We arrived in Penticton on the Wednesday afternoon before Ironman, so I had plenty of days to play and rest before the race. I had some training to do, but it was just to keep my muscles moving and stay fit. It was good to be back.
We had a kitchenette so went grocery shopping. We didn't want to eat in restaurants all the time, and at this stage of the game, I wanted to continue eating healthy. Besides, we needed somewhere to make fruit salad with all the fruit we would buy. Every time we are in Penticton, we go to a quaint little fruit stand called "Matheson's Family Farm" to buy fruit. It almost feels like we are in Italy, what, with the grapes hanging on the vines overhead, the view of the lake, and all the vineyards around us. If this is just a fraction of what it's going to be like when Arrigo and I go to Italy next year, sign me up!
Thursday
Athlete's Village opened at 9 am and I was there as soon as it opened. I wanted to ensure I had a good choice of "everything-Ironman" to purchase. By the time I had arrived in Penticton in past years, all the good stuff was gone, so we left for Penticton a day early this year so I would have lots to choose from.
Next stop - registration. I showed my ID and signed my life away before I moved along the well-oiled assembly line to get registered for this darn race. I ran into a lot of people I knew who were there for the same reason I was.
Friday
This was a day of relaxation. Nothing to do until the welcome banquet. We went to dinner early so I could buy an extra ticket for Arrigo. To our dismay, there were no tickets to be had. Whaaat! Oh sure, we could have lined up for a possibility to buy an extra ticket, but didn't want to take the chance that none were available. Some friends from St. Albert invited us to join them for dinner at Theo's Greek restaurant, so we took them up on their offer. I'd rather be with friends, sitting down, ready to eat, than be in a line risking that no "overpriced-welcome-banquet-tickets" were available. Besides, Arrigo has been with me all the way since I started training for this race in November, and I thought this is no time to ditch him. I wanted to be with him. We had a great meal, but Arrigo was flabbergasted when I broke the unwritten rule of not eating anything before Ironman that my stomach isn't accustomed to. I ordered rabbit, and it was delicious. I don't consider that to be a gastric unknown, since it's just meat.
Saturday
I have a lot to do today. Arrigo wanted to go for a long run, so I dropped him off in Okanagan Falls - 16 km away. He ran back to the hotel as I went for a short half hour ride to make sure my bike was in good working condition and all the gears were shifting correctly. When I got back to the hotel, I was surprised that Arrigo had returned from his run. I thought it would take him longer. Apparently, I am very focused and have tunnel vision, because Arrigo told me that when I was riding towards OK Falls, he saw me and ran into the middle of the road, jumping up and down, saying "Hey, Green Machine," but I didn't hear or see him. Not only that, but apparently, I swerved to not hit him. That's too funny, because I was actually thinking "wouldn't it be nice if I saw Arrigo running!" Dah!
I then went for a short run to get my legs loosened up and came back to start preparing for the race the next morning. I had to pack all of my bags with the gear and nutrition I would need. My "Swim to Bike" bag had all my bike gear in it, my Bike to Run" bag had all the running gear in it. I also had two special needs bags - "bike special needs" and "run special needs" - in case I wanted anything part way through the bike or run (an extra tire tube, treats, old T-shirt in case it gets cold on the marathon, etc., etc.).
Once I finished packing the bags and taping all the gels on my bike, I was ready to take my bike and gear bags to transition. I think Arrigo was more stressed than I was about getting there on time; afterall, we only had a few more hours to get there :-)
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| My number was 2892 |
Seriously though, Arrigo was great. He was so supportive and did everything humanly possible to ensure that I would have a great race.
