What a week... Baby, Ironman and lessons learned.

Last week was a week that will never be forgotten, nor is it one that we would want to forget!

In order of importance and coincidentally chronologically as well, here is how our past week played out.


Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. we got the call from labor and delivery that we needed to be at the hospital around 10:00 a.m. so we called my M-I-L gave the girls a kiss, took some final photos and made our way to AF Hospital.

There are several details that I am going to leave out since I am a guy. After getting all situated at the hospital Cort got her water broke (kind of), petocine, epidural and water broke again (in that order). Around 3:45 p.m. the nurse came in to check Corts' progress (once of many checks throughout the day) and Cort told the nurse that she felt like she was prairie dogging (she did use those words) due to a large amount of pressure down below, the nurse assured her that it was completely normal and that the pressure is a sign the baby is getting closer. As the nurse started flinging carts and medical supplies around she told Cort to relax as much as possible. Cort and I interpreted that to mean that we still had a little while. The nurse then said after rearranging the room that she would be back with the doc. Cort and I looked at each other and then clarified with nurse "does that mean I am ready?" Cort asked in confusion. The nurse responded yeah, that why I told you to relax as much as possible, you are ready to start pushing. The Doc came in asked for a practice push to gage how things were going to go and where the baby was situated. No one in the room anticipated it to be the only push. Just like that our stud muffin baby was born! 6 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches long and a lot of hair; he is already sporting the fohawk.

So, I introduce you to Drake Brent Smith

Thursday night I left for St George so I could make final packet pickup by 8 a.m. Yes, I left my day old baby and healing wife in the hospital (something I am not overly proud of, but it was in the plan). All day Friday I prepared for the race, picked up race packet, got body marked, dropped of bike to Sand Hollow, packed my special needs bags, transition bags and dropped them off at the appropriate areas. Went back and rested up and continued the carbo loading process. Cort on the other hand, checked out of the hospital around noon and went home to do some last minute packing (I had already taken all the bags with me the night before). On their way down to St George they called the pediatrician, Elle had been fighting a fever for a few days and was not eating very good. The Pediatrician instructed them to find the nearest instacare and get her in at once. It so happens that the closet instacare was in Provo so with a care full of kids Cort and her parents stopped at the instacare to get Elle checked. She was diagnosed with a viral infection and the doc sent them on their way, they finally arrived in St George around 10:30 Friday night. (I have an amazing wife)

Saturday morning...Ironman Baby

















It was an amazing day. I quickly learned that Ironman branded triathlons are more than just a triathlon it is a production and it is just like what you see on tv. It's the real deal. There are obviously 3 parts to a triathlon: swim, bike and run (in that order) here is how my day went.


Swim 2.4 miles: Water temp was 58 degrees; about an hour into the swim both legs crapped, I thought I was done. I could not move, after about 10-15 mins of holding onto a kayak (which is legal as long as there is no forward motion) and massaging and stretching my legs the best I could I was able to continue and finish the swim. Coming out of the water I knew that I was at the back of the pack, I just did not realize how far back I was. Later I would find out that I was in 1780th place. Yes, you read that right, I was SLOW. After about 13 minutes in the changing tent trying to get my core temperature up I finally made my way to my bike, it was not hard to find since 80% of the participants were already on the bike course.


Bike 112 miles: The bike went well, not much to report on that.
















Run 26.2 miles: Ouch! About half way through the run my legs were so tight that it felt like I have knives in both of my quads, it hurt. The course had a lot of hills and was an out and back run that was repeated twice.


















The Finish: As I mentioned in the previous post, I knew after being out all day that my emotions would flow as I neared the finish line. The race had much more behind it than the 13 hours of racing. It has required a ton of time and sacrifice from those I love the most...my family the best support crew a person could ask for. For the past several months I have put in hundreds of hours of training, but Cort has been pulling the load as well, she has been amazing and if it weren't for her support I would have never been able to accomplish this life time goal.

I ended up placing 640th out of 2200 people which means from the time I stubbled out of the water to the time I crossed the finish line I passed over 1100 people and that felt good. Not to shabby for my 1st Ironman.

What a ride!

Thanks to all those who helped us out last week and cheered us on. We could not have done it with out family, friends and great neighbors.