November Recap and December Goals

November was pretty good, but it FLEW by! This time of year always goes by in a flash and it makes me a little sad. Good thing Christmas is around the corner to lift my spirits!

The main thing that happened in November was that Cory and I started our Ironman training. So far so good, but we were just in the preparation phase. We start Base Building next month and I am sure things will get more intense (at least I hope they will, I am ready to kick it up a notch).

In November Cory and I drove from Oregon to Colorado

I died my hair brown (I asked for brown and ended up just darker blond and it's washing out even lighter, I think it's a sign that I am just meant to be a blond) oh and got bangs...this is earth shattering news, I know.

I enjoyed MANY red starbucks cups

I discovered Cafe Rio salads, so delicious!

I got reacquainted with my trainer, we are going to be really good friends in the coming months.

I bought a new bike!!! can't wait to actually get it.

We ran a turkey day 10k

And we swim, bike, run, trained a lot, and loved it.

Here's how I did on my goals for November:

1. Keep track of workouts better. I am participating in the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge and the Pile on the Miles so I need to keep track! Check, I have a super nerdy spreadsheet set up.
2. Run at least 70 miles check! over 85
   
3. Swim for at least 12 hours Nope, closer to 8 hours, DOH! need to get in the pool
   
4. Bike for at least 20 hours Check! lots of time in the saddle this year, it was a mistake not to do more last year.
   
5. Do my PT exercises every night No, But my PT said I didn't have to so I am ok with it.
   
6. Do abs and arms exercises three times a week YUP!
   
7. Eat healthy (except on Thanksgiving, on that day anything goes!) Mostly yes. I actually dropped weight this month, I am happy about this. I am getting closer to me "fighting weight" but this is it's own post.
   

I am happy with what I accomplished in November and here are my goals for December:

1. Have fun with friends and family before training gets too crazy
   
2. Continue to eat well 90% of the time (Christmas, and Christmas eve don't count)
   
3. Follow my training plan
   
4. Take more pictures, November pictures=fail!
   

What are your goals for December?

Building Speed

Some of you may have noticed that I am not the fastest runner on the block. And while I am ok with not being the fastest I would like to be faster. And so enters speed work (duh) you have to practice running faster to race faster. I have been trying to get speed work in a couple times a week in different formats and I am getting a little bit faster! Something that I had to learn for myself was that it should be uncomfortable to improve. You always see elite runners floating by like it’s nothing but if they are pushing it, then they are uncomfortable too.

I had a great speed session yesterday on the treadmill (I can only do speed work on the treadmill or track, I don’t know how people do it on the streets).

Warm up jog – 2 miles
Increase the pace as the hard effort runs get shorter
1x1600 or 9 minutes w/ 400 (4 minutes) easy recovery jog
1x1200 or 7 minutes w/ 400 easy recovery jog
1x800 or 5 minutes w/ 400 easy recovery jog
1x400 or 3 minutes w/ 400 easy recovery jog
Cool down - 1 mile easy jog

It felt really good and I can tell I am improving. I am happy to be seeing results after just one month back to running and with Coach.


Unfortunately I had to cut my cool down short so I could make it to my stress test to see if I had exercise induced asthma. I was put on a treadmill where I had to breath in cold oxygen with my nose plugged and all kinds of sensors hooked up to me.

Source

This is obviously not me but it gives you an idea. The test was not fun, I felt like I was going to pass out, I was drooling and sweating and trying not to fall over. All of that work and the Dr. Couldn’t scope my throat because my nasal passages are too small. BUT the good news is that I do not have asthma, in fact I have great lung function and my heart is healthy and strong =)

After my crappy hospital visit Cory took me here

Yogurtland!

I hadn’t been able to eat at all before the test and I was starving! I loaded myself up and it made my day all better.

Do you do speed work? Have you noticed a difference?

Are you addicted to Fro-Yo? I am so I try not to go too often or it becomes a shame spiral.

Ironman Wish List - Part 3

This wish list will be dedicated to the biking, as a new cyclist I still have a lot to learn about biking and it's gear but here are some things that I have or wish I had.

A full carbon TT bike.

My choice is the Talon!

ANYTHING from Betty Designs!!!

I love all her stuff, so freakin cute!

Aqualite Drink System

This makes it SO much easier to keep hydrated while keeping your speed up (or not veering into traffic)

Bento Box

You need a place to stash your treats while riding!

Specialized Tri Shoes

I have specialized road shoes now and love them, I would like to upgrade to tri specific shoes eventually.

Snickers Bars

These would be great stocking stuffers! I love snickers and I feel NO guilt eating them while riding my bike.

Full Disclosure, I am not sponsored by any of these companies and have not received anything from them, I genuinely like these products and think you would like them too.

If you like free stuff check out SR giveaway for BIC bands

Ironman Coeur D'Alene Week 4 Workouts

Made it to week four of Ironman CDA training WHOO-HOOO! I have to say I am loving it so far. I am sure I will feel differently in May.

