4 Weeks to go (Weekly Recap)

This one's going to be brief but I figured I'd better get something posted before you all thought I gave up on this crazy dream. The last week got me back on track a little bit (more on that below), but lets get to it:

Two weeks ago on 'long' ride everything went wrong. It was cold (what?), it was rainy, and about 8 miles into my ride I broke a spoke. Another effing spoke. My wheel was immediately wonky and I was stranded in the park. Then it started to pour. Needless to say it just wasn't meant to be. I ended up getting in my 1:15 run that same day, but it was a struggle.

I had to take my bike to the shop and it was gone for a week before I even heard anything. The main mechanic was out and the poor thing just sat there. Week 10 ended up being a lot of swimming and running. Saturday instead of an hour ride I did yoga and a long swim. Then Sunday I did my 2:00 run. It was brutal. I couldn't get my ass out of bed so I decided to run before dinner. On Sundays this is sometimes nice because I am hungry for dinner and sleep at bedtime instead of napping in the afternoon. I planned poorly though because it was hot. So so hot. I got the 10 miles I'd planned but it took 2:11 instead of 2:00. Averaging 13 min/miles isn't where I'd hoped I'd be at this point in the season, but it's where I was that day.

Luckily, I got Ghost back on Monday! I was so happy to have her. In other good news the manufacturer is going to send another wheel as the spoke thing seems to be a factory defect. More good news! While I was in there I scheduled an updated bike fit. I hadn't noticed the change I wanted since switching saddles so I hoped a good fitting would help alleviate some of the discomfort.

The rest of the week I struggled. I did my bike fit on Tuesday - which did help - but I just couldn't bring myself to ride. When it comes down to it, I think I was scared.

Friday night I was in a horrible mood. Two weeks of non-existent riding had me feeling incredibly insecure about Ohio. We're 5 weeks out and I have no 50 miler. I can barely run 10 miles in the allotted time. All I could think was, "There's no way I can make this cut off. There's no way I can finish." I've had doubts before - plenty before Muncie - but in those instances I think the fear motivated me to work harder. I trained harder to get rid of the fear. It was all so new. This time around I've gotten lackadaisical. I care, and I get stressed when I think of Ohio and being unprepared, but it hasn't motivated me.

So Friday night I was a righteous bitch. I was scared about the 40 miler planned for Saturday; I was scared and apprehensive of this trial this week; I was angry about some weight gain and scared I'd never lose it. I went to bed early just to shut it off.

Friday morning I got up at the crack of dawn and headed to the park. The "Slow Poke" pack was meeting for 40 miles of my favorite route and a brick run after. It was almost cool, which was exciting. We were heading out at 6:30 to try to beat the heat. The route has several places to turn back. I figured if I couldn't hang I could just come back. I just kept telling myself, "try it and see what happens".

And little by little I eased into it and felt comfortable. I dare say it felt good.   We covered the first 10 miles and I felt good. After 15 I was still averaging a 13.2 mph pace and felt good. At the 20 mile mark we stopped in the park and refilled our bottles. It felt good to stand up at that point but otherwise I still felt good. I think my nutrition at that point was dialed in. I tried Infinit Go Far (in orange flavor) in one bottle, some Skratch in another and an extra bottle of water in the back. I made an effort to drink some infinit every 10 minutes or so. I'm hoping that combining nutrition/hydration helps keep me fed and hydrated. Remembering to eat and drink is actually kind of difficult. As we pulled out of Iroquois my stomach was grumbling so I added some Honey Stinger chews to give it something to gnaw on.

The way out of Iroquois is my favorite. It's a gradual downhill so you can really let go. I was sticking to the back of our 8 person pack with another rider. She was having a really tough day and I promised I wouldn't drop her. At some point I looked back and couldn't find her. I pulled over and waited for awhile, but no luck. I circled back and at that point got really nervous something had happened to her. A little bit later I found her pulled over with a flat tire. She was so upset and I felt so bad. She called her husband to pick her up but I convinced her to let me change the flat for her. Luckily I've been practicing and I got the tube changed in no time! Her husband got there just in time to show me how to use the CO2 and we were back on the road! The stop definitely hurt me though, as my legs got sort of tight and sore. The route back from that point has a lot of stop lights and we got caught by almost every one of them. That was really tough on my legs, my morale, and my time.

