Week 4: 5K/10K Challenge Training Recap

Only 1 more week until my first triathlon of the 2010! It's an indoor triathlon at Lifetime Fitness in Eden, Prairie Minnesota. I have done an indoor triathlon through LF before, but this will be a great way to jump-start my triathlon season! In addition, I look forward to seeing the excitement in my sister's eyes when she finishes her first triathlon. She'll be hooked!




Let's take a look back on week 4's training for the 5K/10K Challenge. Some were confused by my color coding choices last week - and I don't blame you - so I will try to accommodate better today.


What I PLANNED TO DO is in BLUE, what I DID DO is in GREEN, and what I DIDN'T DO is in RED:



3 RUNS (3 mi, 3 mi, 5-6 mi)/ 2.2 mi, 8 mile long run/ missed 3rd run of 3 mi
2 BIKES (1 long, 1 short with 1 mi run-off)/20 miles with 1.25 mi run-off, 21.67 miles with 0.55 mi run-off
2 SWIMS (approx 4000Yds)/ 2300 Yds Swim/ missed 2nd swim
1 BodyPump Class/ 1 BodyPump Class
4 or 5 15-20 minute Core and Stretching/ Monday, Wedneday, Saturday, Sunday

1/2 hour of yoga/ didn't do

TOTALS:
Swim 2300 Yds
Bike 41.67 miles
Run 12 miles

I struggled keeping up with my training a little bit mid-week, but I know it was due to nutrition and insuficient sleep. I didn't plan my meals very well and was often scrounging randoms to pack for lunch and snacks. Totally not acceptable! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night I struggled to get 7 hours of sleep without waking 4-5 times during the night. It was horrible. I usually function best on 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep.

Even though I didn't get in every workout I had planned, I did get in a great long run, two long bike rides - both with some running afterwards, a long swim, and some great core and stretching!


Since this week is leading up to a triathlon on Sunday, I am not going to write up anything specific for my workouts this week. I am just going to play it by ear and take it a bit easy. However, I do hope to get to swim practice twice, bodypump once, do yoga once, bike once, a 5 mile run, and 4-5 days of core and stretching. We'll see what happens!


What's you're week look like? Anything exciting coming up?

Last week's training & this week's training

Last week's training:

Alright, time to take a look back at my training from this past week. This week was supposed to be a bit lighter than the last few weeks - so I tried to keep all my runs, swims, and bikes a bit shorter.

What I planned to do is in blue, what I did do is in red, and what I missed is in green:

3 runs (3 mi, 3 mi, 4-5 miler)/ 3.75 mi, 3.3 mi, 5.5 miler - a little bit more than planned, but legs felt strong!

2 short runs (both less than 15 miles) 11 mi, 14.07 mi/missed the 1 mile run-off

2 Swims (approx. 3500-4000Yds)/2 swims = 3700Yds

1 BodyPump class/ 1 BodyPump class

1/2 hour of Yoga/ No Yoga :(

1/2 hour of pilates/ No Pilates :(

The only thing I missed this week was the 1 mile run-off from one of my bike rides and then the 1/2 hour of yoga and 1/2 hour of pilates. I guess But, since I started doing more Core & Stretching for the 3 Changes Challenge, I am okay with missing the yoga/pilates this week.

Even though it was my focus to cut back a bit this week, I ended up pushing myself a bit harder on all three of my runs and it felt great! Actually, on my 5.5 miler yesterday, I had more in the tank, but the calves/achilles were starting to feel tight, so I called it quits.

This week's training:

Each week as I try to lay out my training schedule, it works best if I list the workouts I want to get in and shuffle things around as need be to get things done. But, there are two things that I keep in mind: I must get in BodyPump (and follow it by an easy workout), and I like to do two runs back to back - a short run in the evening followed by my longer run the next morning. My hopes with doing the back-to-back runs like that is to prep me for the 5K/10K Challenge in a month.

Here's what I would like to do this week:

3 runs (3 mi, 3 mi, 5-6 mi)

2 bikes (1 long, 1 short with 1 mi run off)

2 swims (approx. 4000Yds)

1 BodyPump Class

4 or 5 15-20 min. Core and Stretching

1/2 hour yoga

I took each of these workouts, wrote them on post-it notes, and laid them out to figure out the best way to get things accomplished this week! (I saw something similar on someone elses blog and thought it was a neat idea - sorry, I can't remember who...)

Here's what it looked like:

....Yoga might go in there Wednesday morning or Saturday sometime... we'll see.

Other than that (above) I don't have much going on this week asside from work stuff and working on my grad school final project! What's your week look like?

Two Short Weeks & Training Schedule

The next two weeks are going to be short with having Friday and Monday off for Easter, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be smooth sailing around here.

