A Lovely Day Off

It feels bizarre to have a Monday off.  Friday was a little weird too, but because I was sick, all I did was sleep (after my dr’s appointment anyways)!  After nearly 3 months of working a Mon-Fri schedule, it feels very bizarre to have more than 2 days off in a row and also to have the day off when almost everyone else is at work.

I’m finally feeling better so it was a very productive day indeed!  I woke up at 7:15 am.  If I were working today, I would probably be up at 5:40 am to get ready for a swim. 

I was on the treadmill ready to run by 8:45 am.  I ran for 2 hours and then stretched out for an awesome 20 minutes.  

I got home and immediately made lunch.  I made amazing chicken wraps on the panini grill with a side of rice and a tall glass of chocolate milk.  It was to die for! 

I then took a long and relaxing hot shower.  I stretched a little more.  I decided to take a nap.  I didn’t sleep well last night due to a blanket hoarding, snoring husband.  I moved to the sofa only to encounter a snoring dog…. I moved to the spare room.  But I digress.  I took a power nap.  I didn’t set an alarm, but only slept for 50 minutes.  I felt like a new woman when I woke up!  

My legs were feeling very fatigued and unfortunately my compression gear is all still drying from being washed last night.  I decided to walk the dog to stretch out the legs a little more.  She didn’t mind.  It was a bit of an obstacle course with all the ice! (Yes, again…. it’s +4 now so we are once again into a thaw-freeze period with our weather). 

After that, I made a smoothie.  My blender has long been packed away and collecting dust but a few people I know have recently been talking about their yummy smoothies and I decided it’s time to give it a try again!  It turned out kind of gross because I had no bananas and the only fruit I had was frozen blueberries.  I still drank it down and I am now equipped to make better smoothies after a quick trip to the grocery store!  I have discovered that Sunday night is not a good time for grocery shopping.  Last night, there wasn’t a piece of fruit fit to eat and not one banana in the whole damn store!  I also had to run to the vet and pick up dog food.

Now here I am enjoying a quick coffee and it’s only 4pm!  What a productive day!  I also laundered the bed linens in the spare room and our room… although haven’t made the bed yet.  I have much more to do today.  I am about to go prepare supper.  I am making this recipe featured in February’s Runner’s World.  I am making a few alterations to it, such as adding in some spinach, but it looks damn tasty!  The plan is to prep it, put it in the fridge and then I am off to my Core class at 6pm and Corey will put it in the oven at 6:30pm and it will be perfectly ready when I arrive home!

I have a visitor arriving tomorrow and staying with us for 2 nights.  It really is a shame that I will be spending the 2 days she is here at work, but I really have zero vacation time left so such is life.  Either way, it will be good to catch up with an old friend.  She likes to swim and used to lifeguard in fact!  So we will probably hit up the pool both evenings as soon as I get off work.  Maybe she can give me some pointers for my stroke. 

 For training, this week is a recovery week, of course, the past 2 have been dismal in my opinion, but still more than my training plan calls for, so I am not going to freak out about missing time this week; although I suspect I will get more than the minimum done.  I felt strong on the treadmill today.  I know it is the treadmill and not the open road, but after feeling miserable, I am happy that I was able to keep running for 2 hours!  I did nearly 19km, which is a slower pace for me, but I am always slower on the treadmill.  When I compare to four weeks prior to last year’s hypothermic half, I am doing more mileage and managing to get more runs outside (which is crazy because I’ve been running on the treadmill a lot).  I’m looking forward to doing a quick January recap later this week in terms of training numbers because the numbers are GOOD!  And numbers don’t lie!  Going forward though, I want to definitely start concentrating more and more on QUALITY in addition to QUANTITY.  And of course, listening to my body, which is an ongoing challenge for me. 

I work Saturday this week (hence why I am off today), so it’s possible you won’t hear from me until after that with visitors coming and what not.  For now, I need to get off this computer, get my supper prepared and try and do some cleaning before I head out to core class!  Happy Monday!

Half Ironman Training, Week 3

If you need to catch up to speed, go check out Week 1 and Week 2!

Well, unfortunately, this week also sucked.  I still did almost as much as plan called for (except for the swimming which I found aggravated my sinus pressure/pain, so I only did one swim).  Like I said in my last couple of posts, it was a matter of listening to my body because of this illness.  Today I feel much better than I have the past couple days, but just felt very tired and dragged out, so I cut my run short (12 km instead of 18) and took a nap instead of going to the pool.

