3 weeks

21 days. In less than 21 days I’m going to be floating in the water at Tempe Town Lake waiting for the start cannon to go off. Holy freaking crap!!!!

Halloween went by pretty quietly in our house. After sleeping in, I went to the pool for 9am lap swim to do my 4200 yd swim. My mainset had scary (to me) things in there like “1200 yd steady at IM pace” – I am so not a fan of long continuous sets without the joy of pool toys, but I have to say I found some sort of comfortable cruising speed and it felt good! Mentally I have to break the longest sets down by 25s (I know for my swimmer friends 100s and 50s seem like easy ways to break it up but 25 yds is easier for my head to tackle) – so I just kept telling myself, “It’s just forty-eight 25s!” and counting them off each time I touched the wall.

We took the dogs for a long walk and lunch at Stanford Shopping Center. It’s very dog friendly and there were kids trick or treating so they got attention and there was lots to see. We wanted them TIRED!

I tried to start packing in the afternoon. Oh boy, I have a lot of stuff to take to Arizona. We had a sparse visitation by trick-or-treaters, Jeff headed out at 9pm to play hockey, and I watched “Matilda” and went to bed!

Stanley put himself to bed early

Today I took full advantage of that extra hour of sleep and still got up at 5:30 am! Layered up with sunblock, ate my “pre-race” breakfast, walked the dogs, and left the house by 6:30 with a carful of bike/run gear. While it was clear at our house, it was VERY foggy when I got to my ride start location. It was nice to start a ride at 7am and have daylight again (even if filtered through a heavy layer of coastal fog)!

I should admit I have not been so mentally into training this week. I think after that big overdistance week 2 weeks ago, I knew I had one more big week left but I hadn’t expected it to be this big. When it showed up in my schedule, I might have deflated a little. But still, there was work to be done and I’ve done it regardless. I would say that I certainly wished I was back in bed more than a handful of times today.

Miles 0-15: Warmup, keeping wattage low. A group of guys passed me on Foothill Expressway and the last guy said “jump on!” but I cheerfully declined and opted to hold my slow steady pace instead.

Miles 15-35: 10 miles out and uphill, 10 miles back and downhill (unfortunately also into a headwind), holding specific wattages for each. Jeff joined me for this 20 mile set. I guess he felt bad his wife was riding 100 miles alone today. I might have made that comment 5 or 6 times…oops.

Miles 35-55: Loop #2, all alone again. No major complaints.

Miles 55-75: Another out and back, but a slightly altered course to avoid going stir-crazy on the same stretch of road. The hardest miles for me mentally (feeling slow and like it’s late in the day because of the sun position – duh, it’s the time change) and physically (wind and hills making my legs tired!).

Miles 75-95: Back to my original loop and feeling SUP-ER! I’m so close! Singing to myself and knowing I’ve been out there longer than most of these people riding Foothill today.

Sidebar: I am the Queen of Peeing On Foothill Expressway. The stretch between Arastradero and Hillview is where it’s at, in case you were wondering. Perfect trees to lean your bike on, perfect bushes for privacy.

Miles 95-100: So close, just a little further, ohmygod are we there yet, DONE!!!!!

Oddest conversation of the day:

As I wait for a red light to change, I hear behind me, “Hot? What’s hot about that?” And then I realize the two guys pulling up behind me are talking about the “Hot” on my Chipotle bike shorts.

“What?”

“There’s a ‘hot’ right on your ass. What’s that supposed to mean?” [Internal monologue: Well, that’s not the way to get chicks to talk nice to you…]

“Well, I think it’s because of the chili pepper…”

interrupts me “I mean, are you trying to get weird comments from strange guys?”

“No, I have my husband for that.”

“Well I would think he wouldn’t let you ride alone dressed like that.”

“Since I dropped him 50 miles back, he probably knows and doesn’t mind.”

"Well, I just don’t know about that…” mutters random things as he takes off with his friend at the green light, passes me and then can’t ride fast enough to get out of my way

That was just weird.

Anyway, after the bike I had a run on the schedule. Internets, let me tell you, I sooo did not want to run today. My stomach was all Infinit-burbly and my legs were tired. But I put my run shoes on, loaded the bike in the car and headed out with the target of IM pace. So far in IM training, I’ve been thrilled that I actually have to dial back my pace off the bike to stay steady at my intended race pace. It was true again today! A quick stop at a park restroom and I was cruising even more comfortably. Later I kicked it up to faster than race pace and still felt good. Thankfully it was not too long of a run and I was back at the car and ready to head home.

Done! My last big week is done! I’m sure my body won’t notice quite yet, but tomorrow means the start of TAPER!!! Phew, and it couldn’t have come any sooner either.

I’m ready.

I think.

Training totals for week 45 (October 26-November 1):
Swim: 7800 yards (4.4 miles)
Bike: 154.4 miles
Run: 28.7 miles
Total time: 17.5 hours