Jillian was having a hard time deciding if she wanted to race on Sunday. Last week, she opted to stay home and I had a horrible race day experience. It was the first time I didn’t have my family at a triathlon and hopefully the last. Well, today she decided that she is going to do the duathlon that starts at the same time. I was thinking about just doing the short course and taking it easy. With Jillian there, I feel a little bit better about the day. I decided to stick with the long course.

I had a pretty good ride this morning. I was on Jason’s mountain bike again, since mine was still at shop getting worked on. After the flats putting a big damper on last weekend, I decided that Kevlar tires were a must. Not so much a must for this weekend, but a must for Branson. I thought it would be a good idea to get some quality time with the new heavier tires too. I can definitely tell the difference between riding a mountain bike and my road bike. My legs feel like stone when I’m done riding. Its a feeling that I vaguely remember from the Midwest Mayhem triathlon last summer.

Steve, Jason and Ski, from work, are all doing their first triathlon this weekend. Aaron and Holly K. are also making this their first triathlon. Its very exciting. I’m so proud of them all. I understand that its not an easy undertaking. I remember my first race and all the stress I had going into it. I remember Jillian’s first race and how much of a challenge and accomplishment that was for her. Its a great feeling and its going to be a memorable day!

With the new bike, all the triathlon newbies, and my wife competing with me, have all made this weekend a little more enjoyable. I was just planning on it being another training day, just a day to get some miles. I didn’t set any goals at all. Now, its really feeling like a race day.

The team put up some predictions, so I figure I should make some goals. A 40 minute (1.5k) swim, a 68 minute (21 mile) bike and a 60 minute (5.2 mile) run.