It's T-shirt...er...Taper Time!

Ok… but… not really. I get to “taper” this week but I’m still working out 7 days a week and my race is less than 2 weeks away!!

[Initialize panic mode]

The only evidence of a taper is that I’m supposed to run 12 miles this Saturday with the group instead of 20. I was hoping my coach would say I should go to Cabo & get some sun instead, but I’ll take what I can get.

I finished my last long run (well, until the actual long run) & it definitely felt good since: 1. it was my longest distance ever & I didn't feel too beat up and 2. knowing I “only have 6 more miles” to run in order to complete a marathon. I definitely felt a huge boost of confidence despite trying to keep up with the likes of Andrew Firestone, my CFO & the rest of the speedy bunch (nooooo pressure there).

It seems like the majority of the time my body is sore from something (swim, bike, run, yoga), which doesn't help my motivation to get to the next workout, but it means my muscles are adapting (I hope) and it sure as heck feels great to look back on a workout that I thought was hard & no longer feel intimidated by it. Oh yeah… and most importantly to make Coach happy :)

In the last few days, the mantra “Relentless. Forward. Progress.” keeps popping up in the front of my mind. I know a few fellow triathletes who are big believers in this mantra & have thought/said it in their races, but for me I feel like it relates to me way more during training. “Relentless forward progress” is to my training as “Be like a Kenyan” is to my race :). What I’m really stuck on is the word Relentless:

re·lent·less (adj) : showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace

What a motivating & powerful word, right? If you use that word to describe your: self/practice/training/etc., I would say you’re probably feeling pret-ty good about it. That word, to me, signifies strength and dedication, and paints a person as an unstoppable force.   Now, I’m FAR from being considered as unstoppable (ex: person says “hey Erica, it’s raining so running conditions aren't ideal today” & I say “oh ok I’ll just stay inside & eat some cookies then), but thinking about this word mentally helps me get through the training… which in turn gets me through the race. It tells my mind it’s time to focus and get stronger instead of just “getting through” a workout.

I also think this word relates to something long-term. I like to apply it to day to day training, but also to how I think about my future training schedules & races. I think I've become a little more realistic of races that I should be signing up for (ha!), but I have no intention (as if I have a choice) of letting up on my training. It’s become a very important part of my life, my therapy, the one thing that I can count on that never disappoints, and often times my struggle.  

So for the next week & a half… I will taper relentlessly & attempt to channel my inner Kenyan ;). Until the race I expect everything to be more of the same, so unless something extraordinary happens this will be my last entry until my race report. Let’s all cross our fingers that the luck o’ the Irish will be with everyone on Marathon Day!!