Posted by: pursuingsub17 | January 20, 2010

The nutrition mission – eating to become a more efficient machine.

I’m definitely getting better but my nutrition sucks. Fever is gone and the head isn’t so stuffed up but all this hacking is upsetting my stomache. I don’t have much of an appetite. I’ve been drinking lots of liquids – soup broth, tea, Gatorade, cranberry juice, McCain’s goji juice – immune support, ginger ale, Boost (to get some vitamins and minerals in me) – protein shakes might be next. Occasionally, I’ll grab a few nuts or a fruit and nut granola bar by Nature Valley. On Monday, I ate some home made hummus with baked pita chips. I had breakfast for the first time yesterday – Crispx cereal. Last night Marc wanted to make something for my birthday – all I wanted was an all beef hot dog. He also made some baked chips by slicing a few potatoes with a mandolin slicer and sprinkled some salt overtop. I ate those - couldn’t finish the hot dog.

I’m not nauseous. I just don’t seem to want to eat – and I get full fast. I’m sure my stomache has shrunk. I’ve noticed my pants are fitting a little looser in the hips. Some people might think that’s great. I, however, do not. I always had skinny legs and no bum. Thanks to all the weights, plyometrics and bike training, I added some wanted inches. Now I’m scared I’m going to lose what I gained.

I can feel my muscles atrophy while I write this!! AAAAHHHHHH!!! I’m shrinking!

Enough with the drama. With every bad there’s good – or a lesson to be learned. I’ve been focusing a lot more on my nutrition lately. I’m not eating right now – but I certainly haven’t been eating properly over the last few years either. I eat at bad times of the day. Sometimes I skip lunch. I love junk food. I don’t watch the sodium content on canned food. I don’t eat enough fresh fruit and vegetables. I like red meat. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Maybe for some people but for people like Marc and I, we need red meat in our diet. Everyone is different. But I need to balance that with carbs and fruit and veggies. I don’t drink enough water.

So it got me thinking – being sick has been almost like a cleansing. I had my first beer in a week yesterday. It was good – but I really didn’t want another one. Now is also a good time to start looking at better eating habits. In the past, I’ve made attempts at eating small meals 6 times a day because someone told me I should but that isn’t consistent – probably because I didn’t fully understand why. And I don’t really know what my particular requirements are never mind a distance athlete’s requirements. So it’s time to do some research instead of listening to my boss or what a friend’s co-worker does or what Marc eats. I have a book about female triathletes – written by a female triathlete – and I’ve read all the chapters on equipment and training and training plans and mental training and what to pack on race day - but I don’t bother with the nutrition. Why? Because I find it not only overwhelming but the recipes time consuming, exotic vegetables and legumes hard to find or costly and I feel like the recipes are for people who are dieting – not eating nutritiously to enhance performance. So I am now on a nutrition mission – the quest to find food that will make me a more efficient machine!

I’d see a dietition but I don’t know if that’s going to cost me money. That’s probably my best bet though. But I’ll also research different triathlete websites and magazines – look at women with my body type (not what I want my body type to be) and see what they’re doing. I’m going to delve into the science of fuel for the body – break down into micro nutrients what it is that the body needs and what food is the most efficient.

I’m realizing more and more that to do well in a sport, you really have to know more than how to swim or bike or run. You have to know the science end of it too – physics, biology, mechanics, chemistry. So now I’m not just training 2 times a day 6 days a week – I still have a lot of learning to do. Nutrition is the next phase – and I’m on a nutrition mission!

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Posted in Nutrition, Training, ironman, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | January 19, 2010

Should you train when sick?

No. I remember something my doctor said years ago – ahem – two decades ago actually. She said if you have a chest infection, it isn’t wise to work out and proceeded to tell me about a police officer who, on an off duty day, decided to go for a run – even though he had a touch of the flu. He died of a heart attack. The virus attacked his heart.

