Four Weeks Out

    I am now 4 weeks out from my big event. I've been getting little flashes of nerves now and then, mostly when I realize just how long of a day I will be facing. I figure it will likely take me about 14 hours of constant motion to get from starting line to finish line. Fourteen Hours. At Least. G'damn, what have I gotten myself into? I have pushed my riding to the point that I can do 100 miles in 7-1/2 hours, and get off the bike for a short transition run without difficulty. Yeah, sitting on the bike that long makes my delicate girly bits feel a bit hammered, or as a friend put it, "Like the girly bits have been punched in the face." Yeah, like that.
    I haven't been swimming quite as long as I would wish, but I am doing three open water swims a week, and swimming about 2 miles each swim. Honestly, it is my gut that is preventing me from staying in the water longer. As embarrassing as it is, I have to admit, swimming seems to make my intestines go into high gear. No, I haven't shit myself, but it has been a near miss. Actually, I've figured out what causes it. Swimming really activates the core muscles, which does constrict all the lower internal organs. I figure it is just squeezing me like a tube of toothpaste. Fortunately, on race day I will have been on a very low fiber diet for at least 24 hours preceding the starting gun, there will be nothing in there to squeeze out. Oh, the weirdo dilemmas of an ultra-endurance athlete. On that subject, I actually chuckle over the fact that one beauty of riding the same training course on the bike is that I know where all the good places to go to the bathroom are. It is a fact of life. So, there is one of the down and dirty elements of spending hours and hours of training.
    As I have lamented all summer long, my running is still not where I would wish it to be. My knees just will not handle the amount of miles I would like to do. But I can easily run 6+ miles, and can run after a long bike ride, so I know I can run the distance I need to come race day. Yeah, it will be tough. And yeah, it's really gonna hurt the day after. But, I know I can gut it out and do the run. Even if I have to do a run/walk system, I know I can do it.
    Today, as I was hammering through my abbreviated, recovery weekend ride, I was thinking just how far I have come since last summer. I have doubled my swim and bike distances. I am running consistently 4 days a week, and have been for quite some time. I am actually getting so that I enjoy my 6am, pre-work runs. I am in the best shape of my life. I feel great. My training regime has given me swimmer's shoulders, a runner's butt, and cyclist's legs. I have hit my race-weight goal of 155 without even trying, which is a solid 10 pounds lighter than I was at last summer when I did my 70.3. I have managed to stay very consistent with my training and nutrition, I haven't broken training all summer long. Now, here it is, the final countdown, I just have to stay the course. This week begins my Peak Period, upping the ante just a bit, but factoring in more rest. Then, finally, Race Week. It is exciting, but I need to stay focused. Swim smart. Bike strong. Run tough.

Pre-Race Anxiety

    Gads, life has been so busy I barely have time to eat, much less sit down and write. Today I have been having some serious anxiety about my ability to finish the bike leg of my impending race before the time cutoff of 7pm. It has been a niggling concern since the moment I knew of the time limit. I actually emailed the event coordinator, expressing my concerns. "Oh, don't worry, no one has missed the cutoff." Gee, no pressure there. There is always a first. Along the way I have told myself that all I can do is ride my best, and if I don't make it, it won't be from lack of trying.
    But today, for some reason, I have been feeling the stress. It has raised it's ugly head and glared at me with red, beady eyes. It has taken me nearly all day to calm my fears. I remind myself that I can swim the distance, bike the distance, and run the distance. I know I can. Last saturday I rode 101 miles and my legs felt great. Okay, my hands and feet were aching by hour 6, but pain and discomfort are just part of the game. I know that I have trained as hard as I can without crossing the line into potential damage. I have trained to the edge of what my poor joints can withstand if I am to get to the start line healthy and whole. I am training more than 20 hours a week at this point, with saturday being a nearly all day affair as I cycle for hours and hours. I know the actual day of the race I will push myself harder than I have in training, that is to be expected. I have trained. I have made nutrition truly the Fourth Discipline. The only area that I have not been as diligent in is sleep, I am always just a little sleep deprived. I am at the slimmest and fittest I have been in my adult life.
    So here is where my head is now: All I can do on race day is to race to the best of my ability at any given moment. There will be good moments and bad moments, and all anyone can do is take each moment and make the best of it. If I don't make the bike cutoff, there is always next year. Yes, I would be disappointed, but this really has been far more about the journey, physical and mental, than about the actual destination. I love the training that I do, enjoy finding my boundaries and pushing against them. I have done the best I can to train my body to Swim Smart, Bike Strong, and Run Tough. Just over a month and I will toe the line and truly test my mettle.