I Hate Mickey Mouse.

I know. The title is a little harsh. But let me explain.

I've been in sunny, humid Orlando now for two full days. I'm eagerly awaiting the race on Sunday. But there definitely have been a few interrupters to the enthusiastic side of Smitty. Everything around here is said to be "magical" (you hear that from EVERY store person, hotel person, bus driver, etc! I HATE that word.)

First. The hotel. We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Really, it's a roach motel... nothing fancy as far as the rooms go. Something like an old Travelodge, I'd say. But it's part of "Disneyworld" and the amenities on the grounds are nice - for kids. There are some pools.. restaurants... rental four seater bikes... even a kiosk where you can have your hair beaded (Kelly keeps trying to convince me to do that... but no.). The "resort" is one of the host hotels for the Ironman race. The not-so-funny thing is that no one at the hotel seems to know it. The Ironman people said there would be shuttle service from here to the race start. No there isn't. You CAN ride a disney shuttle... which is why I hate Mickey.

You see... you get on a Disney bus here at the hotel. You ride to one of the theme parks... where you have to get off and transfer back to the Ft Wilderness resort. That's a pain. Sounds simple... but it isn't. Today's "commute" took us about an hour and forty minutes... in a sea of screaming kids excited about going to Animal Kingdom! uuuuugggggh! Every time you want to go to the next resort hotel (which is a lot in our case), you MUST go to a resort first... and that ALWAYS leads to a long ride... and armpit to face comfort. The bus driver today was CRAZY! He kept loading the bus with more people. He ordered us all to stand three deep to the back of the bus. It was like a friggin sardine can. We were so glad to get off that [unsafe] bus!

A cab you say? been there done that too. $20 bucks to Ft. Wildnerness... and we still have to get on a bus to get us back to the race start --- about 1.5 miles from where the cabs have to stop! Ugh. We've spent over 100 bucks on cabs in 2 days just going to Ft. Wilderness. THANK GOD for the VERY NICE girls in the disney work vans at Ft. Wilderness Cabins. They've snuck us a few rides around on several occasions. THANK YOU!

Oh. I forgot to mention that Ft. Wilderness is 1.5 miles from Port Orleans.. next door, actually. We'd walk. But we're not allowed. No sidewalks. No trails. Just a very busy highway and a whole lot of trees.

So I hate Mickey.

NOW ABOUT THE RACE...
Today was race registration. Finally! The shopping at the race is pretty cool. I bought some cool stuff that I would never have been able to buy in Idaho. Like my Newton running shoes! I'm actually EXCITED about running in them... and yes, I'm going to use them Sunday. I don't care! (it won't make me any slower!). The water (which we're not allowed to enter until Sunday) is WARM (yah. I cheated and dipped my feet!). And there aren't any alligators (contrary to Kelly's threats! haha). The bike will be fast. The road surface is nice and smooth... except that we are sharing the HIGHWAY (yes highway) with regular traffic. Uh oh. Stay to the right Smitty. The run will be HOT.. through the wooded trails of Ft Wilderness (it's a rustic campground... something out of a disney character book for what they think the west is all about. I'd take Buffalo Campground in Island Park any day).

I bought some other stuff, too. I bought a new aerodrink container. cool beans. And I got a fuel belt that I can put my Gus on. Hopefully my brain will handle the Gus this time (last time I had one in a race I thought I was stoned! ooooh.). I've put 4 Gus on my belt.. and I'll stash another 2 at T1 and T2.

There are abouty 25 waves for the swim. I'm in wave 15. The pros start off at 620am. All the waves are 3 minutes apart. My wave (dk blue caps!) go off at 7:33am! I wish I could start earlier... but oh well. I'll be pulling up the rear... as always! Kelly starts at 6:33... lucky duck. Now she'll finish 2 hours before me! Haha!

I'm feeling pretty anxious really. Nervous... but excited. I'm still scared about the long run... but the new shoes will help me with the excitement come race day! I'm gonna be color coordinated with my bright orange Pocatello Tri jersey! Even my swim cap will match my dark blue shorts!