In the books

Well, my last weekend is done. I had my last weekend ride/run prior to my race. Saturday's ride was rough. For the last 2 rides I've been on I've had issues with side stitches like you get when you run. It takes forever to go away. My position on the bike has not changed. The first time it happened I just figured I drank too much water prior to heading out. On Saturday, I didn't drink too much prior to the ride. I think this time it was a sandwich I ate just before the ride. I did not get any GI issues, just those darn stitches. I had to constantly sit up and massage under my ribs. I did stop to stretch out as well. I got some relief when I sat up or stopped, but it came back as soon as I went aero again. I swear I can't win. I did feel better towards the end of the ride. I was going to head out today to do a short easy effort to see if everything was better, but I never made it out. I'll wait until my next scheduled ride. Hopefully I won't be reduced to tears during the race.

My run yesterday was uneventful, which is good. I felt fine and just kept the pace comfortable until the last couple of miles. I had some good music going on the iPod and ran the back roads to stay away from the tour-ons that came out for the weekend. I was so happy that the weather was in my favor. It was a little breezy, but cool enough that I went out in a long sleeve shirt. I really enjoy fall and winter running.

My cousin and his wife took a ride out here yesterday and I showed them a little bit of the area. It was difficult to do because traffic here is getting bad on the weekends. After our mini-tour, we drove back up island to his mom's house for a BBQ. It was a small crowd and I managed to stop and chat with everyone. Most people know about my racing and training so I am asked about upcoming races. When I get finished answering their questions, almost always, someone will say "What's wrong with you?" or "Were you dropped on your head as a baby?"

I try to explain to them why I race. I enjoy testing my limits and seeing just how far or how fast I can push myself. They think the racing is difficult when actually the race is the easy part. It's the months of training that is hard. Keeping the motivation level up and not burning out or getting injured, that's the hard part.

When I was leaving the BBQ last night, I saw a text message on my cell phone from Bruce telling me he and a couple of people would be swimming this morning. I got home around 11:30p and the thought of getting up at 5:30a to go swimming just didn't appeal to me. I set the alarm anyway and would figure things out in the morning. Needless to say I dragged my sorry ass out of bed this morning and paced up and down the hall between the kitchen and the bedroom debating swimming vs sleeping. The swimming won out. With my school schedule I am not sure what swimming days I can make at the lake this week so I knew I'd better go swim. I sent Bruce a text telling him I was on my way. He told me that he and Vicki were doing 2 miles today. I said "Good for you. I'm, doing 1." I was slightly tempted at the thought of doing 2 laps of the lake, but then I am violating the laws of the race taper. So I did my one lap, wished them good luck for the 2nd lap, drove home, showered, ate and took a nap.

So as part of taper madness, I have begun to check the weather for race day. Up until today, it was going to rain on race day. When I checked today, it said sunny and 81. Whoo hooo. I'll take it. But then again, if it rains I don't care. It's a flat course so no downhills in the rain and it's my 'A' race so I'm going all out. I am also planning out what to bring. I have my race nutrition nailed down well. I will use a 3 hr concentrated bottle of Infinite for the bike course and will supplement it with water. There are two bottle exchanges on the course. I'll stay away from the gatorade on the bike and just grab water. I'll also be packing some Clif Shot Blocks in case I start craving sweets late in the ride. For the run, that's easy. I'll use the gatorade and water at the aid stations and carry some more shot blocks with me for caffeine (I am such a caffeine junkie these days it's not even funny). I have to bring my race morning breakfast with me. Don't want to have to scramble around town the day before the race looking for food. Dinner the night before is easy, Oreo's and potato chips........... OK, just kidding. I'll just pick something from this menu.

I am still thinking about clothing. I may wear a tri top for the bike and change into a regular running shirt for the run. I prefer to wear sleeves when I run. And besides, I don't want too many people getting jealous of my awesome cycling tan.