Just for my sanity, I need to do a run-down of what's going on this week:

• Today I have an early morning assessment results meeting, a mid-morning bi-weekly building check-in meeting, a follow-up intervention meeting after school and then my ever-so-needed hair cut and color (I may post before and after pics later).
• Tuesday morning I have swim practice, my building rep meeting at the end of the school day, and then my CEC class until 730pm
• Wednesday is somewhat normal (I may see the end in sight)
• Thursday evening is the committee meeting for the Fargo Youth Run (part of the Fargo marathon). It's going to be a whirlwind
• Friday - OFF. breathe.

I thought I would warn y'all - I may be posting on a consistent basis over the next couple of weeks, but my comments may be quite sporadic. I apologize ahead of time!

Now, let's take a look back on this past week's training. In black is what I wanted to accomplish, in red is what I did do:

3 runs with one 5-6 miler - 3 runs but not a 5-6 miler (3.1 mi, 3.25 mi, 4.65 mi)
2 bikes (one short and one long) - NADA
2 swims - 2 swims (4000 Yds total)
1 bodypump class - 1 class
1 hour of yoga - NADA
1 hour of pilates - NADA

But, I did get in a couple good days of my TriPower and tons of stretching. I am constantly struggling to balance everything. It seems like one week things will be all good and the next week something will suffer whether it's biking, running, or swimming. grrr! This week will be better!

Here's the plan for week 9:
3 runs with one 5-6 miler
1 bike
2 swims
1 bodypump
3-4 TriPower routines
1 hour of yoga

Not too different from last week but we'll see how things go!

Have a great week, y'all!

Change in wardrobe

Swim practice was a no-go this morning. Something to do with rain, thunder, and 35-40mph wind gusts. I was thinking it was going to get moved to the pool at one of the high schools but that wasn't the case.

Instead, practice was moved to tomorrow at the same time, same place. I knew I wouldn't be going tomorrow; I just didn't want to kick out 2500-3000M the day before the tri. So, I opted to sleep in a bit this morning and then head to the Y to do a short swim - 1000M freestyle, followed by 200M kick.... done and done.

Last night, while on a short bike ride, I tried out the tri shorts I was given from a friend (the same one that is doing this tri with me). I wasn't too pleased with how they felt on, or how they fit, but they were fine on the bike. After my ride, I went with her to Scheels, since she wanted to check out the tri shorts selection, and ended up getting talked into trying on a one piece tri suit. And... it fit, comfortably. So, I have made yet another change in my wardrobe! It just made more sense to spend that much on a one piece, rather than spending more on two separate pieces.

Well, this my friends will probably be my last post before the race. Thanks for all the positive comments and words of wisdom during my training. You all have been wonderful! I am so excited for Saturday's race!

Until next time, have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

3 days and counting

The Prairie Rose State Games Triathlon is getting closer and closer, and I am getting more anxious with each passing minute. My number one goal for this event is to go out there, have fun, and take it all in.

But, if we were to talk about numbers, here's what I would like to see:

Swim - 1000M - 20-22 minutes
Bike - 12.4 miles - 48-50 minutes
Run - 3.1 miles - 35-37 minutes

Now, I think all of these times is very doable. However, I don't know what the OW swim is going to be like, I don't know what roads we are riding on for sure, and I am thinking that the run will be pretty flat, but who knows. Any time better, and I will be on cloud 9! Like I said, I am just going to go out there and have fun. I just hope I don't forget anything important, or don't put my helmet on backwards!

Friday night, I am planning on driving up to GF, staying at my aunt's house. That evening I will drive out to the park (approximately 30 miles west of town) and check out the location. I have never been out there before, so I am anxious to see what it will look like for all three disciplines.

As for now, I am off to do some early packing to ease some of my anxiousness! I found a tri top yesterday, on sale (even better), and am going to attempt wearing it with my sports bra and tri shorts. We'll see how it works out! This race is definitely going to be a learning experience since it's my first. And don't y'all worry, the race report to follow will be nice and lengthly!

Training, Long weekend, and calling all triathletes!

Sorry it's been almost a week since my last post, but things have been pretty busy around here. First things first.... last week's training...

Week 10 of Tri Training:

Monday:

REST

volleyball

Tuesday:

Adult Swim Team - 2800M

600M: Freestyle Swim

10x50M: 25 Drill/25 Choice

4x200M: Freestyle Swim, "tarzan" across the lines

6x150M: Kick 50/Swim 100

volleyball
softball

Wednesday:

Bike - 10.8 miles

Thursday:

Adult Swim Team - 2600M

1000M: Mix

8x75M: 25M kick/50M swim

400M: Freestyle with pull bouy

300M: 25M kick/25M swim

200M: Freestyle (building)

100M: Sprint

Friday:

Ultimate Frisbee - 1.5 hours

Saturday:

Bike -13.6 miles

Sunday:

REST

I left for home, Bismarck, right after swim practice Thursday morning and was pretty busy all weekend long. I didn't get back until close to 8pm last night. It sure went by fast.

