An unconventional IM taper

I haven't updated in a few days, so here goes:

Monday included a fairly short swim - 2200m - and an easy one hour spin. Piece of cake, although I was still tired from the weekend.

Tuesday I could still feel some fatigue from the weekend. First up was a swim including fifty 50m's on 50 seconds (pretty easy to remember!) with paddles sandwiched between a warm-up and cool-down. I hit the first twenty five 50m's on 50 seconds, initially coming in at 44s and slowing to 47s and occasionally 48s. After that, I moved to a 55s send-off, and came in on 50s without too much effort. After forty five 50m's, I needed a bit of stretch and did two lengths kicking and backstroke, respectively, to stretch out, and then I finished up the 50m's. Lots of swimming in the past few days!

I also did a 45 minute run. I could still feel some fatigue from the weekend, but nothing too bad.

Today called for two rides, one in the morning and one in the evening. Both were tough...actually, they were the same except the evening included longer rest periods. After a warm-up and some spin-ups, I did 8 Tabatha sprints. Those damn things tire me out for the rest of the set! Next up was 10 min. @ 260 W and 85 rpm, then 8 min. @ 260 W and 80 rpm, then 6 min. @ 260 W and 75 rpm, then 4 min. @ 260 W and 70 rpm and finally 2 min. @ 260 W and 65 rpm. In the morning, I ran out of time after the 8 min. set. Somehow it took me 53 minutes to get to through the 8 min. set, so I did a cool down and finished. Still, my legs felt the effort. I nailed the evening set, however. As a not, my HR was 160 +/- 3 bpm for all the 260 W sets.

Now I'm having a protein smoothie with honey, blackberries, a banana, OJ, ice, lime juice, strawberries, and some frozen tropical fruit blend. Tasty!