The word of the day was "preparation". Every part of my day was in preparation for tomorrow morning. The day started with a decent sleep and a hearty breakfast. Then I walked the expo and took a look at all the gear for sale. I went by the Mark Allen Online tent and met Luis, he is one of the coaches.
When I got back to the hotel, I did an easy run along the beach with Alyssa. It was fun to run with her. For me it will always be a good memory, it's not something we do often. Afterwards I did an easy bike ride and when I got back to the room I started to get my bike and gear ready.
The race is a clean transition zone, which means all your racing gear is put in bags and not at your bike. The bags are given to you as you enter and exit the transition zone and you change in a change tent. Even though it is a half Ironman, they are following the same protocol as a full Ironman.
I took my time to get ready and pack everything. I didn't want to miss anything. Actually, now that I think about it, I forgot to reset my Garmin. Oh well, I guess I'll have to do it on the bike. Once everything was packed, I checked my bike in. Reid and I then drove the course and I picked up some Ensure for my transition bags. I find that drinking Ensure is my secret weapon. I drink it in the transition zone, right after my swim and then after I get off the bike.
The bike course is all city. No countryside. It's not what you would call a beautiful ride, but it doesn't really matter anyways, I'll be going as hard as I can and won't be looking at anything other than the road and other competitors.
I rarely set goals before a race, it sets up an expectation that could be a let down. However, I'm going to do it for this race. I have two goals. The first is to finish under 4:50. I qualified with a 4:41, so I know it's possible. But, realistically, I don't think I'll PB. It would have to be an exceptional race and I'd have to have an awesome swim to do it.
My second goal, is to have my fastest bike ride ever for a half Ironman. My previous PB was a 36.5 kph average. My goal is to break that. If it is not too windy and I feel strong, I think I can do it. Setting a bike PB would give me more gratification than breaking 4:50.
There was an adjustment that was made to the course today. They've moved the swim from the ocean to the harbour because of the lingering effects of hurricane Ida. The ocean water is too rough and dangerous. The weather is supposed to be warm with clear skies tomorrow, but who knows about the wind. I really hope it's very light or gone tomorrow.
Tonight was another pasta dinner, this time with the Payne clan. My parents flew in from Winnipeg and my sister and my two nephews, who live in Jacksonville, drove here to watch. The boys are 15 and 13 years old and have never seen a triathlon before.
It's been go, go, go all day today and tomorrow's coming early, so good night all. I got so many well wishes from all my blogging and twitter friends. Thanks for all your support, I'm going to draw from it tomorrow to push myself as hard as I can. Especially on that bike. If your wanting to follow the race, you can go to www.ironman.com, they have a live athlete tracking link and live video coverage. My number is 1242. Thanks again for all the well wishes.
Pre-race Run - 16:01 / 1.78 miles / 9:02 pace
Pre - race Bike - 15:05 / 6.49 km / 24 kph
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