When I got home Thursday, my Dad, sister and I spent the next 8 hours cleaning out the garage, power washing, degreasing, and a whole lot of scrubbling, just to prep for laying down epoxy. Painting the garage floor with the epoxy was the easy part, but man was that stuff stinky. Later that evening we treated ourselves with a cold beverage and a bit of relaxation in the hot tub, watching the sun set.

Friday I was going to get in a run but was too exhausted from the day before. Plus, Steph talked me into playing Ultimate Frisbee with a bunch of her friends at the mall in front of the Capitol. Now that was a lot of fun, and I think it so counted for my short run!

Saturday I got in a nice ride just south of Bismarck. I even took on a challenge if biking up the hill that leads to University of Mary. I had to stop once because I was out of breath and thought I was going to fall over. Going 6mph up a nasty hill is tough work! But, the view from up there was incredible and worth the effort. I was riding the breaks on my way back down.

As for the rest of the 4th, we spent some time up at my sister's in-laws, along the river. It was a perfect day! That evening we parked ourselves on my parent's patio and watched the fireworks all around. A couple of our neighbors put on a pretty good show. At 11pm, we lit up a couple lanterns as a tribute to all the troops. Their kind of like hot air balloons that just float into the air. Very pretty! Steph was able to get a bunch of t-shirts from a lady in the cities, with B's Unit on the front. They turned out pretty nice, so we took a family photo and plan to send him a copy! We miss you Blaine!

Yesterday, my Mom, Dad, and I finished up the garage by putting away the fridge and freezer, as well as a few storage shelves and did the glossy finishing coat on the floor. Looks like a showroom in there now!

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Alright peeps. Only 5 more days until my first outdoor triathlon. I am getting super excited but starting to freak out about all the little things. Like, what should I wear? I don't own a tri suit! I have tri shorts, my swim suit, and many racing shirts, but just wondering what exactly I should be wearing. Any suggestions?

9 done, 2 to go!

Another week of training is in the books. Geez, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Here's this past week's training, and then some...

Week 9 of Triathlon Training:

Monday:

Run - 4.75 miles, 58:00, 12:12/mi. avg.

Volleyball

Tuesday:

Adult Swim Team: 2400M Total

4x200M w/:10RI (1. Free, 2. Kick, 3. 50Drill/50swim, 4. Free)

4x400M w/:30RI (1. Breathing every 3 strokes, 2. Sprinting over lines, 3. 50's - alternating between breathing on every 3rd stroke and every 5th stroke, 4. Sprinting over lines)

Volleyball

Wednesday:

Bike 15.2 miles

Thursday:

Adult Swim Team: Total 2400M

1000M: Mix

12x50's: Choice (building)

4x200: odds - pull bouy and paddles, evens - freestyle

Volleyball

Friday:

REST

Saturday:

Run - 2.5 miles, 27:00, 10:48/mi. avg.

Soccer

Sunday:

Bike - 12.81 miles

Run - 1.72 mile

Looking back on all of my training, I am a bit disappointed that I haven't got in many brick workouts. I know that I will do fine in each discipline on it's own, it's just putting the three together that start to make me a wee bit anxious!

Other than training, I played sand volleyball three nights this past week. I am on two different teams, and subbed in on thursday night as well. All three nights the weather was great - sunny, super warm, and not really windy! No softball this past week, it was a bye week.

Yesterday I got talked into playing soccer. A friend of mine that I play volleyball with has been trying to get a group together to play some casual soccer. I have never played in my life and was a bit hesitant with my knee. There were about 12 of us, both men and women, and we just went out there and had some fun. Some players have been playing for a while, and there were a handful of us that had never played before. I had a lot of fun, and even scored 2 goals! I might have to play again sometime!

I will leave you with a few pictures from some of interesting weather yesterday. It would be sunny one minute, and the next it was down-pouring. Actually, when we were playing soccer some nastly clouds were rolling in. We left when the lightening started to appear and on the ride home we drove through torrential rain and hail. It was nasty. But it left behind a pretty nice full rainbow!

Swim Practice, Tour De Cure, and Tri Training

Now that I waited 4 days before posting about Thursday's Swim practice, I cant remember what we did. Sorry! However, the temp was in the low 60's, cloudy and I learned a new drill. All in all, I swam 2200M that morning!

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Saturday morning was the Tour De Cure ride for Diabetes.

Check-in time was 8am and we left around 9:00am for the 32 mile joy ride! When we took off it was about 70 degrees, sunny, and not a single breeze. There were about 30 some riders that rode the 32 mile route. I finished in about 2:15:00, about 14mph speed. It was pretty slow, but a very enjoyable ride.

