little miss sunshine

Thursday morning I was lying in bed, and the thought of getting up and getting dressed in the same clothes I had on for the last two days was a little bit, well, depressing.

So I got up anyway, a little bit sad because the novelty of being "that girl that still doesn't have her luggage" had worn off. I was a bit tired of well-meaning people, in their clean underwear and socks, asking if my luggage had arrived yet.

Well, I went to the lobby and saw a most beautiful sight! My luggage had arrived and was being delivered to the hotel. I was so happy that my stuff was here! My "little miss sunshine" was reunited with me -- literally and figuratively.

Michal and I took a swim -- it was so nice. The water temperature was perfect, and the water was very calm and clear. I am really looking forward to the swim on Sunday!

Later Thursday evening, we went to the race expo and pasta dinner. Here is a picture of Michal with a big Ironman logo made out of scrap metal -- really cool. It was three sided with a swimmer on one side, this cyclist on this side, and a runner on the third side.

We sat with some really nice people from the Endurance Sports Travel group. Can you see the guy on the left end? Look really close -- he is a dead ringer for the evil doctor, Dr. Nichols, in the movie "The Fugitive". And he had a Hungarian accent. Well, I couldn't remember exactly, but I knew the doctor in the Fugitive movie had an accent, too. So finally after dinner we got up enough nerve to ask him --"are you the guy in the Fugitive movie?" HA! HA! He said, no, he wasn't, but he gets that all the time. The Dr. Nichols in the movie was actually a Dutch actor (I really can't tell the difference between a Dutch accent or a Hungarian one. Oh well) named Jeroem Krabbe. Here's a picture of him, too. Don't you think they look JUST ALIKE!?

The two days before an Ironman I don't do much except rest and eat. So I took a picture of my plate of food. The food in Brazil is delicious.

We took a walk down the street a few blocks to pick up some bottled water, here is a picture of the street. Cute cafes and shop line the street. It's very clean and safe here and it is fun to walk around. But we are not walking around much, I promise, Rob, we are resting a lot. Because tomorrow is the Big Day! We turn in our bikes and transition bags this aftenoon. I can't wait to stop just thinking about Ironman because I will be racing one.

I will think about my little pal Yoda, I will use the force and race my race. I will be patient and let the race come to me. I will hear Yoda's voice saying "Do or do not. There is no try." Hopefully he doesn't mean there is no tri -- that would totally suck. All this eating and resting and no tri? Anyway, I digress. I will do. To the best of my ability. And then some. AND I will have fun along the way becuause it IS about the journey.