Ironman Los Cabos Part 2 – One More Sleep… Ha ha, “Sleep”

The last few days have been a flurry of activity, with athletes replacing the spring breakers. The roads have been filled with Ironman competitors biking and running, and generally just showing off their fit bodies and expensive equipment. To say the least, it’s been a bit intimidating. Seeing the level of fitness down here makes me question my own abilities to complete this race. It also sends tornadoes of nerves in my direction obliterating any structure of confidence I have. Maybe it’s a problem with my own self image. However, a nice group of people asking if I was a pro because “I look like a pro”, and a gentleman asking if I was “Matt” (as in Matthew Russell), gave me a much needed heroin shot of confidence.

And now, the next sunrise I see will be directly in my sight line toward the first turn buoy at Ironman Los Cabos. At the present time I am very calm and thinking only in the present. Over the past week I have found myself thinking of everything that may happen during the race, which only served to make me more nervous. I have done a couple of pre race swims, which have really helped me get used to the open water down here. Additionally, a friend and I drove the bike course, which in fact will be much hillier than I expected (and I was expecting hilly). Most of the people a I have talked with who have done this race before have told me that for my first Ironman I probably chose the hardest one. Yippie.

This of course changes my expectations a bit. In fact now I have none. I haven’t even really thought about how I hope to finish this race, only that I do finish. Regardless, I’m in for a long, hot, windy, and hilly day. But I have already won. I am healthier and happier now than I have ever been. A little over a year ago I sat recovering from shoulder surgery, binge eating donuts, and now I am about to test myself in an Ironman. Additionally, because of generous donations from friends and family, three charities have raised over $1500 each. Regardless of how (or if) I finish, life is, and will continue to be, good.

I’m going to cut this post short, since I have a long night of ceiling fan staring to do. I won’t even pretend I’m going to sleep tonight. I’ll follow up with a more detailed and thorough race report after the race.