I want to thank EVERYONE for all the donations and wondeful comments! It was a great ride! Here are some pics from that day....

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Week 8 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
REST
Volleyball
Tuesday:
Adult Swim Team - 2200M Total
4x200M (Free/Kick/Free/Kick)
4x300M w/:30RI (using pull bouy & swim paddles)
200M c/d
Wednesday:
Run - 1.27 miles
Bike - 5.07 miles
Run - 1.75 miles
Thursday:
Adult Swim Team - 2200M total
Friday:
Run - 2.6 miles
Saturday:
Tour De Cure - Bike -32 miles, 2:15:00, 14.22mph
Sunday:
REST

Pretty decent week. Knee is doing better, but still not 100%. I'm telling you, it's super weird.

A little of this and a LOT of that

This past week has been a busy one. I have lots to catch up on!

Tour De Cure: This is my last week of fundraising for the Tour De Cure. Thanks to ALL OF YOU who have donated thus far! It TRULY means A LOT to me! If you are interested in donating, please check out my website here! This coming Saturday I will be riding 32 miles. I am hoping for some wonderful weather like today!

Work related: Despite the fact that school has been out for the past 2 weeks, I spent a lot of time back at work this past week. Between a couple meetings Monday/Tuesday mornings, tutoring Monday and Tuesday (which will be Monday-Thursday usually), and prepping for the start of summer school Wednesday-Friday... I was BUSY! But, I am excited to start teaching summer school tomorrow! 2nd graders, here I come!

Triathlon Training: For the most part this week was pretty successful. However, Tuesday night at softball my right knee started acting up. Shooting pains were running down the front of my knee when I would stand in a locked knee position. I think I might have rotated it funny while running around in the outfield. Let me remind you, I was playing softball after 1.5 hours of sand-volleyball.

Thus, I have been babying my knee, and things are starting to look better. It doesn't bother me when walking or running, but I don't want to over-do it. Every once and a while it will just act up. Weird. Here's this past weeks training....

Week 7 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 6x400M Sprints (3.2 miles overall)
Volleyball
Tuesday:
Swim - 1400M, 25:00, 2:05/100M
Volleyball
Softball
Wednesday:
REST -yoga
Thursday:
Adult Swim Team - 2000M total;
800M w/u
16x50M w/:15RI - 2 kick/2 freestyle
4x100M Sprints w/:30RI
Friday:
Bike - 24 miles (trainer ride)
Saturday:
Run - 2.3 miles
Sunday:
Bike - 10.7 miles
Run - 1.1 miles

I had my first outdoor Brick today. Oy. First of all, it was my first ride of 2009 outdoors and I have a lot of work to do. After 10 miles, only, I got home changed quickly and set out for my short run. oy oy. It was ugly, people. My legs felt like lead and I felt like I was going in slow motion. There is definitely room for a lot of improvment!

Operation Organize: I am in the process of trying to organize my house. It drives me crazy when things don't have a place and I am trying to fix that. Between my two trips to Target in 3 days, and spending tons of money, and I am on to a good start. Yesterday I spent a good hour putting together a couple of book shelves for the living room. Basement living room is super clean, and the spare bedroom for the renter is completely cleaned out. There are so many more things on the list, but I am tackling one at a time!

Sunday yard work: I had a long list of things to take care of with the yard that I have been putting off far too long. To make it more enjoyable, I had the radio cranked in the garage, listening to the Twins game. It definitely reminded me of the days we would help Dad outside with some chores. In a matter of an hour or so, I got two dead maple trees and two dead lilac bushes dug up. I hand pulled a lot of weeds and grass along the fence of my backyard. I think it's time to splurge and buy a weed-wacker. I struggled with digging up the dead rose bush, cussed at it a bit, and gave up. I will save it for another sunny day. I also got the lawn fertilized and watered. To top it off, I organized the garage a little bit, found a nice spot for my bike, and swept the garage floor! I was hoping to wash my car, but I was pooped out. I will try and tackle that some sunny afternoon this coming week.


I know that a lot of you were out racing this weekend, so I look forward to all of the wonderful race reports!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them!

TriPower & Tri Training

I have been encorporating TriPower into my training routine since the end of April. It's been difficult incorporating it into my daily routine, on top of training, but I know that it has helped with my training immensely. I will be honest, there were a handful of days where I didn't get any of my strenthening/core training in, but that's life!

I am still working on Phase 1, which they recommend you do for 2 months. I will keep going through the end of June, and start Phase 2 in July. Today, I did the assessment test to compare my progress to April 26th. I should have done it a couple weeks ago, but didn't. So be it!

Let's compare.....

