I Thought I Was Looking Forward To Tapering...

but I hate it and will never look forward to it again. Maybe a little extreme because I know my body needed the rest, but this week has fricking sucked, big time. Not only have I been sick with the worst head cold in my recent memory, but I can't really work out a) because I'm supposed to be tapering (and doing those joyfully (note the sarcasm) light workouts) and b) because my head has been so stuffed up that I am completely dizzy and feel like I might pass out at any moment. Not a good combination. Working out is my time to blow off some steam and clear my head, but no can do this week and its been the craziest work week in quite a while. Crazy work week + can't burn off steam = basket case Jaime. I couldn't even go to pilates or yoga this week because I was too sick to go to work on Tuesday (pilates day) and had to go up to Fort Meade for work this afternoon (yoga day) so none of that glorious calming, stretching joyfulness that I have come to look forward to. Oh, and when you taper, you don't burn nearly as many calories or get any endorphin highs so you want to eat more to feel that same energy rush, but you can't take in any extra calories because you don't want to put on any extra weight right before the race. Dilemma. It's horrible. 

What started this whole little (or not so little) rant? I came home from said Fort Meade meeting, not feeling too hot, but was going to at least get 30 minutes or so in on the trainer since I didn't trust my fuzzy brain to navigate rush hour traffic in DC. I had relatively few hiccups getting the bike set up on the trainer (which is good for me), but once I'm on the bike it continues to make this horrible squeaking sound anytime I go over 11 or 12 miles per hour. Clearly don't want to mess up my bike a few days out from the race so I get off the bike, call Jon and say I'm going to sack up and go outside and get a quick ride in. Not so fast. I look back out the window; it is now monsooning. Really life? You're really cutting me a lot of breaks this week. Thanks. Back on trainer I go deciding I'll hover around 12 miles per hour- to try and keep the horrific noise to a minimum- for 20 minutes just to get the muscles moving, which I did. I was supposed to get in 12.9 miles, but I rode 4.1 You can't win 'em all I suppose and I'll just have to jot this day/week down as a loss. You hear that week! You are a total LOSS. Sickness + tapering is really bad news, for future reference. Maybe I'll handle this better next time around.

PS - It has now stopped raining. 

The Fish In Me

Well, I still feel like crap. OK, maybe a little bit better, but I'm pretty sure 'crap' is the word of the week. Work was also crazy hectic (perfect timing for me to take off a day and a half earlier this week). When it rains, it pours right? Woe is me. I still managed to get down to the pool though, after a delicious lunch of mushy leftover sweet potato fries (they were delicious when we had them for dinner), and I felt pretty dang good after I got a 500 or so warm up in. Maybe it was my new flamingo swim suit working its magic:

 One way or the other, I did a good number of 100s at bit faster than race pace (and a bit faster than I would have liked) and felt calm and smooth... like a fish, or like when I was a little kid and would pretend I was a mermaid while playing in the pool for hours and hours and hours on end. Good old childhood summer days, minus the swim team, I hated my summer league swim team. Anyways, I think the water even cleared up my nose a bit albeit very temporarily. It was like one gigantic netipot. Gross. Although netipot is probably the other word of the week. Now I will go drink my tea and get to bed a ridiculously early hour (while the poor hubs is off playing soccer) in hopes of feeling better tomorrow. Come on body, feel better! You can do it!

Home Sick

My husband was sick last week and of course I am sick this week-- 5 days out from the race. I usually try to suffer through the work day- I mean how hard can sitting at a cubicle be?- but not this week. I don't use bad language at work; yesterday I day I said "crappy" to my boss to describe how I felt. Granted maybe not a full blown cuss word, but for me that's saying something.  My head feels like its going to explode and despite number encounters with the neti pot this morning, I can't get the stuffiness to go away. I'm trying to stay calm, but I have a feeling that if I am not feeling markedly better tomorrow morning, panic will start to set in. 

