The Taper

I first saw this a few months ago on the MX12 VIP Facebook page. It brought tears to my eyes then and I wasn't even as close as I am now.

For all of you who have dreams of 140.6 or 70.3 or even of a super-sprint, this encapsulates the sport for me.

EDIT: Found out the author! Friend of a friend.

"Right now, you've all entered the taper. Perhaps you've been at this a few months, perhaps you've been at this a few years. For some of you this is your first IM, for others, a long-overdue welcome back to a race that few can match.

You've been following your schedule to the letter. You've been piling on the mileage, piling up the laundry, and getting a set of tan lines that will take until next year to erase. Long rides were followed by long runs, which both were preceded by long swims, all of which were followed by recovery naps that were longer than you slept for any given night during college.

You ran in the dark.

You rode in the rain.

You ran in the heat.

You ran in the cold.

You went out when others stayed home.

You rode the trainer when others pulled the covers over their heads.

You have survived the Darwinian progression that is an Ironman summer, and now the hardest days are behind you. Like a climber in the Tour de France coming over the summit of the penultimate climb on an alpine stage, you've already covered so much ground ... there's just one more climb to go. You shift up, you take a drink, you zip up the jersey; the descent lies before you ... and it will be a fast one.

Time that used to be filled with never-ending work will now be filled with silent muscles, taking their final, well-earned rest. While this taper is something your body desperately needs, your mind cast off to the background for so very long, will start to speak to you.

It won't be pretty.

It will bring up thoughts of doubt, pain, hunger, thirst, failure, and loss. It will give you reasons why you aren't ready. It will try and make one last stand to stop you, because your mind doesn't know what the body already does. Your body knows the truth:

You are ready.

Your brain won't believe it. It will use the taper to convince you that this is foolish - that there is too much that can go wrong.

You are ready.

Finishing an Ironman is never an accident. It's the result of focus, hard work, and belief that all the long runs in January, long rides in March, and long swims every damn weekend will be worth it. It comes from getting on the bike, day in, day out. It comes from long, solo runs. From that first long run where you wondered, "How will I ever be ready?" to the last long run where you smiled to yourself with one mile to go ... knowing that you'd found the answer.

It is worth it. Now that you're at the taper, you know it will be worth it. The workload becomes less. The body winds up and prepares, and you just need to quiet your worried mind. Not easy, but you can do it.

You are ready.

You will walk into the water with 2500 other wide-open sets of eyes. You will look upon the sea of humanity, and know that you belong. You'll feel the chill of the water crawl into your wetsuit, and shiver like everyone else, but smile because the day you have waited for so VERY long is finally here.

You will tear up in your goggles. Everyone does.

The helicopters will roar overhead.

The splashing will surround you.

You'll stop thinking about Ironman, because you're now racing one.

The swim will be long - it's long for everyone, but you'll make it. You'll watch as the shoreline grows and grows, and soon you'll near the end. You'll come up the beach and head for the wetsuit strippers. Three people will get that sucker off before you know what is happening, then you'll head for the bike.

The voices, the cowbells, and the curb-to-curb chalk giving you a hero's sendoff can't wipe the smile off your face.

You'll settle down to your race. The crowds will spread out on the road. You'll soon be on your bike, eating your food on schedule, controlling your Ironman.

You'll start to feel that morning sun turn to afternoon sun. It's warmer now. Maybe it's hot. Maybe you're not feeling so good now. You'll keep riding. You'll keep drinking. You'll keep moving. After all, this is just a long training day with valet parking and catering, right?

You'll put on your game face, fighting the urge to feel down as you ride for what seems like hours. You reach special needs, fuel up, and head out.

By now it'll be hot. You'll be tired. Doubts will fight for your focus. Everyone struggles here. You've been on that bike for a few hours, and stopping would be nice, but you won't - not here. Not today.

You'll grind the false flats to the climb. You'll know you're almost there. You'll fight for every inch of road. The crowd will come back to you here. Let their energy push you. Let them see your eyes. Smile when they cheer for you - your body will get just that little bit lighter.

