Tomorrow....

Tomorrow is my first tri and I'm getting very exciting about it. The weather looks like it will be 60 degrees and raining. Oh well, it could be worse. At least the bike leg only has three turns so the wet pavement shouldn't be a big problem. They are calling for thundershowers though. I really hope there isn't any lightning. It would be a bummer for my first tri to be a duathlon. Back to the things I can control....

I made a checklist of things to bring and keep adding to it.

As I remember things, like garbage bags to keep my stuff in the transition area dry, I throw them on top of the pile.Once Josh wakes up off the couch, could be a while (teenage boy :-)), I'll get it all organized and packed. Right now the pile kind of looks like Josh's room :-).

I'm also doing some mental prep, walking through the day tomorrow in my mind. Speaking of mental prep, I had my first tri dream while I was in Brazil this week. I started the swim just fine, waiting about 15 seconds to let the whirlpool of people start ahead of me so I didn't get banged around too much. No problems with the swim, got out of the lake huffing and puffing as expected, ran to my bike rack location and no bike. I ran to every rack and back again, no bike. Then it dawned on me. I did so much mental prep, I thought I had racked my bike, but is was still in my car. The first thing that popped in my head was how embarrassed I was going to be to tell my friends and family I DNF'd my first race because I didn't rack my bike. Pretty funny.

I have a bit of nervous energy building. I tried to go for a short swim/bike session yesterday to loosen up. It was the first time I put my bike in my car and I really didn't like how it fit in the car so instead of swimming and biking, I went to the LBS to buy a bike rack. They didn't have one in stock so I need to do a some research and order one. So, no swim/bike and no bike rack. At least I know my bike will fit ok in the car.

So the plan today is to pack my gear, then head to Effingham to check in to a hotel. Later today I'll check out the course and go out to dinner with Cheryl. Then relax and try to get some sleep.