See ya on the flip side

Well kids, this is it. I leave for Madison tomorrow, but as I need to get in a quick swim and bike in the morning, followed by Rosh Hashana services before the airport, this is my last check in.

First, I'd like to reminisces a bit about the last year. I want to give Alison a big thank you for sending me on this journey, no matter what happens at the race, I'm glad I had this year. Al's been an awesome training partner as well and it's going to be great doing this race with her. This year, I think I remained sane (for the most part) and focused and yet pushed myself to new levels. In the fall I was able to improve my running a little (always room for more improvement!) and set new 5k and 10k PRs. During the winter I was enjoy snowboarding with my family while still training. I got hooked on a new sport - riding at the velodrome - and I'm excited to start riding there again this fall. I had a super fun half marathon road trip with my sisters - I'd love to do another trip next year. This summer I finished a very challenging half Ironman and set more PRs in other triathlon distances. I did 5 training rides over 5 1/2 hours, including two century rides. On top of that, I kept my shit together - the house was mostly sanitary and stocked full of food, with a decent dinner most nights.

The year in numbers:

Swim: 196 miles
Bike: 2517 miles (not including the hours at the track)
Run: 861 miles

I would never have accomplished what I did this year without the awesome support from my family and friends. Especially Jeremy, who never did think this was a great idea from the start, but nonetheless has supported me 100% this summer, whether not minding spending an entire Saturday with the boys, or riding 100 miles with me (which is now 2 hours longer than his preferred biking distance).

I saw this on another blog awhile back and thought it was a neat idea. It really helps me to know people are thinking of me on race day (got me through those last 3 miles at Boise without walking). I'm going to print this list out and carry it with me on the run (don't worry, I have to wear my over-pocketed shorts to carry my gels anyway). Everyone gets a mile dedicated to them (somewhat in order of importance, but don't read TOO much into it ;) ).

1. Christina
2. Ginny
3. Abby
4. Sarah A.
5. Ellen
6. Dan
7. Michelle
8. D3 girlz - Courtney, Kathy, Sally, Leena, Erica
9. D3 boyz - Jay, John, Jon, Andy
10. Amanda
11. Liz
12. Al
13. Mike
14. Crissy
15. Grannie Shirley
16. Devon
17. Sarah T.
18. Greg
19. Judy
20. Mom
21. Laura
22. Becky
23. Dad
24. Adam
25. Alex
26. Jeremy

So if you want to check in with me on race day, I think this is the link. And if that doesn't work, http://www.ironman.com should have a link to the right place. So how do you know how I'm doing? I'm going into this race with only the goal of finishing under the cut off time of 17 hours. But I also have a general idea of how I could race if the stars are aligned and I have the perfect day.

Swim: 1:15 - 1:30
Bike: 6:15 - 6:45
Run: 5:00 - 6:00

Both transitions together should be about 20 minutes (I'm doing a wardrobe change, plus you have to run up a couple stories of a parking structure helix). So I should be finished anywhere from 13-17 hours. The race starts at 7:00 am CDT. So for folks back in Colorado, I should be finishing between 7:00-11:00pm MDT.

Tomorrow I fly to Madison, while my intrepid husband, father and sons start the drive (with my bike). My awesome sisters fly in on Saturday and we will all stay at my Grannie Shirley's house. I'll have a great support team on site, which means more to me than they know.

Wish me luck, I'll see you on the flip side.