I’m sure there are other reasons, such as making your illness worse. Anyway, I double checked with both Marc and my coach since I wound up with my first chest infection in over 9 years and both said the same thing – if you have an infection in the chest/lungs, NO aerobic activity. Coach said I could lift weights but only if I take longer breaks. I still opted to take a break. I guess if you’re sick with a head cold, you can still work out but just take it easy.

Now this was not easy for me! I was finally geared up for training season – which starts in a few weeks – and I had developed a good base despite my whining. I was ready to kick it into high gear and I get sick. At first it was tightness in the chest, then a cough, then it went into my head along with the cough and then a fever. Today is the first day I feel normal – but I’m still coughing. It was so nice out the last few weeks and I couldn’t even go for a run.

But apparently, one should not fear taking two weeks off. This shouldn’t set you back. If anything, this might be a good break for me.

By the way – I turned 42 today. If this is my first flu in 9 years, I think I’m in pretty good shape :)

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Posted in Set backs, Training, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | January 11, 2010

Race planning for 2010

Not sure where to start – been a few weeks! Christmas was good. I behaved myself this year :) . I worked out according to coach’s schedule as much as possible. Unfortunately, I am a nightowl so I stayed up until 1 or 2am and slept in until 10am so I had to quickly get out of that habit when I returned to work January 4th. I felt really burned out that week and sick of training.

But I might have it licked. The week is young so we’ll see. I did my first 2 hour brick workout in over 6 months on Saturday and it felt good. Did an hour and a half on the bike doing right/left 1 min repeats and then 5 min sit/stand repeats. Then I ran a 30 min 5K outside because we finally got some decent weather… and felt like crap Sunday! I couldn’t even go for a swim. Oh well. Even coach said not to sweat it if you miss some workouts.

We’re kicking it up now. This week we do two swims, two weight sessions and two plyometric sessions. I have one 30 min run scheduled, two 30 min bikes and another 2 hour brick session on Saturday. It’s a lot. I would like to try and do as much as I can but two weights and two plyometric sessions don’t seem to make much sense when he asks to fit in two days off as well. That means I’m doing a weight session about 9 hours after a tempo run in the early morning. Then 8 hours after the weights – the next day – I do a 30 min bike? I always thought you were supposed to give yourself time to recover. Coach says to adjust accordingly but at the same time, I want to do well so I feel guilty if I only do one weight and one plyometric session.

As for the swim, I’m okay with once a week still. Marc’s starting Master Swim soon and he says he’ll probably be swimming twice a week. I don’t see why – he’s a fish out of water. He kicks butt on the swim with absolutely no practice at all for 16 weeks. Anyway - I’ll probably follow his lead once that starts.

It did occur to me though that I have to start training for my marathon starting the second week in February. So I pulled off the old plan from last year off Runner’s World – it was a good one for me last year since I shaved off a whole hour. If you’re interested: Your Ultimate Marathon Training Plan.

That lead to some final research on races I want to do – which I’ll have to wait to sign up for as Christmas kicked my credit card in the pants. Besides the Calgary Marathon in May, I’m planning on the olympic distance triathlon in Calgary during the Subaru 70.3 half Ironman weekend the third week in June. Hoping to see some triathlete idols there and get autographs. I think I may have Marc talked into that one too…muuaaahaha. So evil. He thinks it would be a good primer for Ironman Coeur d’Alene the following weekend (where I’ll be signing up for 2011!). Is he crazy? Yes. Yes he is. Nice to see he’s back into it.

Then the big race will be the half ironman distance in Sylvan Lake at the end of July. I think I’ll take August off and finish off with the Leduc Women’s Only in September.

Then that’s it. Race season will be over. It’s too bad Canada’s race season is so short. More incentive to save up the pennies and travel to races in the south in the winter I guess!

