Janus Charity Challenge UPDATE: Well, it wasn't as much as I wanted, but the final total for The National Foundation was $3451. I just received confirmation that Janus will be making an extra donation of $750, for a grand total of $4201 to The Dillon Family Fund! That's $4201 more than I had a few weeks ago, so I'm pretty happy with that. I have had many people who couldn't make the Saturday deadline, so hopefully I'll keep the momentum going...and keep fundraising until I get to my $5000 goal! I'll be sending a picture with my Ross Dillon sign and the Janus Charity Challenge jersey. I wore his picture on my back during the bike and run - had lots of people ask about him (I told every one of them to go onto the website and read his story)

I got a Coeur d'Alene bracelet for Ross (similar to the LiveStrong bracelets). I didn't know what his size was, or I would have brought back a t-shirt, but wanted to send something to him from the race that I did in his honor. The race (ugh). It was tough - it was really hot (I'm not used to 98 degrees) and there was quite a bit of unwelcome headwind on the first loop of the bike (it was a 2 loop course). But I did finish: 16 hours and 9 minutes later. So both "races" were successful in my book! I've got lots and lots of thank you cards to send out, and some catching up at work too, so I will be in touch again tomorrow or the next day. Thanks for being such an inspiration!

Dina

So - if I don't already let you know (yes, I am still sending out thank you cards - I didn't forget about you) I finished the race! It took me much longer than I would have wanted - 16 hours and 9 minutes - but I finished! I am "officially" a two time Iron(wo)man!

The best news (that I just got on Friday, 7/28) is that I raised a total of $3501 for The Dillon Family Fund. Janus will make an additional $750 donation through the Janus Charity Challenge - for a total of $4251 for Ross and his family! I had the honor and pleasure of being invited to the Dillon family home last weekend when I was in Northern California. They are an amazing family - Rusty and Betsy greeted me with open arms. I got to meet Ross' sister, Ariel, and one of his therapists, Ben. But the biggest highlight was meeting the man himself. I was so inspired to help them that I am signing up for another Ironman and will be fundraising for the Dillons again at Ironman Canada in 2007!

All said, it was an awesome weekend.

Here is the race recap!

Coeur D'Alene is a beautiful area. We started the day in Lake Coeur D'Alene. The lake and the area is very similar to Lake Tahoe, but thankfully the lake is not as cold. The swim was hard. It was a discouraging way to start the day, as the swim is what I enjoy the most. My friend Carter told me: "In the (Ironman) swim, there are baby seals and baby seal clubbers. Don't be a baby seal."

Well - all that good advice went unnoticed as I was pummeled by at least 761people. I was #762 out of the water out of 2000+. Not my fastest swim, but not as slow as Wildflower two months prior.

Here's a picture of me before the swim start. See me? I'm the one on the left - in the black wetsuit, with the white swim cap.

See me now? (Yes, I really am in there)

The transition was a little awkward. We had to run out from the water, turn left, get our bag, turn right, turn right again into the changing tent, run out the changing tent towards the exit, then turn left towards the bike racks.

This was WAY too complicated for me, so I grabbed my bag, skipped the changing tent and just stripped off my bathing suit bottoms in front of everyone. (I'm actually really fast, so no one saw anything - I'm serious!) Got my bike shorts on, put on my helmet and shoes and RAN.

I had just started my 112 mile bike segment.

It was fun for the first 10 miles, I think. Then we started up a hill - and my heart rate went sky high. This is me at the beginning of the ride - all fresh and happy:

I'm actually smiling and enjoying myself. Thankfully, there weren't any photographers at mile 106 - the second loop, after the steep hills and the long straightaways where the wind just wouldn't give me a break. I was WAY ready to get off the bike. I kept thinking, "Yay! I get to get off my bike! I get to get off my bike! I can't WAIT to get off this bike!!!!"

So, the run. (Um, yeah. THAT didn't happen.) I was hot. Really hot. The temperature read 93 at 4:00 p.m. So I'm thinking to myself: Hmmmmm. Ninety-three degrees and I have to run (ha!) a marathon.

So, I walked. A lot! I think I ran 1.2 miles of the entire 26.2. Here I am - see how fast I'm going?

Yes - that is a Mr. Potato head on my race belt. He kept me company on the run, uh, I mean walk. It wasn't just me walking, though. Check out the guy in the background:

I cheered for everyone and tried to keep my spirits up. People saw the Mr. Potato head and moved a little farther away from me. I think they thought something was wrong with me. Maybe because I was walking alone and talking to my Mr. Potato Head? (j/k.) The kids loved it and so did the people from Idaho. I saw my friend Susan a couple times during the run (a 2-loop, 13.1 mile out-and-back from the finish area), said hi and gave her a hug. She did great - finished in 14 hours and 42 minutes. It was her first Ironman and she did AWESOME. I am so proud of her.

I kept seeing another friend, Tom Washington, from the San Diego Tri Club. I saw him on the bike a couple times, then saw that he was catching up to me on the run. Finally! I have someone to talk to (or should I say talk at?) Anyway, we stuck together and encouraged each other to run 10 feet, then from one tree to the next - then to the next lamppost, then to the next sign on the road. I can actually say I was having fun on the run. I was encouraging people and talking to all the volunteers at the aid stations.

Oh, I forgot to mention my costume!

Coeur d'Alene is in Idaho - and Idaho is all about potatoes! They're FAMOUS for them ('cause it says so on their license plates)

I only wore the burlap sack for the second loop of the run (it was 93 degrees, remember?) Burlap is not the most airy of materials....

So, I cried a bit in the finisher's chute, then laughed as I heard Mike Riley (the announcer at all the Ironman races) say, "Dina Maxwell from Encinitas, California - YOU ARE AN IRONMAN! What ... what does that say? Idaho Famous Potatoes ... Dina, you're killing me."

And then I was an official Ironman.

Thanks for your support - hope you enjoyed it! Remember: I couldn't have done it without all of you.