Sanctuarium

The books say you should taper a week or two before your event, but this is ridiculous.  I am taking the taper thing to heart and essentially stopped training a week ago.  Today I swam my last lake swim before Kona.  I went a little over a mile.  The closest I have come to a bike in the past two weeks has been a spin bike.  I don't run anymore.  I am going to try to run in Kona, but if that doesn't work out, my professional triathlon career might be over.  So that you don't think I am a complete fraud, I have to admit that I did go to yoga last week.  Twice.

If you haven't done it before, here is some free advice: Swimming alone in a big lake is more of a mental challenge than a physical one. You have lots of time to think about work, or mowing the lawn or getting your oil changed.  Sometimes when I am close enough to shore to see the bottom, I look for treasure or dead bodies. Staying focused is tough to do.  Today I was trying to fix my rather poor technique while I swam.  I usually think about one or two things to fix, like keeping my head down, pull all the way through, yadda yadda yadda, I have so many holes in my technique, its hard to choose just one thing to work on.  I considered working on my dog paddle technique, but I am a little too close to Kona to downshift that far.

When I swim, I usually keep an eye on who else is out there so that I don't get run over a speedboat, but today the lake traffic was pretty slow.  There were a couple guys in an old leaky rowboat down in the corner of the lake doing a poor imitation of fishermen and that was about it.  The lake was calm and flat and I was in my own little world swimming along minding my own business when out of nowhere a lady in a bright yellow kayak almost hit me with her paddle.  There is the rowboat and me and the lady in the bright yellow kayak on a lake seven square miles big and she attacks me with her paddle. How is this my fault?  I was there first.

I wanted to say something witty and several snarky remarks presented themselves for consideration, but she must have realized how wrong she was because she looked at me and smiled a big, perfect Pepsodent smile and said 'Nice stroke'.  Hmmm, this is now a completely different situation that it first seemed.  Hot girl, bright yellow kayak, recognizes a superior swimmer when she sees one, friendly with bright white incisors.  Now I get it.  The situation is completely obvious.  I said 'Sorry, I'm married' and swam home.

I am a list maker by avocation. Some people make bread, others knit, some people make chairs and tables. I make lists. If I could be so bold, I don't know anybody as good as I am at list making. My lists are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. My lists are near perfect.

The Kona Half Iron is just days away, which means it is time to start going through my checklists and making sure I have all my stuff ready to go. The first checklist I use is the equipment list, which in my case is a color-coded list with headings and indentation, an index and footnotes, broken into five parts. The titles of the five sections are Swim, Bike, Run, Nutrition and Hydration, and Other. I would be willing to share my equipment list with interested parties, for a nominal fee. The second appendix alone is worth the price, it's that good.

Here is the Cliffs Notes version.

Swim – goggles, tri suit and my lucky ankle strap. I don't need my wetsuit and I get a swim cap in Kona.

Bike – bike, shoes, helmet, gloves, glasses, socks.

Run – race belt and shoes and fresh socks.

Nutrition – salt tabs and I like a pbj in my special needs bag and I am going to pick up some Boost in Kona.

Other – bag balm. I use lots of bag balm. I put that stuff everywhere.

I have another list, my 'Get Your Head Right' list that I read just before race time. Strictly speaking it isn't a list at all, but a two page dissertation meant to inspire me as well as serve as a reminder to use lots of bag balm. You can't forget the bag balm.

I was trying to augment my Get Your Head Right list with a little more detail so I was searching around for some inspirational quotes when I sort of stumbled onto this sanctuary thing. To start with, I read that the word sanctuary is derived from the Latin 'sanctuarium'. So that's good.

According to legend, sanctuary was a place of safety that was available centuries ago, sometimes in churches, to travelers and those in need. I don't know if that's myth or fact, but I was noodling that around and I think I have a new race plan for Ironman events. I am going to do the best I can and then if I hit the wall, or more accurately, when I hit the wall, I am going to head to a nearby church for some R and R. Instead of finishing the run, I am going to have my feet up somewhere watching SportsCenter. I might catch a few Z's. Anyway, that's my race plan from here on out.

Five days seventeen hours before the gun.  Kona here I come.