I consulted with my friend, Steph, prior to our trip for some good Madison food recs. She equipped me with a list and we were not disappointed once in the food department! After check in, we went to Marigold for a late lunch/brunch. Matt and I ordered the nitro cold brew coffee. Crazy to drink coffee out of a tap in the similar style of nitro beer. It was fabulous and we are now on a quest to find this treat in other spots.
After an afternoon of swimming in the hotel pool (where we met another family there for the race from St Louis--Dads talked shop, Moms talked kids/supporting crazy husbands, kids hit if off), we walked to dinner at Cento. We had no reservations and they were full, but offered to let us sit in the bar area at a high top table. It was risky with the girls, but they did great. They also didn't have a kids menu, but thankfully our girls adore pasta. So, Jillian ordered (and ate the near entirety of) the adult Chicken Parm, and Adrienne pounded some spaghetti with marinara. Matt enjoyed some carb loading with a mushroom pasta. I had an eggplant dish, and some on point Italian cocktails.
We walked to the Chocolate Shoppe for dessert, and Matt let the girls get ridiculously sized treats.
After a short night of sleep (pre-race nerves for Matt, hotels in general for me), we were up at 3:45. I found my ironman trying to quietly pack his race bag in the bathroom.
We drug the kids out of bed at 4:30 and made it to the race area at 5:15. It was hoppin!
I ordered the girls some shirts that say "I heart my irondad".
A few pre-race pictures before we sent our guy off to the transition area to prep and we headed to the VIP tent. This was a smart purchase for us. The girls and I had dedicated viewing areas for the start and finish, plus food/water throughout the day, and always a place to go sit out of the sun.
When Matt finally came down the chute to start, it was this crazy magical moment. The DJ had been playing great music for the start, but just before Matt began "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey began. This is one of Matt's favorite songs (he plays this on the piano often) and it was just cool that it would be his start music. We cheered like crazy when he headed past us!
My poor attempt at a selfie as we waited in a shaded area for Matt to return on the bike.
Back from the ride with more high fives.
I didn't get any good pictures of Matt as he left for the run, but he was looking strong and happy. It got very hot at this point, and we later learned that the last 6 miles of the run were very tough for him due to terrible leg cramps. He had to slow his pace way down to keep them at bay. We stood in anticipation for his finish watching people come across the line.
Here he comes!
Running to greet him after the finish
He did it!
Our team
Matt's goal was to finish under 6 hours. He came in at 5 hrs 48 minutes. This is amazing especially considering his run was much slower than his usual pace. He did so great! He finished in the top 25% for both his age group (of about 300 people) and the entire race group of 2500! After some time recovery time at the pool, we hit up the Old Fashioned for some post-race grub...fried cheese curds, burgers, and some tasty infused vodka cocktails for mama.
We wandered a bit and ended up at Insomnia cookies for some ice cream sandwiches before calling it a night. Everyone slept much better!
Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel before venturing out to explore the UW campus. The girls ordered the kids' buffet, but unlike normal buffets you just listed off what you wanted from the menu and they brought it to you. Our carb lover ordered Froot Loops, yogurt with chocolate chips, fruit, pancakes, and a cinnamon roll!
Walking out by the lake outside the union. Let's just say I wouldn't be at all disappointed if I had to visit one of my girls at this campus someday.
We took a long walk over to Babcock Hall to the dairy store. We got to see them making ice cream and cheese from the observation deck, and then we had a pre-lunch snack of the ice cream. Delicious!
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