I have been thinking and dreaming about Ironman for the last 12 months.  Reading, watching, asking questions, looking for anyone who can help me prepare.

At last, it's here.  Today, I become an Ironman. 

Wow!  What an experience.  I'll have to write about it later cause every muscle in my body is hurting.  Let's just say that it was incredible. 

It's the day before the Ironman and we went to get in a short swim.  I forgot my wetsuit, so I jogged back to the condo (.4 miles) and back and tried to put on the suit after I was all hot.  I guess that happens in this adventure, my mind is going nuts!  The days before the race go FAST so you need to be prepared and ready to have each day go by very quickly. 

The story of this year is going to be the weather.  It's COLD and WINDY.  Race morning forecast is for high 30's, low 40's at the start of the BIKE.  The wind has been gusting up to 20 mph and blowing sand in our faces.  The sun comes out until 5pm and then it's back into the 40's at night.  This should be fun:)

I went to the Pro meeting with Richard and listened as the rules were discussed and everyone checked each other out.  The bike ride today was nice (30 min) and I got in some 30 sec hard efforts into the wind and was able to average about 24mph.  I sure would like to ride 18-20mph average for the entire 112 miles.  It might be challenge with this wind depending on which way it blows and how hard. 

The experience leading up the race is so cool.  Even if I don't do another Ironman, I want to come and watch and be a part of the atmosphere.  Of course, they have nice toys for sale too:)

So, I have I finished packing all the transition and special needs bags, turned in the bike, and am ready to sit down, have a last high carb meal and try to get some rest before getting up at 4am for the first breakfast.  Everything opens at 5am and then life accelerates fast as we get body marked, put on the wetsuits, walk to the beach and then stand around acting like are we not nervous.

Next time you hear from me, I hope to have completed the Ironman and am telling you all about how incredible everything went.

Thanks everybody, the words of encouragement have been incredible and have been keeping me going.

Good morning from the porch of our condo!  I have been up since 5:30am sitting on the porch overlooking the surf and just staring out on the water as people start to emerge from their slumber.  The sound of the waves crashing into shore and the calming blue and orange colors of the sunrise make this morning beyond explanation. 

I am sitting here trying to put into words what I am feeling as I sit in the peace of the early morning and think about the Ironman journey.  In two days I step out into the water with 2000 other able bodies athletes and start a 140 mile adventure, lasting anywhere from 12-15 hours.  What am I possibly going to go through?  What can happen that I already have not experienced in the 10 months of training?   What in the world possessed me to sign-up for this craziness?

There is so much more than just the race with Ironman.  The 3-4 days leading up to the race are all part of the Ironman experience and I never considered, until now, how great a part of the whole package it can be.  Coming in early and staying in a condo with friends, family and training buddies is truly the best way to go for me.

Greetings from Jennings, LA!  I am writing from the Holiday Inn about to get back on the road for another 6 hours today.  We plan to arrive in PCB after lunch time:)

We are almost there and are starting to feel the energy that is Ironman!

We are IN!   The condo is awesome and I am so excited to finally be here and settled into the condo.  Time to go to the store to buy food and eat some pasta.   Tomorrow we go swim, register, check-out all the toys and hardbodies, and try to relax.

Thanks everybody for the well wishes!  The feelings I am experiencing are hard to describe.  Driving into town and seeing people out cycling and running along the road made it real and I felt my first butterflies of the week.

Just got back from a last bike/run before leaving.  It felt great to get out and move around, even in the 20 mile/hr wind, before getting in the car for the next two days.  The windy conditions might be a good practice for what, it looks like, we are going to have on race day.  I am excited, nervous, anxious, pumped, etc.  Thanks everyone for the support, I am really looking forward to this experience.

TTFN, Ta ta for now...

5 

OWS on the schedule today after work (nice and easy in a wetsuit).  Then I am packing and waiting to leave on Tuesday.  I am definately getting nervous and excited.  I couldn't sleep much last night and I woke-up early thinking about how many calories I needed to eat on race day.

IRONMAN REFLECTION:

I started this whole journey with doubts about my body being able to complete an Ironman.  I thought my mind was the easy part.  I decided to sign up for a race, train for it and that was that.  It's funny, now that I am less than a week away, I feel my body is ready and I have doubts about my mind.   Will I be able to stand the pain, the extreme ups and downs, the long day of concentration, etc. 

I know the answers are all YES, it's just funny how things changed from when I first sign-up until the week before the race.

Got up and ran around 8:30am after a late night Halloween party that I went too.  I wasn't into it as much as year's past.  I just kept thinking about how much I have done for this one day and didn't want to ruin it with a night of "craziness" and a day or two of recovery.  I am already feeling like crap.  I don't need a hang-over to make things worse.  Anyway, the run was ok but warmer than I wanted.  I was ready for one of those, glove wearing, two shirts and red-skin, see-your-breath kinda runs.  It ended up being hot with just a regular short-sleeve shirt.

I leave in two days and I have an overwhelming urge to get drunk.