It was a rushed day today. It wasn’t meant to be, but it was. After the easy jog, I prepared my bike and both gear bags (T1 and T2) to drop off at respective transitions. There was a bustle of activity at the hotel lobby with triathletes in their tight bodies nervously and fastidiously readying their bikes for the race tomorrow. A 14-year old Mexican kid (Julian) was directing traffic and bus schedules to drop athletes and their gear off to transitions. I didn’t have to go to the drop-off place until 2:30PM. I had plenty of time.
Will dropped his T1 gear and came over at around 1PM. Binita’s flight had landed at around 12:15; Will and I decided to have lunch (tacos again) and wait in the lobby for Binita to arrive. She finally arrived at around 1:30PM. Will and I took off to drop our T1 and T2 stuff. We dropped off the T2 bag first and then he dropped me off at T1 and decided to call it a day to rest.
The atmosphere at T1 was absolutely electric. There were about a thousand bikes all racked up nicely along the beach. Each had assigned numbers (mine is 946). Most of the professional bicycles cost somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000. These are high-precision engineered machines that become one with the rider and these pros will approach speeds of 50MPH on some of the hills tomorrow.
I was quick to drop off my gear and bike at T1 only to walk up the hill and wait for 30 minutes in the bus that eventually dropped me off to the hotel.
Binita was waiting for me here. After early dinner (two bowls of Fettuccine and some random dessert), we retired to the room where I began my final race prep. First, I got branded with my number (946). I prepped my nutrition for tomorrow (water bottles with carbo-pro and Gatorade Endurance, honey-stinger waffles, salt pills, Advil). Binita helped me plan my Advil intake for tomorrow. The weather calls for heat and light variable winds. The idea is to relax, take it easy and enjoy the day. That’s easier said than done!
I all goes well, tomorrow I will be an IRONMAN. We’ll see what becomes of this blog…