I'm not the only one that loves her...

I know Hallie wanted to post this...
but she was very busy yesterday & as soon as school was over-her and mom hit the road to Louisville so the Duo could finally reunite!!

Yesterday- I arranged for Hallie to receive an envelope each class period from a different student.  Each envelope had a Letter, and a description for each letter spelling out HALLIE.

H is for Heart

Hallie- you have a bigger heart than anyone I know.  It’s hard to believe that when you were born, your heart wasn’t complete-I think when they operated on you-God filled your heart with something extra special.  You will never realize how many people your heart has touched, and you will never realize how big of a place you hold in my heart.  It is your big heart that has led you to this point, and it is your big heart that is going to keep you going to complete your goal.  I love you with all my heart. 

A is for Admiration

Hallie – it is no secret that I have admired you ever since I was little.  Even though we may not act alike (but actually we do ;-) ) I try hard to be more like you.  God has blessed me with an amazing role model to look up to, and I thank Him every day for you.  I have the upmost admiration for you, and it brings me great joy watching you accomplish your goals.  I know this journey has been long, but soon you will be an ironman and another thing I can add to the list of why I admire you.  I love you.

 L is for Leader. 

Hallie, first of all you had to know that was coming.  Ever since I was born you have been my fearless leader.  When dad died, you took it upon yourself to become an even bigger leader in my life.  I wish all people had a leader like you to follow.  I know sometimes I get frustrated following you, because I keep waiting for you to stop (you promised NO MORE IRONMANS!) but you just keep going.  You keep pushing me to be better, to do better, and I love you for that.  I know I will be safe because I have a leader who is following Gods plan.  I love you for leading me. 

L is for Love

Hallie- with such a big heart it is no wonder you are full of such great love.  I know sometime people say “I love you” so much that it no longer has such a powerful meaning.  But you will never understand how much I love you. I love you for being you.  I love that you are confident in who you are.  I love that you are determined to do things most people don’t even dream of.  I love that you are driven to accomplish what you set out to do.  I love that you go out of your way to help others. And I love that you encouraged me and allowed me to join you in your ironman journey. 

I is for Inspiration

Hallie- you are an inspiration to so many.  Anyone that has ever met you, has so many amazing things to say about you.  All the little kids you taught to swim, all the high school kids you have mentored at youth group or during swim team, and all your students view you as an inspiration.  You inspire people by the things you do, the things you say, and the prayers you send.  I know you have inspired me this year and all the years before.  You are my inspiration for doing this ironman. 

E is for EVERYTHING

Hallie-this past year has been amazing.  You said that I may hate you along the way, but when I cross the finish line I will be so happy.  Well I can honestly say that I have never hated you along the way.  If anything I should thank you over and over again.  This past year, I have enjoyed spending the extra time with you. And there isn’t anyone else I would do this with but you.  You are an amazing sister, but more than that you are an amazing friend.  I know I can come to you with anything and everything, and some how you make it better.  Soon you will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles to cross the finish line where I will be standing with your medal that you have earned! It will mean EVERYTHING to me. I LOVE YOU  

So it is clear that I kind of sort of like my sister :-)   but I'm not the only one.  Yesterday Hallie arrived at school to find her classroom completely decorated from top to bottom with signs and streamers! She received countless cards from students, parents, and random strangers.  And last but not least, she received a lot of "hardware" for all her hard work.  Each teacher presented Hallie with a medal throughout the day so she left school with a neck full of medals!!!

Hallie is truly one of a kind- and everyone would agree!! 

You know you're a hardcore athlete when...

You know you're a hardcore athlete when....
you plan your taper ride around when you can get your nails done!!! :-)   That is why I love my sister- for that and so many other reasons!   I do know one thing- she will have the best looking toes at the race!!

A special tribute

I have been waiting until we got closer to the race to do our special tribute...

We have talked about how Hallie and I came to this point in our ironman journey - but Hallie and I couldn't have gotten to where we are without our MOM

Talk about a WOMAN! Our mom is one special lady (I mean she put up with raising Hallie and I!)

