Prepping For The Mainland...

Just like that, race week is here!

I entered Ironman Louisville last year right when it opened, like, on the first day I think. I've never been to Kentucky before, but I grew up in Ohio and my parents are still there and I haven't been there for like 4 years so I figured this might be a good time to kill two birds with one stone. Plus, I have a friend who lives near the course and he said Scott and Moana and I could stay with him… Seemed like a no brainer choice of a race for me, but that was over a year ago and for the last year the race has just been this thing that was always WAAAAAY out in the future- like it was never going to actually happen- but turns out, it's happening very soon!

So what this means is that WE ARE GOING TO THE MAINLAND. It's not really all that often that we go to the mainland, and I think the last time we took a trip together as a family was ~2 years ago. Funny though, last week Scott was like "WE are going on vacation next week!!" I haven't really been looking at it as a vacation, per say, though I suppose in a way that's what it is? Regardless, mainland trips are a big deal for us. I've been prepping in the following ways:

~I bought a pair of jeans. I realized before my Tucson trip last February that I didn't actually own a pair of jeans (or long pants of any kind). My neighbor let me borrow a pair of hers for that trip, which worked out great and I loved them, but I felt sort of silly asking her to borrow them again. I didn't go out of my way to buy a pair though... Really I just grabbed a pair at Costco, which is a bigger ask than seems like it should be because for the most part Costco only stocks sizes 8-16 for most of their clothing. I did find ONE STYLE of 'denim' pants in size 4 and they were sort of stretchy material… Only like $20 so what the heck I threw them in my cart and turns out they fit just fine.

~I've studied (online) maps of Kentucky. I've always loved maps and I tend to like having an understanding of where I am on this planet. And while I know it's probably a good idea to study course maps earlier than 7 days out from a race, well, let's just say I finally feel like I've got a grasp on the general area of the course now too.

~I've tried to prep my husband on acceptable conversation topics when in the company of republicans. Lets just say that the only time we see information coming out of Fox News is when its filtered through the lens of The Daily Show, so granted, we might be a bit biased in our own political views and beliefs… But Scott tends to blurt out republican insults like he has turrets (if you are friends with him on Facebook you will understand this). My dad has already suggested that we steer clear of political conversations and I AGREED. My mom is too polite to suggest such a thing but I would guess she's made it a part of her daily prayers. So here's to hoping we can keep civil conversations while we are in Ohio (I think we can!). I love my family but we are not a family that tends to enjoy direct confrontation, and often not even good healthy agree-to-disagree-style-debate. Maybe we will just let Moana head up group conversations. :)

~I've arranged for Nalani to come by and take care of our little farm while we are away. She is a good friend and I appreciate her willingness to try to keep our cat and chickens and guinea pigs and fish alive. In all honesty, most of the animals won't miss us at all, but Ozzie will. I think this is the longest we will have all been away from him in years so hopefully he won't feel completely abandoned! He has access to outside as well so hopefully he won't go looking for a new home. I don't think he will. He's pretty attached to me.

~I practiced swimming with my eyes closed and my mouth shut. At this point I have no idea if we will be swimming or not (sounds like maybe not, which would suck). If we do swim though I expect the water to be brown. I'm *so spoiled* by swimming in clear water… sometimes I freak out a bit when I dive into water and start swimming and can't see.

~I did a load of laundry that included all my cold weather clothes because they smelled like moth balls. I haven't yet decided what I am going to wear on the bike during the race… Every time I check the weather forecast for Louisville for Sunday the low gets lower (48! OMG!) so clearly I should stop checking the weather forecast… I'm really trying to mentally prep to just be cold all the time but to shut up and not bitch about it.  We'll see how successful I am at that losing game. I did try to spend some extra time in the Costco freezer section each time I shopped there in the last few months. Funny- when it was blazing hot out (July>Sept) I could hang out in there and thought it felt GREAT. Now that it has cooled off and I don't spend my days feeling like I'm suffocating, being in that cold section was NOT OK.

~I've 'trained' Moana for the 1 mile Ironkids Run that takes place on Saturday. She was totally into it for a while, even running in the rain! Her interest has since petered out a bit (ahem, running is boring, mom) but I bet it'll peak again when she sees the finishers shirts and medals. Plus, Lectie gave her a special sparkling pink headband to wear for her race so that will give her magic powers I'm sure. Maybe I should wear that thing on Sunday?!?

~I'm still in the process of gathering things to keep Moana occupied during a whole lot of loooong hours of travel. I have two more days to work out the details on this one... Suggestions welcome! She is STOKED to see her grandparents though! She's going to get to see both sets on this mainland trip and will no doubt come home feeling spoiled and entitled, as it should be after spending time with grandparents! :)