2 a.m.

Well,

Bryan Regan (our favorite comedian in the world) talks about how the worst day a kid ever has is the day of the science fair project, the alarm goes off and his head pops off the pillow, 'oh no. I've done nothing. I've had 6 months to do something, and I've done nothing.' And then he says, 'so I get to school and I see all these other kids with their parents their, and they're backing projects in on flat-bed trucks, one kids made a volcano, he can't even tie his shoes, but he's made a volcano? Here I am with a cup of dirt.'

So, anyway, not quite that bad, but I kind of just had a science fair moment. It's right before 2a.m. and I woke up needing water because I drank beer last night (and I dehydrate rediculously easy), and I'm laying there in bed and it hits me; I have a half-ironman in four days. Oh my god.

It's not that I'm not prepared, and well prepared. It's more that I'm lying there thinking, 'I was drinking last night? And the night before? After racing a very, very hard olympic tri on Sunday (more about that in a minute), I'm drinking? And, I've been drinking a ton of coffee, a ton. What am I thinking? There's no way I'm going to be recovered well enough to race hard!

So I decided no alcohol (obviously) for the next four days, and (gulp) no coffee until the day of the race. I'm going to drink protein and recovery drinks and do a light swim and a really light bike. In short, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to try and recover. Is four days enough time? I'm not sure, but it's better that I do what I can now then not.

So the olympic tri: It was Cascades Edge in Enumclaw, a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run (divide by 10 and multiply by 6 for miles).

I got up at about 6am and had coffee and breakfast, Audrey got the baby up and we left around 720 or so. The whole way up there, I was saying, gee it's interesting there are no other cars headed up there, maybe it's a really small race? Well, we finally get to about a mile from the race location and then we see it, the road is just lined with cars on both sides all the way up and past the entrance, with a bunch of people everywhere, so once again, we've managed to arrive late (all though, in our defense, some people were even later than us).

As we walked toward the beach we came upon a long line of people with their bikes and gear, curious, we thought. But, it seemed the prudent thing to get in line, so we did, and someone said it was the line for packet pick-up. I've never experienced a race morning like this one, and I hope I don't have to many more times. We stood in line for quite a long time, only to finally arrive at the tent and need my usat card which is in the car. So Audrey ran all the way back to the car and ran all the way back, and then they gave me my packet. So I get my bike number on and get into the transition area (the rack where I'm supposed to set up is COMPLETELY full), with, oh, five minutes till 9o'clock, when the race is supposed to start.

So I cram my bike in with all the others and try to get set up for transition, rushing like a mad man to set my things up, clean my goggles, get my timing chip on, don my wetsuit. And it's raining the whole time. So I set my things up with my towel covering them, best I could, and went scampering down to the water, in a hurry as usual.

I jumped into the water, which was very cold, and admired just how frightening the whole thing looked. It's 50 degrees, the buoys are way out on the lake, and the whole lake is obscured by rain, it looks really grey and hazy. Very scary beginning to a day. I swam about 100 yards to warm up and went back to the beach, staying in the water. At this point we were set to begin, when the guy with the microphone announced some important changes, which we really couldn't hear. Then he said which wave of people was going.

First, it was the male sprint race, then the female sprint, then the 'tri it' first timers, then finally, us. AT this point, we've been in the water for over a half an hour, freezing our asses off, one and all. Probably not ideal, I imagined my body burning all my fuel trying to stay warm as I shivered, half in the water on the beach. When the gun went off, I pretty much said, oh no, and a guy next to me says, ahh, it's good, have fun. Well, though he was right, it's partly about having fun, I really didn't have much of it at all.

The swim was tough, as every swim I do is. I decided to hang back just a little at the start to not get beat up as much. Then I got going and looked around for someone to follow, or draft off of. I found someone and the first half of the swim was terrific, I really did great and I was surpised with myself to be hanging with everyone. Then I lost my guy at a turn buoy and everything fell apart. The second half of the swim was much slower and I had no one to draft off of. Every time I would get behind somebody to draft it didn't work for one reason or another. One guy was doing a weird scissor kick and would speed up and slow down every time he did it, another guy couldn't swim straight, and then towards the end, I just plain old couldn't go anymore. My arms, specifically my biceps, cramped up about a quarter way into the swim, I imagine from the cold, and by the end I was toast.

It took 30 minutes, which really isn't bad for me, way, way better than last year, and I ran to transition where I found my things kicked around and getting wet. The bike, well not much to say. My chain fell off twice, it was freezing cold and rainy, and rolling hills the whole way. Really tough bike.

Now the run, this was the fun part. This is what they had been talking about having changed. I ran out on the run, waving at Audrey and Isaac, and was directed to a path. Oh no, I thought, not another trail run. But it turned out to be so much more, a 6 mile trail run on a trail with tough hills, jagged rocks and tree roots all over, and oh yeah, don't forget the mud. The whole trail was muddy with big puddles in spots. It was basically a hard core Xterra race, but without all the preparation and expectation. The run was just plain old brutal. I mean, I don't know how the guys who won were doing it, running like 530 miles on this completely rediculous course. Two of them passed me on their way to winning, just absolutely flying, I couldn't believe it. They ran straight through the huge puddles of water and mud, not around the edge like the rest of us. I clearly have a little ways to go before i can win a race.

I didn't do bad though, around 40th out of 120 men doing the olympic. Not amazing by any means, but not bad. With a time of 2:24, it puts me right on track to break 5 hours for my upcoming half-ironman, which has been my goal for now. This year, I would like to get to 4:45 for a half. Next year, I want to move that up to 4:15. And the cool thing is, I can do it! I've improved vastly over last year. My half-ironman last year was a beastly 7 hours and 30 minutes, oh my god, huh? My Ocean shores Olympic Tri last year was 2:44, with my swim being a whole 45 minutes. And, the Ocean Shores tri was a way easier course on a day with perfect conditions. So...I'm right on track, just have to keep working to improve, that's life right?

Just keep your head down into the wind and keep working to improve, doing your best to enjoy each day as it is.