Steelhead 70.3-2014

Can I really do it all?

It has been an incredibly long time since I have posted to this blog! In December 2013 I started a new career as a Cardiac Nurse Practitioner. This was a huge change for me and my family. I was work 40+ hours a week and had added an almost 2 hour roundtrip commute to my day. My husband, who previously worked full-time started to stay home with our kids and run a home business as a blacksmith/artist. Unable to tolerate my commute, I changed jobs again in August of last year. I’m still a Cardiac Nurse Practitioner but I work at a hospital much closer to my house. It has been better for my family and my training.

I started this blog to chronicle what it was like to be a full-time working mother and athlete. I wanted to prove to other mothers out there that it is possible to work a ridiculous schedule, workout 6 days a week, and be a good mother. The problem is, it’s not really easy for me to do all those things, and maintain a blog. I found myself watching Ironman South Africa this morning and was extremely inspired watching the racers cross the finish line. I started looking through past race times and setting some new goals. One particular goal is rekindling this blog. So here I am, in the kitchen, at my iPad, trying to write and make breakfast for my monsters.

Since the last time I posted, I ran the Green Bay Marathon in a time of 3:57:46. My first time breaking a 4 hour finish time! I also raced my first IM 70.3 in Michigan. I had set a goal to finish in 6 hours or less and managed a 5:52:42. Leading up to my 70.3 I raced an Olympic distance race called Tri-ing for Children’s and finished 3rd place in my age group. It was the first time I had ever placed at any event. At the end of the season I volunteered at Ironman Wisconsin with every intention of signing up to race in 2015. Financial burdens and the fear of an even more intense training schedule kept me from registering. There were tears at first but now that I’m fully into training, I’m really excited for my upcoming races.

2015 Races:

1. Ice Age 1/2 marathon-my first trail running event.

2. Toughman Wisconsin 70.3

3. Door County Triathlon 70.3

I have yet to determine a fall running event. I have a lot of options for Wisconsin fall races and will probably commite to something soon.

I’m no longer vegan, I still have unwavering support from my family, and I have an awesome new coach. I fight the urge to ignore my alarm every morning for 5 AM workouts. I hope to inspire other men and women with full-time careers, small children, with dreams to do amazing things. But right now, my kids are screaming so this rambling must come to an end!

A Racing Mom’s Summer Beauty Must-Haves

Now that summer is really in full swing in WI, it is time for me to post the beauty products for summer that every girly female endurance athlete should own. I have divided the products into 3 categories: Bath & Shower, Cosmetics, Lotions.

I’ll start with Bath & shower products

1. Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser-I LOVE this cleanser for summer when my face is much oiler than during other times of the year. It has a great tingling feeling that is delightful after a long sweaty workout!
2. 2-in-1 Shampoo and conditioner-I do most of my workouts in the morning before work. I have to be in the shower by 6:15 to get to work on time. Using a shampoo/conditioner combo is my time cheat if I want to squeeze in another mile. My favorite is by Pantene and hydrates nicely.
3. Aussi 3 Minute Miracle-You can’t beat an old classic in my humble opinion. I love this hair treatment and it is just about as cheap as they come. I use this on those rare occurrences that I shower at home and don’t have to rush straight to work. I love the coconut fragrance and it helps repair the sun, sweat, lake water, pool water damage I dish out to my hair.
4. Kiss My Face active athletic shower gel-Love the smell, love the tingle, love the lather. It’s a bit pricy but otherwise, refreshing and perfect!
5. Olay Facial Cleansing Brush-I can’t afford a Clarisonic-I spend way too much money on gear for marathons and triathlons. Not to mention the cost of race entrance fees. This brush has two speeds and is a great exfoliator without feeling like my skin is rubbing off. Another nice feature is that replacement brush heads are reasonably priced (which was important when my 2 year old used mine to clean the toilet).
6. eclos anti-aging skin renewal clay mask-This product is cooling and really does tighten my skin. I use masks more often in the summer to combat the extra sweat and sun damage. I like this one because a very thin layer can be used but still feels effective.

I have a small obsession with makeup. The products I have listed are great for summer because they are light-weight and quick to apply.

