Taper Week 1

I made it to the taper weeks! Woohoo! I have looked ahead in my training so many times and have looked at the taper wondering if I would make it and now its here. I did my last really long workout yesterday, a long run. I ran a little over 12 miles and for the most part I felt great.

I am proud of myself for sticking to the training program for 18 weeks so far and for dedicating so much of my time and energy towards this race. No matter what happens on race day I know I couldn't have done much more to prepare for this race. My body has impressed me as well as annoyed me, but mostly I have been happy with my training and the preparation for this race. There have been countless early mornings, long evenings, and tired days because of all this working out, but hopefully come July 9 it will all be worth it.

I was supposed to take today off because Saturday which is usually my day off I had to be on an indoor cycle for about 3 hours! I was getting my Group Cycling Instructor Certification and we all taught about 15 min each and the instructor took us through an hour ride as well. Then Sunday I needed to get my long run in and today I teach spinning. Tomorrow is just an open water swim and then I think I will take Wednesday off and then Saturday off. Other then that no other days off besides the day before the race!

I will update again when the second week of taper begins and again closer to the race. For now I am trying not to be too anxious about the race but that is proving near impossible! I am freaking out;)

This week of taper still has a couple long-ish workouts, but nothing too taxing and then next week is very light, with small run through's of each sport (like tiny little triathlons) to keep every thing fresh.

3 weeks....

Holy Moly this is really happening and soon! I cannot believe I have one more week of hard training and then a 2 week taper. I feel ready but so scared. This race has forced me to sacrifice time with friends, time with family, sleep, etc. I know it will be worth it when I cross the finish line, so that has pushed me through. I did a long run in the heat yesterday and I found myself repeating some mantra's over and over again that I know I will use during the run on race day to get myself through.

I also found out the race is going to start at 8am, instead of 7am, which isn't a huge difference I know, but it just means one more hour of heat later in the day during the run. I don't know why they changed the time, but basically I will be starting a half marathon around 1:00pm in July---not my idea of a good time, but what can I do?

I am happy I have stuck through this training and know that I have put my body through a lot of challenges and for the most part it has risen to the challenges. I have never had so many mornings where I have woken up sore only to try and remember what workout made me sore only to have to go back and do the same thing again to my legs. I always work out a lot and so I didn't think I would notice a lot of changes in my body, but I do know I have thighs of steel now thanks to all the biking I am sure. Also my arms and shoulders have gotten stronger thanks to all the swimming! The only thing I have gotten from all the running is some blisters, sore feet, and messed up toe nails.

This coming week I have a three hour ride followed by a run and a short ride followed by a 2 hour run on the schedule. I am also going to try to get an open water swim in this week or early next week just because I like them:)

The countdown is on...20 days!!

4 weeks to go!

What??? Only four weeks to go, that is scary! So in 2 weeks I taper for the race--YIKES! As ready as I am to be done training, I am anxious about the race and getting through it. I have been feeling good and getting in a lot of good workouts, which since preschool is over we don't have a day to day routine anymore and therefore my workouts are all over the place.

This past Wednesday it was very hot, over 90 degrees and I wasn't too interesed in running or biking so "team Funcie" which is about 6 people who are training for the Muncie half Ironman and I went up to Muncie to do an open water swim. We got to see where the swim course is going to be and get an idea of where everything else would be too. That made it seem very very real. It was fun to go up there though with these 5 other people who are great athletes and are most likely crazier then me when it comes to working out---yes people who work out and train way more then me! Anyway, we swam around a mile and headed home (all of us piled into one mini-van). For me it was nice to have an evening workout and not to have to worry about the heat.

I have 2 more weeks of hard, long workouts ahead of me and then taper which I believe will make me insane! I know its important and necessary but it will be hard not to push it. I know Paul will be happy when this is over because I will be around a lot more on the weekends (well Sunday since I work all day Saturday)

I got up early this morning (Sunday) and rode 35 miles by myself and then ran 5...it was a beautiful day and a lot of my friends ran or rode in races yesterday so I knew I was on my own, but biking by one self is quite boring!

I am off to fold laundry and watch the Ironman 70.3 World Championship on TV, which will make me excited and anxious I am sure:)

Getting Closer

This race is creeping up closer and closer! I think there are only 2 more weeks of training before I taper for the race---WHAT? That scares me. This past weekend was Memorial weekend so I tried to fit in some long workouts. On Sunday it was hot and windy but I set out with some friends and we rode 50 miles. The last 15 felt really long because of the wind. We stopped to refill water bottles a couple times and thank goodness we did. I drank a lot of Ironman Perform and water as well as ate two gels and a 1/2 of a cliff bar. I was tired when we were done and hungry, but so glad I went to the distance. Then Monday morning (memorial day) I got up early (what's new) and ran 5 miles and then went to Morse Reservoir to swim with some people on the NASTI swim team. We swam 2 miles! It was my longest open water swim and it was tough but I made it through and now I know I can swim 1.2:)

These early morning workouts have become a normal thing for me and I love getting the workout out of the way early in the day, but man 4:30am SUCKS! I drag my sleepy self out of bed and straight downstairs because I always have all of my stuff laid out down there so I am not shuffling around upstairs. Paul might kill me if I woke a kid up before 5am! I am not sure if I mentioned in my last post, but I needed to do a 2 hour run and we had a lot going on that day and it was supposed to storm later in the day so I got up at 4:15 and was running by 445am in the dark! I ran 12.5 miles before 7am, it was so weird. But again I got it done and was able to do all the other things that needed to be done that day, just a little slower.

I actually feel very ready for this race. The only thing that is scaring me is the long run after the bike in the heat. I have done long bike rides and long runs, but not in the extreme heat that is a real possibility on July 9th in Indiana:) I am really excited to do the race and also pretty excited for it to be over.

I want to give another shout out to my husband Paul---without him all this craziness would be impossible. He often has the kids by himself way more then he ever has and he rarely if ever complains...:)

I am sure there is more to report, but I got up at 5am to swim a mile in Morse and I am feeling sleepy!