The countdown to my biggest race of the year is getting to some pretty small numbers lately! 3 more days and the gun goes off at USAT Age Group Nationals in Vermont!
This is the race that I built my whole season around and picked my rache schedule just so I could qualify and earn my entry. All that work paid off and my work with Coach Hirsch has me feeling strong. Needless to say I’m VERY excited to race and VERY ready to taper.
I just got a new aero helmet that I can’t wait to rock this weekend too! I love it.
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Last weekend I had two more days of hard workouts before starting my taper. It was raining so I took my 2 hour bike onto the trainer. Once I warmed up, no matter how hard I pushed I couldn’t get my HR above 135 or the life of me. It was just stalled. That is completely not normal for me. I don’t think that has EVER happened to me before. Or at least I’ve never noticed it before. I cut the workout short and focused on stretching, massage, some time in my Recovery Pump boots and some good nutrition. I immediately booked a massage with Soar Body to get my muscles rubbed down and refreshed.
I talked to Coach and he said that my decision to back off was a smart one. My body was cooked and that is why my HR wouldn’t rise. Looks like my taper is starting early this time around!
Now I’ve got some easy swimbikerun sessions to keep the muscles fresh and loose, but I also need to make sure I don’t go stir crazy.
I felt a little scratch in my throat and started freaking out that I was getting a cold. I’m also relentlessly checking the Burlington weather forecast for this weekend. What looked like it could have been a really wet race, looks like it might be pretty sunny. Still, it is one more thing that I can stress out about forever, but don’t have any control over. I’ve gotta focus on preparing and not waste any mental energy on all that other crap.
So time to go have some under water fun! I can ALWAYS have fun taking stupid pictures of myself in the pool.
Image may be NSFW.
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The rest of my To-Dos this week include cleaning my bike, degrease and lube my chain, eat healthy and get LOTS of sleep.
See you in Burlington!
