...almost there??
...what am I going to do next weekend since I won't be training the whole thing away??
...I almost can't believe I actually made it??
...wow I'm actually racing an Ironman in two weeks??
...heaven??
Any and all of those things. Taper is the bliss that all endurance athletes look forward to. It is the final recovery stage before we lay it all on the line. It's the cherry on the top of a long hard training period. It's critical to a successful race - rest is just as important as the hard training; this is when our bodies incorporate everything we've put it through and become stronger. Without it, we will burn out, overtrain, injure ourselves, and become weaker. Taper is the recovery week of all recovery weeks, right before the A race.
It doesn't mean no work. Both literally - there is still training, but it is shorter, more intense, race-specific stuff to keep the fires burning, but not use up all the fuel - and figuratively, because after months of going so hard it is sometimes hard work to not train.
"It's like sleep and ice cream, all mashed together" is how Kevin put it, which I thought was just awesome!!!
So this weekend was not bad, all things considered. Yesterday, Chris and I drove up to Summerville, GA to do the Chattooga Century. All signs pointed to cooler weather than we've been riding in. Ya. All signs were wrong. (story of my life, haha). And it was a late start - 8am. So off we went. Was feeling pretty good, given the week I've had. Met Bishop, who did IMC last year - he was wearing the jersey. Older guy, training for Kona this year...lottery winner, which btw is the 2nd lottery winner I've met this year. As with anyone who's done Canada, he said how great it was, how much we were gonna love it. He also told me about the run - that it is tough. This is the one part of the race that I can't really get a handle on. And I'm always skeptical about people's description of "flat" or "hilly" on the run...that's one thing I've just found is so unique to a person, that I don't rely on it. Especially when they say it's flat. Bishop told me that around mile 12, you make a short climb, and then descend into a pit, aka Okanagan Falls, and then you promptly turn around and have to climb right back out of it. This is what I see on the profile on mapmyride too. He did go on to say that though that was tough, he was able to turn it back on at mile 16 and had the run of his life. Nice to have first hand accounts. I guess we'll judge for ourselves next week when we can scope out the course. Also ran into Barbara Chandler, a local triathlete who I've heard of but never met before, who is training for Wisconsin, which will be her first full IM too. Nice lady and so encouraging! It's what I love about the triathlete community - everyone is so supportive of everyone else. I just love it!!
Second hour was pretty good too. I passed the cutoff for the metric option, but had not yet done the climb, so decided to push on for the full 100. Did the climb, and actually thought about descending back and going the metric way back...but I didn't. Around 2.5 hours in, I was starting to feel it. Had a few weird moments out there by myself of feeling a little woozy, and just odd...things I haven't felt before really on the bike. But they passed relatively quickly. After that first big hill, there was a long stretch to the overlook aid station, about 12-13 miles of nothing but rollers, and I never saw a single other rider that whole time. By the time I hit the rest stop I was definitely getting tired. Starting to question my decision to keep going. You can see the heat haze in this picture. And it turned out to be hotter up north in Summerville than it was in the ATL!!
But on I pushed. The next section was even worse for rollers. You'd get to the top of one, look ahead, and all you would see were more rollers. It was tough, and it was HOT. I was taking in a pretty good amount of fluids...but it still wasn't enough. The ride down was pretty good, and while I did get some recovery from it, I knew I was getting into trouble. More dehydration. It was amazing to feel the heat waves as I descended the 1500 feet from the top to the bottom (2300' at the top, 850' at the bottom). I hit the rest stop at what for me was 72.5 miles, and decided to call it done. If there had been an aid station another 10 miles out, I probably would have gone to that, but I knew another 20 was not going to be pretty. My power was already falling way off. I knew if I kept going, I would not be able to run after, and that my run Sunday would really suffer. It was only getting hotter. So I put my ego aside, as hard as it was, and asked for a SAG back. Took a while, but we finally got going. The volunteers were great. Very well supported ride. Heck the sag trucks were even riding along the route making sure everyone had water. Now that's good!
Did manage to run almost 4 when I got back. First 2 miles felt good, and I managed an 8:37 pace. Z had been on his way out just as I was pulling into the parking lot, so met him on his way back. He was also hurting, and way dehydrated. We ended up walking a bit there, both our heart rates spiking to zone 4, and as he said - we are doing no good by running at that, so no point in doing it. Managed to run the last half mile or so to bring it home.
Today's run, the last big one, was all in all pretty good. Was glad I cut the ride short yesterday. 2:15 was the scheduled time - about 15 miles. Didn't quite make 15, but very close. The first lap around, I pretty much let go of all the "what if's" and "I shoulda's" and accepted the fact that I was done, that I'd done everything I could do, that what I had in me was what I had, and that race day was gonna be whatever it was gonna be. Time goals, and expectations, and blah blah blah...all that matters now is that I show up and do my best. It's all anyone can ask of me. (including myself!!)
So having got that out of the way, there really were no waterworks on the run. Felt really good the first lap. Most of the second lap was also good, and faster than the first. Around mile 5.5 I started to get sloshing in the gut. And lots of gas. So I had to skip the water at the 6 mile mark. Sloshing continued. Argh. No water at the 7.5 mile mark either. Still managed to make that lap faster. Coming onto mile 9, the stomach settled down a bit, so I was able to take down a gel and some water. Decided to do only half a gel, and more often, and see if that helped. Fourth lap, when I was supposed to be turning on the gas...well that didn't happen. It was pretty rough. Mile 10 was anyway. Walked half of that mile, really the first walking in the run so far. But then I was able to get going again, and I did recover the pace a little for that lap, though certainly not to where it was supposed to be. Weird things were happening though. I noticed somewhere around mile 11 that I could't really feel my legs. It was kinda like that feeling you get when you've been running and running, and your body has just taken over and your mind is not really connected to your legs anymore. I've had that before, but then it got weird - my toes started to tingle, not in a good way, and I seriously thought for a moment that they weren't going to keep holding me up. It did pass, but it did not feel good! Final lap - 3 more miles, and I was able to pull it all back together and crank it out. No doubt knowing that a mere 3 miles stood between me and taper had something to do with it. The last mile and a half was definitely the best, and I felt strong. Disappointed that I didn't have this last run been stellar, and no negative split today - one of the few long runs that hasn't been, but it's all okay. Totally started bawling as I leaned against the car window, and texted Chris that I'd done it, I'd freaking done it, and made it to taper.
So. Taper. I'm here. I'm really really here. 14 more sleeps. Rest up body. Sleep well. Make the last training sessions count. REST. Hydrate. Recover. Think only positive thoughts now. Fill the energy stores. Earn all the interest you can, cuz I'm gonna be making a big withdrawal in two weeks.
Happy Training, and....HELLOOOOO, TAPER!!!!
Kat
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