You know you're tapering when...
...I couldn't get to sleep last night until after 2am. I had coffee after 3pm (big no-no) but I was laying there riding the bike course over and over again in my head -- remembering the turns, hills, landmarks, shifting points.
Got up, busted out WKO and my race file from '04, found that while I didn't do a great job of pacing the bike (rode 2:33 the first 56 and about 2:37-08 the second 56), I think I also found that the second loop, specifically the ride back to Madison, is faster than the first. IOW, my avg watts for the first half of the bike were about 218 vs ~203 on the second half, but I wasn't "that" much slower. This is reinforced by my Friday ride at the camp, where I added to my average speed of the ride by being able to stay on the gas all the way back to camp.
So then I'm looking at specific sections of the course for '04 vs my rides at the camp, making a strategy about how I'm going to ride from Cross Plains to Verona, planning to rehearse that section on Thursday next week with Joanne dropping me off at Uphill Grind and picking me up in Verona...and round and round and round...uggg.
Gonna get out of this Starbucks and do a screencast of my thoughts on how to ride the course, if only so I can friggin' sleep tonight. And I'm hungry...and I have big ass goggle marks from swimming...and....and....
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....I feel like superman now, and 6 hours later like the Big Man With A Stick has been beating me for a while, only to feel like superman again a few hours later....
The other thing is my hunger has gone through the roof!!!! This is killing me and freaking me out at the same time.
Agreed. I'm afraid to get on the scale for fear of confirmation that I've lost my mind...
My weight always goes up during a taper even if I eat perfectly and adjust my intake correctly. I've just learned to to with it and not pay attention any more.
Building on the weight points:
There are a couple of things I turn off in the weeks before the race: the scale and Slowtwitch. I've learned that both give a lot noise and neither add to race day outcomes.
On ST, there are plenty of other mental things getting churned up in my little brain starting at about two weeks out, and going to the "Official Freakout about IMXX" thread ain't helping me one bit.
I also have an inevitable period in my taper of doubting my training, preparedness, and worth as an athlete, the risk of seeing a scale that shows extra pounds can be an accelerant, so I just neutralize it. I might actually push the scale/BF monitor beneath the dresser so it's out of signt, out of mind.
Though I will continue to check EN obsessively when in taper: good stuff that is material to an an improved race outcome keeps coming until Day zero, and the chatter is remarkably positive.
I'm stretching a lot which is making me very aware of all kinds of niggles, etc.
Waiting for it to warm a bit before I hit the long-ish run.
About to do my screencast above and will publish later today.
I jumped on the Desoto email yesterday to order a pair of Riviera (?) tri bibs, cuz they gots the red panel on the sides that will look good with the kit
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Got permission from Mama to try out/race with a pair of her fashion Raybans: minimal frame and very big lens. Want to work with her next to get some pics of the bike, me on the bike, etc so I can share my set up with everyone (dead simple)
You're stretching? Never thought I would live to see this day.
-I'm losing weight. Not sure why. Not meaning to. So I'm convinced it's muscle.
-Can't sleep. . so you know what that means.
-I fearful of losing fitness and I'm obsessing. Thinking about the race.
-cleaning.
-back to obsession.
-getting a message.
The usual taper for an ironman and driving my husband crazy. . . however, he's doing the same race so we're a hot mess.
Yes, stretching, and at this point all it's really doing is making aware of junk that's tight, stiff, etc. I'm going to hook up two massages before I leave on Wed and another two in Madison.
I also weighed myself...probably a big mistake but the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. I know that between glycogen stores, hydration, etc my weight is going to bounce around, but I didn't need to see 157 on the scale today. Ugg..
This is the reason that people that go on a zero-carb diet (think Atkins) lose so much weight in the first couple of weeks...they shed a lot of stored glycogen and the associated water weight.
The point here is that if I'm right that we're chronically glycogen-depleted, then we do a reverse-Atkins during taper and put on a bit of water weight. This will come off before you even start the run, so don't worry about it. :-)
Yep, I do that math all day: "155lb race morning, drink ~2lb water in transition, 157lb in the lake, ~155lb by the time I get on the bike = ~153lb pretty quickly = x w/kg...pass the ice cream!!