Ironman Los Cabos Training – 11 weeks to go...

In my last post I talked about my new coach Beth (can get very confusing since my name is Beth too but it’s fun that our last names rhyme) . Since I don’t want to give her services away for free and everyone’s training should look different I won’t go into too much detail here about my workouts. Here is what my week looked like:

Monday:

Easy spin (that I moved over from Sunday)

2,000 yd swim

Tuesday:

Hour tempo trainer ride in the morning  

Interval run (in the dark)

Wednesday:

Pyramid trainer ride

 3100 masters swim

Thursday:

hour easy(ish) trainer ride

60 minute tempo run

Friday:

Strength workout

3000 yd swim

Saturday:

4 hour endurance bike ride with a 30 minute transition run

Sunday:

Half Marathon race (recap soon) quick strength session

90 minute easy spin to get the junk out of the legs

Totals:

Swim: 8250 yds // 2hrs 45min

Bike: 124 miles // 10hrs 27min

Run: 27 miles // 5hrs 5min

Strength: 1hr 10 min

Total: 18hrs 45min

Overall this week felt really good, I am happy to be back into a routine and really enjoying my workouts. My race on Sunday was definitely was not set up to be a PR but it felt good and was fun to race and see friends.

It’s a new year have you started your training cycle or still in off season?

Ironman Lake Tahoe – Peak Training Week #1

Last week was my first week in official peak training for Tahoe. My workouts haven’t changed that much, they are just a little longer/harder (10 miles of intervals instead of 6, etc) and weekends are really long to simulate some race fatigue. There will be 4 weeks of peak training then taper, then race day (SO CLOSE!). Week two is actually a bit light compared to some of the others because the semester is staring and I am teaching on Saturday and we are celebrating my dad’s 65^th birthday on Sunday so there is no way I am getting 6+ hour training days in. Big workouts are getting shifted to Mon-Tues of week 3 when I have time off of work so week 3 is going to be extra big. Hopefully I will be able to recap it all here for posterity. Here was Peak week #1:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 1.5 mile open water swim – it’s now dark at 5:30 at the lake, it’s nice to watch the sunrise but not so fun to swim in the dark.

Running Speed work at the track – standard

Wednesday: First day of Climbing Camp (more on this later, but it’s crazy cool)

Strength training

Thursday: Was supposed to run or swim but my pug was acting sick so I stayed home and did strength training to keep an eye on him. He seems fine, I think he just wanted more attention.

Pm- short run

Friday: 25 mile ride

Saturday: 3 hour bike ride with lots of climbing and strength training

Sunday: 3 hour bike ride followed by a 16 mile run (was supposed to be a 20 mile run but I ran out of fluids early, it was 97 degrees and I was feeling really bad so I cut it short, boo)

This week had a couple challenging days. Sunday included me wrecking my bike, getting stung repeatedly and getting dehydrated. But I tried to just keep going, these hard days make race day easier. I wrapped up the week with 18:41 hours of training.

This week will be a challenge to get everything in as it’s back to school for my students and we have family coming to stay with us, wish me luck, under 5 weeks to go!!!

Peak Training

Whew - the blog has been neglected a bit lately, I have been training a lot, and trying to get into the mountains as much as possible while getting ready for Tahoe. \

Going to try to get back to blogging a little more regularly because even though I am losing sleep I am having a lot of fun!!!

Ironman Lake Tahoe Training – 10 weeks to go

WOW, just 2 months from today is race day, time is FLYING! This week went ok for my knee it’s just been a challenge to fit everything in! Last week was bigger than the week before and this coming week will be 20+ hours (wish me luck) then a mini taper before Boulder 70.3. Here is how last week shaped up:

Monday: Early morning swim 2,500m

Hip strengthening exercises in the evening, I am supposed to do these every day and that has been a GIANT fail, I must get better at this for my physical health!

