Corey's first Blog - Race Day Eve

Race day eve dinner at Pineapple Willies on the beach.









Michelle's bike racked and ready for race day. T minus 12hrs. She is excited and ready for a beautiful day.










Michelle with Joe at breakfast. Joe is the oldest Ironman participant at this years race...79 years young. When asked, why do you do Ironman, he responded with "I wanted to start racing before I got old..." We all should aspire to such a life... (He started doing Sprint triathlons when he was 65!)

How to Track Me during my Ironman

Well the time has finally arrived....It's PCB Ironman time! Tomorrow morning at 7:00am I will take the first strokes to my Ironman goals...swim, bike and run. Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my life, one that I hope I will learn from and cherish for years. One that will demonstrate strength (mind and body), determination, and persistance! How can you track me? EASY....



1. You can track me via the Ironman Live web-site. This is updated through-out the day and it will give you updates on what's going on, and if you plug in my race number you can see when I have completed the swim, out of transition and on the bike, and then the run. This system will only track me when I hit timing mats. (Swim, transition, two on the bike, and two on the run.)
http://www.ironmanlive.com

2. My Athlete - this is a GPS system that I will wear on me during my bike and run. I am part of a special test marketing group. It will update every two minutes!!! Plus, it is all done in conjunction with google maps. So you can see where I am at during the race. The link is: http://track.gtxcorp.com/Public/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fdefault.aspx%3fp%3d2&p=2

If this link doesn't work - you can try the following link on your Mac / PC (username & password is ma1): www.myathletegps.com/track


If you are connecting and tracking by a PDA / Blackberry or iPhone:
www.Myathletegps.com/mobile (same user name & pass-word)



3. Last, but not least...this Blog. Corey will update the Blog when he can...but he will be working on the run course from 1 - 6; and then will be at the finish line waiting for me at some point!



Lastly, thank you for all of your support and well wishes. I am so excited to be doing something I never dreamt of doing. I hope I don't dissapoint any of you....

My bib number is 2201



Michelle

Almost here

I am sitting here in my condo...alone. Corey left to the expo with Kelley; he was bugging me, so Kelley asked him to help him with his gear. We are suppose to drop off our bikes, T-1 and T-2 bags today. Tomorrow morning we drop off our Special needs bags.

Our T-1 bags contain anything we need for our transition from the Swim to the Bike. Mine contains riding needs (helmet, jersey, racing number, shorts, socks, bike shoes,etc. YES, I do have 2 sets of Oakleys in their...not sure which ones I will want.) It's really nerve racking...if I forget to put something in it...I am without it.

The T-2 bags are for our Bike to Run transition. Running shoes, hats, long sleeve shirt, etc. Again, anything you may need or want for your run.

The winds picked up today...and with it my anxiety. I was fine all week, and now it has set in. The time is almost here. It's depressing and exciting. I have really enjoyed this journey, and I really hope I have done enough. The best thing I can do now is relax and play it as one race at a time. Take the swim...survive it and get out. The better my time, the more time I can bank. Go for the ride and replenish and store. I have broken my ride down so I am doing something every 5-10 minutes. If I can get off the bike 7 hours, then I will have banked more time for the run. AHHH the run...my strategy is to meet the cut-off times. That's it. Run a little, walk a lot, and make the cut-off's.

God, I am nervous! It's probably a good thing that Corey took off. I have my lists made of what goes where and he keeps helping and moving things. He is organizing my stuff behind me. If you know Corey, then you know exactly what I am talking about. I really do love my honey...he is the best when it comes to taking care of me.

Well, I best getting back to getting ready for my race. Stay tuned...I will have race information on here later. On how you can check me with MyAthlete and via Ironman Live.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Michelle

Day 3 & 1.2 mile swim!

