Ironman Cozumel - Can't get enough

I'm sitting here the day before the race, and it's settling in that the race is HERE.  Yes, I'm really going to go the distance for the 8th time tomorrow.  I have one more day to relax and let my body rest up as much as I can before attempting to "Conquer this Island"

Here's a peek at some of the shwag from the race:

Whew, let's forget about some of the race nervousness (I'll get back to it soon) and talk about some of the VACATION highlights from yesterday:

Tis the season...

Palace Resorts provided us free transportation to go see another one of their resorts, Palace Aventura.  This consisted of the 1 mile taxi ride to the ferry, the ferry ride over to Playa del Carmen, then the 15 minute taxi ride to Aventura.  We stopped at the Playacar Palace Resort in Playa del Carmen again, and I snapped more pics of the really cool decor:

The Aventura Palace resort is AMAZING - Dan and I stayed there about 4 years ago with my family, and we were very excited that his parents would be able to see it.  Like all Palace Resorts, it is all-inclusive, but this one has a section for adults-only (no screaming kids at the pool), has beautiful sprawling grounds, and has a "hydrotherapy" spa with a routine for guests to use as they please.

I've been lucky enough to stay at SIX different Palace Resorts, since my parents bought a Vacation package with them, and yesterday Dan's parents did the same!  So exciting - hopefully this means that Dan and I have many Mexican vacations ahead of us with our families  :)

I was able to do a 2 mile run at the resort to shake out my legs and see how my body is feeling:  It's feeling pretty good!  Calves are still tight, and I feel like they are going to be my limiter for the race.  They are just NOT TRAINED from not running for so long.  We'll see just how hard I can push them tomorrow without hurting myself :)  I have a massage in a few hours, hopefully that will help work them out so I can start fresh in the morning.

After nearly missing the ferry from Playa del Carmen (we had tickets for the wrong ferry company- oops! )  we got back at 6PM (when the Athlete Welcome Dinner started), took a taxi back to the hotel, rushed to change, hurried across the street to where the expo was...OOPS it wasn't there!  Should have checked the schedule!  We found out it was at Carlos N Charlies, a few blocks away.  When we got there it was 6:40PM, but luckily they started on "Mexican time" and people were just starting to get in line for the food!  :)

Ferry ride back to Cozumel... live entertainment on the Ferry!

Nice dinner, very motivating as usual.  They showed a video last year, and the downtown area that we ride and run through as part of the loops on the course looks SO FUN!  People were EVERYWHERE and having a great time!

When we got back we saw our friends from Bloomington, Dave and Joe, and they looked relaxed and ready to race!  They are also having a great time and enjoying their stay here - they even made friends with the Chef and ordered their pre-race dinner for tonight!  How awesome!

seriously, I LOVE the staff here:  Look what was left on our bed after room service came through yesterday:


They are so nice to us!  Oh yeah, and after we talked to Dave and Joe, I had another taste for banana ice cream.  So we went outside and I asked a different server for my dessert craving, but he didn't know what I was talking about, but then ALEJANDRO, the same guy from the night before, swooped in from behind us and said "No worries, I got it!"  My hero!!  I am pretty sure I'm known as the ice cream girl now.

OH, and one last thing to show you:  My mom emailed me this photo of our sweet little dog:

He looks SO PISSED!  Here's what I replied to my mom- " I have NEVER laughed this hard - tears are streaming down my face!  Lew thinks I'm drunk and I haven't drank anything!!"

From what I hear it's about 19 degrees at home, and our dog HATES the cold, AND being left alone for any period of time... Oh Winston.

I will write one last update for you tonight- it will be up before 9:30PM CST, and I plan to give you some last thoughts and info on how to track us!