Play-by-Play

As of this morning, I'm all checked in for Sunday's Wisconsin Ironman Triathlon. The expo runs this morning through Sunday, with race registration taking place today and tomorrow. As you can see from the picture, left, it was a little rainy and wet at Ironman Village, putting a damper on the overall atmosphere and spirit, but hopefully we'll see improvements throughout the weekend and for race day.

Karen and I arrived at the Monona Terrace at 10:30am. We caught the morning rush, as the line was long and extremely slow. We waited over 30 minutes to get through the first check-point, which was purchasing a one-day USAT membership. USAT (the USA triathlon governing body) definitely needs to get their act together and have more staff on hand to speed the process. The rest of the process (run by Ironman North America, including the weigh-in, info check, materials pick-up, and timing chip check) moved quickly and efficiently.

Afterwards we did a bit of shopping at the expo. Having already purchased enough Ironman crap in previous years to last me a while, I only purchased a new yellow Ironman visor.

Tonight, I'll begin packing my transition and special needs bags, and preparing final details. Last night, I went on my final bike ride, and tomorrow and Saturday I'll likely get in a couple quick swims. I also hope to watch some of the past year's videos to start getting pumped and excited. It's almost Ironman time!!