The Countdown Begins!

In 12 days, 6 hours and 19 minutes from the time of this post, on May 20 at 6:20 a.m. I will be racing in the Florida Ironman 70.3 in Orlando. Not that I’m obsessing or anything – it’s Ironman’s fault for putting countdown clocks on their websites. For those of you that aren’t familiar with triathlon the 70.3 is half the distance of the Ironman that you hear about all the time and is also referred to as a half-ironman. It is a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and a 13.1 mile run adding up to 70.3 miles. Right now I am beginning my taper and also starting to freak out. Actually, I started freaking out last week when I got the email that our bib numbers had been assigned – I’m #1221. Brian is not looking forward to the time leading up to the race and was relieved when I changed my departure day from Friday to Thursday. Fortunately, we have my brother Danny’s wedding this weekend to help provide a little stress relief.

Some of you may be wondering why I am freaking out – that’s an excellent question considering I am not usually this nervous this far out from a race, I did a race of this distance a year ago, and I have been doing triathlons for about 8 years. This race will be the first real test of endurance since my kidney infection and I’m just uncertain as to how my body will respond. I felt similar anxiety before the Lonestar Tri I did a month ago and that was half the distance of this race. This is my fourth tri since March, I ran a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in February, I’ve been training, and my doctor says I’m healthy but for me there is still a lot of uncertainty. Then why do it, you might ask. Mostly the spring tri season has been about rebuilding my base – trying to get back to where I was before I got sick so that I can start moving forward in preparation for the New York Marathon in November 2007 and Ironman Florida in November 2008. I feel like I’m making good progress but you never know. Honestly, it wouldn’t matter if I had more time to train, the first race I do of this distance is going to freak me out so I might as well get it over with.

Now before you think I am dreading this event – I’m not. I am looking forward to it for lots of reasons. At the top of the list is a visit by my very best friend, Joey. First Brian was going with me and possibly Joey too. Then Brian was out – grant deadline, but Joey was definitely in. Then Joey was out too – Austin Triathletes Open Water Swim (everyone in Austin better register) and I was going by myself, and Brian and Joey both felt really bad. Then Joey got a new job with Trigger Point Technologies – the official performance therapy tools of Ironman – and he has to be in Orlando to work the race. Wohoo! Hopefully, I still have some good karma left for the race. Other good things about this race, and these are in no particular order. It’s hosted by Disney AND it’s an official Ironman event so it should be really well organized. I will get a good baseline for where I am at physically and be able to plan my training accordingly. I am staying at a really nice condo just outside the park for the same price I would pay for a decent hotel room.

That’s all for now. I’m really excited and really nervous and sometimes feel sick to my stomach.