jdiis - 2011-05-19 10:02 PM
evillarroel - 2011-05-19 3:28 PM I have so much time in my hands today... It feels very unusual. My wife is joining me tomorrow night (she's still at work). Kiddos are staying behind, they hate long races and I don't blame them. Watching Ironman is almost as tedious as racing one...
So, if you don't know what to do with your time, take us behind the scenes of an Ironman competition. Tell us what you do when you show up on Thursday for a Saturday race. What thoughts are going through your head? How do you relax, or do you? What is your ritual, etc. What is this expo deal? Are all 2500 triathletes there already? Do you watch the weather, etc.
The peeps want to know, all right maybe just me.
First, you have to show up on Thursday because packet pickup is always mandatory two days prior to the race. So is the athlete's dinner and briefing that happened last night and I didn't go to
(ehemm
).
Today, I went to dip in the water for a brief 15 minutes to check it out (they have an official swim practice between 8 and 10AM) and after that I went to transition to drop my bags and rack my bike.
Everybody's here, there's a lot of sizing each other up (which I hate) and tons of nervous energy in the air. The swim start is somewhat narrow and it will be carnage for about 800 yards. The weather is very hot and muggy and winds have pickep up quite a bit since yesterday, so this is going to be a very tough race.
Today after doing all my stuff I had lunch with a friend that's also racing (and his wife) and now I'm in my room just kicking back again. Getting tons of hydration. The expo is big, lots of people trying to sell you bikes, wheels, clothing, shoes, etc. I got my packet and left immediately to avoid all the nervous people. I think of tomorrow as the moment to prove what you're made of, the intimidation of others means nothing when you're battling your own demons during the race.