The Hay is in the Barn

'The Hay is in the Barn," said my friend Cathy on Monday night after swimming in Lake Travis.

"Huh?"

"Why are you freaking out about getting in your workouts this week? You're supposed to be tapering and resting. Your race is on Sunday. Besides the hay is in the barn. You've done the work."

She's right. The Hay is in the Barn. There is nothing more I can do from a training standpoint to make me race an better, faster or stronger on Sunday at the Eagleman Half-Ironman Triathlon.

I'm trying to relax and take care of obligations the rest of the week. In lieu of swimming tonight, I came home and paid bills, did laundry, took care of some work projects, wrote out a couple of birthday cards, laid out my clothes, watched "Good Luck and Good Night" and even taped an interview for the "Get Your Geek On" Triathlon Podcast with the Kahuna and Iron Wil. Even Iron Wil commented that I needed to calm down and relax!! I found this humorous coming from one of the most driven, determined, obsessive athletes I've ever come across. I think what she and Kahuna are doing for the world of triathlon and podcasting is amazing and far-reaching. I'm not sure when my segment will air, but I'll definitely post it when it does...probably this week's episode since we talked about this weekend's event.

For now, I'm just going to continue to relax and mentally prepare for the race. This is my 3rd Half Ironman so it's not unchartered territory. However, every race is different and although the distances don't frighten me, the hardest part of a 6 hour endurance event is making sure my nutrition plan is secure. I don't go 6 hours without eating when I'm idle at my desk all day, let alone being in a constant state of physical activity! One cracker and a bottle of water won't get you through.

The Hay is in the Barn.


Workout:
I ran this morning with Gazelles and we did a 7 mile fartlek interval run...15 min warmup, followed by 12x 2min fast/1min slow.