wow. today was long. yesterday was long. tomorrow will be long. this race is definitely more than a 1 day ordeal. There’s so many logistics that go into this race. A point-to-point race takes far more planning than one might think.
Even though I was terribly exhausted from the long drive yesterday and my body was clearing wanting more rest, like clockwork, I was awake at 6. I couldn’t get myself to fall back asleep, so i just laid there in bed not wanting to wake Charlie & Jordan. After an hour of restlessness I finally got up, explored the hotel a bit, scored myself some more ice for my knee, and found some coffee. I used the coffee maker in the room to heat some water and make my oatmeal and quietly ate my egg whites in the dark. Shortly after, Charlie woke up and I politely told him to get up. haha. It was 8:30 and if we wanted to make the 9:00 race briefing, we needed to get going. We ran into some other athletes in the elevator who let us know the convention center was close by. We filled up our coffee cups and were on our way. We got there with 2 minutes to spare and rushed around the building trying to find the meeting room. We stumbled in fashionably late and listened to the all the various instructions for today/tomorrow. The same guy who lead the briefing for the ITU race led this one. He’s very thorough and has a great sense of humor. With a wealth of info to impart to thousands of athletes, he’s very proficient. There’s already plenty to have to remember (and forget!) for a normal triathlon, but this one is even more complex. It was a bit lengthy, but well worth attending… even if the director did say that if any of us are able to run up the dreaded hill both times without walking that we need to let him know after the race and he will recognize us in front of the crowds… seriously? it’s that bad? … wow, thanks for that boost of confidence, buddy.
Though it wasn’t the best expo I’ve seen, we still managed to spend a few hours there. I’m absolutely terrified of flatting (if you couldn’t already tell, so I spent a fair amount of time roaming the bike section searching for some magic potion… I was talked into some aerosol fix-a-flat-ish product by another athlete, but after talking to the mechanic at RaceDayWheels and asking his advice, I returned it for a larger saddle bag to hold the pre-stretched tube he let me borrow. While I am convinced if I flat I’d still be stranded clueless on the side of the road, at least I’d have the tools in preparation for the mechanic vehicle’s arrival. I just feel better and more prepared. I also got him to get the battery out of my heart rate transmitter (what a pain). it took him 4 tools and probably 10 minutes, but finally I was able to switch it out with a new battery. Fingers crossed this fixes the glitchy issues I’ve been experiencing. From there I perused the apparel and gadgets and merchandise. For once, I didn’t buy anything (except a few mroe packs of shot bloks). There was a guy from Tanita demoing their newest line of scales. I spent prob 15 minutes talking to him. It was really interesting! It uses an electrical current that gets sent up one leg and back down the other to calculate some really interesting numbers. Even though he made me take off my compression socks, it was totally worth it. In addition to the typical weight, % body fat, and water comp, it gave your muscle mass, physique rating, BMR, metabolic age, bone mass, and visceral fat rating. While most of those numbers would mean nothing standing by themselves, the little score sheet gave explanations for each figure, as well as ranges/averages. Turns out based on my BMR, my age is 12… not quite sure what to think about that…
From there we decided it was crucial that we drive the run course and see what this hill is really all about… Can it really be THAT bad? … turns out, yes, yes it can. Now, I’ve trained some big hills and encountered some beasts in the past, but this one makes them look like bumps in the road. Aside from mountains, i don’t think i’ve ever seen an incline like this one. It goes up-up-up, then turns right and it goes up-up-up some more. it seems like a joke– a cruel, cruel joke. The rest of the course is just rolling, nothing terribly out of the ordinary. There is a long section of the course that goes along a beautiful tree-lined straight away. There’s actually a really nice running trail the goes along a very wide grassy median between two one-ways. Gorgeous.
Finally we regrouped and headed back to the hotel to start getting our bags packed. I ate my salad while laying out all my gear in their piles. Green bag for morning clothes/post race, black for bike, and red for run. Coordinating all the gear to their respective bags and planning everything out was quite the task. After organizing and checking / rechecking, we headed out to do our warm-up ride– just a simple 20:00 with 4x:90 at race pace. It’s really easy to get turned around on all these windy roads, so naturally we got lost… 20:00 turned into 30:00. Back to the hotel to get our belongings and take our bikes to T1 for the drop off. Traffic was terrible and it took over an hour to get to Narragansett. Once we arrived, it was obvious we were “there”. Ever wondered where to go to see some of the most beautifully fit specimens of human beings are hiding? Well, come to an Ironman transition area… see for yourself. So much to look at– bikes AND bodies :)
We dropped off the bikes, surveyed the scene, counted the racks and set out for our quick 10:00 warm-up run. My legs are feeling pretty tight and sore for some reason… but that seems to be typical the day before a race for me. We didn’t get a chance to walk down to the beach which is a total shame– not only b/c we won’t see the swim start until race day but moreso b/c we’re in such a gorgeous place and not able to appreciate it or even SEE it!
i ran into an athlete in the parking lot of the hotel, who as he got out of his car had a face that looked like he had seen a ghost. I asked if he was ok or if he needed anything and he looked at me and just said “have you SEEN the bike course?”.. uh oh, i knew what was coming… yep, turns out the bike course is extremely technical and in coming back to the city the roads are treacherous and you’ve gotta be extremely alert. fantastic.
i’m trying not to let these obstacles get to me. there’s no changing what the course is like, i just have to do what I can. Conquer one thing at a time and be proud of whatever happens.
I’m ready. I’m excited. I’m anxious. I’m nervous. I’m putting more pressure on myself than need-be…. but mostly I’m just ready. I can’t wait to be out on the course and be engulfed in the spirit. There’s seriously nothing more exhilarating than race day.
There should be live coverage of the race at ironman.com. It starts at 6am EST, but my swim wave goes off at 6:45. My bib # is 1189. Check in and see if I’m on track. Goal is to finish around 12:15…
Time to finish stretching, rolling, icing and visualizing… and hope for a good night’s rest.
Fingers crossed tomorrow’s a good day…
