The Day before the Big Day

Friday nights athlete dinner and race briefing was an inspirational affair. Meeting the numerous fellow Ironman athletes and hearing several stories of personal achievement over adversity got me into race mood. Many athletes I ran into were veterans, some of them having finished several Ironmans before. But I also learned that no less than 874 triathletes on the starting line were attempting their first Ironman this weekend; clearly I was not alone.

Things fell somewhat apart though on Saturday. I woke up very early at 4.30 never to fall back asleep. At first I managed to take care of business at race site fairly relaxed. An easy 20 minute practice swim felt good and invigorating. Then bike and gear check-in, no problems either.


But it was all downhill from there though. During the afternoon my nerves got the better of me. My system went into denial mode. I wanted to sleep, sleep badly, curl up somewhere in a corner. I felt sick, stomach churning, head aching and incredibly tired. Sigrid did her best to keep my spirits up, she nudged me along for a little afternoon excursion to Scottsdale, a bit of mall ratting, then into the movies to see 007, usually the perfect escape. I managed to enjoy dinner; head back to the hotel and fell asleep. At 8!