Quickie IMWI Report

Caught up with Cindy and Shelley on Friday night, and proceeded to hang in downtown Madison with Cindy and some guys we know from various places. I don't know how many bars we visited or how many drinks we had. But we drank and danced a lot, and I think it was around 3:30AM Saturday that I decided I needed to quit drinking and get back to my hotel, so I just walked out, walked about a mile back to where my car was parked, and managed to drive 12 miles back to Verona. Funny thing is there were so many people (not racers!) out and about at that time of the morning. I drove back safely, and was so starved that I hit the 24-hour McDonald's. I chowed that down and passed out at I don't know what time.

Saturday morning was not fun. I was supposed to swim, but considering I couldn't move until about 8:30AM, swimming was not in the cards. But I figured if I put on running clothes that eventually I would do some of that. Cindy called to be sure I was OK, and I told her I felt bad about eating McDonald's, and her comment was, "Oh, you feel bad about that but not about all the drinking?"

Headed down to the expo and met up with some folks from the TRI-DRS list, collected some bottles at the Infinit booth, and about noon decided I'd try running. I actually didn't feel too bad as I started, probably because I had no sense of pace. I wanted to run for an hour, but figured whatever I could get in would be enough, and that it would work out some of the cobwebs. I managed to run for 1:04. While I was out there, racers were checking me out to see if I had "the bracelet" on, and if so, why was I running? I was sporting a fake tattoo they could see (you can see it in the pic), and man were people trying to figure out what it was. It means I'm Ironman royalty!!!

After running by Lake Monona, I headed back to Verona, got some lunch and proceeded to lay about the rest of the day because I needed to feel good for Sunday. I organized my stuff since I'd need to leave the hotel by 5:30AM.

Sunday I woke up before the alarm and felt pretty good. Downed some coffee and put my biking clothes on and headed into Madison, where I basically got on my bike and took off out onto the course. I didn't go watch the swim, since I just wanted to get in a decent ride. I rode out on the course, and when I got to the loop, I rode it in the reverse direction. At the bottom of the big Garfoot Road downhill, Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann caught up to me. For some stupid reason, I decided to take a mini break down there, which meant I had to walk my bike up a short hill before I could mount again.

We rode to the intersection of Garfoot and Mineral Point and waited for the first bikes to come through. What a beautiful day! It was like the weather in 2002, the inaugural year, when I did the race for the first time. I was wearing my Trashy Cat tiger kit, which seemed to brighten the mood of some of the racers. After watching many bikes go by, we headed back to make our way back to Madison.

Somewhere after Mount Horeb, Rich and Patrick took off, which I expected anyway, since I'm not anywhere near their speed, and I just haven't had much in the way of biking legs anyway. Also, I was happy to keep looking at the racers coming the other way to see if I could spot anyone I know.

When I got back to Madison, I changed back at my car, dumped my bike, and headed out on the run course on State Street. I saw pretty much all the folks I know head out onto the run, and then I stayed to see most of them complete one or some even two loops. There were some great performances yesterday! I thoroughly enjoyed cheering for anyone and everyone. I left town at 6:44 and made it home at 8:45, so I think that was record time (141 miles--I just realized how ironic it is that I live that distance from Madison). I really just wanted to get home, shower, eat and get a good night's sleep.

I unpacked, sort of, but kept thinking maybe I should just leave it all in my car since I'm going back on Friday! I can't believe Nothingman is coming up, but it is, and I'm doing it!

As to my mental state, well, nothing like a long night of drinking and dancing to deliver some perspective, I guess. I've let go of some mental crap that I needed to let go of, and almost feel like my "reset" button has been pushed, so that's good. It will be good to get Nothingman done and then really rest up for a few weeks, and I think I'll be able to rest physically and mentally finally.