Thanks for the well wishes ladies!
Yup btchance- doing the Redman. Weather today is rainy, but next Sat. looks to be good- cooler than normal and little wind (which sounds good to me, so long as we don't have the 25-30 mph sustained winds like yesterday I'll be happy).

Thanks RM for the tips. I kept my diet pretty clean last week, and plan to really stick to my guns this week (as hard as it is to resist my beloved sweets). Thanks for the reminder, tho! Thanks also for reassuring me it's ok to become a stress/headcase. I'm already there a little. Been riding and running the course all summer, and the lake will be open for swims Thursday and Friday morning (it's not a lake you're allowed to swim in normally). I'm definitely going to practice swim a little. I feel like I know every inch of the course, and that may prove to be good/bad on race day. I'll know exactly where I am and how far I've got to go all day.

Ooooooohhh, I'm getting goosebumps just writing about it. I can't wait for it to be here. I know I'm gonna hurt, and I know it's going to be hard, but as long as my mind stays in a happy place for the most part- it'll all be tolerable.
The best part of this race, is that the course will stay open until the last person finishes their race. Because it's such a small venue (130 full distance participants and 210 half), they will let you finish your race, even if it's after midnight. The last person finished at 2:30 am last year, and the announcer, medical tent, massage tent, all waited on them (husband/wife doing it together). In the back of my mind, I know that if all goes wrong, I can still finish even if it takes me 19-20 hours, I'll still get an official time and finishers medal, and I won't DNF (but dear heavens, I don't want be out there that long).

Thanks again ladies!!! You're the best!