Yes, here is the man. He made it. What an unbelieveable day it was for Jose and for us. We enjoyed every minute of it. Jose has finally completed his first Ironman and did quite well I might add. :0) His time was 11 hours and 40 minutes. Pretty good for a rookie huh?We got up at 5:30am in order to be at Johnson's Beach at 6:00am. His swim was scheduled to start at 6:45am. It was really cold in the morning, but the water was nice and warm, so that was great. We were all decked out in our "Team Pena" shirts and were so excited that the day had finally arrived. The kids did awesome and were all ready to cheer daddy on. It took Jose 1 hour and 23 minutes to complete the 2.4 mile swim. He came out of the water very strong and I had to laugh at the expression on his face. "This man was on a mission". I could tell. He had so much adrenaline rushing, that he ended up running the wrong way with his bike at first. The bike was his much feared part of the race. After all it was 112 miles he had to complete and the course seemed very hilly. It was going to be very hot that day. At mile 26 or so, Jose got stung by a bee on his head. The bee had gotten stuck in his helmet and of course it hurt like h... He got off his bike and a nice spectator was able to pull out the stinger from his head. Okay, that was not such a great feeling, but thank goodness, the remainder of the bike ride went well and the bike held up. The sting from the bee settled down and he was back. No flat tires, broken chains etc...thank you bike!!
When I saw Jose come in on his bike, I was so glad this part was over. I think he was too. He looked good and now it was time for the run. I just hoped that he had enough energy left over to complete the marathon. (26.2 miles) At this point it was in the 90's, so it was really hot outside. When he passed me for his first loop (he had to do three) I received a thumbs up and "I feel good". Yes, I knew he was going to make it. Running is his thing and after loop two when he passed by I was just so excited. He was doing great. So many emotions came up inside of me. I didn't know whether to scream (well, I did plenty of that), cry or what. I was so proud of him! I looked at the clock and realized he was going to make it within 12 hours. I couldn't believe it! That was my husband. Joey & Nico's dad. His goal was to make it in 12 -13 hours, but you never know what can happen during a race like this, so you really can't get too hung up on those times. The main goal was to finish. But now, I thought there could be a chance! I waited anxiously for his arrival for the finish and before I knew it, there he was. It still makes me cry just thinking about it. There he was. I was screaming, cheering, crying, it was so crazy...unbelieveable. I wanted to jump the fence, but of course that is not allowed...hihihihihi...He did it!! 1.5 years of hard training paid off and it was all worth it. The kids were so excited to see him again. After all they had waited almost 12 hours for daddy and did a fantastic job. He felt really great afterwards and had only a few blisters on his feet that bugged him. That's it. Hard to still believe it all. I am sure we will be revisiting this day for a long time to come. It was wonderful and I am so glad we were able to experience this as a family. Jose you are our Hero and our Champion. This poem is for you:
Champion
The average runner runs
until the breath in him is gone,
But the Champion has the iron will
that makes him carry on
For the rest the average runner begs
when limp his muscles grow
But the Champion runs on leaden legs,
his courage makes him so
The average man complacent
when he's done his best to score,
But the Champion does his best
and then he does a little more.
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