Eating this week has not been good.  At all.  It started well but as I started feeling more and more miserable, the eating went to crap.  I used my illness as a way to feel sorry for myself and allow myself the extra helping at dinner than I didn’t need or the chocolate that I have been trying to avoid.  As a result, I gained 1.8 lb and I totally deserved that.  Hopefully I can take it off this week as I get back on track. 

I just really hope this is not a sign of what is to come with my training.  I’m trying to keep a positive attitude and see it as a minor road block.  Now that I am being treated, I should be back to my normal self in a couple of days.  This week is a recovery week and aside from ramping up the running, I do intend to decrease biking and swimming volume.

No strength training or yoga this week. 

Swim = 1500m  (it was a great swim except after I felt like my sinuses were going to explode)
Bike = 49 km (estimated.  Trainer and spin class)
Run = 38 km

Only did 10 min of stretching.  Bad me!  But I did do an hour of cross country skiing and I loved it!

This post feels like a bit of a downer, but I just hate feeling under the weather and I am kicking myself for not getting treatment earlier.  Next week I will be peppier, I guarantee it!

Ups and Downs of Week 2 of Half Iron Training

Well, it was an interesting week that started out strong, but life happened and I didn’t get to run as much as I wanted.  I still did a little more than what my training plan called for.  But, of course, I am nervous about my half marathon at the end of February.  I am starting to feel like maybe I should skip it because it doesn’t really line up with my training.  However, at the same time, I think I need to race so I can remind myself why I love this so much!  I’m not going to lie, I’m in a bit of a funk this week.  I blame the weather.

Most of my runs in January have been inside on the treadmill.  It has been very icy out as a result of a thaw-freeze process due to warmer than seasonal temperatures and I am too cautious and worried that I will fall and injure myself.  I’m a klutz, so it’s really not that far-fetched.  Then, we got launched into a deep freezer this week with temperatures of -40!  I wish I was exaggerating.  But that made it very hard to stay motivated.  I also had a couple of very busy days at work resulting in a missed spin class and just feeling drained.

Then yesterday during my long run with the dog, I fell at the beginning of the run, dressed well for the weather but my stomach was FREEZING!  I dropped my dog off after 7 km and decided to pack it in myself because if I was already cold, it wouldn’t be so smart to keep on running.  I planned to head out later to run my last 10km but I had a snack and laid down for a quick nap and when I woke up, I felt awful.  I haven’t been feeling tip-top all week to be honest.  After my swim on Sunday, my sinuses were congested and painful and it has continued off and on all week.  I was sick in December and about 10 days later, developed laryngitis and it has kind of been lingering on.  One day I will speak normall and the next day, my voice is squeaky.  On Friday night, I had to stop talking entirely.  That was probably the most painful of this whole week!

Anyways, I’m fairly happy with the week except for the running.  I cut 3 runs short because I wasn’t feeling it.  I guess that is part of listening to your body, but I sure hope this week upcoming is better.  I didn’t feel great when I first woke up and thought today would be a write-off too, but after eating and drinking some fluids and using the neti-pot to flush out the sinuses, I decided I will try a long run later and see how it goes.  Could be anywhere between 3 and 17 km!

Here is a summary of my week:

Swim – 4250 m
Bike – 47 km (estimated as it was all on the trainer)
Run – 20 km (wish it was more but still more than my program is calling for at this point, so I guess I am happy)

Strength training – 1 hour
Stretching – 36 mins (should have been more)
No yoga 😦

You know it’s cold when…

… When you get in the car in the morning and your tires feel square as you drive away.

When your milk in your lunch bag freezes because you left it in the car while swimming for an hour and a half.

When you can’t wait until Saturday because the weather is forecasting a high of -20 and low of a balmy -25!

… This concludes day 2 in the deep freeze. This morning on my drive to work, it was -42. Seriously. Without any wind!

Needless to say, my training will be all indoors until at least Saturday!

Week 1 of Half Ironman Training!

… is complete!  And I survived it!  Of course, I am modifying it a little bit as I am doing a half marathon next month, but it was a great week!  I swam 2850m, biked 77 km (all estimated as it is all indoor training at this point in time) and ran 37 km (unfortunately, all on the treadmill due to icy conditions and now very very cold temperatures).  I also did my usual Core Condition Class and did 20 minutes of strength training on my own.  I am keeping up with the stretching and did a total of 70 minutes of stretching over the week.  I honestly think that is going to help me tremendously with my recovery! 

