nesting ...

I'm nesting.

And don't ask. I'm not pregnant.

But, I do have this unending urge to clean my entire house from top to bottom. To purge my already rather limited wardrobe. And to organize the heck of my life.

Apparently, taper is rather similar to the last weeks of pregnancy.

It hit me approximately 2.38 hours after I finished my final training workout yesterday.

And it makes total sense. Isn't scrubbing the bathroom the first thing you want to do after finishing a 45 mile bike ride and 10 mile run?

Yeah, I thought so. Sounds like a blast to me. (Note: That's really not sarcasm. Totally being serious here.)

I know my nesting is just a side effect of my anxiousness. When I feel uneasy, I need to create a sense of control. And how do I control things? I bust out my OCD hat and clean. Because in case you didn't realize, things just got real up in here.

Six days from now I'll be in the midst of 70.3 miles of pure endurance.

And there's not a whole lot to distract me between now and then.

This is going to be interesting.

11:58:36

Triathlon training is insane. It's totally the kind of insane that I gravitate to, but it's still insane.

Remember two weeks ago, when I was complaining that week of active recovery that I had to endure? Yeah, I should have appreciated it when I had it.

During my active recovery week, I worked out for two hours and 56 minutes.

Last week, I logged a whopping 11 hours, 58 minutes and 36 seconds. My highest volume week to date. I have been completely wiped. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out for when I hit my peak weeks in March.

And while the whole week was jam-packed with over the top workouts, yesterday definitely takes the cake. Less than 24 hours after finishing a 2400 meter swim and 30 mile bike ride, I tackled a Quad Brick.

15 miles on TigerBlood followed by a two mile run.

Repeated FOUR times.

Yeah, that's nearly a five hour workout.

Post workout. Just look what a 5 hour workout does to your hair ...

Somehow, I survived. And then I fell asleep on the sofa and slept right through dinner. Overall, I'm calling it a win. Oh, and it's also a good excuse to eat an entire cake for my birthday tomorrow.

first brick ...

In case you didn't know, although I have raced triathlons before, I have never trained for them. I even wrote a note to myself about how I did the exact opposite of what I should have done. Call me lucky, but somehow, I still somehow manage to place well. And since I've never trained for a triathlon, I also haven't completed a brick (yes, I have biked and then used a run as a cool-down and run than leisurely pedaled, but no bricks).

At first, I thought my workout was going to be a piece of cake. 65 minutes on the bike followed by an eight mile run. No big deal. But then, after five days of thinking that was my scheduled workout, I looked at my plan again.

Oh, crap.

It wasn't 65 minutes on the bike. It was 110. Apparently, I can't read the word repeat.

So, I regrouped. I changed my plan of attack. Three hour and 20 minute brick is kind of like a 22 mile run - at least in time. And I run 22 miles, like ALL.THE.TIME.

Um, yeah. A three hour and 15 minute brick (my actual time) is not the same as 22 miles. When I run 22 miles, I'm usually laughing with my friends, having a great time and I feel bada**. Yes, when I finished the brick I still felt bada**, but I had my butt kicked. I couldn't even stand when Dizzle took my picture.


Lesson learned: Half Ironman training is not marathon training.