Tuesday: 70 minute spin class

PM: Standard track session

Wednesday: 24 mile ride with hill climbs

PM: Strength Training

Thursday: Open Water Swim Clinic and strength training

Friday : Planned Rest day

Saturday: Unplanned rest day (was supposed to swim but our dog Bailey was sick and needed to go to the vet). After Bailey felt better we ran some errands, and went to a first birthday party.

Sunday: 100 mile ride with hills and 20 minute t-run. This was my longest ride since Ironman CdA last year and only my third time riding over 100 miles. It went much smoother than last year. On the other hand last year I rode the century the day after a 25k trail race so maybe it’s not a great comparison.

This week added up to just 16 hrs and 15 minutes, a little less then I was hoping given the unplanned rest day. Also running was dismal last week with less than 10 miles. This week will have a lot more running and a lot more hills!

How did your week look?

You Know You Are Training For an Ironman When...

I thought this might be a fun little series to document some of my observations of how life is different when training for an ironman. So you know you're training for an ironman when...

• All your travel is based around races or off season
• At least something on your body has a chafe, scab, blister and/or sunburn

• Your dishwasher has more water bottles than regular drinking glasses

• Sleeping in on the weekend means setting the alarm for 6:30 am
• You find yourself almost constantly thinking about what your next meal will be

• Coffee is not just to get you going in the morning anymore

• You shower at the gym, pool, lake, etc, than you do at home
• That shower at home is too full of drying wetsuits, towels and swim suits to use anyway

That's it for me for now, your turn! What's on your list? What things make you know you are training for (fill in the blank)

Ironman Lake Tahoe – Week 23

Wow, week 23 flew by! Here is what training looked like:

Monday: Rest, I meant to do yoga or something but I was exhausted from traveling and had to catch up at work

Tuesday: am: first open water swim of the season!

Wednesday: am 80 min trainer ride
pm: strength training

Thursday: Tempo Run
pm: strength training
Friday: Trainer Ride

pm: Strength Train

Saturday: 60 mile ride to watch mom compete in her first triathlon, she did amazing!

We were meant to do a 6 mile run off the bike but Cory got a flat and we arrived too late to run

Sunday: 1.2 mile open water swim (felt ok but not great) then was supposed to run 10 miles but my knee has been hurting (SH!T) so we went for a 5 mile hike instead.

Total ~ 16 hours would have liked a little more running and a little less pain. I am worried about my knee but I am going to do what I can to avoid a full blown injury and keep trucking through that I can

Ironman Lake Tahoe – Week 20

I can’t believe it’s week 20 already, about 125 days until Ironman Lake Tahoe! So far training has been fun, a little sporadic and light hearted. I have a work trip coming up this week that will disrupt training so my plan is to do what I can now and really start focused training when I am back on June 3^rd. Here is how last week shaped up:

Monday: 12 mile easy run before work

PM: a MUCH needed massage!

Tuesday: 2600 m swim (had to miss track because I had a work event in the evening)

Wednesday: am strength training
PM: 80 minute trainer ride

Thursday: yoga with the pug

PM: Maters Swim: 3100 yds

Friday: 4.5 mile tempo run
PM: Friday night climb 28 miles

Saturday: 80 mile ride (no big climbs) with a 15 min t-run. This ride felt great, I finally feel like I am making some progress on the bike

Sunday: 6.5 mile hilly trail run

Total ~ 17.5 hrs training. I would have liked to have gotten in one more swim and one more strength session last week but BBQ plans trumped even open water swim. I am so excited that it’s officially triathlon season. Lots of friends racing and an Ironman to follow almost every weekend makes me happy.

What did your week look like?

Moab Day 2

Ok, so there was a bit of a delay after posting Moab Day One, that's what happens when you neglect work and grad school to go play with triathlete friends!

