And so taper continues

I can't believe my last post was K-Town but then with everything that is going on it is not so hard to believe. 

The race is just around the corner and the training is done.  All we can do is follow the reduced schedule and try not to worry too much. That is easy to say but hard to do.  Coach knows me well and always tells me not to over think each event, the race, the day and everything else the day will bring.

Dr. Jason, my trusty chiropractor, has been working hard to keep my feet, ankles, calves and hip on track for the race along with providing some great pep talks.  I suffer from bursitis in my hips and the long runs of 22 and 24K started aggravating them again.  There is a good side it took a longer distance to aggravate them and it wasn't my calves.  The active recovery therapy and new arch supports seem to taking care of the calves.  Right now the biggest challenge is hydration.  This really has lapsed over the last few months and of all things, in my opinion, is the worst to have a problem with.  The other challenge is nutrition on race day.  I have not yet found my groove of balancing food and supplements on training days so it will be even tougher on race day.  I don't want to change things up too much rather I think I'll increase my intake before the race and then have a sandwich before swim and after swim.  Peanut butter and jam sandwiches are the triathletes best friend.

Even more daunting is the  mental aspect of this sport then the physical training. We have a total of 8 hours and 44 minutes to complete the race from the last swim start.  It does seem like a huge amount of time but when one starts to add up the time for each discipline and transition it just doesn't seem like enough.  I will need to keep Dr. J's advice in my memory which is to have fun, its only one day and remember how many people are sitting on the couch and would not even attempt a 70.3 or full Ironman.  The day will be what it is and with so many Ironmotivation members and DRTC members racing it will be fun.

One of our Ironmotivation coaches Christine raced the Ironman Mount Tremblant inaugural race a couple of weeks ago.  Why I am highlighting Christine specifically is she shows mental fortitude one needs to complete a full distance.  Chris had a great swim, great first transition and then at around the 7 or 8K mark on the bike hit a pylon.  Yep, she went down damaged her shoulder, her side and not sure what else.  She picked herself up, accessed the situation, mounted the bike and rode.  To pull that amount of determination from within to finish the remaining 172K bike and a 42K run is unbelievable. 

One thing triathlon teaches is you have good days and bad days and hopefully on race day the IM Gods will be with you.  I have two friends who my heart still break for as they did not complete their dream of crossing IM Canada in BC.  Another friend today said that is the way Ironman is.  It is such a huge task and even with the months of training its hard to know you'll cross the finish line until you see it.  To put yourself out there, to sign up for a race, to publicly announce you are racing, to spend months training and to have the fortitude to even start the swim in my opinion makes these two Ironman. 

Have a great holiday long weekend.

Liz