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!