—–
Dear God,
Yes. So Three Days. Three days until I podium finish at Augusta 70.3…oh wait, no. That’s not me – that’s one of your other kids. You’ll still watch me, though? Right?
Anyway, I am so excited about the race. The race! The celebration of the training. That is THE best way to look at race day. I look forward to the grateful moments – where I feel the scorching heat of a 1:30 pm run, and know that those blessed rays are a gift of love from you.
Still, my mind is all over the place.… Salt Sticks. Did I take one this—oh yes… race belt…and [answer the phone] “This is Meredith…. uh huh, huh uh huh, yes you are correct. Yes. You are welcome.” [hangs up phone] …I need more water… with ice. Ice. I love ice. I need to ice my knee. And get some tomatoes. For my bike bento water bottles, three four five tablets… so salty. Thirsty! Need water. I’m full from lunch still. I’m hungry. What’s for dinner. Need carbs and fruit. And bananas. And tomatoes. Oh, but swim…leave work early, 20 minutes, ooooh, swim then ooh, frozen yogurt. NO! No no no. Forgetting ice. Must pack. Bike chain is loose? NO. I dreamed that. Ziploc bag for running shoes…oh lawd, I almost forgot sunscreen…. [typing email to boss: “Do you care if I work remotely tomorrow…]…work from home, start packing during breaks. Make list. List and remember what I am forgetting—which was one thing–oh sunscreen…&#$*. Thirsty. Get up and go get water. My feet will hurt coming out of the swim exit …always do. Water. My stomach….hurts. Immodium. So thirsty. Race plan. Mantras. Salty. Mom and Dad and chairs. Need chairs. Water…
[I need to pray for a calm mind.]
Last year, I prayed a big 70.3 Prayer. That was a prayer of the unknown. What was 70.3 miles really going to feel like? It was a prayer of lacking self-confidence. Can I really finish this race? This race, my 70.3 prayer is just as fervent, but different.
Really, I am praying for the presence of mind to be grateful. To be happy. To live in the moment and remember why I do triathlon — because it makes me a better person. Because I can. Because my family needs me to. I pray for a consistent spirit of enthusiasm, to channel Chrissie and *smile* …and to laugh my way across the 70.3 miles.
I pray for pain relief. I pray that I am hydrated, and most of all, I pray that everyone stays safe and has a great race.
I pray that my Great Aunt Shirley (all the way in Bunker Hill, Illinois) can hear my squeals of joy when I cross my SECOND 70.3 finish line – and hopefully record-breakingly faster than Miami.
And finally, I reiterate this prayer: Please please please, dear God, do not let me have a flat. And if I do have a flat, please cause my feeble girl arms to become super Go-Go Gadget arms with massive tube-changing powers. Help me keep my greasy hands away from my face. Race pictures are perilous enough.
Amen.
===================================
ONLY A LITTLE TIME LEFT TO PRE-ORDER!
By the way, so many of you have asked for SIGNED copies
of the book with your order…
SO….
If you PRE-ORDER now,
I’ll sign your copy.
If you have already pre-ordered,
I will sign yours too (don’t worry).
🙂
Love this – God probably giggles when he reads this!
Can’t wait to hear how wonderfully it goes – remember 99% of the things we worry about never come to pass! 😀
You go girl! You have a lot of us rooting for you! <3
You can do it (in my best Russain gymnastic coach voice)! I have been reading and reading you progression to this big day… there is no doubt in my mind that you will be giggling all the way to the finish line! I want to be like you when I grown up (even though I am a few years older than you)!
You are going to ROCK IT-STOP stressing out…
I am doing my first-ever 70.3 on Sunday…thanks for the inspiration!
OMG, Girl! You can always make laugh! You are going to be fine!!! Even still, I will be saying prayers for you throughout the day and I will be channeling my “mega-watt” smile (as Joe tells me) to you. :0)
Good Luck!!! Can’t wait to hear the report!
Best of luck Meredith! We are all rooting for you. Can’t wait to read your race report next week.
as I said before you will rock this! Go and read the Serenity Prayer, the long version….breath and then let it go…what will be will be. This coming from the person who got 2 flat tires and a DNF on my first Tri this summer and learned a bunch of important lessons from it.
Not only is this blog hilarious but it pretty much mimics my own brain! I completed 70.3 California March 2012 (pray with low self confidence applies) and will return for my 2nd half in 2013 ( pray with a vengence to break the speed of light). Your prayers are perfect… yes, i continually pray at every level race not to get a flat tire as well! Added a new gadget called a speed lever to help me get the tire bead over the rim!
I just found you and have been up the last two nights trying to catch up on all of your blogs. I am so proud of your accomplishments. You make me believe I can do this too. I have done a few sprints, but I have quite a bit of work to lose still so it takes me a while to get to the finish. I am planning on doing at least 3-4 Olympic length triathlons next year and then am hoping to be ready for the Oceanside Half Ironman in March 2014. I will continue to draw on you for my inspiration. I can’t wait to hear how this next event goes.
I love this! I just finished my first 70.3 on Saturday and I think I had that same thought process! I will be thinking about you this weekend! Woo Hoo!!!
You’ve put in ALL the training now it’s time to RACE. Sending speedy vibes your way!
Meredith–have fun! Running my first Half next month, and I look forward to your inspiring words each day!! You once wrote on your blog to remember: “Yes. I. Can. And. I. Will.” I look at that saying every day. Thank you. Best of luck–you are AWESOME!
What an impressive milestone — and the fact that this is your second well, makes me super jealous! I may just have to drag my butt to the gym today! I’m training for a half marathon at the moment but cannot imagine piling a swim and a bike on top of that. You rock. Good luck, not that you’ll need it!
It is such a great feeling to be going into a race like this feeling prepared and ready for a “victory lap” race. I had one of these this year, and while I was still a bundle of nerves beforehand, it made it so much more fun to just complete it. Remember that you can only worry about the things you CAN control, so don’t get too caught up in worrying about too many “what ifs”. Good luck!