Grind.

Fight.

Suffer.

Persevere.

You'll plunge down the road, swooping from corner to corner, chaining together the turns, tucking on the straights, letting your legs recover for the run to come - soon! you'll roll back - you'll see people running out. You'll think to yourself, "Wasn't I just here?" The noise will grow. The chalk dust will hang in the air - you're back, with only 26.2 miles to go. You'll relax a little bit, knowing that even if you get a flat tire or something breaks here, you can run the damn bike into T2.

You'll roll into transition. 100 volunteers will fight for your bike. You'll give it up and not look back. You'll have your bag handed to you, and into the tent you'll go. You'll change. You'll load up your pockets, and open the door to the last long run of your Ironman summer - the one that counts.

You'll take that first step of a thousand ... and you'll smile. You'll know that the bike won't let you down now - the race is down to your own two feet. The same crowd that cheered for you in the shadows of the morning will cheer for you in the brilliant sunshine of a summer Sunday. High-five people on the way out. Enjoy it. This is what you've worked for all year long.

That first mile will feel great. So will the second. By mile 3, you probably won't feel so good.

That's okay. You knew it couldn't all be that easy. You'll settle down just like you did on the bike, and get down to your pace. You'll see the leaders coming back the other way. Some will look great - some won't. You might feel great, you might not. Not matter how you feel, don't panic - this is the part of the day where whatever you're feeling, you can be sure it won't last.

You'll keep moving. You'll keep drinking. You'll keep eating. Maybe you'll be right on plan - maybe you won't. If you're ahead of schedule, don't worry - believe. If you're behind, don't panic - roll with it. Everyone comes up with a brilliant race plan for Ironman, and then everyone has to deal with the reality that panning for something like Ironman is like trying to land a man on the moon. By remote control. Blindfolded.

How you react to the changes in your plan will dictate your day. Don't waste energy worrying about things - just do what you have to when you have to, and keep moving. Keep eating. Keep drinking. Just don't sit down - don't EVER sit down.

You'll make it to the halfway point. You'll load up on special needs. Some of what you packed will look good, some won't. Eat what looks good, toss the rest. Keep moving. Start looking for people you know. Cheer for people you don't. You're headed in - they're not. They want to be where you are, just like you wanted to be when you saw all those fast people headed into town. Share some energy- you'll get it right back.

Run if you can.

Walk if you have to.

Just keep moving.

The miles will drag on. The brilliant sunshine will yawn. You'll be coming up to those aid stations fully alive with people, music, and chicken soup. TAKE THE SOUP. Keep moving.

You'll soon only have a few miles to go. You'll start to believe that you're going to make it. You'll start to imagine how good it's going to feel when you get there. Let those feelings drive you on. When your legs just don't want to move anymore, think about what it's going to be like when someone catches you ... and puts a medal over your head ... all you have to do is get there.

You'll start to hear the people in town. People you can't see in the twilight will cheer for you. They'll call out your name. Smile and thank them. They were there when you left on the bike, and when you left on the run, and now when you've come back.

You'll enter town. You'll start to realize that the day is almost over. You'll be exhausted, wiped out, barely able to run a 10-minute mile (if you're lucky), but you'll ask yourself, "Where did the whole day go?" You'll be standing on the edge of two feelings - the desire to finally stop, and the desire to take these last moments and make them last as long as possible.

You'll hit mile 25. Your Ironman will have 1.2 miles - just 2KM left in it.

You'll run. You'll find your legs. You'll fly. You won't know how, but you will run. The lights will grow brighter, brighter, and brighter. Soon you'll be able to hear the music again. This time, it'll be for keeps.

Soon they'll see you. Soon, everyone will see you. You'll run toward the lights, between the fences, and into the night sun made just for you.

They'll say your name.

You'll keep running.

Nothing will hurt.

The moment will be yours - for one moment, the entire world will be looking at you and only you.

