The logistics and gear up for this event was no joke!! Flying adds in a whole other component of not being able to just throw a bike pump or whatever else into the back seat and rolling out. The planning and packing, especially packing a bike, is tedious. Tuesday night before we left, our *amazing* friends Jen & Scottie came over to lend support in packing Jonathan's bike as well as moral support! It took several hours, but we got that damn 63cm bike packed into the box (which the airline would later open up and search...). Y'all, thank you, we owe you a beer or ten...
Wednesday morning, we got up early to make sure everything would squeeze into the allotted number of luggage bags. Success! We were off to the airport by 8am and on our way! So thankful we had a direct flight as it provided much less chance of any luggage or bikes getting lost on the way. The flight was uneventful; just how I like them. A friend of Jonathan's picked us up at Houston Hobby and toted us and our luggage all the way to The Woodlands. Thank you, Devin! We also owe you a beer or ten...
Once we got checked in to the hotel, we made our way to athlete check in. I fully enjoyed signing my life away to participate in this spectacular event!! We got our event bracelets, bib numbers, and Ironman backpacks. I really like the shoulder straps :)
Thursday we were able to relax for a while in the morning, get gear bags ready, and build Jonathan's bike back up. It went a lot smoother than either of us expected - success again! We had an awesome lunch at Freebirds (tacos, salsa, chips, burritos) then decided that going to see Iron Man 3 was a perfectly appropriate way to spend the afternoon. Dinner was provided by Ironman at the Welcome Banquet and mandatory athlete meeting. They showed several neat videos during the meeting and then finally Mike Reilly came out to greet and pump up the crowd. He said there were 810 first timers and invited us all to stand and proceeded to tell us that "You WILL be an IRONMAN!", which was pretty awesome.
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Friday morning was mandatory bike and run gear drop, so we did that, followed by making the practice swim with just a few minutes to spare. I was determined to do this to work out any murky water anxiety that may have been bubbling just underneath my game face exterior. I'm glad I did, as I was a little short of breath at first, but quickly worked out any and all kinks. The water was right at 76 degrees, so we figured it would go the way of wetsuit optional for the race. After swim practice, we walked all over creation for a multitude of things, most important of which was to check in our bikes. In transition, volunteers were advising us to let a little air out of the tires since it was going to be so hot. Nobody needs to find a tire blowout on race morning.
Another place we stopped was Lululemon; they were SO into the event! They decorated the store exterior with the athlete names, 140.6, and the state of Texas. They also had a really neat surprise where you could get any new article of clothing stamped, like so!
