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! 

Week 1 Fun (Weekly Recap)

So we're officially back in training! I'm happy about it, honestly. I like the calendar and I like knowing I'm working towards something

 Of course the first week of training coincided with Derby Week here in Kentucky so the schedule was a little screwy. Overall I'm happy with how it went.

So a big fat goose egg in the pool this week. I kind of expected that. The schedule was just wacky. I'm hoping to get both swims in this week. My Wednesday night Brick's are going to be hard to get in. I'm not really sure how to do those in the morning but I guess we'll figure it out!

Best Workout of the Week
I got my bike out twice this week and had good rides. Thursday the weather was awful so I was stuck on the trainer. Oh well. Saturday it was warm, sunny, and beautiful so I took Ghost out on my little 30 min route. Unfortunately about 5 minutes from home she popped a spoke and catapulted me back into wobbly wheel land. This is the third (or 4th?) time this has happened, which is frustrating. Luckily Hubz was able to give me a lift back home and I got her into the bike shop that day. She needed a spring tune up anyway. Hopefully they'll get her back to me quickly!

Best Meal of the Week
I ate like utter shit this week. Seriously. My nutrition coach is going to kill me. Part of it was in reaction to a bad appointment with her on Monday (more on that later) but Derby, man, just means food. And alcohol. I'm feeling the effects of all of the bad food, which I think is good in the long run. My body realizes that good tasting and good feeling aren't the same. Last night we celebrated mother's day at my parents and my mom and grandmother both cooked up a great meal. Dad did ribs on the grill (omg) and my grandma made her famous potato salad. It was by far the best meal of the week.

At the bakery picking up Mother's Day Treats

Plan for Next Week
In response to the bad eats this week I'm prepping for a good food week. I planned out our meals - which are on my computer at home, sorry! - and prepped everything yesterday. Hubz requested Taco Salad which is totally new to me. So i cooked and prepped everything and now the whole week of food is waiting for us in the fridge. Also, I cleaned out my fridge at work and brought everything for the week in today. Voila - healthy fridge full of good eats!

Workout Goals:
- Get in 2 Swims
- Get Ghost back and ride ride ride!

Happy Running!
 

Just Keep Moving Forward

Since I last blogged I've run two half marathons and finished my first training cycle of 2016.

No big deal.

I started training for the Bluegrass Classic back on January 4th. My goal was to run three days a week and cross train 2 days. For the most part, I made that work. I managed to avoid major illness or injury during the Four months and actually enjoyed most of it. Here's what my numbers look like overall:

Overall Activities: 95 (45 runs)
Overall Distance: 366.31 miles (200.58 run)
Time: 65:34:56 ( 41:40:04 run)
Calories Burnt: 39,104 (26,667 run)

I have a lot to say about both the Ky Derby Festival Half Marathon and the Run the Bluegrass Half marathon but...really no interest in writing it down. They were half marathons. I ran them. That's pretty much it. Well, except the Run the Bluegrass was gorgeous and hill and torturous and wonderful. But yeah, I got a medal. I kept running.

So next up? Time to start looking towards Ohio. I'm sort of unsure about what life will look like come August 21st. So much feels uncertain. I've got a plan and some races in between. Hopefully come August I'm a half Ironman twice over.

Happy Running!

What.A.Week (Weekly Recap)

This week has taken a few days to recover from. I seem to be bouncing back and forth between good weeks and bad weeks. This one definitely wasn't the former on the workout front.

Best Workout of the Week
Not too many to choose from, unfortunately. Monday Rania and I slogged through 3.72 miles. It felt awful. We walked a lot of it and I chalked it up to my 'race pace' 10k on Sunday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were black holes created by the stupidest trial in human history. Though not reflected on the chart, I did take Ellie for a walk on Tuesday since it was 70 degrees and sunny outside. Wednesday I was stuck at the courthouse all night. I ate Taco Bell for dinner at 9:00 pm (ugh, the shame) but I did walk around the third floor of the courthouse for about an hour to get all of my steps. #Winning

Yesterday's long run was another slogger. My friend Funk joined me for what was supposed to be an 8 miler. However, by 2 miles in I felt pretty goofy. My body felt heavy and I just felt off. I figured if we could make it to 3.5 before we turned around I'd be happy. It was slow, but we did it. Given that I almost opted out, I'm proud of myself for getting it done.

