What I'm Eating

Since I know nutrition will play a huge part of my IM training and race day, I went back to my nutritionist a few months ago. I want to make sure I'm not only fueling properly but that I'm also refueling so I'm ready for my next workout. First thing we did was start to up my calories. My workouts are not that intense right now but we wanted to get me to where I should be in terms of calories and we'll continue to increase as necessary when training really picks up in May.

I also want to add that I do not count calories or grams of carbs, proteins, etc. My nutritionist knows where I'm at with calories but I do not want to know that number. I'm trying to stay focused on eating right and focusing on the number of calories is not a healthy way for *me* to track food.

While I don't count calories, I do make sure I'm eating the appropriate servings of each food group every day. I have a goal of each food group and don't double count. Meaning, a piece of fruit counts as a fruit serving, not a carb serving. This is my daily range: 8 carbs/starches, 8-10 proteins, 4 fruits, 4 veggies, 3 dairy and 6 fats. In order to know serving sizes, I know what constitutes a serving (1 carb is 15g, 1 protein is 7g, etc). Below is an example of a typical day and yes, it's a lot of food. But people in training need to eat and I've lost a few pounds since upping my calories!

Breakfast*:

Oatmeal with protein powder, flax, chopped walnuts, banana, and milk (not shown, coffee, just black)

 

 Mid morning snack:

Fat free plain yogurt with berries (that I add, not store bought fruit yogurt) and unsweetened shredded coconut, vitamin C drop some time before lunch

 

Lunch:

Whole wheat wrap with my take on hummus (small white beans, lemon juice, onion, garlic, pepper, and cayenne pepper), egg whites, and cauliflower

 

Afternoon snack 1:

Carrots, apple, peanut butter square (all natural peanut butter mixed with some oats to keep it together and make it easier for transporting to work...I can't be around a jar of PB), not shown, a cup of plain hot tea 

Afternoon snack 2:

Popcorn, orange, almonds

 (I feel terrible about the baggie. I'm so anti baggie but we prepped so much food on Sunday we had no containers left. It's the first time I've used a baggie for lunch in YEARS and I'll make it a point to reuse this one for something)

Dinner:

Ground turkey with tomato, onion and peas served on top of red quinoa, asparagus

(There's a reason this dinner is weird. We realized we were losing food to the back of the pantry/freezer and then wasting a lot of stuff. So we started a little thing where on Sunday the majority of our dinner is made using things we already have on hand.)

Dessert: another glass of milk

*Some mornings, after longer workouts, I have a serving of Hammer Recoverite before breakfast.

Endless Pool Swim Lesson

Ever since last summer my goal has been to work on my swim stroke and try to be as efficient as possible. With swimming not being my strongest sport, I don't want to waste any more energy than I have to and I want to leave the water feeling ready to tackle the bike. I've been working hard and I have made some improvements which are confirmed in my swim times. I'm not talking major, life altering reductions or anything like that, but the improvement has been significant enough that I look forward to getting in the pool and seeing what I can do. Huge difference in my attitude from last summer.

Well, I recently stumbled upon a swim coach who trains out of his house using an endless pool and he came with some pretty impressive recommendations. I had no intention of meeting with another coach because I don't want to throw any crazy changes at this point into my swim routine, but I thought if I could get some tips on small changes to improve my efficiency, it'd be worth it.

I went for my first lesson on Monday and it was a really interesting experience. For one, I've never swam in an endless pool and it put my mental toughness to test. For a person who loves to run loops and loves the bike trainer, trying to swim for a minute in the endless pool felt like an eternity. But there were lots of aspects that I really liked. For one, you're never far away from the coach, he's literally right on the side of the pool watching you from the front/side/back and can see everything at all times. I also loved that when I did something right, I could immediately feel it because the current I was swimming in got easier. And my favorite part, there is a mirror directly under you on the bottom of the pool and one on a slant up near the motor so you can actually see yourself when trying to take notice of something you're doing wrong or right.

We didn't work on much the first time but we established a baseline of where I'm at and where I want to go. The best part, I was told I have a nice skill set in the water and didn't leave feeling that I have to start from scratch with my stroke. I was really worried I was going to go in there and have my swimming world turned upside down. But in fact, not much changed except for some tweaks in my hand position. Turns out I was driving stiff/closed fingered hands down 18 inches into the water when really, I'm balanced with a hand position of 7 inches below the surface. I worked on this today, focusing on keeping my hands soft and fingers slightly open, and it was not easy. I felt so sloppy but I'm glad I caught this now because it's definitely hard to change what you're so used to! I'm also for the first time taking note of my strokes per lap (SPL) and my goal is to get this down dramatically.

Here's a picture of the pool.

(that's not me swimming)

Lola, Work and Socks

Clever post title, I know.