The last 5 or 6 miles were honestly the hardest as I opted to so a lap of the park with it's hills. By the time I coasted into home I felt pretty good. Could I do another 16 miles? hmm. Maybe? I opted not to try for 50 today and instead get in the brick Run I had planned. I popped on my shoes without the dog noticing and did an easy 1.15 miles.

All in all I'm really happy with how the ride went. It was unexpected, but just proves that I can really dig out a good performance with a little time off (see also: Tri Louisville). Obviously I need the next few long rides to go well - and the long run too!- but if I can do 40 I think I can do 50.

So not really a weekly recap 'per se', but a recap of what's up. I hope I"m on track - I really want to finish in Ohio. Time to put my butt in the saddle and kick it up a notch!

Happy Running!

Tri Louisville Race Report

This past Sunday I toed the line in my first triathlon of the season - the Olympic Distance at Tri Louisville. I competed in this event last year under a different name - Race the Bridge - and had a blast. This year was even better as the race organizers took a lot of the comments from last year and changed things up for the better. I had a good day and a great experience overall - now on to the recap!

Leading up to the race I'd been feeling pretty crappy. I was stuck somewhere between a cold and allergies. The usual cast of characters (itchy throat, sinus drainage, sinus pressure, watery eyes) had plagued me all week and I'd been pretty much sidelined. Add to that a bad reaction to some allergy medication and I wasn't feeling hopeful about the race. I'd seriously considered scratching all together and then thought about just dropping down to the sprint.

Eventually I decided to stick with the Olympic. The main reason was my friend Jessie; she finished a 2 mile swim Saturday and was dead last. Talking to her about it she was sort of bummed about her finish, but based on where she started with swimming it was a huge accomplishment to finish at all. I figure if she can have the guts to get in the water knowing she might be last and do it anyway, then I could do the same with the Olympic. Tri Louisville has no cutoffs since the bike and run are just loops so I figured I could coast through an Olympic - even if I was dead last.

Saturday night I got all of my race gear out and began assembly. I secretly love packing my race bag. It's heaven for a type-a person I think. Lists, check boxes, neatly organized piles. Ahh, bliss. It was my first time traveling with my new Blue Seventy bag and I was excited to see if it all fit. Sure enough, I was organized and all packed into my bag in no time.

Step 1 - put all Tri stuff in one place

Step 2 - separate all the 'stuff' by discipline and put in piles

Bike stuff all piled up - don't forget nutrition!

Step 3 - Pack into your bag, put it by the door and you're done!

Race Morning the alarm went off at 5:00am. Hubz was sleeping elsewhere due to his constant coughing so I could get up gradually. I sat in bed for a little bit watching netflix before finally getting up. For me it's not about the amount of time it takes to actually get ready, but more about the amount of time I need for my "system" (i.e. digestive) to wake up so I can take care of business before I leave.  I pulled on my new Coeur kit, grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. I'd already frozen my waterbottles so I filled them, ate some toast with almond butter, and headed out.

The race venue was only a few miles from my house. I thought I'd gotten there early enough but parking was already swamped. I got there around 6:15 and transition closed at 7 - plenty of time I'd thought. As I stood in line to pay for parking I started to get a little antsy about it. Luckily my friend Connie was parked right next to me so seeing her and having someone else to navigate the situation with definitely helped.

Transition was small and sort of tight. The racks for the bikes weren't high enough for most of the bikes and it lead to a lot of bikes slipping as people were trying to cram in anywhere. I was on a rack with mostly older guys (weird...). These space hogs had already set up their big towels and thrown their bags under the racks so there wasn't much room left for me. I squeezed in, set up my towel and found a spot to throw my bike on the fence line.

After that I was just a trip to the port-a-potty and a short walk away from the swim start!

The Swim
So the swim was a 1500 meter open water swim in the Ohio. There's this nifty little canal that was perfect for this event. Everybody started from the same place, a nice quiet and isolated dock east of transition, but then the Olympic went out and around the island whereas the sprint went straight down the channel.

