The Week Before

I hate the taper. Probably not for the same reasons as most. Most people hate the taper because it means they had to scale back their training. All these weeks of pushing and pushing and you find yourself having to give yourself a break. What do you do with the extra time? How do you adjust your nutrition habits with the lower volume? Did you do enough training to be ready for the race? These are all questions that are answered by the person who goes through a typical taper. That is not me.

Sunday is the Columbia Triathlon, my first triathlon of the season. In all reality, this race is just a pulse check of where I am in building toward Eagleman 70.3. It should be a race that I have a full week of solid training going into it, where it is just a longer workout as part of the week. But not in my world. For some reason the week before any race, whether it is a triathlon or a road race, I always slack off and lose the motivation to work hard. So far this week, I've gone on an 8 mile run and had a decent mile swim. Tomorrow morning, I'll take the bike out for one final spin to make sure all systems are in check. Thats it. I know I should do more, but I don't.

Twice this week I had planned to do brick workouts and I copped out at the end. I want to be rested, but I don't want to come out flat, so I need to do some stuff, just shorter and higher intensity to keep my body fresh. I guess its too late now. I know its better to be more rested than burned out prior to a race, so its not like I'm concerned about my preparations for Columbia. I'll do fine. I've done plenty of training. Its just the idea that I can't get off my a$$ the week of a race. Strange, I know.