You'll break the tape at the finish line, 140.6 miles after starting your journey. The flash will go off.

You'll stop. You'll finally stop. Your legs will wobble their last, and suddenly ... be capable of nothing more

Someone will catch you.

You'll lean into them.

It will suddenly hit you.

You will be an Ironman.

You are ready.

- Bob Mina

Week Forty-Five: 11/4-11/10

Also week 19 of IM training. One more week; can you believe it? Can I believe it?

Also: week 45? Where the hell did this year go????

Monday, November 4: Off: scheduled
- Taper, I love you.

Tuesday, November 5: Bike: 21.88 mi in 1:05:10; avg cad 91; 20.1 mph
- 26.2 mph max
- pedaling in front of the TV - easy cycle
- Saving my 90:00 until Thursday. But yay for easy cycles! Brandon also thought I looked very smooth - that it looked easy - hopefully I'll feel like that on race day, too.

Wednesday, November 6: Swim: 2000m in 45:41 - 2:17/100m
- 20x100m
- shoulder just a little funky
- Shoulder for me and nausea for Brandon means we cut a 4000m swim short again. Not too horribly concerned, though.

Thursday, November 7: Run: 3.13 mi in 30:06 - 9:36/mi
- trail out-and-back
- felt pretty good; lungs a little rough
- First relatively decent run in a while and first "major" run in a week. Knee held up pretty well - lungs noticed the time off, though.

Friday, November 8: Off: choice
- We had the option of two off days this week - with all the stuff I need to do before leaving, I felt it was okay to skip today.

Saturday, November 9: Run: 4.74 mi in 49:30 - 10:26/mi
- Run CO Saturday run
- first few miles felt good ... then knee acted up
- So Mike thinks the knee could be IT band related - lots of stretching on deck for me as well as a pre-race massage!

Sunday, November 10: Swim: 1000m in 22:56.35 - 2:18/100m
- 10x100m
- quick; just to get the arms moving
Stretching: 8:00
- plus looooots of foam-rolling
Bike: 38.39 mi in 1:55:02; avg cad 91; 20 mph
- 23.2 mph max
- Tempe training ride
- Short swim and a shorter ride than planned, but preparing to leave is a bit more important. Still very glad I got stuff in, though.

Weekly training time: 5:56:25
Weekly training mileage: 70 mi
Yearly training time: 262:19:35
Yearly training mileage: 2291.57

Race Recap - Denver Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon

My God is this recap late...I'm sorry.  I'll do the best I can.

I got home Thursday morning before the race, having completed my sims and being ready for IOE to start.  But more importantly, I got home ready to get this race done, and quite excited that I was able to do it in the first place.

We hit the expo on Saturday and spent most of it hanging out at the Run Colorado booth.  When we were done with the expo, we should have been going out for a 50 mile ride, but neither one of us had the motivation to do so.  I don't know if our bodies were telling us to relax and race the next day or what, but we instead just went out for a long walk and spent the night relaxing.

Race morning, we left the house early and found a meter near the start/finish.  That worked out awesome.  We walked to the near start, checked in our gear, and found the porta-potties.  The lines were crazy at one set, so I found another group of them that weren't nearly as full.  Then we weaseled our way to the start.  We said hi to our friend David, who was in one of the first waves.  Then we ran into more Run CO people, which was just awesome.  Chatted with them a bit, and found our way to the "corral".

We got close to the start, the horn went off, and so did we!

The Race
We vowed T would pace us this race.  We both had dreams of smashing our Denver 1/2 PR, our actual 1/2 Marathon PR's (mine was 2:15:48) and hopefully cracking 2:10:00.  Our running had been going really well up to that point, so I figured both were within reach.

The first mile, our Garmins had us well within reach of it, but already we were showing that we were off in distance.  The Garmin had me doing a 9:49 but the race had about a 10:15.  I vowed to not care/complain and continue on.  

We both kept plugging away, speeding up a bit, feeling comfortable, and not stressing.  When we hit the 5 mile point, someone screamed "yay Run Colorado!"  That felt good.  I later learned it was Janelle, who is a MHTC member.  

