Monday, May 27th was my last big workout before the taper for Ironman Kansas 70.3. Tuesday I was ready for the taper and was excited to have minimal workouts for the day. I knew I my gratitude for having made it to the taper would be short lived and the taper demon would show up, but I didn’t expect it to show up on day #2 of the taper.
Wednesday, May 29th I was scheduled to do an open water swim (that was my only workout for the day). When the ridiculous Central Iowa weather continued to pound on us, I knew I wouldn’t be swimming outdoors and that taper demon didn’t just show up, but it reared its ugly head!!
My husband even made the comment, “I can tell you are tapering and you weren’t very happy about not being able to complete your open water swim.”
Thursday evening (May 30th) we had a lot of the local runners who have been training for the Dam to Dam race (mostly for the 20K distance) over to our house for a pasta feed, so I didn’t get a workout in on Thursday…the Taper Demon became a little bit uglier.
Saturday morning (June 1) we went down to the Dam to Dam race and I finally got some workouts in throughout the day…My Reverse Triathlon Post
This helped calm the Taper Demon a bit 🙂
This week the Taper Demon has reared its ugly head even higher…not only am I tapering, but today was my last day of school for the summer. As a middle school science teacher, this means lately I’ve been focusing on finalizing grades and getting my classroom ready for summer, which means putting everything away…including all wall coverings and bulletin board decorations…since there are different summer school classes in my classroom throughout the next couple of months. I look forward to the summer months when I can relax, train for events, recharge my batteries and spend quality time with family and friends…although the current June weather feels more like April in Central Iowa.
I can definitely tell that I am tapering and the lack of physical exercise is affecting my attitude…I feel sluggish, lazy, weak, etc…typical taper feelings. I know that proper tapering will allow me to be physically ready for race day, so I am trying to focus even more on the mental training during these taper weeks.
I am definitely looking forward to my race this weekend…and getting the opportunity to Push My Limits!!