I did not fit in a yoga class this week.   I am really missing yoga, but just finding it difficult to fit it into my routine.  I am happy that I have done a lot of stretching the last 2 weeks and I definitely incorporate some yoga poses with my stretching, especially pigeon pose.  I find that pose to really help me feel the stretch through my cranky old lady hip and into the glute.  I discovered the foam roller this week!  Ummm… wow!  Why didn’t anybody let me in on this little secret before?  I have been using one at the gym and I am hoping to actually buy one in the next few weeks so I can roll at home.  It has really helped with some of those tight muscles!

Another fun fact of the week!  I did some strength training on my own.  I am pretty clueless, so I just wing it.  I get bored easily, so it usually only lasts for 20 minutes, but at least it is something.  Usually I do a few moves from my core class and I was definitely feeling sore the next day so that is good.  I decided to do some push-ups…. full push-ups, no on your knees crap!  I did 3 sets and managed to do 2, 4 and 2 in each set.  I was surprised that I could even complete one full one, so to do 4 in a row is awesome!  I would like to be able to do 10 in a row by my birthday in April.  I think that is easily achieveable.

Motivation was a little difficult this week.  I just got to the point where I would just drag myself to the gym and then I would be fine.  I think all this indoor training is bumming me out!  I want to be outdoors!  It snowed this weeked, so that is good!!  I’m hoping that it will provide traction on the ice so that I can run without fear of falling and breaking a bone.  Also, if there is enough AND if it can warm up to -20 Celsius (presently -24 with a windchill of -37 Celsius), then I can break out the cross country skis again!!!

In the end for motivation, I remind myself why I do this.  I do it because I love it!  Sure, sometimes it’s hard to fit in or I feel lazy and would almost rather zone out in front of the tele for the evening rather than run for an hour…. but in the end, I’m always happier when I get my workout in!

Oh!  And weight-wise, tracking everything really worked for me this week.  I ate between 1900 and 3200 calories every day, avoided “junk” food, did not consume any alcohol and tried to choose good foods.  I managed to lose 3 lbs!  Really pumped about that.  I am trying to focus on food as fuel for the training I am doing and that is helping.  I indulged yesterday by eating a chocolate bar (my first of 2012) and a beer.  Today, I am ready to rock it! 

Today starts Week 2!  In 27 weeks, I will be crossing the finish line of my first half ironman!  Visualize it and believe it!

 

Half Ironman Training Officially Begins….

…. Tomorrow!

I am excited/scared/nervous!  I found a 28 week plan that I am going to work on.  The plan calls for 3 runs, 3 bikes and 3 swims per week.  It’s not going to be easy to fit it all in.  My goal is to do 3 runs (with maybe a 4th one thrown in since I’m also preparing for a half marathon in Feb), 2-3 bikes and 2-3 swims per week.  Also, I’m planning to continue my core class and hoping to find time to fit some yoga in there as well.

This past week was a really strong week for me!  I ran 5 times (I did next week’s long run today) for a total of 48 km; biked twice (once on my trainer and one spin class) for an estimated 63 km and I swam twice for 3150m.  I also did over an hour of strength (core class) and 50 min total for stretchng (which is 30-40 min more than most weeks!).  I’m pretty happy about this.

I was really starting to get worried about my half marathon in February since I have been doing a lot of my runs on the treadmill due to the ice.  Then I looked back to the weeks leading up to last year’s hypothermic half and I was doing a lot of treadmill runs then as well and less mileage/time in total than I am now!  So that makes me feel a little better about it.  I would love to be able to break 2 hours.  I know I can do it, just have to keep training.

In other news, I gained 4.5 lbs over the holidays.  This makes me sad and a little ashamed that I once again, allowed myself to eat pretty much whatever during Christmas and New Year’s.  I also drank a lot of alcohol.  My first week “back on track” resulted in a total loss of ZERO.  I was hungry all week to be honest!  I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I will probably be hungry until July!  Also, we had take out last night.  Boo.  I think it’s time to start tracking my food and calories again for a while to get myself back on track.  Luckily, I’m still down 4.5 lbs from where I was in October, so I will just hold on to that and just keep on trucking!

Rookie Mistake

For somebody who can be smart, I can also be a downright idiot!