When we hit City Park, this is where the race usually/typically gets grinding.  You have to get into your head a bit.  And you have to trust yourself.  T and I both kept plugging away.  By 9 and 10, before you hit Cheeseman Park, it's probably the toughest stretch.  You're getting tired.  You want to slow it down.  But you have to keep going.

In Cheeseman Park, we were both wondering if 2:10:00 was within reach, but neither of us voiced it.  We didn't want to be negative.  Usually in these longer races, I have a tendency to not be positive, and I didn't let this happen this time around.  Right about the time we were both ready to mail it in, a bunch of our running friends were there.  High-fives, cheers, it was exactly what we needed.  Our spirits were boosted and we made it to mile 12.

The final mile, we agreed to pick it up and run together.  That lasted about .01 miles as T shot off like a cannon.  I tried to keep up with her, but to no avail.  The funny thing is, we joke about her having great speed later in races, but I wasn't moving slow by any stretch.  She was just moving that much faster.  Oh I promise you I tried to catch her.  In the meantime, I was eyeing my Garmin.  My Garmin indicated that I was on pace to finish 13.1 miles sub-10, but it was going to be VERY close.

I picked it up as best I could, and hit the finish line.  I knew I had PRed regardless, so I was quite happy.  We grabbed the usual bananas, water, chocolate milk for me, and a couple other things and moved on out.  We then tried to figure out if we hit our goal of sub-10 per mile.  

OFFICIALLY per the race, no, we did not.  Per my Garmin, I did a 9:58 per mile for this run, so logically, I know I did.  Regardless, I don't care, because I PRed, did a great job, ran very well, and had a MAJOR confidence boost.

Overall, I'll take it. :-)

The Trainer Century - in Photos

As you know from training, I had to do a century ride in training. Since circumstance was that Brandon and I couldn't do it together and that was way too long of a ride to do alone (and unsupported) given my crash history, we both did century rides on the trainer.

We've spent a lot of time on Skippy this year (even had to get new rear tires as a result) and this was the longest single session yet.

I know some of you are probably asking why, oh god why would we do this (and I wondered that myself at times), but I think it worked out for a few reasons:

1.) It was fantastic mental training.
2.) As mentioned before, crash risk is negatory.
3.) It took a lot less time than it would have outside - less time out of my day is a giant perk.

It went well and as you saw in my training log, the run off the bike was very spry and I had tons of energy afterward and felt pretty good the next day.

So, here's the story ... in pictures.


The beginning.


Food pile. Apple pie Bonk Breaker bars, "crack" (no-bake) cookies, an extra bottle of water and potatoes from the Feed Zone cookbook. I think I screwed something up with them though since they did NOT taste like they were supposed to ...


The videos I chose to watch.


Run clothes set up for the transition.


Tempe ride, ready to go.


"Let's do this!"


Essentially my view for the next few hours. ALSO: new water bottle - Profile Design HC Aero. SO AWESOME.


Since Coach Troy during the Tempe ride is a drinking game waiting to happen, I had iTunes blaring as well.


Mile 25.


And we are now doing the Kona DVD. It is ridiculously boring. Sorry Troy.


Mile 40. I'm getting sweaty.


Mile 50. This is when it started to get horrible.


The dwindling food pile.


Mile 75. The sweat is driving me insane.


Mile 90. Yes, that is the look of insanity. It is also the look of me starting to go inside my own head to finish this crazy crap.


The view outside. Worst part was, it actually was a nice day out.


The end is near, so very, very near.


DONE.

Race #7 of the Season: Rock 'n' Roll Denver Half-Marathon

This is obviously a few weeks late and we treated this race more as a training run than anything, so forgive the quality of this.

We signed up for this race back in May for a few reasons:
1.) It was good timing regarding IMAZ.
2.) We wanted redemption on the course.

