Pre-race

In 2005, I was very nervous and excited for my first Ironman. The week before the race, I would become nervous whenever I thought about the race, so my mind was focused on everything but the race. This time around, it wasn't that I didn't care, but it wasn't really that important to me. For me, it was just another race, though the training and taper were a bit longer. I never really thought about the race much the week before. There just wasn't a reason for me to be stressed. I knew what I would happen, and I knew what I needed to do, where to go and what to bring. Another race on another day.

This Ironman was entirely enjoyable to me. I was able to enjoy all the pre-race festivities, the expo, pick-up and banquet with my friend Andrea, who was experiencing her first.



It was fun for me to see her excited and nervous for the race and the experience, analogous to cresting the first hill of your favorite roller-coaster with someone who has never ridden it before. You know exactly what will happen and how much fun the ride will be, and you want to share everything with your friend. This is how it was for me. Ironman is a blast and I wanted her to have fun too, so I was glad to see her enjoy everything.

Friday morning, I went down to the Monona Terrace for the Gatorade swim around the swim course and then registration. The entire week of the Ironman, and before, I was glued to the weather forecast, watching every day and hoping the rain I saw forecasted for the weekend would not be on Sunday. Fortunately, my wish came true...sort of. It never rained during the race, but Friday and Monday weren't good. Friday was cold, overcast and windy, and Monday it rained all day long. As long as the race was nice, that all I cared about. The swim was very difficult because the weather that was blowing out of Madison caused the lake to be very choppy, with swells of 12 inches. This made swimming very difficult because I would swallow a mouthful of water when I would breath facing upwind. I also couldn't get into a rhythm, causing me to be quite slow and feel anxious about the possibility of a bad swim.

After registration, I picked up the gear and transition bags, timing chip and a few goodies. Though it took a while, it all went smoothly and I was done after a long hour. For lunch, my friend Sarah, who just started her PhD at the University of Wisconsin. Lunch was good at Paisan's, and then I headed home to pack my bags and gather any last-minute things I would need for the race.

Friday evening, I met Andrea and some other Ironman friends at the Terrace for the Ironman banquet. The banquet is a fun chance to get together with 2200 other athletes from every state and twenty countries and eat free food...the real reason I go. Eating with the twenty or so other Ironman friends was fun, and a chance to help answer a few questions of what to expect and what to expect. The presentation after was a cool look at a video produced for the race. Just another way to get pumped up.

After the banquet, it was back home to get some good sleep.



Saturday, I went down to the Terrace to drop off my bags (above) and walk around downtown with my girlfriend Kathryn, Andrea, her Mom, and my parents. We ate downtown at a great Irish place. Andrea and I had stew, a great suggestion from her for a pre-race meal, and after that, I went to Verona where I stayed the night before. I mainly stayed downstairs, watching football, and basically allowing myself to do nothing and think about nothing as there was nothing else to worry about, only waiting. After force-feeding myself as much chicken and pasta as I could muster, I went to bed early at 8:00p and hoped that I wouldn't toss and turn without getting any sleep. I eventually fell asleep about 10:00p, thankfully...4:00 would show up soon enough.