it's happening!

We are currently making our way to Oregon, enjoying a delightful overnight in Salt Lake City with my niece and her family, where we are now. They have a new tiny human who is eight weeks old, and may I recommend if you have the chance to get some baby snuggles in the days before your big race, do so [provided no one is ill - which thankfully here, they are not!] We were greeted with a wonderful home cooked fajita dinner (something that will make it's way into our menu rotation), great conversation and a divine bed for the night. I did a good stretch routine before laying down, then was totally out for the night. I feel great this morning!

On the way into town, we stopped at a favorite brewery, Templin Family Brewing. This is a nice trip for Mr. Blueberry Pancakes, too, and he deserved every ounce of that spectacular cherry plum beer he had! Many thanks to the host for suggesting it. We bought some to take with us, which I will properly enjoy on the other side of this coming weekend. While there, another employee gave us a suggestion on a coastal Oregon brewery, Breakside. I'm not sure we'll be able to check it out, but we will look for it, because, well, Clues from the Universe. 

Trip observations:

• I was having a very hard time actually LEAVING the HOUSE yesterday morning. I called myself out on it, too, recognizing there was some sort of subconscious mind game going on. Once we got on the road, all was fine and I was excited!
• We've broken the trip up into three days, because sitting is hard on my body. We pushed slightly to get to Salt Lake, but today and tomorrow can relax as we drive and take more breaks. Aiming for stops every 2 hours, for a walk and stretch break. We're in no rush. 
• Staying hydrated on the road was a challenge. Today I'll take a couple extra water bottles. My calves were tight last night. I woke up thirsty and was VERY thankful I had my big tumbler at the bedside.
• I am a much more nervous passenger on this trip. Mr. Blueberry Pancakes picked up on this, and as a result, I'm doing most of the driving (which is good, since it relaxes me and stresses him).
• Not a trip observation, but a reinforcement of something I've known for a while... I am married to the perfect partner. We are not perfect - if you know us, you know this! But we are perfect partners. And this is really a fun trip for both of us, one day in. Diamonds. 

I know it's been a whole year that I've been "on the road" to Oregon, but it feels wonderful to actually be ON THE ROAD TO OREGON. Time to continue the actual journey to the Willamette River. 

10 days out!

It is TAPER TIME! All the hard training is behind me, one more short brick and a couple shake out sessions before the race. The last weeks of training have really been great. We did an awesome 4th of July bike ride with the tri club, going in with the intent to do the shorter option. Of course, once we got there, we went for it and did the 62-miler - obviously this was before the taper started, and with my coach's blessing/suggestion to do it! It was an absolutely perfect ride, we met up with old friends, made new ones, became the pre-party entertainment for a neighborhood parade, conquered the Kathy Reynolds BUNS OF STEEL Hill Climb, and finished it all up with a 10-mile sprint to outrun the storms (which, we did). And then Sunday was the last day of the hard training, we did a big swim in the outdoor pool at Congress Park - really a glorious way to cap off all the effort. 

Tapering started Monday, and it's different than I expected. The workouts are still tough, but they are shorter! During our Trainer Road ride Wednesday, I was dying on a sprint and as we finished the block, one of the girls asked "When do we start the taper?" I busted out laughing saying "I was thinking THE SAME THING!" And it got reaaaaaallly quiet. I gave it a couple seconds, then asked if I had just hallucinated, or if she had asked 'When do we start our taper?' and EVERYONE laughed as she said "No, I said my PRINTER is out of PAPER." The mind hears what it wants to hear!

And unfortunately, the mind sort of does what it wants to do. Also on Monday, I noticed the MIND GAMES had begun! My head was full of silly questions. What if I cut my foot? What if I crash on the railroad tracks? What if I miss the swim turn into the cove? Can I do this thing when I've only done a 50-mile ride/8-mile run brick? How will I complete it, what am I thinking? And then came crazy disturbing nightmares where dead mice resurrect themselves and walk off carrying your goggles and swim cap between their large teeth, protruding from slimy, melting off little faces - EGADS. And that day began my recent run of interrupted sleep, because of said scary dreams and also worrying about logistics. Worrying is praying for what you DON'T want, but at 2AM I don't have the mental fortitude to shut that down! I know this is part of the process, I'm not surprised it's happening but it's definitely unnerving. 

So. After three nights of terrible sleep, and talking my coach's ear off about all the ridiculous things going through my head as we drove to do the last open water swim before the race, I figured perhaps it's time I reconnect with non-triathlon things that relax me. Journaling. Good fiction books. Fun podcasts. Writing a blog post. Talking to friends and loved ones. Stretching. Yoga. Yesterday I did many of those things, and I even threw in a little retail therapy for an extra boost [to be fair, I bought one thing, which I've wanted and now need, but it still felt great to buy something]. I'm doing more of these today. Mostly, I'm trying to be more present, to focus on doing things and interacting with living beings I love, and be grateful for all the blessings. I slept marginally better last night, which is progress, so I'll take it. I can nap. 

