Well we finally arrived in Penticton, and after some 12 hours of flying and driving I can finally put my feet up. Some really cute girl drove me to the airport this morning – have to get her number! Both flights were uneventful which is always a good thing. I did feel that the further north I got the fatter people became. I wonder if there’s really a correlation?

Other amusements from today: A wild turkey crossing (why, oh why did you not just fly across the road?), a deer eating the meticulously manicured grass and flower signpost at the entrance to some town, and Michael, Susan, and I sitting in the car, parked outside what we *think* is the correct house, wondering how we could have gotten something wrong since no lights were on in the front and no cars were in the driveway… Finally I walked up to the front door after a good 15 minutes of pondering and found a sticky note: “Out to dinner, come on in!”.

Oh, and then there’s Beatrice, my new bossy girlfriend. She tells me which streets to turn on, how fast to go, and for some reason likes to make me “bear left” on a regular basis. Thanks B, you are the light at the end of my tunnel.

In any case, we have 2 more days to take care of registration, bike check, and all of the other details leading up to race morning. Tomorrow we will sign in and probably go for a short swim. I have to get my bike and gear bag from Tri Bike Transport as well.

The few days leading up to a race of this magnitude are, at least for me, the hardest part of the season. I feel antsy, nervous, excited, and I always feel like I’ve gained 5 extra pounds even though it’s probably just fluid retention. Just want to get out there and DO this thing already!

T-minus 2…

Well it’s that time of year again. It’s t-minus 4 ’till race day and the usual nervousness and self-doubt begins to set in. Did I train enough? Are those two donuts I ate for breakfast gonna make me fatter and slower? Is my bike all set? Will I get a flat? Did I forget anything?

Then the excitement starts to set in too. Reading about the race venue got me all psyched up to just be part of the experience. It also reminded me about my hopes and goals for this race, which for me are going to be fairly aggressive. How fast can I really complete this “workout”? I’ve only done two previous races of this distance: The Great Floridian in 2007 and Ironman Wisconsin in 2008, with finishing times of roughly 14 hours and 13 hours respectively. Is it reasonable to think I can cut another hour from this distance?

12:00 or less.

Wait, let’s make that 11:59:59 or less.

Yeah, I may look back on this and think how cocky that is. Actually, I’ll in all likelihood recognize this about 60 miles into the bike course and think to myself, “what the hell was I thinking”? But I know words have power and having clear goals is the most likely path to achieving them, so there it is.

Can’t wait to see you tomorrow Penticton! However it turns out, it’ll be a great trip with even better company.

Kudos to Mile High Sci Fi over the weekend once again. Gawd “Command” is a terrible movie. All the more to make fun of I suppose! Thanks bro for the image of Freddy. It’s my new login image at work – makes me warm all over just thinking about it!

Never did take the poll however – who was actually commando at the show? Chalk one up for me…

After a dozen false starts, I finally got around to creating a blog. Will it get used? Time will tell. It IS shiny, and I like shiny things! When all else fails, resort to materialism to motivate you.