I was in the third wave so we got moving pretty quickly. We jumped in and had to stand in 4.5' or so of pretty gross water. It reeked of gasoline and the bottom was at least a foot of mud. Those were the longest 75 seconds of the entire race. Once the gun went off my wave darted out towards the first buoy. One of the kayaks warned us that the current off of the channel was really strong and he was right. I had to swim hard to my right to avoid getting pushed into the island. Once I made the left turn around the island though it was smooth swimming. It was obvious I was out of practice in my wetsuit and my swim wasn't as strong, but I felt pretty good. Sighting was pretty crappy though. I wore my tinted goggles and in retrospect I probably could've done without. Whether it was the tint or just my bad eyesight I couldn't see the buoys for anything. Luckily, I knew it was a straight shot west and there are two big bridges that direction so I sighted on those. Once you make the turn back towards transition though it was a little more difficult. I couldn't find the buoy and then once I did, I couldn't see where the exit was. There is a big brightly colored building that I knew was in front of transition. I just set my sights on it and swam until I got close enough to figure it out. By then my triceps were screaming and I was about ready to be done with the whole swimming thing.

The only real 'oh crap' moment I had in the entire race was the swim exit. As I approached I saw the dock and I saw people getting out of the water. I just kept swimming, waiting for my fingers to drag the bottom but they never did. There was no bottom here. There was just a platform that went about a foot into the water. It's hard to describe how this screwed up the exit but it effectively meant there was nothing to push up and off of to get onto the dock. I felt like a beached seal. There were volunteers helping people out but I was essentially 175 pounds of dead weight. I pushed myself up on to the dock and my arms felt like useless limp noodles. I used my hips to scoot up enough so that I could get to my knees before a volunteer pulled me up. Poor guy, I don't think he was expecting my...heft.

Once I was out, a kind gentlemen kindly helped me unzip my wetsuit and then it was up some steps and into transition.

Garmin Stats: 1.25 miles, 25:55 minutes
*The race did not have a split for my swim. This seems like a FAST swim and a long swim, so I wish I had something to compare it to!

The Bike
 The Swim to bike transition is always a little harrowing for me. My heartrate is through the roof, i'm a little disoriented, and it always seems so fucking far. From swim out to my bike it was .18 miles, which feels far to me. So I walked. I focused on taking my time, catching my breath and getting my heartrate down. I got to my bike and got my bike garmin on and got my equipment on no problem. Then it was an easy out onto the road.

The course was pretty much the same as last year: 4 loops of a flat course with one little pitch up. There were some key differences in that it was entirely closed to traffic (and actually monitored by volunteers) and the turnarounds were MUCH much wider than last year. These little changes made for a much more enjoyable bike. Of course I heard "on your left" more than I'd like to admit but I made a plan to take the first lap easy. The first 6 mile loop I focused on high cadence and getting comfortable. I opted to take extra time and wear my cycling gloves and I'm glad I did - I think they're more comfortable and they make me feel safer if I were to bite the dust. So the first few miles were a little slower but that was the plan: get comfortable, figure out the course, and keep cadence up.

Each consecutive lap I worked on pushing it a little bit harder. And then it was done. I drank and I ate some honey stinger chews at one of the turnarounds. In retrospect I didn't eat enough. I really need to work on that on the bike.

It's been difficult not to compare this year to last year. I keep reminding myself I'm 4 weeks behind where I was last year, so it's not really fair to myself to compare the two. Still, I averaged 14.5mph on the course this year and 15.0 on an almost identical course last year. That's actually not a bad place to be right now.

