First, thanks to all for the e-mails recently. I'm glad you enjoy the reading. Now that I am sure I'm not just typing for myself. Maybe I'll come up with some decent things to say.
Well, I'm currently in week 19 (after doing week 18 Version 3.0) of my 20 week plan to prepare for the High Cliff Half on June 19th. Why version 3.0 you ask? Well as I explained in an earlier post, I give myself a little "cushion" in my training plans to allow for those times when life interrupts my training. After all, I am a husband and father before a triathlete. Anyhow, I didn't have any weeks that required remedial work. Thus, week 18 got done three weeks in a row. Week 19 is a half taper and week 20 is a taper (full I guess). I'll talk about that in a bit.
Today was my last longish tempo ride. I have the race hydration system on the TT bike now and wanted to test it out. I was also trying to get a good feel for my RPE. Here's the data for those of you that like that stuff. See previous post about why it is mine and should not affect your training or life in any way.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36029826
You'll see that the route is just an extension of the route done last week. It adds about 10 miles of rolling hills. This route is affectionately called The Jesus Route - The Director's Cut. Don't ask why and don't complain about the names. That would just waste valuable 1's and 0's.
Again, no fancy aero stuff, started with shoes clipped in, yadda, yadda, tried not to go slow. What is really interesting is the two spikes in my heart rate at the beginning of the ride. I almost plowed into a flock of deers not once but twice within a few minutes of starting. Such are the risks while doing a silent sport.
Now, about tapers. I have to admit that I don't like tapering. I have a theory that says, "A body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest." Newton was a smart guy (he actually had to invent the math to prove his ideas-that is smart). Now, I'm not saying that human beings are like apples falling off trees or billiard balls on the proverbial frictionless pool table. But, I am saying that the more I keep moving the faster I seem to be able to move.
I do have ants in my pants more often than not. So, this idea of tapering is a little difficult for me. But, I do also understand that I've been working my body hard enough for the last five months and I can bet that going into the race well rested would be a good thing. So rather than just cutting my training going into the race, I'm going to just lessen the time spent training while keeping the intensity up there. As an example: A two hour ride will become an hour and fifteen minutes and an hour run will become a thirty-five minute run (that is the shortest run worth doing in my book).
My hope with this taper idea is to keep the ants in my pants at a minimum so I don't drive the people in my life completely nuts. And at the same time allow my body enough time to rest, recuperate, and replenish its energy stores for the race. I'll let you know how it works. I really have to admit to not completely buying into tapering. Maybe it is because I don't like them. I could be biased.
By the way, last year I did a really nice 40 mile tempo ride followed by a 40 minute run the Friday before the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman last year. I know my performance in that race minus a taper. We'll have to see what happens this year.
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