The Day Before My Journey...

I did not sleep as well as I wanted to last night. I woke up around 1:30 am and then again at 4:30 when I decided to just stay up. I read some of my book and ate some breakfast which did not set well due to nerves. The wind had been blowing all night long and the palm trees outside our windows rustled angrily with each gust. Around 6:00 am, the wind started to settle down as I tried to get ready for the practice swim. The sun is up much earlier here than at home and we were out the door in the sunshine at 6:45 am.


Johnny Tri and I met up with Speedracer as we were racking our bikes we also found Greyt Times and Tri Beaner on the dock out to the swim start. The swells were up and there were a few little white caps but Greyt Times said it was much better than yesterday. To my amazment, when I looked into the water that was inside the docked in area, I saw dolphins!!!
I heard Greyt Times laugh at me as I started skipping and jumping up and down and squealing over the dolphins. To get into the water we either had to jump a good 7 to 8 feet off the dock or go down some stairs and swim out under the dock. I hate jumping off of things so I opted for the ladder. The dolphin came right up to the stairs and wished me luck on my swim. The water was warm and crystal clear! It was strange swimming out under that dock but once clear of it we all swam out to the first buoy. The waves pushed us around and I could detect that I was swimming against the current. The nice thing was that since I was able to see the ocean floor, I could tell that I was making progress. Once we got out to the buoy, we had a little fun!
Greyt Times and Speedracer goofing off.


The swim back in was with the current and there were times that I felt like I was being gently pushed along by the waves. I tried to get some pictures of the dolphins under the water, but they were too far away and more interested in feeding time than me. However, I did get to see these guys under the dock before I got out.


I felt much more confident about the swim after the practice. All I have to worry about is the mass start and feeling like I am in a washing machine for the first 800 or so meters until I get around the two buoys that make up the first turn-around. After that, I am golden. We ran into Greyhound when I crawled back up on the dock and we traded swim stories. I also ran into my friend Norma.From l to r: Speedracer, Greyhound, me, Greyt Times, and Johnny Tri
Luke had just jumped in the water to swim. We headed back to the villa and got cleaned up and went for a good breakfast. I had some tasty breakfast tacos and JT had oatmeal and eggs. We did a little shopping at the Mega mart which is like a Super Wal-mart. JT cracks me up because he had no idea that you can only buy milk in a shelf stable box in Mexico. I was disappointed that I could not find soy milk or rice milk. Oh well, so far the gut is good.

Once back at the villa, I started to get all my gear bags together. It was a little stressful counting out all my S-Caps and Sport Legs capsules and making sure everything I needed on the bike was going to fit in the Bento Box. Once I got everything squared away, I had time to read my book again and relax.On the way to bike drop off.

Around 2 pm, we made our way back to Chakanab Park to drop off our bikes and bike and run gear bags. We were numbered up and sent on our way. I took a few pictures of the transition area. The run from the point that we climb out of the water to the gear bags is about 200 meters but it looks longer than that. My bike gear bag is on the first rack (SCORE!) (I forgot to flip this pic.)
and my bike is on a rack near the bike exit (DOUBLE SCORE!!!).(Hmm, I guess I forgot to flip this pic too.)
After we got squared away, we grabbed a cab back into town and stopped at a Subway to pick up sandwiches for diner. We were complaining that because the sun starts going down so early we were thinking that it was getting to be time to eat but it was only 3:45 in the afternoon. We waited until 5 pm to eat and I put Gladiator in to watch on the laptop.

After the movie, I got the last of my things laid out for in the morning and now all I need is six and a half hours of peaceful sleep. HA! We are up at 3:30 am and we meet Speedracer at her hotel to catch a cab to the start at 4:45 am. Traffic will be nuts and should take at least 20 to 30 minutes. Transition opens at 5:30 and we have to be out by 6:30 for the Pro start at 6:45. As soon as they take off, then they let us in the water and we get going at 7:00 am.

Am I nervous? Hell yeah! When will I stop being nervous? Sometime during the swim. I have a plan that I think might work well for tomorrow. I am sticking to the plan. I will make it to the finish.

Tomorrow is a day for greatness,

Liz