Ahhhhh, the race is growing close and I can certainly feel the excitement of the race. The level of contact from Ironman USA and the Race Director is increasing by the day about where to be, when to be there, and which roads to avoid during training due to construction. But wait do I have everything!!!!!!!!!
List, List, List. I have lists for everything that I have been working on for, well, months. I don’t really have a sickness and I'm not the Absent Minded Professor type either. The worse feeling in the world is getting to a race and realizing you have forgotten something. It’s happened before. So having lists gives me a peace of mind when I go to sleep at night.
I have lists for each leg of the race, 1st transition, special needs bag (bag in the middle of the bike and the run for nutrition), 2nd transition. I also have a regular packing list for clothes and also for things like my computer, camera and other odds-n-ends that you may take along on a once in a life time event. The goal here is to experience everything this race has to offer!!
Wow! The excitement is building though. I really don’t need the excitement, let me just keep this event tucked away in the back of my mind for a few more days so I don’t get too excited about it. After all, I do need to sleep over the next week, especially since I will not get any sleep at all the night before!!!
Today, I got the first e-mail about entering into the lottery for Kona for next year. I am seriously sitting here contemplating whether to do it or not. This fits neatly into that category of, “beware of what you wish for, it may come true.”
While I don’t know what the race hold’s in store for me next weekend, I am drawn to entering this lottery again. On the other hand, I know the commitment and time away from my family that is takes to get to the level to make it to the start line is incredible. If I were to actually win again, (which it has been done before), I think my family would disown me.
…Maybe next year!
Several things I want to cover since it has been about 10 days since my last update. It’s been very busy with work, my little league Football team, and of course training and prepping for the trip to Kona.
My taper is going well. I am starting to get a bit of the “ I HAVE TOO MUCH ENERGY”
syndrome. It’s not bad yet, but I certainly went down to the gym during lunch today and jumped in the water and did the elliptical. I only had a short pool run scheduled actually, SO I NEED to key it down a bit over the next 10 days and save the energy if possible. Next week will be crazy trying to not train nearly as much as I head into the final taper towards the race. I know I will be bouncing off the walls.
Equipment failures are the latest stressor to hit Team Tweedy. My bike computer went out and my goggles now have a leaks in them.
The bike computer dies at mile 52 on Sunday and I have become so dependant on the feedback from the bike computer regarding cadence, speed, distance and time, when it went out I felt a bit naked for the first 5-10 miles afterwards. But then, I got use to it, and just rode the bike at a good comfort level, if there is a comfort level between miles 70 and 85!
The goggles were another matter. Goggles only last for a month it seems like if you’re an active swimmer. If they are stored wrong, packed wrong, dropped on the floor wrong or just aged, THEY LEAK. And no, I don’t think is my funny shaped head either! J
So, I had to grabbed another pair of goggles at Dick’s today. I have found that no matter how much money I spend on specialty goggles that I order on line, and no matter if Michael Phelps is endorsing them or not, Dick’s Sporting goods always seem to have goggles that fit better and are more comfortable than any goggles I buy on-line.
….and if I read about one more manufacturer stating that their goggles don’t fog up on long swims. I am going to SCREAM!!! They all fog up after the 2nd use.
Next is the injury up date for my foot: It’s still attached to my leg, that the positive piece of news. I am not running at all right now on land. I am running in the pool and I did the elliptical today trying to maintain some conditioning. The foot is holding up ok with no pain using those training methods so hopefully it’s healing a bit. I would love to be able to get to 18-miles in the race before it starts hurting. We will see!
The last thing I wanted to cover was that I received a check today from someone I have never met, as a contribution to the charity I am supporting for this race. Her name was Lauri and she wrote a very nice short letter of encouragement, which was absolutely great! This meant a lot to me since I am the world's worse fund raiser. So I got in touch with her to thank her, as I have all of the people who have contributed to the charity, and I quickly found out that she was, and is, quite the triathlete. She had raced Kona twice! And she got her slot through placing in qualifying races and on top of that she ran a 10:59 in Kona.
10:59, Whew! Let’s put this in perspective… I will not be in this range, in this race, period. This warrants huge respect in the Tri world.
Lauri was very nice to talk to and very helpful. I could have spent another hour picking her brain on the race especially since she has raced it twice. She did tell me that she was getting back into the Triathlon scene in NC this year so you guys had better watch out for 2009!!
Lastly, next week is the week I have been working for, for so long. I hopefully will have internet connection ( or I will find one) so I can update this blog on a daily basis starting on Tuesday. There will be so much going on next week, I really want to keep everything documented that is going on so I can keep everything in perspective for years to come and also let family know what I am doing on a daily basis.
