Taper Updates

I've been so into Tweeting lately that I have fallen off the blog world. I must say, Tweeting (aka microblogging) totally fits my style better than blogging. I rarely have enough time to sit down and type up a blog, but summing things up in a sentence or two is a snap. Here's a series of updates as to what's been happening these last couple weeks.

1. I made it through my 5 week big block, well almost:
Once I got the all clear to race IMCDA from my panel of expert doctors, I set on a course to do 5 weeks of big volume training. Considering I did next to nothing in April, this was ambitious, and somewhat reckless. A few people mentioned the high probability of injury I'd be flirting with. Now, I know I have to find some wood to knock on before even typing this, but I have been really fortunately not have not had an overuse injury in years. Now, this could be just that I don't train enough! Anyway, I am sidetracked. The point is, I almost made it through the 5 week block. Physically I was fantastic, but in a strange twist, it was my head that broke down. I've always described myself as "the robot." Whatever training there is to do, I go do it. No drama, no meltdowns, just get your ass out there and do it. But, this time around I got a little taste of the burnout. On consective Thursdays in weeks 4 and 5, after rising at 5AM on the four previous days, I had to bail on the workout. I was just like, "No way. This is not going to happen this morning." Rebecca took pity on me both times and made me feel less guilty. Then, for the last long ride, on Sunday of week 5, I got up early, made my bottles, got all my gear on and left the house only to turn around 3 houses down. I simply couldn't face riding for 5 hours that day. I bailed on the enitre workout. I got the ride in the next day, but it was unfamiliar territory for me to be having training burnout. I guess I am not the robot after all.

2. Not entirely true, there was one injury:
When I say I was physically great, that is meaning with exception to a bike wreck that happened in the fourth week. My back wheel got away from me on a slick corner in the rain on my commute home. Fortunately it was cold and I had long leggings and long sleeves on, so no road rash, but I did bang the hell out of my right hip, elbow, and ankle. It was such a fast wipeout too. The first indication I had that I was going down was seeing my back wheel on the left side of the road, then boom, right on the pavement. Its my third bike crash lifetime, and second one in the last two years, though last year I only had one hand on the handlebars (don't ask where the other was). So, after skidding outt in the rain, I decided I needed a better commuting bike.

3. I decided I need a cyclocross bike...or not:
So, I immersed myslef in cycloss terminology and bike specs. I budgeted myself $500. What I came up with was a Motobecane Phantom CX. I came so close to pulling the trigger too. But then I realized I probably wasn't going to like the ride, and started looking at bikes that are $800, then $1200, and pretty soon I was ready to scrap the idea. See, I absolutely love my current commuter, a Specialized Roubaix. It has a super smooth ride, and great handling, its just that the tires are too skinny. So, in the end, I convinced myself to keep riding the Roubaix, be more careful in the rain, and get it some 700x28 knobbys.

4. I'm a swimming monster, for no reason:
In other news, I took 4 weeks off from swimming. Because of work and being a busy Daddy, if I am to maximize volume (thus available training time), I have to cut swimming. It simply takes too long to drive to the pool, change clothes, swim, and then drive back. That's all time that can be spent riding or running where I need to go. So, my big volume weeks were all biking and running, which is different than I have ever done. So, to see how bad the news was, I did my usual 1200m time trail at my Saturday pool. And for no reason at all, I took 1min10secs off my PR. What the heck? Who says more yardage make you faster??? For me, I guess being fitter makes you faster!

5. A new hypothesis will be tested:
So, here we are in the taper for my third Ironman. The first one was the test of if I could finish, and the second was seeing how fast I could go. In this one, there is a new question: how fast can an undertrained, yet very well rested Scott go? I think this will be a fun race for me. No pressure, and I can try out different ideas. One thing I might try is to see how fast I can run the marathon after going easy on the bike and swim. Who knows? The cool part is, it doesn't matter, so I haven't made my mind up just yet.

That's the updates for now. Watch the Tweet bar!