By the time I hit the final turnaround I was ready to be off the bike. I pulled into transition and found my rack. Unfortunately my rack was a mess. The speedy dudes ahead of me had just thrown their bikes up and knocked my stuff all over the place in the process. The low racks made it hard for me to get my bike up without tipping over others. I ended up setting my bike up by the handlebars, which wasn't ideal. I put on my shoes, visor, and race number, grabbed a huma gel and headed out on the run

The Run
The run was 2 loops of a winding course for the Olympic. Luckily there was some cloud cover because it was starting to get hot. I opted not to get water at the first aid station and immediately regretted it. I started out run/walking about a 3/2 pace. This was slower than I would've liked but I really wanted to run more on the back half. The run was pretty uneventful. There were some subtle 'hills' (it's really pathetic to call them that...probably better to just call them inclines) and I walked most of those. I had some unexpected trouble with my shoes. I upgraded to the Adrenaline 18's and was in between an 8.5 and a 9. I really didn't like my 15s in the 9 but loved my 14s in the 8.5, so I went with the 8.5. I'd finally gotten them stretched out a little bit and Saturday night I added my bungee laces. Well this definitely made them too tight. For the first two miles or so my feet felt trapped. It was no bueno. I'm still working on it but it's definitely an adjustment. All in all I was ok with the run but there's definitely a lot of room for improvement. 

Total Finish Time: 3:26:22
*This would totally be a PR EXCEPT I think the course was short. While the swim was way long the run was only 5.80 and the bike was almost a mile short. So I'm not going to count it as a PR.

It was, however, a great learning experience and a great first race of the season! I definitely have a long way to go on the bike before I'm Ohio Ready and my run could use a lot of work but we'll get there...soon. With all of the improvements from last year I'll be heading back to Tri Louisville again next year!

Goodbye Base Building, Hello Peak Training (Weekly Recap)

My plan to get "Back on track" didn't exactly work out this week. I was 1/4 in morning workouts and had family in over the weekend so I only managed one long workout. Here's what it looked like:

Best Workout of the Week
I'm still getting over this crud so every workout this week was kind of 'ho hum'. I slept a lot. I probably needed it. I did my 2 hour ride tonight since we had family in this morning. It wasn't too bad. It's so weird waiting until 4:30 to go out to ride but with the heat I'm really glad I did. Tuesday's run was pretty good too - managed to do some intervals. Running has sucked lately - hopefully I can the peak training phase doesn't kill me.

Best Meal of the Week
This week was pretty on-point with food. I'm struggling to get calories up again and need to focus on that. Obviously the last two weeks I wasn't burning as many but I forget that my base need is 1750. That's a lot. We had an epic breakfast this morning so I made a light dinner of tilapia and mixed veggies. Steam fresh bags are the best. I seem to have tricked Hubz into eating Tilapia - throw Old Bay on it and he'll eat it.

Challenges for Next Week
I really want to get my morning workouts in this week. I think I'm going to run Tuesday morning and swim Tuesday afternoon. I also need to get my 50 miler on the calendar in the next few weeks

55 days until IM70.3 Ohio

oh dear god

Happy Running!

Checking in (Weekly Recap)

Well a summer cold and a busy week had me kind of falling off the radar. I had two Mondays off in a row which meant my usual Sunday night blogging was reserved for drinking beer and watching old episodes of Law and Order. So yeah, as you can see I was a little busy. Anyway, the last two weeks look kind of odd:

June 6- June 12

Highlights
This was week 6 of 8 in my base building phase. It went pretty well. Missed a swim but no big deal. Had Monday off so I took Ellie to one of our parks for some trail hiking. Hubz was out of town so my schedule was a little bit more constricted but I'm happy with how I worked things in.

Saturday I went on a much longer ride than scheduled. I opted to go out with my friends Jessie and Emma and hang with them on my regular Iroquois loop. I knew it would be a challenge and it didn't disappoint. Luckily it's a pretty flat route but it was hot. It was in the 80s at 9am. That's how hot it was. There's a turnaround point where the others went up into the park and I stopped and got water and stretched. I'm really glad that I did. I think I was a little under-prepared for the distance - I didn't bring any food and only brought one bottle of water (and no electrolytes). Luckily I had the foresight to take some salt before I went out and I think that helped me coast into the driveway at the end.

When I got home from my ride I immediately hopped in an ice bath. Not only was I super over heated but I knew my legs would be sore otherwise. The ice baths are really helpful for me - I find I'm a lot less sore the next day and I think it helps bring my core temp down quicker. The hardest part is honestly putting on a sweatshirt and a hat while I'm sweating like a wildabeest. Sitting in the icy water is really simple - ha!

