Live and Learn

This weekend was a good training weekend where I learned many lessons.  I am always amazed by how difficult diet and exercise can be even after almost two years with my new tummy.  After looking at the weather forecast for Saturday morning on Friday night I decided that riding out in thunderstorms was not for me.  I asked my coach for a long trainer workout to make up for my outdoor ride.  Let  me say I NEVER want to ride my trainer for longer than 2 hours ever again!!  Even with The Great British Baking Show, I was bored and sore.  Ahh...

Then came my run after 3 hours on the bike.  The first 5 miles were fine.  I stopped at the halfway point to take in some nutrition (Infinit and Shot Bloks) and felt like I was going to hurl.  I was horribly nauseous and could not figure out why.  I took off again and at 7 miles I stopped and sat down on a rock.  I was super nauseous and just couldn't keep going.  I called the hubbie and he came to my rescue.  

In the car he asked why I was so sick to my stomach.  I told him the calories I had taken and then he asked "What did you have for breakfast?"  Oh crap, breakfast?  Two cups of coffee does not a healthy breakfast make.  I failed to have any real food before I started my 5 hour workout.... lesson learned.  I will not repeat that mistake.  After  eating 1/4 of meatball sub leftover from my son's lunch (first thing I found) I was good as new.  

Sunday morning I participated in my second triathlon of the season.  The Lake Mills Triathlon is a sprint tri (400m swim, 16 mile bike, 5K run).  The weather was beautiful, well right up until 20 min before we got in the water.  The clouds rolled in and the wind began to blow.  Suddenly the fairly calm lake was whipped up into a fury.  The swells were high and whitecaps were out in full force.

The swim was difficult to say the least.  I only swam freestyle in short bursts (until the last 100m).  When I tried I would find myself breathing right into a swell.  I drank enough lake water to fuel me through the rest of the race but I made it through.  I was so crabby after the swim I yelled at my husband for zipping my wetsuit incorrectly (which he did not) because I was having such a hard time getting it off.  Oy!

(This is me yelling at my hubbie)

The bike was windy but good.  The run was great.  I kept up a good pace (for me) and finished strong.  The girl in red had passed me in the last mile on the trail.  I decided in the finisher's chute that I was not going to let her beat me.  So irrational given she was not in my age group and finished way ahead of me anyway.  But I did pass her :)

(Determined to beat the girl in red... I'm cray-cray)

(Happy on the bike)

Overall, a good race but not my best.  Just another training day.  Onto Espirit de She in Naperville IL this weekend.  I will be part of a relay team (swimming).  Two weeks until my half ironman here in Madison.  The summer is going fast.  Less than 100 days until IMWI.

Oops... Did I do that?

So... I have a co-worker who is a dear friend and an avid cyclist.  She has done a couple of triathlons in the past and on my urging was going to tri again this season.  Sometimes life gets in the way (in her case an engagement and medical issues) and you just don't get in the training you would like.  This morning she transferred her race entry for this weekend (a sprint tri) to me.  I'm excited.  I didn't expect to race much this year (given the biggie at the end of the year) but this will be a nice bonus race.  And look at the medals!  So cool.

I'm starting to put some serious training time in.  Usually I have more than one workout in a day.  Today I will swim, bike and run.  I swam this morning before work.  I'll ride after work and put in a quick transition run after the ride.  My body is tired and I'm finding sleep and nutrition are incredible important.  I just feel better when I'm treating my body better.  Reminder: treat your body better!

I also find that my spare time is dwindling.  I'm really trying to make my time with family and friends count.  I snuggle with the kiddos every chance I get and really try to make an effort to be in the moment instead of on my phone or thinking about something else.  With 3 months until Ironman I know my spare time is going to become non-existent.  I really need to focus on making every choice a good one.

A picture of the geese on my run last week.  I was only about 5 feet away.  No fear of me.  They were happily in the water on my way back.  Wisconsin in the spring and summer is gorgegous.  It almost makes you forget about the winters.... almost.

TRI Season 2016 is here!!

