Now I know what it feels like to be 9 months pregnant and just waiting ... Ok, maybe not exactly. But I imagine it's similar. Or maybe like a prisoner on death row, waiting for execution day. Ok, not that one either. But it's somewhere in the middle of those two. Regardless, I am happy to report that I am calm and excited, not nervous or nauseous as I expected.
This has been a great week. We left Fresno on Monday and drove to Bend, Oregon. We enjoyed a nice relaxing day in Bend on Tuesday and then made the rest of the trip to Coeur d'Alene (sp?) on Wednesday. We emptied our bank accounts at the Ironman store on Thursday, got in a little bit of swimming, cycling and running on Thursday, Friday and today. And we waited. A lot of waiting. It has been a really nice relaxing vacation. I've read a lot, had some great food and had a lot of fun. But seriously, I'm tired of waiting. I'm ready to be an Ironman.
I have plenty of pictures to go along with plenty of stories from this week, but I'm too lazy to email them from my phone and upload them right now, so that will have to wait. Which is fine, because my favorite moments from this week haven't been captured on film at all.
Like Tuesday when we we decided to go swimming at the resort we were staying at in Bend. And it turned into an impromptu swim lesson from our resident expert swimmer, Becki. We all ran back to our room to get goggles and worked on our swim strokes in our regular bathing suits in that little pool with confused tourists looking on.
Like Thursday night when, after a day of shopping and then sitting around reading, and then eating bbq for dinner ... I just needed to run. So one of my fellow Ironmen-to-be went out there on a little Mongoose bike (the condo where we're staying at lets us use them) and rode alongside me for 5 miles at 9:30 at night. A taper tantrum at its finest. But I felt so much better afterwards.
Like yesterday in the lake when I stopped thinking about how cold it was and just thought ... it isn't "if", it's "when." I'm going to swim 2.4 miles in that frigid lake. And then get on with my day.
Like on our bike ride yesterday morning when I made Becki stop with me to pick two of the biggest dandelions I have ever seen (seriously the size of baseballs) and make a wish. I can't tell you what my wish was. But I bet you could take a guess.
Like today when I had to re-charge my phone 3 times because it was blowing up all day with well wishes from so many friends who I know are cheering us on. There are so many good people in this world. I'm lucky to have a lot of them in my corner.
I am so excited about tomorrow. I just can't even explain it. The weather might be crazy. The water might be cold. My special needs bag might get smashed (I hope not - I have watermelon in it!). I might get a flat tire. Or 4 (but not 5, I only have 4 extra tubes). The sky might fall. The world might end. The only thing I can control is my attitude. And I choose to SMILE. Because sometime before midnight tomorrow, I will come down that finishing chute, high fiving every person along the way and wearing a smile the whole time. And I will be an Ironman.
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