Training

Training for an Ironman is like having another job. It takes hours of committment. James tries hard not to allow his training to take time away from the boys. On days that he has to work, he usually gets up at 4:00 am to head to the gym and train. When he is off, he tries to run and ride outside. If it is raining, we have a treadmill for running and a "trainer" for his bike. The trainer allows him to still ride on his race bike, but turns it into a stationary bike for inside the house.

Here is the training schedule from last week. This is a fairly typical workout for the beginning stages of training for Kona.
Sunday-3 hour bike ride
Monday-1 mile swim
Tuesday-45 minute bike/30 minute run
Wednesday-1.2 mile swim/45 minute run
Thursday-1 hour bike
Friday-1000 meter swim/1 hour bike
Saturday-Rest Day!

The Littlest Ironman

The littlest member of the Garris Ironman team has a very big job. Whenever he can, he rides in the running stroller and encourages his Daddy! He is also in charge of "yelling" at any dogs that they pass on the road. It is a tough job, but someone has to do it!

April 15, 2011-Rylan's View

I went on a field trip with my big brother (because he is so cool!) After the field trip, Mommy was talking to Daddy on the phone and she started screaming. She scared me and I started crying. After we picked up brother from school, we went for ice cream. They would not let me have any, but Mommy, Daddy and Aaron all seemed really excited about something. So, I was happy, too!!

April 15, 2011-Aaron's View

James and Aaron celebrating the lottery slot that Daddy won!


On April 15, I had a field trip to Noah's Landing. There was a fat piggy and it was walking around during lunch time. I was sitting with Alex and Zach, and Zach almost rode on the fat piggy, because it almost carried him off.


I rode the bus back to school, because I like to ride the bus. Mommy, Daddy and Rylan picked me up from school. School was fun. In the car, I asked for a snack, and they said they had a surprise for me. We were going to get ice cream! Daddy handed me a DVD of an Ironman race in Hawaii, because he won a slot for Kona! I was excited!

April 15, 2011-James's View

April 15 started out like any other day. I taught a class and then went to a doctor's appointment. I had met Monica briefly in the parking lot. After telling her that I did not get a slot, she joked "My life sucks!" and drove away. I went inside to wait for my appointment.

Just out of curiosity, I was scrolling through the list of lottery winners. I was seeing if there was anyone from our area that would be going. I saw the name of our town and thought "who else does the Ironman there?" Then I saw my name! I dropped my phone and started shaking. I got up and walked outside. Soon, two nurses came rushing out to see if I was alright. I shakily said "I got a slot!" And one said, "yes, your appointment is at 2:15". "No," I said, "I got an Ironman slot!" They just looked at me like I was crazy and went back inside.

I then excitedly called Monica and when she did not answer, I left a voicemail for her to call me. After that, I called my buddy, Brad, and left another voicemail. I went back inside for my appointment. Monica called back when I was in with the doctor. The doc thought her screaming through the phone was quite amusing!

We came home, looked at the email some more and proceeded to call our friends and family to tell them our exciting news.

We picked Aaron up from school and took him out for ice cream to celebrate. When we told him, he just looked kind of stunned for a few minutes, but the excitement soon set in. A few weeks before, he had made a sign that said "We need to go to Hawaii!" Now, we were going to go!

Words cannot fully describe the shock of getting a lottery shot. This was a shot I never thought I would get!

April 15, 2011-Monica's View

Participating in the Ironman World Championship is a HUGE dream come true for James. Many nights we have spent watching past Ironman races on tv. On December 27, 2010, he entered the lottery for the 2011 race in Kona. He kept saying that he would never get a slot. "Things like that don't happen to guys like me!" I had a feeling he would get a slot, and the feeling grew stronger the closer we got to April 15, the day they announced the lottery results. I mentioned the feeling a few times, but James kept telling me I was crazy.

April 15 arrived as a sunny day with a field trip scheduled for Aaron. So, off he and I went to a local "zoo". Aaron rode the bus back to the school, and I briefly met up with James in the parking lot of the doctor's office. He had a follow-up doctor's appointment for a very nasty sinus infection that he had been suffering from. The lottery winners were to be notified by email after 12:00 noon. At 11:59, James checked his email and found no notification. He was disappointed and I was HUGELY disappointed, because I just KNEW he had gotten a slot. I jokingly said "My life sucks!" and drove away to my friend's house.

A little while later, I left my friend's house to discover a very panicked sounding voicemail on my phone. It said "Baby! Call me! Call me now! Just call me!" Well, I started to panic because I could not imagine what had gone wrong at the doctor's office. So, I called him back and he said "Your life does not suck after all! I got a slot!". I let out a scream so loud that it scared the baby in the back seat and he started crying. I told James "If this is a joke you are pulling, I am divorcing you! Now, keeping in mind that our marriage is riding on this, are you kidding me?" He said "No, Baby! I got a slot! We are going to Hawaii!" I screamed again and the baby screamed and cried some more. This went on for a little while longer as I raced home to see the results for myself on the Ironman website. When I found his name, I just stared and stared at the screen.

I KNEW he was going to get a slot!

Playing the Lottery!

At each Ironman race around the world, there are a certain amount of slots alloted for the top finishers in their age group, to have a spot at the World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, in October. There are usually 1,400 of these slots. In addition, there are 200 "professional slots" for the pro triathletes. 100 for the males and 100 for the females.

Then, there are the lottery slots... This year, around 28,000 people worldwide put in for the 200 lottery slots that are given to the "average joes" of the sport. These are the people, like James, who do triathlons simply for the love of the sport. On April 15, the winners of the lottery were announced! James had won a slot!