I'm Tapering...enter at your own risk

I think I need a shirt or a special sticker with the above message. I mean I know it's only been four days, but stuff that wouldn't usually bother me just seems to really get to me the week before a race. I am sooo ready to pound the pavement. My only workout today was horseback riding. I did my boss a favor and went in to work for two hours and then headed over to BJs to pick up a few things. And before that I spent the morning hanging out at Bluff Point with the little monster...opps I mean my son. Who has for one reason or another recently turned into a cling-on. Then we had lunch at Panera Bread. So all in all a very good day. Except for the obvious lack of physical activity. I was left with this huge high from my workout on Saturday and now I feel like I've just been dropped off a cliff. Anywho...time to go shower (gotta get rid of the horse/barny smell), maybe make some chocolate muffins, and pack up my race bag as I won't have time to do it tomorrow or Friday since I'm working. Totally weird to be doing a race on Saturday.

Mondays....

"Monday, hard to wake up, got my coffee cup, I'm out the door....gotta be something more!" This song is totally stuck in my head. It rings a few bells though... There's just something about taper weeks. I was on my way to a park play date this morning, nearly got run off the road by a huge dump truck and ended hitting a huge boulder, blowing a tire...needless to say I didn't make the play date. Fortunately, I broke down right next to a playground, so I let the kiddo play while I waited for hubby to be done at work so he could come change the tire. Made me realize that that's just one more thing I really need to know how to do. Or at the very least I need to sign up for triple A. That way if hubby is out to sea, I won't be stranded. Looking forward to my workout this afternoon, need to get out and burn some steam. I'm long overdue for a swim...maybe a short run too.

Too much coffee?

Soooo can't sleep. These occasional bouts of insomnia are driving me mad. Also trying to decide if I want to hop into a cold shower, because my legs are still sore. I can't seem to figure out just when the triathlon portion of the Olympics is occurring, I really want to make sure I record it. Anywho....guess I should go take some Valium or something so I can get some sleep. Or at least some ibprofen so I don't wake up at 4 am again with my legs screaming at me.

The Perfect Saturday!

Well the having to work part and missing yoga not so perfect...but the ending was rather sweet. I went on my first group ride and my second 20+ mile ride....32 miles to be exact. :) Gorgeous day! It was really nice to meet some like minded ladies and I was really happy that not only could I keep pace with them, but I was actually pretty good on the hills. And having a nice cold beer afterwards even nicer! Waking up at 4 am this morning in absolute agony was another story...hehe I really need to get the tub sorted out, so I can take a "nice" ice bath or at least a really really cold bath. Our tub drain refuses to close, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with either all the sand that came off my wet suit or a recent shaving incident. Picked up some Draino at the store today while I was doing food shopping. Josh is on duty, so its just the kid and me. Fortunately, he's taking a nice long nap giving me plenty of time to lay around and be lazy. Which I think I can def afford to be! This week is going to be an easy one, since I've got a race on Saturday!

Well no luck with the draino, even tried taking off all the attachment bits with a screw driver to see if I could figure out what the issue was. But really couldn't get a good look, especially not with my two year old acting as assistant plumber. Hmmm maybe I can try plugging the drain with some kids toys or a washcloth...was really looking forward to that cold bath and maybe a hot bath and some epsom salt to follow. I probably should have at least gone for a light run to stretch out my sore muscles, but really didn't feel up to pushing the jogging stroller. Oh well maybe I can get some yoga stretches in after I put the kiddo to bed. Only another 1 1/2 to go! :)

If I wasn't officially insane already, I think I'm def there now. I'm looking forward to putting the kid in bed so I can hop into a freezing cold bath. Also trying to decide whether to go for a cold beer or a banana split.....

Another day...another race!

I signed up for another race last night! The Bayside YMCA sprint, on August 16th! This is the first race I've done that was on a Saturday. I also tried to sign up for the Madison Tri, but it was full already. Bummed about that, because it looked like a good race! :) I've got another 2 or 3 races I want to do before the season is done with. Depends how many I can afford...hehe :)

Recovery Week

I feel like I'm recovering a lot faster than in the past. I took a three hour nap after the race, but when I woke up instead of feeling like I'd been hit by a truck I only felt sore.

Monday-easy 20 min run

Planned:

Tues-random day off....just wasn't working out.
Wed-...itching to get at it today, so hopefully that will bode well for my workout! :) Don't have to work, just horseback riding at 6:45p. Which of course I'm always looking forward to. Really going to miss it when I have to give it up in a month. Hubby is going back to a boat and he just won't be reliable as childcare anymore. Fortunately, I did figure out how I can possibly still work two days a week though! Otherwise I'd probably be carried off by the men in little white coats in a very short period of time.

Made it out for a 30 minute trail run! :) It was pouring the entire first part of the day, which made for a fun yet very muddy run! Good times.

Thurs-45 minute easy bike, nice hilly ride! I always enjoy this loop because I get to cross over a huge lake surrounded by pine trees...very pretty!

Fri-Swim...may end up being another day off as I have to go into work early. Managed to get a run (with speed work) in before work, cut it short at 20 minutes though because my ankle and shin were acting up.

Sat-yoga/long bike...probably no yoga as I have to work, but the the long bike is def in as long as it doesn't pour out. I've been wanting to make it to this group ride for ever now.
Sun-off? DH has duty...so we shall see.

Race Day!

Goals: (this was my so called A race) top 10 age group, under 1 hour 30 mins

Reality: 8th in age group, 1:31:34

I'm a bit bummed that I wasn't able to keep it under 1:30, but I'm still really pleased with my times. That was my first ocean swim and I felt like it went really well. I was in the pack of girls first out of the water. Now that was a real half mile swim. All those other races I have to say were def not. They spent a lot of time talking about the large numbers of jelly fish in the water, but fortunately I didn't meet any.

Swim: distance 1/2 mile, 15 minutes even
T1: 5:02 Really need to work on getting my wet suit off faster.

Bike was good. I worked really hard to keep my HR even and my breathing good. Felt very in control. Got passed a lot, but I'm just going to assume that that was because there were so many good bikers that were slower swimmers. Averaged 18mph! Nice increase of 2 mph.

Bike: 12 miles, 40:54

T2: 1:39 Yuck..thought I had it down to under a minute with the last race. Legs were a bit shaky going into T2.

Felt really good going out onto the course. Kept the same pace I did for the last race, even with the additional half mile. I can't help wondering if maybe I should have gone just a bit faster though. Although I'm really happy that I managed to keep the same pace as the last race for a longer distance and my hr didn't sky rocket and my breathing was under control.

run: 3.4 mile run, 29 even