Whoo hoo!  Tri Season 2016 is officially here!  Last weekend I traveled to St. Louis to compete in the 1st Annual St. Louis Triathlon.  After a very up and down off season I was excited to race.  The STL Tri offers a sprint and olympic distance.  Since I have a half ironman tri in less than a month (GULP), I went for the olympic distance which consists of a 0.9 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run.

Swim: Definitely was not my best but not my worst either (Please see my 2015 Tri Season begins! post for more details).  My sighting wasn't up to par and I had issues trying to find open water.  Lots of bumping other people and stopping to readjust directions.  After talking post-race with many different people this seemed to be the trend of the day.  I will be happy when we start OWS practices.  But considering I had only been in the pool 3 times in the last month prior to the race I'm trying not to be too hard on myself.

Bike:  I am pretty happy with this.  Bike was pancake flat with the exception of one small hill.  It was a two loop course.  My watch malfunctioned after the swim and I could not get it into bike mode.  I had no idea how fast I was going so the first loop I hung with someone who seemed to be going at an ok clip.  After the first loop, I thought I could go faster without trashing my legs for the run.  I think I did but I have no data to back that up.

Run:  I stopped to go to the bathroom quickly out of transition (porta potties were after the timing chip) and then started to run.  I did not take hydration on the run because they promised aid stations every mile.  I severely regret that decision.  It was HOT!  The first two miles were good.  Then I slowed down mile 3 and 4.  At mile 5 I hit a wall.  I think lack of fueling and hydration really hurt me. 

Overall not a horrible race (3 hrs. 15 min) but I was a bit disappointed in my swim and run (especially my run).  After Augusta I made a promise to hydrate well throughout the race but I didn't deliver on that promise and I paid the price.  I will certainly be working on this over the next month to ensure I don't do this at Milkman.  

Milkman Half Iron Triathlon 24 Days

Ironman Wisconsin 108 Days

Injury and Anticipation

Forgive me Father for I have sinned, it's been 3 months since my last blog post!

Wow!  It has really been FOREVER since I posted.  Now that Ironman Wisconsin is only 130 days away I will likely be posting more often.  I have so much swirling through my head and writing this blog helps me make sense of a lot of it.  

The last 3 months have been full of ups and downs.  I ran a 10k with friends in March and I had my best 10k ever! (Ok, ok so it’s my only too).  I joined a local triathlon team and training was going really well.  At least it was and then I had surgery 2 weeks ago and it all came to a screeching halt.

I was having intense pain in my abdomen when I stood up or was sitting down reaching to get something on.  It did not happen all the time (actually it was really infrequent) but when it did happen it was VERY painful.  I went to my surgeon in January and he thought it was a hernia.  Ordered CAT scan and nothing, nada, zippo.  Fast forward 4 months and pain starts coming more frequently.  Go back to dr. he says it is likely a hernia and we need to do surgery to fix it.  Schedule surgery, he opens me up and find nada, zip, zero.  Ugh!  He does clean up some adhesions but we have no idea what was causing the pain.  On the bright side, no similar pain since surgery but I also haven't been doing anything strenuous.  I guess only time will tell.

First race of the season, the St. Louis Triathlon is in 3 weeks.  I'm scared.  I have already done all the distances this year but being lazy the past few weeks definitely concerns me.  I have a 40 mile ride following by a 3 mile run this Saturday and a 9 mile run scheduled for Sunday (Happy Mother's Day to me).  If these go well I should regain some lost confidence.  

Getting it done :)

So, this is my promise.  I will blog at least once a week until IMWI.  I should have enough to talk about given how much my training is supposed to ramp up.  Hopefully I make it through this is one piece and my surgery will be the only real hurdle I have in my way.  As unlikely as that is I will continue to keep my fingers crossed.

St. Louis Triathlon  17 Days

Milkman 70.3  45 Days

Ironman Wisconsin  130 Days

Fat Tuesday!

Heya peeps!  It's Fat Tuesday!  Ya know, the day before Ash Wednesday where everyone eats and drinks themselves silly in anticipation of giving up all their vices for Lent.  It sounds like fun to me, well at least until the day after part.  Just kidding.

I am not all that religious and I was not raised Catholic so I have never given anything up for Lent.  Every year I consider it but in the end I always end up thinking I would feel like a fraud if I tried to act like a Catholic just to give something bad up.  I should just be doing that normally.

