Taper, Anyone?

Although I did see vultures on the roadside, I am back from the epic brick in the Hill Country. I am so, SO ready to taper.

The bike portion was absolutely beautiful. The route, (over the profile showed above) covered mostly back country farm roads through pastures and over some challenging climbs. The countryside was just gorgeous, and hopefully I'll have a decent picture or two to post before long. I saw deer, cattle, fox, Hill Country rivers, open pastures, soaring vists. AWESOME. Even the HC climb up to the Bat Cave Summit felt great. The ride was tons of fun until . . .

. . . until the last 45 minutes or so, when the Texas heat began in earnest. The last hour was a cooker, with sweat pouring down my face and off the elbows. Eyes stinging, sun burning my dome even through the do rag. It was heat and UV energy like some science fiction planet with two suns. It was a little bit of a struggle to cover the last couple miles into town.

Then there was the run.

Our run route was 45 minutes out, 45 minutes back, twice over the ridge north of Fredericksburg. That means that most of the first three miles was a brutal climb in nearly 100 degree heat. Then, after you descend into the valley beyond, you have to turn around and top the ridge again to get back.

The run was a real struggle, and frankly I was hoping to feel stronger than that on my last long workout before the race. But, honestly, I think (hope) the conditions were probably more difficult than the Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3 course. Plus, my body is far from fresh at this point, and I have two weeks to recover and absorb these months of training.

I guess I've just got to have faith that the deposits in the bank will be there on race day. No other choice really.