Its the Final Countdown to Vineman!!

It must be race week because the sleepless nights, the crazy "i forgot my water bottles" dreams, the horriffic stomach has started. I have been pretty much avoiding the topic all week because it will just get me revved up and my nerves cannot handle that. This happens before all big races, and I wish I could just treat it like another training day, but its not. For 6 LOOOOOOOONG months I have pounded it out on the roads, and have been doing all my trainings with this Sunday's race in mind. You can't help but get that nervous/excited energy, which for me means having to go to the bathroom about every 5 minutes.

I just had my last massage before the big day and started packing my TRI bag. This thing is amazing and has little compartments for everything. I borrowed a wet suit from a co worker and it is so much more comfortable than my other one. That will help. I also changed my pedals and shoes back to my old ones in fear that whatever change was made during my bike fitting was not working so well for me this late in the game. I love my new shoes and new pedals, but I will love those for the next race, not this one. Once I put the new pedals on I had a sigh of relief. I dropped my bike off to a bike shop yesterday and after being toyed with by the men there "make sure you have some allen wrenches to put your bike back together" kind of jokes, and they will drive it up to the race and it will just magically appear in Sonoma. Lets hope she makes it there, I kind of need that. As I was packing my TRI bag I realized I lost my ear plugs last weekend. This sucks royally for me because my ears are very strange and very small and no plugs fit. I tried about 4 different ones and finally ordered the ones that I got. THey do not have them in stores so I will just have to suck it up and try to get some other ones to make it through. I can't stand the feeling of water near my ears so swimming without them is a no-go.



We are leaving Friday morning and meeting my dad at the airport so that is a sigh of relief to see him. Friday we will be checking in to the Windsor Resort where we have a condo. I made some reservations for dinner that night but we'll see what happens. I will have to find a local grocery store to buy some gatorade and some other essentials for the race. Saturday we are swimming in the river to try that out and then drving the bike course. It is always a daunting thing to drive your course, especially when you become tired and bored in your car, but it will be a nice way to see the course a bit before actually riding it. Then we are going to set up our second transition site, and then its off to our pasta party. I will be doing the team's mission moment, so I basically get up and talk about why I do what I do. I have been working on that a bit as well, but am looking forward to sharing my story.



I am just trying to remain positive and not get too freaked by the fact that I will be competing in a challenging, hot, long tri. This will definatley be my longest race yet, and probably my last longest one. I have so enjoyed learning to bike, and to learn from some amazing athletes about cadence, heart rate, and peeing on the bike which I will give a try on the tri. I am also so proud of all my supporters because I was the highest fundraiser with a total of $7735. That is pretty amazing since that number has pretty much stayed the same over the years. I am always suprised by the generosity of others. Thank you for allowing me to continue to do this with such success. I may be next to last out of all my teammates during the race, but at the end of the day it is that number that matters the most to me.


My race number is #869, I have no idea if you can track me but it says the site will be updated throughout the day. Google vineman 70.3, or ironman live, I can't seem to post the sites on the blog.

I want to especially thank my coworkers who gave me a great send off today! Also my husband for putting up with me never being home and not being able to participate in happy hours for about 6 months. ALso thanks for the beautiful flowers from Brian and my in-laws! They were beautiful!!

I will try to update on the blog as much as I can while away. Thanks again and I will report next time from beautiful Sonoma, CA. VINEMAN 70.3, please be gentle!