57 Hours Until Race Time

It's official. It's all begun. Today was the test swim in Tempe Town Lake. Eric, my buddy who is has already completed an Ironman, and is doing this one, too, went with me for the "test swim" in Tempe Town Lake. Water temperature: 61 degrees. I wore a wet suit. It was still a little cold - my wet suit is sleeveless. But not too bad. I kind of like the cold and, honestly, the water felt good. It's hard not to be all crazy excited and just spaz out. My stomach has been in knots the last couple days. I feel like I'm on an extended caffeine high. That's not necessarily a good feeling. Here's a pic of me in the wet suit, just before jumping in.

Then it was off to fill out some necessary "If you die, neither you nor your family will sue us for your stupidity." You're also required to join USA Tri, which is the official governing body of US triathlons. We forgot to get pictures of that, so we went back and made fake "pipe" poses.

Then it was time for some "future visualization." This is the arrow that marks the final turn, about .5 miles from the completion of the 140.6 mile race. I can only imagine the glory I will feel should I reach this point.

And finally, a mock "you caught me usin' the John" shot. 'Cuz what set of pictures is complete without one of those, eh?