Ironman Louisville Countdown

   Today is October 11th. I'm racing Ironman Louisville on the 15th. Four days. Four freaking days. I've been doing ok mentally in regards to this race, at least until yesterday. I took about nine months off prior to registering for IMLOU, so I'm not as fit as I was for IMCHOO, but I feel good about my ability to complete the course in the allotted 16.5 hour timeframe. My training has been consistent (Thanks, Andrew!) and I can tell I'm stronger than I was 100 days ago. I also have some AMAZING friends (TEAM ROM-COM 4EVER!) who are also doing the race and have kept me accountable over the past few months.

   But even with all of the training, and knowing the race is in a few days, I've been in DEEP denial about what is going to happen this weekend. Even as of two nights ago, I was thinking "I guess I should start packing," and then went back to knitting and binge-watching Gilmore Girls for the fourth time. This is a complete turn-around from IMCHOO. I had everything all packed a ready to go days before I left. I read the Athlete Guide several times. This time? I printed it and started to read it, but then moved on to something else by the second page. I still haven't read it completely. And I wasn't freaked out by it at all. I've been pretty stress-free about the entire thing.
   That is, until yesterday afternoon. That's when everything hit the fan and now I'm completely freaking out. Here are a few things that are stressing me out right now: 1) My car (that we're taking to Louisville) died yesterday afternoon. We thought it was just a battery, but it's still not running properly so Dudley is running around trying to take care of that this morning. We might have to rent a car, which is fine, but this weekend is going to be crazy expensive already and I really don't want to add to that total. 2) The weather in IMLOU is going suck. So much for a nice, crisp Autumn day. Nope! It's going to be in the 80's with high humidity, 10-20 mph wind and, my favorite, a 60% chance of RAIN! I know that everyone will experience the same race conditions, but I have some great carbon race wheels that work wonderfully when it's dry. But get them wet? Good luck stopping because the brakes won't work. And IMLOU is a hilly course (much worse than IMCHOO, in my opinion), and I'll definitely need my brakes! So, now I'm debating on whether to rent some other race wheels that have aluminum rims so I have the ability to stop or slow down if needed. And I know, I shouldn't use my brakes when racing, but I've ridden this course three times, there are times when I'll need my brakes!  3) I haven't swam in my wetsuit yet this year. I know, this is COMPLETELY my fault, but I was in denial. I always thought - I'll go to the lake next week. And now it's race week and I haven't put the thing on yet. Hope it still fits!!  4) We have an elderly dog who has dementia and I don't want to leave him. We have an awesome pet-sitter who moves into our house when we're gone, so he'll be in good hands, but I still don't like leaving him. 5) I'm racing an Ironman in FOUR DAYS! GAHHH!!
   I need to figure all of this stuff out, and quick, because we're leaving for Louisville tomorrow morning. I'm bib #1166 if anyone wants to track me. Ironman has an amazing tracker app that is free if you want to see where I am on the course at any time. Wish me luck!