Friday, October 21, 2011

One Month Till Race Day

And I feel...*mostly ready*  I have one more big week of training left - peak week - and then it's time to taper and get this body ready to race.  I'm glad I have a last chance at another long run, long swim, long ride next week to lock everything in for race readiness.  But I'm also looking forward to giving my body some deep rest in preparation for Ironman.

After two big training weeks in a row that both involved travel, this was a recovery week and I can only say THANK GOODNESS.  Because I woke up Monday tired and had to spend a full day in the office at meetings.  Tuesday morning I felt like a bus hit me, missed masters and spent all day at a training for work.  Wednesday morning I realized in my crazy month of travel I forgot to enter Stanley in the big shows next weekend and came close to crying over it.  At that point I decided I needed a day to recharge my mind and body - mental health day!  I grocery shopped, I ate a lot, I cleaned the house that looked like a puppy exploded in it after a week of Jeff single-parenting all 3 dogs, I paid my bills (Coach doesn't work for free!), I rebuilt my bike that had been sitting in the box since I flew home Sunday...and I felt MUCH better and more in control of my life by the end of the day.  Ironman does tend to attract the control freaks and I think that's half the reason we all tend to have a meltdown somewhere in training.  I'm just glad mine came during an easier week.

Bib numbers came out this week!  Last time I did this race, men got all the low #s and women got the higher ones (I was 2333 in 2009).  I guess they reverse things every so often because I will be floating at the start line in 2011 as #329!

You were all super sweet to comment on my photos from Arizona LOL  I wrote a few months ago about changes I'd made to my diet and health leading into Ironman training.  The combination of things I did seems to have worked well as I leaned out over the summer while still eating my usual massive quantities of food.  The gluten free thing has really worked out well for me in terms of keeping me eating cleaner and cutting down on tummy issues during running/racing.  I've looked at my last couple races as a test of if I'm at the right racing weight and given the results I think I've hit on something that works.  I had a bike test a few weeks ago, my first one since spring, and the combination of more watts and less pounds pushed my power-to-weight ratio to a place we've been trying to get me for a couple years now!  *sets eyes on the NEXT target* :-)

Stanley is off at a dog show this weekend (only 40 minutes away but easier for him to stay there than for me to fight traffic back and forth each day) so the house is a little quieter than usual.  I know he's having fun getting spoiled rotten and enjoying puppy-free time though!

Max is loving being the only big dog around and getting spoiled with treats and attention.  He's also a very good example for Puck, who keeps us laughing with his antics!



I hope everyone has a great weekend!

7 comments:

Bob Mitera said...

Puppy barks! Wow! What a fall! Holy cats!

"Shake it off" - love it. "Dude, if he goes after you..."

Greta just yacked here and I didn't even here it. Came wagging her tail. (Ate too fast. There's a shocker.)

heather said...

Poor Puck baby. Good thing puppies bounce.

Kathleen said...

Love the puppy video. Casey fell off the bed one night in his sleep.Scared me but didn't seem to bother him.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions about IMAZ. I really appreciate it.
It sounds like you are ready to have a great race! Best of luck! My goal is to finish before the cut off and still be standing :)

mtanner said...

Love this LMM!!! Hope to see you soon!

San said...

Gluten-free rocks! Congrats on the changes and the awesome results.

Puck is hilarious.

Enjoy your weekend and the new week to come.

Anonymous said...

Laughed out loud at the puck video... hilarious and adorable. Impressed at your ability to maintain diet changes; I'm terrible at that. Glad it's working for you!

Jennifer Harrison said...

YOU looked great in PHX last weekend!! Keep up the good work! See you again soon! :)