"Don't worry about drafting penalty's on the bike...the course is that hard and challenging"
Last night I had a great veggie pizza from a local pizza place (Last Nickel Pizza). YUM. My mom has a first cousin in Madison that we haven't seen in 4 years so we picked up the pizza and had dinner (outside) at their place. What are the odds but my mom's cousin does advertising for Trek! How cool is that!! After dinner my parents dropped me off at the Monona Terrace for the Athlete meeting. The quote above was from the head ref who had us all laughing (or for some, shaking in the knees) as he talked about the rules and regulations for the race. I am still excited for the bike but I know it is going to be super tough and challenging.
The weather should be perfect for a wonderful day of IM racing with a high of 73, an abundance of sunshine and no chance for rain. There will be strong 10-20 mph from the SW which will bring some tough side wind and head wind conditions but we will all be on the same course and the weather will be the same for all 2700 athletes.
Just a few statistics for the race tomorrow...
-2700 athletes (approximately) registered for the race.
-1200 first timers (IM distance)
-73% male and 27% female (GO LADIES!!!)
-Three countries most represented: US, Canada, United Kingdom
-5 athletes competing in the 70+ age group (LOVE IT!!!)
My age group has around 116 athletes (registered) which makes for a rather large age group considering that there are only around 700 female athletes in the race.
I couldn't be more excited right now because Karel flew into Madison last night and when I woke up around 7am...there was Karel and my fully assembled bike!! Thank you Karel for putting my bike together around 11:30 Central time (12:30 EST).
Trimarni is ready to go and in about an hour, the roads will be almost dry from the morning shower. Looking forward to taking my bike for a little spin before checking her in, along with my transition bags, a little later in the day (bikes and bags must be checked in by 3pm). Can't wait for Outback tonight and my last sleep before my fourth IM.
I'm very content and excited. I am not nervous and I really feel in my zone. Even though I have goals in my head of what I feel I am capable of doing, I am really excited to share this day with so many other athletes. I've received so many wonderful emails and messages from friends, my athletes and complete strangers. You have no idea how much those messages mean to me and I will be thinking of all of the positive messages throughout my entire race. And then, when I finish, I will have my turn to cheer loud and pass along positive vibes to all of the last-hour finishers and Karel and I will be at the finish line until the last person crosses the line at 12am.
Thanks again for your support and encouragement!
Karel loves to surprise me with something special and new on my bike prior to my big races....for IMWI I will be riding with a limited edition PINK breast cancer awareness chain. Thank you Karel!!!
Last night I had a great veggie pizza from a local pizza place (Last Nickel Pizza). YUM. My mom has a first cousin in Madison that we haven't seen in 4 years so we picked up the pizza and had dinner (outside) at their place. What are the odds but my mom's cousin does advertising for Trek! How cool is that!! After dinner my parents dropped me off at the Monona Terrace for the Athlete meeting. The quote above was from the head ref who had us all laughing (or for some, shaking in the knees) as he talked about the rules and regulations for the race. I am still excited for the bike but I know it is going to be super tough and challenging.
The weather should be perfect for a wonderful day of IM racing with a high of 73, an abundance of sunshine and no chance for rain. There will be strong 10-20 mph from the SW which will bring some tough side wind and head wind conditions but we will all be on the same course and the weather will be the same for all 2700 athletes.
Just a few statistics for the race tomorrow...
-2700 athletes (approximately) registered for the race.
-1200 first timers (IM distance)
-73% male and 27% female (GO LADIES!!!)
-Three countries most represented: US, Canada, United Kingdom
-5 athletes competing in the 70+ age group (LOVE IT!!!)
My age group has around 116 athletes (registered) which makes for a rather large age group considering that there are only around 700 female athletes in the race.
I couldn't be more excited right now because Karel flew into Madison last night and when I woke up around 7am...there was Karel and my fully assembled bike!! Thank you Karel for putting my bike together around 11:30 Central time (12:30 EST).
Trimarni is ready to go and in about an hour, the roads will be almost dry from the morning shower. Looking forward to taking my bike for a little spin before checking her in, along with my transition bags, a little later in the day (bikes and bags must be checked in by 3pm). Can't wait for Outback tonight and my last sleep before my fourth IM.
I'm very content and excited. I am not nervous and I really feel in my zone. Even though I have goals in my head of what I feel I am capable of doing, I am really excited to share this day with so many other athletes. I've received so many wonderful emails and messages from friends, my athletes and complete strangers. You have no idea how much those messages mean to me and I will be thinking of all of the positive messages throughout my entire race. And then, when I finish, I will have my turn to cheer loud and pass along positive vibes to all of the last-hour finishers and Karel and I will be at the finish line until the last person crosses the line at 12am.
Thanks again for your support and encouragement!
Karel loves to surprise me with something special and new on my bike prior to my big races....for IMWI I will be riding with a limited edition PINK breast cancer awareness chain. Thank you Karel!!!
