Let the Tapering Begin

So here I am .. 2 weeks out and actually feeling pretty good. Generally Tapering is a funny time. "Have I done enough?".... " Am i prepared ?"... Questions , questions!!But I think it is quite normal to ask ourselves these questions . I have asked myself these questions and my answers have been YES YES YES!!! I have done enough and I am ready and what will happen on the day will be something you can read about next week ...Will and I have had so much going on this week with the back yard it was actually easy to keep busy and not feel too agitated as some people can get during this time.


Monday morning off for a swim and then a very comfy 20km run in the afternoon ( Ok so who does a 20k run while tapering !!!!!). Today I forgot my watch and actually found it quite relaxing just running without constantly watching my pace.


Tues and Fiona and I had a 30km recovery ride in the small chain ring. It was off to the track for our regular track session in the evening. All the parking was closed off due to them getting the stage up for the weekends Stevie Nicks concert... looked great . Would love to be going! All up an 8km set.


Wednesday swim again with a Brick session in the evening on the windtrainer. Quite a different session tonight. Firstly the weather here in Perth hit 37 degrees today... what a stinker!!! So we set ourselves up out of the garage and on the drive-way instead. Lots of spinning and standing up on the bike recovering..70mins all up with a 15 min run off the bike.


Thursday...There was a lot going on in my day today so had to do a little re shuffling of the program. So today I swam on my own down at Craigie in the afternoon. It was so lovely to jump in the water after another really hot day... i think it got to 36 today. I had 10kms to run tonight and while still warm it was an awesome night to be out and about running . I felt really good tonight and managed my whole 10km at threshold pace!!! ( was that me saying I had a good run???? hope Coach Brad is reading this )


Friday Will, Brad and I headed out for 50k on the bike. The forecast was for a cooler day and with those hot easterlies gone we awoke to a stunning morning. Again I felt really relaxed and happy with my ride... just holding on to that feeling for next week.


Saturday was to be our last longish ride together before next weeks race.Leaving home I took a picture of the sun rise but it really didn't turn out that well. As many of you may know Margaret River down south has been hit with some of the worst bush fires. To date about 40 homes have been lost ... luckily no lives. Just so tragic.When we woke the sky was so smokey and the sun was blood red..., quite a sight.


The ride was 90kms down the freeway into a nice head wind but Mother Nature was kind to us and didn't change the wind direction and we just flew home... 2omins faster than on our way out!!! . This week we didn't see the resident magpie but it was so funny to see some other riders out there carrying trees above their heads to scare it off. I say a tree because that's how big the branch was that this guy was carrying. I couldn't stop laughing it looked so silly :-)


The rest of the weekend was spent doing some work in the back yard, Christmas shopping and writing out invitations for my son Jordan's 21st... so its all happening in this family.

The cedar lining up in the pergola North Coast Tri Club with some of its members competing in next weeks Ironman

Sunday afternoon I headed down to the Marina with quite a few North Coasters for a final good luck coffee for those of us doing Ironman . The buzz was certainly in the air, especially for the first timers. I am so looking forward to getting down to Busselton Thursday and settling in. The weather could be an issue BUT its out of mine and everyone elses control.

I love following the blogs of some of my friends also training for Ironman and this week in Cookies album he quoted from another guys blog "Balsam". I hope you don't mind Cookie but I just loved that piece and would really love to share it with the guys who pop along here everyweek

Progress in life is directly proportional to the dirt under our fingernails. Success comes from the strife we endure and the effort we exude.Life is made up of peaks and valleys. Stay humble in the highs, stay hungry in the lows.

It is said that we are at our happiest when we are attempting something difficult but attainable. It is that unknown,yet reachable territory that excites us. When we hit that territory, its magical. However, even after hours,days or months of work, we don't always get there.

But it's OK to eat a face full of grit cakes every now and then. It keeps us level. We always learn something along the way so no honest endeavour is ever a wasted one. It didn't work out as planned? Your life isn't going according to your "If Everything Was Perfect" memoir? I say good riddance! There is no substitute for busting your butt.

Struggling when chasing a dream reminds you that you need people to lean on, that we need to vent, regroup, relax , reset, rethink, retry and get ready to fight all over again. Our story will be a much better read when its all said and done. Moments of clarity in my life have always presented themselves after periods of uncertainty.

Embrace the suck. Enjoy the grit cakes. It's good for us. It will make us better. And if we're not trying to get better every day, shame on us. Always Be Better.

Thanks for coming along