Ready to go

Well everything is packed and ready to go. I just have to get through today and then I will be on the plane over to Cairns. Last night I had to deal with the usual cramming everything in to fit under the airline weight limits. That is one of my least favourite parts of these trips. This time I bought a little bit of extra luggage allowance and so thought I would be fine. But even still I have been nudging the limit. I tend to over pack and this time was no different. After my first pass at packing, my luggage came in at a whopping 30kg. I didn't think I had stuffed much heavy stuff in, no lucky anvils or anything, but it was all those little things that add up. After a bit of rearranging and some culling I think I am pretty much there.

Unfortunately the flight I am on from Perth to Cairns is a red-eye tonight. I am currently working on some strategies to try and preserve as much sleep as I can. I am going to try and have a nap before leaving this evening. I have booked a window seat, am taking a a pillow, not drinking coffee today etc, so hopefully I can get some sleep on the plane. I get into Cairns at 4:15am and unfortunately I can't check in at my accommodation until 11:00am, so I am hoping that I can jump straight into my hire car and maybe grab a bit more sleep. I have a couple of days between arriving and the race to recover more sleep, but I am conscious that fighting a chest cold like I am at the moment, going a night with reduced sleep is probably not a good plan.

Speaking of chest colds, I think it is improving. I can at least take a deep breathe as of this morning, so my chest is feeling a little less tight. All I can do it keep resting, keep hydrated and keep hoping that I recover enough to put in a decent performance on Sunday. If I am still not 100%, then I will still be racing, no two ways about that, but the goals for the race might shift slightly. The race might be less about going fast and be more of a learning experience. We are going to have to wait and see on that one.

Not sure how I will go with blogging over the next few days. It will depend a bit on the availability of wireless networks and how much I can be bothered typing on my phone. If there are no iterim posts, then I will be putting up a race report etc next week.