It may seem a long time off but before I know it, 2011 will be upon me and I’ll be training for that first Sub 17! Anyway – best to focus on the now. :)

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Posted in Accomplishments, Pre-race activities, Training, ironman, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | December 23, 2009

Morning workout accomplished

I actually went to bed at 9:30pm last night. Having crap on TV right now is a good motivator. I thought about actually going to bed and reading for a bit but by the time I walked the dog, washed up and then hopped into bed, I was mentally ready to get a good night’s sleep. Marc is sick with a bad head cold – no fever but he opted to get up in the middle of the night and sleep on the couch while going through a box of Kleenex so he wouldn’t wake me with the constant horn blowing. He knew I was bound and determined to do a 30 minute bike workout in the morning and didn’t want to ruin that.

At 5:45 am the alarm went off – I turned it off and set the second alarm for 6:45am. As I lay there, thinking I might fall asleep, I was going through my head all the reasons why I shouldn’t get up. Did I need more sleep? No. If I get up, I’ll wake up poor Marc who’s probably been up all night with sinus issues. How long will it take to get the dog into her Muttluk booties and out the door to do her business? Do I have time? Let’s see, 15 mins with the dog, 30 min bike workout, stretch, shower by 7pm. Or should I walk the dog first? I have to work out in the spare bedroom where her kennel is – for sure I’ll wake up Marc – maybe I’ll workout first and tell her to stay in her kennel.

Of course all this thinking woke up my brain and I couldn’t get back to sleep. It was now 6am. Now or never. Then I remembered the blog I wrote yesterday. I got up.

Mission accomplished. Managed a 30 min. tempo bike workout in the spare bedroom while watching the breakfast television news. Walked the dog, showered, ate breakfast, woke up Marc to get him to move into the bedroom to get more sleep and made it to work 5 minutes early.

I’ll allow myself a 10pm bedtime. When the alarm goes off, I will start thinking about my marathon and 1/2 Ironman race – do I want a PR or not? Hell ya. Make myself think about everything, what I have to do at work that day, whatever to wake up my sleepy head. Big thing is to treat each day separately for now and eventually, getting out of bed early to train will be like brushing my teeth.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Motivation, Training, ironman, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | December 22, 2009

“How bad do you want this?” Training your brain.

Okay, this has been slightly difficult to keep up with lately. I don’t know where the time has gone! Well, most of it has been training – or pre-training, whatever. Every day off has been spent going to the gym, getting some groceries, doing a bit of housework, making dinner and going to bed. Work’s been stressful – so I don’t work out after work. I work three days a week now and my work load is about a week’s worth. Mentally, it’s too hard to get motivated to go to the gym in the morning or after work. The snow isn’t helping either – and since my last post, it’s been -30 Celcius or colder for at least 22 days out of the 25. It’s hell on the lungs so I’ve been running indoors. Unfortunately, the treadmill in my condo building is broken and the other one was stolen so I have to go to the dreaded Spa Lady where we’re only allowed 20 mins on the treadmill. Unfortunately, $22/month for my month to month membership is cheaper than elsewhere.

My legs have been getting a lot bigger – stronger. I’m enjoying the plyometrics and weight training. I finally started doing bike training on the windtrainer and the workouts have enough variety that I can stay on a stationary bike for at least an hour now without being bored to tears.

Now that being said, I’m still just getting the workouts in – I might miss one session of something a week – but I’m getting most of them in. I’m just yet again squishing them into my days off. I have to stop doing that. Come February 1st, every waking moment will be about training. I’ll have four months to the first long distance race of the season – the marathon at the end of May – my third marathon. I’ll have six months until my first half Ironman. I need more commitment. Right now is just piddly maintenance workouts. Come April and May, it will be more intense and time consuming. I don’t have time to be lazy. So now is the time to start getting used to getting up at 5am. Marc’s not an early riser – and he doesn’t seem to be showing much interest again so I can’t rely on him to get my arse out of bed. I need to want this more.

