Monday, November 2, 2009

Taper - Week 1 of 3

It's difficult to believe that taper is here already, and all of the hard work (save for race day) is behind me. Lots of emotions right now. Simultaneously, I feel ready to race, yet horribly undertrained. Exhausted and beat down, but still excited and eager to get to Arizona. Thankful to have some relief from the long training hours, however, somewhat sad because all of that exercise is what keeps my mind sane. I'm preparing for one hell of an OCD fit.

My plan for the week:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - swim 1hr, run 45min (at 0:10, insert 3 x 6min Z4 @ 2min jog)
Wednesday - swim 1hr, bike 45min, brick run 30min
Thursday - bike 1hr (at 0:40, insert 15min Z4)
Friday - swim 1hr, run 1hr (at 0:40, insert 10min Z4)
Saturday - bike 4hr, run 30min
Sunday - run 2hr...and a 1hr bike but it will be in the shop for a tune-up
Total = 13:30

Over the next several weeks, I will be posting my wandering thoughts, my goals for race day, and the fun things I find to do in my new spare time. I'm going to start with a relaxing evening on the couch with my husband. :-)
Whew. That was a tough week. Almost 20 hours done!

Sunday - long ride:
The usual suspects (Jon, Tom, Jeff, and I) started in Camas and rode out to Crown Point. It was foggy on the way out, but somewhere during the climb between Troutdale and Corbett, it cleared up and we were treated to the most awesome view of the gorge in fall colors.
On the way back, Jeff and I pushed through some yucky winds on Marine Drive, crossed back into the 'Couv via I-5 bridge, and conveniently found ourselves at Starbucks. That seems to happen a lot...but it was good timing because I was starting to fade. We rode back to my house and Jeff continued on back to Camas while I went out for another 2 hours by Vancouver Lake and back. My energy started to build again and I felt really strong when I pulled back up to the house.

Sunday - brick run:
I quickly changed into my running shoes and headed out for my brick run towards Ft Vancouver just as the sun was setting ahead of me. Julie ran out to meet me near the foot bridge and run the last bit together -- what a fun way to wrap up the last build of training! We ran straight to Beaches for happy hour beers...and burgers...and fries...and rice bowl...and quesadilla. Hmm, this sounds familiar.
I mustered the last bit of energy to shower the grime of the weekend away. And about 2 minutes later, Ken snapped this lovely shot. I was clearly done for the week.