Race prep.

Sometimes resting to maximize peformance can be more difficult than the overspeed treadmill sessions, long hill climbs, or the long swims. Staying still is hard....

With only 4 days until XTERRA Alberta, in Canmore, my time training has been decreased and I am left feeling tired, sluggish and lacking energy, but with a few more short workouts planned this week, and lots of rest (yeah right) I am hoping to go in to Canmore feeling springy, fast and ready to raceDuring this time of taper, I have read that your immnue system is not as strong, and certain foods can wear down your immune system even further, such as certain sugars.

I am focusing this week on eating a diet plentiful in foods rich in antioxidants, such as berries, brocolli, green tea and tomatoes, and I have noticed that these foods are actually staples in my diet anyways!
We spent the past weekend camping at the beautiful Champion Lakes, and if there is ever a harder time to not eat loads of crap, this is the time, and although, our trailer is usually clear of any offending foods...it always seems to appear!! I was able to control myself (most of the time)
The other challenge, is not eating too much, but eating enough...and of course all the right stuff....no ice cream and cookies last night when we were at friends for dinner (almost felt rude saying "no") and cutting out my daily glass of wine :o(

With the kids being older, you would think that I would get a solid nights sleep....but most nights, I still have one or the other waking up, but of course it is not nearly as tiring as when they were babies! So this week, I am cutting out all of my early morning workouts! No more 5:30am wake up calls for me, sleeping until 8:00am is my goal....and going to bed before 10:00pm, every night this week! So far, so good!

I am trying to relax this week (as relaxed as life gets with 2 kids) and stay mentally strong and positive! I start doubting my training, and how I will perform this weekend...did I too too much, did I do too little? Fortunately I have had a structured, coached training schedule all year, so I have high expectations, and although this race isn't the biggest race I will do this summer, it will be a good benchmark for the upcoming Whistler Nationals and Maui Worlds!!

I also have to give my neglected legs a wax, because that will make me faster for sure....whatever you think will make you faster, will make you faster :o)