Time to Taper

We're a little less than two weeks out from the Eagleman 70.3 race in Cambridge, MD. Originally scheduled as my 'A' race, it's now serving as a stepping stone to Ironman Louisville on August 29th. The allure of Ironman sucked me back in! I'll be training with my friend Ryan, who will be competing at the full distance for his first time. Ryan's a good bit stronger than me, so repeatedly trying to hold his tire on long rides will surely have me ready to go on race day.

On Sunday I completed a race rehearsal for Eagleman. The goal of the rehearsal was to ride at target wattages for the full distance of the bike leg, then hop off and practice the discipline of running slowly for the first three miles before ramping up to target pace for another three. While not an easy workout by any stretch, it is more of an exercise in holding back than a suffer fest. The rehearsals also provide an ideal opportunity to practice the race day nutrition plan.



I did well on this rehearsal and feel pretty confident heading into race day. The attached graph of wattage over time indicates a fairly steady output of power, with the strongest hour being in the back half of the ride (black shaded section). That's good and, admittedly, a little more disciplined than usual for me.

I have a good bit of accumulated fatigue and am looking forward to regaining the skip in my step as I taper over the next two weeks. My goal is to break the five hour mark. My training metrics indicate the goal is within my abilities, but I'll need good weather and nearly perfect execution to pull it off. My previous best at this distance is a little over 5:05.