I married a superhero

I once heard Jerry Seinfeld do a comedy sketch about how no matter how old a man is deep down he still thinks he is, or longs to be, a superhero. Well, my husband is a superhero!
I have had butterflies in my stomach all day as we checked in today for his Ironman. For those who are not familiar, an iron man race is:

2.4 mile swim (about 2 hours)
112 mile bike (anywhere from 6-8 hours)
26.2 mile run. (around 4 hours)

He has had butterflies about it too.....Here he is checking in

Here he is 10 min later.....you know you are nervous when you have to go so bad you are willing to use a foul smelling porta potty. The average time is 14 hours total. Can you imagine 14 hours of excruciating physical exertion. The girls and I will be there at 7am as he begins and we will be there to see him cross the finish line at about 9:30 or 10:00pm.

Here are a few of the conversations we had with the girls tonight.

Olivia: "Has anyone ever died doing this"
Dad: "yes"
Olivia: "Dad, please please please don't do it. I don't want you to die"

Dad: "Sweetie, come on, I am not going to die"

Ava: "Dad, I don't want you to do your race tomorrow."
Dad: "Why sweetie"
Ava: "Because I really don't think you can win. Here Dad run around the room, let me see how fast you are"....Dad runs around the room....."Ok, I guess you are fast but you aren't very good on the bike so I still don't think you can win".
Dad: "Ava, I don't think I can win either."

Chloe: "Mom, Olivia says that people have died doing these, is that true?"
Mom: "Yes sweetie it is true, it is very rare, but people have died"
Chloe: "Mom, I am really worried, do you think Dad will die"
Mom: "No hon, I don't think he will die."

Getting his bike racked and ready

Here we are in front of the lake he is going to swim in tomorrow morning....oh I am nervous for him.

He is a super hero to me because the day we got married we wrote a list of all the things we wanted to accomplish before we die. Because of his perseverance we have accomplished everything on that list and are working on list number 2. If Christopher Bray ever sets his mind to something there is nothing that can stop him from accomplishing it. I have never seen anyone with such resolve. He will never give up. He told me 16 years ago that one day he would do an Iron Man and tomorrow he will fulfill that. I love him so much and will be praying for him.

If anyone wants to you can get on http://www.redmantriathlon.com/ and track his progress. He has a gps chip on his shoe that will give us updates as to where he is. His bib number is 161.

Good Luck Sweetie!!