Salutations from the Sunshine State

Seems like the dust (or flower petals and birdseed) hardly had time to settle last week before I was packing my bike and bags for Florida.  Andy and I will be treating ourselves to a 4 week New Zealand honeymoon in December, but for now, it’s back to business.  Not that I mind, as by now, I’m sure you’ve figured out!

In fact, we are currently in negotiations regarding a potential end of honeymoon Ironman. . .I have a feeling Andy will win out on this one, but the timing is oh-so-nearly perfect with our trip that it is hard to resist.  That’s a topic for another Oprah, as they say.  Possibly with some needed mediation from Dr. Phil; )

In the meantime, IM Florida is fast approaching–only 3 more days till go time!  As my last officially scheduled race of the year, I’m looking to make this one count.  Time predictions in Ironman are a very dicey business, but given the course profile and the last few weeks of training, I know the potential for a significant PR is there.  Now, it’s just up to me to put it together.

I arrived in Tallahassee, about 2 hours from the race site in Panama City late Sunday evening.  It’s a bit easier to squeeze in the last few nuggets of training here than at the race site.  I’m being well cared for by Travis the MAN-ager (good one, Bree) here, who has been more than accommodating–setting me up with training partners for my last  pre-race workouts (though it usually necessitates that they sometimes both begin and end in the pre-dawn hours) and keeping me well fed with trips to the organic market.  Tomorrow I’ll be heading over to the Ironman venue in Panama City Beach, so stay tuned–M-dot tattoos and airbrush t-shirts, here I come!