Ironman Taper

The long, hard training sessions are over.  Any drawn out, challenging, or long-distance based training now will not help or improve performance, but will leave you susceptible to injury and/or showing up on race day tired.  Taper is kind of a hard pill to swallow because you cut down your workout load significantly (50%-75%) and so you have more energy than you normally do and that energy can be spent on nervous energy as you get closer to race day.  I try and take it in stride and use that energy for spending time with family and mental preparedness.

The important thing to remember is that you need to trust your training and human physiology that a 2 week taper before an Ironman is the right thing to do.  The next 10 days will be spent doing shorter, higher intensity work to keep fitness levels high, allow my body to fully recover, and ensure my glycogen stores are full when I line up at the start line.

I'm coming to the end of a long journey to my 2nd Ironman, the hard work is done. The Ironman is just the opportunity to showcase what I've accomplished over the past 5 months.  I'll line up at the swim start with my current fitness level and confidence, and cross the finish line with a tired, smile on my face.  Now, if I can just fast forward to June 26th.