After weeks of serious mileage (between 36 and 46), the last couple of weeks I ran fewer miles over fewer days (22 to 30), and thus the tapering. It can result in a kind of bloated, "OMG I'm a cow!" kind of feeling. The secret to avoiding this is CROSS-TRAINING. Use some other muscles. Some of my favorite cross-training exercises include crunches, push-ups, dancing, karaoke, gardening, vacuuming, and 16-oz curls. Stretching is very important as well. I like stretching for the TV remote and into the back of the fridge for more beer.
Diet: Super important. Want to be lean but build up the supremely important store of glycogen in the muscle tissue so it's there for the big day when stuff goes all anaerobic. My diet looks something like this:
- breakfast: coffee, (black), sushi, corn chips.
- lunch: depends on what looks like it hasn't developed a fuzzy surface in the back of the fridge: Applesauce, leftover Easter candy, G2 (electrolytes, baby!), 1/2 a veggie sub from Subway [Hey, free advertising Subway people!]
- dinner: pizza, pizza, pizza, other half of veggie sub, pizza... [you're totally jealous, now], some sort of twinkie thing (um, two of those, actually), a chocolate muffin, and an entire can of Ranch Pringles. Yup! Totally the diet of champions. The only thing missing was a pudding ring cake.
There you have it. My super secret carb-loading diet. I'm going to patent it and become rich and famous.
Other race prep? How about a massage? Oh, sure, I know it sounds decadent but all the other athletes are doin' it. Where's the harm? So, yes, I had a massage/stretching session with Cassie. Verra nice. It would've been a tad bit more relaxing if Amy's ring tone for Jerry wasn't, "Now You're Messin' With a Son of a Bitch."
Before the massage session, Amy and I drove to the start area and scoped out the scene. No one we talked to seemed to know what was going on but we got a good look/see and that'll work. Then it was off to Jerry's shop where I had a barbecued chicken leg in blue cheese dressing. [Forgot to mention that above but I might leave it out of my patented diet regime. It was supposed to be hot but I thought it was more like "spicy chicken wings for pansies." You want hot? Come to Phoenix - I'll give you a thigh that will burn the taste-buds off your tongue.]
So, today, was a quick couple of miles and then it's hydration time. I've been drinking all morning and am now afraid to leave the house. This is important, though, 'cause ya don't want to start out dehydrated. I'm not carrying water (the sloshing is *really* annoying), but will rely on the strategically spaced aid stations along the route. All that remains is picking up my race packet and loading up my butt pack (super sweet mix for my iPod, Gu, lip balm ...). Been training without my CW-X tights but will be wearin' them tomorrow. [It's sort of like training for a bike race on a really heavy old bike and then leaping on the carbon fiber model that weighs about six ounces.]
Tomorrow, it's on to, hopefully, a sub-4-hour E-ticket ride. Nervous? Yeah, maybe a little bit. Mostly, I'm just ready to get on with it so I can jubilantly
Right now I am working on my very important "visualization" exercises to enhance my performance. "I feel the need... the need for speed! Go, Dog, Go! Bring It! It's time to Pump. Me. Up!" [And, hopefully, I won't trip and fall, 'cause that would, like, totally suck.]
