Thursday, April 24, 2008

Survey says...

I really appreciate everybody's feedback on the "To Taper or Not To Taper" question I posed in the last (lengthy) post.

After a nice chat w/Courtenay, looking at everybody's responses, and weighing heavily on what Ben said, my game plan is that I took yesterday to rest my oh-so-tired legs (just did a light weight lift session yesterday morning) and did an easy 45 minute spin (focused a lot on pedal stroke) on the trainer this morning followed by a short 15-min run that was a moderately fast pace.

Why did it end up being moderately fast instead of slow? It just felt good. I felt good. That's a nice feeling. I can't remember feeling that good for awhile now.

Ah, rest. So frowned upon by us A-types and yet...SO beneficial.

So tomorrow I will do the master's practice because their Fridays are relatively on the easier side with a couple sets that push it harder (perfect for taper). Saturday something similar; just want to keep my muscles primed but also let them recover from the last couple weeks of brutality.

HERE'S THE SURVEY QUESTION, dear readers:

Everybody's input was so helpful last time that I defer again to wise peer advice.

The Wine Country Time Trial is happening on Friday evening. It looks REALLY fun. There will be lots of Fridays to do it (happening every Friday through summer). The question I ponder is, should I start it THIS Friday if I'm racing on Sunday? Could it actually be beneficial since it's only 10 miles and it would be pretty short?
(one of the photos from the website)

Just not sure what to do. Would love more input, please!!

5 comments:

Paul said...

It depends. How important is doing well on Sunday even if it's not an important race? The TT will leave your legs flat...but less so than say a 10K running race.

rocketpants said...

I agree with Paul, if Sunday is important then the TT will harm that in a way, but if its not then go for it.

Marit C-L said...

I agree with both of the above. It just depends on what you want to do for Sunday's race.

A TT by definition is ALL OUT! 20 something minutes of hard work and pain. If there's a TT series, you could sign up for a few races over the summer - but perhaps not two days before a race.

Looks like fun though.

Courtenay said...

yep - if this were your only shot at the TT, i'd say go for it, but it would be better to wait for a week where you don't have a race on the weekend. you'll be able to focus better on the TT, and right now you'll be able to focus better on the race on sunday.

glad you are feeling better!

Rainmaker said...

Given you're a type-A triathlete (like all of us), you'll do the TT hard. And then...on Sunday (cause you're still a type-A), you'll want to race that hard - no matter what your training plans say. Cause, that's just the way us type-A's are.

The catch is - that on Sunday you'll be bummed if ya don't have the little extra ompfh! because you spent it this Friday.

So while I might be a weee bit late to the party - I say you just go out and enjoy Friday evening instead. Perhaps coupled with an easy run.

Either way, good luck Sunday!