7 days until IMAZ

So I am starting the final week of the taper period and the countdown until IMAZ.    For many people the taper is dreaded, for many it is a relief!   The days of the long hard training are over, you have more time to do other things, but you also have more time to really think about The Race. 

 I was excited for the taper to start because I felt I was getting burnt out on all of the training and I was looking forward to having some time for some other things.   But, as I get further into the taper, it seems that I have alot of nervous energy and I am just ready to be over it.   On one hand, one week seems like a short time until the race, on the other it seems like an eternity.  

So with all of this nervous energy it is hard to just relax.  So far in the last few weeks I have cleaned out the fridge and wiped down the shelves, cleaned the kitchen, spent a few different nights out with friends, read one and a half new books (I am part way through the second one as I write this) caught up on two different shows that I forgot I had recorded, gone through all of my mail/bills that I let pile up over the last month, cleaned out the inside of my car, got a new phone, baked 2 different types of bread and tried a new recipe (Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens Over Bow-Tie Pasta) from Liz Brinkman's Oct. 24, 2009 Blog entry.   Today I am going to do my last "long" ride and then try to do laundry, tackle cleaning my room and begin packing.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread (the original recipe)

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp nutmeg

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2/3 cups water

4 eggs well beaten

2 cups canned pumpkin

12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease 1 or 2 loaf pans.  Mix the first 7 ingredients.  Add the oil, water, eggs and pumpkin.  Mix well, then add the chocolate chips.   Pour into loaf pan until 1/2 or 3/4 full.   Bake for an hour or until baked through.

**I have adapted the orginal recipe by replacing the white flour with unbleached white whole wheat flour, replace 1/2 of the oil with 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, reduced the sugar to 2 3/4 cup, and used 2/3 of a bag of  60% cacao bittersweet ghiradelli chocolate chips.  You can also make muffins instead of bread or use small loaf pans (4 - 6 of them) instead of making a large loaf.  Reduce the baking time to 30 to 45 minutes or umtil a toothpick inserted comes out clean.