On day two in Moab we got up early, grabbed some coffee and headed to the local rec center for a swim. About 40 of us piled into the pool so coach could put us through our paces. 2800 meters later I was tired from a lot of kicking and ready for some food. We had a little over an hour to get back to the hotel, clean up, eat and get ready to ride! We grabbed more coffee and breakfast burritos at the Love Muffin, so good!

Then it was time to roll out to Arches National Monument for 56 miles of riding and 4200 ft of climbing. This was a good wake up call that all my winter trainer and flat land riding has NOT prepared me for Tahoe, time to climb!

The scenery was amazing and made the burning in my legs worth it

I will admit that by the time we rolled back into the hotel I was tired and my legs were hurting. I had an hour run still left to do for the day but Cory was really hungry. I thought no big deal, I threw on running clothes with every intention of running after finding something small to eat. On our way through town we ran into Coach at a pub where we joined him to talk about the ride and how I should get shorter cranks (another story) while we were sitting there I "sorta" got permission to skip the run for the day. At the time I was relieved to be done and to get to rest my tired legs, looking back I wish I would have sucked it up and ran but it's a lesson learned. After filling up Cory and I headed back to the hotel to rest and recover we were both beat!

Ironman Lake Tahoe Week 13

Another week down - this week was ok from a training perspective, I was feeling a little under the weather so each session was a bit of a challenge. Also it was spring break here in Denver so it was an extra busy week at work with early mornings and late evenings at work.The big fail was that I didn't get in the pool once, I kept meaning to and then wither sussed out pushed it off. That really can't happen anymore, must be more consistent in swimming, and all disciplines. It's officially Spring and the pre-season winter safety is now gone. But it's a new month with a clean slate and a chance to go from doing ok to going great! I am now looking at the start of race season starting this weekend with Boulder Half Marathon.

Here's a look at week 13:

Monday: Yoga and indoor spin, lots of snow still on the ground

Tuesday: Yoga (legs still tight from the weekend) and track practice the track had a little lush and I left with a few new blisters on my toes

Wednesday: 90 minute trainer ride (lots of indoor riding this week) and strength training

Thursday: 80 minute trainer ride, also this was my first bike commute to work of the year, shameful that it took this long!

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 56 mile ride in Boulder, so nice to be outside!! Topped off with a 5 mile ride with my parents and a 3.5 mile transition run, this was my fist t-run of the season and I could really feel it. I have had a few of these on the schedule but haven't been able to make it work before because of weather.

Sunday: 8.5 mile run, I would like to have run further but I am trying to keep my milage in check this early in the season

Total: 13ish hours of training and feeling ready for more

Cabin Fever

On the plan for today was an 11 mile run, nothing too out of the ordinary and one of my favorite workouts of the week. I always look forward to weekend workouts because they usually have long endurance workouts planned and those are my favorite. This weekend called for a 3.5 hour ride on Saturday and an 11 mile run on Sunday with 8 miles specifically at marathon (not IM marathon) pace. But with temps not rising above 45 degrees lots of wind and a snow storm blowing in I accepted that I probably wouldn't be riding outside, I assumed that I would be running outside since I do love running in the snow. But things didn't play out as I thought they might. Here is how things have gone down so far:

Saturday: knowing that I would be riding indoors (harrumph) I thought I would take this opportunity to add a swim in to make it a swim bike brick. I can't do this well in the winter unless I am rinding inside because it takes an hour to dry my 5 lbs of hair and I refuse to ride outside in the winter with wet hair so that kind of defeats the purpose of the brick. Anyway the 2200 meters of swimming went well even though my gyms pool was way too hot and murky (YUCK) then it was a quick change and into the spin room for 90 minutes. After sweating my way through class I hurried home to finish up with two hours on the trainer. I hopped on my bike clipped in and got ready to watch a movie while spinning away all of a sudden I felt my bike lurch to the left. Next thing I knew I was on the ground still clipped into my bike. My first thought was thank god I didn't land on any of our dogs, the second was oh-god, my bike! I live in fear of cracking my carbon frame. After Cory's slight freak out that I might be injured we checked out my bike and things looked fine, not a scratch. Looks like I dodged a bullet and was left with just a scuffed knee. But my $15 garage sale trainer was not going to be so lucky, I was not going to be getting back on that thing if it was going to buck me off like that. It was most likely that I didn't have the correct skewer in it but I was done with big red, RIP. I called my ride done for the day, I wanted to baby my knee that has been giving me some trouble and I had just landed on it. So the 3.5 hr ride was shortened to an hour swim and a 1.5 hour ride....hmmmm....shrug, it's still early season right?!!?  The silver lining to this story is that while out running errands we dropped by our favorite bike shop, Tri Bella, and picked up a Kinetic Road Machine Trainer for a great deal.

