4 More Days To Go!!!

4 more days to go till taper..... Will I make it in one piece. ... That is certainly the question!!!

Everyone else from the Busselton weekend seemed to be feeling great but unfortunately not me. I woke up with a sore throat again this morning and my legs feel like lead. Don't get me wrong here.. I don't want to appear as if I am complaining, I'm not. I'm just telling it like it is so when I read back on this in 6 months , 12 months time , i will remember how I was feeling at this particular time in my programme.

So like I said, sore throat, lead legs....yeah , yeah, yeah.... you got it I know!! So I did my swim session this morning with probably 80% of it using fins. Then in the afternoon into a howling southerly I did my 20k run.... nice and easy but that wind made it tough.

My Tuesday ride was down to do 100kms. I knew that apart from either getting up at 2am or taking a day off work(neither of which were going to happen) I was going to struggle to get that done before 6am. I had decided that I was going to get up and on the road by 3am and just ride for 3hrs and get done what ever I got done distance wise. Well when I woke just before 3 my throat felt like I was swallowing razor blades... no riding for me this morning. As seems to be the case for me and sore throats as the day went on it felt better, not gone but better. So in the afternoon I jumped on the windtrainer for an hour before heading off to run training. Feeling very sluggish as I ran around I opted to still do the session but at a slightly lesser pace than Brad would normally have me do it at.

At first I thought maybe I was coming down with something but I think I am just tired and hoping that with an early night tonight ( and lots of gargling with Betadine) things will start looking up. I think everyone training for Ironman would be feeling something around this time so I am sure its all normal.

Wednesday morning... still woke up with a sore throat but nowhere near like yesterday. Did a 2.6k session in the pool... no fins today.
This afternoon as I sit on my windtrainer all I can think about is the weekend and my 2 rest days. I worked as hard as I could with that as my focus, my reward you might say. Unfortunately the sore throat and tiredness is not going away!!!
This morning there were horrible winds which I have to say is not my reason for not getting out there on the bike! No ... it's a bit like Ground Hog Day I'm afraid. Woke at 3 with probably my throat feeling the worst it has, so went back to bed. I was extremely restless. A combination I think of not feeling 100% and annoyed at this weeks lack of training. So about 4am I jumped onto the windtrainer with the idea of just riding for an hour ... just see how I felt. I ended up doing 60kms ... not quite my 90k as was on the programme but better than nothing.
I had an appointment with my doctor this afternoon so sorted out my asthma medication so hoping given 48hrs I will have that back on track. I also dropped my TT bike off for its final "Check Up" before the race.
By the late afternoon I was again feeling slightly better. I was meeting Tarnia for a 14km run. We left our run till about 6.30 as it was a 37 degree day. What a magnificent sunset. Totally spoilt running along with a spectacular pink sky as our running partner!! Felt pretty good tonight and thoroughly enjoyed the run.
Friday .. I found swimming this morning quite hard. Whenever we start off with 100's at a fast pace I just seem to struggle. And that my friends is it for the week!!! No training this afternoon or tomorrow OR Sunday. I had a dentist appointment to go to then had booked myself in for a facial which was wonderful.
So this weeks load has been alot lighter than it should have been... a kind of self imposed taper you might say. Let's hope with some rest I will be feeling better come Monday when I start my "official" taper..


Totals for the week'
Bike 136kms...4hrs 30mins
Run 44kms.....4hrs 7mins
Swim 7.7kms 3 hrs
total of 11hrs and 37mins ( this is actually my lightest week since I started)

So while this week has seen a few hiccups my end goal is still the same.... Get to that finish line!!!!

I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination..

Jimmy Dean