In exactly one week on October 18, Ragen Chastain claims she will swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles, all in under 8-1/2 hours at the IRONMAN 70.3 Arizona in Tempe, AZ.

Today Ragen posted her last Fake Selfie Sunday before the big day. It’s also her birthday, and nothing says “Happy Birthday Ragen!” like sending her money. Since the previous update, Ragen has finally managed to figure out how to completely strip the metadata from her photos. Nothing says honesty, integrity, and openness like removing all metadata after being caught intentionally trying to hide the creation time of your training selfies because half of them are fake. We should apparently expect another interview with Ragen this week as she managed to find yet another media outlet that doesn’t care about fact checking her ridiculous claims. She was also contacted by a filmmaker who wants to include her in a documentary about being “fit and overweight”.

Today is also the final day of the Fat Activism Conference, Ragen’s most recent fat moneymaking scheme. It all wraps up with a grand finale 45 minute talk with Jeanette DePatie and Ragen herself. Thrilling material as usual, no doubt (we won’t be sending her any money for the pleasure of listening in).

On Wednesday, Ragen flies across the country to speak at Castleton University on October 15. On Friday, October 16, she flies straight to Tempe while her disabled girlfriend Julianne makes the six hour drive there through the desert with Ragen’s gear by herself. Multiple Dances with Facts readers have privately expressed serious concern about the possibility of deep vein thrombosis from such a long drive for someone who suffers from such severe obesity (she is self-admittedly over 500 lbs). Ragen would no doubt call this “concern trolling” and deny any link with weight.

Since Ragen is probably arriving on Friday evening, we assume she will check in on Saturday. We have a copy of the official schedule here. All times are in MST. Athlete check-in is from 9 am to 4 pm. There is also a mandatory bike check-in from 10 am to 4 pm. Athletes have no access to their bikes until 5 am the following day, and they must remain in the transition area.

The race kicks off at 6:30 am on Sunday. Ragen’s bib number is 1045, and live tracking and web cams at transition areas will be available on the IRONMAN site (links will be posted when available). Ragen is in wave 9 of the swim start (F 35-39), which leaves at 7:10 am. There is a timing mat at the entrance so we’ll know if she actually starts the race. Six waves of swimmers follow her wave and will have to pass her. Results will be available on the official results page, and race photos will be posted on FinisherPix.

This week we’ll be looking back at Ragen’s training over the last year as a lead-up to Tempe. We’ll also have an update from our resident writer and Arizona 70.3 competitor. And finally, you can look forward to a post about the deeply ironic name Ragen mistakenly chose for her road bike (hint: “Phyxius” doesn’t mean what she thinks it does).

7 days until Tempe!