Am I ready?

Lately people have been asking me "are you ready?". I hate that question. I'm sure the people asking it are not wanting to cause me to question my training - but of course it makes me think twice. Am I really ready? Have I done enough long rides (yes), have I done enough long runs (think so), have I done enough swimming (for the most part)? Do I have a good nutrition plan (pretty sure I do)? Have I developed more mental toughness during the training? ABSOLUTELY! That is the part that I have really been working on this time. If I compare training hours between IMAZ 2007 and IMLP 2008 I'm almost exactly the same. But I know I feel stronger mentally. I've done most of my long rides on my own - sometimes starting with friends, but always finishing on my own, often in 90 degree weather. I've forced myself to keep training - losing focus sometimes - but always coming back and getting those key workouts done.

It's weird because I don't have a benchmark for my progress this year, having trained on my own. When I trained for IMAZ 2007 I always had others in the group to check progress against, but this time I haven't. I also didn't really think about the IMAZ course much last year - knowing it was flat made it easy and I only worried about the distance, not the course. But IMLP is a totally different ballgame. Sure, I know I can do the distance, but those hills? I do like biking on hills, but how am I going to pull up after 112mi? The run is hilly too, and my running got off to a slow start this year with a slight injury going into the training. But my running is finishing stronger than it did last year when I had shin splints leading up to the race and could barely run.

I find it interesting how I switch between being SO excited about this race one minute, then a few hours later being absolutely terrified that it's going to be ridiculously hard? But then perversely looking forward to the hard times during the race because I want to overcome the challenges this time - overcome them and put a smile on my face and enjoy the day?

I'm not posting this to have everyone message me and tell me I'm going to be awesome. I know I'm going to be awesome. Finishing the training and getting to the start line makes me awesome. Finishing the race is just dotting the i of the ironman.