Taper Terrors

For me, at least, tapers are always weird. Tuesday I swam the exact same thing I did last year before the Challenge:

1,100
6 X 50 @ 1:30
100 easy
Total: 1,600 meters.

I also did a little 3.26 mile run. The plan then, like last year, was for no more swimming until the big day Saturday. By Wednesday afternoon, while out on a run, I was already feeling like it had been a long, long time since I had been in the water. I got home and checked my training diary. DUDE, I just swam yesterday! It is like reality warps once a taper starts. I get to feeling like I am losing fitness, and I become nervous, antsy. I know with my mind that is not true. But I feel a different way. My run that day was 7.36 miles and then Thursday I ran another 2.42. This extra running was a departure from last year's training when I neither swam nor ran after Tuesday. And by Thursday afternoon, I was beginning to question the wisdom of the extra running. I know my swimming muscles are getting a rest, but my overall fatigue level is still too high and that also can play a role in my success Saturday.

Me an' the crew

It is now Friday morning and I am trying to rest, pack, and hydrate with the breakfast of champions, coffee. I just checked the Weather Channel App on my phone for the eighty-seventh time. The forecast shows only a 20% chance of rain. Good. The forecast also calls for a south wind at 15 MPH. Not good. I am now considering changing the direction of the swim and starting at the County Park and swimming to the State Park instead of the other way around. The new direction would put a lot of that wind to my back, making it not only easier for me, but easier for my kayakers.

Well, this is the last time I will post until after the swim. In the picture above is Robin Bonds on the left. She will be in charge of my nutrition. The tall guy is Randy Beets. He will be the route guy and will scout ahead for snags and alligators and trot lines. I am the one with the closed eyes. My son, Forrest Zane Hodge, is on the far right. He will protect my back side, take pictures, and post updates on Facebook.

If you read this blog and have not done so, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. Go to www.msdiabetes.org and give under the name Chicot Challenge. Thank you.