Okay, so it was mostly reason number two. We knew we could do a lot better than our previous times had been, especially because the two previous years we'd done this race, we hadn't properly prepared, let's not kid ourselves. 2011 was in the midst of post-IM Boulder 70.3 malaise as well as about two weeks post-wedding and 2012 was right after our delayed honeymoon/first anniversary trip. Running? What was that?

This year, however, we were running. We were running a lot. Sure, it wasn't half-marathon specific, but we'd been putting up some decent speeds in training. We were training to go longer, but we still had some hopes. No matter what, we wanted to break our 2010 half-marathon PRs (mine: 2:15:41) and ideally wanted to hit 2:10. We thought it might be a possibility.

Saturday's pre-race workout was a scheduled 50-mile ride with a 10 minute run off the bike. With the chilly morning and needing to hit the expo, we ended up not doing it. We ended up just going for about a two hour walk - Brandon tried out his new compression socks that he was going to wear race day and we both had new shoes to wear. It was low key and wonderful.

Race morning we woke up with plenty of time to eat breakfast and find a meter downtown. Thankfully they moved the race back to Sunday (Sunday first year we did it; Saturday last year) so we could park free on the street. We parked about four or five blocks away from Civic Center Park and then headed on over. We hit up the pre-race porta-potties (me having to do a race first: use the flashlight app on my phone to be able to see inside said porta-potty), took some pictures,





and dump our stuff in the gear check bag and check it in (slightly more efficient than the previous year). Then it was off to the corrals where we ran into several Mile High Track Club people (official running club of our running store, Run Colorado) and hung out with them until the start.

(A quick word about the outfit: it was about 40 degrees for the race. May have gotten to about 50 by the finish, but it was probably still mid-40s. I'm typically more of a "hot" runner than a cool one but sweat obviously cools you down too. So, I went with a Brooks mesh base layer that seriously looks like a hooker shirt I used to go clubbing in way back in the day with a Run CO singlet over it. Skirt Sports on the bottom (my legs don't get that cold) and then my new 2xU compression socks which are AWESOME as well as my brand new cherry red Mizuno Wave Riders (we're in the same shoe). I got a little toasty at times - pushed up the sleeves at one point - but overall, it was a perfect race day choice.)

After waiting around a bit, it was time for our corral (or whatever corral we ended up getting in - they're not that strict ...) to go off.

Beforehand, we decided that I'd try to pace us through as my running has been a bit stronger this year and especially as of late. So, we'd try to stay relatively consistent and take it a bit easier to start and hopefully pick it up.

Yeeeeahhh ... according to the Garmins, the first few miles were well sub-10. Not as much according to the race clocks - distance was way off for us - but we just ignored that and kept running.

The first time we walked was the hill up 17th a little after the three mile point. We continued steady up 17th and into City Park. We walked a bit here and there, but nothing substantial. Post-City Park is where the race starts sucking ... and they changed the course slightly this year - instead of crossing Colfax at ... Josephine? and then continuing down 13th for a while before Cheesman, they routed us BACK down 17th until ... Park? and then cut over Colfax to 13th and backtracked a bit into the park.

In the park - so about mile 11ish - quite a few of the MHTCers who weren't racing were there to cheer us all on (a few more were in Wash Park for the marathoners). Hearing them cheering for us and screaming our names as we passed was the best pick-me-up ever, especially at that point in the race.

I should mention that my knee started giving me shit about ... mile 8, I think? ... but I refused to really think about it, and it didn't give me any issues ... until the days after.

After we left the park, we had a little over a mile to go - all downhill - and hoped to just run it in. We had run the race together up to this point, but as much as I tried to slow it down, I couldn't stay with Brandon. I slowed to a walk at one point for him to catch up, but then I started pulling away again. He just said to go, so I did ... and picked it up RIDICULOUSLY. My Garmin has me running sub-8 for the final bit of the race and sub-7 crossing the finish line. I flew down the hill.

