The back stretch

[Wahine]

No, this isn't a PT thread.

So I'm in the second to last week before IM Canada. I took last week off completely for rest. I was heading into some serious cumulative fatigue. Fortunately, my adopted running coach realized what was going on and demanded that I rest for 7 days!! I thought I was going to be whacko from boredom, but actually I really needed it and I didn't start to get antsy until day 7.

So here's what's up....

Yesterday - 110 mile bike, over 8500 feet climbing in 7 hours riding time.
Today (Mon) - rest
Tues - swim with masters, hard freestyle set, form workout on the track with short sprints
Wed - tempo run for about 11 to 13 miles (plus warm-up and cooldown)
Thurs - Swim masters, Tempo ride for about 2 -3 hours
Fri - rest
Sat - Run, more tempo work but length depends on how I feel. Raft trip with my boss to celebrate 50th b-day (hers, not mine)

Sun and Mon - lots of sleep, no workouts

Tues - Swim, then mini brick with some intensity.
Wed - Short ride with spin ups to keep the legs sharp and travel half way to race
Thurs - travel rest of way, go for a swim and short run with intervals
Fri - rest
Sat - mini tri, then breakfast and get my gear ready.

Sunday - Kick some serious booty.

This will be my official venting during my taper thread. I will try to keep my irrational rants and ravings isolated here in an attempt to not atagonize the entire forum. If you choose to visit, you can't say I didn't warn you.

[Zen]

This will be my official venting during my taper thread. I will attemp to keep my irrational rants and ravings isolated here in an attempt to not atagonize the entire forum. If you choose to visit, you can't say I didn't warn you.

I'm looking forward to this

[Running Mommy]

FARK! I MUST have my head in the sand??!! I had NO IDEA that you were doing the grande dame of Canada??!!
OY, where have I been??? Oh yeah, at the doctors office.... ALOT!!!

I want to break out in a verse of "O CANADA" right now.. But ummm errr... Don't know the words- if there are any.. heh heh heh

Anyway, that is some SERIOUS climbing girlfriend. You are ready for Richter pass I'd say! SHEESH!!
You are going to ROCK that course. And yeah, taking that week off is prolly just what you needed to get all healed up and everything.
Oh- and one more thing... The week or so before the race, you will feel heavy and sloggish. THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE FEELING. I know you know that, but I felt the need to SHOUT it too ya!! hee hee

Anyway, don't go losing your mind during this taper now, 'kay??
Oh do I know that feeling... ohh do I... I envy you. I'm ready to start building my mileage again. I'm in a weight loss phase, so only doing short stuff... sigh.. I MISS my 7 hour ride, 2 hour run bricks. Tho I will be seeing them again come the end of the year... Patience I keep telling myself. PATIENCE...
Something us Iron women aren't very good at! lol

[Wahine]

What the @#$!! am I doing still up, I need to be sleeping so I can get up at 5:00 AM to go to the pool. Aaaaaaggggghhhhh!!

Edited to add: Thanks for the Reminder RM. I already feel sluggish. I'm sure CC could help you out with the words. Take care, you've been going through a lot.

[Veronica]

OH MY GOD! You really are insane. I like it.

V.

[rocknrollgirl]

Bring on the crazy venting YODA...we can take it.... I look forward to tuning in on any and all insanity that it stimulates....

[HappyAnika]

Oh my gosh, is it really August? How did that happen . . .

Hmm, so now you have an audience that's actually looking forward to your insane ranting!

[LBTC]

Oh Hmm, so now you have an audience that's actually looking forward to your insane ranting!

Indeed! Bring it on, Wahine! You've earned it!!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[alpinerabbit]

Oh wait I found a cooler one



p.s. for the worker bees among us: what sort of schedule do you work to fit your training around?

[Tri Girl]

Wow- only 2 weeks away?? Where did the time go?
Sounds like you're not only ready for your race, but you're going to kick arse at it!!!!! I can't wait to hear all about your race day- it's going to be a nail biter for all of us waiting on you.
When you know your bib #, please let us know so we can track you during the day (if you don't mind us tracking you, that is).

Vent away: cry, scream, curse, and even yell here. We're all on your side!!!!

[Wahine]

Thanks girls. I was ready to go on a rant but then I started to laugh so hard when I checked the thread, my rant may have dissipated.