 

1. Garnier Anti-age BB cream and anti-dark-circle roller-These two products are from the same line. The BB cream has sunscreen and provides light weight minimal coverage. It is perfect to even skin tone but isn’t caky in the heat. The Anti-dark-circle roller covers the evidence of late night and early morning workouts. Also helps cover my goggle marks.
2. BH Cosmetics Forever Nude Palette-This palette is great for my gym bag and the colors are perfect for summer. The palette contains 6 eyeshadows, a blush/bronzer combo, highlighting powder, and two lip glosses. The color payoff in the products is great for the price.
3. NYX HD finishing powder-Lightweight, not caky, translucent, cheap-perfect!
4. Bath and Body Works fragrance mist in Amber Rush-I love this body mist! It has the best summery scent.

Lotions

 

1. Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel- I could bathe in this moisturizer. I love that it is a lightweight moisturizer. It doesn’t feel heavy in the heat or feel greasy after I’ve cleaned up from a sweaty workout
2. Vaseline Spray and Go moisturizer-I think the product name says it all. It’s great!
3. Body Glide for her anti chafe cream-Prevents rubbing and chafing without clogging my pores. Not greasy at all.

These have been some of my go-to beauty product that I love for summer. Most of the products are light-weight, cooling, or time savers. Just the qualities I
need during hot busy summer months. What are some of the summer products you can’t live without?

Where have I been!

It feels like it has been years since my last blog post! I started this blog to show that women can work full-time jobs, be good mothers, and compete in endurance events. What I found is that all of these things are possible, but really difficult to do while also keeping up with social media!

My current schedule include waking up around 4:30-swimming, biking, or running until about 6:15, getting ready for work, sitting in traffic for an hour on my way to work, working all day, sitting in traffic for another hour on my way home, helping to get my kids in bed, and falling asleep exhausted to do it all again the next day.

All of this work does pay off. I ran the Green Bay Marathon in May, 2014 and came away with a PR of 3:57:48. My previous marathon time had been just over 4:12, so this was a major success for me!

Today I competed in an olympic distance triathlon, my first one since 2008. The morning was extremely foggy and the swim was cut to sprint distance for all competitors so saftey crews could keep a better watch on swimmers. It was my first OWS in a wetsuit and I’m still trying to decide how I felt about it. On the plus side the wetsuit kept me warm, protected from the lake water (yucky stuff), and buoyant. On the down side, it restricted the motion of my arms, and was a little heavy to drag. I will need to continue to practice my pools swims with extra drag suits. The bike went much better than I expected, and the run was fantastic. It helped to be so well trained from doing the marathon.
My times:
Swim: 14:51 (cut to a sprint swim by race directors)
T1: 5:21
Bike: 1:18:38
T2: 3:58
Run: 54:42
Total time: 2:37:28

Not the best times in the world but at least I have a new reference point for my next race.

My next event will be Steelhead 70.3 in Michigan in August and I am ending this training season with the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

Im currently swimming 2 days a week for about 2,200-2,400 yards, biking 1-2 hours 2-4 days per week, and running 5 miles two days a week. Getting prepared to ramp up my mileage in weeks to come before Steelhead!

I also think that it wouldn’t be right to publish this post without giving a huge amount of credit to my husband putting up with all the time, money, and energy that goes into training for these events. And for taking great care of our children while I’m training and competing.

Is this a tempo run???

According to my new Marathon training schedule, I was supposed to run a 45 minute tempo run this morning. This is what I did:

5 minutes @ 8:34

5 minutes @ 7:47

25 minutes @ 7:30

5 minutes @ 7:47

3 minutes @ 7:30

2 minutes @ 8:34

Total of 5.78 miles in 45 minutes.

This is my question to anyone who is out there and willing to answer, it this a tempo run? I have run 2 marathons in the past. Both times I maxed out my mileage at 22 miles. Both time my 22 mile runs had me perfectly paced to finish in under 4 hours. Both races I finished just over 4 hours. My first marathon I made the rookie mistake of going out too quickly and bonked near the end. The second marathon I was sick and underweight/dehydrated going into the race. I made it to about mile 16 or 18 before I was cramping and unable to eat or drink. I really want to run the sub 4 hour time I have been training for. I consider my marathon pace to be somewhere between 8:45 and 9:00 miles. I have very little understanding of what a tempo run actually is. I have read about them in Runners World and on the inter-webs but still don’t exactly get the concept of a true tempo run. What are your thoughts?

 

Marathon Training Week 4

Monday 12/23/2013-Swim Day

200 Warm up

300 Stroke drills

3X300-RPE 4-5

4X100 EBHE

200 cool down

Tuesday 12/24/2013- Run Day

I only had a 1/2 day at work but figured I’d be there later than expected with my 45 minute drive. I really wanted to sleep-in and do my run after work but decided to go at my usual 5:15-5:30 am time. I was so happy I did! the gym was dead and I had a great run. I also had the showers and the mirror space all to myself as I got ready for work! I ran an easy 5 miles at 8:45 pace.