Our mom has sacrificed a lot for my sister and I.  I don't care what she says, she devoted her entire life to making sure Hallie and I were able to do everything under the sun.  She never missed a beat.  She was in the front row at all of our dance recitals, and even sit through our dance practices - which lets be honest - were not that exciting especially since i would yawn every 5 minutes! hahahah

She wouldn't be able to count how many t-ball games, soccer games, volleyball games, basketball games, swim meets, and track meets she has sat through.

When Hallie and I started doing triathlons - Mom was right there at the transition area writing down our times from each leg of the race- cheering us on.

I know she wasn't thrilled when Hallie said she wanted to do a half IM last year, but she took off work and went along with Hallie.  She supported her and cheered her on the entire way.   So you can imagine how excited she was when we informed her that we would both be participating in the IM Louisville.  But, like everything else- she has supported us through our entire journey.  And whether or not she says it- she is excited about it!! :-)

Mom - you have been an amazing cheerleader and we couldn't do this without you.
We love you more than the whole world and back again!

Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13 
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

We are in the home stretch now....
counting our blessings for 

• the wonderful training God has allowed us to have...
• all the amazing people we have met along the way...
• all the amazing people who have stuck by our side through this journey...
• all those who are making the trip over to cheer us on...
• for all those who got shirts to support us either in Louisville or in spirit..
• for all the volunteers who will be there to help us before, during, and after the race...
• for all those who have accepted a 30 minute time slot to pray for Hallie and I throughout the day on Aug 26th..
• AN AMAZING MOM who has been there to support us in every race - or every game from tball, to soccer, to volleyball, basketball, swim meets, track meets, the list goes on and on.  
• An indescribable sister- words can't be put together to thank God for my sister- but I thank Him EVERY DAY for her!! 

God is going to give us the strength to be IRONMEN in 6 days!!!

Denstorff Duo Supporters Survival Guide

I know this is long- but many people wanted more details!!

Supporters Survival Guide

Where: Louisville, KY

When: Aug 26^th 7am-?

THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOO MUCH – we couldn’t do this race without you!! Having you there means the world to us – and seeing you all is going to give us that extra spark to keep going!!

I have put together some information about the race

Thursday: Hallie & Mom arrive to Louisville, KY (we have packet pick up and we are meeting up with a group of ironman participants that evening) We are staying at the Courtyard Marriot on the corner of 2^nd and Main.

Friday: Jenna is working a half day-Hallie and Mom relaxing.  Joyce is coming to keep mom company.  We will be going to the Ironman expo, going to the IAMTRI social, and attending the welcome dinner.

Saturday: Hallie and I will be participating in the practice swim that morning, then we plan to be off our feet the REST of the day.  We will be going to mass at 5:30pm at Cathedral of the Assumption at 433 S. 5^th Street downtown.  

Sunday: Arrive at transition area at 4:45am, head to body marking 5am, then to get in line for the swim.

Next:

I have given you the IRONMAN website- along with a brief on each leg of the race and a map of that portion. 

Ironman website:

http://ironmanlouisville.com/

Driving Directions: If you are coming from Evansville-Stay on I-64.  Take I-65 south. You will take the first exit for downtown Louisville.  It will say Jefferson-it splits to Brooks on the left and Jefferson on the right. Go towards Brooks.  It will loop around and you will be heading towards the river.  This will allow you to get close to both the transition area and the finish- just find a nice cheap place to park- and start walking! J Please make sure that you take a look at the road closures because there are a lot of them.

Swim course: 2.4 mile swim – The start is at the docks at Tumbleweed.  We finish at Joe’s Crab Shack.  The professionals will jump in at 6:50 & the line for the athletes will start at 7.  They hope to have everyone in the water by 7:45am.  Hallie and I will be getting to the swim when it opens at 5am.  We will have to stand in line for 2+ hours, but this will allow us to be closer to the start to allow for as much of the 17 hours as possible.   Neither one of us know how much of the swim start you can actually see-but to be honest it would be hard to watch/cheer during the swim because we all look the same with swim caps on.  We hope to be out of the water  an hour and 15 minutes after jumping in.  Again I am not sure how close you can get to where we exit the water and run to the transition. 

