Friday, 18 July 2008

Only two days away at this point. Things are getting busier!

Swimming!
After a quick breakfast of amazing granola that Virginia had found (Dorset Cereal - from the UK!), Mike headed to the Gatorade swim for a lap. We met up with Debbie Cavender who did a short swim, sans wetsuit. She was great - shared w. us that she got a little freaked out in the water without the bouyancy of a wetsuit. Debbie is a very strong swimmer, so somehow, her fears helped settle me down as I had these feelings of freaking out at every swim.

Multisport Breakfast & Words of Wisdom from IM Champions
Went to the Multisport breakfast at the Northwoods Inn. Food was horrible and mostly gone when I arrived 10 minutes late (no oatmeal, just gluteny danishes and some sour fruit cocktail & gelatin-filled yogurt). The coffee & OJ were perfect fluids though and I shouldn't complain as it was all complimentary (aka, FREE!)

Paula, Heather, Sue Fraser, Jimmy Riccatello and Michael Lovato all spoke.

Paula's advice was to go out and 'Have a Day' - she said some of us would have a GREAT day, but regardless, we'd all have a 'Day' and it was up to us to handle what the course and conditions threw at us. Her analysis that athletes get to the race and think something magical is going to happen & everything will fall into place - that is hardly the case. We'd have tough times and wonderful times and it was up to us to determine how we'd handle it. For example, if we bonked on a long ride, we'd go into a convenience store and grab a Snickers bar & Red Bull to pull us out of it. We needed to do the same planning and have backup strategies for race day. The key was to keep asking yourself what your body needs and try things to deal with the issue. [I'd call upon this advice on race day more than I realized!]

Michael Lovato was absolutely hilarious.

Sue Fraser stopped to chat after the talk. She is totally amazing with all the planning and work she does for NA Sports. Honestly, I think she's the brains behind everything! And so modest, too!

Saw Debbie having a very nice-looking blueberry pancake breakfast and as we were talking, it became so apparent to me the wonderful things I have in my life, thanks to my husband. He really has helped me more than I could have hoped/asked.

I got back to the hotel just as Mike & Virginia were heading out - we had errands to run to prep for Sunday!

1. My spare tyre needed to be stretched & glued. Wayne (whose place we swim at on Friday mornings) had suggested to take it to the Inside Out Sports guys. Of course - my buddy, Lawrence "Tractor" Garcia, would take care of it. We dropped it off to be picked up on Saturday.
2. Mike picked up the additional batteries for the cycle computer [who knew it took 4!!! Juan had loaned me one, I bought one, but still needed two more!!] and get whatever other small things I needed.
3. We also picked out a new race belt - Mike teased me that mine was so old school it still used safety pins to hold the number! I liked it b/c it was from a friend's company, Rip 'n' Hammer, acquired when I first started racing duathlons in Canada over 14 years ago. But yeah, the new Fuel Belt one was sweet and could be accessorized w. a little pouch for electrolyte tabs.

Afterward, it was time for bike and transition bag prep - absolutely ensuring I had everything I needed, so if there were other last minute things, there would be time to take care of them.

I was so thankful to have my fabulous husband to walk me through the options and help guide the process, as well as take care of things! He is fantastic!

We placed everything on the bed and went thru the scenarios, including planning out the nutrition/bottles I'd need, when I'd take things. It went so smoothly and we had a very sleepy little supervisor in Lolo

Dinner Plans
We had planned to pick up an extra ticket for my wonderful husband to join us at the Athlete's Banquest/PreRace Dinner. Mike & Virginia had tried to get an extra ticket but no luck - were told it was sold out, but we could go to the dinner and buy a ticket from an athlete who had an extra one. We drove out to the Horseshow Grounds. Nice idea - didn't pan out as about 30 others athletes hoped to do the same.

As we waited for an opportunity to buy a ticket, Juan and Mike Thacker (also from the Multisports Camp) came up and suggested that since they needed three extra tickets for Mike's family/crew, we should just go & eat at a nice restaurant. Nicola's it was for the second night in a row, but we knew what we wanted to eat, at least! We sold our extra ticket and headed back into town. :)