Here is my list of things I should give up for Lent...

1. Coffee
2. Booze
3. Candy
4. Baked Goods
5. Bread
6. Chocolate
7. My cell phone

With the exception of my cell phone, I really don't over do that much on this list all that often.  Yes, I do have 2-3 coffees/lattes a day (which is more than I should) but I no longer drink soda so nanna nanna boo boo!

Sunday is Valentine's Day!  I've bought the kiddos their gifts (I always get them something small and a small box of chocolates).  The thing I love about Valentine's Day is that it means we are half way through February!  Oh how I long for March.  March in Wisconsin is a crap shot weather wise.  We are likely to get a few 60-70 degree days, a few 0-10 degree days, a couple of good snow storms and maybe a thunderstorm or two.  It really is interesting but it does get warmer!  I am looking forward to getting back outside on my bike.

(the view on my run)

(Lake Loop Path lunch run)

My runs have been cold lately.  Nothing like coming back in to find your butt is frozen, LOL.  Winter makes me tired and want to stay in bed under my electric blanket.  Please spring, I beg you, please come soon!

Winter Wonderland

It's snowing in Wisconsin... it's winter so I guess it's supposed to do that.  I hate snow.  I mean I really hate the snow and cold.  My hubbie loves it or we would not live here (I long for Arizona or California).  But I digress, this is the view from a window at work today.

I can take cold (for the most part), I will run in cold.  The other day I ran when it was 18 degrees out.  It wasn't even that bad, but I refuse to run when it is snowing.  I do not trust myself not to go down in flames.  It gets slick and people aren't the most trustworthy when it comes to removing ice and snow from sidewalks so I prefer to know what I am stepping on.  As beautiful as snow is it hides the dangers that lie beneath (sounds like a horror flick trailer).

(me after my cold run I look like I'm in shock)

One of my favorite bloggers (Shut Up + Run) lives in Colorado and she writes a lot about getting out and running in the snow and cold.  I have found her advice priceless from the tips and tricks to the recommendations in gear.  In fact, I have used many of her recommendations with stellar results.  My one piece of advice...

GO OUT AND RUN!  TRY IT FOR 10 MINUTES, IF IT SUCKS STOP!  IF NOT SOLDIER ON, YOU WILL FEEL BADASS BY THE END!

I am hoping to run tonight, I am praying the snow lets up and the forecasted freezing rain never appears.  But if it does I will stay indoors and bike.  Ugh, I hate riding indoors.  Nothing like going nowhere forever, but it does make for great mental preparation.

Today I realized my first triathlon of the season is less than 16 weeks away, my half is less than 20 and Ironman Wisconsin is just under 32 weeks.  OMG!!  I need to get more consistent in my training and definitely more serious about my eating.  This is not going to cut it!!

Welcome to January!

Some may dread January and the New Year's resolutions that come with it but I love them!  I love seeing the posts on Facebook about people trying to change their eating, or exercising, or even just their attitude.  People see the New Year as a time to start fresh, I don't think it has to be January 1 but if a certain date gives you the motivation to make a positive change in your life then use it to your advantage.

(Just kidding!)

Triathlon training started in full on Sunday.  Yes, I waited until January 3rd to get my ass moving.  What??  I can't be blamed, my new coach didn't have my workouts in Training Peaks until then.  ;)

Since then I have swam, biked and ran. I will continue to put myself through this nonsense until the tri season is over with in September,  

On Sunday I took my best dog Charlie out for her first run with me.  I didn't know what to expect.  I thought it would be torture.  I figured she would stop constantly to sniff of try to run too far ahead of me.  But in actuality it was awesome.  She would stop and run ahead but a slight tug on the leash and she was right back with me.  She lasted the whole 5 miles and as a bonus she was tuckered out for 2 days!  She is a ball of boundless energy so I think it was win for everyone.  

I still need to work on my eating.  For the past month I have been eating far too many carbs.  As a WLS girl, I need to remind myself to be protein focused.  I also need to cut back on sugar (I've been getting headaches like mad lately).  I post everyday (I try to) on Obesity Help's "What's on your Menu RNYers" and I find that keeps me more accountable.  I love those ladies!!