Wednesday 12/25/2013-Christmas

I did not run or workout on Christmas. I did spend time with family and celebrate love, happiness, and the spirit of giving. I am super happy to report that I got a kick board for christmas so I will be able to do some better kicking sets!

Thursday 12/26/2013-Run day

At 5:15 am I pulled into an empty gym parking lot and a dark gym. Apparently they were still closed from the holiday. Luckily I only live 3 minutes from my gym and was able to get home and run on the treadmill in my basement. It is not as sturdy as the machines at the gym but will do the trick when I have no other options. I did a quick 3 miles before heading to work.

Friday 12/27/2013-Rest Day?

I should have had a cycling day but accidentally turned my alarm off instead of snoozing it. Not only did I miss my morning workout but I also woke up about 20 minutes before I had to walk out the door for work. Hopefully after next week I can settle back into a routine and will not miss more workouts. I have decided I will give the 5:15 am spin classes another chance. Perhaps dealing with the instructor’s bad attitude will increase my mental toughness (this is what I tell myself).

Saturday 12/28/2013-Run day

I was a balmy 40 degrees in the Wisco disco today, which is great running weather in my opinion. I met with my trainer for my first workout. He had me doing squats, dead lifts, and  super mans. On the TRX I did jump squats, pistol squats, low rows, bicep curls, mountain climbers and mountain jumpers. After my workout with my trainer I got home, changed my clothes, grabbed a snack , readied my fuel belt and headed out for a 9 mile run. It became pretty clear that I have been spending way too much time on the treadmill. My mile splits were all over the place. It didn’t help that I had to keep slowing down to dodge patches of ice on the sidewalks. It would appear that no one had shoveled from the last snow knowing that today would be warm. The layer of snow nicely hid the ice pack below. treacherous indeed! My overall pace was 8:38 which is pretty decent for me. My mile times were 8:51, 8:25, 8:27, 8:50, 8:46, 8:33, 8:19, 8:38, 8:51. I’m a little bummed with my inconsistancies but I know my pacing will get better as I’m able to run outside more.

My trainer has suggested that I take branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) on days that I do workouts with him and then run afterwards. I took them today but am looking for anyones opinion out there. Does anyone take BCAAs or have any advice or wisdom to be shared? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear it!

Sunday 12/29/2013

Rest day

Reunited and it feels so…awful!

This past week has given me much to be thankful for, and one thing to abhor. Lets start with the things to be thankful for shall we? On my last day of work in my clinic, my co-workers had a little party for me and it was lovely. I have been very thankful to have those coworkers to help teach me the ropes of being a clinic NP.

I am thankful for my cooking skills and my family’s willingness to try the things I cook. A few of my dishes from this past week:

  

All vegan and all delicious!

I am also thankful for my sister and that she has found running. She did the Milwaukee Drumstick Dash 5K with me on Thanksgiving and it was absolutely inspiring! It was her very first race.

I loved that I got to take pictures of her during her race and cheer her on at the finish. She has supported me for years at swim meets, running events, and triathlons, I can’t wait to support her in her future endeavors.

I am thankful for an injury free marathon and some awesome transitional training.

This run was 1 mile at straight pace, 1 mile of hill repeats, and 1 mile of sprint intervals. I am especially thankful that tomorrow starts week 1 of my 24 week marathon training program! I am generally a more likable person when I am in training-eating my best and performing to my limits. It was unbelievably satisfying to pencil all of my mileage into my new calendar.

I am thankful that I am starting a new job next week in which I will be the main provider for my family. I hope my husband will be happy and content caring for our boys, creating his art, and spending more time with his family. My husband is an amazing dad and I know he will rise to this challenge.

There are a great many other things I am thankful for but right now I am going to elaborate on what occurred this past week that I am not so thankful for. I started working with my personal trainer again on black friday. My trainer is knowledgeable, pretty encouraging, and totally kicks my ass every time I work with him. I have taken about 2 months off due to lack of funds and also needing some time off. The workout he put me through on Friday was totally brutal! Even today, two days later, I am cringing every time I walk stairs. I can run like a champ, swim for hours, and spin like a boss, but jump squats and burpees make me want to cry. The main reasons I go to a trainer are to force myself to do strength training and to push through workouts I hate doing (mental toughness-a weakness of mine). I know I will build up my endurance again but until my appointment on Tuesday, my trainer and I are not on speaking terms.