Race Week

I'm not sure how well you can read that, but the early forecast for Saturday is upper 80s, windy and thunderstorms. Beautiful. I'll hit the sauna as much as I can this week and hope for the best.

My bike is set to go. New cables, bar wrap and tires. I'm running Bontrager TT tires with a 19 in the front, 23 in the back. The 19 is a very skinny tire, but I liked it yesterday. I barely noticed the difference. Supposedly, their tires save you 3 minutes over 112 miles. I hope they're right. That's 3 fewer minutes in the heat.

As with my taper last year, I'm convinced I'm not doing enough and that I've lost all of my fitness. So I'm going into this race with zero confidence in my ability to finish, let alone do well. I wouldn't have it any other way. If I felt confident I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

This race has felt so far away for so long that it almost didn't seem real. I don't know what changed, but it seems real, and suddenly I'm nervous as hell and I feel completely unprepared. Race week is no fun.

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My week:

Monday - 1 hour cross ride, 30 minute easy run
Tuesday - 1.15 hour swim, 1 hour ride (TT bike) with some tempo
Wednesday - 40 minute easy run (morning), 1 hour easy swim (lunch)
Thursday - Rest/Travel/Register
Friday - Swim/Bike/Run/Rest - super easy, super short - at the YMCA.
Saturday - RACE DAY!


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It's cross season, so I've been spending some time on my cross bike. I should be on my TT bike, but I justify riding cross by reminding myself they claim you should drop your volume but keep your intensity up during your taper. Cross is intense, but I ride at lunch so I'm only out there for an hour. It's so much fun. I can't wait to race.

I ride at Badger Prairie by my house. Saturday was the race there, and I couldn't make it to the race so I was having a hard time figuring out the course on my lunch ride. There was a guy out there who knew the course so I asked if I could ride a lap with him to see where it goes. He races Cat 2. Holy crap, that was fast. He could've dropped me anytime he wanted and started to a few times. Just when you think you're in shape....

So now I'm thinking I might take my cross bike to FL with me and do some riding while I'm down there. Could be fun.

Cold-blooded killers

Back to work. *sigh*

I opened Outlook and watched my mailbox fill up. 111 e-mails. Four of them included pictures of dead mice. The guys decided to set up traps and catch some mice while I was on vacation.

Then I noticed a trap under my desk. I was sure I would step on it before the end of the day, but no... I avoided it. I sometimes take my sandals off at work, but I think I'll leave them on while that trap is under my desk.

If you didn't catch the women's triathlon on nbc.com last night, here are a few pics...







Tonight the men's race is on live at 9pm on nbc.com if - like me - you have nothing better to do with your time. My prediction for the top 3....Gomez, Docherty, Kemper.

Only one day into my taper and I'm already bored. Good thing I have a race this weekend...Silver Lake Triathlon...a sprint tri. Probably not a good idea this close to Ironman, but I'm already signed up and I had a lot of fun at this one last year so I'm looking forward to racing it again. Plus this will be the first triathlon that I've done before so I actually have a time to beat.