Arizona 2007 - Day 6

WOW! Six days already.

Last day before the race.

05:00 Alarm goes off and the final day of preparations begin. I lay out all my gear that will be needed for tomorrow. Clothes, food, some technical stuff, etc. Label everything that needs to be labeled. Clean my bike one last time. Degrease the chain, again. Lube the chain, again. Everything is in order.

08:00 Meet my parents for a small breakfast.

09:00 Pack the Durango with everything and head to the race site. Its a little cool this morning ... the sun is still strong and the sky is still blue.

09:15 My parents had never been to the Gatorade swim. I asked them if they would like to come, and so we did. As I was getting my wet suit on my Mom was talking to a woman from Kona ... here to watch one of her iron-children to the race. My Dad is taking way too many pictures on his digital camera. This will definitely be the most documented of my Ironman races. Drop my bag at the check-in and the three of us make our way to the water. Waves, pictures, splash!

09:45 After a short swim around three or four buoys, I'm back on shore, peeling off my wet suit, grab my dry clothes and complementary Gatorade bottles. My Dad is scandalized that I am changing out of my swim trunks right in the middle of the crowd (the towel-change routine is a very useful skill.)

10:00 Tootle over to the Inside-Out tent to pick up some lip balm. Then back to the Durango for my bike and transition bags.

10:15 A quick drop off in transition ... with so many 35-39 year olds, us old geezers are WAY at the back. I'm not complaining ... I will be able to find my bike quickly tomorrow. Transition bags to transition. And its back to the hotel.

11:00 REST

12:00 Suntanning by the pool.

13:00 SLEEP

15:00 Last meal before the race. A simple meal at the IHOP (International House of Pancakes) of eggs, hash browns and corn meal pancakes.

17:00 Final check of morning gear. Final check of weather forecast ... partly cloudy, wind 10-15 KM from the south, high of 26, BLOWING DUST! We'll see what that's all about.

17:30 Write Trirudy/blog entry.

18:00 SLEEP zzzzzzzzzzzz