Ready. Set. Go.

Today was my first rest day since June 22. I have to say, it was really great. I slept until almost 9 and spent the entire morning working and catching up. I headed off to the NYC Triathlon expo and mandatory race briefing in the afternoon, figuring I'd beat some of the crowds by going on Friday vs. Saturday. I met up with a guy from Beginner Triathlete, which made it a lot more fun. The people I've met in this sport continue to be some of the best people I've met. We got the race briefing and packet pick-up out of the way before checking out the expo a bit.

I got stuck with a slightly boring white swim cap. My age group has two waves, one white and one fluorescent orange. The orange would have been so much cooler! However, my race number is 1896. I liked the sound of it as soon as I heard it, but not for any particular reason. So I checked it out and it turns out that the first modern Olympics were held in Athens on March 24, 1896 with 484 athletes from 13 countries. Is that good luck or what??? Also, the U.S. bicycle industry hit sales of $60 million that year with the average bicycle retailing for $100. Of course, they didn't have gears until the next century, but imagine being able to score a bike for that price?

While we're talking about bikes, tri-bikes were on full display at the expo just torturing me. I spent some quality time with a Cervelo I have my eye on. I'll have to wait and see in a few months. In the meantime, I bought some socks and gels, a little more in my price range.

Before receiving the race packet, we had to sign a swim waiver. No one really reads this stuff, but while in line for my packet, I caught the first line, "I acknowledge that the swim portion of the Nautica New York City Triathlon will be an extreme test of my abilities..." No kidding. Although I've definitely reached a point where I'd rather swim in the Hudson than some other bodies of water. Check out this photo from the 2006 LA Triathlon.


Now that's just scary. I would have turned around, gotten back in the car and gone back to bed. This gives me comfort knowing that Sunday will be nowhere near as challenging.

I stopped off at my friendly neighborhood bar after the expo to catch up with friends and rest some more. I allowed three beers this time. After all, what harm can it do at this point? After 5 weeks of barely drinking, I've gone from having a hollow leg to being quite a lightweight. But don't worry, I had a pint of water for every beer like a good triathlete. It was really great to be with friends and get my mind off the race for a bit. I'd be lying if I said the swim cap didn't make an appearance, and there is photographic proof, but I'll save those shots for family and friends.


I picked up the sunscreen I like, which was officially my last item to buy. Now I have a bunch of small things to do:

• Try to remember how to change a flat (please, please, please do not let me get a flat)
• Learn how to disable my back break just in case I blow a spoke (x10 my plea above)
• Learn how to let air out of my tires and then re-inflate them properly, due to the expected heat, which means I'm going to have to figure out how to use that fancy tire gauge I bought (I think I admitted recently I don't know how to do ANYTHING with my bike... I wasn't lying)
• Adjust my new helmet so it actually fits
• Put the speed laces on my running shoes
• Decide which race belt to use and attach my number to it
  
• More laundry, yet again

I get to do a super-mini-triathlon tomorrow as my final activity before the race. This is by no means for any fitness, it's simply to be sure everything is working properly and to keep my muscles loose. I'm planning about 20-30 minutes of each sport, starting with a swim. Then I need to drop my bike off in transition and spend a few minutes familiarizing myself with the route so I'm not confused on race day.

I'm so excited at this point I can barely sit still. I have a feeling I won't be sleeping much, but that's ok. There's something about race weekend that allows you to get everything done and show up ready to go on race day regardless. I'll be ready to go for sure on Sunday at 6:29 a.m. when my wave starts. Hudson River, here I come.