Phase 1 Assessment Results

---	April 26 Pre-Assessment	June 7 (after 6 weeks)	June 28 (after 9 weeks)
Push-ups	15	27	-----
Wall Sit	44 seconds	1 min 5 sec	-----
Flex Arm Hang	14 seconds	17 seconds	-----
Side Plank	24 seconds	49 seconds	-----
Side Plank - Bent Knee	38 seconds	1 min 5 seconds	-----
Prone Plank	41 seconds	55 seconds	-----
Extensor Chain	56 seconds	2 min 17 seconds	-----
Core Strength	60%	80%	-----

I am quite pleased with my results! I can't wait to see where I am at the end of Phase 1! If you want more information on each assessment area, check out this post!

Today I finished week 6 of triathlon training. Only 5 more weeks left people!! Here's what the past week looked like:

Week 6 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
REST - Volleyball
Tuesday:
Run - 2.27 miles, 25:00, 11:00/mi avg.
Swim - 1200M, 25:00, 2:05/100M
Volleyball
Softball
Wednesday:
Run - 3.55 miles, outdoors - 68* - no time
Thursday:
Swim - 1500M, 28:00, 1:52/100M
Bike - 12 miles
Friday:
Run - 3.3 miles, 38:00, 11:30/mi avg.
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
Bike - 16 miles

By Wednesday I was completely wiped from training with softball and volleyball thrown into the mix. And, I haven't been doing too well with my nutrition. I know I wasn't fueling my body properly. With school being out, and some later nights out and about, I was sleeping in later and throwing off my days.... We'll see how this coming week goes!

Have a great week, y'all!

Hello Summer Vacay!!

I am into day 3 of my summer vacation and lovin' every bit of it! The past couple days I have kept myself pretty busy with a couple volleyball teams, softball, regular triathlon training, and just overall enjoying the sun on my patio with a good book. Come on people, it's my summer and I am going to enjoy it before summer school starts up!



But, believe you me, I have plenty of things to do around the house. However, I have little motivation! Maybe if I post a handful of things that need to get done, I will be more likely to take care of them!

• purchase a couple book shelves,
• hang more photos,
• organize closet - switching out winter clothes for summer clothes,
• clean out 2nd spare bedroom so a roommate can move in
• clean kitchen and reorganize some cupboards
• kill the weeds in the yard (damn dandilions),
• mow the lawn (again?!),
• take grass clippings to the dump
• dig up two trees and two lilac bushes (thanks to the old owners who planted them too late in the fall)

On the training front.... things are going well. After the past couple of days however, I realized I will need to shuffle some workouts around so I have easy one's on Monday-Wednesday, maybe even a rest day in there. This is because I have volleyball both Monday and Tuesday night, as well as Softball after volleyball on Tuesday nights. Next week I will begin working with the adult swim team at the butt crack of dawn, making Tuesday's exceptionally long, especially when 3 hours of teaching summer school and 2 hours of tutoring is thrown in the mix!

Speaking of volleyball and softball..... my Monday night co-ed VB team played really well. I only knew one of my team members previously, so I am looking forward to getting to know the rest a bit better. Last night we were short a player for VB, but played better than last week. From there we had a bit of time to grab a couple drinks and apps before softball. I didn't play much last night because we have a butt-load of girls (fine by me, I was wiped), but we did have a couple injuries in the second game. Our catcher got hit in the inside of her ankle with a SB at full speed - totally not worth the injury. And our shortstop got nailed just below the inside of his knee in the same inning. He had a huge bump, possibly full of fluid, and left early for the ER. Dangerous sport. :)

Did you all get out and run today? It's Nationall Running Day! I know I did. I took full advantage of the 68 degrees and hit the roads for a few miles! What a way to celebrate!

Time Flies

May has come and gone! Wow! Here's a run-down of what May looked like:

May Stats:

• Swim - 6,700M ................ 11,000M in April
• Bike - 92.09 miles.......... 103.00 miles in April
• Run - 31.54 miles.......... 24.49 miles in April

Not too shabby. I look forward to what June has to offer! I will have more time in my days to get in some longer workouts!

Last week's training was a recovery week and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time, with end of the school year things going on.

Here's what it looked like....

Week 5 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 3 miles, outdoors - no time
Tuesday:
REST - Volleyball
Wednesday:
Mow lawn
Bike (easy) - 10.5 miles
Thursday:
(AM) Run - 5x400M (2.75 miles total)
(PM) Bike (hills) - 10 miles
Friday:
REST
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
Run - 2.15 miles (easy)

I had my first "2-a-day" on Thursday. I knew with how busy things were I wasn't going to be able to get up early Friday morning for a bike ride, so I did it Thursday evening. Saturday morning I was hoping to get to the pool for a mile swim, but had a late night celebrating school ending, and had to get on the road early for a trip to the cities.

