Week 11: April 22-28, 2013

This week was a disaster training-wise.  Claudia and Mark had been sick the week before, and towards the end of last week I started to get that I'm-fighting-a-losing-battle feeling in my throat.  By Tuesday night, my body gave in.  I managed to eek out one of my scheduled double workouts on Wednesday morning and then had to take the rest of the week off.  I even went home sick from work on Friday.  By Saturday morning I had two doses of antibiotics and loads of decongestants and pain meds in me and I was starting to feel much better.  I was able to get in Saturday's 2.5 hour ride (on the trainer, due to Nate's all-day lacrosse tournament) and Sunday's short ride and run. I am happy to be (mostly) done with the illness and ready to get my workouts back on schedule.

Monday: off
Tuesday: 6.25 mi run, at 10 min. insert 5x1min pick ups w/ 1 min easy in between
3050 yard swim:
500 sw, 5x50s Dr/sw
3x100s on 1:20 desc
50 ez
3x300s hard on 4:30 (3:56, 3:56, 3:57)
50 ez
3x200s IM on 3:00
50 ez
3x100s free hard effort on 1:30
50 ez
30 min of strength training/core
Wednesday: 45 min z1 trainer spin; was supposed to be followed by a 30 min z2 run, but I took the dog for a 20 min walk instead
Thursday: off due to illness; skipped swim and bike workouts
Friday: off due to illness; skipped swim and run workouts
Saturday: 2.5 hour z1-2 trainer ride; skipped 15 min transition run due to lax tourney
Sunday: 30 min z1 trainer ride, followed by 8.25 mi z1 run with Beth and Barbara.

Weekly training stats:
Swim: 3050 yards
Bike: 3:45 hours
Run: 14.5 miles
Strength: 30 min
Total hours: 7:49 hours

Training cycle totals:
Swim: 58,450 yards (35.42 miles)
Bike: 37:49 hours + 115 miles
Run: 218.38 miles
Total hours: 111:55 hours

Week 10: April 15-21, 2013

The first 10 week training block is in the books!  These next 6 weeks will be the busiest of the year, with school wrapping up and the kids' spring sports schedules, so getting enough sleep to hit all of my workouts will probably not happen.  Already the strength training is sliding, as well as the nights of full, solid sleep...but summer vacation is so close.  As long as I maintain my base, start incorporating some of the prescribed speed work, and make sure I stay healthy then I know I'll be okay.

Monday: off
Tuesday: 6 mi z2 run in 52 min, followed by 3000 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw, 50 ez
3x100s on 1:20, desc
50 ez
10x25s fly on :30
50 ez
6x200s on 3:15 100 free/100 kick
100 ez
4x75s rotating IM order on 1:15
Wednesday: 45 min z2 spin, followed by 3.1 mi run in :26:30
Thursday: 1:15 hr z1 high cadence spin (did in the p.m.)
Morning 2750 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw, 50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 desc
100 ez
8x125s IM as 50/25/25/25, rotating the 50 through the strokes on 2:00
100 ez
8x50s hard on 1:20, choice
100 ez
Friday: 6.26 mi z2 run in 56:56
30 min strength
Saturday: 3:15 trainer ride, avg HR 131
Sunday: 12 mile trail run at Highbanks Metro Park in just over 2 hours (wore my new Innov-8 trail shoes and loved them!)

Weekly totals
Swim: 5750 yards (3.48 miles)
Bike: 5:15 hours
Run: 27.36 miles (longest running mileage in a while!)
Strength: 30 minutes
Hours: 11:56

Training cycle totals:
Swim: 55,400 yards (33.57 miles)
Bike: 34:05 hours + 115 miles
Run: 203.88 miles
Total hours: 104:06

Week 9: April 8-14, 2013

Another week down and another week closer to the end of the "first trimester" of training.  This week was a little hectic with Mark preparing to leave for a long weekend for a bike race in upstate NY, and to be quite honest I was just going through the motions during my workouts.  I looked ahead at the schedule and saw that one of the weekday bike sessions is about to get longer, so I rearranged the schedule a little bit so that I'm now doing run/swim on Tuesdays and a longer bike/mini brick run on Wednesdays.  Although my motivation was lagging this week, I got all of the scheduled workouts in, including a mind-numbing 3 hour trainer ride early Saturday morning.

