Week 6: March 18-24, 2013

This week was one where the best laid plans had to take a back seat to real life.  It started last Sunday evening with Nate coming down with a fever and bad cough--and Mark and I having to trade taking days off of work all week to stay home with him--and ended with Claudia getting a violent case of the stomach flu.  After 16 straight hours of vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain Mark took her to urgent care and they sent us to the ER to rule out appendicitis (thankfully, it wasn't).  With the sick kids, juggling work schedules, and lack of sleep, I ended up missing a couple of workouts and am left feeling completely wiped out.  That being said, I am so thankful that the illnesses were nothing serious--a trip to Children's Hospital with worst-case-scenarios running through your mind is a quick reminder to count your blessings.  And sweet little Claudia, in between bouts of dry heaving and whimpering, showed Mark how to say 'thank you' in sign language and then said "for taking such good care of me when I'm sick".  I can't tell you how glad we are to see this little face smiling again...

This weekend we were supposed to send the kids up to grandma and grandpa's house for a sleepover. Mark and I were going to take advantage of being kid-free and the 50 degree temperatures and hit the road for a 50 mile bike ride, but those plans changed with the kids being sick.  I settled for a long ride on the trainer early Saturday morning instead, with high hopes that I'll get an outdoor ride or two in over my spring break in another week.  5-8 inches of snow is in the forecast for early this coming week, but it's looking like sun and 60s for spring break!

Monday: off
Tuesday:
45 min trainer ride: 10 min warm up, 20 min @175w, 5 min. cool down
3400 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw one of each stroke
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
4x (125 IM--rotating 50/25/25/25 each stroke then 50 of each stroke sprint). 125s on 1:50, 50s on :50
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
4x (75 IM then 50 sprint, one of each stroke)
50 ez
8x50s kick, two of each stroke, on 1:00
8x25s, two of each stroke, on :30
Wednesday: 5 mi run; 30 min strength training and core
Thursday: 5 mi treadmill run, 1-2% incline @ 9:15 pace; skipped swim practice due to sick kiddo #1
Friday: unplanned day off due to sick kiddo #2
Saturday: 2:30 trainer ride @ 135w
Sunday: 11.25 mi trail run at Highbanks Metro Park; finished just shy of 2 hours.  A beautiful morning and a great way to end a stressful week...

Weekly stats:

Swim: 3400 yds

Bike: 4:15 hrs

Run: 21.25 mi

Strength: 30 min

Time: 7:50 hours

Training cycle stats:

Swim: 30,700 yds

Bike: 22:30 hours

Run: 114.6 miles

Total time: 57:43 hours

And here are a few "fueling" recipes from this week:

I've been trying to come up with a muffin recipe with no added sugar, and I think I've finally found a keeper:

No-sugar Oatmeal Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/4 c. oatmeal

1tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 c. almond milk

1 over-ripe banana

1 c. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c. dates, blended into a paste in food processor

1/2 c. natural peanut butter

Mix ingredients well. Bake at 350.

Tuna Tortilla

I usually eat a huge mixed-veggie salad for lunch, but have found the hard way that this is not usually the best option for my GI system when I've got a long run the next day.  So on Saturday, I had this instead:

One can of tuna mixed with half of an avocado and some chopped onion, spread on a toasted whole wheat tortilla, and drizzled with a little bit of Frank's hot sauce.

And lastly, I tried a chickpea "cookie" recipe that I found online.  I was skeptical, but they turned out to be pretty tasty.  Lydia loved them, even after I told her what was in them...

Protein-packed "Cookies"

1 can of chickpeas, drained 

1/3 c. vanilla flavored protein powder
2 T. water

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

1/2 c. dark chocolate chips

Blend first 3 ingredients in food processor until smooth.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for about 15 min until fork comes out clean.