I was thoroughly enjoying sleeping through the night, something I hadn't done in 12 years because of Newman, when I decided to adopt this little monster...

it's hard to get a good picture of her because she's never sitting still!

If last night is any indication of what's to come, my peaceful nights of sleep are long gone. We rescued this kitty not to replace Newman, because no cat will ever take his place, but more to save an animal and give it a good home. I also thought it would be nice for Lainey to have company during the day while we're at work. But based on the sneak attacks on Lainey last night, I might have been wrong. Lainey is dealing with the new kitten wonderfully though and is being very patient with her. I'm sure things will work out, she's only been with us a few days, but we do need to train her to sleep during the night. Oh, and we named her Lola, which of course is from Seinfeld, too. Anyone know which character that was without looking it up?

On another topic, I recently received some really good news. For a while now I've wanted to go part time at work. Currently I work at least 9 hours a day (usually more) and have off every other Friday. I've been doing this for years and while an extra 1.5 hours a day might not sound like a lot, there have been many times that I just wanted to call it quits at the 8th hour and go the heck home. Those hours made for a long day when I start my day at 4:40am to work out and I found myself working on most of my Fridays off. I didn't want my arrangement to affect our lifestyle too much so I proposed taking a baby step and reducing my hours down to 32 hours a week (8 hours a day, every Friday off). I found out late last week that my request has been granted. I'm beyond happy about this and am so grateful. I work in a great group and have an incredible boss; I am very lucky*. The new schedule starts March 1st and having an extra hour plus back to my day and every Friday off seems huge to me. But I'm sure I'll have no problem filling the time up with clients at the Y and Ironman training.

And lastly, if anyone out there is having issues with PF or tight calves...I highly recommend the Strassburg sock! I mentioned the other day that I started wearing it on my right foot. Well, not only has my foot been feeling better, the increased flexibility in my right ankle is crazy. I went out this weekend and bought another one for my left leg. It's not very comfortable sleeping with the sock on both legs, especially if you're a stomach sleeper, but based on the improvement in such a short amount of time, I'll suck it up.

*I also have an awesome husband who supports anything that makes me happy. I really lucked out here.

I Need To Relax

This most recent little blogging hiatus wasn't necessarily my fault. We had to unexpectedly leave town and head to Michigan for a funeral. We were in the process of picking a weekend in the next month or so to head out there, before training really picks up, so this unfortunate event just made the decision for us. We had a nice visit but I also had a few days off from working out and no veggies (unless you count the iceberg lettuce I had...I personally don't consider this a veggie). So needless to say I am happy to be home and back to my routine. When I signed up for the Ironman I made the decision that there would be no traveling this year with the exception of visiting Andy's family in Michigan. While it kills me to think of a year without Jamaica and short trips with friends, vacations and training just don't mix well for me. But now that the Michigan trip is in the books, there's only one travel date this year that I'm thinking about...

My Coach sent me my "goals" for March and I can't believe another month is almost over. I'm struggling with the base building because I don't feel like I'm doing enough. I know come the summer I'm going to be drowning in workouts and I should appreciate this time, but it makes me go a little stir crazy and actually makes it harder for me to stay focused. Don't get me wrong, I'm working out a lot (swimming 3x/week, biking 3x/week, running 2x/week, misc cardio here and there, and lifting 2-3x/week) but without the hard efforts I'm used to in marathon training, I feel like I'm not doing enough.

I also think the fact that I have no idea what I'm in for freaks me out a little. I'm not one to relinquish control and that's what I have to do that with this training. I need to trust what my Coach tells me and keep reminding myself that he has a lot more experience with Ironmans than I do. I sometimes find myself comparing my workouts to other people and I get worked up that I'm doing less than someone who isn't training for an Ironman. But this year is about me and my workouts so I've stopped paying attention to what anyone else is doing.  My goals for this year are to stay healthy, injury free and not burn out mentally. Although it's hard, I know that following my Coach's direction is what's going to help me reach these goals. 

I actually feel a little better now that I wrote that. I've been so worried lately that I'll be under prepared for this race. I know that's not a rational thought, but I've never claimed to be rational. I think there's just a lot of uncertainty and fear that are making me a little more nutso than usual. The important thing that I need to remember is that each time I've tackled a new distance, I've never gone into it without being both physically and mentally ready.

*Sigh* As my Dad would say, I need to relax.

3 Things Thursday

1 - My attempt at making a come back at blogging isn't going so well.

2 - After baffling yet another doctor with my insanely tight, non-flexible calves, I've been told to spend my all my free time in this:

While it looks like a straight jacket for the feet, it's actually called the Strassburg sock. It's to help with PF, Achilles tendonitis and tight calves. I can barely pull my toes back but even that little bit created a pretty significant stretch in my foot. I'm supposed to wear it on both legs but I'm testing it out first on the craptastic right one to see if it makes a difference. At this point, I'm willing to try anything.

