T-minus 6 Days Until Liftoff

Ironman Florida is right around the corner. Next week at this time I will be laid out on the sandy beaches of Panama City with a bag full of pretzel m&m's. The race is next Saturday and I can honestly say that I am starting to get very excited. Over the past year many hours have been logged in preparation, and I wouldn't trade those hours for anything in the world. Sure many of those hours hurt (physically and mentally) but they were hours spent doing something that I am so totally and fully obsessed with. It would probably take me a long time to reflect on the countless memories made over the past year so I will just mention those that immediately come to mind. Things like going over to Corona's house last November for the first time and riding my bike on the trainer for three hours (my longest trainer ride ever), spending the early hours of the holidays on my bike or running before the rest of the family got up to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving, hitting the roads in the dark desolate months of January and February for an early morning run..through the snow and frigid temperatures, waving to my brother and law as he snow blew the driveway as I was circling the neighborhood with frozen fuel belt bottles in tow, waking up at 3am to start a 6 hour bike ride with Corona,

yardsaling across train tracks with Corona at hour 5 of a 6 hour ride,

swimming alone in Mirror Lake in the beginning of June and thinking about halfway through the swim that this is kind of eery..and wondering if their were any big lake monsters beneath me, the early morning spent at countless Starbucks..the calm before the storm, my morning coffee which always puts me in a good mood regardless of the situation, the train this camp when I finally ran 3 miles off the bike 4 weeks out from LP, the QT2 came in Vermont where I began to see what an absolute machine they were...It was here that I met some really really awesome people that allowed me to enter their circle without the slightest hesitation..and I must say that not only were these people super nice they are all also super FAST! I am really excited and honored that I am going to have the chance to work with and be a part of the 2011 QT2 team..2010 was awesome and 2011 is going to keep the good times rolling by taking me to new places...I vividly remember showing up at the Vermont camp really knowing only one person (Pat) who hadn't yet arrived..so me being me I was anxious to do something and meet people. So of course when Tim Snow asked if anyone wanted to head out for a ride I was on my bike and down the road before he could clip in. I have to really thank Tim for not dropping me like a bad habit on that 2 hour ride because I think I still would be lost and looking for my way home today if I had not been able to keep him in sight. In the end the ride was so totally worth it, it rained a little bit and took me on some really beautiful roads, then just as we were approaching the road on the way back to the house a BIG double rainbow appeared behind us. Luckily Tim was looking back to make sure I hadn't died or anything and he saw it and pointed it out to me..it was really cool, maybe a sign of good things to come for us all in the future!




Hey, you have to be optimistic right? Then their was IMLP of course..a totally amazing experience, looking out from the swim start at the thousands of spectators brought only the though of "I'm in a little fishbowl" to my mind. Coming into town for the first time on my bike brings chills to my body just thinking about the vibe that I got from it all..people always told me it was like you were on the tour de france and they weren't lying..it was electric. And then of course crossing the finish line, knowing that I know had 140.6 miles on my legs and that I could take on anything. It was pretty cool. There were also countless rides with Don and Chris my Rochester riding buddies. Don in particular has been so so nice to me, allowing me to invade his home on countless early mornings. He lives in such a great spot that allows us to quickly get on the country roads and make a quick transition into running around the beautiful Mendon Ponds. There was the race down in Texas last April where I got to experience the Ironman atmosphere for the first time, meet Chris Lieto in person!

and even collect some hardware at my first M dot event!!! I couldn't have asked for a better first experience..I was spoiled. There was also the time I ran the Mini-mussel sprint triathlon in only a speedo..yes I saw in a speedo, road a bike in my speedo, and ran in my speedo..it was definitely a strange sight to see. However this mini-mussel might have been the most fun I ever had on the run because I came off the bike right with the second place guy in my AG. As I caught up with him leaving T2 he ran with me for about a half a mile, during this time we had caught up to the first place guy at the time who had laid down a pretty stellar swim, so then it was just me and him..and the half mile point he began to fade and I never looked back (literally I was superstitious) I even remember seeing Pat Wheeler on the run course and could see the shock in his eyes when he and his wife laid eyes on a pasty white kid wearing only a speedo racing down the lakeshore towards the finish line..it was quite the sight to see. And now here in the lead up to IMFL I have had a couple huge training days in the cold windy northern weather. Riding for hours at a time and then jumping off the bike to run faster than I ever have before.

The big dance is coming soon...very soon...I need to get some good sleep this week and eat good food and not worry about anything else. At this point I have done all I can and it doesn't matter "what I didn't do" because the end result is that I am very close to making it to the start line and that's what matters. I can't wait to put my toes into the gulf of mexico and churn up the water with reckless disregard, I want to go fast but I want to be consistent..I want a great day but I don't want to crap the bed, I want to make people proud and validate my training hours...but I know that's not the correct thinking because basing a whole year of training, friendships and adventures on one single day..on 10+ hours is not fair to me or the people around me. Win, lose of DNF I am going to give it my all, hold nothing back, and hope for the best. Regardless of the outcome I am going to have an absolute blast racing with my friends in Florida next weekend.

ITS GOING TO BE A HECK OF A DAY!

-Turbeau