Saturday's ride actually felt good--nothing hurt, including my back and butt.  I broke the ride up into hour-long segments, increasing the wattage each hour from 100w to 135w to 150w for the final hour, while keeping my heartrate in Z2.  I also worked on my fueling strategy, which still needs plenty of tweaking.  During the 3 hours, I went through three 24-oz bottles of water, one 20 oz. bottle of Perpetuem, a waffle ride sandwich with cream cheese and honey, and half of a bacon cashew rice bar.  I felt dehydrated afterwards and probably should have thrown in another 20 oz of Perpetuem.  I also discovered that the waffles did not hold up too well being frozen and thawed, so it may be back to the drawing board on those.  Next week I think I'll experiement with plain old PB and honey sandwiches.

Since I was a single parent this weekend, I got up pre-dawn on Sunday morning and got my run in before the kids woke up.  It was such a gorgeous morning for a solo neighborhood run...

One of my favorite meals that I made this week was stuffed acorn squash (thank you once again, pinterest).  The filling was brown rice, broccoli, red pepper, green onion, and chicken sausage...

How fun is this?!

Weekly training stats:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 5.25 mi run, followed by 3200 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw, 50 ez
3x100s on 1:20, desc
50 ez
Ladder set:
2x (100 free/25 stroke/75 free/50 stroke/50 free/75 stroke/25 free/100 stroke); free on :20 per 25yd base, stroke on :30 per 25yd base
100 ez
3x100s on 1:20, desc
4x (50 kick on 1:00/25 sprint stroke on :30)
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20, desc<---these used to really hurt by the second or third time through, but now they are not so bad!
50 ez
Wednesday: 1:15 z2 trainer ride, followed by 2.34 mi brick run
40 min strength and core
Thursday: 50 min z2 trainer ride, followed by 3400 yd swim:
500 warm up, 4x50s dr/sw, 50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 desc
50 ez
3x (100 free on 1:20, 4x25s IM order on :30, 100 IM on 1:30, 4x25s free on :30)
50 ez
Up-and-down ladder set: 100 kick, 25 swim, 75 kick, 50 swim, 50 kick, 75 swim, 25 kick, 100 swim.
100 ez
4x (50 swim, 2x25s sprint)
50 ez
Friday: 7 mi z2 run
Saturday: 3:00 hr z2 trainer ride
Sunday: 7.67 mi z2 run, 30 min strength and core

Weekly totals:
Swim: 6600 yds (4 mi)
Bike: 4:05 hrs
Run: 22.26 mi
Strength: 1:10 hrs
Hours: 11:48

Training cycle totals:
Swim: 49,650 yds (30.09 mi)
Bike: 28:50 hrs + 115 mi
Run: 176.52
Hours: 92:10

Week 8: April 1-7, 2013

Recovery week #2, coinciding with spring break, meant a little bit of sleeping in this week.  Ahhh!  Ended up spending the week running errands and getting caught up on our Mt. Everest of laundry, playing with CC, and a full day with her at the zoo.  Was also able to go on a quick and easy ride with my friend, Beth, on Friday afternoon.  Beth is buying my old TT bike for her first half ironman later this year, so she wanted to take it out for a spin.  We're finally starting to see some semblance of spring weather, so I was able to get out on a second outdoor ride on Saturday.  I didn't feel the least bit bad for abandoning the computrainer.

Spring!

A cool suspension bridge on Saturday's ride...near Prairie Oaks Metro Park.

