I'm now aerodynamic...

I can't believe how nervous and excited I am about this Saturday's race. I'm so anxious to get it over with and my nervousness is based on whether or not I'll be feeling strong at the start line and if my calve is going to cause me any problems on the run. I'm doing my best to be positive and I keep repeating my mantra that I'm going to be healthy and strong and have a great race. But I'm still anxious and the heart rate feels elevated, my body is even a little tense and I have to keep telling myself to relax. Normally I only get this feeling race morning.

The difference this year versus 24 years ago is that this year I'm there to race it as hard as I can, and at minimum beat my previous best time and ideally set a personal best for a half Ironman, and 24 years ago my goal was just to finish. Besides any health concerns, my only other concern is that I don't go out to hard too early. To me, Half Ironman distance races aren't a daunting distance. They used to be, but after you do enough of them, they phycologically don't intimidate you anymore.

After my massage yesterday all my body has been doing is cracking in the neck and back. I've been eating really well and I'm doing everything I can to let my legs recover and fill my muscles with energy. Every night this week I've been having a protein smoothie a couple of hours before I go to bed. I've read that if you do this, it helps your body create growth hormone while you sleep that helps your muscles recover and grow. I'm also drinking lots of water and was happy to see I weighted in at 178 lbs this morning.

Today was a rest day and I decided to go get an aerodynamic haircut, I don't want anything to slow me down, lol. The plan for the rest of the week is to continue to eat well and try to get as much rest and sleep as possible. I was reading in triathlete magazine an article about recovery and one of the pro's said "why stand when you can sit and why sit when you can lie down". Tonight I'm going to sit at a movie and have some salty popcorn. It's a pre-race ritual and I think the salt reduces the likely hood my muscles will cramp. Then I'm going to come home and watch the Tour lying down.

Taper Rest Day