No sunscreen needed today!

Well the kids and I had to watch from the dryness of the hotel room for Bryan's swim time - got it first via text page on the phone - 1:15:52! Looks like he is off to a great start! If you are watching the live coverage at all then please let me tell you that it does not do the rain justice! It is raining really hard here right now - they are saying that it is not slowing anyone down on the 9km downhill into Keene - but if it were me I would be scared to death - we drove up that road on the way here and it wasn't something to mess with! We did not come prepared for the rain so I hope we aren't held up here all day! We hope to head down and see him pass through after his first bike loop! Thanks to everyone who is keeping track of Bryan - I KNOW he appreciates it so much!

And they are off!

At 7am the race started! Took over 2 minutes to get everyone across the start line - there are 2200 racers participating today! The kids are still sleeping as I type this - we will head down and try to see Bryan when he is running from the water to transition to get changed and get his bike - about a 1/4 mile run. Weather does not look good today - high is going to be about 70 degrees with a 60% chance of rain all day - not fun! I hope Bryan slept better than I did - was awake from about 1am to 3am worried his alarm would not go off at 4am! Well Bryan should be at the half way point of the 1st lap of the swim...

The Calm...

Even though the countdown timer is now ticking hours instead of days, I'm still so eerily relaxed. I'm just anxious to get going. Many thanks to everyone who has been and will be thinking about me and keeping track. Your support and kind words are much appreciated.

If you click over to the official Ironman website you'll be able to see live coverage and track me as I tick off each segment.

Off to sleep...

Happy Birthday Nikki

Today is Nikki's birthday. I just want to take a few minutes to express my love and appreciation to her for all she's done and put up with the last 5 months, while I was gone almost every night and every weekend.

Nikki, you have been more help to me than you realize and I could have never been as prepared as I am right now, without you. You are a wonderful Mother and I continue to be "amazed by you." You will be with me all day tomorrow, even if I can't physically see you. I love you with all my heart and I appreciate all the sacrifices you have made for me to become an Ironman. It hasn't always been pretty, but we made it through. Even though we can't do much today, we will have a great time over the next week.

I love you with all my heart.

Welcome to the Adirondacks

One thing I'm learning about the Adirondack Mountains is that the weather can change in an instant.

I've never been on a bike ride in the pouring rain. Light rain, drizzle, sure. Not blinding, stinging, thunderstorm rain. Always avoided it.

Now I can affirmatively check that off the list of things I've never been through. Actually wasn't too bad. We had already gone down the steepest descent to get a feel for how fast and technical it really was. It was still very sunny as we headed over to Upper Jay and turned around. Only had about 15 minutes left to ride when the thunder and clouds rolled in fast. Then the sky just opened up and DUMPED all over us. I'm talking now about blinding, stinging, thunderstorm rain. I can tell you that those sweet Oakley's I got are worth every penny. Never fogged up and the rain just beaded right off them. Bike handled really well and the tires had great grip in the rain. Knowing that beforehand has instilled even more confidence in my trusty steed and will undoubtedly help if the rain comes in during the race.

As far as the descent, it's about a 5.5 mile descent that's almost straight down the mountain. I hit 42.5 mph and wasn't even trying to go fast. I'll be careful, but a little faster come Sunday. I'm so glad we rode that section today, just to get a feel for it.

Still need to get a short swim in down at Mirror Lake, but another big storm has moved in. I'm off to take a nap, then swim in a bit.

Finally...

We are here! Arrived at 4:30pm after 2 very long days in the car negotiating kids, roads and pitstops for forgotten items! What we have seen so far, which isn't much, of Lake Placid is that it is amazingly beautiful! Got to our room and starting un-loading the van and I discovered after trying to sit at our table and chairs that I could not because they were so close to the bed - this room is REALLY small! I checked out the diagram on the back of the door to discover that we were in the smallest room in the entire place - with 2 kids and all of our stuff - really this was not going to work! Bryan, who recognized that if he did not do something about this he may not be around to race on Sunday, called and was able to get us a much larger room - feels twice the size - with a pullout and two tv's - we gave up the view but I am sure we will get enough of that being outside! At least now we won't kill each other! Bryan went for a short run while I took the kids to the pool to try to get some energy out - not sure if it worked or not - but we are headed to bed early in preparation of a busy day tomorrow investigating our surroundings! Oh and by the way this is Nikki doing my first ever blog post so I can practice for the big day!

Getting close

It's almost 10am on Thursday morning and we are getting ready to head out of Newburgh, New York. We are about 3 hours away from Lake Placid. Got in too late last night for a post, but got a pretty good nights sleep.

Had a bit of a scare on the ride up. The bike rack on the back of the Van slipped a little causing the bottom two hooks to come loose! We were one big bump from losing my bike! YIKES! That would have hurt my Ironman race a bit! Once I looked it over I realized in my haste to leave, that I had the side hooks on the top and the top hooks on the side. Once that was fixed, we were good to go.

Stay tuned...

I did it again...

Another 5K PR tonight, 20:37! I'm peaking at just the right time.

I've been asked numerous times if I'm nervous. Honestly, not at all. No anxiety or nervousness. I think prepared is the best word. I've never been so physically and mentally prepared for a race. I'm ready for this challenge!

#365

There it is. I'm #365. Pretty cool, as I signed up for Lake Placid nearly 365 days ago! My good friends and training buddies, John and Ed, are #1772 and #939, respectively. Keep an eye on them as well. We've been through a lot together since April and I have much respect for those two guys. It's truly been a pleasure to have such great company throughout this journey.

Check out my trusty steed, just after her pre-race wash. I'm loving the fresh, VERY overdue, handlebar tape. That white is HOT!



I hope you noticed the new pic on the left. I know, it's AWESOME! Well, here's the full image courtesy of Stephen Lackey. A great buddy of mine who is an exceptional photographer and videographer. This was taken as I was flying downhill at the I Love the Tavern Tri a few weeks ago.

Full Focus

With Ansley doing so well, I can now turn my full focus on the Ironman.

I was stoked that I PR'd my flat 5K during the run split of the I Love the Tavern Tri a couple weeks ago (I'm still working on the race report). I ran a 21:09! Karen now has us running the Cul-De-Sac 5K series for the next two Mondays as our speed work instead of Track. Well, at last night's race, I busted out a 20:46! Karen is pleased in that my speed is coming on at just the right time.

My taper is going well so far. I had so much time this past weekend, I didn't know what to do. Karen's mantra these next two weeks is just "Speed, Sleep, & Eat". I can do that. I'm liking this speed thing.

Overall, I'm feeling really good. At this point, as long as I nail my nutrition, there is no way that I'm not going to finish. Just a matter of how far under 17 hours I can go. I have 14 hours in the back of mind, and 12 hours even farther back.

Stay tuned...

Ansley's doing well

Our little girl is such a trooper. She didn't even cry when they took her back and put her under. Surgery took just over 20 minutes. She did well this afternoon, already talking and moving around. Now that the pain is beginning to set in a bit, we'll have to ensure she gets enough fluids. She's already refusing some fluids due to discomfort. The Dr. sent her home with the IV line still in her hand so that we could administer IV bags over the next couple days. This is to keep us out of the ER on a holiday weekend.

She just looks so pitiful and in much discomfort. Almost heartbreaking. Logan was almost in tears worrying about his little sister.

We'll keep you all updated.

Too much

I have a ton of stuff I want to write about, but I'm pretty tired right now. Ansley has her surgery in the morning. That has front brain space at the moment. I'll update everyone tomorrow and will dump all my other thoughts after we get her home.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow.

Stay tuned...