Coeur d' Alene: Day 1

Just 2 days and a few hours left until race day.

I feel ready for the race but I'm not sure I'm ready for the journey to end. Of course, I'll do more triathlons and bike races, but you only get to do your first Ironman once.

It has been a tough, yet rewarding road, full of both moments of achievement and moments of complete humility.

As Coach Tom can attest, I could barely run 400 meters at an 8:00 min/mile pace. In mid May, I finished an 8k road race at a 7:38 min/mile pace. I've taken 2:15 off my 1,000-yard swim time trial. Also, I finally did a long ride on pace to finish a 112-mile bike ride under 6 hours.

I feel like I've done all I can do. I'm ready to start my life as an Ironman!

We arrived last night at 12:30 am after a drive through pretty violent lightning storms. Today, the energy in town has an electricity all its own.There are so many athletes with tanned, leathery skin and lean, cut bodies walking around. Kevin and I took the 15 minute walk from our rental house down to the Ironman Village where I picked up my registration and my bib number, 2094!

2094!

Super helpful volunteers

Afterwards, we made a couple of signs for me and my teammates, got a bite to eat, and headed back to the house. I then took my bike for a 45-minute spin followed by a 30-minute run, both out on the course. I am glad I got a chance to practice in a little bit of heat, because after day-in and day-out of cold and rainy weather, today's 82 degrees felt really hot! I seemed to do okay and I got to practice with both my aero helmet and my disc wheel. I felt speedy!

I am excited for more people to arrive tomorrow and Saturday. My dear friend Danielle has created a very cool t-shirt design for my race day supporters. I can't wait to see it in real life.

Front

Back

I love it! During a triathlon workshop, Coach Tom told us that sometimes you just have to 'Be the Bee.' Apparently, the physics of the bumble bee should make flying impossible, yet, it flies. Every day.

The whole concept has really stuck with me as a mantra. The funny thing? There is a diagram of a worker bee literally drawn on the wall of the laundry room of our rental house. I think it is a sign.

Okay, more tomorrow hopefully. It is time to rest and eat!