Two days to go!

Whew!  Where does the time go?  It's just two days to race day, and I'm half antsy/worried and half excited.  Here's the training I did over the past week:

Thur Aug 20 - swim, I probably did about 3/4 mile, maybe some rebounder warmup in the morning
Fri Aug 21 - rode my bike over to the track and did sprints.  I got this idea from a runner story I read in Eric Greitens book, Resilience (excellent, by the way, go get a copy!)  One of the training techniques this famous runner used was to run as fast as he could for a certain distance (1/2 mile, 1 mile?), then walk for a minute, then repeat that a gazillion times.  Okay, I butchered that story.  But it gave me the idea of introducing something new to my training, teaching my body to run faster.  So, I sprinted for 1/2 lap, then walked 1/2 lap.  And you know what?  Sprinting sucks!!!!  No wonder I hate it.  I had some serious mental cussing going on, not sure if I can repent for that yet because it was miserable and I kind of don't regret my cussing.  Gotta work on that.  So, clearly, you know I need to do more sprinting over the coming months so I can get used to it and get faster.  Because I can tell already I'll be doing this crazy tri thing again, only I'll be chasing the Olympic distance for 2016.  Remember, Olympic distance is only double the sprint.  NOT that alien-DNA-triathlon known as the Ironman.
Sat Aug 22 - I'd done the sprint biking and running distance back to back, but I'd only done the running on flat ground.  Thought I'd better do a loop with the actual race course.  So, I did my usual bike loops, 14 miles total, then ran 3.4 miles on the same loop.  I was probably stumbling more than jogging the last mile or so, but I finished it!  It took me 2 hours, 8 minutes.  But I took a potty break between the bike and run, and did a distance slightly more than race day, so I'm pretty sure I can do the bike and run in two hours or less, which is my goal.
Sun Aug 23 - rest
Mon Aug 24 - taking it easy this week to rest up for race day.  I did my rebounder for 45 min, then pushups, situps, and reverse crunches
Tues Aug 25 - rebounder warmup, then swam 1 mile at the college pool, easy.  And this is when my inner crazy chihuahua woke up and told me I should just do the Olympic distance this Saturday.  After all, if I can swim a mile (double the sprint distance), surely I can bike 24 miles then run six, right?  Right?!!  Okay, yeah I had to talk myself down from my crazy.  Took me a few days, but I'm back at sprint distance for Saturday.  I'll just focus on being faster, because I'll have all this extra energy I DIDN'T use on the Olympic distance.  Sigh... I know, I'm a lunatic.  Just something about doing a tri that makes you a little wacky.  I think it's attached to goal-setting, or the part of you that just needs a good dare every now and then.
Wed Aug 26 - maybe 20 min rebounder in the morning because I knew I'd be biking up to the college in the evening.  There was running clinic from 6 to 7pm, and learned some great stuff from Jessie Shaw(? will edit this info later), who grew up in Rock Springs and now lives in Minnesota and he's nearly professional level, does tri's all the time.  He taught us pose running and watched all of us run, to check our form.  Mine looked pretty good, but I'll be reading up more on it and trying to get better over the next year.  Also, took the kids to Lincoln Elementary playground and got a decent workout pushing them around on this teepee-rope merry-go-round contraption.  Hard to push, but did it over and over and over.
Thur Aug 26 - about 25 min rebounder in the morning.  Then this evening there was a bike clinic down at the local bike shop, The Bike and Trike.  Learned some new things.  My seat height was about right.  Yep, definitely gotta start saving up for my own racing bike.  I find myself in spots on the course where I want to go faster, my legs have the strength for it, but I've maxed out the gears and the bike just won't go faster.  And I need to get some efficiency in the strokes with either biking shoes or pedal straps.  Also, I finally got my act together today and got a bike helmet.  Our local police department gives them out for free.  I'm sure there are snazzier/more-athletic helmets, but this is great for my first triathlon.  Save the brains!