This week looks a lot busier than last week, and I am trying to figure out my schedule so I can get in all my workouts with being gone again this weekend for a cousin's graduation. Playing volleyball two nights a week and softball one night doesn't help either! Oh well, I have plenty of time in my day to get them all in!

Now, I am off to the gym, but look forward to getting caught up on all of you when I return!

Training and Long Weekend...

Last week should have been my recovery week, since I missed 3 of my workouts. Here's what was we're lookin' at...

Week 4 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 2.53 miles
Tuesday:
REST - Softball
Wednesday:
Swim - 1500M, 28:00, 1:52/100M
Thursday:
Bike - 26 miles, 1:20:00, 19.5mph
Friday:
REST
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
REST


Most of my long weekend was spent up north, visiting my Dad's side of the family. We don't get up there too often so it was nice to see them for the weekend and catch up with my Grandpa! It was also nice to take a drive through the cemetary to visit my Grandma's burial sight. I was very young when she passed away, but still have some memories of her.

I had good intentions of running while I was up at the farm, but it just didn't happen. The gravel roads didn't sound too appealing. I was thinking about increasing my workouts a bit this coming week, but decided to just stick with the plan and get over it....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I know I sure did, spending it with my family. Unfortunately my favorite soldier was not there, but we were thinking of him all weekend. Miss you B! Did you take time to remember all soldiers, past and present?

Only 4 more days left of school! Then, I have two weeks off before I begin teaching summer school and doing some tutoring! I have many plans for the next couple weeks, like cleaning the house top to bottom, hanging some pictures, looking at additional furniture, etc!

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!

Thanks for the advice!

A couple days ago I was struggling with extreme exhaustion. I was very tired and dealing with nutrition issues. After making a post of it, complaining a bit, and reading all your wonderful comments and nutrition/training tips, I am starting to feel a heck of a lot better!

Here are a list of things that I need to keep in mind. Some things I already knew but forgot to remember when I started upping my training, some things I learned from you all, and some things I did a bit of research on:

• Get enough sleep. I don't care what research says, I think everyone knows how much sleep there body needs and I know that I perform best on 8-8.5 hours of sleep each night, especially when I am building my training. I can function on less, but it isn't pretty.
• Use the 4-week training cycle. Build 10% each week for 3 weeks, and then drop 25% the 4th week. Starting the 5th week back at where you were at on the 3rd week.
• More protein. I eat some protein, but I know it's not enough.
• More whole grains. I need to get back to my oatmeal kick. I lurve it and it's uber-filling!
• Water water water. They say you should drink half your weight in ounces. So, if you weight 150lbs, you should drink 75oz. of water a day, and more if you are working out, drink soda, or alcoholic beverages! I usually am really good about this, averaging about 90-100oz of water a day!
• Eat more ... and more often. Actually, I am pretty good about eating often throughout the day, but I don't think I have been eating enough for how much I have been working out... or enough of the right stuff. I usually eat a mid-morning snack and an afternoon snack (usually a Clif ZBar in the afternoon), but I think my lunches have been lacking, as I feel ravenous when I get home around 4.
• Recovery food/drink. Duh. Looking back at all my hard workouts (more than 60 minutes) this month, I can honestly tell you that I haven't bee refueling properly afterwards. This needs to change! I guess I forgot what training was like. I used to down a glass of chocolate milk or a small fruit smoothy, after a long workout.
• Daily vitamins. Once again, I used to be consistent about taking my daily Women's Vitamin and Fish Oil. Time to get back on the saddle with that one!
• Green Monster. I am bound and determined to get on this band-wagon! They look and sounds so yummy!
• Listen to the body. I need to remember to thrown in a good solid REST day after a few days of hard workouts. My body will thank me!

I appreciate everyone's comments and have taken them all to heart! I am already starting to feel better and look forward to how these adjustments can help with my training and overall well-being! Thank you!

Tomorrow I am taking a half day of personal leave and heading home to the Bis with my sister in the afternoon. From there we plan on heading up north to see my Dad's side of the family. We haven't been up there since the wedding in August and I look forward to seeing them! Have a great Memorial Day weekend, y'all!

Nutrition/Training Advice Wanted

I got home from work today at 4, played with the dog outside for about a half hour, and then crashed on the couch for an hour. I haven't done that in a long time, and I can honestly say that I.am.wiped.out.

With training, the workouts are getting longer. I am doing more than a couple miles of running here and there, adding in brick workouts, and including the Tri Power daily sessions.

I am trying to stay consistent with my sleep. I love sleep and am usually pretty good with that. It's the nutrition part that I think is kicking me in the arse. I am still learning! I almost feel like I am not getting enough protein a day, but wondering how and when is it the best way to incorporate that more?!

I can be so anal about what I eat. I don't want to eat too much, but I sometimes wonder if I am not eating enough... enough of the right stuff. I know that Leana wrote up a very helpful post on Race Nutrition yesterday and I was super pumped to read it... but any further advice would be wonderful!


