Ironman Florida in 5 freaking days!!!

So, I can't sleep!  I should be sleeping and getting as much rest as possible 5 days out, but my little love (Ireland) had too much candy and water before bed tonight.....and woke me up at midnight b/c she wet the bed (celebrating Halloween on a school night is kind of a drag)......  Now, I can't fall back asleep and it's 2 a.m.  So here I am blogging.  I waited until 5 days before IM to blog when I should've been blogging throughout my entire 2nd Ironman journey.......but life happens!! 

I feel incredibly strong, rested, and injury free!  I feel much better than I did last year going into my first Ironman.  Last year, I overtrained (I know I know to those that kept telling me that last year).  I started out overtraining again this year and had to back off b/c of overuse injuries and stupid mistakes while training / working out.  First dumb mistake was flipping over my handlebars and separating my shoulder in April and then a month later..........rolled my ankle like I'v never done before while teaching a class.  After those big boo boos I listened to my body and took out a lot of "extra" training sessions / races (splash and dash, time trials, etc.) out of my schedule.  I also took those "junk" miles out of my weekly workouts.  I consider "junk" miles those miles you get in just to get in.......just to do them for whatever reason.  I don't need them and neither does my body!! 

I am coming off a really good race season.  More importantly, I just accomplished one of my biggest fitness goals to date!  I got a spot for World Championships for 70.3 (half iroman distance) and hit my goal time of under 5 hours on Oct. 17 at Austin 70.3!!!  It was a really great race for me.  My affirmation for the day when I woke up was, "I am confident, I am strong, I am powerful!  Today I race in memory of Erik Mason Rudy."  I felt good in the water, very strong on the bike, and mostly solid on the run.  I know I was a little dehydrated on the run as I had some tightness / cramping in the legs, but could push through it without having to back off too much.  If there wouldn't have been any off roading on our run course I would have had an even better race (which I'm sure goes for most people), but that's what makes racing so challenging and fun!  Sometimes you race in conditions, and terrain that's not always your best choice.  I was definitely challenged on that Sunday and loved every second of it!