Monday: off
Tuesday: 30 min trainer spin
3250 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw, 50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
3x300s free on 4:15, holding 1:20/100 pace
50 ez
3x200s free on 3:00, holding 1:20/100 pace
50 ez
3x100s IM on 1:30
50 ez
3x50s choice, sprint, on 1:00
50 ez
Wednesday: 5.25 mi run in :49 min
45 min strength training/core
Thursday: 3000 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw,
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
4 x (50 sprint on 1:00 IM order/100 free on 1:45)
50 ez
4 x (50 sprint free on 1:00/100 IM on 2:00)
50 ez
10x 25s fly on :25
100 ez
8x25s on :30, 2 of each stroke
50 ez
Friday: 4 mi run in 37 min
EZ 20 mi ride w/ Beth to Wells Rd. and back, 1:24
Saturday: 40 mi ride to Prairie Oaks Metro Park and back, 2:20
PHIT bootcamp, 60 min.
Sunday: 10.13 mi at Glacier Ridge Metro Park in 1:28, avg HR 158--felt way harder than it should have, but each leg felt like it weighed 100 lbs. after yesterday's double beating.

Weekly totals:
Swim: 6250 yards
Bike: 30 min + 60 miles
Run: 19.38 miles
Strength: 1:45 hours
Total time: 10:54 hours

Training cycle totals:
Swim: 43,050 yards
Bike: 24:45 hours + 115 miles
Run: 154.26 miles
Total time: 80:22 hours

I tried a second "portable" recipe from The Feed Zone cookbook this week: "Waffle Ride Sandwich"
2 c. cooked brown rice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ripe banana
2 T. molasses (I substituted raw honey)
2 T. rice flour or potato flour (I substituted whole wheat flour)
1/2-1 c. milk (I used about 3/4 c. almond milk)

Mix all ingredients in food processor and pour into waffle iron.
It yielded 8 waffles.  I filled my waffle sandwich with a spread of greek yogurt cream cheese and honey and brought it with me on Saturday's ride.  It was delicious...far better than the bacon/rice/cashew bars from last week.  I froze the rest and look forward to taking them on future rides.

Week 7: March 25-31, 2013

This week was a vast improvement over last week, both in the health of the family and in my training.  Swimming was a little less intense this week, which i think helped give me my running legs back.  For now, anyway.

We were finally able to send the kids to the in-laws for the night Thursday night, so Mark and I planned out a long ride for Friday.  We've both been reading The Feed Zone: Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes cookbook, which contains recipes for meals and "portables"--homemade energy bars that are meant for eating on the ride or run.  The authors designed and used their recipes with Tour de France cyclists and the recipes contain natural foods with the right balance of carbs, protein, and fat.  I made a batch of their rice, bacon, and cashew bars and we took some with us on our ride.  They were a little bland, but the slightly sweet and salty combo hit the spot at the halfway point and quelled the craving for some solid food in my stomach.  All in all, Friday's ride was a fantastic start to the outdoor riding season...temperatures in the low 50s, the sun was shining, the wind wasn't too bad, and we got to spend 3+ quality hours together, so we were happy campers!

We also made a few friends along the way...

They were very curious, but we weren't sure if they thought we were going to feed them or if they wanted to spit on us.

We finished our "date day" off with dinner at The Rusty Bucket (including a huge helping of bread pudding--the bomb!) and watched some basketball.

Monday: off
Tuesday: 45 min. Z2 trainer spin
3250 yd. swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw
50 ez
5x100s free on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
5x100s IM on 1:45
50 ez.
4x100s kick on 1:45
50 ez
6x125s: 100 fr/25 stroke, IM order, on 1:50
50 ez
Wednesday: 6.78 mi run, avg HR 145, avg pace 8:59/mi
30 min. strength and core
Thursday: 60 min spin, avg HR135, 130w
2850 yd swim:
500 sw, 4x50s dr/sw
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
200 time trial on 3:00; did 200 free in 2:27
50 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
2x100s time trial on 2:00; 100 free in 1:06, 100 br in 1:28
50 ez
3x100s IM on 1:45
50 ez
4x50s time trial on 1:45
50 ez
3x100s kick on 2:00
Friday: 55 mile ride past Milford Center and back w/ Mark. 3:11 hours
Saturday: 8.25 mi group run in 1:11, avg HR high Z2 (155)
75 min advanced yoga class at Harbor Yoga
Sunday: 5.25 mi run, Z2 (avg HR 143), 47 min

Weekly stats:
Swim: 6100 yds
Bike: 1:45 trainer + 55 miles
Run: 20.28 mi
Strength: 1:45 hrs
Total: 11:45 hours

Training Cycle totals:
Swim: 36,800 yds
Bike: 24:15 hours + 55 miles
Run: 134.88 miles
Time: 69:28 hours

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.

