Friday morning, we had an early start and headed straight over to the Galt House to register and receive our gear bags, swim cap and timing chip, among other things.
We stood in line and weighed in. I thought it was funny that my precise Tanita Scale measurement came in at 123.4 lbs. (body fat 25.3% and body water 54.4%)
Registration and the Ironman Race Expo surprisingly took a large chunk out of our day, and it wasn't soon after that Sandy and I were rushed for time to get over to Tri Bike Transport at the Great Lawn (the Transition Area) to pick up our bikes, which were shipped over to Louisville from California, along with our pedals (which needed to be removed from the bikes), and our gear bags containing our helmets; cycling shoes; and race day nutrition.
As much as we had wanted to cruise around and see some of local downtown Louisville, we only really had time for a quick photo op at the Belle of Louisville Steamboat along the Ohio River, and a glimpse of our Transition area.
Because of the closed roads and construction by the Convention Center, we had to find our own route on foot (lugging our bags and bikes) back to the hotel. It was now well into the low 90s and we had worked up quite a sweat with the heat index.
After a quick bite, we met up with my parents and Sandy's Dad, Dr. Jim, to drive the bike course and check out what our terrain and rolling hills would be like.
The Ironman Louisville bike course consists of an out-and-back, and then sort of a lollipop-shape where athletes do two loops through the 'candy' of the lollipop (entering into the township of La Grange) and then head back down toward the 'stick' of the lollipop back to Transition.
It wasn't long into our trip that I thought to myself... "Man, this is a long drive!" :)
After getting a good glimpse of the course, Sandy and I jetted straight over to the Convention Center for the Ironman Louisville Welcome Dinner, where we heard Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, and announcer at the World Championships in Kona, speak. From there, we enjoyed meeting some other athletes and their families at our table (some of the youngest competitors, who were 18 and 21 years old); and we also went through the Athletes' Briefing on Rules and Regulations of the Race.
After finishing up with dinner and the welcoming activities at about 8 p.m., Sandy and I got to work on 'the bags' -- another Ironman Race Weekend Rite of Passage that usually consists of getting confused, worried about forgetting things and potentially putting the wrong things into different-colored bags. Basically, if you haven't thought it through ahead of time and don't give yourself enough time -- it can be a very stressful experience :)
Thankfully though, Sandy and I had our 'strategy' in the works for a few weeks prior so now it was just a matter of laying everything out and crossing things off the checklist. Oh, and marking absolutely everything with our names, in case anything fell out. With over 2,500 identical red bags and the same amount of blue ones, race numbers and names on everything can save you a world of chaos.
The gear bag adventure took us about 3 hours -- which most people (ahem, Type B people, like my teammate Nick), would probably find hilarious and unnecessary :) but it actually helped Sandy and I a lot in our race planning and really being able to visualize what we'd need to do when we got to our transitions during the race itself (T1 = Swim-to-Bike; T2 = Bike-to-Run; and 1 Special Needs stop each during the bike course and run course).
It also took me about 20 minutes to affix my race number sticker to my bike. See, it has to be fully visible on the left side of the bike, in case any officials need to pull you over for a race penalty. The top tube of my bike is hardly perfectly circular, plus the 'bento box' (which holds my food and other bike ride essentials) was also in the way. Long story short: we had some work to do, to get it just right!
Despite getting to bed by about 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, I managed to get a really good night's sleep in -- which is actually more crucial than the night before the race. The next morning (Saturday), the girls and I met up (after I had simulated my race breakfast of a whole wheat bagel thin with peanut butter; a bottle of my recovery drink; and a Thermolyte), and headed to the Swim Finish for the Ironman Perform Practice Swim.
Naturally, it was a little intimidating... because rather than it being just IronTeam (from the LA Chapter, and us from SF/SV), the Practice Swim was open to everyone participating in the race. So it was about as official of a "practice" as it could get. The men wore red Ironman Louisville swim caps; and the women, white.
The thing to know about the Ironman Louisville swim start (for the race, itself) is that it is a time-trial start -- which means you line up in single-file and when the gun goes off at 7 a.m., the line moves forward and in 3s and 4s, you jump right off the dock. Your place in line determines how much additional time after the last person jumps in, that you have for the swim. From the time the last person in line jumps in, athletes have 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete the 2.4-mile swim. So it is recommended that those who anticipate needing more time for the swim (or in certain cases, for the bike), get up and in line early on Sunday morning. All other Ironman races worldwide either consist of mass or wave swim starts. Either way, you just need to be watchful, as you'll be swimming with up to 2-3,000 of your closest friends in an all-out brawl.