Anyway, the weather is beautiful here... 65 degrees with minimal winds. As much as I would like to take advantage of it and ride my bike, I have my first night of Softball tonight, since it was cancelled last week due to rain! We play at 9 and 10 pm and need my energy! This is late for me, but if it's only a couple weeks during the school year, I can handle it! It should be fun!

Only 7 more days left of school!


P.S. Thanks to the continued support in the fight against Diabetes! I truly appreciate each and every one of your donations! If you haven't donated and would like to do so, check out my Tour de Cure page! Thanks again!

Tour de Cure and Sprint Tri Training

My training for the Sprint Tri in July is going pretty well. Overall things look pretty good and are feeling really good... which makes me really happy! I look forward to doing some even longer rides to prepare for the Tour de Cure in 4 weeks!

Week 3 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run 1.5 miles
Bike 10 miles
Tuesday:
REST (was supposed to have our first set of games for softball this night but got rained out)
Wednesday:
Run 3.43 miles, 42:00, 12:14/mi avg.
Thursday:
Swim - 1200M
Friday:
REST
Saturday:
BRICK
Swim - 1200M, 22:00, 1:50/100M
SPIN- 23.09, 1:05:45, 21.07mph
Sunday:
Run - 4.53 miles (outdoors)

This coming week's workouts are going to be a challenge with leaving town for a long weekend. But, I will make the most of the time I do have. Then, the following week our pool is closed for a week which makes me very angry, but what can you do?!

I am off to enjoy the sun and warm weather on my patio with a book. I sure wish I had some nice patio furniture but my camping chairs will have to do! That stuff is super expensive!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Only 9 more days left of school! Lovin' it!

Three Things

TriPower
I know I am only a couple days into the TriPower training book, but I must say I am loving it. Monday/Wednesday/Friday consist approximately 15-20 minutes of corrective flexibility movements, core exercises, and myofascial movements (basically foam roller routines). Tuesday/Thursday consist of about 35-40 minutes of strength. Saturdays consist of approximately 10 minutes of exercises to help with each specific sport. And Sundays you can rest or repeat Saturday.

I am trying to put together a spreadsheet to keep track of what I am doing, how many reps, blah, blah, blah... just for me to refer to. Until I get into a routine and more comfortable with this training, I don't if I am coming or going. Flipping back and forth in the book to look at the exercises is kind of annoying.



Tri Training
To me, there is not a better feeling then being able to follow training schedule. I think I have devised up a plan that will work for me. I might have to switch things around a bit to work better with the TriPower routine, but I will get a better feel for that after a week or so.

I almost hate to admit this, but in the past, it seemed like I was just putting in the miles (or meters), thinking that would be sufficient training. Now, while encorporating the TriPower training, I want do more quality workouts; each having a purpose.

I am slowing trying to get back into injury free running, and am not too worried about building miles at this point. I just want to get out there and run a couple miles a few times a week. Cycling doesn't bother my knee at all and I look forward to doing some longer rides along with my easy short rides. In the pool, I know I can easily kick out 2000M with no problem, but it's terribly slow. I have some shorter swims on the schedule with speed being the primary focus. I will encorporate some longer swims in there as well.



Big Sur Power Bars
I attempted to make these homemade bars. I am slowly trying to learn more about food, better food, more natural food. I must give Bobbi over at NHerShoes credit for introducing this recipe to me. She has made them and posted about them multiple times; and they just looked so yummy! Jess asked me to post this recipe on my blog, but instead I will post a direct link to the recipe instead. There's even a video to show you how to make them, for the visual learners.

Yesterday Workout:
Run 2.6 miles, 33:00, 12:41/mile avg. (slow, but okay)

Today's Workout:
(AM) Swim - 1000M, with first 600M in 10:00 (1:40/100M pace!)
(PM) Bike - 10 miles approximately, 32:00 on trainer

Today's Song:
Jakob Dylan - Something Good This Way Comes (in sidebar -->)

11 Weeks ... The Countdown Begins...Now.

This morning I was finally able to join the group for a ride and there was only four of us, me and three of da boys. We went out on the route we took the first time I went with the group, stretching it a bit longer and taking a path along the river. When comparing the two rides, today was faster and further in less time than my first ride. All good, right?! If we wouldn't have had to stop for a train and wait at a few red lights, I think my average speed would have been well above 13mph. I now know what it feels like to go 22mph on a bike... yikes!

Between the ride today and reading outside at the coffee shop later... I might have gotten too much sun. Wait... I know I got too much sun. Damnit, forgot to re-apply the sunscreen. What's worse than runners tan lines, Marcy? Cycling tan lines on top of them...
The streaking has continued with the weight loss at a stand still, somewhat. At least I am not gaining weight, right? Here's what the streak looks like thus far....

