Friday 10 October 2008

It's nearly taper time - should I train first?

Race Day is getting ever closer and the nagging doubts are already there.

Why have I been so lazy at times?
Why haven’t I got more long stuff in?
Why is my nutrition not nailed down yet?
How the hell am I going to get through this race in a decent time?

So many more questions but it already feels as though it’s too little to late.

Since the last post I’ve got some decent running done (14.5, 13.5 & 10.5miles) and a solid swim (4k TT), my bike is still the weakness though and the thought of going out for 5-6hrs is still a thought that fills me with dread. The amount of times I’ve planned a century+ bike ride and wimped out far exceeds the amount I’ve done. This weekend is planned to be my final long bike ride and I really need to try for 100+ miles just to ease my mind. I feel that when it comes to the crunch I know the swim won’t be a problem, I know I can knock the run out fairly comfortably, but that damn bike…………… 112miles is so far and to get round the distance and still have my running legs attached is my biggest downfall and the cause of all my failures so far. Maybe if it’s playing on my mind come race day I’ll actually err on the side of caution where the bike is concerned and take it even easier than I need to.

I’ve been having a weekly massage, which may or may not be working but there are no injury worries at the moment so I’ll take that as a good thing. My lovely pain mistress Maria seems constantly amused at the state of my legs though. I think she secretly wonders how someone with so many knots and so much lactic build up can actually move their legs up and down. Thankfully though she doesn’t nag me to stretch, she doesn’t nag me to warm up and down and she doesn’t even nag me to shave my legs.

This weekend will hopefully be a century bike ride on Saturday followed by an evening (and early morning) watching Hawaii on the internet. If I get my backside out of bed early enough on Sunday morning then I’ll jump in the car and head off to Wadebridge for the last local Triathlon of the season. It’ll be good to give the muscles a good blast out after what seems like months and months of plodding along at Ironman pace. I might even sneak a bit of extra training in pre-race as there’s bound to be a big wait between registration and my swim start.

2 comments:

Mark said...

Iain,

I don't know what you're whining about the bike for? You're an awesome runner, and a great swimmer - the bike should just be an intermission for you. You've no doubt got the fitness!!! Maybe you just need to SLOW DOWN and focus on nutrition? Don't be ashamed of a bigger bike time. I was passed by 800+ people in Lake Placid. Think about that for a minute - 800 people...old, short, fat, tall, old short fat tall women, everyone. Now I'm a 35 y old pretty in shape guy, and I'm sure they were all happy to be passing me, but I was riding "within myself". Fuck ego, fuck pride...race your own race! If only I could run, I would have passed many of them back. Because you are such a good runner, if you ride the bike correctly, you will pass almost all of them back.

You need to FULLY commit to doing this Century this weekend. None of this "hopefully" bullshit. Fully commit to doing the ride and doing it well. Slow down and concentrate on your nutrition.

Stop questioning yourself about your training and inconsistencies - move forward!

You better figure this shit out, or I will throw tomatoes at you in FL!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

All of what Mark said!!!!!

Just go do your thing, and do it well. You know you have the ability.

JUST DO IT!!!!!! x