[Source]

Sunday: woke up to just a couple of inches of snow, this would normally this wouldn't be a problem but with the snow coming down quickly and the wind was blowing making for very poor visibility. So poor in fact that it would be miserable to run outside and dangerous to drive to the gym. Guess today's 11 miler isn't in the cards. So what can I do at home? Try out the new trainer! So I will get that two hours I missed yesterday and hope to get my long run in tomorrow. Hopefully we will be able to get out tomorrow it's still snowing!

Mom, it's COLD!!!

Anyone else dealing with changing plans this weekend?

Hello February

Hello February, where have you come from and where has over a third have you gone??? Time is flying and I feel like my easy cocoon of early season training will be ending soon and I will have to face the fact that I will need to start putting up some results. I owe you guys a recap from my time in Miami, I didn't have the best race but I did have a great time. When I got back from Miami I had to rush to catch back up with school and work and I just now feel like life is back on track. Training has been going pretty well. Endurance comes easy (give me long slow workouts any day) but speed is difficult so that is the focus for now. Last week was 14 hrs of training, which doesn't seem like a lot compared to the 20+ hour weeks leading up to ironman, but felt really hard when a lot of those hours were high intensity training. My body felt shredded but after a 90 minute massage and a rest day today I am feeling much better. Good thing too since next week is MORE of the same, plus 4 hrs for an 18 hour week, we’ll see if I can make that happen. I don’t mind winter training when I get to go run on trails.

 but three hours on the trainer in my basement is not my favorite. Fingers crossed that I get 60 miles in on the roads this weekend! 

What does your week look like? Mine will include a romantic run and masters swim with the hubs on Valentines day (sexy....no?)

Ironman Lake Tahoe Training Week 2

I was excited to hear this weekend that one of my favorite pro triathletes is starting to offer coaching to all level of triathletes. Beth is a pretty kick ass athlete and still works as a school psychology, major props to her.

Check out her site for Reve Endurance if I didn't already have a coach that I loved working with I would totally sign up in a heart beat!

After being kicked in the head this weekend by a virus I am taking full advantage of todays rest day. I am hopeful that I will be recovered enough to get all the rest of my training on the schedule in for the rest of the week. This week looks a lot like last week. I think this will be the recipe for my base building phase that will make up the bulk of my training. Coach defines Base Building as:
The BASE BUILDING PHASE is used to build the aerobic capacity. Although
longer duration workouts at slower pace and intensity are predominant, there
will be some training that will test your anaerobic base. Specific emphasis will
be placed upon each discipline (swim, bike, or run). Depending upon when
you begin your training schedule and your level of fitness, the Base Building
Phase generally makes up the bulk of your training schedule

So this is 'hopefully' what my week will look like (pending not getting any sicker)
Monday: Yoga + hip and core exercises
Tuesday: Distance focus swim 3200 yd
6 mile fartlek run
Wednesday: 90 min spin class
Yoga/Pilates Class
Thursday: 60’ progression Run
Swim: 2700 yds
Friday: 90 min spin class

Strength session

Saturday: 2.5 hour bike ride (snow forecasted, hello trainer)

Sunday: 15 mile run

Strength Session

Weekly Total: ~17 hrs

Other things I need to focus on this week is setting myself up for success for the rest of the semester (starting next week and ending mid May). I have been trying to get back into a routine with work and training. Now I need to make sure that I am as organized as I can be now because free time will be extremely limited once classes start. What does your week look like?