That afternoon I was a worthless bum. I could feel myself starting to get sick. Scratchy throat, drainage, body aching. I basically laid on the couch and didn't move the rest of the day.

Sunday's run was...awful. I ran the first 2 miles or so and then walked the rest. I figured it was more important to get "time on my feet" than to kill myself. Especially since I didn't feel well. The "sick" feeling is something that carried over into the next week...

June 13 - June 19

As you can see there was a huge drop off this week. I felt pretty crappy most of the week. Add to that my car dying and being without a vehicle for three days and I pretty much gave up. I had a race Sunday - Tri Louisville - and I think I was super conservative about training leading up to it. Since I'd been sick and was still pretty early in my training phase I figured I'd just hold back, hydrate, and save it for Sunday.

Ultimately I'm glad I did. I hope to have a race report up for Tri Louisville before the end of the week but it went really well. It was a good confidence booster. It's hard to compare where I was at this point last year but so far I'm feeling good. My sister in law and her kids are coming up this weekend so it's going to be tough to get in my long workouts but hopefully I can sneak away for an hour early both mornings.

Challenges for the Week
 - Get back on track!
- Post Tri Louisville Race Recap

Happy Running!


 

A++ (Weekly Recap)

This was my first perfect week. Perfect+ in fact. I definitely felt it by the end of the week but I'm pretty proud of myself for making it work this week. So what'd it look like? Sha-bam:

Best Workout of the Week
Hands down the best workout of the week was my Monday ride. It was memorial day so I met up with the Landshark group  for a ride. I quickly realized they were all going to be super far ahead of me. However, I've ridden that route several times so I was ok by myself. Well, I got ok being by myself. It's a flat out and back along the river. I wasn't really trying to push the pace but I ended up having my fastest ride yet. Looking back, I think this definitely effected me later in the week.

The rest of the workouts throughout the week were all great. My Thursday swim was a little rough to start but felt good by the end.

The weekend long stuff was pretty tough. My run yesterday pretty much sucked. It was humid, my stomach was all 'ugh' and I ended up walking about half of it. Oh well. Time 'moving' is better than nothing. Needless to say my legs were still pretty sore today so I decided to focus on cadence on today's ride. I met up with the Landshark ride but did my own thing. I kept it in low gear with a focus on spinning. I think this really helped because I had some left in the tank at the end. I definitely wasn't as sore afterwards.

Best Meal of the Week
Pretty normal on the food front. My only mishap was that when I packed for swimming Thursday morning I forgot my lunch. So Thursday I had Jimmy Johns and ate my Thursday lunch for Friday. I actually kinda liked that. It felt like a treat getting to eat out in the middle of the week!

The Hubz is out of town this week so it's just me and Ellie Dog. I bought some chicken breasts and some veggies for later in the week. Tomorrow night I'm taking my Grandma out for dinner. Nothing formal in place - just trying to eat simple and easy.

No goals for this week - just trying to keep with the flow!

Happy Running!

Thank God for 3 Day Weekends (Weekly Recap)

So week four is in the books! It's so funny to look back at the first weeks of my training plan from last year and see where I was. For Instance, here's Last year's weeks 3 & 4 compared with this year's week's 1-4

Aside from the race - I'm definitely putting in about the same time but maybe not quite as fast. It's good to have goals! So lets look at this past week:

This Week in Training

So the big discrepancy is the lack of my long run on Saturday. I had a wedding Saturday night and had the in-laws in town at the same time. Before they left Sunday morning they took us to a big brunch at my favorite breakfast place. Needless to say, the long run was out. Instead we went to the zoo (!!) and spent 2.5 hours walking up hills and sweating in the heat. I loved every minute of it. The polar bear - Qannik! - put on quite a show for us. I didn't add it in, but I think it helped make up the lost time. 

