The day before the triathlon

I had a very detailed plan for the days leading up to the race, and I followed it fairly closely. Friday night I got to bed early and woke up naturally at 6:30am Saturday morning. I puttered around home then hung out with an out-of-town friend for the morning and early afternoon, doing lots of walking through the city. I had mostly carbs but listened to my body and ate only as much as I wanted. Half a bagel with hummus, cornmeal waffle, fruit, soy latte, tea.

Then I went home and started to lay out all my gear on my bed and triple check my packing lists. Well before I was done two other out-of-town friends showed up and we hung out for a few hours. I had a light dinner of a salad and ceviche, then we went grocery shopping. Halfway through that shopping trip my body CRIED OUT for carbohydrates. I was suddenly starving, so straight to the bakery I went to buy FOUR wheat bagels. As soon as we checked out and were outside the store I tore open the jar of peanut butter and ate one of the bagels, dipping it in the peanut butter as if it were coffee and the bagel was a doughnut. :D I felt better immediately.

Then I went home and packed up my bags. This was a pretty fast process, thankfully, because I was running a bit behind schedule. I laid out the clothes I'd wear the next day, placed my packed bags and bike near the door, and packed all the food into a canvas bag and put it in the refrigerator. I even pre-peanut-buttered my morning bagel so I wouldn't have to do ANYTHING but put my clothes on and GO in the morning.

Then I changed into my night clothes and performed a ritual I haven't talked about much here but which I found to be very powerful and useful in the week leading up to the race. I first spent about ten minutes stretching; a combination of yoga sun salutations and just normal static stretches. This put my mind back in my body. My knee and hips had been feeling weak and tight these past few days, but they felt good when stretching so I knew it wasn't anything to worry about. My stomach and digestive systems felt comfortable, I'd been drinking enough water all day, and in general I felt good. Next I lay down in bed and visualized the race itself. Sometimes I had done this while listening to calm music but this night I did it in silence. I visualized the start, the swim, the way my arms and hands would feel pushing the water. I visualized surging out of the water and stripping out of my wetsuit, putting on my bike jersey flawlessly, and hammering out of the transition area on my bike. I visualized the way my legs would burn pedalling up the hills, and the exhilaration of the downhills. I visualized working through the "heavy legs" of the running transition, and the mental games I'd play with myself to stay strong on the run. Then I visualized crossing the finish line, running and strong.

This time, as had happened during other visualization sessions, failures creeped into my ideal-vision. Struggling with my singlet, falling on the bike, things like that. I didn't let it bother me, but accepted it as natural anxiety and tried to visualize how I would react to those setbacks if they did happen.

Then I tried to go to sleep. This was harder than I thought it would be, even though I was tired, because it was 7:30pm and thus still DAYLIGHT. The last time I remember seeing on the clock was 7:48pm... then 8:45pm... then 9:52pm... I think I slept through the night after that.

Then, at 3am Sunday morning, my alarm clock woke me up.