Race Week!

T-minus five days and counting. Ack! I can’t believe it’s already here. Saturday I did my last “long” run of 8 miles. Kind of funny that an 8 mile run doesn’t seem very long anymore. After that, Courtney and I did a short little 30 minute ride just to make sure the bikes were in proper working condition and then we drove them down to Clinton to drop them off with Eric’s parents. They are driving to Florida and were nice enough to offer to take our bikes with them so that we didn’t have to worry about shipping them. I’ve heard so many horror stories about bikes getting lost and damaged, it was nice to have one less thing to worry about. Not to mention the fact that it isn’t exactly cheap to ship a bike. Although, if I could have bought my bike it’s own seat on the plane and just wheeled it on and sat it next to me, I would have done it in a heart beat. I’m a little nervous about them riding on a hitch on the back of the Jeep, but they’ll be fine. Court checked in with them this morning, and they are just a few hours from Panama City Beach. I will breathe much easier when I know the bikes are safe and sound in Florida! I must admit, it was a little weird to go home without my bike. I kept having momentary panic attacks thinking I had accidentally left it somewhere.

While I was off saying buh-bye to my bike, Dan took Walter and Penny up to Maryville to drop them off with my parents. Sad! I have to be without my two little bostons for the next 2 weeks, because we wont be going up to Omaha to pick them up until the weekend of the 10th. The house is much quieter (and calmer!) without them, but I do miss them already. Max was a little confused at first, but I think now he’s liking the fact that he’s the only dog around. He’s going to stay with Bryce while we’re gone, so he’ll have Emma to keep him company during the day.

Sunday I planned on doing all of my packing since I have a night meeting for work tonight, but first I went out to Wyandotte County Park to watch Monica and Melissa do the Boulevard Cup cyclo-cross race. It was fun to watch, but I think I will stick to riding on the road, thank you very much. Then the IMUSA broadcast was on, so naturally I HAD to watch that. I sat on the couch shaking through the entire thing, partly from nerves and partly from excitement. It has been such a build up to this race, I cant wait to just GO! I’m a little bit nervous about the swim, so once I get out of the water I know I’ll be fine. And I’m actually looking forward to the run.

I made a packing list, so that made my job a lot easier. I started with my race essentials, and made sure those would all fit in my carry-ons. I’ve informed Dan that he doesn’t get a carry on, because I need two. No way am I entrusting my running shoes or something else important to the airline. That stuff is not leaving my sight. My luck, they would lose my bag and it would show up at the condo on Sunday. I’d prefer it if they would just not lose my bag, but if it happens, it’s OK because everything I NEED will be with me.

So, now for the good stuff. You can track me on Saturday on ironmanlive.com. Just search for my name or my race number, and you’ll get updates whenever I pass certain points on the course. Then, based on how my run times are looking, you can estimate about when I’ll finish and actually watch me cross the finish line! I’m shooting for around 15 hours, so that would be about 10pm CST. I may do better, I may take a little longer, but I figure that’s a pretty decent guess. Dan will have his cell phone and my cell phone with him during the race, so if you have either of those numbers feel free to call for an update. He’ll have some time to kill, and I’m sure would appreciate the distraction. I’m going to try to post a couple of blog updates while we’re in Florida, and I plan to have my race report up by the end of next week. So be sure to check back.

Thanks again for all of your support and well-wishes, I’m ready to go!