Checking that list...

It's the night before my race. So far so good. I went down to the expo today and picked up my packet with the plethora of numbers I have to post all over myself and my equipment, took my mug shot (below), and headed down to the transition area to rack my bike. Took a quick peak at the swim course, just long enough to get butterflies in my stomach, and then headed home. It was amazing to have my best friend with me (who's also racing) to freak out with. We got it all off our chests and then promised to zen out, or at least try, for the rest of the day.

I've gone over my check list (below) several times, gone through how the race and transitions will go in my head, packed my bag, set up my breakfast and meet-up spots with my friends and family who will be cheering me on, etc. I'm lucky enough to live across the street from the head of our training program, so I have a ride down at 4am tomorrow morning with someone who can comfort my last minute anxieties. I think I can confidently say I'm ready. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to get a good nights sleep when I have a 3am wake up call, but that's what last night was for...
RACE DAY CHECKLIST

Transition
- Triathlon bag (to bring stuff in & store a change of clothes for after race)
-Towel (spread on ground and layout gear for bike and run)
- Sunscreen (apply before race begins)
- Shorts, t-shirt, dry socks, flip-flops or sneakers for post-race change
- Post-race recovery drink and/or nutrition

Swim
- Swim suit or Triathlon race suit
- Cap
- Swim goggles (think about bringing an extra pair for backup)
- Wetsuit
- Anti-chafe stuff (for use around neck of wetsuit, and other places)

Bike
- Bicycle (with race # on it) (remember to check tire pressure)
- Helmet (with race number stuck to it, if required)
- Cycling shoes
- Socks
- Cycling pants and top (if not wearing a Triathlon race suit)
- Sunglasses
- Bike gloves (recommend not using as changing slows you down).
- Sports drink (2 bottles – on bike)
- Nutrition bars (taped to bike, in bento box, or in back pocket of jersey)
- Gels (Goo or other type of gel)
- Spare inner tube (or tubes) and CO2 Cartridge (on bike)

Run
- Running shoes
- Hat
- Race number (on race belt – otherwise make sure it is pinned to your jersey before race starts & think about bringing a bunch of extra safety pins, just in case).

Taper (and other race week tips)

Some thoughts on TAPER (from Mark Fitzgerald):

"The period of relative rest that precedes a race is called a taper. A well-executed taper increases your blood volume, maximizes carbohydrate fuel storage, increases aerobic enzymes, and enhances tissue repair, thereby rendering you better prepared for a peak performance.

"For short races, your taper period can last four days to a week. For somewhat longer events, a week to two weeks of tapering is typical when a peak performance is sought. For long-distance events, the taper can last two or three weeks.

Reduce your training volume by 30 to 40 percent per week of tapering. For example, if you're tapering two weeks for a peak half-Ironman triathlon and you did 20 hours of training in the last heavy week before the taper, you might do about 13 hours of training in the first week of tapering and about 8 hours in the final seven days before the race."

My three thoughts on tapering:

1. You've trained -- no amount of training you will add this last week will improve your performance;

2. Don't do a "drop dead taper" -- using this as an excuse to stop training altogether -- you want to grade your taper (gradually reduce training intensity and length) to zero by the day before;

3. Get plenty of rest (sleep) on race week…and hydrate well (small amounts of fluid regularly throughout the day) -- these two things are probably worth as much as any training you will do during this week.

Basically, if you have been eating reasonably well, there is no need to do anything different the week before the race. Two nights before the race, get a well-balanced meal (protein, plenty of vegetables and fruit, complex (low-glycemic index) carbohydrates) – this will create the stored energy you will need for the race. Get to bed early.

The night before, eat early and eat light – you want this meal to get through your system before the race starts – you don’t need something heavy sitting in your stomach all night while you are trying to sleep. Make sure you get breakfast in the morning before the race.

The Course

Click HERE to learn more about the DC Tri

Permission to Freak Out!

Today was my last training day with my Y-Tri team before the race... in two days. I'd be lying if I said there were not fleeting minutes of panic that enter my head on an hourly basis. But the reassuring thought is that just as often I get really excited for this day to have finally come. On top of the fact that I don't think I could keep up this pace much longer, I'm so excited to accomplish this huge goal I set out to achieve 6 months ago.