I need to start training myself to get up early – even if I don’t work out. I need to train myself not to want to stay up until 11pm watching television. I need a strategy to mentally train myself to get used to early to bed and early to rise.  I need to teach myself it isn’t okay to have one more beer and maybe instead do the much needed core work. Last year I had 10 days holidays and the majority of them were spent very unhealthy. I have the same time off this year. I need a routine. No one can do this or teach this. It’s something I need to do myself. No coach can do it for me.

So that’s the challenge – and maybe my New Year’s resolution for 2010. Laziness is not an option. Maybe putting that countdown in my head will help – maybe I need to start each morning by asking myself in the mirror, “How bad do you want this? Do you want to do a half ass job or do you want to have the best year ever?”.

I’m part way there physically but devotion to the time required to feel like I’m having a successful race season needs to be part of my training now. I’m not in this “just to try it” anymore. This is now my life – triathlon has brought meaning to it and I refuse to fail so that starts with mental discipline.

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Posted in Motivation, Training, ironman, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | November 25, 2009

Motivational issues or winter blahs?

First off – my apologies for my long awaited return – and whatever happened to my last blog in September! It went awol. I meant to re-type it but there’s been a lot going on in my life and the desire to write just fell by the wayside. I did re-type it. It was basically all about my new coach’s training plan.

Okay – onward. September was tough. Work was tough – trying to figure out “tri language” from the new coach was tough. Getting back into a work out routine was tough.

I did get into it though by the beginning of October. I bought a book about triathlon for women. It’s a great reference book and half way through it, I realize in terms of equipment, I’m pretty prepared. I do still need to learn how to change a bike tire though before outdoor training! The plyometrics are definitely working. My muscles are firing quicker – and my legs got bigger! Putting on skinny jeans now is like putting on tights.

We advanced to two runs, a long run and a swim and increased difficulty on the core workouts and plyometrics. Unfortunately, I went away on holidays at the beginning of November for a week back to Palm Springs with my mom right when the bike workouts started. I had forgotten what it was like to not be on a schedule and loved it – maybe too much.

Now that I’m back, it’s been hard to get into routine. Last night I was cranky. The thought of sitting on a windtrainer indoors for a half hour or doing burpees because I have to was making me angry. I compare biking on a windtrainer to running on a treadmill. I suddenly detested living in this cold climate. I told Marc last night that maybe I’m feeling a bit of burn out. He suggested working out for the fun of it. Don’t do what I was scheduled to do – just do any kind of work out I want. So I was on the eliptical for 20 minutes and ran for 10. Did I enjoy myself? Yes.

Don’t get me wrong. I like to swim, bike and run. I see the purpose to plyometrics but mentally, I find it boring. I like weights but doing 4 sets of a lot of different weights is time consuming. I look forward to training outside again. It’s going to be a long winter.

Maybe I could deal with this more if work was a little less stressful. We had to apply for a Work Share program (the business reduces employees’ work hours to save money and in turn, employees are allowed to collect EI). It’s a good program but it’s a sign of the times. My boss isn’t sure if things are going to turn around for her business and it might mean the end if we don’t get out of this in a year. I’ll survive – my skills are easily transferrable – but the rest of the staff are professionals with Masters Degrees in a field where there isn’t a lot of jobs. It’s been tough on everyone and contracts are being put on hold “until next year” or so our clients say. They’re suffering too with budget cuts.

But I digress. I need to get focused. Following Marc’s suggestion is a good start. Enjoy working out and don’t look at it as training just yet – just maintenance. Oh, I got my Alberta Triathlon Association membership, registered for the Calgary marathon and I have two 1/2 Ironman races that I have in mind to do next year. If I can make it through Christmas and avoid the excessive drinking and eating, stay focused, I’ll get back on track. Just need to stay positive and have faith.

Anyway, I’m back. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

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Posted in Accomplishments, Demon scores a point, Motivation, Set backs, Training, ironman, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | September 17, 2009

Post season conditioning – or pre season?

