Counting down to Wildflower

"What are these electrolytes? Do you even know?"
"They're...what they use to make Brawndo"
"But why do the use them to make Brawndo?"
"...Because Brawndo's got electrolytes."

Starting to get pretty excited/anxious about Wildflower, which is less than 2 days away. This is supposed to be just a milestone race for me...a training race in preparing for Vineman full in July. But I am finding myself caught up in all of the excitement of triathlon, yet again.

Non-triathletes might look at the event and wonder "What the big deal? You just go out there and swim, bike, and run!" But little to they know....

There is so much planning involved, and so much to remember to do/bring/eat! So many things to worry about! So many things to constantly keep in your mind, any one of which, if forgotten or screwed up in any way, may be your downfall!

For example, my race day nutrition plan:

1. Wake up 3 hours before race for a large breakfast consisting of
• oatmeal
• PB sandwich
• banana
• coffee
2. Sip water/sports drink periodically up to the start
3. Take in 800 calories on the bike, specially prepared ahead of time in a water bottle to take small amounts every 15-20 mins, plus a gel towards the end for a caffeine kick
4. Take 1 bottle water to start, replace at the aid stations at miles 19 and 35
5. Take a 400 cal gel flask for the run, plus another gel or 2 for caffeine
6. Take water/gatorade on the run, alternating at aid stations
7. Switch to Coke when I start feeling dead.

So complicated! I won't even go into the huge checklist I made this morning of things I need to remember to pack.

But the funny thing is, when you get this close and there are so many things to go over in your head, you forget to worry about whether your fitness is there or not. It's obviously too late at this point, but it's probably a good thing that I have these distractions so I'm not constantly worrying about how out of shape I am!

Now that we're on the subject....I think my fitness is OK but now where it could be. I haven't gotten the hours in that I should have, and I always end up riding more than running/swimming. The swim is definitely my limiter; I've only done a handful of swim workouts all year. I'm not planning to get a great swim time (or even a GOOD swim time)...but I should be able to finish at least. And I'm fine with that; more people to pass on the bike!

And I somehow have managed to lose about 6 Double Doubles and meet my weight goal for this point in the season. So that should help me get up Nasty Grade!

Should be an interesting weekend. Wish me luck!