Taper Madness

Ah, the taper.

It's gone relatively well for me this time. No more worries about getting cramps or a period (or at least I *think* I'm done with that), nobody in my immediate family is ill, it doesn't look like Chicago is going to get snow anytime soon to jeopardize travel, and I feel pretty much ready to go.

Of course, I did have a semi-crappy run today, I can feel all sorts of little aches and pains that I am concerned will turn into big problems, and why is it that I feel fat or at least that I've gained weight, even when I step on the scale and the number hasn't budged? Have I lost muscle mass and put on fat weight? How could that be possible when I've been doing my typical early season strength training build? When I've been running a lot but not eating a lot? When I was even good over the holidays and didn't indulge hardly at all? It's funny, yet predictable, that I will feel this way during a taper. I can't remember a single one where I felt like I was incredibly lean and depleted. Maybe it's a psychological thing to not feel depleted, since I shouldn't be, when I'm resting my body and letting it load up on glycogen. It makes me laugh.

Another thing I notice during a taper is that food doesn't taste the same. Heck, when I'm training 15+ hours a week, ANY food tastes great! It could be braised cardboard, but if I ate it after a 2+ hour workout, it would be awesome (with a little salt, of course). My taste buds seem to take a hiatus when I'm tapering. Yet my brain will always kick in the night or two before a big race to ensure that I gobble down plenty of carbs, even while I am not that interested in them!

I've been sleeping like it's going out of style. Why get up in the morning while it's dark outside? Oh yeah, to swim. Haven't been doing much of that lately. I had big plans to swim a lot more, but with all the running, I just haven't been motivated to squeeze it in. Well after this Goofy thing, it will be time for me to get my swim on. Back to measly 1:30 "long" runs on Sundays, leaving me plenty o' time to fit in a 4th swim. And the days are getting longer, too, so before we know it, it will actually be light by 6AM!

At this point, I am left to obsess about the weather. Orlando weather is going to be much warmer this time around than it was last year. It could mean I throw my Sunday goal out the window. We shall see. On the plus side, we start at 6AM, so how warm can it be by 10AM, when I expect to be done? I must say, though, it will be nice to run in shorts. I may even get a bit of a tan!

So there you have it--the usual taper including feeling fat, food doesn't taste that great, things hurt all over at times, I'm not yet very excited about this (the marathon is going to be WORK this time--not fun like last year, although it still was some work) and the weather is not cooperating.

But the work is done, the money is in the bank--now it's time to collect a little interest.

Weekly Workout Totals 12/25/2006-12/31/2006 and Calendar Year 2006 Totals

I had a good training week. I have just about confirmed that I am becoming allergic to running on the treadmill, so in the spirit of saving energy and being good to Earth, new rule is that if it's 40+ degrees and not raining and roads are safe, I'll be running outdoors. I find it funny how before I started triathlon I was hardcore outdoor runner most of the time, and then I gradually got to the point of running indoors all winter. Oh well, live and learn!

On Thursday, I did my last long run prior to Goofy. Last year, this last long run lasted 1:45, covering 11.05 miles at a pace of 9:30. This year, I ran 1:43, covering 11.68 miles at a pace of 8:50. Now last year I ran it on the treadmill, which explains some of the pace difference (I always run more slowly on the treadmill), but the rest is that I'm faster! I was quite surprised when I figured out my pace for Thursday's run, because my legs weren't too happy, as this was the first long run I had done on the road since 11/26. I went from the day before worrying about my calves to boy, did my quads feel it! Friday, I again ran outside again, and my quads let me know they weren't happy about it. But at least all tightness in my calves was gone. So yesterday, I figured a little brick run on the treadmill wouldn't be bad. I felt fine while I was running on the thing, but today, hello tight calves again, at least my left one is bad. No worries--today was just a swim (actually it was tomorrow's swim, but my Y is closed tomorrow so I did it today instead), and hopefully it won't be raining tomorrow so I'll get my run in outdoors again. I checked in with this ultra-fast runner who works at my local running store, and he recommended I stay on the roads now to keep my quads toughened up for the Disney assault. So I stretched well today and worked on my calves, and hopefully they will come right tomorrow.

Stats for the week and also for calendar year 2006 are below. Happy New Year!

Weekly Totals 12/25/2006-12/31/2006
Swim: 7350 yards (4.17 miles) in 2.53 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 887 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 50.46 miles in 2.88 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1492 calories burned
Run: Approx. 25.18 miles in 3.72 hours; 34% of weekly workout time; approx. 1691 calories burned
Strength: 1.9 hours; 17% of weekly workout time; approx. 475 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 79.81 miles in 11.03 hours; approx. 4545 calories burned
Sleep: 9.21 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.72 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Calendar Year Totals 1/1/2006-12/31/2006
Swim: 426,825 yards (242 miles) in 149.53 hours; 20% of yearly workout time
Bike: Approx. 5,413 miles in 308.17 hours; 41% of yearly workout time
Run: Approx. 1,437 miles in 223.10 hours; 30% of yearly workout time
Strength: 67.37 hours; 9% of yearly workout time
All Sports: 748.17 hours
Stretching: 112.13 hours

I have to laugh at how close to 750 annual hours I got. That's about my usual target, and I feel comfortable training at that level. And stretching sure takes up a lot of time!