Started feeling a little under the weather yesterday and woke up this morning feeling absolutely miserable. And what great timing because this weekend is our 1/2 Ironman Training Weekend. I can't swim more than 1000 yards without needing a break (so I'm skipping the swim entirely), I'll probably be okay on the bike, but I have yet to run farther than 8 miles and somehow I'm supposed to bike 56 miles followed by a hilly 13 mile run.
In addition to being sick and completely unprepared for the weekend ... it's supposed to rain the entire time. And we're camping. F---ing lovely.
Oh well ... what can you do except make the best out of what you're given.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sore legs make me happy
What??
I questioned that statement just now as I wrote it - but it's true. It means my workouts this weekend were tough and I pushed through coming out stronger (albeit more sore) than before.
Saturday we had a beautiful ride in Napa. Probably one of the most beautiful rides I've done in a long time. Our ride started out in Napa Valley through vineyards and we somehow ended up in a forest with creeks and waterfalls and huge redwood trees (they may not have actually been redwood trees. I don't know my tree species so I'm just using that as an example). But it was gorgeous. During this 4 mile climb through the trees I just kept thinking how lucky we were to be out there - and didn't really care how much my legs were burning. Then I remember getting to the top and starting to descend ... and was completely disappointed. They had said the descent was fast and I didn't think they meant time-wise. It was so short for that amount of climbing. But the short descent lead out to a flat road and then another descent ... which was AWESOME! It was a long, straight, beautifully paved road and I was flying! I got to the bottom and announced to everyone there ... Now THAT was FUN! It was about 15 miles back to the start into a headwind and I was pretty tired. My watch died so I don't know my exact mileage or time - but it was roughly 50 miles in a little over 3 hours.
Sunday we met at Aquatic Park for a swim, run and core workout. Since I refuse to swim in the bay - I sat on the bleachers and waited for the run to start. My run started out great. I felt good and I felt fast. I was running about an 8:20/min mile and didn't feel like I was exerting that much effort. I did a 4 min run/1 min walk and was still averaging about 9 min miles. Then we hit the stairs - probably about 3-4 flights of stairs and then a path leading to the top of the hill. My lungs don't like climbing. Went back down the stairs, ran a little farther, turned around and went up the stairs a second time, back down and then returned to the start. After the stairs, my running just wasn't the same. I was able to run under 9 min miles but I couldn't hold the pace for more than a couple minutes so I did a shorter run/walk back to the start. Finished about 8 miles in 1.5 hours. All this followed by a 40 min core workout.
I'm extremely sore today - but feel really good about my workouts this weekend and the effort I put into them. I was able to see some progress this weekend in both sports - but mostly running. I can't remember ever running sub 9 min miles and feeling good. I'm starting to get the speed -now I just have to get the distance. I also realized what some of my other weaknesses are and where I need to focus some of my training.
It was a great weekend and I'm sorry for it to end ... but I'm SOOOO looking forward to a night off :) My muscles need a break! TGIM!
I questioned that statement just now as I wrote it - but it's true. It means my workouts this weekend were tough and I pushed through coming out stronger (albeit more sore) than before.
Saturday we had a beautiful ride in Napa. Probably one of the most beautiful rides I've done in a long time. Our ride started out in Napa Valley through vineyards and we somehow ended up in a forest with creeks and waterfalls and huge redwood trees (they may not have actually been redwood trees. I don't know my tree species so I'm just using that as an example). But it was gorgeous. During this 4 mile climb through the trees I just kept thinking how lucky we were to be out there - and didn't really care how much my legs were burning. Then I remember getting to the top and starting to descend ... and was completely disappointed. They had said the descent was fast and I didn't think they meant time-wise. It was so short for that amount of climbing. But the short descent lead out to a flat road and then another descent ... which was AWESOME! It was a long, straight, beautifully paved road and I was flying! I got to the bottom and announced to everyone there ... Now THAT was FUN! It was about 15 miles back to the start into a headwind and I was pretty tired. My watch died so I don't know my exact mileage or time - but it was roughly 50 miles in a little over 3 hours.
Sunday we met at Aquatic Park for a swim, run and core workout. Since I refuse to swim in the bay - I sat on the bleachers and waited for the run to start. My run started out great. I felt good and I felt fast. I was running about an 8:20/min mile and didn't feel like I was exerting that much effort. I did a 4 min run/1 min walk and was still averaging about 9 min miles. Then we hit the stairs - probably about 3-4 flights of stairs and then a path leading to the top of the hill. My lungs don't like climbing. Went back down the stairs, ran a little farther, turned around and went up the stairs a second time, back down and then returned to the start. After the stairs, my running just wasn't the same. I was able to run under 9 min miles but I couldn't hold the pace for more than a couple minutes so I did a shorter run/walk back to the start. Finished about 8 miles in 1.5 hours. All this followed by a 40 min core workout.
