It's on the Way

IMLP, that is.

This morning I swam 5,000 meters at the outdoor pool. About an hour after I got home, I checked my records, and I guess that is the first time I've swum that far! It's still only half the Ultraman distance of 10,000 meters, but I didn't feel the least bit tired, and know that I can work my way up to the full distance.

It is always a good feeling to do something I've never done before!

In other news, I figured out why my Wednesday run was crappy, and yesterday's brick run was a bit of a struggle, too. I have been eating significantly less carbs than I was a week earlier. Now, even though I will get in maybe 14 hours of training during this taper week, in my head, I am doing almost NOTHING, and so I am not having the cravings for rice and pasta. But I thought I should do something differently when I weighed myself and I was all of 106 lbs.

Even though I drank a can of Ultra Violence before I ran yesterday, it wasn't enough to load me up to do a 1:15 ride and :30 run. The ride went fine, but on the run my legs were heavy again, and it finally occurred to me that I was a bit early in a carb loading regimen. I guess I've been depleting myself to the point where I can go maybe 1:30 hard. Which is what happened Wednesday.

So last night I had some pasta, and then right before I went to sleep I ate an entire bag of Gummi Bears, and when I woke up this morning (no issues bounding out of bed and I slept well), I felt like I should be good for a 3-mile swim.

It was maybe 57 degrees when I was leaving to ride to the pool, so I wore a long-sleeved technical shirt under my t-shirt. I was chilly on the ride over! But the ride warmed me up, and the pool felt great--obviously it was warmer than the air!

I did the 5,000 as 800 warmup (various stuff), then 4x1000 with 30" (about) rest, 200 kick. My last 2 1000's were faster than the first 2--I was playing around with my hand entry and then my turnover. OMG I found out I actually can do a higher turnover than usual!

Anyway, I didn't feel tired or anything after the swim, dried off really well and dried my hair for the ride home since it was still chilly out.

After IMLP but before ROTPM, I am going to go for a 6,000 meter swim. Just to do it! That will be a good confidence boost for when I formally start building up to the 10,000 meters for Ultraman Canada next year. Only problem is I will need to find a pool that gives me 4 hours of uninterrupted lap time, so I may need to split it across 2 swims. Oh well!

I am organizing for IMLP packing, planning out next year, planning my training between IMLP and ROTPM, and it's all a bit overwhelming. Good thing I don't need to ride 100 miles this weekend! I will get on my packing starting tomorrow afternoon after a short (1:10) run, swim and pre-race wax (!), in case there's anything I need to go and buy (which I doubt but you never know), and then Sunday is just a 2-hour ride, :30 run and it's all over but the driving to IMLP, and I leave on Wednesday.

I am excited about going to IMLP for my last time to race, to spend time with Shelley and her son, Eric, and to hopefully have a great last "official" Ironman. I have already been asked what's next after I complete Ultraman next year, and I have no idea, but I'm sure something will come to me.

Right now, the focus is on the Sunday one week from this coming one. And then recovering and ramping back up for ROTPM.

As exciting as all of this may sound, I am keeping my excitement level in check. I can remember back in 2004 when I did Ironman Canada and I was running and thought I should be excited when I was at mile 18. I told myself "not yet" and when I got to 20, I said "not yet" and then 22 and 24. It was not until mile 26 that I let it all wash over me, and that is how I plan to roll at IMLP. Oh that video? That is my "center myself" song that I will listen to the day before IMLP.

Have a great weekend!