Countdown to IMAZ: 5 days left

Bib # = 2108

5 days until IMAZ. How did this happen? I swear it was just a few months ago that I was starting on this crazy adventure.

So with the house stuff I am tapering well by doing no training during the week. I won't have time for anything until Thursday. But they say it's better to go into an event undertrained than overtrained, so I'm definitely in that undertrained category.

This week has been crazy. I packed all of my race gear in grocery bags, and they are labeled "Dry clothes", "T1", "Bike Special Needs", "T2", "Run Special Needs." This way all I have to do is transfer everything into the real race bags. I stopped by Trisports and got a few final things for my bags, along with some things from Walgreens. So here's what's in my bags o' fun:

Dry clothes
This is actually all of my swim stuff for now. I have my repaired wetsuit, cap, goggles, earplugs, flip flops, Bodyglide, and swimsuit in this bag. I'm wearing a 2 piece swimsuit for the swim under the wetsuit.

T1: Swim to bike
Helmet, shoes, jersey, bike shorts, sunscreen, bodyglide, socks, sunglasses, towel, race belt with bike number. My swim top doubles as a sports bra.

Bike Special Needs
2 tubes, 2 CO2 cartridges, kleenex, pretzles, Carbo-Pro powder, Cliff Shot Bloks, electrolyte tabs. I'm going to have all liquids with me on the bike, but the powder is in case one of my bottles gets ejected. I'm planning on saving the Bloks for the run, but will only use them on the bike if something goes wrong in the nutrition plan and I need to do something different. I know Bloks work on the bike, but would like to save them for the run so that I don't get tired of my fuel.

T2: Bike to Run
Run jersey, run shorts, run socks, run shoes, hat, sunscreen, bodyglide, clear glasses, race belt with run number, Cliff Bloks, electrolyte tabs, handi-wipes. The bike number has my last name, while the run number has my first name. I bought 2 race belts so that I could easily switch. I'm definitely changing shorts and jerseys to be comfortable. 2 bags of Bloks should get me through the first half marathon.

Run Special Needs
Bodyglide, electrolyte tabs, Shot bloks, peanuts, kleenex. Pretty minimal stuff in this bag.

All of my food in the bags is in a cheap insulated lunch box (courtesy of giveaways from work). Hopefully this will keep everything from baking in the sun. I'll also use what's on the course. I'm planning on bananas for the bike (along with my strawberry newtons and pretzles). The run I'll eat little bites of pretzles and fruit as needed. I'm only going to go for the Coke at the very end, or unless I'm in dire need and have to have it sooner. I won't be doing broth. I'm vegetarian, so dead chickens don't go well with me. I've been vegetarian for 16 years, so I don't think my body can even digest animal parts anymore. I know it would cause major puking, so I'm not even going to go there.

So here I am, a week out from the race. When people ask "Are you ready?" now I just say "Yes." To say it is to think it. I figure if I keep saying it, my brain will agree.

Right now I feel that the swim will be no problem, the bike shouldn't be too bad (as long as the wind stays down), and the run is where it will hit me. I've conviced my head the run is 2 laps and a parade lap. NOT 26.2 miles. I don't care about mile markers or mile splits or anything. It's 2 laps. My last lap is to hug all of the volunteers and say goodbye to the course.

Even though I might be undertrained, I feel like Ironman is really a mental effort and I'm ready for that. For some reason I have this feeling that I'm going to finish. I can see myself crossing the finish line. I've already had a few crying spells. In the car, in the shower...anywhere where I start to think about the swim, seeing all the people, and starting the race. Then I think about finishing the race, the crowd, the finishing chute, what it will be like, and I can't help but start crying. I'm going to be a mess out there.

I leave for Tempe Thursday morning. I'm taking my laptop and camera, so I hope to keep updating this blog. It's a goal anyways.

5 days to go...