Sniffles...

Last night I had a terrible sleep. It took me a while for me to get into REM and when I did, it was "short" and "light" at best.

Being bundled up in a sweater and pajama pants as I slept probably may have contributed to the poor nights rest. Although, I did the same for the previous two nights without any problems.

When I woke up, I was on the fence whether or not I should do my scheduled tempo run. My left butt/hamstring area was still sore and I had ran three days straight and was concerned about over doing it.

By noon, my nose was running and I started feeling a cold coming on. Even with that, I was still on the fence about whether to train or not.

I spoke to "Unofficial Coach Gord" and he insisted without hesitation, "do not train, you're semi-injured and getting a cold. Don't be a fool".

I knew "not training" was the right thing to do, but I needed someone to "bitch slap" me, which I can count on Gord to do.

Instead of training, I picked up a 58 Litre Keg of beer and booked a massage.

The massage girl I recently found is really good, she's not afraid to put the "hurt" on me and dig her elbow into my buttock muscles. The best part is, my "hairy ass" doesn't make her sick. Or at least she doesn't show it.

I know I NEED a massage if there's pain when she works it. If there's no pain, that means my muscles are fine. Today, there was some definite pain in the butt muscles, the quad muscles and the upper part of the calf's just below the knee.

Tomorrow is another rest day and I'm glad. After today's "deep tissue" massage, my muscles need time to heal and repair themselves. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting much immune system rest, I've got an all day and night event I need to attend tomorrow.

Picking up a new Keg of beer was a "risk", it could have ended my Kona journey early and I knew it. It's 165 lbs of beer and I'm lucky I didn't throw out my back lifting it up and down from the truck or wheeling it down the side of the house, down a hill to the walkout "man cave" below. Not to mention if it fell on my foot as I was maneuvering it.

In the end, I took the "risk". I just couldn't pass up on having a nice "cold pour" waiting for me when I got back from Kona.

Tonight, the family went out for dinner to celebrate Alyssa's 20th Birthday. Reid even got dressed up. Alyssa is studying like crazy and doing really well at University. She was telling us about some of the psychology stuff she's learning, which is really interesting. Reid on the other hand, was only interested in making faces, bugging Alyssa and telling "knock, knock jokes".

It was family time at it's finest. "I loved every minute of it".

Going out for dinner definitely helped make me feel a little better. I ordered food with lots of garlic and I think the garlic helped. My only "faux pas" was I ate three pieces of Alyssa's Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake when we got home. I couldn't stop at one and felt a little "sick" afterwards.

After eating so well and then having Ice Cream Cake, it didn't take long for it to work like a laxative. I can guarantee you, I won't be doing that again before race day.

Tomorrow's an early morning, so tonight is going to be an early night. Right after this post I'm going to have a hot bath and try to get to bed by 11 pm. Hopefully that will help me avoid a full blown cold.

There's nothing like a little drama before Kona.

Lastly, I went shopping for some "funky underwear" for the pre-event Ironman Kona Underwear Run. I couldn't find any. Then when I get home, Alice says Reid has some. Doh!!!

Taper Day - No training

1 hour massage