Have a little bit of a cold this morning.  Blowing off my swim and going shopping with my mom.  :)

Here are a couple pics from IMKY

IM Groupies - Me & Yoganerd

Amy Engle & me



A little eye candy -  Max Longree - IMKY winner

Kept it fairly easy on the bike this morning.  Slight incline on the way out, very pleasant decline on the way back. The body definitely feels better working some of the kinks out rather than just sitting around the house being lazy.  I missed my bike. :)

Weight is WAY up this morning.  Time to get serious about nutrition again.  Geeze, crazy the way the crap creeps back in and it gets out of control.  Ended up doing nothing yesterday.  I feel so wiped out from Louisville, you'd think I raced, or something.  I suspect that once I get into my regular routine here, things will return to normal.  Main goals for the day are  take my bike out for an easy spin and quit blowing off pilates class.  Got an email from my coach that he's going to start doing some bootcamp type workout sessions for the winter, and I feel the need to build a little strength before I attend.  It's gonna hurt. :)

Random Ironman thoughts:  Pretty silly, but one of my biggest concerns about signing up to do an ironman is that I didn't think I could stay awake and moving 17 hours at a stretch.  I purposefully pushed myself hard Sunday to see how I would feel at midnight.  I was (an still am) exhausted, but passed the test.  Guess my biggest worry at this point is the hills and a little practice will take care of that. I CAN do this! :)

Totally overwhelming and unbelievable day yesterday.  We couldn't have planned it any better.  Started at the swim finish where we could cheer BTers (and other athletes) ;) out of the water, moved to assisting pick up gear bags, where we could talk to everyone after getting off the bike, and ended up at the finish line, which was the most amazing experience EVER!  I just can't explain how special it was catching at the finish line. Walking and talking with athletes who have just completed the most difficult and rewarding achievement of their life was amazing.  It was very cool talking to each person. Everyone had a different story and a different experience on the course.  One of my favorite moments of the entire weekend was being able to see and cheer Amy Engle at each discipline.  I was so special to share the ironman experience with her and she had an unbelievably strong perfomance.

Lots more to say, but the brain and body are pretty numb right now, and we've got one more shift to work for the awards banquet before heading home.

Yoganerd and I spent all day yesterday at athlete checkin.  Once again, I was at the entrance and got to meet every athlete who came through.  VERY cool.   Amymengle came through with a camera and a smile and gushing the entire time she stood in line!  If you don't know Amy, your life is not complete.  That's the best way I can explain the ray of sunshine that eminates around her! :) :)  Another good  moment was when racer  number 1 checked in.  Chris McDonald.  What a cutie. ;) 

The two main volunteer directors here are amazing.  A cute, spunky little blonde who makes  us feel like celebrities since we "paid money" to come volunteer.  She is fond of grabbing yoganerd and telling people that she flew here from Minneapolis just to volunteer.  I can tell she definitely thinks we're nuts! (we are) ;)  David Buckner is the volunteer director and just a total sweetheart.  He'll competing in IMWI.  Some REALLY nice people down here. :)

It was another really amazing (and exhausting) day here.  Met up with the BT crew for a.m. swim.  We have such an inspirational and amazing group of athletes here.  The bold yellow shirts were an excellent idea.  So fun meeting someone on the street and stopping for conversation.  Hung out for awhile around the swim area then headed over to the expo.  Had lunch with Amymengle, her husband, Gaary, and yoganerd.  There were other Bters at the restaurant, but it was easier to get tables for smaller groups.  Headed off to drive the bike course after dinner.  Only one hill was truly scary, but I knew that going in.  It was nice to see just how scary it was in person though.  I don't think I have a hill near me quite like it.  I will definitely make the best of the next couple of years to get more comfortable.  Checked out the swim start, which is a time trial. You swim against the current around an island, then with the current down to the end.  Really am glad I checked it out.  This is doable! :)

Having some connectivity issues, but will definitely try to check in during a break tomorrow afternoon.