Monday, October 15, 2012

Join the team...

Today was the "last" bit of hay to go in the barn.  I feel like I have been saying that all week.  The "last" this or that before B2B.  All my friends are probably thinking, "yeah we get it, you are tapering... stop talking about it, go eat a cupcake and watch some TV".

My friend Robin is racing the same day as I am only she is doing the Aqua Bike at the Great Floridian.  If you are thinking about dipping your toes in the iron distance water but aren't sure you want to commit to the whole thing, aqua bike is a great way to try it out.  I know some of the races around here offer an aqua bike division for some of the half iron and iron distance races.  If you haven't heard of it before, aqua bike is just what it sounds like, the swim and bike legs of a triathlon. You do the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike and you are done!

She and I basically have the same training schedule as far as the bike goes so we met up today at Stone Mountain for our LAST ride.  There I go again...

Last year, I hauled my gear across town to the Silver Comet trail thinking that since my race was on a flat course, why kill myself training on hills.  This year I decided to just stick close to home, suck it up and ride the hills.  I feel like I am slowly getting to be a stronger rider so maybe all that hill work is paying off!  We'll see what my splits are at B2B.  :)


Post-ride I headed over to meet with my swim coach, Mari, and a group of friends to talk about the 2013 racing season.  Mari has some exciting things cooking!  She is starting up a training group and they are targeting two of the Rev3 races next year.  I am super excited because those races were among the ones I had on my radar.  I am thinking about joining the group and leaving my solo training ways behind next season.  Still mulling it over but like the idea of everyone working towards the same target races.  If you are in the Atlanta area and have an interest in joining the group, check out Blue Iron Coaching.  

... and on that note, we have 5 more days until Beach 2 Battleship!  


    

9 comments:

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I love aquabikes, they saved a season for me a couple years a go.

Jenn (junkmiles.org) said...

I would love to do more AquaBikes...being a far better swimmer and cyclist I think it would be a lot more enjoyable training wise...BUT....the lure of the full keeps me coming back to work on this damn run!! Hey, good luck at B2B!!

TwynMawrMom said...

Oh my...I don't know if I could do all those miles and then not try train for the run, too. But I guess a marathon IS a marathon...something to think about...
By the way I have the same problem with hills close to home & the Schukyll River trail here in Philly...I'm only doing Olympic distance races but the hills definitely worked me better this season!! GOOD LUCK!!!

Matthew Smith said...

Yay for LAST workouts! :) You're going to do so well. Isn't tapering kind of mentally challenging...like you should be doing something?

I rode a chunk of the Silver Comet a couple weeks ago, and it is a bummer to haul your stuff all the way over there. It takes me almost an hour to get there. I haven't done Stone Mountain yet, but that sounds like a good place to ride too. Do you just ride around it?

misszippy said...

It's always such a good feeling to have the training done and only the resting to go! Good luck with the taper and the race!!

Carolina John said...

5 more days!! Rock on girl.

Ransick said...

You got this 425! Sharing the training, tapering, etc issues is a good reason to blog. Most people could care less how your legs feel now that you are unloading them, but us triathletes love reading/hearing about it since it reassures us our feelings are normal.

Johann said...

You've done what is needed. Now go and enjoy it. All the best!

Jill said...

Woohoo, the work is in the bag and now it's time to rest up and get excited!!

I have gone back and forth with running groups before but in the end tend to love the solo thing because there are waaaay too many personalities for a recluse like me :). But I do need to find a bike group because I suck on the bike and this is the only way I'm going to force myself out there.

Enjoy the rest of the rest week! :)