10 days until Ironman Wisconsin!

I can finally say that I am in the process of tapering for Ironman Wisconsin. If you’re unfamiliar with what that means, I will be traveling to Madison to participate in a “race” that consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run.

I was looking forward to the long hours of August training and now that I’ve gotten through it, I am finally excited for race day. I’ve also been working on improving my swim stroke, not to get faster, but to avoid movements that cause pain. After just one critiqued session, my hip and back pain are significantly more manageable. I’m attempting to take in more water and calories but my appetite left me weeks ago. I’m ready to give gels and energy bars a break after this is over.  I’ve taken notice that I haven’t slept well at all since Monday. For now, I will blame it on decreased workout duration and a moody cat.

I’m starting to finally read about the course and what to expect on race day. I don’t usually like to study races too far out from the race because I find that I spend too much of my energy obsessing over minor details instead of staying focused on my training. I’ve heard enough already. I get it -- hills everywhere! I find thinking about training stressful enough so I avoid getting caught up in message boards about whether a race will be wetsuit legal, studying elevation charts and other rules unique to this particular race. (I did that a couple weeks ago and caused me deep concern and frustration.) The point is, there’s nothing else I can do now to prepare other than eat, sleep and stay healthy.

Ten days to go!