It's getting real...

I missed the free pancake breakfast. I overslept. Which is a good thing, I ended up getting a solid 8.5 hours of sleep. I slept so much, I was starting to get a sore back from lying down so much.

From the moment I got up, I've been busy. First it was a light breakfast at the hotel and then I stood in line for 90 minutes to sign up for 2011 IMLP. I sure hope Simon and Johan are able to get in online, or it will be IMLP and IMKY next year.

I dropped $600 for the 2010 registration and another $50 for the wet-suit rental. Then I went for my pre-race bike ride. I felt stronger than I have in a long time. I did the climb out of Lake Placid and it was the fastest and easiest I've ever done it.

I followed up the ride with a pre-race run and I continued to feel good and strong. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped and picked up some Recoverite drink and chain lube. I've always found Recoverite to work well for me and I had none left.

It was warm today, I was soaking wet when I got back to the hotel. Someone said tomorrow may be warmer. I guess I should be careful what I wish for, I may regret it. Either way, we all have to race in the same conditions.

We went for a Din-uch (Dinner and Lunch) at 3 pm. I wanted to eat early and give my stomach a little more time to digest everything. I had eggplant Parmesan and spaghetti. Eggplant tends to empty me out if you know what I mean. Although, I'm still waiting.

The one thing about Ironman's is they are expensive. On the drive home from the restaurant I had to buy more gels and an new Bento Box and dropped another $30. Everywhere you look, everyone is buying stuff with reckless abandon.

This Ironman I've really noticed the extreme fitness of many of the women. I'm seeing tighter bodies on the women than the men and many of them are not young. I've seen some women in there late 40's, early 50's, that are ultra-fit looking. You can bounce quarters off their bellies.

Tonight, I had one last small soft ice cream cone and then we all went to the 7 pm showing of "Despicable Me". I ended up leaving after 45 minutes. I didn't feel comfortable sitting in the theatre. I needed to get back to the room and psyc myself up for tomorrows race, I wanted to pay it the mental respect it deserves.

I also wanted to get all my stuff done so I can be in bed by 10 pm. Earlier in the day, while I was training, a guy from the room next door, knocked on our door and told Alice that we were too loud last night and he couldn't sleep. It didn't bother his four kids, but it bothered him.

He's doing his first Ironman and didn't want a repeat of last night tonight. I think he felt comforted to know that someone from our room was doing the Ironman and probably wants the same thing. Little does he know.

I didn't think we were too bad. We did get to bed at 1 pm, but we were just talking, laughing and watching TV. No alcohol was involved and no small animals were injured. Actually, I'm glad the guy came over and laid down the law. Truth be told, I want to get to bed early and now I can blame it on the guy next door. This could be the first Ironman that I get a good nights sleep, which would be nice.

On the way home from the movie, I almost had another ice cream. I actually bought it, then had a little and decided to throw it in the garbage. It was a semi-overcoming of a weak moment.

For those that are wanting to track me during the race, my bib number is 1583. You can follow through a link at www.ironman.com or it may be directly at http://ironmanlive.com/updates.php?race=lakeplacid&year=2010 The race starts at 7 am, EST.

My goal for tomorrow is to finish strong. I have no time goal or goal of qualifying for Kona. I just want to enjoy myself, hopefully have no physical or mechanical issues and finish as fast as I can without being in a bonked state. Oh, and with no stomach issues. I don't want to have to have another post-race interview from the comfort of my toilet seat.

As a carrot, I keep thinking of Monday's post-race beers on the patio of our hotel. Our hotel is the Best Western Adirondack Inn (2625 Main Street), directly across from the Expo. If it's raining, they have a great indoor bar area. I should be getting started no later than 1 pm.

Our hotel doesn't have a bar, but it looks like it did once. I'm going to pick up a couple of cases of beer, a cooler and some ice and everyone is welcome to stop by for a beer or many. For music, I came prepared, I brought my Sirius Satellite stereo boom box. Who knows, maybe my next door neighbour will attend. I know for sure, we'll be keeping him up Monday night.

I decided to re-post the video I made from last years IMLP. Last July, I came down the day of the race, ran a loop of the course and took some photo's. Then the next day I stood in line for 5 hours to register.

Tomorrow's the big day. I don't think I could be more ready, but I've learnt to "expect the unexpected", this is Ironman. My hope is everything goes off without a hitch.

Pre-Race Bike - 19:33 / 9.70 km / 29.77

Pre-Race Run - 15:27 / 3.07 km / 5:01 per km