The Final Stretch

I left town Wednesday morning for Ironman Florida. For the most part, I was in a great mood throughout the drive. I arrived at the home around 2 and headed to Publix for my first order of business. I had some extra time before Jess was to arrive so I went ahead and checked-in for the event. Sweet. 10 minutes and I was done.

She arrived shortly there after and we headed down to the expo. In the closing weeks, I failed to ever purchase a tri top for the race. I brought one with me...but I wanted something different. After visiting the expo, it was time to get off my feet. She went to Publix and we made spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. We made it an early night.

We got up at 6 the next morning and I headed down to the Gatorade swim. It was bitter cold that morning but I met up with a number of people. The day before I purchased a new pair of goggles. For sometime I have wanted to change brands and just happen to need a spare pair for the race. So I suited up and hit the water for about 20 minutes. I felt really good. The water was dead calm so it felt effortless.

Following the swim, I headed to Walmart to buy some movies...a weak attempt to keep me off my legs. Jess returned from her ride and volunteered to get lunch. Mmmm....Backyard Burger. That afternoon we went for a brief run on the course. My goal was to try a 9/1 approach (where you run 9 minutes, walk 1). In the back of my mind, I thought this was going to be a plausible approach to the marathon. So my 20-25 minute run went a little long as I mis-estimated the distance.

My parents arrived shortly afterwards and they too headed to the store first. Mom came back and made us some chicken fettuccine dish and they departed for oysters. Jeff and Brian came down for a while and the laughter and tears were rolling. I am not sure if my parents knew what to make of the photobooth effect. Finally we got to bed. I didn't sleep that well.

Friday was much of the same. We were up at 7:00 and headed down to the swim start. The water was a bit choppier so it provided ample opportunity to work between the waves. Post swim, I returned to the house and began to prepare my special needs bags. After obsessing for a while, it was time to check the bike. I took my parents down to the expo, checked the gear and gave them a brief IM walkthrough. Then we returned home for a nap.

My brother and sister arrived that afternoon and the family went back for oysters. Jess and I decided on pizza from a local joint. My plan was to be in bed by 8:30, lights out by 9:00. I think it was in bed by 8:00. Out cold by 9:00.

I must say that I felt really good leading up to the race. I never felt panicky. I never stressed that much. Maybe that was the benefit of a brief taper. I was ready to get it over with.