Alpine, where on earth do you find this stuff?

As for work, I average 32 hours per week. I'm on an appointment schedule so I block out time at lunch to fit in workouts and tray to swim at least 2 times (3 if I can) during the week before my first appointment at 8 AM. It's tight, but I make it work.

So today I swam my azz off for 2100 m at 1:40 pace. These were 200s and 100s on short rest intervals. The coach was standing over top of me making sure I didn't cheat on my rest. So I called him a b@st@rd several times, much to the amusement of my lane mates.

I'm a little freaked out about my run because I did some zone 4 intervals of 1/2 mile today and could only hold a 7:45 ish pace. This does not bode well for a 8:30 pace race day. But hey, I'll finish. I have to keep reminding myself that nothing is lost if I don't hit my goal time. It's not like anyone's going to drop my sponsorship contracts that I don't have!!

Well, off to sleep. Longer run tomorrow. That'll really tell the tale. And that will be my last hard run before the race. Baaaaaahhhhhh!!

[Veronica]

You're going to run a mile in 8 and a half minutes. And then you're going to repeat that 25 more times!!!!!

I have a theory on tri order. The swim is first so you don't drown from exhaustion at the finish line. The run is last so when you collapse from exhaustion at the finish line, you don't have so far to fall or equipment to worry about.

I think you'll do just fine Wahine.

V.

[KSH]

WOW! It's almost here! How exciting! I remember when you first started mentioning it and your training.. was that about a year ago?

Man, the time has flown by!

Last night, when I woke up in the middle of the night... I was thinking about how you do your training... with recovery weeks... and I'm going to talk to my coach about looking into that kind of schedule for my IM training. And if he can't do it, I'll find someone who can. I've come to the realization that I'm a mediocre, slow athlete, who needs REST! I never get a rest day with my current coach and I think it's killing me.

Anyhoo... please keep us updated and let us know your bib number if we are able to track you on Ironman.com!

[Wahine]

You're going to run a mile in 8 and a half minutes. And then you're going to repeat that 25 more times!!!!!

I have a theory on tri order. The swim is first so you don't drown from exhaustion at the finish line. The run is last so when you collapse from exhaustion at the finish line, you don't have so far to fall or equipment to worry about.

I think you'll do just fine Wahine.

V.

My 8:30 to 9 min pace on the marathon is looking a little out of reach at the mo.

Ran this AM, 15 miles and I did 9 of them at about race intensity and I was not averaging under 9 min/mi. Granted it was hot and I ran short intervals yesterday so my hips were tight and my legs a little tired.

Oh well, we'll see what happens.

You are exactly right on the race order theory there V. Think of the disaster if you totally bonked in the water or on the bike.

I'm starting to get excited. My bib number was assigned today - 2289. Sounds lucky to me.

[Running Mommy]

And YES, it sounds VERY lucky to me!!
As far as holding a pace like that?? DANG NABBIT GIRL!!! That is SPEEDY!!!
I'd die to hold an 11 min mi pace for the IM mary! HA!!
Oh heck, I'm just a slooowww poke anyway....
As Apline said (bow down) I'm NOT WORTHY!!!
I can't WAIT to watch you! It's going to be a tri fecta kinda weekend now! Running son is going to do his FIRST triathlon on the 25th, running hubby is racing the 26th, and I get to watch YOU on Ironmanlive float across the finishline in sweet victory!
Love it, LOVE IT!!!
Oh and KSH- ditch the coach if he's running you into the ground. I just had to set mine straight. He has been hammering me to lose weight. So I finally got with a nutritionist and have lost 12 lbs in the last month. BUT she doesn't want me doing any long stuff right now. She says when your in a weight loss phase, you can't tax your body by also doing the long stuff. It's too much and it wont work. Plus I'd be too hungry if I was doing long stuff. So I do more frequent smaller workouts, and well... It's working. But he keeps hammering away that I need to do long stuff and just "control my hand shoving food in my mouth". I about drove out to his house to shove something somewhere else with that comment!
Let's just say that we aren't seeing eye to eye right now. He's also coaching my husband, so I think he needs to concentrate on that and leave me to do my thing...
Oops... sorry for the thread drift.. heh heh heh
back to Wahine's taper induced freak out thread!