Post Race Vacation begins...

The alarm went off at 6:40 am and I was up, I didn't want to miss getting any of the finishers clothing. I'm glad I got there at 7 am when the doors opened, they didn't have much or much of a selection which surprised me. For the first time I saw some generic Ironman finisher clothes without the race logo or year. I would never buy that stuff. It seems that WTC is cheeping out on the clothing. They even had some shirts from last year on the bargain rack for 50% off.

I had two objectives, get some finishers clothes, I need to add to my Ironman wardrobe AND exchange my actual finishers shirt for one that fits. They gave me an XL and I ordered a M. I was happy with the finishers clothes, I got an orange pullover I really liked and a collared shirt. I then found the WTC person in charge and gave her my finishers shirt and she's going to send me a new one. Mission accomplished.

Physically I feel fine, my legs don't even feel like I've done an Ironman. When we got to Vegas today I even ran across the street to beat traffic with no problem. I was even thinking that I should go for a run this week, then I said "nah, enjoy the time off".  However, I am tired from lack of sleep. The night before Ironman I had a good sleep, but I had to get up at 4:30 am and then last night I got to bed around 1 am and I had to be up for 6:40 am.

What really tired me out was going for post race beers with John Klain (@fetcher54) and Tammy (@tammygirl). I set it up to meet with them and a couple other guys, one a pro and the other a friend of Jevons (@ironmanj) at Players Bar and Grill at 11:30 am. We waited and waited and waited and I told Alyssa that by 12:30 if no one shows, we're out of here. Then just around that time John and Tammy walked in. They are great people and we had a lot of laughs. The one thing about twitter is you tend to find people who share you sense of humour and when you meet there's no holding back or uncomfortableness. You don't have to be too polite.

I don't know what we talked about but we laughed and laughed. John and Tammy are great, loads of fun. I also noticed that we all have that same gene that doesn't allow us to say no when they ask us if we would like another round. Tammy can drink, if we have a mixed competition and I have to go against Simon or Matty O with a female, I'll take Tammy as my partner. The amazing thing I found about Tammy is she's older, but photographs younger. She told me she has a 41 year old son and I said I didn't think she looked old enough to have a son over 40 years old. That got her laughing as she punched me in the shoulder.

John was teaching telling us that when you do a cheers and bang your glasses together you're supposed to look the other person in the eye or you get 7-years of bad sex. Yeah right John, it didn't take me long to realize that was a pick up line. The other problem is when you look the other person in the eye, it's hard to clink the glasses properly or without hitting a finger. It's also creepy looking another man in the eye when you cheering beer.

The afternoon was a blast and I'm glad just John and Tammy showed up, the other two no shows weren't blog or twitter followers and it may have changed the dynamic. Unfortunately Matt Pixa, another blog follower couldn't show up, he did the race and was driving back with his family. I've never met Matt and I don't have to to know he's a class guy. When we got to the bar, by chance I was talking to the manager and at the end I introduced myself and the manager said, "You're Bryan? Matt called and said to buy you a couple of drinks on him". Now that's one class guy and I know that had Matt not been with his family and fulfilling his father / husband duties he would have been with us for sure. Matt did a 15:24 on not much training, it was pretty much a training race for him.

Before we left I gave John my wetsuit. After that scary swim I don't ever want to see that thing again. John is just getting into triathlons, is 28 yrs old, lost 45 lbs and is signed up for IMAZ in November and does have a wet suit, he rents. Normally I'd sell it, but John's been a good friend, a Training Payne Party Fund supporter and I was a little drunk when I said you can have it. He's also a stand up guy, he made me look good when he paid me back the $600 I borrowed him to register for IMAZ. You gotta love John, he showed up at 12:30 pm today still drunk from last night partying in Mesquite and someone gave him a room key with a number on it and he didn't know who it was from. I laughed and told him I figured they were probably trying to get him up to the room to roll him.

By the time we left I was tired, real tired and afternoon beers doesn't help. Alyssa ended up driving to Vegas as I dozed off in the passenger seat. The next thing I feel is Alyssa smacking or pushing on me to wake me up and telling me we are out of gas. It was low, the lowest I've ever seen and we are in the middle of a highway with no towns in sight. It was now a matter of seeing how far the fumes could take us. I told Alyssa to take her foot off the gas and coast down the hills. Somehow we managed to get to a gas station 5 miles off the highway and fill up. That 20-minute sleep really helped I still tired but sobered up.

We got to Vegas and checked into the Vdara, the winds were incredibly strong, the car was moving from side to side just parked in front of the hotel. Even when we left St. George the winds were really strong, I'm glad we raced yesterday in the heat and not today in the winds. We checked in and I had another 90 minute snooze in the room before we headed out for a steak dinner at Smith and Wollensky and then on to the Rio to watch Penn & Tellier. Alyssa and I agreed the show was about a 6 out of 10. Before the show we went up on stage to check out their prop box, it gave us something to do.

I was really glad to get home and into bed, I need a good night sleep to catch up. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. I even tried to snack for the first time on some M & M's that Alyssa had and I could only eat about 10 before putting them down and getting some cashew nuts. Even on vacation and after and IM I can't snack. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week and getting back to eating healthy and less, no more carbo loading. Thankfully.

On the mothers day front, Reid and Alice went to Boston Pizza. Reid's favourite place. Alice has been looking forward to going for mothers day dinner with him for the past couple of weeks. Reid even remembered to sign the card Alyssa gave to him to give to Alice. I'm proud to report he has his priorities straight and knows which side his bread is buttered. Not to mention his breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, wake up calls, laundry, put his socks on for him, drive him to school, pick him up, take him to the store, take him to movies and paint ball and the list goes on and on.

I joke that Reid will still be at home at home with Alice at the age of 50. He's got a good thing going. Heck, who am I kidding, we all do. I'm going to be very sad when the kids aren't at home. I told Alyssa that yesterday or the day before and she said not to worry, she's going to be in school for a long time and has no plans of leaving. That makes me happy.

No Training - Post IMSG recovery.