Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Its almost time.

Well its tuesday morning and I swear I feel like im back in HS waiting on the last day of class before summer break. I just want to get out of Dayton and on the way down to Panama City Beach (PCB). Real quick reminder that anyone who wants to can keep track of me on race day via the Ironman website. You should just need to navigate to the Ironmanlive link and that should do it. I would link direct here but it wont be active till Saturday so this is the best I can do right now. Again my race number is #358 and you should be able to use that or my name to find out where I am. Lastly for anyone wanting to invest a wee bit more time they will have a live webcast going all day long with cameras set up at key points of interest. Mostly this includes the exit of transition and the finish line. SOOOO that means anyone on the net should be able to watch me finish if they want to. right now I think I will be finishing in the 13-15 hour range which puts me around 8-10pm CDT or 9 -11 EST.

Last minute prep is going ok. I am starting to stress a bit over all that has to be done before I leave and just worrying that I am going to forget something crucially important like my bike helmet or my bike! I realized last week that I had a tire issue so I went to the shop last night and my coach helped me swap out my tire and mount my spare. That went really well and I was feeling really good about it until this morning when I went out to the garage and the tire was totally flat. I had a 160psi (yes you read that right) in that tire and it was totally flat this morning and that shouldnt be. SO I pumped it up again this morning and we will see how it is when I get home today. Im hoping that its a temp / press change thing but that seems a bit drastic to me. SO im not happy about that. Also I have been trying to get arm warmers for like a month now and my coach finally got some and I forget them at the shop. DOH! SO lisa is going to pick them up for me or I might be making another trip out to the shop to buy a new rear tire. DOUBLE DOH! SO outside of the mechanical issues on the bike things are looking good. Im totally immersed in my taper right now and its driving me crazy! I just want to go out and workout and push hard but heres my schedule for the week

sunday - off
monday - off
tuesday - off
wednesday - 30 min easy ride
thursday - light swim in ocean
friday - 30 min easy run, light swim in ocean
saturday - BIG RACE DAY!

SO yeah im going a bit nuts since im used to working out for like an hour each day and now im just doing nothing. But I know this is very important as its time for my body to recover a bit from the training and re-energize!

Well I think thats it. I dont know if I will blog again before the race. I might who knows take some pre-race pics of the expo and what not and throw a quick post up, we shall see.

Real quick I just want to say thanks to everyone who has supported my journey here. The support from all my friends and family has been really great and despite being told "im totally crazy" more times than I can remember I know everyone is really excited for me with this. I cant believe its almost here. This has been one crazy long year filled with many ups and downs. Im just so thankfull that I am getting this opportunity and that I am healthy and injury free.

See you guys at the finish!
Cheers

5 comments:

Stephen said...

You're totally crazy!

But... you the man!

Anonymous said...

Do they make run flat tires for bikes? Maybe some solid rubber tires might work better? But really, just enjoy the rest. Get some good sleep. Eat well. Pick-up your packet by 4. Oh, and have some FUN! Enjoy the trip. Oh, and you are crazy, you know.;>) Kona in '08. Providence.

Anonymous said...

Having watched the start of the Tri on the race cam, I found it very exciting. The pixels weren't that great to really see detail, but it looked like the racers filled up about a half mile square (or rather diamond). The Gulf's surface was "all kicked up." It looked like pictures I've seen of huge schools of fish, whipping up the surface! Totally neat.

We were praying for you Sparky! "Please don't let the boy drown!" (Confidence, Eh???!!!)

Two other things: 1) When the first stage was over, we couldn't believe all the guys who failed to finish! This emphasized how difficult even the first part was!

2) We were proud of you for even trying. The most I ever did as a twenty-something, were some 10K's. My favorite was the "Mountain Goat," in Syracuse, NY. But to this day, it is a source of satisfaction to me that I was able to do that. You'll take this experience with you for the rest of your life. It is good to press against it, in the Lord -- to see what He will do with us. You are one Kickin Kid, Laddie. Go for it!

Anonymous said...

Having watched the start of the Tri on the race cam, I found it very exciting. The pixels weren't that great to really see detail, but it looked like the racers filled up about a half mile square (or rather diamond). The Gulf's surface was "all kicked up." It looked like pictures I've seen of huge schools of fish, whipping up the surface! Totally neat.

We were praying for you Sparky! "Please don't let the boy drown!" (Confidence, Eh???!!!)

Two other things: 1) When the first stage was over, we couldn't believe all the guys who failed to finish! This emphasized how difficult even the first part was! 2) We were proud of you for even trying. The most I ever did as a twenty-something, were some 10K's. My favorite was the "Mountain Goat," in Syracuse, NY. But to this day, it is a source of pride for me that I was able to do that. You'll take this experience with you for the rest of your life. It is good to press against it, in the Lord -- to see what He will do with us. You are one Kickin Kid, Laddie. Go for it!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations.. We are so proud of you. Get lots of rest and take care of your body and your girls.