The Taper and Time to Pack

Morning

Taper is here.  Not sure if this means I will be moving from the crying, annoying, overwhelmed state into the moody, irritable bear territory.  And with 2 of us in taper right now, it may be a sad state of affairs in our house right now people.  Our poor children needing to put up with us.  A bit of a pay back for them from the teenage years on us.

I did have a rocking 70.3 this past weekend which has really helped my mental and emotional state of mind.  Hubby and I went to Edmonton, Alberta to race Great White North.  Great race.  Recap will be out soon.

Also helping my mental state is my sense of freedom.  I love my job don't get me wrong, but I sure look forward to summer holidays and a change of schedule.  I am a teacher so my last day of work was last Thursday, June 30.  We left for Edmonton right after I got home from work Thurs so it feels really nice to be home this week and be able to set my own schedule.

 I am slowly making piles of things to pack for our trip and will probably get my last bike ride in Friday morning to get my bike packed up that afternoon.  We are driving to the airport Sunday and our flight leaves on Monday.   I find it hard by nature to pack "light."  My husband could leave for the weekend with a toothbrush, extra socks and underwear and a clean shirt and be good.  I would have a suitcase.  I like to be prepared for everything.  It will be a challenge to whittle things down to the essentials and hope I have covered all bases.  We are going for the triathlon, hiking, visiting friends and a wedding so that is a pile of kinda different things that will need to come along.  I think the lowest shoe count I can possibly go with is 6.  Glad there will be lots of room in my bike bag for some extra things.

I am still quite anxious about whether I am prepared for the distances of the 3 disciplines of the Ironman but I am also realistic enough to know that nothing I do right now is going to improve that. I know it will be very hard but I can taste the accomplishment of being able to cross the finish line.  It is more exciting than scary and that is a good thing.  My 2 kids are very excited to be able to join us when we run toward the finish.  It will have a very big impact on them I think.  My swim wave is 1 hour before hubby so there will be a good chance we will be very close together by the end of the run.  I am still trying to figure out what pace to be riding at.  My first event this year was a bike distance of 12 miles.  It was balls out.  This past weekend of 56 miles was hard but with common sense.  Hubby says I need to back off for the 112 miles to set myself up for a good run.
I know a majority of triathletes are number/tec people.  I have a garmin with a heart rate monitor and I have used trainer road for my bike training but I mostly train my perceived effort.  I couldn't tell you what my watts are or power numbers or what speed I can hold on my bike for any length of time.  I have come with history of my body mostly not able to do what I want it to do.  While comparing my past weekend time with that of my 3 previous 70.3 distances, I was dismayed to see that last year I raced 5 separate events and felt horrible for all of them.  I think my body is in a better place this year.  I have been happy with the results from both of my races. I need a strong body for 1 more event so I am doing everything to boost my immune system and keep my hormones and tummy happy.  Extra sleep has been a nice perk to the taper.

Any advice or hints for completion of a full distance triathlon, please send my way!!