Other than that and a missed swim (alarm malfunction), I had a great week! I managed to get in my brick session this week and I'm pretty proud of myself. I had to get up early and do the bike on the trainer but it's better than nothing. I'm really starting to feel good on the bike. Lately on the trainer I've been able to maximize my pedal stroke and really get some power going. Saturday morning I headed out early for an hour ride. I decided to stick around our parks since the in-laws were here and "easy" seemed best. I really had a great ride! it was the kind of ride where I really did have to stop and say, "Wow, this is perfect. Thank you". I managed to keep the pace in the 13mph range which is great for me right now. Bonus Points: I nailed last week's challenge of making all of my rides this week! I also managed to get in one strength session. Boom. 

This Week in Food

I stuck to my meal plan this week - no random eating out! The only exception was Wednesday Lunch. I had an invitation for lunch from Mom and no court, so I was excited. However, I managed to find a good spinach and salmon salad that definitely was high in protein and low in fat. Bonus Points: I avoided candy at the office this week. I had maybe 2 M&M's but that was it. HUGE accomplishment. I also said 'no' to dessert during the week. Both of these seemed like big challenges at the beginning of the week but I'll be damned if I didn't get it done. 

This week's menu is very similar in terms of breakfast and lunch. I pre-made my overnight oats for the week and have all of my dinner's prepped and ready. I could've cooked tonight but it just seemed easier to stick to our new Monday schedule. 

Challenges for Next Week:

- Stay away from the candy again - no dessert except Weekends!

- Make all Rides again

- Make all Swims

Happy Running! 

At long last, sunshine! (Weekly Recap)

All at once a long rainy week is forgotten after an active, warm and sunny Sunday. This week was killer. I knew it would be and I planned wisely. I shifted some things around and, despite the crazy schedule, I managed only to really miss one workout. Lets see what it looked like:

Best Workout of the Week
Monday's run was actually really good. I finally got some new shoes! In updating the Adrenaline I've read that Brooks went back to their traditional sizing. Hopefully this means the things I disliked about the 15s but LOVED in the 13 and 14 are back in my new 16s.

So I ran Monday since I figured Tuesday would be too hectic to get in a morning and afternoon workout. The swim Tuesday was really good too! Got to the pool on time, no wait for a lane, and got out looking decent for a big day in court. That's basically a home run in my life.

I was forced inside Saturday for my ride. It was uncanny actually; I was getting my stuff together to suck it up and ride outside and boom, torrential downpour. I'd kept Ghost on the trainer downstairs just in case this happened. I also DVR'd some good old school Law & Order episodes for the occasion. My bum was definitely sore from Friday night's trainer ride. I managed to get an hour in the saddle without much complaint. I also managed to push a steady 15mph for the ride - woohoo! Bonus Points: getting in my rides (Even if on the trainer) was one of my goals for this week - double woohoo!

Today I ran this morning and then tried something new. Rania has been hyping this yoga class she's been going to for awhile. She insisted on paying me back for a sports bra I gave her (Moving Comfort y'all - I'm telling you, your girls have never felt better!) so she treated me to today's Power Hour. One thing I knew going in was that it was hot yoga. The website gently cautions, "Be aware, the room is heated at all times between 95 and 100 degrees." WTF. That's really hot. I couldn't decide what to wear so I just wore what I had on from my run - some running shorts and a my favorite looser fitting tank top. I also had on my moving comfort (Juno) so the girls were totally strapped in for this experience. The studio was adorable and perfect. No frills, just a big space with soft matted floors, adjustable lighting and mirrors. We got there early so I could get registered and then spent about 10 minutes acclimating to the heat. Good.Lord. Once the class started I was pleased that I knew the basic poses and could follow along pretty well. I'm definitely out of practice but it wasn't killer. Well that is until some sort of internal faucet just turned on. I was sweating SO much!! I had to sit back and wipe my face and my hands. Then within 10 seconds my hands would be so sweaty they couldn't grip the mat!! We went through I think 3 different sets of vinyasa (yoga for 'flow' - a set of coordinated poses you do multiple times through timed to your breath). By the end I was basically a puddle of sweat held together by bones and some fat. As I lay in corpse pose my stomach gurgled and growled.

Overall assessment? It was awesome!

