It's Almost Time

Today (Thursday) I went down to packet pick up. I debated
waiting until tomorrow but Tony was there working/volunteering and called
around noon to tell me he had set aside a red back pack for me (a super slick
back pack is part of the Silverman SWAG). They had red and black back packs and
I wanted RED! Tony is always doing nice stuff like that for me so I figured I’d
go down there and get packet pick up over with before many people got there.

The finish line was semi bustling with set up activities but
not many athletes were there checking in. I got in, got weighed, signed
everything and got my paperwork and SWAG. It took about three minutes. Then
Tony and I went over to T2 (the majority of which has yet to be set up) and
looked at the bike dismount line, the changing tents, and the run out chute.
Tony introduced me to a couple of his buddies – he knows SO MANY people! The
Expo was not set up yet.

Then I took a couple of photos:

 

I’ve been on this side
of the arch for the past two years, watching athletes finish and getting
inspired.

 

I wanted a preview of the
other side for Sunday . . . . that’s Tony holding the British flag.

Then I went home.

And promptly proceeded to get antsy again.  During the past few days I’ve been more STARVING
than I have EVER been in my ENTIRE LIFE. Fortunately for me Coach wrote a post on
tapering which I read this morning and was grateful for. I know everything I’m
experiencing right now is normal and I am very proud of myself for keeping
things in perspective – I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!!  I have 100% confidence in my preparation and
my ability to FINISH this race strong!

I have not devoted a lot of time or energy to thinking about
a time goal, because I think a time goal is not where my focus needs to be for
this race. I need to RACE THIS BITCH to
the best of my ability. For me, this means staying in the moment, every moment,
picking myself up out of the tough spots, and letting NOTHING get in the way of
that finish line! 

It means swimming up to the capabilities I have shown
recently in my race swim PRs and the open water practice swims.

It means attacking the down hills on the bike and taking
advantage of the “flats” to go as fast as I can go.

It means reminding myself that I love the hills – I love the
challenge of grinding up a long hill, I draw energy from being able to do that!

I want to ride faster than I’ve ridden out there before – on
a good day this is totally possible.  On
a bad day, I have all of those hard, windy training days in my bank to draw
from. 56 MILES BITCH! Here I come!

It means running the entire run, no matter how much it
hurts, no matter how slow I think I am going, and no matter how badly I want to
stop and walk. How I handle the run will be KEY to my success. Once my feet hit
the ground at T2 the race is mine to win.

All of that being said, I would love to break eight hours on
this course. I would dearly love that. Regardless, though, of what my final
time is, I will have done it. I will have overcome the low confidence that I
started this season with and, with perseverance, a lot of work and quite a few
ups and downs, I will have reached the pinnacle of my triathlon experience thus
far, by completing one of the toughest damn
courses out there! I have wanted this for two years. Only two more days to wait.

Also, I will be wearing this:

 

Thanks to the generosity of a lot of people, including a lot
of YOU, I was able to raise $1,500 for the Challenged Athletes
Foundation/Operation Rebound! There will be ten wounded military veterans
racing on Sunday. I am so proud to have been a part of fundraising for CAF and
to be able to wear this suit to race in! Thank you to everyone out there who has
supported me in this endeavor, either by giving funds or by kind and
encouraging words – your support has mean the world to me.

Special thanks to Sarah for taking the
time to respond to my taper emails this week (who better than someone who just
completed her first HIM a mere two weeks ago) and for being a guest blogger for
me on Sunday! I thought it might be overkill along with Twitter, but guess
what: I DON’T CARE!

Glenn will talk with Sarah several times on Sunday and
hopefully provide some good details that can complement the tweets from Danielle (and BEB and WBG)!

Special thanks also to Wes who started commenting on every
one of my posts about a year (or more?) ago. Once I figured out he was not a creepy
stalker, I followed his example and started reading and commenting on his and other
blogs and that is how I now have all of you as friends.

I feel pretty sappy and sentimental right now. I will
probably start bawling at the swim start, between making it to the starting
line, seeing the CAF athletes there, along with Dave Scott and Macca (Macca is
racing, Dave Scott is not racing this year), and achieving a dream that I
dreamed up two years ago that at many different times I wondered if it was even
possible. But you guys understand. Thanks so much for reading my blog and for
offering your support along the way.

Not sure that I will post anymore until after the race. If I
think of something cool and/or random to say I will be back but this may be it
until after Sunday.

I CAN’T WAIT!