Greetings Boys and Girls -
The power went out in the condo last night about
11:30 PM. I wouldn't have noticed except the hotel
next to us seems to have a generator that kicked in and
made all kinds of noise, waking me up. Power came
back on a little after midnight, and it was quiet again.
I did the same easy 1.5 mile jog down to the pier
from the condo that I had done on Wednesday. This
time it was an easy swim out to the nine minute buoy
then back. And the easy run back to the
condo. Those mile markers that I was using (.5 and
1.5) have got to be mis-calibrated. I ran a 7:35
into town and a 7:25 back. I just can't believe
how good I was feeling. (Massive knocking on
wood. By this time in race week I'm fond of saying
"My body feels great, but my knuckles are killing me.")
Saw Bianca running in her blue and yellow team
clothes. (I'd mention the store that sponsors her,
but since they don't sponsor me, I won't.
Seriously, I forget the name of the place. I think
it's somewhere in New Jersey.) She was going out
while I was going in. Hope Cecily got her wheels.
The pier area is twice the zoo it's been.
In addition to athletes, supporters, volunteers and the
like, there were construction people assembling stands
and towers and such. I think I only said about
five words while I was there. I thanked the
Gatorade people when they took my stuff to hold it while
I swam. And then I thanked them when they gave it
back. It was pretty much get there, get in
the water, get out, get out of there. I didn't
look for familiar faces. I didn't people-watch.
It's kind of weird. I'm confident in my
abilities. And with that confidence comes a desire
to place well in my age group. And with that
desire comes a seriousness in pre-race
preparations. I'm not 100% sure that's
all for the better. I just have to remember
that, come race day, to relax, smile and have
fun. It's much better to have a bad day and be
happy, than to have a good day and be miserable.
Well, I don't know about that. Let's go out and be
happy and have a great day. Irregardless (with
apologies to my Grandfather who didn't think that should
be a legitimate word, that and "hopefully"), the day's
going to be what the day's going to be. Those that
accept it will enjoy it, those that don't won't.
I'm vowing to be in the former group.
Today's swim was a "sucker swim". The water
was clear, calm and comfortable. The nicest it's
been all week. It's going to make everybody think
tomorrow's swim is going to be the same way. The water is
thinking "suckers, I got you."
Had a decent sized breakfast. And,
now I'm killing a little bit of time before
checking in my bike and gear bags. The authorities
haven't given any indication that we'll be able to get
to our gear bags in the morning. I'd really rather
not have to keep my run gel flasks out overnight.
I'll bring them and see what they say at check in.
Does HammerGel ferment when left in the sun? Could
make for an interesting run, nutrition-wise. We
can get to our bikes in the morning, so I'll be able to
mix up my bike fuel and bring it with me tomorrow.
Looking out from the lanai, I can see the
buoy boys putting out more big orange buoys.
I wonder who has to blow those things up?
Back to this morning's swim for just a
minute. It was similar to my first swim. The
aquarium feeling. Seeing lots of colorful fish.
I've also been reading my page of motivational quotes.
--------------------
The First Rule of Risks: If you don't take
a chance, then you don't stand a chance.
The First Rule of Achievement: You don't
have to feel good to do good.
Yoda's Rule: Do or not do. There is no try.
John Wayne's Rule: Courage is being scared
to death, but saddling up anyway.
Winston Churchill's Rule: Never quit.
Never, ever quit. Never, never, ever quit.
From Lance Armstrong: "Pain is
temporary. Quitting lasts forever."
From an Unknown Author: "Excellence can be
attained if you care more than others think is wise,
risk more than others think is safe, dream more than
others think is practical and expect more than others
think is possible."
--------------------
Renate just took my gear bags downtown.
She's going to do a little shopping before
check-in. I'll ride my bike down in about an hour
and meet up with her. I guess I'm one step closer
to racing. I checked, double-checked and
triple-checked my bags before letting her take
them. I went down my checklist and put little
marks next to things as I put them in the bags.
Still, I wonder, what did I forget? No
telling how many times I'll check them when I put them
on the racks.
Well, I just got back from bike and gear
check-in. A relatively painless process.
Once I made it to where I was supposed to be. Had
Leonard ("Big L" to Lesley's "Little L" here in Kona)
give Rita the once over and put the M-Dot sticker
on. And then I was escorted by a volunteer to
put the bike in the proper slot and the gear
bags on the proper hooks. Found a "Power-That-Be"
who said I would be able to get to my run bag in the
morning so I took out my gel flasks. Got a brief
explanation of the flow of traffic into and out of
transition. I'll get more of a feeling tomorrow.
Then we went in search of more HammerGel. I
didn't have enough for my bike flask. It's not an
absolute necessity, more of something to break up the
monotony of the long ride. I guess I was a little
less relaxed than normal during the hunt.
Renate has a theory about why I am bent more out
of shape for this race than others. It seems that
we'd spend more time with more people at other
races. Roger and Mary Ivy, my brother and
sister-in-law, have been to the majority of my
Ironman races (including their first meeting at Ironman
Hawaii in 1997). They're pretty bummed out about
missing this trip, but they did something epic of their
own this summer. They climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in
August. And they have a pretty neat finisher's
photo. Congrats to them for that adventure.
But, back to Renate's theory. She seems to think
that having housemates like we do for Ironman Lake
Placid, or hotel mates like we did for Ironman Brazil
keeps me from stewing in my own juices.
The other possibility is that I've been here
too long. And I'm thinking too much. I guess
I'm ready to go racing. Fortunately, it's almost
time for that.
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