2011 Ironman Florida

11/7/10.  I woke up this morning to the sound of a ringing telephone.  Quite startling consindering that I disconnected my land-line a couple of years ago.  It took me a second to remember the cause -- that I was in a room at Sleep Inn at Panama City Beach.  It took another minute of fooling around with my droid to realize that the 6:00 AM wakeup call I requested had turned into a 5:00 AM wakeup call, courtesy of somebody forgetting about the "fall back" time change.  That's what I get for $59.99 a night.  Then again, what is 5AM in to a triathlete other than time to get up and get going?

Still reeling from the memories of the previous day -- the first time I witnessed a full distance Ironman race, I was eager to eat some breakfeast and then hurry over to the Boardwalk and sign up for the 2011 Ironman Florida triathlon.

Since I had previously decided to knock my 8 mile training run for the Tallahassee Marathon first thing Sat morning, I was a little late getting to PCB to watch the race.  By the time I arrived, the triathletes were out on the bike course, and I decided to meet them on Hwy 20 and watch for a few minutes.  I was incredible.  Bike after bike after bike.  Let me rephrase, very expensive bike after very expensive bike after very expensive bike.  I have never seen so many Cervelo's or Zipp wheelsets in my life.  Saw one of my buddies -- Matt McCaskill -- and decided to drive down to the beach and watch the run.  Spent most of the afternoon at the Sunset Inn with fellow Gulf Winds Triathletes cheering the competitors on.  It was incredible, people of all shapes and sizes racing -- some suprisingly fast and others suprisingly slow.  Made me realize that there is more than body type to the sport (write that down).  I was overwhelmed with the volume and determination of all the athletes on the course, and if any doubts had existed re whether I was going to do 2011 IMFL, they disappeared instantly.

Back to this morning.  I drove over to the Boardwalk, but for some reason it said Edgewater.  Crap.  I grew up here and am now lost.  Seriously?  With the droid, I was back on track and zipped (no pun intended) over to the real Boardwalk.  Got in the longest line I could find.  Ten minutes later, I am told that is the line for 2010 IMFL finishers.  Crap.  Got in the other line and realize it is the line for volunteers, which I am not.  Screw it, I'm staying in line.  See a buddy in the finishers line and shoot the breeze with him.  Go back to the volunteers line and am told that there is a third line -- for non-volunteers (i.e., me) - -and it is only 30 feet or so deep.  Off I go.  See some buddies up front in the volunteers line and am offered to squeeze in with them, but feel guilty about it, so off to the non-volunteer line I go. 

Sidebar -- for those of you who don't know, volunteers sign up first, then non-volunteers who are present.  Then later, the intenet is opened up for all to sign up.  8AM, the volunteers get started. 

Back on track.  I meet some pretty cool people in line.  One guy is there with his girlfriend and signing up on a dare.  Another guy -- Matthew Curbeau -- just raced IMFL yesterday and was signing up for next year.  Shot the breeze with him, and quickly realized he is probably at a level I will never reach.  Cool kid though, and he is gonna be at Kona someday.

Around 10 AM, the non-volunteers start.  Thirty minutes later, and I am registered (well, registered in the sense that I will get an e-mail in 2-3 weeks that will complete the registration process).  Sweet!

Since the, I have been asking myself different variations of the same question -- what am I doing today to make myself a better triathlete for 20111 IMFL?  I plan on having an answer that question every day for the next 364 days.