Final Stats:
Time: 2:11:59
Pace: 10:05/mi
Overall Rank: 3808/8316
Gender Rank: 2028/5722
Division Rank: 419/1157 (F30-34)





The supremely frustrating thing was that my Garmin said I ran 13.33 mi in 2:12 and hit the 13.1 mile mark in 2:09:44 (so 9:54/mi pace). Either way it's a massive PR, but ARGH. Annoying.

For the curious, here are the Garmin splits:
Mile 1: 9:44.8
Mile 2: 9:25.4
Mile 3: 9:25.4 (holy consistency Batman)
Mile 4: 9:38.5
Mile 5: 9:59.6
Mile 6: 10:05.9
Mile 7: 9:48.2
Mile 8: 10:25.8 (stupid knee)
Mile 9: 9:39.7
Mile 10: 10:39.9
Mile 11: 10:42.3
Mile 12: 10:42.8 (Cheesman, you suck)
Mile 13: 9:15.6
(Split) 14: 2:26.6 (7:22 pace)

While I'm supremely annoyed that I can't call this a sub-2:10, I *can* still call this a huge PR.

And, after all, it was just a training run when it came down to it. Can't complain too badly about that, can I?

October Round-Up

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on - this round-up, my Rock 'n' Roll Denver Half-Mar recap and my trainer century. But, first things first, let's get this out of the way.

October ended up being a huge month. Read on:

Running: 87.1 mi
Swimming: 29500m (18.33 mi)
Cycling: 326.02 mi
Lifting: you know the answer to this
Other: 3:15 of walking; 13 min of stretching

This was my biggest run month by four miles - surpassing October of 2010 when I was training for my first half-marathon. I should have hit 90 miles, but the knee issues I developed put the kibosh on that. Speaking of which, I think those arose from a combination of running in shoes that had no more cushioning as well as upping my run frequency from three days a week to four or five days a week. Obviously something I can't do in the future and something to take away from this whole experience.

I don't think I even have to look back to know that this was my biggest swim month ever. This month was bigger than some years have been. I really hope the work that I've been putting in this year pays off on race day ...

Also pretty sure this was my biggest cycling month, but I'd have to go back and check. 99% sure it is though ...

November will not be as big. Taper, race day and then TIME OFF, GLORIOUS TIME OFF will mean it's a crappy month. But you know what? I am totally cool with that.

Weeks Forty-Three and Forty-Four: 10/21-11/3

Also weeks 17 and 18 of IM training. SO CLOSE TO THE END.

Monday, October 21: Off: So, so sore
- Worked after the race yesterday as well as this morning. My knee is not happy with me .. so, thought it prudent to stay inactive today.

Tuesday, October 22: Bike: 22.91 mi in 1:22:52; avg cad 86; 16.59 mph
- 27.3 mph max
- Spinervals 22.0 - TimeTrialPalooza
- almost fell asleep a few times ...
Run: 1.01 mi in 9:46 - 9:40/mi
- out to the corner and back
- off the bike
- knee still a little wonky
- Solid effort, despite the obvious exhaustion. Run pace was nice, though probably not sustainable.

Wednesday, October 23: Swim: 4000m in 1:38:17 - 2:27/100m
- 5x800m
- 1, 4 and parts of 5 were rough; 2 and 3 felt great. okay, so did parts of 4, too.
Run: 6.02 mi in 1:01:36 - 10:13/mi
- trails and around
- purposefully picked it up in the final miles
- tried to make it easy in the beginning
- My right shoulder started bugging me in that swim. Will have to keep an eye on it. Knee a little wonky early on; fine by end. Iced and wrapped it anyway though.

Thursday, October 24: Swim: 2800m in 1:06:27 - 2:22/100m
- 4x100m, 6x(25/25, 50/25, 25/25, 100/25), 3x200m
- rough in the middle; picked up
- almost quit this a few times
Bike: 13.2 mi in 41:04; avg cad 91; 19.3 mph
- 33.7 mph max
- MX12 over-unders
- really glad I got on the bike
- It was rough convincing myself to get on the bike, but, as I said, I'm really glad I did. Funny how that works ... Still butt-honking tired, though ...

