T minus 2 days for Rene and 9 for me!

Good Morning!

It is a little weird around the Butler house because my wife and I are both "tapering" for different races at the same time. The equates to us actually seeing each other, sitting down for meals together and actually have a few minutes in the evening to watch our July vice... The tour de france (I know we are so lame)

So my wife has her A race this weekend at New Town in St. Charles. It is the second year that have done the event and it is really a great venue. The swim is 1,000 meters open water swim with a time trial start (her longest to date) then it transitions to a 20 mile bike out and around the Missouri River bottoms followed by a 2 loop, 4 mile run around the New Town development. The weather is supposed to be fantastic and I am really looking forward to watching her race! She has learned to swim this past year and has worked really hard and it will be great to see all of the hard work coming together on Sunday.

Next Sunday I have a 1/2 Iron distance race in Racine Wisconsin. This has always been called "The Spirit of Racine" and has always been the 1/2 Iron distance. This past year the race was purchased and has become an offical Ironman event meaning it will be well run and have great support and a great expo. The weather is looking good for the event and aside from the sickness I feel in the pit of my stomach everytime I think of swimming in Lake Michigan, it will be a great test as I prepare for the full Ironman in November.

My hope is that Rene and I are both prepared for what awaits us in the next 9 days. The only thing we can rely on is our training and the hard work we have both put in preparing for these challenges. It is what it is and will be what it will be. Nothing really left to do but last minute detail prep work to factor out as many variables as possible then go do our races.

The good news is that we havne't crammed for these tests that are coming, the bad news is like all challenges, you always wonder if you did enough to prepare. We will all know soon enough.

Until next time, have a great weekend!

Tracy