T-5 days and counting

In seven days I'll be enjoying (read: panicking) the night before the first race of the season - and the longest race of my triathlon career to date. Okay, so it's only 100m extra in the swim, 1.75km extra on the bike and no extra on the run - but the swim may feature jellyfish (gross!) and will be my first swim in a wettie, and the bike will be interesting considering I've spent hardly any time on it since moving over from NZ.  

I've been out for a few rides, some very long and others not very long at all. Not being able to get my left pedal on due to not knowing that the left crank is threaded differently to the right was a newbie error. In my defence, I didn't pack my bike to come over here, my bike Mechanic Ben did. I don't think I could even change a tyre, hence why the instructions are in my saddle bag. I have bought a floor pump with gauge and a multi tool/repair kit as the tyre cement wasn't allowed on the plane in my bike box (adhesives are banned in unaccompanied baggage). Meh.

This Saturday (i.e. the day before the race) I get to go and buy a wettie. I am a little worried about this, I'm not girl shaped and sure as hell not girl sized, so a man's wetsuit is my only option. Manufacturers of practically everything don't seem to have cottoned on to the fact that there are Athena class triathletes (i.e. women over 70kg) like myself and thousands of others worldwide, who don't fit into nice little size XXS gear. 

Go lose some weight and get over myself, I hear you say? Well, I'm doing just that. Sadly, it doesn't happen overnight and gear shopping is a bit of a nightmare because there's all this nice stuff out there that doesn't fit little fat me. I think I can still squeeze into my Danskin tri suit from last season, so I will be wearing that on race day. My shape is changing - I've now got almost no fat around my arms and shoulders so this area is the first to feel cold. I've also lost it around my legs and butt. It's coming off my bouyancy belt (or my stomach if you will) but not as fast as other places. It is moving though, which is great.

So, Saturday is all about getting a bike check and a new wetsuit. Right now however, I need sleep.

Ciao.