The focus for week 4 is recovery, I personally think it’s a bit too much recovery so I am going to give myself a couple extra workouts just for my own pleasure. Sorry coach I am not good at following the rules.

Monday: 90 min yoga and hip strengthening exercises

Tuesday: am: 60 min strength pm: Interval Run
Wednesday: 90 min spin class and 60 min pilates

Thursday: Distance swim workout (3100 m)

Friday: 60 min tempo run and 60 min strength training

Saturday: Bike ride, 3 hours (hopefully outside)

Sunday: 10 mile endurance run and easy recovery swim.

I am excited for week 5 since we start our “Base Building” phase. 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.

I was also excited to get this note in my I was also excited to get this note with my training schedule this week along with my heart rate zones from coach:

Your HR zones as of 11/25/11 – This was figured as follows: Looking at your heart rate after the first minute of the two tests, your average HR was 173 beats per minute. 1-5 beats are added or subtracted from 173 based upon perceived effort during the test, time spent at the highest heart rate, and your recovery heart rate in the first minute following the two tests. On the first test you appeared to move into an anaerobic state after 5 minutes at a HR of 175. On the second test you appeared to move into an anaerobic state after 2 minutes at a HR of 176. Once you became anaerobic you stayed consistently at 175-180 and your perceived effort was consistently 8; 9 or above. Your recovery heart rate recovery on the two tests averaged 55.5 beats per minute (bpm), which indicates an excellent cardio fitness level and again supports a max effort on the test.

My goals for this week are to hit every workout, give it my all and get more points for hbbc than I did last week (59).

Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

Let's call this part one of my "Well Duh" series.

When I started training for my first half marathon I knew I couldn't eat whatever I wanted and not gain wright but I still had in my head that people that trained for full marathons, half or full ironmans could really eat whatever they wanted because they were working out so much. I assumed all professional athletes ate all kinds of junk food (like Michael Phelps). But after a year of training for endurance events I have learned a lot. I have learned that when I am asking a lot of my body I need to be MORE diligent in what I use as fuel. I may eat more calories when my training load is high but I can really tell a difference when I am eating high quality food vs. crap food. Reading the blogs of really good athletes like Lindsay Cotter or Beth and James Walsh made me realize that people who want to be good athletes usually eat really, really well. It didn't completely click with me until I started training for my first ironman and started thinking about what I needed to do to make my body healthy and strong enough to get through all nine months of training.

Most of you probably already knew all of this but a lot of people don't get it. A lot of people comment about how I can eat cookies, cake, chips, McDonalds (always a bad idea in my opinion) etc. And yes I could eat those foods but I wouldn't feel great at my next workout, I would much rather eat a huge salad or turkey chili.

Last year I read racing weight and it talked a lot about eating "quality" foods. I really recommend reading this book if you are an endurance athlete.

I enjoy eating, and have learned how to cook some delicious healthy meals this year. I have also witnessed my body composition change when I am training hard and eating well.

Have you had any "well duh" moments during your training?

Read any good books about nutrition?

Lactate Threshold Test, FitFluential Ambassador and Other Things

This post will be a random assortment of things but it's been a busy weekend and I am not complaining one bit.

Friday morning Cory and I got up early to head over to coach Charley's fitness center to get our power tested on our bikes as well as our bike heart rate zones.

Charley hooked us up to computrainers and made us do 5k tim trials. Working on the computrainer was so fun! I wish I had one at home, too bad they are $1600 plus.

I was happy with my results, my output was around 200 watts.

We also got our heart rate zones to work with, Charley has us working off this scale

Later that night we headed to our second Thanksgiving celebration with Cory's family. I loved seeing his Aunt, Uncle and cousins. I made sure not to stuff my face too much, I think it's fine to indulge for one day on the holiday you get in trouble when you celebrate with food for two months straight.

Yesterday we headed out for a cold but beautiful nine mile run on the Highline Canal Trail.

Nice form.....no?

After getting home I was notified that I had been selected to a FitFluential Ambassador. I am very excited about this opportunity and can't wait to see what it all entails.

After finishing our weight training for the day we packed away the fall decorations and started decorating for Christmas, I can't believe it's that time already.

Winston is ready for Santa!

Now I need to get ready for a fifty mile bike ride and a swim with my mom. How has your Thanksgiving weekend been?

Thanksgiving 2011 and Turkey Day 10K Race Report

I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving! I had the best time, I love, love, love having my family in town.

Our turkey day started off just the way I like it with a fun family race. My mom ran the 5k (she is recovering amazingly from plantar fasciitis)

You can tell where I get my smile from

Cory and I ran the 10k, we didn't treat it as a race since our legs were pretty beat up from everything else this week so we treated it like a fun run and had a great time. It was a beautiful day, last year it was seven degrees this year it was in the mid fifties.

It was such a beautiful day, I wish we could have gone for a bike ride too but there was no time, there was lots of cooking to do.

Cory and I made the pies and mash potatoes for thanksgiving, it is so nice to cook in my parents huge kitchen.

Pie!

It was such a fun holiday, full if my favorite things: family, food, fun and fitness!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, I am glad you are in my life too.