Friday - two days before the race.

I woke up at around 3:00 this morning, which wasn’t that bad considering that I fell asleep at around 7:30 last night! With no hope of going back to sleep, I stayed in bed and read for a bit. Then, I did decided to get my last training over with. And by last training, I actually mean LAST training, as tomorrow is a rest day.

I went down to the water at around 6:30, much less nervous than yesterday. There were two guys there getting on their wetsuits, and I was glad to not be alone again. These guys were very keen on giving me unsolictied advice, such as to put vaseline all over me before I put on my wetsuit, and to eat as many calories as I can possibly get in during the bike leg.

It’s times like this that I can’t over-emphasize how much I appreciate my coaches. I feel confidence in the advice that I’ve gotten from them over these past 9 months, and I don’t feel the need to start questioning what I’ve learned and start doing what strangers tell me. (For example, if I actually listened and tried to take in all the calories I possibly could on the bike, my stomach would stop digesting anything and I’d be up the creek with cramps. I learned that one on my century ride.)

The advice (unsolicited, I remind you) doesn’t stop. When I got out of the water, there were lots more people getting ready to swim. In talking to another athlete, it came up that I only swam 10 minutes. He thought that wasn’t nearly long enough. When he asked me why only 10, I simply told him that was what was on my training calendar.

(The truth is, I never ask “why” something is on the calendar, and I don’t really know why I only had to swim 10 minutes. BUT, it all comes down to the fact that in all my seasons of being with Team in Training, the coaches and their calendars have never let me down. It’s not my job to question it, but just to follow it.)

Anyway, so with people trying to tell me to swim longer, or eat this, or not eat this, or try this, it gets a little tiresome, but I know everyone is just trying to help.

Back to the swim for a moment: a great fear realized - I saw a jellyfish! It was the size of a softball and just about a foot below my stomach. Although it is physically impossible, I think I swam the next few strokes with my hips and feet out of the water to keep it from stinging my feet as I passed by. Then, of course I imagined that it was part of a huge school, thousands, maybe, that was moving in my direction, and I swam ridiculously faster than race pace all the way back to the shore. Sometimes, I’m such a nerd. :-) (Sara, I know you are going to have a field day with that story!)

Okay, so after the swim, I chatted with a few people from North Carolina, and with Carlo, who showed up slightly before I was ready to head back. Then I went back to the hotel and put on my bike clothes. (Also on today’s calendar was a 10 minute bike and a 10 minute run.)

I walked my bike down to the Promenade de Anglais, where there was a car-free bike path. It was really fun to ride there, and it felt so odd to turn around after just 5 minutes (well, I admit, it was about 7 minutes when I actually turned around). I’m really pleased with how well tuned-up the gears are - that tune-up was money very well spent.

Back to the hotel, and I put on my running shoes. I felt really good and strong, and like being on the bike, it was so foreign to stop after just 10 minutes.

After my whopping 30 or so minutes of training, I spent more time obsessing over my transition and special needs bag. I wonder if there is even a stronger word than “obsessing.” I would put everything in my transition bag, then take it out and check every item off the list, just in case. Then, I’d put it back in, only to take it out again to test how easily I could get to everything. Back in, back out, back in, back out... each repetition was for a very important reason I’m sure...

I definitely had too much time on my hands. I think my bags are good, but I’d be willing to put money down that those items are coming out at least one more time before I have to turn them in tomorrow. :-)

It was then time for a little grocery shopping to get a few more important things that I wanted for my special needs bags (like pringles, and peanut butter for my sandwiches). When I got home, I thought I had been spending too much time on my feet, so I lay down to read. I was blindsighted by another nap. This one 3 hours long. The sleep was so deep, that I didn’t hear the knocking on the door. On my way out to the pasta party, I found a note that Kyle and Kim had stopped by to see me.

Kyle and Kim are a couple from the Boston area who I’ve been emailing. Apparently, they’ve been trying to reach me, but they can’t connect to my phone for some reason. I was bummed to miss their visit. I had hoped to see them at the pasta party, but no luck. Hopefully I’ll get to see them tomorrow.

I walked down to the expo to catch the shuttle for the pasta party. My phone rang (yay! It DOES work!). It was Jenny from San Francisco. We’ve been emailing/facebooking for a few months now. She met me at the shuttle stop, and we went to the pasta party together. I was so glad to get to meet her. She seems totally down to earth, and is a fun person to be around. We’re also feeling very similar feelings about Sunday, and so it felt great to be able to just chat about it all.

I really liked the pasta party because it reminded me of doing an event with TNT. There were 2500 athletes and their guests filled in a huge room with tables as far as the eye could see. There was also a big screen showing photos from last year’s race. It didn’t have a moving honoree speech, but I have those stored in an easily accessible part of my memory. :-) Jenny and I had a fun time, and stayed there a couple of hours.






A funny story: I can’t remember if I mentioned that yesterday on my way back from the bike shop, I stopped at a red light next to another cyclist. She was on her way to the expo, and we rode and chatted together for a short while. She was the one who couldn’t remember exactly how many ironmen she had completed (oh, 10 or 11...). I had responded with, “Wow, you’re a real pro at this!” Her name was Katia, and she’s from San Diego.

Well, at the pasta party, the announcer called all of the pros up to the stage, one by one. Would you know it? KATIA, FROM THE USA!!!!!! She really WAS a pro! A humble one at that, having NOT responded with, “Well, yes, I AM a pro!”

It’s later than usual, 10:30 at night, and I’m not tired because of that darn nap. I think I’ll try to get to sleep anyway...

Tomorrow is a very important day to me: my brother Rob is landing at 12:30!