Today I completed my first Strength Training workout per my nutrition coach (more on that in a minute). It was hard. Like, really hard. Obviously this is a deficit in my training but good lord. I rode on the trainer for 20 minutes and then hunkered down. The workout was as follows

Squat with Band Row x 12

North/South Lunges x10 a side

Bird Dog Hold x30 seconds per side

Twice through

Walkout to Plank w/ Spiderman x 10

50 jumping jacks

Band Shoulder Press x 10

Twice through

I can see how adding these strength workouts in three times a week will have a big impact on my legs and my core. This week that's what she was focusing on anyway. I imagine the next two weeks will be a little different.

Best Meal of the Week
So a week or two ago I met with Dannielle Hadaway, a fellow landshark member and owner of FitnessRx Louisville. They specialize in Metabolic testing/training, physio training and nutrition coaching. Dannielle came highly recommended from fellow Landsharks. It's no secret to friends of the blog that I've been struggling with my weight for awhile. I got in great shape in 2012 for the wedding, then stayed at a lower weight through the first 6-8 months of work. I think the stress and often working through lunch really took a physical toll on my body. I don't think i noticed that much since it had the 'positive' effect of keeping me at a lower weight. Over the last 2 years my weight has mushroomed. Last Christmas (2014) I didn't even recognize myself.

Somehow I'd gained 30lbs. So slowly over the last year I've attempted to chip away at that. I've had some success and have kept about 15 lbs of it off. The last 15, however, doesn't want to go away. I've gone about as far as I can on my own so it was time to enlist some help. Enter Dannielle. So we met after work one day and we talked for about 45 minutes. She's charming and knowledgeable and a great listener. She also happens to be an Ironman and a mom and a business owner, so i think she understands a little bit about the demands of training.

So this week was the 'watching' phase. I wasn't really supposed to do anything differently, but Dannielle was also logged into MyFitnessPal with access to my account. Whether it's supposed to or not, that simple fact makes a difference. For instance, one night I had my typical bagel sandwich but ate it with a lentil mix instead of chips. Small changes.

Tomorrow I go for my resting metabolic testing. She'll hook me up to all sorts of crazy machines and they'll get an idea of how many calories I burn just to keep my body running. They'll use that number to figure out how many calories I need a day and in what ratio (protein/fat/carbs). Then we start making little changes about what I'm actually eating.

I'm excited for a change. I'm a little apprehensive too because...well, damn! I like cheetohs and ice cream and I don't particularly want to give all that away. But if it can get me back to a place where I'm feeling good in my clothes, then I'm all for it.

For Next week
- Three Runs this week (Seriously - need to do it)
- Three strength training sessions from Dannielle
- Lots and lots of water

Happy Running!

Wonderful Weather (Weekly Recap)

No, I didn't run off and completely forget about my blog (Again). Last Sunday night I got to hang out with a very cool 8 year old all night so I didn't have a chance to blog. Not much was missed, however, and I'm back at it tonight. How was last week? Well, lets see:

Favorite Run of the Week
Yesterday's long run was a pretty good one. Rania came over and we ran from here. It was pretty chilly to start off but it was bright and sunny which made things go a little better. Rania was booking it through most of the run. Particularly the last little bit. My average pace for last week's 7 miler was about 13 min/miles. Yesterday it was 12:10s. So yeah, she's speedy. My legs were definitely a little sore last night. Today we took advantage of the near 70 degree temps and took the pup to the park. She went berserk. So many people and so many dogs out! Once we got home I laid on the couch for awhile but then, almost based solely on boredom, headed out for another 3 miles. It was nice catching up on some podcasts but my legs are definitely feeling it.

