2 DAYS, OH MY!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18

 Tracey, Nicolas and I picked up our bikes from Tri Sport Express and took them out for a practice ride up the false flat. We rode 7 of the 10 miles up, averaging about 13 mph, then 7 miles back at about 21 mph--nice on the way down. Check out our oh so very cool IMAZing jerseys!

We had pizza for lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, took a nap, then went to the athlete's meeting. I spent the rest of the night organizing my transition bags. I can't believe it's just two days out!

Only 3 To Go!

 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 17

HELLO ARIZONA!

Arrived this morning. Yes! We picked up our packets. It's all official now! The weather is awesome--sunny with highs in the 70's, low humidity, and not that windy. Let's hope it holds out for race day. Looks good so far.

Check out our Tempe digs! This place is  awesome. It's a huge house with 3 bedrooms, an office, a study, a bar,gourmet kitchen, patio with bar, a heated pool (!), massive walk-in closets, and a Porche and Mercedes in the garage.Nice, huh? We are chillin' in style.

Counting Down From 5

5 more days...

...and I am in full blown packing mode!

I've been organizing everything into categories, grouping the smaller stuff in baggies, dividing items by swim, bike, run; primary items, backup items, spare items.     If I have to have it on race day, it goes in my carry on. Everything else is checked. I like to pretend like I'm organized....Yeah, I talk a good game, but I always wind up over-packing. Que sera. Whatever works, right? It's all about getting it done.

Me Talking Aloud To No One In Particular:   "This is my swim stuff...that's for bike..and run. These are my civilian clothes..."
Don:  "Civilian clothes? What? You're not a civilian in the other stuff?"
LOL. Obviously, Don, a mere civilian doesn't get it. There are tri clothes and there are civilian clothes. The tri clothes have priority status, of course. Everything I'm packing represents a year's worth of effort and, of course, lots of shopportunities-- cha ching. One of my fav items is my HTFU shirt. It can mean a number of things:  Harden The F- UP. Hurry The F- UP. Or--I heard this one at the BBQ--  Hit The Finish line Upright. I plan on being upright when I hit the finish line.

And that's what's on my mind, 5 days out from IMAZ. :)

Just 6 More Days...

 Like so much else in life, the mental game is a big part of IM. So I've spent a lot of time lately trying to keep it positive and visualize success. Here are 6 sayings that seem fitting 6 days out from IMAZ, no doubt the biggest challenge I've ever undertaken:
 









Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Anonymous

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

Ambrose Redmoon

"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We're afraid."
"Come to the edge."
"We can't. We will fall!"
"Come to the edge."
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.

Guillaume Apollinaire

I'm ready to give it everything I've got!  Such is my mental state 6 days out from IMAZ.

One Week To Go!

SUNDAY  NOVEMBER 13

OMG, we are now 7 days out from IMAZ! I went for my final "long" run today--a mere 6 miles. Piece of cake. The rest of the day was spent watching the Saints game and relaxing. Every now and then I would glance at the clock and note where I will be in the race at that particular time of day, 7 days from now. In honor of the 7 day countdown, I'm offering up my 7 reasons to feel good about this race.

7 Reasons To Be Pumped About IMAZ:

7. There will be Diet Coke in my special needs bags
6. The nifty Team Z green stripes on my new running shoes will glow in the dark
5. The swim course is one loop, so everyone will have only one chance to swim over me
4. My race number will bring me luck.  8+0+8=16,  1+6=lucky 7!
3. It's only one day of suffering as opposed to 5 days of hiking up Kilimanjaro
2. I can yell at myself on the bike course without worrying about scaring anyone--they'll all be ahead of me
1. The Official Team Z Cheer Crew will be there and they totally rock!!

And that's how it is today, one week out from IMAZ!

8 Days Out

SATURDAY  NOVEMBER 12

Meet Stella!

Here she is--my kick ass tri bike, Stella! Stella is ready to go. She and I have been through a lot together these past few months, getting ready for this race. Here she is on our final ride before shipping her off to Tempe.

