Taper!

Taper!

Finally, a time to heal.

Well I'm now less than 2 weeks out from Ultraman. Still training, but the load has lifted and now its mostly shorter stuff with some Zone 3 interval work. Its taken my body a full week to even begin to feel slightly normal after that last Race Simulation, and I can still feel the deep fatigue of all the training, especially when I try any speed / top end work. But come race day, I know I will be fresh and ready.

This weekend was very light -- a 3 hour spin on the bike and that was it; quite a change from countless dawn to dusk Saturdays and Sundays. Headed south from the Jonathan Club in Santa Monica through Hermosa and back to avoid all the terrible air quality up north from the Sylmar fires. All flat with some speed work, riding with a group of guys, most of whom are prepping for Ironman Arizona and are also coached by Chris Hauth -- good time and fun to ride with a cool group of guys for a change. Did a bit of Z3 work and was able to hold in the high 300's for watts, getting up above 400 watts a few times, which was pretty cool.  But I could feel the deep burn and know I am still very tired from all the heavy weeks prior.  At least I didn't have to dumpster dive.  Some of the guys I rode with had read my blog, so I caught some grief for that -- well deserved.

After that, I took my bike into Helen's Cycles for a pre-race tuneup.  And took the opportunity to stock up on my race nutrition -- I bought $300 worth of stuff -- 2 giant bags of a lifetime supply of EFS gels, eGels, Perpetum, Cliff Blocks, Cytomax, Bonk Breakers (I love these), Endurolytes, Enervit, you name it.  I cleaned them out.  This plus the 10 bottles of CarboPro1200, and I think I have what I need for the race.  I was hoping to land some demo race wheels, but couldn't convince them to loan out their Zipp 303's.  So I resorted to renting some Zipp 404 clinchers from Race Day Wheels, which should be delivered to Kona by next Wednesday.  I have yet to ride on proper race wheels, so I am excited to check them out.

Tomorrow I have a 90 minute swim followed by a 2 hr 30 bike; Wed a 5 hr ride; Thurs a 90 min run in the am and 60 min run in the pm; Friday is scheduled as a rest day, but this will likely shift, as I travel on Saturday. I dunno about you, but this seems like quite a bit within 2 weeks of the race! I'm going to play it day by day. I'm 42, need the rest and do not want to go into this thing tired.  I've done everything my coach has asked of me (maybe missed 3-4 workouts in 6 months), but when it comes to resting, I may have to take it into my own hands a bit.  I feel like at this point, I need to err on resting versus overdoing anything.  I still have a tender right calf / upper achilles, and the last thing I need is a problem on that 52 mile run/

On other fronts, fundraising for Maximum Hope is going well -- thanks to all those who have already contributed!  I believe I have already raised somewhere around $3,000 with more people pledging daily.  Jill Gillett of MHF hooked me up with a publicist, who I spoke with today -- he is endeavoring to get some press on me and the foundation revolving around the race -- so stay tuned on that front.

Meanwhile, I'm working late, trying to shore up all my legal work before I head out on Saturday.  And trying to make sure I have enough money in the bank to cover all the impending costs of the trip -- hotels for me and my crew, minivan rental, equipment costs, backup bike rental, food for me and the crew, kayak & paddler rentals -- it all adds up pretty fast.  Like a 3 day movie shoot.  Or moving a MASH unit.  My current budget going forward is $3700.  Might need to cut some non-essentials....