This is my 4th year of winter running so you would think I would have everything down to a tee now in terms of safety and what exactly to wear for each temperature.  But you would be inaccurate with that assumption.  This mostly results from the fact that sometimes I don’t use my brain to its full capacity.  I got home tonight and decided to run.  It was just after getting dark and while it was cold, there was no wind and it looked like it wasn’t too slippery/icy out.  I checked the Weather Network forecast and it said -13.  So, I wore the clothes that usually work for me in -13.  I ran out to my car to grab my headlamp and it was quite cold!  But I figured I would warm up once I started moving.

I got through my first mile and I was freezing!  I could barely feel my legs and my feet felt like junks of ice.  Usually by the time I get to 1 mile, I have warmed up and I’m feeling good and getting into a groove.  Usually, I may still be a little on the cool side, but never “freezing!”.  I should have turned home but I decided to keep on going.  I figured I had my cell with me and could always ring if I needed to bail.  I kept on running.  At around 3.5 km, I passed by my friend’s street and I considered popping by her house and asking for a ride home.  That should have been a sign, that I should have done just that.  I was actually enjoying the run except for the fact that it was so stupidly cold!

I kept running.  By the time I got to 5 km, I was finally starting to warm up!  I knew it was just a matter of time!  I kept on going but seemed to be running slow.  I got home and walked upstairs and all of a sudden, I was in so much pain!  My stomach, butt, upper legs and calves were on fire and tingling like pins and needles!  I took off my clothes and it looked like someone had thrown scalding hot water on me!  I touched it and it was FREEZING!   It was so painful and itchy.  It was awful!  I immediately ran a lukewarm bath and jumped in!  RELIEF.  After that, I had a nice hottish shower.  I got out and dressed up in my warmest flannel PJs.  I’m stilll freezing, but at least now my teeth have stopped chattering.

What a rookie mistake!  I am just happy that I was only planning on an 8 km run because if I had been running for longer or further, I could have really gotten myself into trouble.

For the record, it had to have been WAY COLDER than -13 out there!  You can’t always trust the weather forecast to tell you realtime weather!  Also, I should have used my brain… it really is commonsense that the temperature is going to drop now that it was dark and night time out there!

Anyways, hopefully someone out there will learn from my mistake!

November Wrap Up

I can not believe that it is December already!  I just can’t believe it.  I made the comment the other day and it is so true “I’m still waiting for summer to get here!”.  haha!  But truthfully, I am excited about winter mostly because I love to ski and snowshoe!  Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten great weather for that yet, which makes me quite sad.  Right now, it is a mess of ice out there.  BOO!  Anyways, here are some things that made November so great!

1) Started my new job!  It’s going great and I am really enjoying the hours and the job.  Change is good!

2) I got to go cross country skiing twice!!!  It was so much fun! 

3)  I got to see my friends lots!  I went to THREE parties in one month!  That has to be a record for me…. I also drank way more than I should have this month….  all in good fun I guess.  I got to reconnect with an old friend as well.

4) It was a great month of training.  I’m working on building a nice winter base in all 3 sports so that when it’s time to really start training for my half, I am somewhat comfortable with the distances!
– I spent 9.5 hours on the bike (trainer and spin class)
– I ran 124 km!
– I swam 11.5 km!
– I did 4 hours of strength training/core (All at Karen’s amazing Core Condition Class).
– In total, I did 36 hours of exercise!

5) I lost 3.5 lbs this month (unfortunately, I gained 2 this week…. more on that in another post! LOL)

6) I got to spend more time with my husband than I have in a very long time, which makes me super happy!

All in all, a great month!  I think December promises to be even more amazing!

What I Did This Weekend

Pretty low key weekend overall. 

I started it out right Friday night with a 1 hour spin on the trainer.  After that I was pretty much toast.

Saturday morning I had an appointment to get my hair done early.  I was worried that I would be bored for the rest of the day, but it was an awesome day actually!  First, I went for coffee with my friend.  Then, I met another friend and we went to the Farmer’s Market Christmas Fair.  It was awesome!  So many great vendors.  I also discovered a very tasty wine made right here in Alberta!  I picked up 4 different kinds and so far I have tried the raspberry which is AMAZING!  I’m not usually a big fan of fruit wine (other than grapes of course for your reds and whites!).  But it was very tasty.  The winery is called Birds and Bees Winery

Saturday night was Corey’s work Christmas party.  Dinner and a comedian.  I was dying of tiredness.  My hair appointment was at 9 so I got to “sleep in” until 7:30 and I did no exercise and drank lots of coffee, but I was still dropping!  I couldn’t even finish my last beer.  It was fun to get out, but we were home by 10 and I was sound asleep by 11:00!

