Crunch Time

I'm finally in the last stage of training, the taper. I can still recall a time back in February when I thought these days would never arrive. At that time, looking ahead to the long hours that I've now put in the bank was exciting, but almost overwhelming. Now that I'm on the other end of my training, I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed pushing my body to see if it can handle the stress, recover, and then become stronger. Over the past few weeks, I've had times where I really felt great, especially on my mid-week runs, but there have also been a few rides that were slower than I'd hoped. I have to constantly tell myself that when I ride slowly on Saturday, it's probably due to everything that I did Monday through Thursday. What I really have to count on is that over the next week and a half, my body will finally get a chance to fully recover and be in top form come race day.

Speaking of race day, I'm starting to get into panic mode just wondering what the expect on the big day. I guess my biggest fear now is getting off the bike at T2, throwing on my running shoes, and then being completely out of gas at mile 5. If it somehow comes down to that (and it won't...I hope), I'll have to be (Iron)man enough to just walk it out for 21.2 miles. The 2 biggest things that could potentially get me in this situation are going too hard on the bike and/or not eating enough on the bike. I'm not a big fan of uncertainties, so this evening I made a detailed, hour by hour nutrition plan to make sure I get adequate calories while I'm riding. I've also made a vow to ride by heart rate for the first half of the ride and then by perceived effort until I get to T2.

I think the key for me is to realize that in an Ironman, the swim and bike are just a long warm-up for the marathon.