After finishing my sprint race very well and ending the season on a great note, I’ve already been placed on a new program by Marc’s old coach. At first, I wasn’t sure what the heck he was putting me on – a conditioning program for the next season or a wind down maintenance workout to get me through until Spring 2010 when I have to go full on. It started with two runs, weights, core work out and what he calls plyometrics.

Plyo-what? Basically, I’m jumping like a jack rabbit through hoops, up steps, off steps, jumping up and down in one spot. I didn’t get it at first but after doing a bit of research on BeginnerTriathlete.com, I see it’s value. So I’m slugging away and hoping that his program will improve my time.

I know that triathlon is where I was meant to be. It’s made me a better runner and healthier. I just hope that I don’t burn out. Coach said there is a tendency to do more than what his workouts outline but to stick with it for a reason – pre-season training burn out. It’ll be hard though. Now I’m not just working out to have a better race. I want to drop 5 lbs – all put on after my holidays at Ironman Canada! I guess the wine and the food were just way too good.

Anyway – back at it. Just take each day as it comes. I have a coach now – even if it’s long distance, he knows me and my capabilities and it feels good being part of a team – even if the team is about 800 miles away! As for Marc and his team mate, they’ve both been unenthusiastic but then they just finished an Ironman race. I might end up having to find someone to bike with here and not rely on them. Besides, they are faster than me.

For now anyway! Muuuaaahahaha.

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Posted in Demon scores a point, Motivation, Post-race thoughts and activities, Training, ironman, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | September 7, 2009

The last sprint race of 2009

I have to say I apologize for my tardiness. But honestly, Ironman Canada was amazing! I chronicled my experiences on paper so I will record my excerpts tomorrow. To summarize, Marc did an amazing job considering he didn’t train and I’m going to buy property in Penticton. Not to train… oh, no. I want to buy property to live there. What a  beautiful place!

Anyway, on to my race, OMG!!! I placed 7 out of 28 in my age group and 60 out of 174 over all. My swim position was 15 mins, 44th place. My bike and run was around the same – 70 ish.

Now, I sit and think about how great the holiday was and also that I should consider some coaching at this point. I am going to email Marc’s ex-coach. We’ll see how that pans out.

Oh, and I need to give a hats off to those who ran the half marathon in NY. You guys raised a lot of money – be proud of yourselves. You gave your talents to an extremely worthy cause. There are a lot of kids out there right now who are benefiting from your effort.

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Posted in Accomplishments, ironman

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | August 22, 2009

Dealing with post race depression

Okay, I’m not really depressed. It’s more that typical “what now?” feeling an athlete gets after the last big race of the season. I’d been feeling a little anxiety during the week and I was sure it’s because I’m worried my boss is going to tell me it’s getting too busy and I can’t go to Marc’s race in Penticton but that’s only part of it.

I’ve been picturing my marathon race in my head and I wish I had another race to do. Not because I think I did poorly. I did great. I just miss the rush of being out there, competing with other racers, competing against my own time, and successfully battling “bonk” to get that morale boost and adrenelin rush to surge forward to the finish line. That was my biggest battle – overcoming that point of exhaustion where you are ready to quit. I’ve heard of a lot of runners who just say “nope. not today” with only 8 or 5 k to go. It’s a tough point and it takes all of your mental will power to tell yourself you’re not quitting, you’re not going to be satisfied with walking the rest of the way, you’re not going to be satisfied with 10 to 20 minutes off your goal time. That’s a breaking point and I won the personal battle. Now – when I should be thankful I have no more long training runs and I can have my life back, I just want to sign up for another race!

Last night my friend was in a local dragon boat race so I headed out to watch her. I had to drive down that last 10k stretch and saw the road block signs and pylons still sitting on the side of the road from last Sunday’s race and I felt a little pang of sadness. Sigh. It’s over. Driving back on that same route 4 hours later, I saw a big sign on the side of the road that said “road closure – marathon in progress” and underneath was the closure times. It was like seeing an old ghost.