I am going to use today to write my race plan and goals (a few days later than I had hoped, but better late than never), get my short run in and most importantly rest and hydrate. The last three days I have been taking 2 - 3 hour naps in the early afternoon so I think I can safely say that my body needs the rest. I'm going to eat oranges, get some more vitamin D from the glorious sunshine (of course its a beautiful day when I feel like crap), rest, write some long overdue notes, work on planning my very good friends bridal shower and bachelorette and finalize our wedding album. Some lofty goals for a sick day, but I feel like I must be productive in non works ways if I'm going to be at home. First and foremost, rest, hydration, and race plan. And maybe some transition practice if I feel up to it later. (I always make my to do lists unreasonably long and get annoyed when I don't accomplish everything.) Oh well, fingers crossed I can breathe tomorrow!

Calm and Sickness Before the Storm

We're getting super close to race day and I think I'm in denial, or maybe I'm just tired. My 4.5 mile run yesterday morning kicked my butt (although I did keep a decent pace). Today I need to get in a very minor, stay loose type of swim since we're doing a practice open water swim on Saturday morning. Good thing we're into taper mode because now I'm coming down with a cold. My poor hubby has it right now and I kinda knew it was only a matter of time before it hit me. I keep reminding myself, better this week than next week. Weird how it just hits all of the sudden because I felt good, active and energized last night and this morning. I gave my bike a good cleaning, baked up some yummy whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and now, wall hitting mode. Must plug through lots of work today so I think I'll head to CVS to stock up on vitamin C. A photo from last night's baking:

Cookie dough is definitely a weakness of mine (it made up the bulk of my dinner last night). This was a healthy(ish) AND delicious version though! :)

Fun Facts Monday - Because Mondays Aren't Fun

1. I saw a miniature turtle during the bike ride of our practice tri a few weeks ago. He was adorable.
2. I have to go to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in a few weeks for work. I can't say that I am looking forward to that trip.

2a. I am however very much looking forward to a one year anniversary trip to Bali with my husband come September!

3. I need and want to take a bike maintenance class. Add one more thing to the to do list for post race (which also means pre next race).

4. I love basil, and all fresh herbs really. My husband made the most delicious mojitos on Friday night. I couldn't indulge in more than a few sips though due to our long workout scheduled for Saturday morning.

5. Time to stop procrastinating and head to the pool. This has been a long Monday morning.

It's Almost Time!

Now our first Olympic distance tri is only a little under two weeks away! Holy smokes! I was feeling pretty excited at confident last week, but am a little more hesitant this week... probably more tried as well. I knocked out 7.04 miles yesterday morning and Jon ran 7.75 at a ridiculously speedy pace. We also biked 29 miles on Sunday with some good hill practice in there. The run was kinda brutal yesterday, but each of these longs runs is a personal best distance wise for me so I have to keep that in mind even when I'm not entirely happy with my pacing (which I have no reason not to be since my average pace was ~9:20 minute mile. Obviously nothing earth shattering, but for a non runner, I'll take it! My goal for race day is to run sub 10 minute miles so we'll see how that goes. I also tried out my whole race day attire yesterday since I got a new top, socks and race belt over the weekend. All went well although I do need to get a hydration belt as our mileage goes up when training for the Army ten miler begins. I also love the new Nike visor I got!! I'm still debating about running specific sunglasses, but one step/new piece of (usually) overpriced gear at a time.

So this week we're at a medium taper and next week our mileage really drops down. We've got a brick workout to get in on Saturday and I'd also like to practice some transitions and hairpin turns since there are a few of those on the bike course. It looks like I'll be doing the race with my platform pedals. I'm kinda bummed about that, but I simply ran out of time to start practicing with the clipless guys before race day. I try not to get too bummed out because like Jon tells me, all the races from here on out will be easier with my clipless pedals. Hey, and no switching of shoes between the bike and the run means a speedy transition, right? :)