This week in Workouts 4

It finally turned cold this week in Colorado. We had been skating along with warm weather making it easy to get outside to train.

This week will take a little more creativity to get all my workouts in (especially since my gym is shutting down for 6 days for remodels). This week includes a 5k (barf, I would rather run a half marathon any day).

Monday: 60 minute yoga and strength

Tuesday: am- 90 min spin class

pm- 90 min interval run

Wednesday: am- 90 min spin class

pm- 60 min strength

Thursday: 6 mile easy run

pm- 2900m swim

Friday: am- 8 mile run

pm- 30 min strength

Saturday: 5k race +extra miles not sure how long yet

Sunday: 2.5 hr bike ride and 3000m swim
What's your plan for the week??

13 Months From Today....

Exactly 13 months from today I will be toeing the line of Ironman Lake Tahoe

I am so excited for this race and to get back into Ironman shape. It's not time to start officially training yet but I have a general plan to get myself into the best possible shape in 13 months, plus a few mini goals along the way.

Month 13: Strength and speed focus, I think I have forgotten how to run other than the ironman shuffle - train for sub 2 hr half marathon

Month 12: Bike Base - Hopefully run a sub 2 half marathon (I am not terribly hopeful that this can happen this fall, if not I will try again in the spring)

Month 11: Run Base - 5k focus

Month 10: Swim Base - break 25 minute 5k

Month 9: Overall Base

Month 8: Build Capacity

Month 7: Build Capacity - try to break 2 hrs (again?) in a half marathon

Month 6: Build Capacity - Maybe run a marathon =)

Month 5: Build Capacity

Month 4: Build Capacity - Sub 7 hr half ironman(ish) distance at Pacific Crest, the bike is 62 miles long

Month 3: Peak

Month 2: Peak - Break 6:30 at Boulder 70.3

Month 1: Peak/Taper - Ironman Lake Tahoe - I would like to break 15 hrs, but will reassess closer to the race

I wanted to do three half ironman in preparation but between Pacific Crest and Boulder I don't think I can squeeze another one in. Anyone know good ones in late July and late August?

Have you ever started prepping for an event over a year out? I haven't before but when you have to sign up 15 months in advance it starts to seem more normal

Peak Ironman Training

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy, peak training was intense but I still (mostly) enjoyed it. I wasn't able to focus on training as much as I would have liked to because of crazy work obligations and my grandmother spending 3 nights in the hospital (she is fine now, in fact better than when she went in). Our last week looked like this:

Monday: 60 min strength
Tuesday: am: 30 mile ride

pm: 10 mile interval run
Wednesday: am: 75 min open water swim

pm: 90 minute hill repeat run
Thursday: am: 30 mile bike ride with pick-ups along the way

pm: swim 3350 m
Friday: 45 min yoga
Saturday: 2 mile open water swim to a 20 mile run
Sunday: 75 mile ride with 25 minute transition run

We even found some time for a little fun:

 And a little family time

 What I know now after finishing the bulk of my ironman training is that I WILL DO THIS AGAIN, probably next year. Might be a little more difficult given that I am in grad school and work full time, but I like a challenge. More later on taper, but mostly I am enjoying the extra time to get my summer classes going!

Maybe not so marathon week….

I have bad news. After trying to take the first few steps this morning of my run it was clear that what I was hoping was just tired sore feet is actually a full blown injury. I feel like the timing of this couldn’t be much worse. I ran on Sunday with a stabbing pain in my arch but really hoped that it would get better with a little rest but it hasn’t. I headed to my Physical Therapist this morning after a slightly hysterical email to get checked out. They think I have the very beginnings of posterior tibial tendonitis.