Friday, October 25: Swim: 3500m in 1:21:12 - 2:19/100m
- 12x50m, 2x(18x25 (2e, 1h), 200m), 8x400m (e, m, h), 4x100m
- warm-up and 75% of cool-down with paddles and pb
Run: 4.39 mi in 40:35 - 9:14/mi
- MX12 treadmill - beginner
- no way I could have managed intermediate
- foam-rolled after
- After getting off work I was so exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was work out ... so working out is exactly what I did. Sometimes, it's what you have to do.

Saturday, October 26: Bike: 100 mi in 5:07:49; avg cad 90; 19.49 mph
- 27.0 mph max
- Tempe training ride and part of Kona
- rotated bonk breaker bars and crack cookies ~ every 5 until about 43 and then every 3-4; electrolytes mainly every 10
Run: 1.24 mi in 11:07 - 8:57/mi
- off the bike
- surprising amount of energy
- This was rough, but good. Great training day.

Sunday, October 27: Run: 10.06 mi in 2:03:33 - 12:16/mi :(
- around
- knee issues cut this down - felt great otherwise
Swim: 1000m in 23:34:38 - 2:21/100m
- 10x100m
- finally died
- My brain couldn't handle the swim. Big week, long day ... it gave up. So happy with how much energy I had today after yesterday ... just bummed my knee had to crap out on me.

Monday, October 28: Off: forced
- I really, REALLY wanted to work out but due to my knee being a pain in the ass, Brandon made me take a rest day to try and heal up a little.

Tuesday, October 29: Off: resting
- At work, I just felt all these little tiny aches and pains in both knees and my legs. I may be slowly falling apart - thus took another day off to be safe.

Wednesday, October 30: Off: no good reason
- Time spent with the husband just seemed so much more important. I think the wrong mental switch has flipped and it is not good ...

Thursday, October 31: Run: 3 mi in 32:12 - 10:43/mi
- giant loop
- damn knee started acting up early
- Hooray, I did something. Taking this stupid knee easy as I can. It just sucks so damn badly. Training needs to be fun. Running was keeping it that way. Now I can't run. BOO.

Friday, November 1: Off: mental fail
- Could not muster up the energy or the desire to do jack all. So glad the end is near ...

Saturday, November 2: Bike: 50.16 mi in 2:30:27; avg cad 91; 20 mph
- 33.6 mph max
- Tempe training ride followed by over-unders
Run: 1.29 mi in 12:25 - 9:37/mi
- loop-de-loop
- off the bike
- So I can somehow still force myself to do ridiculously long trainer rides. That's a perk. Knee not nearly as bad for this run, but purposefully kept it shorter than it was supposed to be ... just in case.

Sunday, November 3: Swim: 1500m in 36:17.80 - 2:25/100m
- 1000m, 225m, 275m
- failed 4x1000m
- almost puked several times
Lifting: 5:00
- 3/50/30 leg adductors
- trying to help my knee
- For some reason, my orange juice came back to haunt me big time. No bueno. Also my shoulder got cranky - probably because it's been a week since I was last in the pool. Oops.

Good week ... followed by a bad week. The trainer century was definitely an exercise in mental toughness and took a lot less time had I done it outside (perks of indoor training!). I'm so, so happy I felt good the next day - just ... my knee. Most people I know are breaking down a bit due to training; I think my knee was a combination of two things - my running shoes dying and me upping my runs from three days a week to four or five days a week. I just don't think I'm meant to run THAT much. And, since running has been highly enjoyable lately and a bright spot of training, losing it has been a huge mental blow. Never thought not being able to run would affect me so much ...

Week 43 training time: 15:47:52
Week 43 training mileage: 165.85 mi
Week 44 training time: 3:56:24
Week 44 training mileage: 53.38 mi
Weekly combined training time: 19:44:14
Weekly combined training mileage: 221.23 mi
Yearly training time: 256:23:10
Yearly training mileage: 2221.57 mi