See you all next week!
List, List, List. I have lists for everything that I have been working on for, well, months. I don’t really have a sickness and I'm not the Absent Minded Professor type either. The worse feeling in the world is getting to a race and realizing you have forgotten something. It’s happened before. So having lists gives me a peace of mind when I go to sleep at night.
I have lists for each leg of the race, 1st transition, special needs bag (bag in the middle of the bike and the run for nutrition), 2nd transition. I also have a regular packing list for clothes and also for things like my computer, camera and other odds-n-ends that you may take along on a once in a life time event. The goal here is to experience everything this race has to offer!!
Wow! The excitement is building though. I really don’t need the excitement, let me just keep this event tucked away in the back of my mind for a few more days so I don’t get too excited about it. After all, I do need to sleep over the next week, especially since I will not get any sleep at all the night before!!!
Today, I got the first e-mail about entering into the lottery for Kona for next year. I am seriously sitting here contemplating whether to do it or not. This fits neatly into that category of, “beware of what you wish for, it may come true.”
While I don’t know what the race hold’s in store for me next weekend, I am drawn to entering this lottery again. On the other hand, I know the commitment and time away from my family that is takes to get to the level to make it to the start line is incredible. If I were to actually win again, (which it has been done before), I think my family would disown me.
…Maybe next year!
Several things I want to cover since it has been about 10 days since my last update. It’s been very busy with work, my little league Football team, and of course training and prepping for the trip to Kona.
My taper is going well. I am starting to get a bit of the “ I HAVE TOO MUCH ENERGY”
syndrome. It’s not bad yet, but I certainly went down to the gym during lunch today and jumped in the water and did the elliptical. I only had a short pool run scheduled actually, SO I NEED to key it down a bit over the next 10 days and save the energy if possible. Next week will be crazy trying to not train nearly as much as I head into the final taper towards the race. I know I will be bouncing off the walls.Equipment failures are the latest stressor to hit Team Tweedy. My bike computer went out and my goggles now have a leaks in them.
The bike computer dies at mile 52 on Sunday and I have become so dependant on the feedback from the bike computer regarding cadence, speed, distance and time, when it went out I felt a bit naked for the first 5-10 miles afterwards. But then, I got use to it, and just rode the bike at a good comfort level, if there is a comfort level between miles 70 and 85!
The goggles were another matter. Goggles only last for a month it seems like if you’re an active swimmer. If they are stored wrong, packed wrong, dropped on the floor wrong or just aged, THEY LEAK. And no, I don’t think is my funny shaped head either! J
So, I had to grabbed another pair of goggles at Dick’s today. I have found that no matter how much money I spend on specialty goggles that I order on line, and no matter if Michael Phelps is endorsing them or not, Dick’s Sporting goods always seem to have goggles that fit better and are more comfortable than any goggles I buy on-line.
….and if I read about one more manufacturer stating that their goggles don’t fog up on long swims. I am going to SCREAM!!! They all fog up after the 2nd use.
Next is the injury up date for my foot: It’s still attached to my leg, that the positive piece of news. I am not running at all right now on land. I am running in the pool and I did the elliptical today trying to maintain some conditioning. The foot is holding up ok with no pain using those training methods so hopefully it’s healing a bit. I would love to be able to get to 18-miles in the race before it starts hurting. We will see!
The last thing I wanted to cover was that I received a check today from someone I have never met, as a contribution to the charity I am supporting for this race. Her name was Lauri and she wrote a very nice short letter of encouragement, which was absolutely great! This meant a lot to me since I am the world's worse fund raiser. So I got in touch with her to thank her, as I have all of the people who have contributed to the charity, and I quickly found out that she was, and is, quite the triathlete. She had raced Kona twice! And she got her slot through placing in qualifying races and on top of that she ran a 10:59 in Kona.
10:59, Whew! Let’s put this in perspective… I will not be in this range, in this race, period. This warrants huge respect in the Tri world.
Lauri was very nice to talk to and very helpful. I could have spent another hour picking her brain on the race especially since she has raced it twice. She did tell me that she was getting back into the Triathlon scene in NC this year so you guys had better watch out for 2009!!
Lastly, next week is the week I have been working for, for so long. I hopefully will have internet connection ( or I will find one) so I can update this blog on a daily basis starting on Tuesday. There will be so much going on next week, I really want to keep everything documented that is going on so I can keep everything in perspective for years to come and also let family know what I am doing on a daily basis.
See you all next week!
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