Taper Blues

My husband posted about his taper blues, so I thought I'd post some random taper thoughts:

* I know I should be eating less, but no one told my stomach. I've been craving pizza and ice cream lately. Hope I can show some restraint in the next 16 days, so I don't gain back the 8 pounds I lost in the last 9 months.

* I've been getting a lot more sleep lately. It seems that I work out way less than I used to do. Maybe that is part of the reason people are willing to go after Ironman glory again, because they forget the tough volume months. I'm still tired though and had to take a nap after lunch today.

* I worry about every body twinge even though I told Jodi not to worry about hers. I'm most worried about my IT band and hamstring coming back to haunt me. I do have another ART appointment before IM and I can always visit the ART tent at IM.

* I swam for an hour yesterday in my long-sleeved wetsuit. It is the longest I've gone in it. Luckily, the Body Glide kept me chafe free, but my arms felt cold and fatigued by the time I finished. I must remember that by race day, I'll be nice and rested - after all I just started taper.

* Before yesterday's swim, I got salty with my husband because he appeared to be impatiently waiting for me to don my wetsuit. My husband is wonderful and I wouldn't have come so far without him, but it didn't stop me from getting cranky with him.

* I did have a great 2-hour bike on flat roads after the swim. I led most of the time. During the windy parts, I had a mantra going in my head "There is no wind affecting my ride negatively." The "negatively" part was said by a small, high voice. It helped. With 15 minutes to go, Matt took the lead and I was thinking "oh good, I can hide behind him in this huge headwind". Well, that ended shortly after he shifted down 2 gears and dropped me like a bad habit. Later, I thanked him for letting me lead, because then I could stay in my HR zone with no pressure. He said "Letting you? I don't think you understand. I was hanging on for dear life." Apparently, his dead legs didn't come around until the last 15 minutes. That made me feel even better about my ride.

* I have terrible allergies at this time of year, but they are worst on the days I swim. I always look forward to my swim, but then I can't breathe the rest of the day and my nose runs down my face. Luckily, if I bike or swim, I clear up and can breathe.

* I'm looking forward to doing some other things after Ironman ends, but right now, I'm paranoid about activities that aren't swimming, biking, running or Yoga. For example, we played catch yesterday. I was very careful to not throw too hard. And, I have a golf outing on Monday in Erie, PA. It is a scramble, but it starts at noon and the forecasted high is 90 degrees. I haven't golfed in over 3 years and let me assure you that I wasn't very good before. I've also never played 18 holes. Let's hope that with the scramble format and my first golf game using a golf cart will help reduce injury risk. I know I sound overly cautious, but my tri friend Rob broke his foot 4 days before Ironman, because he played tennis with his daughter and stepped on a tennis ball. You can never be too careful, but I can't get out of the golf game (clients first around here).

* I saw a bunch of "Red Hat Ladies" walking around downtown Cleveland at lunch today. I thought of SkiRough posing as one for the Nashville marathon accommodations and smiled. Thanks SkiRough!

* On Tuesday, I had lunch at the Galleria mall food court. Typically, it isn't that busy and I wouldn't have expected it to be so before a holiday, but it was jam packed. I say out loud to no one in particular "What the hell is going on here?" I then noticed all of the "Praise Jesus" shirts and conference name tags. Oops. Am I going to hell now? : )

* I'm having lunch with TriSara next Friday at a restaurant in the Galleria mall. I'm really looking forward to that! Happy Birthday TriSara!!

* I had lunch with Sam J. today. She is such a fun, supportive person. I still can't believe that she and Suzi are traveling all the way to Lake Placid with their hubbies to support me. Thanks gals!

* I have no work motivation. I suppose you can tell that by the time stamp on this post. I know there is an avalanche heading my way, but as the reviewer and not the doer, I don't know when to expect it to slam me. Regardless, I'm leaving at 3:30 PM on 7/17 and won't think about it again until 7/26.

* Ironman, here I come! I'm ready for you baby! My coach sent my race plan yesterday. It is laced with comments like "stay focused", "stay in the moment", "be positive", etc. I still think I'll be immensely relieved when I get out of the washing machine swim. My instructions are to line up in the middle on the far right side (as far from the buoys as possible). I'm then supposed to cut in by the first turn buoy. It will add some extra yardage, but hopefully keep me from being beat up too much. Matt tells me that I will know where to put myself when I see the crowd. I shall avoid large groups.

* I think I'm driving my husband crazy with thoughts about the Ironman - what I plan to wear, what I plan to eat before the race and during the race, when I'll fiber taper, how I'm going to talk myself into peeing on my cherished bike, etc. Matt, just 16 days left, bear with me.

Hopefully, the next 16 days will go well and then it is "Game on" for sure!