Friday, September 25, 2009

In 24 hours...

...if all goes well, I'll be on the bike phase of my very first sprint triathlon!!!

AAAAAIIIEEEEEE!!!

I'm trying to not self-combust with excitement and nervousness here. We're packed, and thanks to Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, my bike is all checked over and ready to go! Thanks to Google street view, I've checked out the bike route. (They lied. It's not ALL flat.) I've been hydrating and resting and eating sensibly. I bought that BodyGlide stuff, and a CO2 bike pump thing, and tried on (but did not buy) a full tri-suit. (Though if I like this tri-business, I might go back to REI and buy it, it was on clearance.)

For this event, I'm dragging my family along, and I didn't even know it was "National Family Health and Fitness Day" (thanks, Miz!)! Things 1 and 2 are looking forward to staying at the hotel tonight and going to the pool. They haven't seen me do an event before, so I'm hoping they'll enjoy it. (Even though we have to be there early, like when it's still dark.)

I've had to keep telling myself, "Stay." That's my mantra lately. As in "Sit! Stay! Good brain!" As in good ol' crunchy-California-granola "be present" (hee hee, this crunchy-granola California girl got a big kick out of Juice's treatment of the phrase.), don't let my mind go tearing off on logistics and "what ifs" at times when it shouldn't...like during my drive to work when I ought to be paying attention to the road. *Ahem*

I've been listening to Pirates of the Caribbean movie music and feeling all intense and swashbuckling.

I'm trying to not worry about the heat. I'm not used to it, and it's supposed to be in the low 100s in Pleasanton tomorrow. Of course, I'm basing my "not used to it" on when I was still lugging around 80 extra pounds. Sheesh, that's like carrying around Thing 2 *all the time*! That, plus high blood sugar, no wonder I was so tired all the time! I'm bringing lots of water, and I figure I can always throw myself in the lake briefly before the run if I get too hot.

Do you want to know what I'm really worried about? I'm not worried about how I'll do during, or what my time will be, or will the transitions go smoothly, or will I get trampled too much during the swim, or that hill toward the end of the bike, or losing my way on the twisty 5K course. Well, I'm lying, of course I'm worried about those.

My biggest worry is getting there. Just getting there and starting. Because I've TOLD people I'm going to do this thing. I've blathered on about it on the blog. I've bored people with it in real life. I'm burning to do this thing. But as I was whining over in Christie O's excellent article's comments, if the car breaks down or I get sick or if they mysteriously lose my registration info and won't let me compete, or....well, you get the idea...then I'll not be able to do what I said I was going to do. Suffice it to say, that would suck.

So I'm going to tune into some "Pirates" music and think affirming, Pubsgal-suited-up-by-the-lake-and-poised-to-leap-in thoughts. Pubsgal biking. Pubsgal running...walking...crawling...whatever it takes to finish. Pubsgal sporting a little medal and a new t-shirt thoughts, hugging her family and giving them my granola bar swag thoughts.

Okay, well, I guess I'd better go be present with some more tea now...or go hurl, I'm not sure which sounds more appealing at the moment....

P.S. A very happy birthday to Christie O of "Baby Tea Leaves"! Virtual tri-buddy, sister of the shrinking jeans, super mom & homemaker, champion of premie babies and their families, awesomely funny writer, and now...seamstress? Hope you get spoiled rotten this weekend, girlfriend!

6 comments:

Lori said...

You are going to have a great time tomorrow!
The heat stinks, but hydrate well and listen to your body. You can start slow in each event and speed up as you find your comfort zone for the weather. Pacing will be important for that.

Final tip - don't forget to take your bike helmet off before you start running :D

Brooke said...

you're gonna rock your tri tomorrow!!! :)

debby said...

Pubsgal, I'm so excited for you. I didn't know it was going to be in Pleasanton. It would have been fun to be there to cheer you on! Where are you going to swim in Pleasanton? I can hardly wait to see your results blog! OF COURSE YOU'LL GET THERE!

P.S. can you believe the 'word verification for me to type is 'biker?' It MUST be a sign!

Christie O. said...

I'm so excited for you!! You are probably just now finishing and I want you to know I saw your tweet and right at that time I was pretty sure you were standing along the water's edge waiting for the horn to blow and I sent you a millian zillion happy tri vibes!!!!!!!!!! congratulations for coming this far!!!! xoxoxox

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to hear all about it! All the best. :)

PS Thanks for the link!

lisa said...

Congratulations - you did it!!!! :):) It was so great talking to you in transition before and after the race! I hope your family had a wonderful time cheering for you, and I'm so glad to hear that you're considering another triathlon down the line. :) Hope the recovery goes well! :)~Lisa