Looking back, everything is in a healthier perspective. When I started this project I was a heart broken girl tediously trudging through masters application after application with no clue where I'd be or what I'd be doing 6 months down the road. I signed up with two great friends to start training for this race that seemed impossible, but so far away, and such a great distraction that I just jumped in head first. Starting off from couch potato status did not make the beginning any easier, but definitely made the pay off that much greater.

Today, I am getting ready to run an Olympic Triathlon in our nation's capital. I have been accepted and enrolled in one of my top picks for Masters programs which I'm starting come Sept 1st. I'm taking a month off before said start date to check off another New Year's resolution: Travel. My sister and I are going to Turkey! And I've never felt more confident in who I am or what I'm doing in my entire life.

Have I done enough? Will I finish? Well I guess we'll find out. But I know that I've done everything I could to prepare myself and I am really proud of that fact alone. I have trained for 18 weeks, and have not quit... even when I REALLY wanted to.

Race or no race, finish line or no finish line, through this process I have made new friends, set new goals and found out what I am really made of.

Beginning to Taper

(Photo: Actually me!)

With less than a week to go, we are FINALLY tapering. Tapering basically means slowing down the training so you're body is well rested and good to go come race day. Now this does not mean stop working out and training all together. That would actually be a detriment to your goals. What you want to do is complete your usual workouts, but with much less gusto. I'll be learning as I go so whatever hints the coaches hand out I'll make sure to reiterate here.

Saturday we completed our final brick, but since it was a week before our race, instead of doing the 25 mi bike and 6 mi run, we cut it back to a 15 mi bike and 3 mi run. What we wanted to get out of this was training our bodies for the physical transition from biking to running. You feel like you must look like your running with flippers on or something. It takes me a good mile to feel like I'm actually running, versus just flailing around with no control of my extremities.

With 5 days to go I'm bouncing between calm & cool versus totally freaking out. It will almost be a relief for race day to finally be here. Have I done enough? We'll find out.

Just What I Needed

I ROCKED my morning run! This is exactly what I needed. We did a 6 mile loop down the mall, around the Capital building and back up the mall towards the gym. But instead of just running, we worked in some speed training while running the straight away up the mall. It was simple, 2 minutes on strong race pace, 30 seconds of active recovery. I don't know what I did right, slept well, ate the right thing, or whatever, but my body was just in the ZONE and I took off! It wasn't long before it was only me and one of our coaches Trish on our own heading towards the Capital. But of course, Trish was not willing to settle for the fact that I was running ten times faster than ever before. She loves to do little games, like "let's catch up to that girl in the pink tank", or "lets sprint up this hill", or "around this corner", and God help you if she sees a stair case. Usually this is the point where my motivation consists of imagining different ways of torturing this perky blond toothpick, but today I reveled in it. It was awesome! I mean, it was ridiculously hard and I could barely spit out a single syllable, but instead of feeling like I was going to die, my body seemed to respond positively to this form of torture. This is what I've been waiting for. This is the positive morning everything seemed to click back in place and where I have restored my motivation for this project I blissfully begun 5 months ago.

And perfect timing too: 10 days to go.

Motivation... where art thou?

As you can tell by the break in my posting, I have been struggling with motivation these last 2 weeks. I can't explain it more than I am just overall exhausted. Not just because of physically pushing myself, but also juggling work, training and life, getting up early almost every day, and having to get everything done before my embarrassingly early bedtime. After pulling this off for 3+ months with gusto... I feel like I'm finally hitting the wall. I'm over it. But I've come so far, and, like the smart girl I am, have set up parachutes for myself for such anticipated situations. For example, I made a point to tell anyone who would listen early on that I was training for a triathlon. So now people are constantly checking to see how it's going. The only thing harder than pushing through training with no motivation is telling your friends and family that you quit. This blog in itself is another example of that. Also making a point to befriend people in my training program helped. Now I don't only see them at the gym, but out socially. Surrounding yourself with your team and people who are going through the same issues is always helpful. Everyone has solutions to offer, or at least a shoulder to lean on. Plus it doesn't hurt that you can't face going to happy hour if you skipped the run group that morning... you know they'll ask why.

So the solution: go through the motions until the motivation returns and remind myself why I started this, where it will take me, and how awesome it's going to feel when I can say I did it!