But before we jump too far ahead, I'll say that for the practice swim, we just walked down some stairs and hopped right into the warm Ohio. I was amazed to feel the temperature. 84 degrees! Brown and murky, yes. But comfortable and exhilarating to be at my race venue! I thought I would be nervous about the flailing limbs and getting punched in the goggles or elbowed in the face. But to my own surprise, it was only a few nudges here and there. If and when I felt someone bump into me, I'd slightly shift directions but remained defensive. I also wore my goggles underneath my swim cap to prevent them from getting kicked off.
Sandy and I stuck together and only planned to do a 20-30 minute swim to get a feel for any current, the water temp, and the course. It was so cool to be swimming in such a large body of water, with 3 distinct bridges overhead, yet feel contained within the buoys and safe by the support kayaks.
After our swim, we dried off and headed back to the hotel to clean up and get ready for the next items on our agenda: Double-checking of the bags; Inspiration Luncheon with IronTeam; and Bike Check-In at Transition.
Paula, Sandy and I dressed up in our 'flames' (by now, hopefully you all know what those are), for the Luncheon, in hopes of joining up in solidarity with the rest of our LA IronTeam counterparts. Unfortunately, the three of us were the only ones in the room in IronTeam garb and I immediately started to miss our SF IronTeam at large. Our complete coach staff; our captains; and my teammates who make me laugh constantly. It just wasn't the same without them.
Shortly after lunch, it was time to bid farewell to our bikes -- but first, we had to take them for a quick test ride to make sure nothing was off or got knocked out of place during transport. So my brother, Albie; Sandy and I went for a walk to a somewhat-shaded area (gear and special needs bags in tow) and took our bikes for a quick spin.
Everything checked out, and as the day grew warmer, we headed for the Great Lawn.
I was pretty excited to have my race number in the early 100s, because it meant I'd actually be racked by the Pro Triathletes. As I walked into the sea of multi-thousand dollar bikes, with wheels and add-ons I'd never seen before and could only imagine their aerodynamic advantages... it clicked that all this was really happening. I was gearing up to actually do an Ironman.
A small group of us had some dinner at the Hyatt Restaurant (Meal of choice before the race? Half of a hearty angus cheeseburger with some salty french fries and lots of water), by 6 p.m.
My hope was to be in bed by 8-8:30 p.m. and tuckered out for the big day ahead. A long-shot I know ;)
Before I left for my trip, a very good friend of mine, who originally started training for endurance athletics with me -- Megan, gave me a package wrapped in red paper to take with me to Louisville. I had to promise to wait until the night before the race to open it. So amidst the packing and ransacking of Friday & Saturday -- this shiney, distinct red package laid on my nightstand in my hotel room beckoning me to open it.
Once I got cozy into my lovely & plush Hyatt bed, with the room to myself -- I took the time to reflect and say a prayer of gratitude and thanks for the adventure that lie before me; and I decided to open it up.
It was a black book, that appeared to be a scrapbook of sorts. It had a giant red "M-Dot" symbol on it. The first 2 pages were decorated by Megan, herself. She included messages of encouragement and reminders to find my inner strength and power when the day got rough.
This book had been rather thick, so I'd wondered what else she'd say in the upcoming pages. But to my absolute shock, I began to see other names filling the pages. And they were the names of many of my donors. Megan had single-handedly reached out to each of the donors who have contributed to the Cause on my behalf this season and they sent her letters, emails, faxes, photos, cards -- that SHE consolidated into this one book.
I couldn't believe it. I blubbered and sniffled and was touched beyond words. Messages from work colleagues; notes in French from my best friends with whom I lived in Paris 5 years ago; cards from previous teammates from the marathon season; and notes from my current teammates.
I thanked God for the love, support, faces, and people who surround me day-to-day. For those that are truly behind me every step of the way who although were not physically with me, were with me in spirit in every sense of the word.
I thanked God for my health. For an able body, a strong mind, and an iron will to perform the task before me. For the opportunity to celebrate a season of hard work. For the chance to really see how far my body, mind and heart could take me. For another day (of so many) to live wildly and freely and to the absolute fullest.
I fell asleep that night at peace and utter contentment. No fears, no anxiety, no worry. I knew my Ironman Race Day was coming and I knew it was going to be an incredible one.
You had so much to do before even getting to the start line- that was like a whole separate endurance event in itself! Megan's book was a really nice touch, and sounded like it put everything into perspective for you. I too fell asleep the night before Vineman feeling relaxed and at peace. Why? Because we were well trained, and I knew deep down that I was ready. So were you. I can't wait for the next installment, keep 'em coming!
ReplyDelete