Taper Time

One of the hardest parts about training for an Ironman (or any event, really) is the taper period. After 7 months of hard training, you suddenly must slip into easy training 2-3 weeks before the big race, and then nearly no training at all for the last week. It is physically and emotionally painful. This year, I have trained harder than every before, and the taper is particularly difficult.

Four weeks ago, I started to ease off and began to sleep more. Once I started sleeping, all I could do was sleep, but with two toddlers, that wasn't really an option, so I really spent my days in a fog. Then the legs started aching. They ached at night, in the morning, and pretty much all day. I began sleeping with a pillow between them, but that didn't help much. After the sleeping phase, I moved into the anxiety phase, and wasn't able to sleep at all. Every dream was about the race, and I woke up exhausted (wasn't I supposed to be getting extra rest???).

My metabolism was still jacked high, so I got away without changing my diet while easing up on my training...for about two weeks. Now, with less 10 days of tapering to go before the race, I have had to make a major shift in my eating (no more Chinese food!), so as not to put on any (more) weight than I did in the last few days.

But the hardest part is refraining from going out for a long run. I miss the solitude, the effort-induced pains that melt into a comfortable stride, the feeling of relaxation when I return, exhausted, and the deliciousness of the first sips of water. I look forward to race day, to the chance to test my mind and body, four years wiser and older than the last Ironman. Am I better this time, or just older? I know my mental edge is much, much stronger. I also look forward to the day after the race, when I can wake up and do whatever workout I please, not worrying about pace or proper nutrition. I might take that day off. Or maybe, I'll lace up shoes and sneak out at sunrise and hobble a short distance, for the peace, the quiet, the secret I keep with the start of every day. Only a few more days and the taper will be over.