I was pretty bummed to miss my Wednesday run. I had my bag all packed to go to the YMCA but forgot a sports bra. Doh. Pretty much the only thing I can't run without. Hubz had a good idea and recommended I keep a sports bra and socks at the office. Those are, obviously, my two most often forgotten things. He's so smart.

Best Meal 
I generally ate pretty good last week. Tonight I made a good salmon meal with a dijon glaze. It honestly had a little too much sugar for my liking (what???). But still, very very yummy.

This week I'm meeting with a nutritionist from a fitness place loved by my Tri team. She was really nice on the phone and seemed to understand what I'm looking for. Fingers crossed it goes well!

Next Week
- I'm excited to meet with the nutritionist on Thursday! She wants to look at my meal planning and my fitness pal so I have a feeling I"ll actually be eating well
- I really want to get in my 2 weekday runs this week

Happy Running!

Can winter be over now? (Weekly Recap)

Another dump of snow here in the bluegrass and we're finally up to "normal" snowfall for the winter. Remember how it was 65 pretty much all of December? Yeah, me neither. It was a cold weekend. I mean cold cold. It started snowing yesterday morning and they were saying we'd get 3 inches. Sure enough, there's snow on the sidewalks and slush in the roads today. Yesterday the high was 23. Today it's 43. Oh, Kentucky. So what'd that mean for my workouts? Well lets check it out

Totals: 26.94 miles, 3:08 hours, 2,212 calories

 I can't quite recall why I didn't make it to the gym on Monday. I want to say it had something to do with the cold. I opted to take Tuesday off as planned to keep the schedule on track. By Wednesday I was in that weird zone where I'd taken three days off in a row and felt (1) lazy and (2) inert, like I had no momentum to go work out. I did haul my cookies to the gym though and I"m glad I did. I did 3 miles of running with a few short walk breaks.

Best Workout of the Week
Probably my long run on Saturday. I wasn't excited about another long run on the treadmill. Anything over an hour on the treadmill just feels gross. I slept in a little bit and then got my butt to the YMCA. Luckily it wasn't too packed, despite the bad weather. I did my regular 4:1 run: walk interval. I had to do some fuzzy math when I accidentally stopped the machine (Stupid Ipad....falling...oops) around 41 minutes in. I think I got it right though. Overall I kept the same pace I'd kept outside with Rania a few weeks ago. I'm happy with that. Being inside also meant I took a good 15 minutes to stretch out afterwards. Definitely needed.

Best Meal of the Week
We had a lot of good eats this week. I didn't do a lot of cooking and it was actually nice. I'd planned to make this special pasta dish one night but it has several components and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I still  basically kept to my meal plan. We went to one of my favorite fancy restaurants on Saturday for Valentines day. My meal wasn't great overall but I still LOVE the pasta. And it was free because of gift cards so even better. Last night I finally made the rigatoni and pea pasta I'd planned to make during the week. Hubz goes BONKERS for this stuff. It's at the bottom of the NomNomNom tab and is well worth it. Unless you don't like nutmeg, then maybe skip this one.

Next Week
Updating from the office (Sorry boss) so I don't have my meal plan but I'll tag that later. Here's what's on deck for this week:

• Three runs, 1 bike, 1 yoga/stretching/etc. 
• Get sweets back under control - no candy during the week
• Water, water, water

Also - time to say congratulations to the Superbowl 50 winning Denver Broncos!! Our house was happy

Happy Running!

 

The 7 Day Sweet Stop

I'm stuck in court listening to a civil hearing (yawn) so it's a perfect opportunity to jot down some thoughts about last week's "No Sweets" project. 

The Goal: no sweet snacks, candy, or "added" sugar for 7 days. 

All in all, it was a really great challenge. While it didn't totally change my life, I did gain some serious perspective about my eating habits. 