The symptoms of tendonitis of the posterior tibial tendon include pain in the instep area of the foot and swelling along the course of the tendon. In some cases the tendon may rupture, due to weakening of the tendon by the inflammatory process. Rupture of the tendon leads to a fairly pronounced flatfoot deformity that is easily recognizable.

 Source

They sent me off with a taped foot and instructions to rest and not expect this to heal quickly.

*please excuse janky toenails and flip-flops, shoes hurt

While my PT is not really in favour of my ironman training (he thinks it’s nuts for anyone) he thinks I will be able to get through IMCDA. He said it would be painful (great) but I should probably be able to do it. That probably makes me nervous!

The bad news is that they said NO MARATHON this weekend. I don’t think that has fully sunk in yet, while not as devastating as not being able to do IMCDA it’s still a big letdown. I haven’t fully committed to not doing it yet, but know I shouldn’t. Recovery might start tonight with some heavy drinking.

How do you deal with injury setbacks?

Week 27 Ironman Coeur d'Alene Training

Less than 50 days to go…..GULP!

This week is another “Peak Week” but it is a little less than last week. I am still a little sore from this weekends workouts but spin felt pretty good this morning, hopefully tonight's hills will go well too.

Around mile 25 and feeling good

This weeks workouts looks like:

Monday: 30 minutes weights and 60 min yoga.

Tuesday: am 75 min spin class
pm- 8.5 miles of hill work and hip/core exercises

Wednesday: am- 3100 m swim practice
Also am (have late work meeting)- 8 mi progression run

Thursday: am- 32 mile bike ride outside(hopefully)
pm- 3000 m swim

Friday: 80 min pilates and hip/core exercises

Saturday: 80 mile bike ride with 3 mile transition run

Sunday: 16 mile progression run and 60 minute strength session

Totals for the week:

Swim: 3.8 miles
Bike: 130 miles
Run: 35 miles
Strength: 4 hrs
Totals:  21 hours and 168.8 miles

My goal is to not miss any workouts, sounds easy enough but with workouts happening so often it’s easy to miss one or two. For example last week we missed a swim workout because our dog kept us up most of the night and I just couldn’t get out of bed to swim after 4 hours of sleep and running 10 miles the night before. There really is no time for “make-ups” so if I miss a workout I just have to move on to the next one.

I just ordered Chrissie Wellington's book and I can't wait to get it!

 I think reading this book will help keep me motivated in these last few weeks of training.

Read any inspirational books lately? One of my favorites is The Long Run by Matt Long.

April Recap and May Goals

I know this is a bit late seeing as we are fully into May now BUT better late than never, right? Go with me here.

April went by quickly, time seems to be accelerating towards June 24, I wonder if July and August will go by very slowly. April was a bad blogging month, I posted a total of 7 times, FAIL! I wish that I could look back and say that April was a great confidence building month but it wasn’t. I am trying to look on the bright side and hope this was my chance to get through some difficult situations and that everything will be much easier going into Ironman.

April started out with a trip to Portland for a family funeral and a PR at a half marathon. It was nice to see family and enjoy a race in my favorite city even if the circumstances weren’t great.

My mom turned 60, and asked for events instead of presents. My event doesn’t happen until June but my brother decided to take us up the Cog Train to Pikes peak. Cory and I needed to get in a long run so we got up early, ran 16 miles, took a quick ice bath and got ready to head down to Colorado Springs. We had a great time even though we couldn’t make it to the top because of high winds.

Work was extremely busy, but spring is always our busy time so I should have known.

Then Cory and I drove to Las Vegas. The week leading up to RAGE I was a ball of nerves, I was nervous enough about my first triathlon of the season, but add on top of that it was a half ironman, a really difficult course and forecasted to be in high 90s.

