Scones && Set Up

It wasn't long after I drifted off that my alarm was going off. It was time for first breakfast. 2am I grabbed my first scone with a bottle of water and went to sit in the lobby. And as much as I thought I would be dining alone, the head desk guy was there, just hanging out. I can't for the life of me remember his name, which makes me feel bad because he recognized me every time I came through, but we sat and talked for 15 minutes as I put in my 600 calories and then I went back to the room for a 90 minute snooze. 3:30 was the final wake up time, grabbed the second scone and my ipod as I headed back out to the lobby for some coffee. I sat there and watched some of my favorite triathlon motivation videos (Welcome to the Grind is my favorite!). So I enjoyed the last of the deliciousness that was the blueberry scone and got lost in the video and the thought that in a few short hours I would be lining up to my first Ironman.

I hustled myself back into the room and began my pre-race prep. Meaning I turned on some Jock Jams and french braided my hair while dancing around in my tri-shorts. A lot of other athletes that I talk to will list off all of their before prep, I'm a simple girl ;) It wasn't long before I was making sure I had my morning transition bag that I was in the car and ready to roll! Being only 5am it was still pretty dark, but you would think it was 8pm when I got to the city, it was all lit up and people were EVERYWHERE! You would think after living in the city for the past 5 years of my life that this wouldn't be shocking, but it was the thought that this scene is what I would be running into in just a few hours, that got me!

Into transition I went! Pumping up the tires and checking to make sure I had everything in my bags. I swear I have the utmost respect for those volunteers, not only there bright and early, but peppy and excited for you too! The woman who marked me up was so bubbly, it helped the good vibes going. But oddly enough I wasn't really nervous, I was just PUMPED to get going! We had to be out of transition by 6:30, so of course around 6:15 I noticed that I completely forgot to attach my bike tools in case I got a flat and ALL of my pre-packed fuel. That could really have been awful! So I ran back in and attached the necessities to my bike and then started to head down to the lake.