I have more will power than I thought 

The first two days were nothing more than will power. Why is it that when you tell yourself you CANT do something, that one thing is all you want? Sure enough sweets are the same way. The first two days it was all about wanting sweets. Particularly since work was slower I found myself sitting at my desk a lot. I'd think, "oh, I could get up and walk around...and grab a kit Kat from th candy bowl". It was hard to push those thoughts out. However, I found that by Wednesday I gained more satisfaction from exercising my will power than I did from  actually eating the treats. 

Your taste buds can change 

One thing I was hoping for was to adjust my sense of "sweet". My diet includes so much sugar I wasn't aware of (more on that later) and I think my palate had become accustomed to that. I was shocked at how a few days without it really impacted my taste buds. Case in point: I take my coffee with sweet&slow and cream. I have since I was 16. This was the hardest thing to give up initially. Coffee tasted terrible. However, by Thursday it didn't taste awful anymore. In fact, this morning I even found myself thinking "wow, this is pretty good". Similarly, I had something with aspartame in it on Monday and it tasted sickeningly sweet. In just 7 days my palate adjusted. I think this has helped keep me from craving sweets most days and being satisfied with other "sweet" treats. 

There is added/fake sugar in everything

When I set out on Sunday for this challenge I thought it was simple: no candy, no sweet&low in my coffee or tea. One benefit was I was drinking a lot of water. Lots of water for me also means lost of crystal light. Well on Saturday at the grocery I actually looked at the crystal light package and, sure enough, aspartame. This may have been obvious to everyone else, but I was shocked. I cut out candy but keep chugging down aspartame in my water! As I finished my shopping I checked labels and often times opted to go with "regular" foods over their non-fat or "diet" substitutes for this same reason. 

I don't need sweets - I just want them

I've always known I'm an emotional eater. But I'm also a habitual eater. Finish lunch? Have a dessert. 9pm? Time for dessert. Have a bad day? Pie will fix all emotions. So some of the bad things I eat are out of habits, things I've done since I was a kid (i.e. Dessert every night) or emotions (i.e. Stress is cured by sugar). What I found is that I can overcome both of those. One thing that helped me was to change around my eating schedule. If I eat dinner a little earlier and have a cup of tea at "dessert time" it fulfills the ritual need to eat something at that time. Figuring out how to get around emotional snacking is just more difficult. It's still a work in progress but I'm open to suggestions! 

Overall - I'm glad I did it

I'm going to keep up my efforts to cut back on sugar. I noticed my afternoon "lull" wasn't as bad most days, which is a plus. Also, now that the challenge is over I've noticed that treats really do taste better when they're actually a treat and enjoyed as something special instead of an every day thing. I'm excited to see if it has any overall changes in my body. I'll keep you posted! 

Base building in action (Weekly Recap)

This week was a considerable improvement from the last. I seem to have (pretty much) kicked the cold that sidelined me and I had a ridiculously easy week at work. Part of me feels guilty but then I recognize that most weeks aren't like that. I deserve to have it easy every once in awhile. So I enjoyed it.

Best Workout
I had a couple of really good workouts this week. Wednesday Rania wasn't feeling well so I headed to Cherokee on my own. I decided to do some hill repeats on a 1/4 mile hill in the park. I warmed up with a mile and then pushed the pace up the hill with a rest going down. My paces weren't as good as they were when I did the same workout last July but they were still pretty good. I'm excited to keep doing this workout and see how the paces change as I improve my fitness.

Saturday Rania and I met up at the Parklands - my fave - for my long run. She hadn't run this distance in awhile but still did really well. We kept to my 4:1 run:walk and had success with it. I'm really glad I've embraced the Run:Walk Method. I am so much fresher after my long runs and don't have the same aches and pains. It's a bit of an ego check, but I'm getting used to it. We had some interesting elevation changes and had to power up some hills but overall it was a really great run.

Best Meal 
Aside from my no-sweets experiment this week was pretty dull on the food front. Monday we had one of my favorite Trader Joe's meals, a kung pao chicken that is de-lish. Pretty much run-of-the-mill otherwise.

Next Week:

• Continue with the no-sweets trend
• Three runs & at least one bike
• Water, water, water