TTT is getting closer (and I'm nervous...)

The first big race of the year is drawing nearer.  The American Triple-T (http://www.americantriple-t.com/) is less than 3 weeks away.  In my opinion, after doing this race 3 times, it is a tougher race than the full ironman.  And this was confirmed today when I was looking up information on the internet and stumbled upon http://www.slowtwitch.com/, where there was a forum on what the hardest half and full ironmans in North America were.  Some of the people on the site weighed in and said the half on Sunday at triple t and Lake placid ironman were the toughest races in the US.  And I thought "what am I doing signed up for these races???".  But I've done them both before, and I know I can do them again.  But it still makes me very nervous. 
I remember the first time we decided to try out this race called "Desoto American Triple T" or DATT as we called it (or as a friend of ours (Rocky) calls it "The Delsoto Triple Crown").  Mark and I and our training partner, Mike Slabe, decided to sign up for this difficult race.  We figured it would be such a great accomplishment if we could train for and complete this race.  And we trained our hearts out.  I think all three of could say we were in the best shapes of our lives.  Mike, who is a phenomenal swimmer, helped us on the swim workouts.  He would meet us at the local pool and develop swim workouts for us that were tough, but a lot of fun.  We would meet on the weekends to do hill repeats on the bike and run for hours on end in the metroparks.  The race laid ahead of us as this daunting feat that we thought we could do, but it was scary and so we trained as hard as we could so that we would be ready.  And we did it!  Not only did we do it, but we came in 2nd in the coed team and each of us won a pair of Rudy Project sunglasses.  Wow! 
I guess it boils down to - there are challenges out there that may seem impossible to overcome when you first undertake them (triple t, ironman, breast cancer, etc).  But if you stick to the plan, and have what Mark calls "mental toughness", you can overcome, conquer, and excel at your dreams & goals.  I just have to remember this when I'm out there on the Triple T course and wondering if I can make it up that next hill.  I know I can do it and I know I'll feel good about it once I do.  The "doing it" is tough.  But the outcome and reward are definitely worth the price paid.