Lake Stevens RR (Part II)

Ok! So check it out! Another post right on the heels of another! YeeHAW!

Saturday morning broke with an early-ish wake up followed by a quick n snappy bike/run to make sure the legs work ok and everything on the bike is firing properly. Col joined me and Brian had his weekly long run in preparation for the Portland Marathon in Oct. At this point... it still hadn't really dawned on me that I'd be racing the next day. I guess this is a tribute to my more relaxed attitude toward racing this year... kinda nice actually... although I'm not convinced that if you want to "go hard" that this is the way to approach it. After that, we showered up, threw Pip in the car and met Brian for a big, phat breakfast.

For the remainder of the day we got our transition bags packed, bikes set up, and just kind of layed around, feet up, water bottles in hand. It's funny... I felt SO sluggish for the rest of the day. I think you know you're getting ready to race when you feel like a fat, lazy slob the day before. Somehow... your body knows that the next day its on... so it almost forces you to relax. It's good to listen to your body... it just knows.

Late afternoon we threw our bikes on top of the car and headed out to the lake to check them in and get a quick swim in the lake. The weather couldn't have been better... tho there were mutterings about how HOT it was going to be on race day. It's a relatively short drive out to the lake and Col and I took the Mini... which also happened to have a sun roof. Word to the wise... if you're putting your bike up on the roof of your car... don't put your number on it till you've gotten to transition. As we're cruising along, I glance up at my bike and notice that there is a small tear in my number which is on my seat post... it gets bigger... and bigger... until finally, whoosh, there goes most of it!

Col and I set things up as best we could then took a dip in the lake. The water was warm and gorgeous and... as usual... visibility was great. For those of you that don't know... you can actually follow the buoy cable throughout the entire race... no sighting required if you choose that line of approach... literally. My body felt good... you know... rested... relaxed... happy body. YAY!Looks like a rat spent some time gnawing on it! Pretty funny actually and I enjoyed rolling into transition with a very ghetto lookin number on my bike.

Colleen and Bryan have some friends that live right ON the lake approximately 1 mile from the swim start! Talk about PERFECT! They generously opened up their home, fed us dinner, and entertained us with stories of their water skiing prowess. Skiing for them is like triathlon for us... they beam when they talk about it! There's this whole huge competitive water skiing community that I had NO idea about... pretty neato.

Full belly. Final check on gear and bags. Warm shower and early bed! I had just a hint of nerves as I laid there. Lake Stevens is where I earned my slot to the world championships in '08 and despite my best efforts... I had expectations going in. In the back of my mind, I was convinced that I could PR this course... even tho my training has been spotty this year. PLUS... my arch nemesis was racing as well... and I really wanted to hand him his ass on the course! LOL!! I drifted off... relaxed and ready...

Stay tuned... race day is comin! Thanks for taking the time to read!

Breathe...