IMFL RR - Pre race

The days before the race were calm and relaxed. I did not feel one bit anxious. I enjoyed the beach, sipping a few cold ones and just chilling out. On Thursday I met the TG's to swim one loop of the swim course. It was chilly that morning and as we all stood around shivering I could feel the nervous energy. Despite the air temperature, the water was beautiful and not really that cold. This was the first time I had been in my wetsuit for any distance since May and I was curious to see if the hours in the pool had paid off. I had a great swim and hit the beach after one lap in 42 minutes. This would give me a projected race swim of about 1:25, I was ecstatic.After the swim I got dressed, ate some breakfast and headed over to registration. There was already a line forming. A familiar scene at Ironman. Luckily I was in line early so it was over and done with pretty quickly. The most nerve wracking time in the whole race was when I had to step on the scales. I totally looked the other way, LOL.

I had spoken with Kyle earlier and arranged to meet them after he and Maggie finished their swim. I had a rough idea of what I was looking for - a tall guy with a petite, dark haired girl. Amazingly after a few minutes of looking I saw what I thought was them just finishing up their swim. As soon as the guy pulled out a white hat I thought "bingo" and headed down the beach. Sure enough Kyle and Maggie. We chatted for a bit before taking off to our respective condos. It was great to meet them.

The remaining time before the race was filled with packing, course recon, sleeping and eating. Bliss!!!