Friday, November 7, 2008

Taper Time..

Oh yea...'tis the season to be rested!! I can already feel the energy shifting in my body as after our 4000 yd swim yesterday I felt like I could keep going! That is a good thing.

We decided to bag the Tempe 2.4 mile swim this weekend. They changed the course to a 2 loop version which doesn't even really resemble the IMAZ course. When I emailed the director of the Swim and asked him about it, he was not so nice but did give us a refund. H's sister is coming into town on Sunday anyway, for the big meeting with my mother-in-law's doctor on Monday so this will give us more family time anyway. We are hoping for some sort of plan of attack on my MIL's condition where we can all be on the same page and at least know what to expect if it gets bad or plan some kind of treatment to reduce her symptoms. It is funny being an ex-nurse. I know enough to be afraid of the months to come yet close enough to the situation to have a sense of denial about the whole thing..

We are playing the great balancing act of keeping going with life as usual but knowing the other shoe could drop at any time. "The Perfect Storm"as H calls it. IMAZ 2 weeks away, baby Hadley coming in about 2 weeks and H's mom slowly heading for a health crisis..We have only control over what we can control, which is very little in this situation. I can control the outcome of IMAZ..that is about it..I can control how I react to any given situation..When I think about it, much of life is really out of my control after all..

Today is rest day..I plan on pampering myself with a pedicure, maybe a massage, errands, laundry, preparing for company..Things could change on a dime. I have learned to roll more with the punches over the years. Something life has taught me. I can make plans but they may change, just like in an Ironman really. Ironman is a metaphor for life when I think about it. Shit happens you don't expect, you adjust, you have ups and downs..Sometimes it takes you out of the race. You adjust your thinking on this race of life as you need to. You decide how to react, you breathe through the hard parts, are exhilarated when you excel. You see friends along the way who are suffering too and this inspires you. You call upon your deceased loved ones, God, the angels, anything that helps you get by.You have cheerleaders on the sidelines that spur you on..Then..at the end..you cross the finish line and the reward was in the journey..

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Debi - this is my most favorite post of yours ever. Every word is so true. What a perfect metaphor for life.

I'm gonna save this one...very inspiring girl :)

I hope the things you cannot control turn out as best they can.

Susi said...

so true. one of my favourite says is 'it is what it is'. something comes up, you just deal. as triathletes we get a lot of practice with that in life and in race.

oh. one more thing. ONLY 15 DAYS TILL RACE TIME!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Unknown said...

4000 yd swim. Can't even imagine doing that much less feeling like I could keep going afterwards.

I hope things work out so that you don't experience the perfect storm, rather that you are able to deal with things one at a time. But as you mentioned, we can only control what we can control..

Happy Tapering!

LBTEPA said...

how gracefully you are travelling through this time of upheavals.
take care

Calyx Meredith said...

You navigate those ups and downs and surprise shifts beautifully. I like the idea of training for life as well as training for a big, fat, hairy race. Peace.

IronWaddler said...

What a great way to put it- The Perfect Storm! My thoughts are with you through the next few weeks. I am so excited also to follow you at IMAZ.

Fe-lady said...

Was is the guy from DCB ? He's an idiot. I have had to "deal" with him before as he puts on the xterra events...but I have forbade myself to enter anything else he directs. It's all about HIM and not the racers.
But anyway....thinking of you!
Enjoy your taper and see you in a couple of weeks, I hope!

Fe-lady said...

"it" not "is". blah.

the Dread Pirate Rackham said...

hey debalah - just wanted to drop in and tell you how fabulous you are. you're awesome at going with it -
also, you're not panicking about all the curveballs - which is why I know you and H are gonna do great at IMAZ!

RBR said...

2 weeks!! So darn exciting!!

Great post! I am will keep you in my thoughts and send the positive juju for healthy happy baby at least 1 day AFTER IMAZ, healthy happy mommy for a good, long time, and AN AWESOME RACE FOR YOU BOTH!!

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

YOu didn't miss anything special today! The water was a lot colder than expected (I used my sleeveless, big mistake!). I also should have done the 2.4. The 1.2 started 5mins after the 2.4 and there were VERY few of us. I had no draft until I cought up with some of the long course swimmers and finished just a bit faster than I did the Soma swim which was LONG!