The Offical Crazy Countdown Has Begun

I'm just under 6 weeks til Ironman Louisville and I am hitting the hardest of the weeks!! These past two weeks I had a nice taper, the Muncie Enduration Half IM, a recovery week, a sinus infection, and now its time to haul ass. For the week I've ticked off 69 of 241 miles of S/B/R.

Muncie was the craziest weather I have ever raced in. The swim was uneventful except for a crosswind making it difficult to site. During the second half of the bike a storm rolled in bringing downpours so bad I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me. My legs and back were tight during the bike and made it quite uncomfortable to be in arrow so I rode a ton on my hoods hoping they would loosen up. The rain continued off and on through the run. Not having my legs during the bike was a blessing because I had the best run I've ever had in a half. I've never broken 2 hours and at Muncie I was 1:48 (yippie). The only disappointment (and I sound nuts for saying this) was that I signed up for this race because I've heard it can be a very HOT, grueling day. This was supposed to be building me up for IMLV...so I'm praying this cool summer continues through August otherwise Hot Betty and I will be cooked!

I PR'd with a time of 5:38 where my previous time was 5:52 from Racine. Olympic, Halfs, and soon to be fulls are the only races I keep track of PR's. The distances for Sprint races fluctuate so much its hard to judge. Even though in the longer distance races sometimes one of the disciplines are short (or long) I think the times are all relative.

Next week I hope announce my Chicago Marathon - Girls on the Run fundraising event. I plan to send the email early next week, get a donation link set up on the blog, and a link on facebook.

Some Yummy Stuff
Here's been my staple breakfast for the past couple of weeks:
Chocolate Hemp Milk, Vanilla Almond Milk, 1c Frozen Spinach, 1T Flaxmeal, 1T protien powder, 1 Frozen Banana, 2T Naturally Nutty Peanut Butter, and sipping some Kombucha on the side to keep me healthy

Gimmie Taper

That's right, it's a taper week and boy do I need it. Last week I maxed out...to the max. It was my longest week by far in my IM journey but what made it toughed and pushed my limits was doing it over a holiday weekend. Granted I was in a beautiful location, I take that back, this place is perfection, my family lake house in Northern Michigan IS my numeral uno haven.

Here's a recap of the week. Mon-Thurs was the normal routine totaling out 4500m swimming, 4 hrs bike, and a 10 mile run. Fri-Sun was different once I arrived at the lake. Friday I swam 20min then ran 9 miles. Then on the 4th of July I ditched out on seeing lake buddies the night before and woke-up at sun-up. I drove into town and headed on out on Hot Betty.

My scheduled workout was a 90 mile ride where I planned a 30 mile loop from Boyne City to East Jordan to the Ferry and back to BC - times 3. Fun, Fun! I love my dad, the guy is just getting back into shape and he got up early, dragged out the Lemond, and rode most of the first loop with me!! Awesome job Daddy-O! Loop two was solo. Luckily BC was hosting a 10k in the morning then a parade around 11am, I missed most of the traffic and EJ was a ghost town. Loop three was a turning point for me. It actually started at the end of loop two and I was a 1/2 mile from the car and I ride up behind another cyclist - "hmmmm I thought, they have the same jersey as my dad but the same helmet as mom....MOM?". "Hey hun, I didn't have the right top so I wore your dads. My bike is making noise and can you put air in my tires?" So back at the car I fixed her all up and out we go, loop 3.

We started a little slower than I would have liked but I thought that this is good, I need to ride smart. When we rode into EJ I gave Mom the map and pointed her the shortcut back to BC while I completed the course. In the end I felt GREAT. When I did my first 75 of the season I bonked around 60 miles, my first century I bonked at 85, but back to 90 - no bonk. I think my nutrition plan is working out for me!!

Sunday unfortunately was not a good day for me. I had a character breakdown - crazy was taken over. I didn't know what to think of it, was I just being a wimp and wanting to hang out on the boat for the last few precious hours of my vacation or was I donzo? I had a scheduled 16 mile run which I easily could have done, I know my legs gtg were but my head wasn't. The feeling is like being asleep, the alarm goes off at 5am and you debate about hitting the snooze. But this time I was awake, I had already eaten breakfast, and I was screaming to myself "Kelli just put on your shoes and go!" But I did't go, instead I thought "No just swim, you need to swim, clear your head". I should know after 19 years of running ONLY running will fix the head. But I swam anyway, 30 minutes open water. I felt good, strong, and confident (i even opened my eyes under water). Punishment - I got swimmers itch probably from swimming near the public dock and beach. Thanks!