It's 5 days before the race and I'm still really tired and struggling to breathe through my stuffy nose.  But I'm taking vitamins and fluids a lot and confident it'll be gone by Sunday.

The weather is all over, chilly & windy in the morning, hot in the afternoon, and thundershowers in the evening.  The water is great but choppy.  8 months pregnant, Robin barely fits into her wetsuit to join me for some swims.  She also finds a local fitness club to join some spinning classes.. where our friends Steve and Carie were also exercising!

We hang up flyers and a banner for Iron Prayer and find the town is very open to this and welcomes the effort to acknowledged God before such a big event.

My heel pain (of 6-1/2 years now) is pretty bad now since trying some experimental rehab in the last months.  So I can't run farther than .5 mile before having to stop.  I hear that inner voice saying, "Are you crazy?  Once around a track is too painful.. and you're gonna try 26 miles?".  It gets me frustrated sometimes but I have to have faith.  God has done incredible things at races and I'm still learning to trust Him and be excited for what's to come.

2 days before the race, Tod and the Lake City Community Church are setting up for Iron Prayer.  The music is great! The talks focus on applying our sport discipline and perseverance, not only to triathlon, but to higher purposes in our lives.

We broke into smaller groups and prayed for one another.  One athlete has his family here for his last big event before leaving for the Army.  One has raised $72k for his church and will later be named the winner of the Janus Charity Challenge.  Another is a pastor who jokes about the fact his race # is 666.  And another is a first-timer, who, along with his wife and 7 kids, speaks to the whole group about the rewards when Christ is at the center of the family.  Our friend, Carrie, gives an emotional testimony to the joys and tears of putting motherhood first over triathlon.

Now it's race morning.  The sun is up before 5am.  Robin drops Tana & I off.  Body marking, tire pumping, special-need bagging, stretching and wetsuit donning.  We group onto the beach with 1700 others.  I can't find Robin, Tana, or the Hornby's.  So I pray by myself and make sure my goggles are secure before the stampede into the water.

Go!  I have a good start.  Good draft position.  Buoys very visible.  The water is smooth, clear and cool.  I feel good and think I can break 1 hour.  As we approach the turn, it seems all friendliness disappears as a 100 swimmers try for the same line.  I struggle for my space.  We turn left into the blinding sun and swimmers are going every direction.  I stop, find the buoy and make my own line.  On the way back I feel slight swells behind me, pushing me, not as much as days earlier, but always helpful.  We run across the beach as the crowd cheers and dive back in for loop #2. 30min.  I'm tired but remain positive that I can do another 30min loop.  Again, it gets crazy at the turn.  I change stroke to look up and feel my leg about to cramp up.  My back and legs are both tight.  I hope they hold up.  There's a little more current behind us and I try to swim harder in the final stretch.  Done!  That was a good swim.

Even the volunteers have trouble pulling my wetsuit off me.  They say something about my calves being too big but it's just my suit is too tight.  Transition goes great and I'm off on the bike!  I cruise smoothly through town with the great cheering.  Heading along the lake to the first turn-around, I feel great and think I can maintain 21mph no problem.  The cowboy aid station with the huge dinosaur at mile 5 is great! We head back to town and this time I get to see Robin, Tod, and Patty!  Standing in the same spot I saw Robin go by at in last year's race.  Heading into the hills, towards the Washington state line, I pass Steve Chavez and start the first climb.  I think of my spin class training, but can't seem to get the same "snap".  I make good time on the descents!  I'm drinking my calories on schedule but also getting nauscious which isn't good.  On our way back, we turn into the Greyhound racing track, circle once around the track and then back onto the roads.  That's was fun :)  This course is good, full of interesting changes and lots of friendly spectators.  Headwind on Poleline Rd.  I'm starting to struggle now.  Robin said her first loop last year felt easy and the 2nd was hard.  My first loop is already feeling hard and I realize I won't be able to maintain this.  The first place female amateur is near me so I give a little more push to stay ahead of her. Back in town.  Lot's of cheering.  I try to stretch and recover a bit.  Loop #2.  Along the lake again.  But this time I don't feel strong at all.  The lead girl is way ahead.  I focus on getting me needs bag.  Maybe it will help.  When I grab it and stop, Steve Chavez  zooms by, forgoing his bag of goodies.  My average is going down.  Back through town, there's Robin and the Hornbys again!  A big boost.  Back into the hills.  I give it all I've got.  I pray that the Lord will change the winds so we have them at our back this time when we come back from the Stateline.  After the ups, downs, and fun curvesfinish the loop ahead of her m.  My back and legs are getting tight.  might be able to