Check In Day

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emmerson

What an awesome day today! I got up fairly early as my body is still trying to adjust to the Mountain Time Zone. I had some breakfast (ok a LOT of breakfast) and headed downtown to Tempe Town Lake Park. The park is "ground zero" for this weeks events. Everything was still being set up, so I had some peaceful moments alongside the lake to reflect and take some pictures. As soon as the IM store opened, I went ahead and purchased some items. Many say that you should not purchase items until you finish the event, but I wanted to make sure that they had my size left. I still will buy some items on Monday that have "Finisher" on them (I hope).

Once I finished up at the store I got in line to "check in". This is where they give you your race packet, your armband, and all sorts of other items. While in line, I met up with a few friends from the ATL and we went out to drive the bike course. Once I got my bike from the transport company, I went out for a nice ride to get a feel for the roads. It's a great bike route and I just can't wait to get started.

One item that is very humbling is the large support group that surrounds me. Of course as anyone would expect, your family and close group of training friends send you words of encouragement. However, it's the larger circle of friends, coworkers, folks from church who have some concept or understanding of what I am about to embark on that is amazing.