Rest

Being a larger athlete comes with some issues, but it also comes with some perks, too. For example, when I say "On your left" when I'm passing someone, they almost always are pretty quick to get out of the way when they see me coming. And while I'm not the strongest of swimmers, A guy my size isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to swim over. 

It's no sob story, but when it comes to training us bigger folks have it tough; training progress comes more slowly, and post race party food needs to be looked at with one eye on the calorie deficit from racing and the other on the scale. That's why while a lot of athletes don't enjoy their taper weeks, I've come to really depend on them to get some much needed rest as I continue to build my training towards Rev3 Cedar Point. 

We've been averaging about 12 hours a week. This week, I think maybe I'll hit 6 hours, including the race. I've taken 2 days completely off, and now that I feel well rested, I'll do a hard swim and run tonight, an easy bike tomorrow with a few accelerations and small climbs just to make sure the derailleur is working ok after I whacked it with the door last week, and a really easy outdoor swim either tomorrow or Saturday to get used to the cool water.

I looked back at the goals I made a couple weeks ago, and other than the goal for the run, I'm feeling pretty confident I'll be able to meet them. The run goal is aggressive, but I think the only way I'm going to see the run times go down is to really start to push myself. 39 minutes would be a PR in the 5k by 6 seconds, so I'm hopeful to be able to really have something left for the run.