Monday, August 16, 2010

It's normal... phew!

Tapering has been sweet. Well - bitter sweet. At this point, I'm tired. I'm tired of training, I'm tired of being hungry all the time, I'm tired of trying to stay focused, I'm tired of always having an agenda that the rest of life has to operate around, I'm tired of being cranky, but most of all - I'm tired of being tired.

The taper is bitter sweet because although I'm grateful that the hard work is all done and the workouts have decreased in volume dramatically, now, I just don't want to do anything. It's great that the long bike rides are now 2-3 hours instead of 5-6, but really, I don't even want to do that anymore.

It's a bit confusing and a bit concerning because I have to wonder how I'm gonna turn myself around with just two weeks left until Ironman. Just as if the universe was looking out for me, tonight at the VOWSA (Vancouver Open Water Swim Assoc.) swim at Kits beach I ran into Dave. Dave is another Ironman in training that trains with my club. He snuck up on me in the water as I was wading around trying to convince myself to do another loop of the open ocean course because really, 30min is a little lame for an Ironman (taper or not). Thankful for the distraction I asked "So? How are you feeling?" and perfectly timed Dave replies "I'm tired. I'm so very tired of training. I don't even want to do anything anymore." THANK GOD! I'm not the only one! I was so relieved when he goes on to say that it's not just him and me feeling this way, but another of our training buddies are in the same head space. Totally uninterested anymore and just wanting to do anything as long as it's not related to swimming, biking or running. Seems that after months on end of mental focus, intense training and commitment, it's just natural that we're worn out.

Hearing that we're both feeling the same way gave us the motivation for another 15mins of swimming.... but that was it.

After my timely chat with Dave, I'm not so worried anymore, but now I'm doing a little mental prep to get re-focused and re-motivated before I leave for Penticton next week (a week today - holy moly!). I'm going to go back through my old blog posts of the last year or so, and even my CityGirl Marathon blog that followed my journey to the Honolulu Marathon in 2006 and find old stories of challenges and triumphs that I've faced in the last 5 years. It's been a long road and in these final weeks, it's time to re-visit the journey and plan for the home stretch.

Should be a great walk down memory lane and one that gets me revved up and turned around. Coming up in the next 7 days is the final count down to the most anticipated day of my life so far. I want to make sure I'm present and soaking in every minute of it.


1 comment:

  1. It's called a "Taper Tantrum" and is a sign you're doing everything right.

    You are going to have an awesome race!

    ReplyDelete