Tight Rope

I'm walking a tight rope. This is a problem I often have when an event comes up I am participating in. In my current case my fitness level is a little suspect, and I'm really training for future events. But, you say, how can your fitness level be suspect? Didn't you recently swim 12.75 miles? Yes I did, however, the race I am going to Saturday only has a wee amount of swimming in it. I am in pretty good swimming shape, but as far as the rest of it, not so much. Although I am training for the future, the need to taper for the upcoming event is still there. What to do? Three options exist. 

Option one is to train through the nearest contest. By "train through" I simply mean one does not taper. One trains as if the event were not going to happen and then the athlete shows up not expecting to perform well and uses the race as another training exercise. I have done that much and I always thought when I did, I am not going to push it just complete this thing. But once the race starts, no matter how pitifully prepared I might be, the desire to do the best I can for my present fitness level always wins out and I push until I feel like puking. Not so much fun.

Another option is to do a full taper. By taper, the volume and sometimes the intensity of the workouts decrease at least for one week, sometimes two before the event so that the muscles are fully recovered from the previous training stress and can perform at their peak on race day. This is good for the current event, but sacrifices volume for future races, hence the dilemma. 

Option three is to attempt to combine options one and two, thus keeping volume up and tapering down just a little at the end of the week. That is what I am trying to do for the Heart O' Dixie. I am aiming for the 300 Oaks in late September and my running is just getting voluminous enough to start getting me in shape for that. I feel like I can't dial back on the miles without sacrificing performance then. So I am walking the tight rope, threading the needle, trying to do conflicting things at the same time. 

To keep my running volume up, I ran long Monday (9.71 miles). Any coach would say that is a mistake and will cost me Saturday. Probably. I have attempted to run as many miles as I could since to fill up my necessary volume without trashing myself beyond repair for Saturday. How am I doing? I won't really know until after the HOD. Will my legs hold up or will they die on my half way through the bike leg and then leave me to hobble in like a tired old man. Wait, I am a tired old man. 

Yesterday I shuffled 3.26 to bring my weekly total to 15.5 miles. Wait, you say. With the seven miles of the HOD run, you have you plus twenty-mile week so you don't need to run anymore. But, I answer, I have, despite my determination not to do so, been reduced to walking parts of that run before. It could happen again Saturday. I need more of a cushion. 

The legs were not fresh yesterday. I will run again today. How far? I'd like to go an easy 2.5, but even that is pushing it a bit. A 1.5 will take me to 17 and leave me only needing three miles at the HOD. Surely I can do that even if the old fatigue assaults me along the way. I think. My cycling is suspect, and in the past I learned the hard way that you can be in good running shape but if you don't have a cycling base, you can't run off the bike. You just can't, and my cycling is a bit thin.

So what will I run today? Will I run Friday? How will I perform Saturday? Only time will tell. Thank you, Jesus, for these problems.