Much like in the movie, "The Ring," I am waiting for the phone to ring and a creepy voice to whisper, "Seven days..." It's hard to believe that that's how short a time stands between me and Ironman Lake Placid.
I will not lie. I am getting a little stir crazy. My energy level is through the roof thanks to my taper, and I find myself with extra time on my hands. Basically, I am like a cocker spaniel puppy on Pop Rocks. I am trying to rely on my trainer brain to resist the temptation to do more work. I know at this point that it's too late to do any training that will help me for the race. Now, I need to focus on rest and recovery.
This week, my training will consist of mostly yoga, foam rolling, and just enough swimming, biking, and running to keep the gears in motion. The rule is, "nothing that makes me sore." Soreness means muscular damage, which is something I won't recover from in time for the race. That means no weight lifting this week. Which is going to be agonizing. As much as I love endurance sports, weight training is my lifeblood and my favorite fitness activity. It will be tough to take a break from it, but it must be done.
In addition, I need to be particularly careful with my nutrition heading into Ironman weekend. My reduced activity level means that I will not need as many calories each day, and I do not want to put on extra weight right before the race. Luckily, tracking everything in My Fitness Pal is making that very easy to manage.
I'll check in again later in the week and post my athlete tracking information (so you can track me on race day throughout the course if you want; they even have live video feed of the finish line). I've already drafted out my packing lists. Right now it's about getting mentally prepared to do my best and rock this race.