Sunday was another fairly low-key day.  We went for coffee first thing as I had run out of coffee at home!  We then went grocery shopping and came home and cleaned a little.  I headed out on my run with the dog and we did 13.5 km!  It was great!  It was pretty slippery out though since it had warmed up and then frozen over night, but most places were ok, it just took some route rearrangement!  After that, I watched a movie, did some more cleaning and then hopped on the trainer for a quick 45 minutes.

There, weekend finito!

Oh, yes, there was one more thing!  I wrote a long and detailed post about running with Sidney!  And….. somehow most of it got deleted before I could post it, so you will have to wait!  And I doubt it will be nearly as long or detailed because now I’m just annoyed and pissed off!

Oh yeah!  And ONE more thing!  I registered for a half marathon in February!  It’s official, hypothermic half marathon, here I come!

Last Week’s Goals

 

1) Run X 4 – I ran only 3 times, but they were all such solid runs that I don’t feel like it matters that I “only” got 4.
2) Bike X 3 with one bike at 1h 15m in duration – Only did twice…. but I cross country skiied twice!  That has to count for something!  Longest ride was 1:01
3) Swim X 2 with one swim at least 40 mins in duration – YES 🙂  Both swims were 40 mins or longer
4) Core class X 1 – Check
5) Yoga X 1 – No 😦
6) Meal plan the night before – For lunches I did, but not for dinners
7) Clean off my kitchen table (seriously, it is a disaster!) – Nope, did not do it (Pathetic but true)
Order Christmas gifts – Nope
9) Wrap and start mailing presents for those that live in Newfoundland! – Nope
10) I would like to lose another pound this week, so clean eating and healthy portion sizes – Did it!

This Week’s Goals

 

1) Run X 3
2) Bike X 3 with one bike at 1h 09m in duration
3) Swim X 2
4) Core class X 1 – Check
5) Yoga X 1 (not sure where I’m gonna fit it in!)
6) Less than 5 alcoholic drinks (I’m already at 2, so I need motivation to stay on track!)
7) Clean off my kitchen table (seriously, it is a disaster!)
Order Christmas gifts – Nope
9) Wrap and start mailing presents for those that live in Newfoundland!
10) I would like to lose another pound this week, so clean eating and healthy portion sizes

A Great Start to the Week!

I decided on Sunday morning that I had whined about winter and the cold temperatures enough.  I bundled up and met a group (albeit small because there were only 3 of us this week!) and did a fabulous 12.5 km run!  I felt pretty good throughout… overdressed slightly so  I was cold on the second half due to sweating.  I felt strong for the whole thing.  I still haven’t replaced my Garmin, but I didn’t even care when I was running with the group!  I have no idea what my pace or time was and I only know the distance because we did the exact same route a couple weeks ago.

In the afternoon, I further embraced winter and bundled up again for a ski!  I only did 3 km and it took me nearly 30 minutes… there were pauses for chatting with my friend in there as well.  But it was fun and I didn’t fall down for once!  It just felt good to get out in the fresh air.

I am definitely feeling the effects of all of that today!  I always get sore in the very front of my hips and the very bottom of my glutes after a ski.  It hurts.  But a good kind of hurt.  And that did not slow me down today!

I hit the pool with my new training plan in hand to swim 2150m.  Unfortunately, I did press snooze a couple times, so instead of having the alloted 57 minutes to swim, I only had about 40.  I did 1500 m and called it a day.  I felt great!  I felt strong and I actually felt like I could have kept going even though I was going much faster than the paces in the training plan!  I just need to haul myself out of bed with that first alarm and not have to come back to the house after getting in my car…. had to do that twice today!

After work I hit the usual Monday night C3 core conditioning class.  It was awesome as usual.  This class is constantly challenging me and it pushes me way more than if I were to do an hour of strength training on my own.  I noticed tonight that I am starting to push harder a lot of the core exercises!  Like I can go a little further than before or hold a position for a little longer than before or I can actually do the variation that makes it more challenging!  This is quite exciting for me and it shows me that going to these classes IS making my core stronger!  I don’t attend this class with an illusion of getting a ripped 6-pack (I eat too much and too badly for that), but I want to be stronger and improve my core strength to prevent any re-injury to my back of sacroiliac joint/muscles.