So in case any of you were wondering if I was eaten by a shark at our training tri last weekend, I wasn't. However, I remained paranoid throughout the 1.2 mile swim and determined the water was a bit too fishy, literally.
The ocean wasn't the only fishy water. For some unknown reason, I took tap water along for my training tri bike ride. Bad move, very bad move. The tap water was disgusting and as a result, yours truly didn't drink a-n-y water on her bike ride. Nor did she drink water on her run (yes, the Fuel Belt contained tap water, too).
The fishy water, combined with only one Gu on the bike, caused my body to revolt. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday saw me craving calories, fighting body aches, feeling beyond rundown. I've been stuffing my face with Vitamin C since.
Lesson learned.
I have got to get my nutrition down pat. Tim packed boiled potatoes in his back pocket while training for IM Coeur d'Alene last year. I'm going to try my all-time favorite: peanut butter sandwiches. That's right - I will pack a PB sandwich in my back pocket(s)! I'm getting excited just thinking about it.
One more item on the agenda before I call it a night... I went swimming at the UCI pool on Wednesday night. No threat of sharks. No fishy water. Or so I thought. As I was nearing the end of my 2,700 yard workout, lo and behold, I started smelling hot dogs in the water. That's right - the newcomer in the lane next to me smelled like hot dogs. I kid you not. And let me just tell you, I will take fishy water any day over hot dog water. Isn't it ironic (Alanis)?
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Recovery: The Act of Returning to Normal
This week has been a recovery week. (Can I get an "amen" from the audience?) Tim and I have drastically reduced the intensity of our workouts since Monday and even (gasp) slept in. Our long run felt short on Tuesday night - only 75 minutes. And we actually took Wednesday completely off.
Speaking of Wednesday, it was Tim's birthday. I offered to make a special birthday dinner for him, and surprisingly, he accepted. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I cannot cook. But I have to say, I actually prepared a decent meal last night. And we're both still here to talk about it, so that's good. I swear, as soon as I give up livin' the IronLife, I'll take a few cooking lessons...maybe.
But back to our recovery week. We just finished our third training block (meaning three weeks of build, one week of recovery) and are enjoying our third week of recovery since June. I'm learning to take full advantage of these recovery weeks. I'm slowing down the pace a bit, taking advantage of flatter bike rides and catching up on my Oprah magazines. I love Oprah, even if she doesn't do tris.
We'll go for a bike ride tomorrow and prep for a training tri on Saturday. This training tri includes a mile swim in the Pacific Ocean. I'm really wishing I hadn't watched "Shark Bite Summer" on the Discovery Channel last week...
Our recovery week will end on Sunday. Then it's back to building, Body Glide and business!
Speaking of Wednesday, it was Tim's birthday. I offered to make a special birthday dinner for him, and surprisingly, he accepted. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I cannot cook. But I have to say, I actually prepared a decent meal last night. And we're both still here to talk about it, so that's good. I swear, as soon as I give up livin' the IronLife, I'll take a few cooking lessons...maybe.
But back to our recovery week. We just finished our third training block (meaning three weeks of build, one week of recovery) and are enjoying our third week of recovery since June. I'm learning to take full advantage of these recovery weeks. I'm slowing down the pace a bit, taking advantage of flatter bike rides and catching up on my Oprah magazines. I love Oprah, even if she doesn't do tris.
We'll go for a bike ride tomorrow and prep for a training tri on Saturday. This training tri includes a mile swim in the Pacific Ocean. I'm really wishing I hadn't watched "Shark Bite Summer" on the Discovery Channel last week...
Our recovery week will end on Sunday. Then it's back to building, Body Glide and business!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Miles of Motivation
I'm dedicating tonight's post to Motivation. I had a lot of time to think about motivation today, what with my five hour bike ride and 50 minute run. I also had a lot of time to think about what "normal" Saturday mornings are like, but Tim told me to concentrate on that "later" (as in December).
So back to motivation. As we ramp up the mileage in preparation for Ironman Arizona, I find that I need to simultaneously ramp up the motivation. The workouts are becoming more intense and more exhausting, and my tri shorts are becoming less and less padded. This adventure is downright hard - but that's also why it's so dang powerful. I find myself seeking motivation in the little things...
For instance, motivation got me out of bed at 5 o'clock this morning to eat breakfast. (Okay, truth be told, Tim got me out of bed and threatened me with the likelihood of digestive issues if I didn't eat early enough, but for blog purposes, I'm going with motivation.)
Motivation prompted me to ride Santiago Canyon as fast as I could. (Actually, it was my afore-mentioned extremely small bladder that caused me to book it to the bathroom at the other end of Santiago Canyon, but, you know...)
And it was motivation that pushed me along the 50 minute run today - that and a little David Archuleta iTunes action (yes, it's true - I listen to his music, shamelessly).
But for the most part, I find myself motivated by food. Period. Point blank. Bring it. Strap on the feed bag. Home-girl's hungry.
I'm motivated, all right. Pass the Gu, please.
So back to motivation. As we ramp up the mileage in preparation for Ironman Arizona, I find that I need to simultaneously ramp up the motivation. The workouts are becoming more intense and more exhausting, and my tri shorts are becoming less and less padded. This adventure is downright hard - but that's also why it's so dang powerful. I find myself seeking motivation in the little things...