I took her out to the W&OD Trail for one last easy 20 miler this morning. It was a gorgeous day, absolutely beautiful with the fall leaves lining the trail. Everything felt great--even the Terry saddle I had Melissa put back on. Talk about cutting it close! I have spent so much time (and money!) getting everything right with Stella. Now here I am, just 8 days out and finally, finally(!) everything seems to be right with Stella.

After the ride I took Stella and my gear bag to Bonzai and left them in the care of Tri Sport Express for the long drive to Tempe. It's such a relief to know that all is well with my bike. The next time I see Stella will be in a steakhouse parking lot at the race site. Tracey and I will go for a spin up the Beeline Hwy. where that false flat is. It'll be good to see what we're in for and I'm planning for my reaction to be, Oh this is no big deal. I can handle this. 

This afternoon our IMAZ group had a pot luck lunch at Bob's house in McLean. Bob smoked some salmon and I brought some Jambalaya with spicy sausage. Everything was delish. I felt happy and so at peace with everything. I really expected that at this point, with a week to go, I would be a bundle of nerves and full of anxiety. But I'm just feeling good about it all. I guess it's because I can finally say that I've done all I can to ensure my success. I completed every bike ride, went to almost every swim practice, and put in the miles on the run. I've managed to get a bit faster and PR'd almost every race this year. If things don't go right on race day, I still may not be fast enough for the IM cutoff, but I can live with that because I've given it my best effort and can look back without regrets on a year's worth of training.


Such is my life today, just 8 days out from IMAZ.

Oh The Places

I'm taking a pause from my IMAZ Countdown to tell you a story in honor of Veterans Day, which is today, 11/11/11.

Last week I was sent to Arlington National Cemetery to cover a briefing the Army was conducting for Sen. Claire McCaskill. She was there to get an update on the progress that's been made at Arlington one year after revelations of gross mismanagement and negligence at the cemetery. You may remember the reports of mixed up records, veterans not being buried where they were supposed to be buried, caskets mistakenly placed in the same grave, the discovery of multiple unidentified urns dumped in one grave and inadvertently dug up with a backhoe---the kind of thing that just makes your blood boil.

After the briefing, we followed Sen. McCaskill out to a section of the cemetery where the most recent war dead are being buried. Arlington Cemetery officials were showing her (and the press) what steps are being taken at each grave site to ensure that each veteran's grave is marked with multiple identifiers to prevent future mix ups.

While the demonstration was going on, I turned to glance at the headstones behind me and noticed one belonging to Sgt. Robert Tenney, Jr., who died on June 29, 2011 at the age of 29.  

Wow, so young, family must still be grieving, that's so sad,  I thought, then turned back to watch the briefing.

But for some reason I kept being drawn to look back at his grave, each time reading another line on the headstone:  Purple Heart, Bronze Star. This guy must really be brave. Wonder how he died.

Again, I turned back to the briefing but kept wondering about Sgt. Tenney and how he died. I decided to jot down his name and google it later. I  looked back at the headstone to get additional information and that's when I noticed the final line on the marker. It said simply, "Oh The Places."

Oh! The Places You'll Go!  is the name of a popular Dr. Seuss book and one of my favorites. It's the kind of book parents read to their children or give to them for graduation. In the parent-child context, it's all about the hopes and dreams one has of their child growing up and setting off to see the world, to accomplish great things. It acknowledges that there will be bumps in the road and the going won't always be easy, but ultimately, the child will find spectacular success and move mountains in the process.

Perhaps Sgt. Tenney's parents read this book to him when he was young and imagined all the places he would go and the great things he would do. I'm sure they were filled with the same hopes and expectations many parents have for their children. Losing their son at age 29 to enemy fire in Iraq, I'm sure, wasn't among them. The book obviously meant something to them--or to him; enough so that they found it fitting for his headstone.

When I got back to the office, I looked up Oh! The Places You'll Go! online and reread it, this time in the context of a soldier at war. It gave me chills. Take this section, for example:

"...when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are."

So on this Veterans Day, I'm going to drink a toast to Sgt. Robert Tenney, who served in the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas, and died June 29th in Badrah, Iraq of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit. Rest in peace, Sgt. Tenney.

Oh! The Places You'll Go!
by: Dr. Seuss


Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!