All that said. the highlight of the past week is that after our big swim on Sunday, the universe gave me THE BEST gift - an unexpected visit with my dear friend, Fiesta. He texted me out of the blue after he and his family landed in Denver, and asked if we'd like to meet up down here or in the mountains while they were in the area. No surprise, we picked the mountain option! Last time we met up, they had just had their first baby and he was a darling infant. That baby is now eight years old and has two younger siblings! It was wonderful to catch up. We were talking a lot about aging well, and Fiesta introduced me to the world of Dr. Peter Attia - he has a podcast called "The Drive" and his recent book, Outlive, is about the science of longevity. This stuff fascinates me. I know I'm training for an IM70.3, but what I am really training for is my Old Lady Body. I'm training for QUALITY OF LIFE, holding on to the best I can have, for as long as possible. So, us "old friends" here are going to keep doing all the healthy things so that we can be OLD FRIENDS. I'm really happy we got to connect! 

One more notable thing here in the taper: I've got a random punchy muscle tightness in my right leg.  Because of it, even though I had a last little brick on the calendar for today, I'm going to push that off to tomorrow. I'm guessing the pain is stress-related, but I don't want to make it worse. The workout can wait 24 hours. Very happy my coach agrees. She said definitely no running on any tense muscles, taper at this point is just to stay mentally sane - all workouts are optional. I'm doing all of the stretching and foam rolling, and I have a massage set for Monday. This afternoon I'll button up the last of my logistics, take a nap, and go to yoga, and then tonight I'll start making my pack lists. THIS RACE IS HAPPENING!! 

Despite taper weirdness [which, I understand is part of this journey] I really am grateful for the entire experience. The road to a 70.3 is not easy, and I have had so much support from family, friends and strangers. There is STILL so much in store, and much more support to come, and I am truly thankful for everyone involved. This is a real gift, and I most certainly appreciate it. Now I'm off to continue trying to stay sane. I hope you have a great healthy weekend. 

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"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27

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p.s. - this week on Arnold's Pump Club he talked about the importance of reconnecting with old friends. How very timely!

p.p.s. - this great little yoga session takes only 20 minutes - I did it yesterday and it was super helpful!

GO ME!

Today I finished my last big brick workout before the big event... 50-mile ride, followed by an 8-mile run with the first five miles at "race intensity." Here's what I learned:

- Ride early and remember how much you LOVE bicycling!

- Pretzels are my very good friend. ALL OF THE SALT. 

- Salt your water, if you're not the type to use sports drink with sodium [I am not]. I use Lyte Show electrolytes as an add-in, which has *some* sodium, but today added ~1/8 tsp to my water bottles. I feel great here at 10 PM. Never felt dehydrated, even while running in mid-day heat.

- If your coach tells you to run at a "race intensity" pace, it should be for the race you're training for. Last time, I went out at sprint/Olympic intensity, then crashed. This time, I aimed for a slower pace. It worked. No crash, and I was able to pick it back up after a walk break. 

- Worried about whether you can pick yourself up and get back on your pace target after a walk break? Try it in training! In general, it's really hard for me to do this - once I stop or slow down, I give up. Turns out I can actually pick it back up. That was one of the questions I wanted to answer in today's training, and I'm happy to say I surprised myself and DID IT. 

- TRAIN FOR THE WORST. While my last two big rides and bricks (before today) were miserably hot and windy and awful, it definitely built my confidence up that I will be able to handle that, if those are the conditions in Oregon. Note: I didn't train in the rain, specifically, for my upcoming race. BUT, I have done long rides in the past where I found myself in freezing rain, hail storms, thunderstorms, and long downhill stretches under downpours in the desert, and I survived. If it rains on me in Oregon, I'll be ok, I've faced it before. 

- YOU DESERVE A CROWN. No really. And since the only one available here on your bike ride is in your mouth, well, let's have that Skratch gummy energy chew pull it out for you. Thank God I didn't swallow it. 

- BE NICE TO YOU. You can't hate yourself faster, or thinner, or better, so be your own best friend and cheerleader. Miles 6-7.5 today were very tough, I was in a dark, dark place. But I really made an effort to be my own light and love and talk myself through it in a positive way. This paid off, those last two miles averaged out almost to the "race intensity" pace I started at. 

GO ME!

I'm three weeks out from Oregon. One more long run this week, and then I'm at the GLORIOUS TAPER. I feel good. I feel ready. I feel very, very grateful. Many times today I heard Father Tom in my head saying "Bow your head and pray for God's blessing." And I prayed, and I RECIEVED that blessing. What a gift. I am so very grateful I can do this. I am proud of me for DOING THIS, for working toward becoming the athlete I've wanted to be for the last 20 years. In the words of my best YouTube friend, Caroline Girvan, THIS IS A JOURNEY I NEVER WANT TO END. 

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"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV)