March Means Spring (I hope!)

Who's ready to get outside and have this winter be over?! Lord knows I am! I'm a little excited to take the bike off the trainer and test out what the past 2 months have done for me on the open road. I've had what have felt like some pretty strong bike workouts lately so things continue to progress in the right direction. I'm getting tired of running indoors too. I try to avoid the dreadmill, but the short tracks aren't much better as once you get into a rhythm on the straightaway it's time to take another corner or dodge a bluehair. The workouts are getting longer and this is the first week where the training plan is throwing double workouts at me every day (except for the recovery day on Friday). I've made it through Thursday so it's just about buckling down and getting through the weekend now. Gotta earn that cookie!

Speaking of heading in the right direction, a new month means stepping on the scale. February was stellar in that regard and I dropped 11 lbs, down to 180.3! I haven't been that light in 3 years. That was a pretty big drop though and I don't necessarily want to keep up that pace. If I do, that would put me right around 114 lbs by the time the Ironman gets here and I just don't think I'd look healthy at that weight. Seriously though, I'd probably be good to drop just another 10 lbs total over the next few months as long as it's the right weight. I don't want to sacrifice muscle mass just to get to a golden # so I have to be smart about it. I've incorporated some good suggestions from 2 friends who are knowledgeable in the nutrition area so they've become my go-to resources in that realm. Thanks Alicia and Emily!

Here are my February training #s:

swim - 27,500 yds or 15.6 miles

bike - 19 hrs and 10 minutes or approx. 345 miles

run - 10 hrs and 20 minutes or approx. 68.3 miles

for a monthly total of 428.9 miles

Cumulative through Feb:

swim = 56,150 yds/31.9 miles

bike = 33:35/604.5 miles

run = 18:30/119.2 miles

total = 755.6 miles

On the parental front, not only did Conner draw this picture freehand (using the one on the right as a guide), but he told me tonight one of his art class drawings was chosen to be on the cover of his school's yearbook! The real honor is that the editor of the yearbook (the Art teacher) was going to just use something generic, but she was so impressed with his drawing (of the district mascot, a tiger) that she chose that instead! He's always been a craftsy, artsy kid, but with these latest accomplishments I hope he realizes how good he really could become. Stick with it Son (and get that college scholarship)!

Well, even though tomorrow's my off/recovery day it doesn't mean I can stay up all night. Sleep is part of training too. Off to bed.

I Cheated

What a difference a week makes. Training this week was a total of 2 hours shorter than last week and I could tell. Last weekend involved a 3 hour Saturday followed up with a 2 hour Sunday. I got through it, but I was beat! After this weekend's workouts I'm feeling much more energized and attribute that to 2 different reasons - the main reason being because I didn't do quite as much, but also because I think all this training is paying off and I may actually be getting better/faster/stronger. Let's hope this way of thinking continues. This past week was a backdown, "recovery", week and now it's on to 3 more weeks of increasing mileage so at least I'm going into it with a healthy dose of confidence.



So, I've cheated a couple of times the past couple of weeks. First, I jumped on the scale mid-month. I know, criminal, right!?! After a couple of pretty intense workouts I was curious as to how I was doing considering what January's weight-loss results were and I succumbed to the temptation. I won't post results, but let's just say things are still moving in the right direction. The second cheat was just as dramatic, I had a Mountain Dew. This wasn't because I "needed" one, but again was just curious. I had gone 5+ weeks without and wanted to see if it still tasted the same or what I thought of it at this point. To be honest, it didn't taste as good and certainly didn't make me crave another one.

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Yesterday the boys had their annual Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This is Conner's last year so he wanted to do well. Last year he went for Best Design (sacrificing speed) and ended up winning that award so this year he went for speed again to try to qualify for districts, something he did his first year. Last year Devon finished 5th in the pack and was able to advance to the next level. After an afternoon of racing, 72 heats w/ 3 cars per heat (thankfully, they never went head to head in the same heat), the results were in. With the top 5 going to Districts both boys knew they had a decent chance of that because they each dominated their heat races (results are based on each car's average time after 6 runs). Without further adieu, Conner ended up in 6th place and Devon got 5th. Devon gets to move on, but this might have been it for Conner. He has the slightest of chances of still getting to race though if someone in the top 5 can't make it as he'd be the first alternate. He took it well, wasn't too jealous of his younger brother. Here are their cars (the orange one is D's, the black is C's)-

I Need Jillian Michaels

28,650+14:25+8:10=326.7. Seriously, it does.

Remember in my previous post how I said I was looking forward to Tuesday because it was weigh-in day? Well, let's just say I won't win any Biggest Loser contests. I dropped a whopping 2 lbs. 2!! I'm doing the workouts, honest I am! Actually, it's not that big of a deal. I was expecting to see a lower weight, but I'm feeling better and noticing physical changes. I'm chalking up the lack of weight loss to the belief I'm gaining a little muscle mass. I'll take that trade-off I guess. Muscle will make me faster, right?

So, the above equation. Figure out how that makes sense? Alright, here's how - those are my January totals for my workouts:
28,650 is how many yards I've swum. This equates to 16.3 miles. An argument could be made that this could be even longer since I've been doing a majority of my swims in a pool that's measured in meters instead of yards.
14:25 is the number of hours:minutes I've spent on my bike. In past races I usually average 20-21 mph. I don't have anything hooked up that tracks my actual trainer miles so I'm just using an average of 18 mph. At that rate it equates to 259.5 miles.
8:10 is the hr:min I've spent running. Between the treadmill and counting laps on the track this is pretty close to 50.9 miles.
So, 16.3 miles swimming, 259.5 miles biking and 50.9 miles running equals 326.7. Pretty obvious, huh?

Makes me wonder how many miles I'll have to do if I want to lose 5 lbs in 1 month. Yikes!!!

A Plastic Hiccup

The first few weeks of training were going really well and smoothly. I was getting the workouts in, feeling pretty good while doing them and beginning to wonder that maybe this whole thing won't be as bad as some have said it could be. I still feel that way, but had my first little hiccup the other night. I do need to back up and say I was beginning to feel some shin splints starting to set in again. I've had this problem in the past and think it may have almost developed into a stress fracture last summer so I was a bit nervous this time around again. When I say stress fracture, that is completely self-diagnosed as I never went and had it professionally looked at. Why go to a doctor only to have them tell you bad news? I kid (sort of). So anyway, I took a week off from "running" and for those run workouts just did a brisk walk, as fast as I could before I would feel pain in my shins. I still wanted to do the workouts, just not at the point of doing more harm than good. It all worked out and my last 3 runs have been pain free. Well, back to my hiccup. My swim workouts are starting to get longer now and Friday's plan was for 3200 yards (not too huge, but longest yet) with the main set being 2x1000. Heading to the pool the doubt, undesire, feeling of just wanting to sit home on a Friday night, started creeping in. I got to the club, got in the pool and got through my warm up sets. At that point, just 900 into the 3200 I almost got out and went home. I was beat and tired after just 900! Granted, I didn't really do myself any favors pretty much all week and was going to bed later than I should've been so that played into being run down by the time it got around to being Friday (kind of like tonight and posting a blog at midnight!). I hadn't missed a workout yet though in the first 4 weeks and didn't think I would be bailing on one within the first month! I was a little disappointed in me for allowing myself to think along those lines. I quit wallowing and told myself to suck it up and headed down the lane for my first 1000. I got through it and actually felt somewhat good at the end, but I did end up cutting the workout short anyway. I didn't do the 2nd 1000 so I finished up with the 300 cooldown and called it an evening. I'm going to have to buckle down and make sure this doesn't become a habit! This coming Friday's workout calls for another 3200 so I'm making the vow right now I'll be in the damn pool until I complete all 64 laps! On the bright side though, I was able to follow up Friday night's disaster with good double workouts on both Saturday and Sunday - a long ride followed by a short run on Sat. and then a long run on tired legs followed by a short ride that still felt good on Sunday. Ended week #4 on a positive note!
I'm looking forward to Tuesday. On my first day of training I stepped on the scale to see what I was at. I'm curious to see what 9 months of solid training will do to me and how my body might change. On that first day I weighed in at 193.4. I don't think I necessarily "look" that heavy, but I am what I am, can't really deny that. I haven't been on the scale since and have told myself I'm only going to weigh myself on the 1st of each month, which is Tuesday, (and the morning of the IM and that night after I'm done, just out of curiosity to see how much 140.6 miles makes me lose). I used to step on the scale every time I was in the club, but I don't want that to be the main focus of my workouts. I know I've lost lbs., feel like I have, so that's the main thing I guess, not how much. In the end though, I think a good race weight for me will be in the low 170s so if I can eventually get down to that ballpark I can only think it would be a success. From an Actuary standpoint, more like 160s down to 150s is where I should be just based on my height. I don't think I've been that since high school so we'll just leave those numbers in the past! I'm realistic about any weight loss too though. I expect this first month to probably be the biggest drop and then it may not be quite as dramatic the following months. We'll see on Tuesday!
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Hold on, gonna switch gears and get off the training subject so prepare yourself! Set? Okay. I was in Cub Foods the other night picking up just a dozen or so items. I paid for them and as I was packing them in the my reusable canvas bag a mother and daughter were behind me getting their items rung up. Now, I don't consider myself the "greenest" person on the planet, but I do try to do my part despite driving around in a 10 year old SUV - I recycle, try to avoid using plastic bags, if I'm not in a room the light isn't on, I adjust my thermostat in the house, etc. Well, as I'm bagging my stuff, the girl (we'll call her in the 9-12 yr old range) starts bagging their items in a plastic bag. That's fine, if you want to use them, use them, I'm not going to scold you. The mother gets done paying, comes around the end and just mentions to her daughter that she normally likes to use paper bags because they can hold more. She takes the plastic bag that her daughter has 1/2 filled, places it still 1/2 filled in a paper bag and starts packing more groceries in. So, now she's wasted a plastic bag. Wait, it gets better. As she tries to pick up the paper bag and move it, she tears one of the handles off. So, what would you do at this point - A) take bagged items out and pack them in a new bag, B) take extra items out and go back to using the plastic bag you were in the beginning and pack that, C) just pick up and carry the paper bag (which still has the plastic bag in it) with a hand under the bottom? Well, she didn't do any of those 3. Instead, she picks up the paper bag, with said plastic still in it, and places that whole thing in another plastic bag, just so she could carry it with handles!! So, in the end, she used 3 bags where 1 would do. And that, my friends, is why no matter what those of us do to try to help out, it will never all get solved. There will always be someone counter-balancing your good deeds with their misguided ones (sometimes deliberately, sometimes just out of ignorance). This could be said for many things beyond just what happens in a grocery store. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm all "holier than thou", but c'mon Lady, use some common sense!

