Race Weekend Part One!

Folks,

It is a joy to tell you about my weekend in Branson, and my journey of finishing the Ironman Branson 70.3!

Paula and I got into town Saturday early afternoon. Neither of us had ever been to Branson before, so we didn't know what to expect. To put it lightly, its a tourist's dream come true. Only in Branson you can find a Hollywood Wax Museum, across the street from a full fledged confederate store! Me personally, I really wanted to hit up the Titanic Museum, then run over to the Segway Track. Before I was able to grab my wallet and dash to the Segways, my lovely wife quickly reminded me of the reason why we were there in the first place, and unfortunately it wasn't for the segways... Needless to say, I got my head back in the right place.

We checked into our hotel and quickly found out that they put us into the wrong room. The nice lady at the front desk apologized for the mistake, and was kind enough to upgrade us to a suite! Gotta Love it!

after getting our things settled at our Hotel, we went over to the Ironman race headquarters, located at The Chateau on The Lake. Its a really nice place. It was buzzing with people. I got in line to check in, and was given everything I need. Paula and I sat through the athlete briefing meeting, where we met with the race director, as well as the head official to go over the course and rules of the race. There were rules for everything! The thing that makes Ironman so tough, is that athletes cannot have any assistance from anyone other than themselves. I'm really glad we went to the meeting because if I wouldn't have known some of the rules, I would have more than likely broken a rule, and been disqualified.

After the meeting, I checked my bike in at the transitions, and received my body markings.






Finished with my gear and markings, we met up with my dad and step mom who came from St Louis to watch the race. I wanted to drive the car along the bike course to see what I was getting myself into. At the Chateau, all the athletes were buzzing about the difficulty of the bike course, and I found out that it was no joke. The course was made up of strictly hills. You were either riding up, or coasting down. there was no flat land to be found.

Seeing the course made me hungry, and there is nothing like pasta for a pre race meal. We found this local joint called Rocky's, which was awesome. I was able to carbo load on some sort of garlic pasta.




I had to get to bed early, as our alarm was set for 3.20am the following morning. In the following post, I will give you a full race report.

cheers!

one week and counting

For those of you who have been moderately interested in my progress towards my first Ironman Triathlon, it's coming right around the corner. By this time next Sunday, my hope is that I will be able to call myself an Ironman.

I'm am so ready for the race to be here. It has more than consumed my day to day thinking. With any spare moment I have, its the tri and what I need to do before the race that fills my head. My training is there, I have most of my equipment either in my possession, or on its way through the mail, and mentally I am at a point where I cannot get more ready.

The thing I am most excited for (besides the race itself) is the fact that I have promised myself a small hiatus from working out after this. I am starting to become more and more sore in the mornings, and after workouts. I am at a point tonight that after my small 5 mile run, I am going to treat myself to an ice bath. The more I stretch, the more I want not to run because it doesn't feel good anymore.

This whole process is all a part of becoming an Ironman. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy; that is what drove me to this in the first place. I really can't wait to get to Branson Saturday morning to soak up the atmosphere. The whole thing will really soak in as I walk through the expo, take a small practice swim in Table Rock Lake, and drive the car through the whole bike leg.

The thing I am most looking forward to is the moment before the race, where all I see ahead of me is 6 hours of racing. I cannot wait to start, I'm not really excited for that feeling I will get 4 and a half hours into the race, but I'm uber excited to cross that finish line, and give my wife a huge hug!

I can't wait to tell you how it goes!
Wish me Luck!

Lots has happened since my last post back in June, Here are a few of my thoughts/stories since then.

- My very lovely wife and I just finished watching the movie Julie and Julia we got from the Red Box tonight. Its a true story of a blogger, and made me realize that my commitment to this blog thus far has been... well... horrible. So here is my attempt to slowly and steadily, blog a bit more.

- If you are wondering, I am still training for my Ironman. It's now less than two weeks away, and I am very ready for race day. I'm ready to be engulfed in the Ironman environment, I'm ready to cross that finish line, and I'm ready to give my body a break from pounding the pavement and three hour bike rides.

- As I'm sitting here writing this post, I'm watching my wife prepare the necessary ingredients to make homemade caramel rolls to breakfast tomorrow after our morning bike ride. She loves to cook.

- I'm finally getting used to my new Palm Pre. Other than the crap ass battery it came with, I like it. My favorite thing about the phone is my Pandora Radio App. I listen to it all the time, and I have been exposed to some really great musicians. I'm listening to Adam Rafferty radio right now, he is an acoustic guitar player, and can really pick the 6 string.

- Last night, we went to a beautiful wedding at a winery in Nebraska. We came home to Paula's family farm, and found that our puppy had gotten out of his kennel, and went through every trash can in the house. He loves to eat, and will eat anything. Needless to say, he must of ate lots of paper, because its been coming out all day long! haha. Max's girlfriend Ellie came over to play today, and he's really tired tonight. Been cashed out since 8pm. Poor little guy!

- La Vuelta a Espana is currently midway through its race. Coverage can be seen on NBC Universel Sports (which I sell commercials to) but I cannot see any of my commercials because Direct TV doesn't carry the channel. Can anybody fill me in as to who is leading the race?

- I have a brand new pair of Easton EA90 SLX Wheels sitting in my house, begging me to put them onto my bike. If only I had the right hub...

- I have decided this weekend after my 56 mile bike ride, that my custom bike I would like to get this spring will be a road bike, not a TT bike. Being I have changed my mind on this over 100 times (no joke) I will see how long this decision sticks.

- I'm not ready for Fall, and even less ready for Winter. We walked our puppy tonight, and I had to put on a sweatshirt for the 2nd time already in September. This summer, I have really embraced the heat and humidity. I'm pretty certain that last winter killed any good vibe I once had with snow. I wanna move to Arizona for the winter!

- My Minnesota Twins are still in first, and the gosh damn Vikings are primed to have the most disappointing season in NFL history. I love it!

Its almost 1 am here, and i wanna get in bed. Here's to my first blog post in several months, CHEERS!