TAPER TAPER TAPER

• On: 11/08/2009 07:22:28

AH!  Love it love it love it.  I think the only thing that would help is that I would get rid of my little cough…residual effects of my little cold I got last weekend.  But, considering what Graham has been going through these last 4 days, I got lucky.  Poor baby Graham.  Four days straight of 102F+ fever and feeling like crap. Plus, he has all the chest and cold issues that come with this flu bug.  He is such a trooper!  I cannot believe how good of a patient he is (unlike his father- ha!)!  This weekend in Chicago it was 70F yesterday!  We opened all the windows and tried to scare the germs away.  Yes, I am wearing a mask.  I am so silly because, clearly, I have already been exposed, but he is as germy as a typical 7 year old boy.  I just wish he wasn’t sick so he could enjoy this rare November weather.  L  He missed 2 soccer games this weekend and he cried when he realized that.

I will say that my legs feel like a million bucks!  There were days last week where I felt so-so – not horribly sick, but I am such in tune with my body, that I knew it was fighting something, so I was super smart.  I eased back on the intensity I had and just kept things aerobic.  All the work is done for Clearwater so now we just wait.  I am very glad the race is NOT this weekend – due to my lingering dry cough and I would be so sad to leave Graham behind.

I have been thinking a lot about the “Grass is Greener” syndrome.  It is so funny because I think we all believe that there is always something better or something greener on the other side.  And, you know how long that lasts?  Yeah, just about 1-2 weeks until the athletes are bouncing off the walls.  Honestly, I think what they miss is working out to just get the blood flowing VERSUS structure.  I think sometimes we are paying too much attention to HR zones, paces, effort, hitting times that THAT is really what people need a break from.  I am not an advocate of sitting on the couch for 4 weeks.  Not at all – fitness is too fickle and it goes away very quickly – especially the older we get.  Get out of the gym, off the bike trainer – that type of stuff.  Indulge.  Sleep 10 hours/night.  Go visit your grandma (I am talking to myself here)….And just keep moving.  I am so excited to head to Tucson the week over Thanksgiving.  I am going to try to step away from the work (gasp) and just hike and be 100% plugged into the family that week.  We are so excited!  And, it is Jerome’s birthday too that week!  I have already gotten his present s (thank you taper)!  So, he gets to spend his birthday in sunny Arizona – no other place he would rather be (ok, perhaps England with his parents and us, but that is not an option!).   I am trying to figure out how old Jerome will be….36.  Oh, right!  YAY!

Speaking of Jerome, he cracks my shit up.  Jerome’s last race was some insane bike race in August in Wisconsin- it was a 100 mile race.  He didn’t have any fun there.  So, you know what he did?  He took some time off.  Oh, wait, not ‘some time’ – he took off from mid-August through November 1^st.   That means NOT one itty bitty workout or sweat drop in all that time.  Yep.  I realize this contradicts everything I said in my previous paragraph, but Jerome is a rare bird.  He is one of those lucky athletes.  An athlete who grew up doing this and has, at age 36, been racing Triathlons for 20 years (he started as a junior – his dad did all this).  So, some years he needs these HUGE breaks.  And, remember Jerome is the swimmer who DOES NOT SWIM and swims a 54-55 in the Ironman – so yeah, whatever!!!  But, on November 1^st, he went out for his 1^st workout back and it was a 30 minute run.  He said his HR was so high that he was basically walking backwards.  HAHAHA!  But, every day he does a little something and it will come back so fast for Jerome that by the time IM ROTH rolls around in July, he will be on fire.  Oh, side note here – Jerome doesn’t gain an ounce when he doesn’t train or really JUST not workout for 2.5 months.  Jerk.

Anyway, I am really excited to race Clearwater!  I am heading out by myself and meeting a bunch of friends and athletes down there!  For all that want to meet us, we are meeting at 7:00am on Friday to swim in the ocean- please join us!  I realize it will be Florida and it will be warm – but I will never admit that running yesterday @ 65F felt HOT to me.  Never!  Some reports have the water in Clearwater warmer than usual – wouldn’t that be the best news EVER??  NO wetsuits?  Oh, I would be so happy! J

You know when you stop working in the outside world -  sometimes usually after you have kids and you say to yourself or your spouse, “I just want to use my brain?”  Well, I just want to use my mind on Saturday.  My body is ready to fight and my game face will be on.  When I make the commitment to race; I show up.  But, I am ready to suffer – I am ready to use my head.  The head – which is what, will make the difference on Saturday.  Keeping my head in the game and trying to absolutely destroy myself in the swim – trying to ride as hard as I can and not getting worked up about all the drafting and burying myself so far on that run that I cannot take one more step.  That is how my mind works.  Starting to embrace the pain.  Starting to think about what it will take to meet my goals.  I can suffer for 4-5 hours.  I mean…I suffer everyday…why would Saturday be any different?  Well, it’s not.  And, I am excited.  Last weekend I was sick and PMSing so it all sounded horrible.  Now, under control of my hormones and feeling better- Game is on!

I know that I am rested.  I woke up with Graham crying about his stomach and his little head (sniff) around 5.45am and I helped him with some things and then I got up.  I know that sounds silly – but it is Sunday and I LOVE to sleep, so in deep training time I would go back to bed.  Today – UP started to do the laundry, did the dishes, finished some work (played on FB) and I am JUST waiting for the temps to get above 45F to ride outside (Jerome is out running) and it is only 7.15am.  That is when I know I am rested.  This is all very good.  I will go into Clearwater very rested.  And, I hope that extra rest pays off.  I think after the season I have had – starting racing in April, that that extra rest is a very good thing.

I have found a little secret to my year end racing – I have done some off season things.  I am finding that if I race later in the year, I need to trick my brain sometimes in thinking I am resting a bit.  And, this is hard because my mind is always on triathlon – while I may be tapering my body, my mind is thinking about triathlons, talking triathlon, writing workouts, reviewing race plans, cheering for athletes all weekend, that I have mastered the “trick the brain” phenomenon.  And, guess what that is?  I stay away from the gym.  I go shopping.  Yesterday, I needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air after being inside all day everyday lately with Graham – but I had already ran and biked and did not need to work out anymore, so I went to one of my favorite shops that is 45 minutes away and spent too much $$ (Jerome stayed home with Graham and Morgan was at a friend’s house).  I needed to feel some sunshine and take care of myself – got a pedicure…just some fresh things that help me re-charge and feel like I am in the off season.  Moderation…moderation.  I am not that strict with myself anyway, but at this time of the year, when I am still racing, I am just super careful to take care of those little things that make the biggest differences.   

I realize I am rambling – but what else is new?  I am going to get ready to ride my bike – a whole 90 minutes!  YAY!  And, I get to go outside in November – so there are NO complaints on my end.  I wonder if I can sweet talk Jerome into putting my bike into the bike box today  – my other TT bike is on my computrainer, so that would be ok with the short rides I have until I leave for Florida.  I know I will have to clean it first though – oh ick!  I swear I am going to pack and be ready to go to Florida early (yes, Beth S!) and then I can just focus on the race!   Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  I am starting to get that fire in my belly to race and I am so excited!