It was a pretty nice day today. We started with breakfast with some of the North American staff. Then I went out for an easy swim. Ending up doing the entire swim course (just one loop), so I got in a nice 1.2 miles. I was only suppose to be out there for 30 minutes, but the water was so nice! I took it easy and stopped at each buoy, and took in the area.
After our swim, Corey and I had lunch with Julie (another NAS staff person whom I adore!) I had the best Grouper Sandwich...Yummy! Then I went out with my men and drove the bike course. You know, 112 miles is a LONG WAY! We had fun driving the course and I am really glad I did. It's not totally flat as we were told. There are about 20 miles of nice rollers and two nice hills we have to climb. There is one section that is desperate need of repair, but we calculated it to be only 15 miles. No shoulders on the course, and it is open to traffic. SO, it will be fun! NOT boring!!

I came back home and Corey was hanging out on the beach with Kelley and Sabina. We are now in our condo, getting ready for dinner. Tonight is the welcome dinner and athlete meeting...tomorrow the count-down really begins!


We had a morning breakfast with some of my favorite Staff of NAS. From Left; Grahm(owner), Paula Newby-Fraiser (Winningest Ironman in history, and CEO of NAS), Heather Fuhr (2nd in most Ironman wins & my coach), Michael Lovato (yes...the man that I LUST over...oh he's also a Pro), ME, and Jimmy Ricatello (yes, he's grabbing Michaels boob! He is also a former Pro-MTB racer, Xterra and current head referee for USAT)

That's Scott with Fuel belt. He just came in from a swim and was telling me how big the BatRays were.








Picture of BatRays! There were 4 of them playing in the waves, near the shore line!


Kelly Milbrath (one of my team-mates and training partners) and I on the beach.

First Swim...

Some pictures from this morning. We were finally able to do a practice swim. Just adjusting to Ocean water, the temp and siting.

HURRY UP! I was very anxious to get into the water. My team-mates were taking their sweet time. Oh well...

Here we go! We got into the water and it was so nice and warm! It's about 70 degrees. I was very happy. Could have done without the salt water taste...but the water was warm and calm. The entire swim I was telling myself, "it's only 7 ft"

Done with the swim! It was GREAT, I could have stayed in longer, but was dragged out...had to head-off to packet pick-up.

Day 2 at Ironman

Here are a few pictures from earlier today. I will blog more later...

I found hermit crabs during my morning swim! (I thought my Allison would like these.)

"I went to Ironman Florida and all I got was Crabs..."

Me at the front of the line for packet pick-up.

I am weighing in...don't ask how much. I have to remember that I had a week of down time.

Katie and I! Katie is not only one of my Captains for Ironman CDA...but her husband (Paul) is racing with me as well. He's my Ironman-Hubby. For awhile, Paul and I were spending more time with each-other than with our mates!

Reunited with my bike! Mark took good care of it...now I am off to ride!

I am heading to ride the run course with my team-mates. Will blog more tonight!

First day in Florida

We have arrived in Florida safe and SLEEPY! Last night was a real adventure...everything from possible delays to a "Chatty Cathy" sitting in front of us on a Red-Eye flight. Who the hell takes a red-eye and then expects that the people sitting next to her want to talk...and the people sitting behind her want to hear it?

We arrived and took our time getting to the Condo. It was a fun drive, but boy is Florida FLAT. It is unbelievably FLAT! My friend Julie Doray (her hubby works for ironman and she came with to cheer me and a few of her other friends on) offered to ride a moped next to me during the race and read to me so I wouldn't get too bored on the bike course. For some reason I don't think boredom will be my problem!

Here are some photos of our first day in Florida - Panama City Beach to be exact! Stay tuned; we will update all of you daily!

Here I am Blogging all of you! This will be my position as I type each day and keep all of you posted on my events. On Saturday...you will need to replace me with Corey!

ME! The water is SO warm! I can't wait to dive in. The beaches are amazing. I have never felt sand so soft and so WHITE! I was looking out into the water and I could picture myself swimming. Tomorrow I take to the water for my first practice swim.

View from our Condo. We are on the 4th floor and it is beautiful! The Condo is tiny, but I have to remind myself that it is larger than a hotel room would be.

Corey and I on the beach. The winds are CRAZY today, but I have been promised that they are going to die down tomorrow. We took the opportunity to take a walk and check out the area. I was able to touch base with several of my friends with NAS, saw where the transition area would be, swim start, etc.

We are off to dinner with my swim coach and some of my fellow CDA Tri-mates. Stay tuned for more!!!!