IMAZ Pre Race Prep

After following my 30 week training plan pretty carefully, I started my 3 week taper. I've never done this distance race so I've never had to do a 3 week taper. I found myself with a lot of down time that I had to fill up!

We went up to Sonoma for an annual event called the Wine and Food Affair. Over 100 wineries participate and they make a dish from a cookbook that each person gets and then pair it with one of their wines. It was a beautiful weekend spent with great friends.

Kathleen went up with her friends and joined us for a few wineries.

My friend Donna and I took the horses to one of our favorite parks for a long 4 hour ride. M got extra exercise since I wasn't getting as much :)

The ride was followed by a wet grain lunch in the trailer.

Buddy is taking his old age tapering seriously. He sneaks onto the couch when we go to bed and doesn't even get up when we get up.

More trail rides.

Another birthday celebration! This time for Stephen's 26 birthday!

Wednesday morning, Dave and I headed out early for our drive to Tempe. It's about a 10-11 hour drive so we like to start in the dark. The nice thing about that is then you can enjoy the sunrise!

By the time we got to Tempe the sun was going down and I got my first site of the race course. We rented a condo for our stay since all 3 of the kids were flying for race weekend.

Thursday we went over to Tempe Town Lake to check in. This years swag came in a nifty little Ironman backpack. After check in we went into the Ironman tent to look around. The only thing I bought was a t-shirt with all the participants names on it. If I squint I can find my name.

T-1 before the onslaught of bikes.

Another view with the aisle I'll be running down to get my bike and go straight out onto the course.

We met some old friends for dinner who are from San Jose. They relocated to Arizona a few years ago.

Dave, Laura and I went for a run Friday morning to shake the legs out a bit.

I'm official!

Friday, Stephen and Kathleen flew in. Molly was on the same flight. She came in to volunteer and spectate. Friends Nigel, Joe and Cathy joined us too. Joe is also racing his first Ironman.

Friday night we had another great meal at Cafe Boa. I feel like all I've been doing is eating! Afterwards, we walked over for the program and athlete's meeting.

This morning we headed over for the practice swim and to drop off my bike and T1 and T2 bags.

Molly and I before I went out for my swim.

Stephen, Dave, Laura and Kathleen being a great support crew!

I tried a new pair of goggles (same style as I usually use) but I hung my old ones around my neck as a back up.

That's me in the purple cap. The water was not bad. There has been a lot of talk about how cold it is. The place where I swim back home is a little cooler so this was not too bad. I'm sure I will still get a little cold by the end of the swim but it'll be manageable.

Next I dropped my bike and bags off. Next time I see them I'll be in the middle of IMAZ!

This has been a great few days. I love that my family was able to come. It's going to be so much fun to see them when I come in for my loops tomorrow. I love that we were able to get here a few days early and really pace the prep. Kind of like race day should be! There is such a fun vibe at Ironman Village and it's exciting to be part of it. I'm both super excited and nervous for tomorrow. I've trained 30 weeks for this and I think I'm ready. I have had a HUGE amount of support from family and friends and it's all a little overwhelming but at the same time will keep me focused during the race. I'm loading the family with a video camera, a regular camera and my phone so I'm hoping to have some good pictures of the day!