I did what I guess you could call a triathlon yesterday--1700 yard swim yard, 40-mile bike hard and :30 brick run pretty hard. At least it all felt hard at the time, and I was a bit tired from it all. I thought I had the Ergomo dialed in on Bitch, but I have to just assume it is not going to read watts accurately on race day, which is fine. I'm at the point where I basically know what my effort is, and besides, I am just going to let it all hang out this time!
I "officially" started in on my packing yesterday, which meant making a big pile of triathlon crap in my family room where most of my gear lives, started a clothing pile in my spare bedroom, organized my packing list to eliminate stuff I don't need, changed my bed and did laundry, washed dishes and drank a lot of beer. I would switch between feeling completely amped and then exhausted. Part of me just wants to sleep and wake up and it's over--the other part, of course, realizes that hey, I've put in all this training time we may as well do a race.
It's during taper that the craziness of Ironman training is in stark relief to "regular" life. When I have rest time on my hands, I wonder what "normal" people are doing and so what I should be doing. And yet it's not what I want to do. After I ran on Saturday, I was like wtf, I barely worked out. Same thing yesterday.
I got to thinking yesterday that I feel differently during this taper than I ever have before. Sure there is some of the whacky feelings, the adrenaline buzz, and all that, but it seems to be on top of a much calmer person. Maybe it's because I know I have something even bigger coming up and the rules of my game are going to change for the first time in 10 years. Maybe because it's taken me 12 Ironmans to reach this state. Maybe I am actually more fit than I have ever been. Maybe I am not worried about how well I do or don't do. Maybe it's because it's my last "official" Ironman (as far as I know as of today!). Whatever it is, I am enjoying it. I am sure this will all change in a few days, as I will be traveling with someone who is doing their FIRST Ironman.
Last night I decided I had better start waking up early since I am going to change time zones in a few days, so this morning I got up and made it to the outdoor pool for an easy 2200 meters. Boy did it feel easy! And short! But that is exactly how it should have felt, much like yesterday's 1500 straight went by in a flash. It was another cool morning, so I had to wear long sleeves on the bike, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I will do a short run later on, maybe get a core workout in, and then I'm getting my last massage before the race this afternoon.
As I do each thing "the last time before the race" I am very aware of it in the moment. My longest run before the race. My longest swim before the race. Last massage. Last sleep in my own bed (tomorrow night). Last Twinkie (that was 2 weeks or so ago!) before the race. Last swim at the outdoor pool (tomorrow morning). And then I'll get to Lake Placid, and there will be more lasts. And then it will be race day, and it will be NOW.
And then I will wake up the next day and start thinking about all the FIRSTS. First swim after the race, first ride, first run, longest ride, and then I'll have a couple of weeks and go through it all again before Revenge of the PirateMan!
Unbelievably, this is the 5th time I'll be doing a double. Isn't that crazy? ME. Hell, I was amazed I finished my first Ironman, and I am still amazed at myself that I've kept doing them, and done doubles. Sometimes I think what is wrong with me that I want to do this, and then I think I am so lucky I get to do this.
It is all good. All of it!
Now just for the helluva it below are my totals for last week, and I've included the season totals, so you can see how much I've put in to get here today. It's all been just wonderful, all the training I've been able to do since my last Ironman which was a NothingMan back in September, 2008, and the journey from there to now has been one of the best of my life! I wonder what these numbers will look like about a year from now when I am tapering for Ultraman Canada?
| Weekly Workout Totals | 07/13/2009-07/19/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by the Ironman USA Lake Placid! |
| Swim: | 14100 yards (8 miles) in 4.7 hours; 32% of weekly workout time; approx. 1645 calories burned Canadian: 12893.04 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 95.62 miles in 5.32 hours; 37% of weekly workout time; approx. 2930 calories burned; Total TSS=362 Canadian: 153.89 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 24.31 miles in 3.53 hours; 24% of weekly workout time; approx. 1594 calories burned Canadian: 39.12 kilometers |
| Strength: | 0.97 hours; 7% of weekly workout time; approx. 243 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 127.93 miles in 14.52 hours; approx. 6412 calories burned Canadian: 14.52 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 9.43 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.17 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
| Season Totals | 09/15/2008-07/19/2009 |
| Swim: | 389412 yards (221.01 miles) in 135.03 hours |
| Bike: | Approx. 4812.41 miles in 267.79 hours |
| Run: | Approx. 1186.24 miles in 180.76 hours |
| Strength: | 49.05 hours |
| All Sports: | Approx. 6219.66 miles in 632.63 hours; approx. 280663 calories burned |
| Stretching: | 86.1 hours. Massage: 44 hours |
| Season Weekly Averages | 09/15/2008-07/19/2009 |
| Swim: | 8850 yards (5.02 miles) in 3.07 hours |
| Bike: | Approx. 109.37 miles in 6.09 hours |
| Run: | Approx. 26.96 miles in 4.11 hours |
| Strength: | 1.11 hours |
| All Sports: | Approx. 141.36 miles in 14.38 hours |
| Sleep: | 7.59 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 1.96 hours avg./week. Massage: 1 hours avg./week |
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