Well it's finally here, I thought it would never get here, it's time to taper to Coeur d'Alene. There was no taper to the Kirkland Half, there was no taper to the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii so this is a welcome relief. Time to get the body energized, fueled up and mentally ready to race.
The first few days of a taper are always hard on my body. I get very sore and stiff as my activity level drops pretty significantly and I need to fight off getting sick as my body's defense mechanism drops a bit. I'm faring pretty well and I could already start to feel the power in my legs on my short run yesterday.
The big concern for many is what will the weather be like 9 days. It snowed in Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday and the lake is still really cold (around 52 degrees). So cold in fact they've announced that wetsuits are going to be mandatory, skull caps highly recommended and booties are going to be allowed. Shawn (that's my coach) doesn't want me doing much if any swimming in the lake before the race as he wants me to feel fast on race day. despite his wishes I'm going to do my Sunday morning swim in Lake Sammamish to make sure my wetsuit is fitting right and I'm comfortable with my skull cap and booties. Sammamish is around 58 right now so it'll likely be a little warmer than the lake on race day.
Looking at the long term forecast I think the weather on race day is going to be great. Looks like it will be dry and sunny with highs in the mid 70's. I couldn't ask for much better conditions and am really glad I went to Kona and got some heat training in. Now if we only get a break from the wind.
I've got another ride tomorrow and it's going to feel short compared to my rides in Kona and last weekend at around 3 hours. I'm going to have to watch myself out there tomorrow as the Flying Wheels ride is going on, on the same roads I'll be riding so I've got to watch myself.
I'll hopefully be posting more updates and pictures from CdA once I arrive mid week next week.
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