On the bright side, the swim went well and the bike was easier than I thought it would be. The run on the other hand was awful. I was not prepared for the heat, I jog/walked the half marathon and there were many times I wasn’t sure that I would finish the race. I did finish but it didn’t build my confidence that I could double the distance. It was surprising how I wasn’t very sore after this race, nothing compared to the half marathon from the beginning of the month . Goes to show that not being able to run hard and recovering correctly makes a big difference.

After getting home we had to say goodbye to the sweetest dog in the world this was not an easy time for my family but it was time.

Overall April was not the worst month but I am glad to put it behind me and hopefully move onto a better month that will help my confidence.

May is lined up to be an exciting months of Personal Records, most of these will be distances or amounts of time training but I am kind of hoping to PR in a race as well. Here are some highlights I am looking forward to and goals I am hoping to reach in May:

• Starting Peak training and putting in 20+ hours a week swim-bike-run-yogaing

• PR-ing at Greenland 25k (guarantee since I have never ran a 25k before)

• Riding my first over 100 mile ride at Boco Loco

• PRing at the Colfax Marathon, this is not an A race so I won’t be devastated if I don’t but I would like to beat last years time from the Colorado Marathon

• Not IM related but I am looking forward to spending sometime in New Mexico visiting a ranch where we will be doing some conservation research

(source)

• Completing a metric Ironman supported by my coach as one of our last big training weekends

• But most importantly I hope to consistently nail my training so that I can go into June feeling confident about my efforts and looking forward to taper

What are your hopes for May?

Losing Weight While Training

Many people have the flawed belief that if you are training for an endurance event (half marathon, marathon, triathlon, etc) that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight. THIS IS NOT TRUE, it is far from it! A lot of people I know in real life and in blogger world have gained weight while training for these events. Tina, Julie and Monica have all talked about gaining weight while training for endurance events. I often find that when I am in high volume training I maintain. There are many reasons that I think that this happens but these are just my opinions, I am not a nutritionist or fitness expert.

1. There is less time to focus on nutrition and food choices. After a 4 hour training session it's easy to just grab whatever food is closest

2. You are hungry ALL the time! You may burn more calories but it seems like your appetite grows more than you burn

3. Endurance training isn't the best way to rev up your metabolism and burn calories. I think interval training, HIIT, etc are better exercises if you are just looking to burn calories.

In the Book Racing Weight, Matt Fitzgerald suggests that you not try to lose weight while training because you need to be eating enough calories to get through all your workouts not keeping a calorie deficit that you need to lose weight.

Where am I going with all of this? I decided that even though I knew all of this, I still wanted to try to get closer to my ideal racing weight while training for my ironman. And since we started training I have taken off 14 pounds, I am happy about this and have about 10 more pounds to go to get to my "Race Weight". The last 10 pounds will come off slowly but I am ok with that, I don't want it to compromise my training. Also I am now and was even at my highest weight in the healthy weight range for my height, I just would like to be leaner (specifically getting down to 16% body fat, I am about 21% now) while putting in so many miles.

Here is how I have lost the weight so far and hope to continue to lose weight this way as I go:

1. Focus on the types of food I eat. I think I have a good idea of what healthy foods are and I try to fill up on them.

2. EAT! If I get too hungry I usually eat things I shouldn't so I allow myself to eat a lot, I just try to eat fruits, vegetables and lean meats.

3. Plan ahead. If I don't plan what my next meal will be BEFORE a big workout then inevitably I eat unhealthy foods if I have a plan before hand than I almost always stick to it.

4. Don't listen to others. I sometimes get crap from friends or coworkers about how much I work out and how I must be able to eat anything. Sometimes they give me a hard time if I turn down junk food. But I know it's not true that I can eat whatever I want so the the longer I stick to my guns the less crap they seem to give me.

For me it's that simple and that difficult to lose weight while training.

Have you gained weight while training for an endurance event? Do you have any tips?

Speaking of healthy foods, enter to win my Chia giveaway!