For instance, motivation got me out of bed at 5 o'clock this morning to eat breakfast. (Okay, truth be told, Tim got me out of bed and threatened me with the likelihood of digestive issues if I didn't eat early enough, but for blog purposes, I'm going with motivation.)
Motivation prompted me to ride Santiago Canyon as fast as I could. (Actually, it was my afore-mentioned extremely small bladder that caused me to book it to the bathroom at the other end of Santiago Canyon, but, you know...)
And it was motivation that pushed me along the 50 minute run today - that and a little David Archuleta iTunes action (yes, it's true - I listen to his music, shamelessly).
But for the most part, I find myself motivated by food. Period. Point blank. Bring it. Strap on the feed bag. Home-girl's hungry.
I'm motivated, all right. Pass the Gu, please.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Ironman Training on the Fly
I've been AWOL for a few days. There's a reason for that. Tim and I were in Columbus (as in Ohio) this past weekend, at Kitsy and Damon's wedding extravaganza. [Insert shout out for Kitsy and Damon here!]
Because we're psycho, Team Middleton woke up at 5am on Friday, wolfed down a quick breakfast, threw on some spandex and sunscreen, and went wheels up at 5:45am. Tim mapped out a course that consisted of 90% right-hand turns (because who wants to wait at red lights when you have a plane to catch?) and multiple, brutal hills. The good news is, that because I was sweating so much riding up hills, I only had to dismount once to use the bathroom. The bad news is that I had to ride a ton of hills. But I survived.
Four hours later, we both arrived back home, propped up the bikes in our garage, stumbled into our running shoes, grabbed our Fuel Belts, and hit the Back Bay for a quick run.
Less than an hour later, we were back home, tossing off our Fuel Belts, getting showers, zipping up our suitcases, downing Endurox, stretching while applying deoderant...you get the idea.
By noon, we were off to the airport to check in and, more importantly, inhale chicken sandwiches and french fries. We flew to Dallas, ate more chicken sandwiches, and boarded another flight to the C-bus. Once in the C-bus, we picked up our rental car and headed for the Best Western (it's all about the AAA discount). It was midnight on the east coast, and Tim and I were hungry - again. We pulled into the local Speedway, 500 meters from our hotel, and loaded up on chips, chocolate and M&Ms. This would be the Speedway with the 3 inch thick glass between the general public and the cashiers...
After that lovely midnight snack, Saturday morning saw us wake up to the Best Western "continental" breakfast (where we ate waffles and more carbohydrates). Then it was wedding time! Then it was brunch time (yes, we ate a LOT at brunch). Then it was run time. Then it was iced coffee time. Then it was Panera Bread time. Then it was reception time: chipwiches, beer, wine, more chipwiches. Then it was after-party time: more beer, maybe a margarita, chips and salsa, chicken fingers. Then it was: "What were we thinking? I don't know, but it's way past our bedtime" time.
Can you guess what we did Sunday? Yep, we ate. A lot. More airport food. More chips. More "what was I thinking?!" food.
So now it's Monday and we're back on the Ironman training schedule. A little gym action this morning, a 2,500 yard swim this evening, prepping for a bike ride in the morning. And...we're officially detoxing from our weekend on the fly. No more Speedway, no more airport food. Back to the hills.
Because we're psycho, Team Middleton woke up at 5am on Friday, wolfed down a quick breakfast, threw on some spandex and sunscreen, and went wheels up at 5:45am. Tim mapped out a course that consisted of 90% right-hand turns (because who wants to wait at red lights when you have a plane to catch?) and multiple, brutal hills. The good news is, that because I was sweating so much riding up hills, I only had to dismount once to use the bathroom. The bad news is that I had to ride a ton of hills. But I survived.
Four hours later, we both arrived back home, propped up the bikes in our garage, stumbled into our running shoes, grabbed our Fuel Belts, and hit the Back Bay for a quick run.
Less than an hour later, we were back home, tossing off our Fuel Belts, getting showers, zipping up our suitcases, downing Endurox, stretching while applying deoderant...you get the idea.
By noon, we were off to the airport to check in and, more importantly, inhale chicken sandwiches and french fries. We flew to Dallas, ate more chicken sandwiches, and boarded another flight to the C-bus. Once in the C-bus, we picked up our rental car and headed for the Best Western (it's all about the AAA discount). It was midnight on the east coast, and Tim and I were hungry - again. We pulled into the local Speedway, 500 meters from our hotel, and loaded up on chips, chocolate and M&Ms. This would be the Speedway with the 3 inch thick glass between the general public and the cashiers...
After that lovely midnight snack, Saturday morning saw us wake up to the Best Western "continental" breakfast (where we ate waffles and more carbohydrates). Then it was wedding time! Then it was brunch time (yes, we ate a LOT at brunch). Then it was run time. Then it was iced coffee time. Then it was Panera Bread time. Then it was reception time: chipwiches, beer, wine, more chipwiches. Then it was after-party time: more beer, maybe a margarita, chips and salsa, chicken fingers. Then it was: "What were we thinking? I don't know, but it's way past our bedtime" time.
Can you guess what we did Sunday? Yep, we ate. A lot. More airport food. More chips. More "what was I thinking?!" food.
So now it's Monday and we're back on the Ironman training schedule. A little gym action this morning, a 2,500 yard swim this evening, prepping for a bike ride in the morning. And...we're officially detoxing from our weekend on the fly. No more Speedway, no more airport food. Back to the hills.
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