoe wraps around your heel and ankle so well and feels very secure.  I am so excited that these are finally becoming public, they sincerely are great shoes!  And they're not only for the elite runner or the extremest.  They will make anyone's running a better experience.  I'll keep you updated as the release dates approach, but you can also visit their website or Facebook page (lots of new shoe pics on Facebook too).

No new PR, I took 3rd overall, but just the chance to get out and be with my family, run fast and run in some great shoes made for a great Saturday morning for me!

Running on my old stomping grounds with 2 of my babies after the race

You know it's the off season when....

...you spend all Saturday morning (7:30am-1:30pm to be precise) cleaning, doing yard work, and caring for children INSTEAD of enjoying some long epic workout or race.  Oh well, such is life.  I thought about working out but it was my oldest's birthday party, and I just didn't really have time, and I'm ok with it.  Of course once I see pictures from races (like Turkey Tri that morning) it does me in and I wish it was race time again.  I'm weak, I know.

I just love racing.  I love going fast and feeling my body that I've trained cooperate and 'show up' on race day.  I love the anticipation of a race coming up, I love the 3 days before a race where I really prep my body nutritionally, I love seeing people I know at races, I love hearing and seeing my kids cheer for me when they come, and I love trying to podium (not being prideful, just saying it as it is, it's satisfying and fun JUST like finally placing in my age group was at one time and should be for most people).  I love following a training plan, knowing what I'm going to do every day.  So much in fact, I must get one back.  I am useless without it

Now there is for sure a time and a place for a break from everything, I've taken about a true week off so far.  I have worked out a couple times, but none really planned, just going out to do something.  It's nice to focus on my kids more, my house and cleaning it (my Achilles heel - I am NOT a domestic goddess), just other stuff.  But honestly, after about 2 weeks I've had enough and it's time for a training plan.  So I'll put something simple together so I know what workout is scheduled so they actually get done, because I feel so much better when they do.  A long base period until January/February when I can start thinking more about periodization and speed work and long rides/runs.  I'd really like to work on strength training this winter.  I have slacked seriously in this department for quite a while, at least a year.  A strong base is so important to effective speed and power, injury prevention, and just feeling well.  Here are a few strength training and off season training articles I found online.
Here - Periodized Strength Training Program.  Doesn't have some of the bigger movememt/dynamic moves I've been turned onto lately, but good info none the less.
Here - Off season article by Keena Schaerrer, a great coach and fellow Powertri athlete
Here - Another great summary on off season training by the great Debbie Perry, a great nutritionist and coach in SLC
And not off season specific, but I just found it and thought I'd show you the topical index for David Warden's (an owner of Powertri and the completely-geekiest-know-it-all when it comes to triathlon coaching....he's my boss, I can say that) Tri Talk podcasts, the most popular triathlon podcast site online.  Great thing to listen to during this off season.
Did I mention geeky?  Yes?  Well this is the man responsible for David's nerdiness.....I mean complete and impressive obsession for training knowledge and numbers  :)  Joe Freil, and he's written 4 excellent blog posts recently on Base Training.

So there's some jabber from me, what's your "you know it's the off season when..."  line?

Want another chance at a Handful Bra?

My favorite bra ever!!  Check out my friend Aly's cute blog,
A Little Great.  Good luck!!

Halloween Half Marathon review

My husband and I had the chance to run the Halloween Half Marathon together this past Saturday in Provo, Utah.  My husband ran a little track in high school, but nothing serious.  Then he picked up running (or any exercise for that matter) last summer, 10 years later, and I'm so glad!  While it can present training time management challenges with the two of us, he understands me better now, and best of all we can go out and be active together!  Now I've come to learn that we have our differences still, speed/endurance obviously being one of them because I've been fit for over a decade, he only has one year under his belt.   He doesn't care that I train or race faster, but he isn't overly fond of trying to do my quality workouts with me, even if he goes at his pace, and frankly I don't like having to worry if he's upset or not that I'm ahead.  So that's ok, we've learned that we can go on base. or non-tempo or speedwork runs together, and most trail runs (although he is way more into 'bagging' peaks than I am, I'd rather find a rolling trail and run fast, he likes climbing to the top of stuff then flying down).  Anyway, not sure where I was going with that except that we wanted to do this together.  I'd normally be about 20 minutes faster, but didn't care about that Saturday.

