Ahh here we are less than three weeks to the big dance! And as expected, I'm FREAKING OUT!!!
As you know I've been sick, so I feel like I had some kind of wierd reverse taper. I'm actually going hard this week with Next sunday being my last hard day of training. I'm going to keep swimming long until race week, but I'll cut back on my bike and run training. Not that my run training has been all that much. My bike training has been solid though, so I should make some improvements there. My worry as usual though is the swim. Ohh the swim. If you remember from last year I am dreadfully slow in the water, so missing the cut off is always in the back of my mind. And this year I just don't feel like I put the time in the pool like i did lastyear. So right now that is my current worry/obsession/point of anxiety/etc.....
And that is just the swim anxiety. The run anxiety is also lingering back there "you didn't run enough long runs. It's been a long time since that marathon in January. And you pretty much walked that. Are you going to wimp out and walk this marathon too"....
And on and on it goes!!
Oh and then there is the fact that I have no idea what I'm going to wear! I can't find a bike jersey I like!! OY!!! I can't wear the same thing I wore last year. No way! I need a cute bike jersey, that fits over my gut and doesn't make me look like an oompa loompa! And why is it that tri companies consider and xl top to be a 12-14??!!! I'm a 14-16 and 12-14 has always been a large to me!

Ahhh this is the hardest part of training. Surviving the taper without losing your mind!

The one thing I keep telling myself is that I've done it before, and that I CAN do it again! And I will dang it, I WILL!!!
Stay safe!
Denise

Oh, one other thing I wanted to talk about. Last weekend I attended a benefit concert for a local tri celeb/ coaching couple that were hit on their bikes last November. The Gage's - George and Jane Esahak- Gage are wonderful people. George almost died, in fact it's a miracle that he did not. Anyway, they have started the Gage safer streets foundation. There are already new "share the road" signs being put up around certain popular cycling corridors in the Phoenix area. They say "share the roads" and have a picture of a bike next to a car and then they say "bikes get 3 feet". I haven't seen the signs in person but I hear they are 8x3 feet.
Anyway, George was talking and one thing he said struck a cord with me. He said "ya know. I was just like all of you out there. I would hear about cyclists getting hit and I would think ohh how terrible. And feel bad for the family and rider. But then I would go about my business. I would think something needed to be done. But I didn't act. Well now I am that person. I am the one that everyone is saying "oh how terrible". Well it's time for me to act. I am going to take action because this has got to stop."
So that got me thinking. And I have decided that I'm going to contact the Gages and see how I can help them in their foundation. I was thinking about how I could go to high schools and talk to young drivers. Get to them early and hopefully strike a cord with them.
So that is just one idea I had. But what can you do? What steps can you take to effect a change. If all of us take small steps it can lead to something big. We need a shift in thinking out there. We need non cyclists to realize that we are really just like them- only on bikes.
So what will you do today to make a difference??

read about the amazing Gages here:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/a...te1201Z14.html

And be safe out there!
denise