One Week Out

Zero workouts this week.

The tattoo made that decision for me — no swimming, no sweating, no anything that might compromise a fresh sitting while the skin is still healing. I didn't argue. The elephant is too good to risk.

Which also means skipping the race in Richland today. That one stung a little. The course I've ridden three times, the one that lives in my legs now, running without me on it. But we'll be there. On the course, cheering, watching people do the thing I've been building toward all year.

Turns out I'm getting good at that.

I withdrew from Ironman 70.3 Washington.

That's the honest sentence. The tattoo made training impossible this week, which made race day unrealistic, which made the decision for me even if I wasn't quite ready to make it myself. Six months of building toward something and the finish line moved. That's a hard thing to sit with.

Here's what's also true. The fitness is real — built slowly and honestly over six months, interrupted by call shifts and camping trips and a bike crash and a mental health moment and a tattoo that landed at the wrong time. The 3T Racemax Italia is ready. The ENVE wheel is on it. The course is not abstract — I've ridden it three times. The HRV has been sitting between 7 and 8 for weeks. The aerobic base is the strongest it's been since before COVID.

None of that disappears because September 20th came and went without a race. Fitness doesn't expire in a week. The work is banked.

What I'm carrying out of this block: six months of consistent work, a half-finished tattoo, a new bike, a broken rim that got replaced, a 23:24 5k with no taper, three course recons, a mental health moment that passed, a dog who runs with me now, a cat who wakes me up regardless, friends who cheered at Plutonium Man, a date night in Seattle, a daughter interviewing for optometry school, and Italy two days from now.

Not a bad set of things to be carrying.

The race will happen. Just not this Saturday.

Onwards.

Weekly metrics: 0 training days · 0 TSS · tattoo recovery · race skipped · cheering instead Withdrew from Ironman 70.3 Washington · Italy Sep 22 · the work is banked