So anyway, we arrived at the buses at 6:40am or so only to find a VERY long line of people waiting to get on.  We also saw at least a dozen if not more buses waiting to be loaded.  We probably stood in line for close to 45 minutes while they loaded 1 bus at a time.  That's ridiculous.  I went up and asked some guy who appeared to be in charge why and he said "we have to make sure every bus is full, it's just easier for us".  Well yes, I'm sure it is, but there's no reason you can't load 3 buses at a time and check the full status of 3 buses, that's not 10, it's 3.  Just seemed silly to me that they were trying to get the race as large as possible, even encouraging people to call their friends to sign up the night before at packet pickup, yet they weren't being smart about getting everyone up there and not waiting in the cold for an hour.  We got up there in time and there was only 2 buses that were after the 9am start time, but still, could have been SO much more efficient.

Pre Race

So we get to the top and to the race director's credit there is a heated 15,000 sqft tent.  Very nice touch.  Not room to spread out per say, but plenty of standing room to watch the somewhat disorganized but entertaining costume contest.  The usual lines for bathrooms, not more than 15 minute wait probably.  The only thing the start was really lacking was water and music (both which can be important).

Steeper downhill about mile 2, Mt Timpanogus behind us

Anyway, so a brief post about the race itself.  Starting a couple miles above Sundance Resort, the first 5 miles are very steep, much steeper than one would normally run.  Didn't feel unmanageable except for in a couple spots.  The next 8 were on the Provo River Trail which is very forgiving, either flat, slight up, or slight down.  No big deal.  I was worried about crowding, but I think our pace managed to avert it.  Seeing some pictures like this one, from slower paces though, it looks like it got pretty crowded.

The aid stations were fine, simple, but fine.  Although they totally could have put MUSIC at least at the aid stations.  They made a big point that this was a fun exciting race, but it was kind of quiet and lonely during all but the start and finish.  I took a gel at mile 5 and water at most aid stations and was fine.  My hubby did well until about 9 or 10 where I kind of had to keep the motivation alive (very carefully though as not to make him feel like I wanted to run ahead, I did, but I didn't want him to feel that way), and then finally we got to mile 12 and we ran the last mile in under 8.  So we ended up with a 1:46 which is a 3 minute PR for him and not insanely slow for me, but yes, 20 minutes slower than I could have gone and it was hard sometimes to be running that slow, but it was easy and fun and gave me a chance to observe the fun costumes around me.  Some favorites were a Forest Gump who carried a box of chocolates the whole way, a Mr Clean who carried a mop the whole way, Dwight from The Office, and a huge 6ft5in guy in a full Captain America muscle costume.  Oh and my good friend Jason Crompton sported a full Super Grover costume.  Check out Zazoosh or the Halloween Half website for more.

Couple more tiffs I had with the race.  Finish food was sad, self serve cut up oranges and apples and bottled water, that's it.  No carbs (bagels), treats, chocolate milk etc.  Had to walk back 3 blocks from the finish line to get our drop bags.  I heard the transportation back to where people parked was ridiculous, taking an hour to go 10 minutes, and we saw several people walking the 2 miles back to the cars.  And finally the shirt.  Now don't get on me because I'm being prideful or something, my husband even pointed it out.  The shirt says in big bold letters "Halloween Marathon".  Now I've done marathons, and I don't know about you, but they were quite noticeably different than the half marathons I've done  :)  My husband could've thought that was cool to have a shirt that says he did a marathon, but he didn't and he doesn't.  That's like saying you're an Ironman when you haven't gone the 140.6 miles, not cool  ;)

We had fun though and that's what was important.  I don't know that I'll race with him again unless it's some fun race with costumes or a team event or something, but this was fun.  

Wanna party?

Come check out the Powertri Kona Party on Saturday!!  

All day coverage on a big screen of the Ironman World Championships from 10am-11pm (when our athletes finish). 
Food to sample and purchase
Kids races for kids under 12 with free T-shirts while they last
TONS to give away!  Bigger stuff at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm, smaller stuff in between on the hour

It'll be fun, I promise!  Just come stop by for a few minutes and soak up the yummy spirit that is Ironman at it's best!  I'll be there too from 5pm on if that's any greater incentive, I'd love to say hi!