On a good day you can see the end from here

It's feeling like the beginning of the end. Hallelujah.

I was late for tri class yesterday because I chose to sit and gchat with a friend instead of getting to class early or on time. But when I did get there, I still got to do a decent spin class (I bet it was at least 30 minutes long), run twice around the basketball courts barefooted, and then--get this--we did stretches and yoga for the last segment of class! Mandy is giving us an easy week because the race is on Saturday. The realization of this is glorious. We even got to lay in shavasana (corpse pose) and practice visualizing each step of the race. I had already started doing that with the swim, but I realized that I was having a hard time imagining the wall-touch push-off-under-the-lane-buoys-into-the-next-lane moves.

I almost went to a swim clinic for 20 bucks on Sunday but then I didn't. Turns out I would have gotten a private lesson from some hot guy (my friend Carrie went). More importantly, I still haven't figured out if there's something better I can do with my breathing before the race on Saturday. I think I'll ask Mandy to check me out on Wednesday. I will get sleep tonight and be sure to be early Wednesday so I can talk to her.

Also, on Wednesday I am going to try out an idea I had for my transitioning: I'm going to swim in just my swimsuit and sports bra and then pull on the padded bike shorts during transition. I think I'd rather lose a few seconds and be comfortable for 12 miles than swim in unpadded shorts just so I can transition more quickly but end up with a sore crotch. But this means shorts, socks and shoes, race belt, helmet. I still need to go buy a decent squirt bottle that fits in the bike, get the bike checked and cleared for the race, and buy the race belt.

I'm itching to finish this thing. I am starting to feel like it will be kind of fun, though. Obviously it is exciting, but maybe I can stay in the frame of mind where I will have fun and not give a shit about my time. Also, relaxing improves everything (especially swimming).

I thought about running two miles this evening. Maybe I will follow through. But one thing is certain: I will get at least 8 hours of sleep every night this week.