This race was held on Saturday September 19th, with a VERY civilized start time of 9AM. Sue and Owen were planning on coming along this time, so with about 2 days to go before the race, we decided to get a room at a hotel in Worcester, MA so we would not have to head down real early Saturday morning.
One thing I did this race was make up a list about 2 days before of all the equipment I needed to bring. Packing up to go was SO MUCH LESS stressful. I simply packed each item and crossed it off the list.
We found a nice place to stay and headed down on Friday night. We had dinner on the way down in Tewksbury, MA at Cracker Barrel. Not exactly the best place for a "carbo loading" dinner, but I made due with Roast Beef (they were out of the meatloaf) and some mashed potatoes. We continued on the hotel and got there much later than Owen's usual bed time. What I figured would happen, did, and I did not really get a good night sleep. Luckily I had got lots of rest on Thursday night. I was up most of the night both excited and nervous about the upcoming race. I have to remember not to worry about things I can't control. The weather report called for lots of wind and I was getting worried.
I was up at about 5:30AM for a shower. We all got up and down to the complimentary breakfast by about 6AM. Owen was excited with so many choices for breakfast. I had my usual pre-race meal of some yogurt, bagel with PB, banana, some coffee and OJ.
We got into the car and headed for Douglas. It took as about 30 minutes to arrive at the park. We arrived at about 7:40am and I unloaded all my gear. I wasn't out of the car for 2 minutes and both Kurt and Jen walked by. Sue and Owen headed out to explore the area and I headed to registration. Picked up my packet and headed for transition. I met lots of COMP team mates in and around transition. Mostly new but some recognizable faces as well. Very pleased to be in transition right near Patrick.
Unloaded my gear and headed for bodymarking and then an initial trip to the "facilities". After getting back to transition I got suited up and then back to the "head" on last time. I then headed over to the beach to find Sue and Owen for one more good luck hug etc. Owen of course had to do his "speed" ritual one more time. He stands in front of me and then proceeds to rub speed from his shoes onto my feet. He will even put is feet in both my cycling and running shoes and walk around in them. I tell you, IT WORKS!!!
I headed back to transition to make one final check on my gear and set-up.
I am bummed now, because I let too many weeks go by before I got back to finishing this post. I promise next season I will do a better job posted my reports right away.
Have a great winter!!!!
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