Total days: 22 (20:00:09)
# of Swims: 8 (4:31:00)
# of Rides: 9 (6:47:41)
# of Runs: 8 (3:54:28)
# of ST: 3 (1:02:00)
# of Walks: 2 (1:02:00)
# of Turbo Sculpt Sessions: 2 (1:20:00)
# of Turbo Ab Jam Sessions: 4 (1:20:00)
# of Softball Games: 4

I have been so caught up with streaking this month that the training for my next triathlon has been put on the back burner, so to speak. In a way, I have been training, but not with a definite plan in mind. I have 11 weeks to the day to train. No worries here. I just need to find a training plan or make my own... 11 weeks. 11 weeks.

Calling all triathletes....

Is there anything you can think of that I need to keep in mind with my training plan??

______________________________________________________________________
FRIDAY: SWIM/BIKE BRICK: SWIM - 1100M (20:00); BIKE - 12.76 miles (35:15) avg 21.71mph
SATURDAY: RUN - 2.52 miles (12:53 min/mile); Turbo Abs (20:00)
SUNDAY: Cycle Group Ride - 17.6 miles (1:24:04) avg. 12.7 mph; Turbo Abs (20:00)
______________________________________________________________________

Transitioning into Week 4

I wasn't to thrilled with my training this past week, but I was pleased to get in my 5 miles yesterday with no pain and minimal soreness in the thighs. Only two runs, 1 spin session, and 1 swim. That left me with 4 days of rest. Not necessary. But, life sometimes gets in the way and conferences on Thursday did a doozy on me.

This coming week is going to be another challenge. But who isn't up for a challenge? I was trying to figure out what my week was going to look like and I believe my long run drops and consists of a whopping 2.5 miles. I can handle that. No biggie. But, we have conferences again Tuesday that goes until 8pm (which means no spin class), Wednesday I have CPR training until 7:30 (which means I won't swim), and then I head to the cities on Friday. I am hoping that I will either be able to go to the gym with my sis, or it will be nice enough to do a short jaunt through her neighborhood Saturday or Sunday. I guess I will just play it day by day and do the best I can!

I did swim this morning. The "schedule" called for 1600M, I did half. I really focused on my endurance and using my arms with better form. I refrained from using my legs as much as I could. I ended my swim with a couple good sprints. All in all, my arms were very tired when I was done.

OSN: 800M
approx. 25 minutes

Quote for the Week: "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." -- Aristotle

I will leave you with this pic. My friend took it Friday night at the concert. Some guy thought that he need to point out is KISS knowledge with my shirt! It was amazing how many compliments I got on that shirt! hehehe.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and then some

Yesterday - Despite how upset I was from my appointment from voc rehab, and then not having a couple necessities for a run at the gym last night, I did enjoy my evening and was asleep before 9pm. Ahhhhh....such goody goodness.

Today - Seriously, the kids were crazy insane today! I was telling our ED teacher that there is a full moon coming up or a storm en route. Sure enough... we are currently under a winter storm warning for the next 24+ hours. Possibly 3-4 inches of white fluffy stuff. I went to spin and it was my first in two weeks. Today was also the last night our spin instructor was teaching. I guess taking night classes to work towards her masters was more important! Can't wait to hear when she subs for other instructors on saturdays/sundays! Good luck to her! Tonight... I am off to watch the great KG and the Celtics.. ... because the T-wolves are sucking it up... big time.

Tomorrow - Early morning meeting that I am NOT looking forward to. Then, dinner after school with a couple friends, a basketball game, and then home to bed early. I am staying away from the gym to finish fighting off this cold. I will use my free time to mentally prepare myself for my 7-miler on saturday morning....as I will need it to make up for the lack in physical preparedness. I am still "planning" on doing the "8 miles on the 8th" dealio. Hmmm. Fun times for sure on the thrillmill... as I am sure it will be below freezing and then some with windchill that morning. If you think you have ran in cold weather, try fighting the Great Wind of the Red River Valley in ND.... purely discusting.

then some - I am really not feelin' this tri-training-stuff. I am going to keep doing what I am doing and see how things go. I just think an outdoor triathlon in the summer sounds much more enjoyable and worthwhile. Good news... a girl friend of mine is supposed to be coming to visit this saturday! I can't wait to see her! .....plus.... A friend of mine (from grad school who now lives in MT), called last night and he gave me the dates for a few of us to roadtrip out there for our ski trip this winter! I can't wait. I am looking forward to using part of my week and 1/2 vacation from school to do the slopes in beautiful MT! Don't worry... you know me... there will be lots of pics!

snapshot from Whitefish, MT... February 2006

I am out!! Y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Take care, stay warm, and most importantly... live life!