Countdown to Germany - days 3 and 4 aka #tapermadness

So unfortunately I had to go to work on days three and four and with my return to work came the fact that my precisely planned taper was being interrupted.

Day 3 passed without incident and I made it to my prescribed track session I’m not going to lie the fact I was on taper was a godsend.

The session for all those athletes not tapering was

2 x 2000m, 2 x 1200m, 2 x 800m, 2 x 400m and 2 x 200m

Thats totals 9.2km at pace.

Thankfully my session of 10 x 400m was a relief.

However as I pushed hard for every rep it wasn’t an easy session by any stretch.

My reps were fairly consistent apart from my 8th rep which I really struggled with.

Aside from my 8th rep my reps were all around 95s per lap. Thats about 6:20/mi. Now given I started going to track in October and my reps were all at 8:00/mi pace or 120s per lap, that is quite an improvement in 8 months.

After track I went swim coaching and noticed a familiar ache in my achilles tendon. Something which I haven’t felt in over a year. To be frank I absolutely papped my pants thinking my achilles tendinitis had returned.

I went to bed trying not to stress and fell asleep eventually, before someone shot me with a cramp sniper at 00:50. I leapt out of bed as quietly as I could to stretch it out.

This morning I texted #runboss about my achilles tenderness and he said it was normal to feel every little ache as my body is on a heightened sense of alert due to nerves.

My first sign of #tapermadness

Today I went to work and unfortunately work got in the way of my plans.

I missed my functional movement class as I had to pull an 11and a half hour shift to clear my desk for my break in Germany.

I got home and prepared for an easy spin on my turbo. I really wasn’t feeling it. I felt lethargic but decided to stick to the plan. After getting on my bike I immediately fell off. My back wheel wasn’t secured properly.

My next bout of #tapermadness.

I tweaked something in my ribs during my fall onto the couch, who knows how? Fingers crossed it eases by the morning. At least it has taken my mind off my achilles tendon.

This #tapermadness is really starting to annoy me. There are only 3 days left until my race in Cologne and I still can’t wait to line up on the startline. At least when I do the #tapermadness will end.

If you are interested in watching the race I believe coverage will be available here. http://www.wettkampf-live.de or at least thats what it says. My race starts at 14:00 UK time.

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