There's something about the heat that really gets it all out of you. You can get into all of the poses pretty easily because your muscles are so loose. I told Rania that my body was so compliant because it realized we were going to die and just stopped caring. I stand by that.

I definitely want to go back. I don't know how I'd work it in to my schedule. Sundays will soon get difficult because my running miles will be up. But there's something about Sundays that make for great yoga - a time to recharge and relax and gear up for the week ahead.

Best Meal of the Week
Can we start with the worst meal of the week? Thursday night I was in a foul mood. The week was abysmal up to that point and I was like a toddler: angry, sad, hungry, and just not having any of it. Also Hubz had a big case of the Manitis (the disease men get when they can't handle a damn head cold and act like small children suffering from amputation). So yeah. I can't remember what was on the menu for dinner but I didn't want to cook. I wanted pizza. However, I didn't want to decide what to have so we had chinese. It was awful. I mean it tasted ok but the minute i put my fork down I hated myself. So if I was looking for an opportunity to spiral further down the abyss of sadness and anger I'd been simmering in all day - DING DING DING! Seriously. I wanted to just hit reverse and take that meal back in it's entirety.

I tried to do better the rest of the week. Bonus Points: I managed to keep my weekday eating (Except for Thursday) pretty healthy and snacked consistently and healthily. However, things with my nutrition coach aren't going well. I go in Thursday for my last check in. At my last check in (10 weeks in) I'd lost zero pounds and none of my measurements had changed. Like none. Some small loss in my right quad. So there's that. I knew 6 weeks in I wasn't making progress. So suffice it to say that the Nutrition Coach hasn't really looked like a motivational asset to me lately. I've been operating largely under the 'who gives a F#@&?' theory.

Tonight we had chicken kebabs on the grill with veggies. I've got some good tried and true recipes this week that I think will help keep me happy. I have a work wedding to go to next weekend. I'm dreading it. I'm actually looking forward to the wedding. What I'm NOT looking forward to is having to go through the 2 hours of self loathing and awful that come with trying on every dress in my closet until I find something that I can actually zip up. I hope sitting down isn't a requirement at this thing.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Challenges for Next Week:
- Cut out the sweets. At work, at home, everywhere. Dessert is for the weekends only
- Get in ALL rides this week. Hop on the trainer Wednesday morning if need be

Right on Target (Week 2 Recap)

What a great week! Another light week at work meant I could focus on getting in the workouts. I'm definitely happy with how this week went. I actually accomplished both goals from last week - got in both swims and some riding!

Best Workout of the Week

The weather here continues to be crappy. Last weekend was nice and warm, but the week was cold and rainy. It basically rained every other day (and drizzled in between). I was really looking forward to my long ride on Saturday until I woke up to rain and low temps. Luckily the rain held off but it was still really cold. My friend Jessie and I met up with the Louisville Bicycle Club group for my favorite old route. You can always tell the triathletes from the actual cyclists because while the cyclists were all in long pants with special jackets and nifty caps and gloves, I had a long sleeve shirt under my jersey and that was basically it. The first half was pretty windy and cold. Luckily we managed to finish in one piece. Overall it was a nice ride and definitely character building. 

Best Meal of the Week

I did a great job of staying on meal plan last week. I made a taco salad, some asian marinaded chicken, and some other good high protein meals. I even managed to do well with lunches last week. My favorite meal by far was Saturday night's date night. We went to one of my favorite restaurants. They have a Belgian pommel frite appetizer that is to die for. After that I had their house salad with salmon. The salmon was the best I've ever had. It had this perfect crust but wasn't breaded or anything. Oh lord, it was good. Then of course we went for ice cream. I kind of regret this because it was super decadent but...yeah it was totally worth it. 

For Next Week:

Next week is going to be pretty stressful at work and my regular court schedule will resume with a vengeance. I also may be racing next Saturday. Who knows at this point - the weather has just been awful. So here's the plan:

Anyway, here's what I hope to get this week:

• Get the bike workouts in. Even if they're late at night - even if they're on the trainer
• Keep up the good weekday eating. Good lunches, lots of healthy snacks

Happy Running!