3 - I forgot to mention that I received some really cool news right before the Holidays...I'm a 2012 Hammer Nutrition sponsored athlete this year!!!

I started using Hammer products over the summer during Tri training and they saved me from my reoccurring stomach issues during long workouts. I'm so excited to be a part of this program but I have to admit, I'm also slightly intimidated to be grouped with such a collection of incredible athletes. Even though I'm only base building now with my training, I've been incorporating Hammer products to help with refueling and recovery and I've been feeling really good. I'm using these light months of training to also get a base line with nutrition and to make sure I'm refueling properly after each workout...something I've struggled with in the past. Anyway, I'm grateful to be a part of this program and will definitely share what's been working for me since I know I'm not alone with the stomach issues.

I'm back...January Recap

Oh, right, I have a blog. Kind of sort of forgot about it for a while and then realized I didn't really miss it. But after an email from Aron, I realized while I didn't really miss writing about running (and now swimming and biking) per say, I did miss the people that I've met through blogging.  Sure it seems like more of a hassle lately, but I'd like to take another stab at it so I can stay in the loop with what's going on with everyone. I'd also like to think that taking on the biggest challenge of my life might give me something to write about. So I guess I'll start off with what I've been up to the past month...

The first few weeks were rough after putting Newman down, but I'm very thankful that hard time came when it did. If that happened when I was knee deep into Ironman training, you probably would have had to lock me up. I still shed a few tears most days, but for the most part, we're back to our daily routine. The biggest difference; you'd be amazed at how much better you sleep without a cat on your head. But I'm not complaining, I'd rather have him here then get a good nights sleep.

My workouts this month consisted of easy swimming, biking and running. I'm working on my stroke and trying to correct any inefficiencies.  Some days I feel great in the water and feel like everything is coming together. Then there are days like today where I just feel like a slug and my back half wants to sink. Bottom line is that I feel way more comfortable in the water than I did last year and I'm not dreading my swim workouts at all. Cycling has consisted of base building on my trainer and making sure my fit is perfect now that I'm aero position. With the change in position, the hoo-ha took a beating. I suffered long enough to make sure it wasn't an issue where I just needed to toughen up the area and then I cried uncle. I swamped my saddle out last weekend for a new one and based on my ride last night, the jury is still out as to whether or not it's the right one for me. Running has been on the light side, 2-3 times a week. That's really hard for me but I'm following coach's orders. Especially since I've had some all too familiar heel pain recently....

As for the heel pain, on my coach's recommendation, I went to see a sports doc to expand my "team" for this upcoming year. I finally feel like I found someone who is going to help me through this rather than say, "get an MRI and go back into the boot." I had my first appointment last Saturday and oh...my...gosh. Hurt like a mother! Basically my right side, from the hip down, is sort of messed up...which I pretty much knew. But I feel hopeful that we'll get me squared away.

So while things haven't been too exciting, I've been keeping myself plenty busy. With work, my workouts, personal training, appointments, trying to have somewhat of a life, etc I don't have much free time. I'm definitely going to have to knock a few things off my list as training gets more intense, but I'm ok with that. I'm actually looking forward to training picking up; I miss my crazy workouts!! But when late summer rolls around and I'm beaten down and broken, I'm sure I'll be eating my words.

10 months to go...

Rough Start

We had a rough start to the New Year. I had been counting down the weeks, eager to start the journey to Ironman Florida, but instead I found myself having to make the hardest decision of my life. After 12 years of having a little black kitty attached to my hip, I made the painful decision to put Newman down. Things had slowly been getting worse over the past few years and while I kept trying not to see it, it was clear on Friday morning that he deserved a life without anymore suffering. I spent most of Friday with him giving him tons of hugs and kisses, but I would still give anything to have just a few more hours with him. Not having him around has been really rough on both Andy and myself, but we keep trying to remind each other that he lived like a king and he's in a better place. It's crazy what kind of impact a pet can have on your life and how happy they can make you. There will never be another kitty like him. RIP Newmie, we miss you so much.

Needless to say, last week's workouts weren't the best. I got them in but it wasn't how I wanted to start the year. I was tired, emotionally drained and completely preoccupied. But I'm starting to pick up the pieces little by little this week and catch up on 12 years of lost sleep. My swollen eyes have even started to go down and I was able to wear goggles and go for a swim today. And while I have this overwhelming sadness weighing me down, I feel ready to get back to my routine. I'm ready to start the journey to Ironman Florida...even though it won't be the same without Newman to keep me company during my weekend recovery naps.