Taper Madness

I'm not going to lie or sugar coat anything.  Tapering sucks.  Just.  Plain.  Sucks.  The past two weeks I have been moody, irritable, stressed, excited, happy, giddy, back to stressed, tired, hungry, hyper, hungry, and then back to all of the above. 


I know a lot of this stress is just the logistics of getting ready to go.  I have to make sub plans for a week, get everything graded, make all the copies, type up the instructions, etc just to be prepared to be off work for a week.


Then there are the logistics of making pack lists, packing, dropping the bike off, picking it up, coordinating with the bike transport company, etc.  Nothing that hard, but it all adds up.  I also have to get my house ready for my mom to be there all week with my kids!


At night I have laid in bed and some nights I am just plain excited.  Other nights I literally start to freak out and think "It's only 140.6 miles, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?"  I worry about the oddest things and things that haven't occurred to me yet, all of a sudden will, like, where do I meet Wes from ProBike Express after the race to get him my bike?  Not a huge deal, just a simple question, but in the middle of the night, this is a BIG DEAL.


And don't get me started on the weather.  I have now deleted the weather apps from my phone.  It is still too far out to accurately predict, but it was just giving me anxiety.  When I was still checking the weather, it was calling for thunderstorms that day.  Please, anything except thunderstorms.  The only reason I don't want that is because that could potentially shorten or cancel parts of the race.  I have trained too long and hard and don't want to complete anything less than 140.6 on May 16.  I am seriously prepared for anything else mentally, but that would just royally SUCK!


I know that I will in the end be fine.  I need to focus on what I can control instead of what I can't.  I know I need to trust my training, trust the planning, and it will be good in the end. It always works out, but right now I am kinda panicky!  Once I get on the plane and to Houston, a lot of this stress will be gone because it will all be packed, checked, rechecked, and we will be on our way! 


I guess tapering is a giant "ARE WE THERE YET?" feeling.  It is like studying for a test that you have to wait 3 weeks to take.  Yep, I am ready.  As ready as I am going to be.  Let's get this show on the road!