It's Taper Time!!

It's official...my Ironman taper has begun! A 'taper' is when you reduce the amount of training prior to a race or event. The traditional Ironman taper is 3 weeks, but since my coach isn't a high volume coach, we felt that a shorter taper would be ok leading up to the big day (2 weeks to go - but who's counting?!).

My last 'big' workout of the season was on Saturday. I was scheduled to ride for 6 hours - wearing my race gear, eating race food and pacing as though it were race day. Oh and I had to do all this - ALONE! That's a pretty good chunk of time to be alone on your bike. I admit, I didn't want to ride for 6 hours when I got up on Saturday morning. I especially didn't want to ride 2 loops of the IM course. The morning started out cloudy and gloomy. Great, I thought, another icky day in Madison. The last week has brought nothing but rain, storms, clouds and humidity. I was ready for that to be over.

The first half of the first loop sucked. Mentally, I wasn't in it and my legs weren't really cooperating either. I kept going though. After all, I was already 25 miles away from home. I would at least need to ride another 25 miles to get home. I definitely thought about cutting the ride short for most of the first loop. The sun did finally come out, which was GREAT! It definitely lifted my spirits and my legs even started to feel pretty darn good. So, I decided to suck it up and start on that 2nd loop. Once I was into it, there was nothing I could do but finish it.

The wind had picked up by the time I started the 2nd loop. This really put a damper on the first half of the loop, but once I got Mount Horeb I was relieved. I stopped in at the Kwik Trip where I ran into my friend Tim Kranz. Tim watched my bike while I grabbed a coke, a gatorade and a water. We refilled bottles and set out. Tim and one of his friends stayed pretty much ahead of me for most of the loop. I did manage to catch them at one point and pass them for a bit, but I just tried to keep steady and hang in there. Surprisingly, the remainder of the ride wasn't all that bad. My feet started to bother me with about 40 minutes to go (good to know for the big day), but the best surprise was that my legs weren't all that sore when I got off the bike. In total, I rode 91 miles in 5 hours and 40 minutes. (I rode more miles on my bike yesterday than I drove in my car!) Even as I sit here the next day, I don't feel the soreness and fatigue that I expected.

So here it is - TAPER TIME! I'm so relieved and excited to have shorter and fewer workouts. And to have Ironman Sunday on the very near horizon. It was nearly one year ago that I registered. I'm definitely ready to tackle this challenge. I know it's going to hurt. I know I'll have moments of impatience and frustration. But, what I won't have is doubt. I have done what it takes to participate in this race and I can complete it.

The next 2 weeks bring lots of excitement...

1) My 29th Birthday!
2) My mom arrives in Madison....and we haven't seen each other in 3 years!
3) My friend Peter is having a house warming party.
4) Registering for Ironman.
5) Attending the Athlete Meeting/Banquet.
6) Participating in the Gatorade Swim (a practice lap of the course!)
7) Checking in all my Gear for the Race.
8) Pre-IM dinner with Family and Friends

IRONMAN WI - September 9th, 2007

Stay tuned for important race details! Thank you all for following my journey so far. It's been wonderful to share it in this way with all of you. Also, results of the haircut poll later this week!