What to Wear?

It was another “early” morning. Wes was ready to go by 7am again. Apparently he hasn’t adjusted to the time change yet. I’d rather get up early anyway with hopes to fall asleep early tonight. 4am is going to come fast!

First stop again, the hot tub. I opted to just dangle my feet in to not overheat my muscles. After breakfast I overly researched the best route for my bike ride. I decided to head south to meet up with the route, and then go north.

I put the back cover on my bike, and the nuts and bolts we bought yesterday seemed to work. I covered them with black electrical tape to make them slightly bit more aerodynamic, but it was mainly so no one would notice that I jimmied together the cover. I feel like a dork for forgetting the fasteners!

I’ve never been more concerned over what to wear. I brought both my Midwest Xtreme kit and the TriHawks one. I race under MWX, but I’m here representing Iowa. Final decision… MWX today, Iowa tomorrow.

I started out for my bike ride and opted to ride towards the swim start. So much for the research this morning. I rode a bit of the route with a local racer which was nice to get his perspective on the course. On the way back to the hotel I got a bit lost, but I think it worked out well for me. I definitely have more confidence going into tomorrow after riding today.

My bike to run transition was a bit slow. I didn’t want to leave my bike outside, so I brought it back up to the room. In the elevator I met the girl from Oklahoma. Swapped out my bike for running shoes, then went for a quick 15-min run. My pace felt pretty relaxed. The heat was getting to be a bit much. Thankfully it’ll be much cooler when we’re running tomorrow morning. Dry heat is still heat! I checked my Garmin 310xt (love it!) when I got back to the hotel and my paces was MUCH faster then I had thought. I guess I’m ready, but I still feel like a poser.

Grabbed some lunch at a grocery store that reminded me a lot of Trader Joe’s, then back to the hotel to eat lunch and check out the race expo. I had hoped for a bike shop since my bike is not fond of shifting to the hardest gear right now. Guess I’ll deal with it in the morning at the race start.

BOUS meet-up was at 3pm so I still had some time to waste. I did a bit of research on the toll-bridge fines. The website says they take a picture of your license plate and send a bill for $47.50 plus the charge for the toll. Great!

After the BOUS meeting, they were taking a group photo. Anther stressful moment with what to wear. Do I wear something athletic? A race t-shirt? An Iowa t-shirt? I went athletic which ended up being the best choice.

At the meeting I was finally able to meet up with Mark Harms! We graduated high school together and I’d seen his name in a couple triathlon magazines. I wondered if it was the same guy, but the pictures didn’t look like him. Earlier this year I finally realized they were one in the same. Wow! He’s doing amazing. First place last year and Hy-vee and second place this year. I had looked for him after the awards ceremony, but not luck.

During the meeting I also met Cindi Bannink and Chris Thomas. Cindi and Mark were fourth of the state teams last year. Both placed 7^th overall. Chris has an amazing track record at 70.3’s this year. He’s either won 5 or 7 of them (can’t exactly remember) for the amateurs.

I dropped off my shoes at T2 and walked the transition a couple times so hopefully I’ll find them in the morning. Wes had bellied up to a pub that had the Iowa game on, so I drove over there and watched a bit. Wes pretty much kept busy with a day full of football. Games start pretty early when you’re on the west coast.

Mark had invited us out for dinner with him, Cindi, and Chris, so I took him up on it. I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be the game on there, so Wes stayed back. Mark and Chris were single at dinner, so I was fine with it. I owed Wes for making him miss the Iowa vs ISU game!

Dinner was so good! I had a seared tuna with artichoke sauce over mashed potatoes. Yummy! Mark had found the restaurant on Yelp. If you’re ever near Lake Forest, check out Tutto Famiglia (http://www.tuttofamiglia.com/). Not only was the food good, but so was the conversation. Although they did throw around a lot of names that I didn’t recognize. All three are in a much different league then me and have been around triathlon much longer. I hope to be in their position some day.

Me, Mark Harms, Chris Thomas, and Cindi Bannink after an awesome Italian dinner!

After I left the restaurant, I drove back by T2. I had forgotten to check out the road leading to T2. I don’t want it to sneak up on my tomorrow and not have time to get my feet out of my shoes. It’s a pretty long stretch from the bike dismount to our racks. I’d had to have to do it in bike shoes!

Back at the hotel I finished watching the Iowa game. Go Hawks! Wes stumbled back after the game. Time for lights out! But first I need to set the alarm on my phone, Wes’ phone, the alarm in the room, and a wakeup call. I’ll sleep much better that way.