Today started with the alarm clock going off at 4:06AM. I finally got up around 4:20AM after pounding the snooze a couple times. Getting out of the sheets was cold since I was up before the thermostat on the heat kicked in and the outside temp was 34 degrees F. I eventually had my coffee and smoothie, closed up my bags and we headed off to the LVIA airport. On the way, I realized I forgot to brush teeth so I was worried I would forget again and not pull my stuff out of my checked bag. My wife dropped me off, we said our goodbyes(for the day), and then I pulled my toothbrush and paste of my bag. I had checked in online the night before but that was an exercise in futility since I had to wait around for the 1 attendant for 2 airlines to create a tag for my checked bag. Errrr! After brushing my choppers I headed to TSA and then got randomly selected in security to have additional screening done on my bag. Turned out to not be much of a delay. Guy just brushed the little cotton patch of cloth around my backpack.
I picked up a coffee at Subway and headed to the gate. Sat around for a half hour or so and then we finally boarded the plane for Atlanta. This flight would be the longest of the day at around 1:45, but it ended up being pretty quick. I sat next to a fellow named Tom Hallman who happens to live in the town next to mine. Tom is a Book Cover Illustrator and has done many covers for some big name books/authors. Anyway he is an interesting guy and we had a great conversation during our flight which made things go pretty quickly. Upon arrival to Atlanta, I had 30 minutes to my connection and needed to navigate 2 concourses. I made it in time and boarded immediately. The next 2 flights were each an hour or less and were not of any significance.
I arrived in Miami and picked up my checked bag pretty quickly. I located the Super Shuttle station at the ground transportation area. It took 15 mins for the van to show up, but it was only $16 to get to the hotel. There was a nice couple on the van from North Dakota that were headed for a cruise which we dropped off first. I finally arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Miami. I tried to do the self check-in kiosk, but it said no rooms were available yet and it would text me when one was available. I grabbed some lunch in the Pure Verde restaurant in the hotel and thought I would be contacted by then. Crickets. Now the check-in line was starting to fill up with some very fit looking individuals. I got in line and figured that they must have rooms since these people are getting room cards/keys. As I stood in line, people with fancy plastic bike boxes were rolling in one after another. One guy in line left his box standing on end in the middle of the lobby and it out of nowhere it fell over and slammed on the floor. It was so loud it sounded like a bomb went off. I must jumped a few inches off the ground. I finally got the desk and secured a room. Apparently the computer locked my reservation so she had to go in the back unlock it. These automated checkin solutions are not working too well today.
Got in the room and quickly put some shorts on. It was hot and a bit humid in Miami and could not wait to get my pants off. I shuffled down to the event Expo at Bayfront Park. After scanning the booths, I made my way through registration. Bib #2938…Wow, that is a lot of people! Usual drill, but the girl said I had to wear my race belt and bib # on the bike which I know they passed a rule earlier this month that said you do not. 
I didn’t feel like making a big deal about it so I moved on. Green swim cap…sweet! Swag bag itself is a little more robust than the IM Pocono one, but as far as the swag in it? LAME!!! A chincey water bottle from some bank. That’s it. You’ve got to be kidding me…no T-shirt? I wondered over the the Ironman store and thought I would get something there. Everything was that pastel blue/green and orange color like the Dolphins, which 
is not my style. I stopped by the City Bikes tent and saw my bike sitting there ready to go. They had marked the seat height with tape so that eased my fear of having that off for the race.
I wondered around the park a bit and checked out the bay and the swim course. Hope one of those big ships don’t cruise through on us! Miami really feels like you are in another country. Everyone seems to be speaking everything but English. That is cool with me, but it lacks that international feel or mysteriousness of many of the foreign countries I have visited. It is just another American city really. I found a little Italian place downtown called Tre for dinner. Had my favorite Chicken Parmesan and pasta. It was a lot but I scarfed the whole thing. After dinner I headed back to the hotel and just chilled out. I was pretty beat from the early morning and lack of sleep.
A big snowstorm is predicted tomorrow for PA, and my wife is going to try to jump on an earlier flight so she can get down here. She was supposed to leave at 12PM but things could be a little iffy by then. Hopefully, she will get here. I need my only fan and support crew. Tomorrow should be pretty mellow. I just need to hit the Athlete Briefing meeting.