How do you deal with this? Last year I got really cranky but I also felt down about my finish time. I did sign up for a half marathon, managed a PB and then felt a little better. I continued working out and started thinking about triathlon. I’m sure that’s what kept my motivation to keep my fitness level up. This year, I just miss the rush of the race. Next year I want to do the Calgary marathon – so I signed up already. Now I already have a race I can look forward to and it’s earlier in the year – May 30th – so I have to start training mid February. Really – that’s not that far off and knowing this has helped me deal with the “post race blues”.

I still have my sprint triathlon September 7th. So I’m heading out for a long overdue swim today at the pool and start getting used to my bike  and clipless pedals tomorrow. Best part is, I’ve recovered super fast. I have some calf pain – I did before the race and Marc thinks it’s shin splints (I think it’s just a big knot) – but I think by next week I’ll start doing some small runs again. Nothing more than 5 to 10k though.

So I guess that’s the trick. Sign up for another race for next season. Start thinking about it and your plan of attack. Think about what you can do over the next few months to improve upon your time. My plan is to really focus on my core and building strength for the next few months with a little bit of aerobic exercise. I’m also using my Wii Fit to improve my balance with the balance games and yoga.  Brenda invited me out to her dragon boat practices for the fall – great upper body and core workouts. Then, come February, I’m going to start focusing more on the swim, bike and run and do light strength training but keep up the core work, balancing and stretching.

Stay focused, stay strong, move forward.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Motivation, Post-race thoughts and activities, Training, marathon, triathlon

Posted by: pursuingsub17 | August 18, 2009

Everything happens for a reason

I’m still walking funny. I’m better than yesterday but I’m still finding it hard to walk normally if I’ve been sitting for a bit. I’m just grateful that my knees don’t hurt like they did last year. It’s all in my hip-flexors and in my butt and mostly sharp pain in the right calf/shin. It might be shin splints. I don’t care though. I’ll take it easy and then get back at it in the fall.

I had forgotten to mention what was going through my head with 3.5K to go in the race. Again, when I was feeling like the race would never end, I remembered where I was just over four years ago on July 1, 2005. Drunk – again – passing out on a bar stool, hitting the floor and knocking myself out cold – then being asked to leave. Now here I was running my second marathon and very close to a personal best. In that moment I thought about all the events that lead up to this point. Was it a coincidence that I met Marc – someone I now consider a soul mate and who had urged me to get into racing? Was there a reason for him to be absent as a coach this year – pulled away by other commitments? If I didn’t have to do this alone - if I had his professional guidance, would I have done any better? Probably not. Therefore, the journey and the goal meant more to me when I achieved it. I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much if I had help. Things happen for a reason. There’s meaning in everything – even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.

Today was a big affirmation that there are no conicidences in life. Marc called me up a few hours ago. He said the bib numbers for Ironman Canada were assigned today. So I looked up his name while he was on the phone, hit “submit” and I stared, stunned, at the number. “No way,” I said.

“What??”

“four – five – four” I blurted and looked at the top to make sure it actually said Subaru Ironman Canada. It was his bib number from last year.

“Seriously???”

“Yes – seriously.” I suddenly got goosebumps. I closed the window and tried it again. Same number. Last year when Marc found out he got that number, he was ecstatic. It was the number of Chevy’s famous 454 engine – a powerful, big brute – and Marc took it as a sign. He did that race in just over 13 hours – faster than 2007 by an hour and some and over two hours faster than 2006.

Here he got the same number for this race – right when he was feeling pretty down about his lack of training this season. He said he wasn’t even excited about going. Then this happens.

I’ll be damned.

What are the odds? As Marc put it, another race, another date, another country and around 2200 triathletes – the odds of getting that same number again two years in a row under those circumstances were pretty slim. I’m glad that happened. He needed a boost.

Funny how the universe works. It’s always speaking to us – just up to us to listen and realize it isn’t a coincidence.

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Posted in Accomplishments, Motivation, Post-race thoughts and activities, Training, ironman, marathon, triathlon

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