I'm extremely sore today - but feel really good about my workouts this weekend and the effort I put into them. I was able to see some progress this weekend in both sports - but mostly running. I can't remember ever running sub 9 min miles and feeling good. I'm starting to get the speed -now I just have to get the distance. I also realized what some of my other weaknesses are and where I need to focus some of my training.
It was a great weekend and I'm sorry for it to end ... but I'm SOOOO looking forward to a night off :) My muscles need a break! TGIM!
Monday, March 7, 2011
No Complaints
It seems recently I only post when I have something to complain about - so I thought since I had a great weekend (including a great workout) that I should write about it so I can remember it later :)
First off - I have been feeling so much better since I started the Whole 30 Food Challenge again. This is probably the most important thing I need to remind myself of so after the 30 days - I continue to eat like this and keep all the "extra" stuff to a minimum. I just finished the first week and already feel like I have more energy throughout the day, more mental clarity, and most importantly for my relationship's sake ... a better mood. I feel so bad for Nate when he has to deal with my grumpiness. And when I know I'm being a complete "B" but there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry babe. I love you :)
Saturday was a fun but very long day. Woke up at 5am to head to Shadow Cliffs where the Ironteam was doing a Ride N Tie that my mom and I organized. We had them do all kinds of goofy stuff and everyone wore costumes. It was great entertainment. Later than night Nate taught (or tried to teach) me how to weld. I think I did okay for my first time. I didn't severely burn myself and I was successfully able to weld four pieces of metal together although it might not have looked that great. After that we headed over to my dad's house and shot his new pellet gun (with a silencer) at targets he made in the garage. I didn't do so great but I'm blaming it on the fact that I didn't have my glasses and that I was tired :P
Sunday was another early morning. Up at 4:30am to take my mom to the airport. The day didn't start off so great tho - when we walked out to the car we saw that someone had scraped against it while backing out of a parking space and left a huge scrape all the way down the passenger side as well as huge dent. Poor car.
After getting home and taking a quick nap I went out for a run with some Ironteam peeps in the rain. I wasn't sure how the run was going to go. I had shin splints all week and the farthest I had run this year was about 5 miles. The first 3 miles of the run were tough. My stomach was cramping, I was having some chest pain (I think it's a muscle thing), but I was holding about a 10:30 pace with the occasional minute walk. I decided to turn around at about 3.5 miles since I wasn't sure how I was going to feel at the end. The next 3 miles were great. I opted for a 4/1 strategy and was running 9 min miles (sometimes less). When I got to the start I felt pretty good so I turned around and went out for another 25 min run. Ended with 8.5 miles and felt great afterwards. I was pleasantly surprised. I know the rest of my training won't come this easily but it felt good knowing I'm not as far behind as I thought.
First off - I have been feeling so much better since I started the Whole 30 Food Challenge again. This is probably the most important thing I need to remind myself of so after the 30 days - I continue to eat like this and keep all the "extra" stuff to a minimum. I just finished the first week and already feel like I have more energy throughout the day, more mental clarity, and most importantly for my relationship's sake ... a better mood. I feel so bad for Nate when he has to deal with my grumpiness. And when I know I'm being a complete "B" but there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry babe. I love you :)
Saturday was a fun but very long day. Woke up at 5am to head to Shadow Cliffs where the Ironteam was doing a Ride N Tie that my mom and I organized. We had them do all kinds of goofy stuff and everyone wore costumes. It was great entertainment. Later than night Nate taught (or tried to teach) me how to weld. I think I did okay for my first time. I didn't severely burn myself and I was successfully able to weld four pieces of metal together although it might not have looked that great. After that we headed over to my dad's house and shot his new pellet gun (with a silencer) at targets he made in the garage. I didn't do so great but I'm blaming it on the fact that I didn't have my glasses and that I was tired :P
Sunday was another early morning. Up at 4:30am to take my mom to the airport. The day didn't start off so great tho - when we walked out to the car we saw that someone had scraped against it while backing out of a parking space and left a huge scrape all the way down the passenger side as well as huge dent. Poor car.
After getting home and taking a quick nap I went out for a run with some Ironteam peeps in the rain. I wasn't sure how the run was going to go. I had shin splints all week and the farthest I had run this year was about 5 miles. The first 3 miles of the run were tough. My stomach was cramping, I was having some chest pain (I think it's a muscle thing), but I was holding about a 10:30 pace with the occasional minute walk. I decided to turn around at about 3.5 miles since I wasn't sure how I was going to feel at the end. The next 3 miles were great. I opted for a 4/1 strategy and was running 9 min miles (sometimes less). When I got to the start I felt pretty good so I turned around and went out for another 25 min run. Ended with 8.5 miles and felt great afterwards. I was pleasantly surprised. I know the rest of my training won't come this easily but it felt good knowing I'm not as far behind as I thought.
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