Week 5: March 11-17, 2013

Another great week in the pool, but not so great week out on the run.  I decided to register for a half marathon that will take place in early June, the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run.  I haven't raced a half mary in almost 3 years, so I am looking forward to seeing what I can do with the past few years of marathon training miles in the bank.  This week puts me 12 weeks out from the race, so I thought I'd start to add in some hills and tempo work.  I threw in some hill repeats at the end of Wednesday's 5 miler, and then planned on a short tempo on Friday.  About a mile in to Friday's run I knew a tempo wasn't in the cards.  My legs felt heavy and my heart rate was up in high Z2/low Z3 at a 9:30 pace, which should be a warm up or recovery pace.  So, I scrapped the tempo and finished out with a recovery slog. I thought Saturday's run might be better, but that was not the case.  I think the anaerobic intervals in the pool and maybe the bootcamp class are catching up with me.  I also didn't sleep as well as I normall do--daylight savings seemed to have messed with the whole family's sleep schedule--so that probably played a role as well.  I know by now that bad weeks are to be expected, but it's hard for my type-A personality to give up on a workout once I set out to do it.  My plan is to not use my heart rate monitor or Garmin during my workouts this next week so I don't get too wrapped up in the numbers.

On a positive note, I had a great swim practice on Thursday.  We had another "sprint day" workout and I was able to better my 100 breast time from last week.  Loving my chlorine fix lately...

This just cracks me up, especially since they're Hawkeyes!

On the 'fueling' side of my training, I made a dinner dish on Thursday using kale, my new favorite leafy green:
Cook 1 1/2 cups brown rice and set aside
In 1 T. olive oil, sautee 6 cups chopped kale
Put half of the sauteed kale in a food processor and blend with 3/4 cup almond milk, 2-3 T. spicy brown mustard, and salt and pepper.
Pour mixture over the rice and stir in the remaining sauteed kale.
Place in a casserole dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and some mozarella cheese, drizzle with a little olive oil, and bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

I also made these homemade Almond Joy bars last night...

Not exactly on the Ironman training diet, but I promised my co-workers I'd be bringing in some treats on Monday.  At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.


Weekly training stats:
Monday: off
Tuesday: 45 min. Z2 trainer spin
3200 yd swim:
500 sw, 5x50s dr/sw
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
8x125s (100 free/25 fly, then back, br, fr) on 1:50
50 ez
5x100s kick (br) on 1:30
50 ez
5x100 IM on 1:50
Wednesday: 5.35 mi. run with 5x up-and-over hill repeats. Avg HR 155, avg pace 9:10
40 min. strength training and core
Thursday: 60 min. Z2 trainer spin
2500 yd. swim:
500sw, 5x50s sw/dr
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
2x100s sprint choice on 3:00; #1 breastroke 1:18 (2 sec faster than last week), #2 IM 1:17
100 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
2x50s sprint choice on 1:30; both breastroke, :36, :37
100 ez
3x100s on 1:20 w/ paddles
50 ez
4x25s sprint choice on 1:00; br/fr/br/fr, :18, :14, :19, :15
100 ez
Friday: 5 mile attempted-tempo-turned-recovery-slog, avg HR 147, avg pace 9:40
Saturday: 7 mi run, high Z2, avg HR 152, avg pace 9:44
55 min bootcamp
Sunday: 2.25 hour Z2 trainer ride; avg HR 137

Weekly totals:
Swim: 5700 yds.
Bike: 4 hours
Run: 17.35 miles
Strength: 1:35 hours
Hours: 10:10

Training cycle totals:
Swim: 27,300 yds.
Bike: 18:15 hours
Run: 93.35 miles
Total hours: 49:53