One week to go. 4 races in the bag. It's been an intense season of training and pushing and it will all come to a peak next Saturday in Burlington, Vermont.
Special thanks to The Colorado Running Company for helping me out this year and for believing in me. It has made all the difference.
GU, Hammer Nutrition, TYR, BlueSeventy, xx2i, Saucony, Cannondale, Sidi, Rudy Project, and Pearl Izumi should all be proud that I spend many of my paycheck dollars on their products.
I have lost 12 pounds since my journey began last October. Doesn't sound like much, but for a curvy girl who wasn't considered overweight at all, it was quite the feat. The key - as my coach has always said - is "power-to-weight" ratio, and knowing your "race weight": the weight your body performs at best. That said, my body has never felt better. I feel like I can easily push much more power without sacrificing energy, and my recovery has been much faster. I am ready.
This has been almost a year of training physically, but it has been a year of training mentally as well. What I had to realize was that I can be as fit as ever, but it would all be for nothing if my mental game is not spot-on as well. Anything can happen out there to anyone else, and there's no way to know that until results are in and final.
The plan for next week: put it all on the line. It's what I've been getting ready for all year. As Steve Prefontaine once said: "There's only one pace - suicide pace, and today is a good day to die." As my coach said: "The hay is in the barn." This week is about rest, taper, and keeping my mental game in check. Sometimes that's the hardest part, but I'll be stronger for it in the end.
Happy Friday. Happy Taper. See you next week!
