Ironman Eve

So, I had good intentions of posting each day while I’m here, mainly as this blog has become my personal journal, a way to document some cool thoughts as my aging memory becomes less dependent.  I enjoy writing but when I’m motivated and the thoughts are organic.  No need to record redundancy, and the week leading into this race, from a training perspective, has been status quo to my race week leading into my qualifier in June.  I will say that my legs feel good.  I feel good.  I had an interesting build for this race, with the bike crash two months ago and working around my recovery from that.  But, the short of it is I feel well prepared.  The distances don’t intimidate me.  Well, the last 10 miles of the marathon in an IM always put a bit of a scare in there, but the biggest worry here with me is always the heat and humidity and how well I manage it.

I have been racing for quite a long time now - much longer than I ever envisioned.  I never have or will take for granted the privledge it is to race here in Hawaii.  And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, however I’m more appreciative than anything else.  This years race marks the 40th anniversary of the Hawaii Ironman World Championship, and I’ve had the fortune to compete in 25% of them.  I get to race here on this amazing island once again, in such a beautiful setting, and with my family here, and that is such a privledge.

Lisa, Kate, and Maddy O arrived on Wednesday and I don’t think Kate and Maddy have stopped talking, shopping, or shooting photos of each other since they walked off the plane.  The non stop running of their mouths must be more exhausting than doing an Ironman - they are quite funny and adorable though.  The two of them are running my Instagram this week and on race day for my friends and family to get an idea of what’s going down, and since I’m not great about keeping up with social media.  It’s been a lot of fun having them here and it’s been a really nice distraction from focusing on, well from focusing on just me.  This sport is extremely self focused and can feel selfish. Hopefully we inspire maybe a few people from our actions but the reality is that the commitment to this sport is a bit self absorbed.  It has many feeling like they are super important and others are super interested in their hobby.  I try not to bore others with Tri talk, and for my friends who have been extremely supportive, it certainly means a lot.

Ryan arrived Thursday and man was it great to see him.  He had quite the ordeal getting out of Florida during hurricane Michael.  The destruction caused by that storm definitely puts into perspective the minuscule importance of the race tomorrow.  Catching up with him and hearing how well he’s adapting to college life makes me extremely proud and satisfied.

We will have an early dinner tonight and I probably won’t sleep that well, but I get to wake up and spend the day swimming, cycling and running.  In Hawaii.  With my family.  It’s going to be a great day!