I spent most a lot of time patiently getting my gear ready, I love a non rush atmosphere to get ready, it gives me a comfort level that I haven't missed anything. We headed over to the bike drop off around 2:30 pm. It was just starting to get dark and cloudy and close to raining. As I walked my bike and gear down to the bike drop off one of the volunteers suggested I should bring my bike gear in the morning so it doesn't get wet tonight.
It wasn't an easy decision. The more I thought about it and my shoes and socks getting wet I decided to risk it and take my bag back to the hotel and bring it in the morning. I hope I don't get in trouble. They said we have access to our bikes and bags tomorrow and the volunteer said it was okay, I hope he's right.
It definitely looks like an old school race. There wasn't a huge amount of bike racks. Again, it feels very grass roots. I spoke to Alice today and she mentioned it sounds like a race she would like from a spectator standpoint. Easy to watch, easy to see me.
Our next stop was the Loews hotel. I booked a room for the next two nights. I wasted to be close to the start and not have to drive back to the Best Western after the post race dinner and awards, especially after a few beers. I've vowed never to drink even one beer and drive again. So for the next two nights I'm renting two hotels. Good thing I got the best western for $35 per night.
We got to the room and Paul went for an 1:20 minute run on the hotel treadmill. It was now raining outside. I drove to the local Albertson's and picked up some water, popcorn, sunflower seeds and salt and vinegar chips. I need to get a little salt top up and some bagels for the morning. Oh, and I also picked up 12 Amstel Light. I don't know how many I'll be drinking, my flight is Sunday at 9:25 am, and I need to be to the airport 2 hours early, but I do want to be prepared at least for a few.
We had an early dinner and went to an Italian restaurant about a mile away. I had my traditional pre race meal of egg plant parmigiana. If all goes well I'll have a good download before the race. We got back to the room around 7 pm and I called down for a 5:30 am wake up call.
I'm looking forward to the race and I'm not. The part I'm not looking forward to is the cool weather. I'm borrowing Paul's cycling vest and will be wearing it over my uniform. I'm also wearing my arm coolers, which are kind of like warmers, I used them in St. George when it was cold two years ago, they worked well.
My plan for tomorrow is to try and go as hard as I can. I'm going to try and do a half Ironman pace, maybe slightly slower on the bike. I'll know by 20 minutes into the bike if my legs are going to be strong enough to have a good ride. I wore my full compression tights for about 6 hours hoping that will help. It couldn't' hurt.
For the rest of the night I watched some TV and ate some of my snacky salty food. I'm racing tomorrow and it turned out Paul went to bed first. He feel asleep at 8:30 pm. That's cool, my plan is to get to bed by 9-9:30 am and get up at 5:30 am tomorrow.
I'm really hoping I have a good race tomorrow. I'm curious to see how this distance feels and I hope it's not too cold. The run I'm not worried about the cold, it's just on the bike. The water I already know is cold.
I did get a couple of good omens today. I felt less bloated and our room has the number 13 in it. My favorite number. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Easy bike - 15:14 / 7.25 km / 28.5 kph avg
Easy Run - 15:06 / 2.96 km / 5:10 avg pace.
1 comment:
well you werent kidding about the cold - I read they cancelled the swim.
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