Yesterday afternoon I lay down with my feet up and my Rockets CompresSox on. I asked Britt to take a picture to show Claire that I was following instructions. She said I should send it to Jerry Springer as it was a real porn star pose! We found that unbelievably funny and haven't been able to stop laughing since. Its partly nerves, I'm sure, but also a sign that we are having the time of our lives.Bought some Nuun electrolytes and a bottle at the expo, and am drinking plenty.
After our team dinner we hot footed it to the resort jacuzzi that, miraculously, hasn't been discovered by everyone. Its a great way to relax and chill, while still finding almost everything really amusing.
It wasn't quite so funny at 2am for me though. Wide awake, and losing my sense of humour, I eventually got up and made decaf coffee and had a banana. I lay in the lounge reading for an hour, then made my second attempt at sleep for the night. A little after four, in the middle of a complicated dream involving lawnmowers and herbaceous borders, I landed with a thump on the floor!
I had fallen out of bed, I slowly realised. My matress had slid off the base and I must have rolled over and put more weight on the precarious side, with the result that I now lay in a heap between the beds. Britt picked that moment to roll over and open her eyes. "Hello," she said. "What ARE you doing?"
We collapsed into smothered giggles and it took a while to regain enough composure for me to re make the bed!
Looking back, I think my mistake was the diet coke with dinner, as well as two cups of tea in the afternoon. I've been completely off caffeine for months now, and any little bit of it seems to cause insomnia! Plus I'm starting to get really excited about the race, and my mind is racing a bit already. So, I'm going to really concentrate on what goes in per mouth over the next two days.
The entire South African team congregated outside our resort this afternoon, and we walked to the race venue together to register. We had to cross a bridge and almost every car hooted and waved to see the South Africans in full kit with SA flags flying. We realised there are a lot of ex South Africans living on the Gold Coast, and I can't wait for the Parade of Nations which is at 6pm. Its a public spectator event, and has been advertised in the local papers. I suspect we may have quite a big cheer here. The parade will be followed by the G'day Party (Aussie Pasta Party).
Registration was a breeze, and each age group has a different colour swim cap and a wave start time. I start at 07:29 Saturday morning. We have to rack tomorrow afternoon. Our under 23's are racing tomorrow - good luck Corinne and Vicky!
