November 6 - Melissa to the rescue!
Talk about cutting it close. Next weekend, I'm dropping my bike off with Tri Sport Express for the long ride to Arizona. That means that all my new tri bike issues had to be resolved this weekend.
I love my new bike, but it's been a pretty high maintenance situation. I've had the fit tweaked and re-tweaked multiple times, the handlebars moved up, a longer stem put on, installed different aerobars to keep my wrists in a neutral position, the left gear shifter adjusted 3 times (3rd time was a charm), a fraying cable replaced, and then there's the new saddle issue. Yeah, I think riding more than 250 miles on a new saddle should be sufficient time to get used to it...but I never did.
No worries, though, because I knew I had the best people on Team Sally to help me figure it out and I was confident it would all be fine by deadline time. I've tapped the wisdom of bike shop managers, bike fit gurus, bike mechanic geniuses, and Team Z coaches and teammates. I've probably driven well over 100 miles going from place to place to get the various issues worked out. But on this final weekend....and with so much of my IM success riding on the bike....I couldn't afford to get it wrong. That's where Coach Melissa comes in.
Off I went to Melissa's house this afternoon to get all my lingering problems resolved. She reinstalled my Terry saddle and took me through some of the "what if" scenarios. What if I get kicked in the face during the swim? What if it's really windy on the bike? What if I get overwhelmed by negative thoughts? How will I react? What will I do?
I always leave her house feeling happy, confident, and grateful. She gets it. She's been there, done that. I'm so fortunate to have Melissa on my side. It makes me think about all the other people who've helped me along on this IMAZing journey.
There are no words to adequately express how much their support has meant to me. They've put up with my endless obsessing over cutoff times. They've countered every doubt I've expressed with words of encouragement. They've listened to me and laughed with me and suffered alongside me. And some of them will be waiting at the finish line! What a happy thought.
Such is my mental state today, with 2 weeks to go until IMAZ.
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