How to keep occupied during your taper...

1. Remove long standing toe nail polish and joyously realize that there are only two black toenails! Paint toenails a special new color (I now own three colors of nail polish!) for the upcoming race entitled "Don't Toy With Me." I thought that it was appropriate.

2. Clean my car.

3. Pack, re-pack, re-check, re-pack, re- double check all of the race gear.

4. I have a steady record of unpredictable catastrophic mechanical failures while racing which now plagues me with a somewhat paranoid take on bicycle preparation. I have already had the following dreams: that my chain broke and I didn't have a spare link to put it back together (I taped a spare link on to my bike in case this was prophetic), that I got to my bike after the swim and I had a double flat that used up all of my pit stop to realize that it could only be fixed by two new tyres (I am hoping that this one is not prophetic- but I may bring and extra spare).

5. Bake cookies for the 'carb loading' lasagna luncheon that work surprised me that they are throwing as a send off tomorrow. I work with some pretty awesome people.

6. Find both of my newer toe warmers that have been missing all while I have been using my old pair which are barely held together by a few remaining threads. I was pretty excited!

7. Remove things from my packing piles to go out for a quick workout, and immediately wash things up to return anything to its respective pile.

8. Get the dust off of my beloved road bike, and feel sort of naked riding around in what feels like a completely upright position without any sort of computer besides my watch. It is weird not having having W, hr, c, mph, kJ, etc. staring you in the face at all times- quite refreshing!

9. Get to finally crack open the last pair of size 10.5, 2006 Saucony Tangents! I have been saving these bright pink shoes for this race. In my book, they are the best shoe on the planet, and even better if they are worn fresh out of the box for the full 26.2 to preserve that extra-special 'new shoe sproininess.' Believe me, I will need all of the 'sproininess' I can get when I start that run this weekend!

10. See a few snow flakes flying outside, and find comfort in the fact that I will soon be down in Florida! :)

That's about it for now... Ready to get out of here and go have some fun!

Life is about Aerodynamics...

Great DZ interview here. He always seems to have that 'I just got done with a crazy hard bike ride and have so little glucose in me that I can barely think let alone speak right now' eloquence to his speech. It makes me feel better when I feel that way. I wish that DZ would run for public office, for the simple reason that I would love to see him in more interviews.

My new race nutrition plan... well maybe not, but it would be really cool to show up with a box taped to my aerobars.

It goes without saying what I have been up to the past few weeks. Always training makes me a DULL GIRL! Instead of a boring recap of what my peak volume weeks have consisted of, I present to you:

Ten reasons I know that I know that I am ready to start my Ironman taper...

1. My car is really starting to look like a locker room.

2. My dishwasher looks like this:


3. My refigerator is looking like this a lot of the time:


4. The flavor combination of 'sweet and salty' is really starting to loose its allure to the palate. I'm pretty sure I have grown some cavities over the past few weeks from this 'nutrition.' Yeah, only a triathlete would call a bottle of sugar water 'nutrition.'

5. I am loading up on every sort of medicament to not get sick. Vit C, Vit E, Eccinacea, Zinc, Multivit. It may all be smoke and mirrors, but I really don't care at this point. I even have been carrying purell around on my keychain. I have been eating a lot of curries and vegetables. All in all, there will be no repeats of getting sick right before an Ironman this year!

6. My freezer always has fresh ice since I have been using it by the tub load

7. The irony finally hit me while riding today: In Nebraska, I needed to search down hills and hilly routes to train on in the multitudes of flatland riding- at this time of my life, I chose to train for hilly races. In Wisconsisn, I need to search down flats to train on in the multitudes of hills- at this time of my life, I chose to train for flat races. Don't ask me why this took so long to figure out- yeah, I didn't plan things out well.

8. Lots and lots and lots of Laundry. Not to mention, my bike hasn't been cleaned in weeks. I am usually immaculate about the cleanliness of my drivetrain. Right now, my bike looks like a disaster hit it: bugs, mud, grime and grass around the derailleur pulleys, the cassette is black, the chain is grimy, and my white bartape is a combination of grey and goo. Needless to say, my buddy with be getting a nice scrub down tomorrow, and will be shiny once again! :)

9. I seem to have this look on my face a lot. This disaster was taken right after some hard intervals on a cold, windy evening. :)


10. Last but not least, I feel very ready for this race!!!

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OK, now is the boring recap:
All in all, I am very happy with where my fitness is right now. I am absolutely exhausted all the time. I have been sleeping more than ever, but I know that this is exactly what my body needs right now. I have gotten myself as close to the 'edge' as I safely want to be in my training for IMFL. I know it that the fatigue will improve over the next few weeks.

I am happy with where my weight is, and am the lightest I have been for an IM, possibly any race, ever. I am not teeny or anything, but to the point where I feel good but not weak. This is the hardest part for me to achieve when getting in quality training depends upon feeling good going into and during a workout. Focussing on proper nutrition before, during, and after has definitely helped out with this- it is am amazing how good you feel if If things go according to plan. I fought a little cold last weekend, which took my Sunday and Monday training away from me, but I am not worried about it (4 weeks out). I have been more consistent than I ever have been this past year + that I have been training for this race. I need to remind myself of what I have done to get myself here and everything that I have 'in the bank' from that.

Swim:
Training wise, my last race distance swim in training was 1:16 a couple weeks ago, which I will gladly take. Nothing earth shattering my any means, but I am satisfied. Although I took a bit off from swimming this spring, I feel great with the time that I put in this winter working on my form, this summer swimming open water, and now late summer/ fall getting in some good distance/ intensity work in the pool.

Bike:
On the bike, I have put my investments mostly into the 3-5 hour ride. Albeit, the very, very, very intense 3-5 hour ride. I have done so many of these I can't even begin to count. I have become at one with my SRM, and intervals at FTP have become my friend. When it hurts is when it feels good, right? I have only done two 100+ mile days, but many, many 100+ mile weekends with brick runs on both days. This is very different than my past training, but I feel very good with what I have done, and the progress that I have made. Lately I have been very fatigued on the bike. I have been hitting my numbers beautifully and progressively stronger, but I just feel like I want to pull over and take a nap in the ditch instead of ride- even with taking in caffeine on my rides. I am dismissing this to the fact that this is what these peak weeks feel like. If it weren't for the few hours of warmth and daylight that I need to fit my riding into, I swear would be napping in the middle of rides. A concern for the bike is my neck- I jacked it up in a bike crash mid Sept (rainy day + water covered pothole/manhole cover/ sidewalk paint = me + bike skidding across an intersection in the middle of rush hour traffic). I have been slowly getting used to my TT postition again after that day. You see, it has taken me about 2 years to get adapted to where I am on my bike (about 15 cm drop on a 48 cm frame). It is a delicate balance to achieve and it took nothing short of hard work to get there ( and very small changes, one at a time). My neck does not think that 15 cm drop a good idea anymore, but it is hanging in there, and things are feeling like they once did day by day. Thinks are looking good and tolerable at this time, and I am confident that some reduced volume on the bike will achieve perfection. Worst case scenario- I put a spacers under my stem (reason not to cut your steerer tube...).

Run:
I have never felt this good with my running at this point in my training. Have had some great long runs the past few weeks. I have never felt so strong at the end of a 2+ hr run. Did my last long run this past week- it was my best to date- what a great way to finish my long runs! My ITB has been great, and has luckily tolerated the increase in frequency and duration placed on it over the past months. I have been able to hold some good runoff paces, and have had some great runs after some long, intense sessions.

So, there you have it. What I have been doing for the past year and a half. Now all I need to do is not screw anything up over the next few weeks. :)