Trouble with blog – some issues with comments on my blog at the moment which is a little frustrating. I am seeing them but can’t seem to reply directly to them. So first thing here is to answer the comment on my previous blog. The measure of strain mentioned in the last entry would increase with repetitive training. I find that repetitive training is easier to get done, easier to fit into a schedule and less taxing mentally. It’s the idea of a basic week you can manage week in week out. The formula used to measure strain looks at the variation in volume daily through the week. So, both concepts work. Repeat your basic week, week in week out but within the week have varied days of volume – some high, some low etc… This happens naturally for most people as they can’t handle days and days of volume. Also work forces a daily variability in volume. For full time amateurs like me you can end up with monotony. The period at the start of this year where strain was highest saw me biking and running every day for weeks on end. Days and days of 6+ hours training. It served me pretty well for New Zealand but wonder whether it effectively burnt me out for the season since then. I’ve certainly found being full time and my main focus being Ironman very difficult since New Zealand … thats a topic for another day perhaps when the season is complete.

To the title of this entry. Bleedin tapers ! I’m useless at them. Should have stuck to my guns of not tapering till next week but after the advice I’d received about doing Wisconsin and Kona I felt a longer taper for Wisconsin was wise so this week I eased off. Time to kill, boredom, whatever, but my diet lapsed big time and I’ve gain quite few pounds. The psychological impact is probably greater than the physical but either way I need to work out methods of dealing with it and keeping on the straight and narrow in the final few weeks. I’m hoping I will learn from Jo, she seems to nail getting in great shape for an event. She is looking scarily lean at the moment and ready to do some damage. I can see me racing scared with my main motivation being Jo not catching me on the run !!