Saturday : chance of precipitation 10%
Sunday : Chance of precipitation 70%!!!!
Monday : Chance of precipiation 10%
WTF ??????
This will be ugly if we need to do that course in rain or the run as a matter of fact.
The weather has been so beautiful it would really stink if it changes the race day.
This morning we rode about 6 miles to the expo and back ( got lost and took a mandatory city tour ) to check the bikes. We had followed Eric, Joe and Mike on the way there but did not take into account that the streets were one way, so we kind of circled our way back to the hotel.
Just learned that we were expected to pick up the bikes after the race the same day, and could not leave them there overnight. There is no arranged transportation either from the race site I definitely do not think I will be able to ride my bike back to the hotel let alone haul all my gear. Chip volunteered to ride the bike back. We'll see what happens that day.
Made the 1 hour prerace massage appointment before the Race Meeting tomorrow I like getting a massage before the event to kind of stretch out the limbs and get them relaxed, flushed.
At 1 o'clock Steve and Daphne picked me up from the hotel and took me to a beautiful local restaurant up the mountains. They are staying at a hotel along the bike course on the lake and rented a car. Steve's bike got lost while flying from the UK and he had to get a loaner and configure it, what a nightmare come true before an Ironman. But he is one of the people that seems to take everything lightly and was in a good mood regardless.
I really enjoyed the cozy restaurant up the mountains by a lake, and ate the most tasty veal wiener schnietzel I have ever had. Steve and Daphne are veterans of the tri scene and have a great attitude towards life. Daphne had a tough year where she was challenged in running so she thought to herself ' I need wings' so she got and got a pair of wings tattoed on her calves. It seems to have worked wonder if I should try it too ?
When I asked how many IM's she had done she started to take her watch off and under the wristband I saw several ( around 18 ) Mdot logo tattoos !!!! each representing one IM completed.
Steve was asking Daphne whether she will ever grow up. ( I thought to myself if one can keep the attitude of a child towards life why should you ever want to lose that ?)
It is their fourth ( I believe) time doing this race and said that the post race party was really good Monday evening.
I just can not seem to be able to think past Sunday.
When I got to my room I started my pre-im ritual which consists of :
1 - Line up all the Transition and warm up stuff on the bed
2 - Take a picture of the pile.
3 - Put them into their respective bags.
This way I avoid taking the stuff out of the bags and checking whether I had actually put everything I needed. I just take a look at the picture to check.
Met with Ilene and Andrea and went to the IronDome for the Pasta party, it was very impressive ( I am sorry that I can not upload the pictures until next Wednesday ). There were about 2500 participants in the tent, wide screen for the announcer interviewing the pros and scenes from past IM's it was really motivational well organized.
I was hearing from multiple people that IM Austria is overall one of the best IM's regarding crowd support, organization, course. And the announcer also stated that this was the largest IM event !
I did not check the race book in details but rumour is that there are only about 300 female participants. Wonder why.
We went to one of the street cafes and enjoyed the beautiful non-humid weather, and I realized that it does not get dark until 10 PM.. so maybe the possibility of a daylight finish ?
I will pray to the weather gods tonight !
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