Okay, I'm done ranting. January ends tomorrow, February is a short month and Spring is right around the corner as soon as March gets here! Things are looking up! Good night.

Ugly Girlfriend Wanted, Inside and Out, Who Hates Me Too

I did it to myself today and I'll be feeling it tomorrow too. I was supposed to get up this morning and get my swim in and then just bike tonight. Well, somehow I didn't crawl out of bed this morning and managed to turn off all 3 alarms (yup, 3!) and slept in without fully realizing what I was doing. Thankfully I pulled myself out of my slumber and made it to work though. So, what that meant for tonight was that I had to do a back-to-back workout to get them both in and now I'm off to bed just so I can get up and get to the pool in the morning. Tomorrow I don't have a choice but to do it in the a.m. because Devon has scouts in the evening. Nothing like swimming tonight knowing I'll be right back in the pool in just 10 hours after getting out of it! The one sure-fire way to make sure this doesn't happen again is to somehow get into a relationship with someone who's mean enough to kick me out of bed in the morning and who I'd rather leave to go workout at 5:00 a.m. than stay in a warm cozy bed with. Know anyone?

It's A Whole New Season!

I'm no longer being orientated, woo hoo! I'm out of the 2 week "Orientation" phase of training and have now started the "Preseason". The workouts will start to get a bit longer and I'm assuming a little more intense and precise. The first 2 weeks went great! It was nice to get started on an organized plan and I was able to keep up. The week with the boys went well too. I ended up switching my a.m. and p.m. workouts around so I was home riding in the morning and then swam/ran in the evening. I think I'm starting to notice some positive changes. I've been doing a lot more biking in just these first 2 weeks and I'm starting to feel (and see?) it in my legs. They feel firmer and I think my quads are bigger. That's a good thing, I've always kind of had chicken legs compared to my upper body so maybe I'll become a little more symmetrical.

The boys have been great and on-board with the training thus far. I'm trying to keep them posted on what I'm doing, how long until the race, what it's going to be like, etc. I recently bought a 2nd pair of running shoes identical to the first pair I'm using and will rotate their use. In order to tell them apart and make sure I properly match pair 1 and pair 2 I put initials on each shoe. My first pair has Cs for Conner and the second pair has Ds for Devon. I told the boys it's like they're running with me now and I'll alternate wearing each pair for my run workouts. Devon got a kick out of it when I got home Sunday and said he had a good 6 mile workout. I think Conner was actually a little disappointed when I told him my next run workout was only going to be about 4ish miles. Nope, no competition syndrome going on between these brothers! I'll have to make sure the cumulative miles are somewhat close when it comes time to retire both these pairs. I'll need another pair by the time the race actually gets here so I'll just write everyones' name on that pair, you'll all get to come along on that day's run!