After swimming- we will run to the transition tent to grab our bike bag with our bike gear/food in it.  Then grab our bike and head out!

Bike Course: 112 miles – A lot of the ride course is closed off to traffic, so at the end I have attached the link for all the road closures.  The best place for spectators is to jump on to I-71 N and head east to La Grange.  You can take the second La Grange exit and it will lead you to downtown La Grange (this took us about 30-35 minutes from downtown Louisville).  We will bike through La Grange twice – from the swim it should take about 2.5 hrs for us to get to La Grange the first time around. (It is a 30 mile loop-so after passing the first time, we should be back in 1 hour and 45 minutes- give or time 20 minutes J).  They have tents and stuff set up there for spectators.  Again- you will only see us for a couple seconds as we pass through.

When returning from a awesome 112 miles on the bike- we will drop our bikes and grab our run bag.  Change and set out for 26.2 miles. 

Run: 26.2 miles – this will be where WE NEED YOU!!! You can see a ton of the run portion-at various parts. 

If you are going to go out on the run course to watch we recommend going to this church:

Beechmont Baptist Church
4574 S. 3rd St., Louisville, Kentucky 40214, United States

This is a church that the Schroeder family went to last year to watch parts of the run.  Here you can park in the parking lot and then set up camp next to the run course.  At this location you can see us 4 times on the run and have plenty of time to drive back downtown to watch the finish.  We finish on 4^th street LIVE!

Road Closure

http://louisvilleic.namnori.com/files/2012/08/12_LOU_TrafficImpact_online_8.1.12.pdf

Things to remember!
·        This is a VERY LONG day!! Probably longer for you, because you spend a lot of the time waiting.
·        It is usually VERY hot!!
·        Wear comfortable shoes- because it is a lot of walking
·        We don’t expect you to sit around and wait for us- enjoy Louisville!! Sleep in, go shopping, go out to eat, take a nap, etc.  We want this to be a good experience for you as well as for us, so enjoy the 17 hours!! I know Hallie and I will.
·        You can track us online at different check points- but I have been informed it is not the most reliable http://ironmanlive.com/tracking.php
·        LOUISVILLE IS AN HOUR AHEAD of Evansville!
·        WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Expected Times:  Keep in mind- these are just estimations.  If all goes well….

Hallie:                                                  Jenna:

·        Swim 1 hr 20 minutes                           Swim: 1hr 15minutes

·        Bike: 7.5 hours                                     Bike: 6.5-7 hours

·        Run: 6 hours                                         Run: 5-5.5 hours

·        Finish 15 hrs                                          Finish 14 hrs

Contacts:

Linda Denstorff 812-455-9518

Joyce Macke (will be mom’s support!) 317-508-8624 – only in emergencies

Laura Schroeder: (Familiar with the area) 270-293-6597

               

I'm sorry I wasn't able to help!

The shirts are in!! I think we ended up ordering btwn 90-95 shirts!! Thank you all so much-a big thanks goes to Imagination for making the shirts!
To Hallie for rushing in another order
To Mom for picking up the shirts
To Hallie and Mom for sorting the shirts
To Hallie, Mom, Cliff, Norwanda, Mater Dei students, and anyone else who has helped pass the shirts out - we couldn't do this without you all!! Can't wait to see those green shirts as we fly by on the bike and CRAWL by on the run! :-) 

It doesn't seem real...

Everything is all happening so fast, it just doesn't seem real.

We are not longer talking about our LONG workouts- now we are talking about short and sweet workouts.
I'm liking this taper thing!!

We are no longer talking about what we need to do aka get shirts made, get hotel, ask off, etc....
WE HAVE THE SHIRTS
WE HAVE THE HOTEL
WE HAVE THE WELCOME DINNER TICKETS
WE HAVE THE DAYS OFF
WE HAVE OUR NUTRITION PLAN
WE HAVE THE EQUIPMENT

WE HAVE PUT IN THE TIME
WE HAVE PUT IN THE MILES

WE ARE READY FOR THE IRONMAN! BRING IT ON!