Friday!!!

We went for a practice swim this morning and I was pleasantly surprised. The water temperature is noticeable lower than last year. The water was 84 degrees last year and felt like a bathtub and at that temperature you risk over hearing before your day has even begun. Today they announced that it was 83 degrees, but it felt cooler to me. Also there was almost no current! Again, last year the current was so strong they had to change the swim configuration. All in all, it was a great swim, about 30 minutes and about 1 mile. They were lots of people there and Gatorade was giving away product and bottles, while they watched your gear. The weather is very warm and it is looking like race day will be sunny and 90!

This afternoon Tim and I went for a short 30 minute run and I took the bike in to a local shop for a quick rear derailleur adjustment. On this bike course the gear changes will number in the thousands and this is not the place to have anything but a perfectly functioning drive train. The local shop was great, did it while I watched and asked for only $5 for their time. I gave them a nice tip. I took the bike out for a half hour ride just to make sure everything was perfect, it was!

Tonite we attended the athlete’s briefing where the race director goes over the race course and rules in detail and answers all questions. It’s held in one of the Galt Hotel ball rooms and was one of four meeting held over Friday / Saturday. The Welcome Dinner was tonight and we had a great time. They introduced the oldest and youngest competitors (18 and 65) and asked for people that lost weight while training the Ironman to stand up. The MC went through them all until the last guy standing was a fellow that lost 160lbs. Amazing. They showed the Ford Ironman videos and got everyone pumped up.

Tomorrow is bike check in day and time to get serious about getting everything organized for Sunday morning. We are making sure to stay well hydrated and putting extra salt on anything we eat.