Another fun thing is my "training cookies". Capt Cartwheel gave me a huge baggie full of cookies for a Christmas present. As I was chowing down on them that December night during the car ride home I figured I could eat them all right then and there and really start off my training absolutely needing to workout just to get back to square 1 or I could ration them. My training program is a 36 week program. At that point, I had 40 cookies left (we'll just disregard how many I ate prior to that to get down to that 40). I made a pact with myself, that I'll have just 4 more and from that point on I only get 1 cookie at the end of each week of training, kind of my "reward" for getting through the week. I told this to the boys too (and told them not to eat them if they see them in the freezer!) and Conner came up with a great idea that each week I should eat the smallest one in the bag so I'm left with the biggest one at the end! Thanks Conner, great thinking! So, I'm eating 1 cookie every Sunday night. 2 cookies down, 34 to go. I can hardly wait to eat that last one because it's going to be Sunday, Sept. 11th, right after I cross the finish line!!

Fortunately, the boys' scout schedule is helping us do fun things besides marking shoes and counting cookies. This weekend we get to go to Polar Camp, an all day outside activity day at scout camp in Cannon Falls. Conner and I went 2 years ago and had a great time. This will be Devon's first time and he's really looking forward to it (he was sick last year). I just need to make sure to get my 1:30 bike ride in nice and early that morning because I know I won't want to do it once we get home.

I Haven't Quit Yet!

Day 3 of training is in the books and all is right with the world. Well, maybe not all, but in my little vacuum of existence things are copacetic I guess. The workouts have been manageable and not too strenuous - 2 swims, 2 bikes and 1 run. The hardest thing right now is getting to bed at a decent hour because the alarm clock is going off at an uncommon early hour! I need to get a little better about that so I'm not yawning in the pool when I need to be inhaling. That could make for an interesting workout.
This beginning stretch is considered "orientation" by the schedule's definition, but it's a little more involved than that. There are 18 straight days of workouts before the first rest day, another 20 straight after that and then 1 rest day per week from there on out. I haven't worked out like that since organized high school sports I think and even then those seasons weren't 36 weeks long! But, I guess, those games I was prepping for weren't 14-17 hours long either.
It actually feels good to be starting this. Leading up to Monday I was still working out semi-regularly, but I felt kind of lost, just going through the motions and going to the gym just to get my insurance discount. Starting an organized, detailed regiment is what I needed. Whether or not I still like it 20, 30 weeks from now might be a different story, but I'm going to do my damnedest to follow it. I figure the author of the plan knows a hell of a lot more about this Ironman thing than I do so I better not tweak things too much.
Getting a bike trainer and being able to do my bike workouts at home has been awesome! It was nice waking up yesterday morning and not having to worry about getting bundled up to head to the gym to do my ride. I just slapped on some shorts, walked downstairs and started riding. I didn't have to bother brushing my teeth until I was done. Tonight I was able to come home, prep dinner, get it in the oven for an hour (stuffed bell peppers, they were delish!) and by the time I was done riding, dinner was ready. Perfect!
Occasionally I find myself thinking about what Sept. 11th will be like. Having been there the past 3 years spectating, I'll picture the course, but this time I'll superimpose myself onto it rather than being on the sidewalk. I get goosebumps and nervous. What will the swim be like - as brutal as it looks? How long will it take before I'm not climbing over people, or more than likely, having people climb over me? I envision making that final turn, heading into shore and being ecstatic the swim portion is over. With all the other triathlons I've done I've always told myself that after the swim there's really no reason why I shouldn't finish. With swimming, if something goes wrong and you need assistance, your race is done. There's just something about being on terra firma that if something goes wrong during the race you at least have the option to keep moving forward somehow, especially during the run portion. I wonder what kind of run/marathon I'll have. I've done 12 marathons and I've never been able to run the entire distance without needing to walk. Can I realistically expect to run this next marathon after swimming and biking? Will this type of training be better for me so I can have a good marathon? Wouldn't it be something if I PRed the run? I don't think I'd sleep for days I'd be so happy!
But, I'm only in Day 3 and these are premature thoughts. There's a long road to hoe before I can consider any time goals. The alarm clock is still set for an early morning buzz so I'm going to heed my own advice and bid adieu.