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.

Marathon Training Week 3

Monday 12/16/2013-This was a spin day for me, and as it turns out, my last spin day. The resistance knob on my bike was broke and I was having an incredibly difficult time moving the knob in either direction. The instructor (the one I can’t stand) keeps looking my way and making comments about the lazy riders who are “skipping load increases”. She is going on and on about how some other rider would be happy to have lazy rider’s bikes, and if a participant isn’t going to do the work then they shouldn’t be in the class. At some point my resistance knob seized up completely and I couldn’t increase or decrease the resistance at all. I got so sick of the comments from the instructor that I just left. I’ve decided to get new pedals and a computer with cadence for my bike and ride my trainer from now on. As I said last week, my workouts and time are too precious to put up with shitty workouts!

Tuesday 12/17/2013-This should have been a 3 mile run day, but I knew that I was going to have limited time at the end of the week. I figured since I had cut my spin workout short the previous day, I could do my “long run” early. It was not a very “long run”, only 5 miles, but it felt pretty good.

Wednesday 12/18/2013-Swim day! The time clock was missing from the pool at the gym so I did a 2,150 yard straight swim. It was a great swim! I had the pool to myself for the first half and had my own lane for the entire swim.

Thursday 12/19/2013-Easy 3 mile run

Friday 12/20/2013-I was up a little late for the gym and saw that freezing rain overnight had left the roads a mess. My drive to work is about 45 minutes on a good day. As I was watching the news I saw that a Semi had overturned on the freeway I use to get to work. I decided to skip the gym so I could leave early for work. I did a few sets of squat presses, pushups, V-ups, and Russian twist before I got ready for work. I was really happy about my decision when it took me almost an hour and a half to get to work.

Saturday 12/21/2013-I had a session with my trainer today. There was a lot of squatting, pushups, pull-ups, and abs. I did my best not to complain. It was a really great workout and I hope my trainer has more like it planned for the future. I was feeling so energized that I polished off my last 3 mile run for the week. I ran my first mile at 8:40, second mile at 8:20, and third mile at 7:45. I got home and finished setting up for the early Christmas celebration we were hosting that night. I also got to spend some time with my little Raleigh who turned 2 years old! Happy Birthday dear sweet boy!

Sunday 12/22/2013-Rest Day!

Marathon Training week 1

Monday 12/2/2013-Started the week with a 1&1/2 hour spin session. This workout helped shake the last of the soreness from my legs.

I just happened to run into my trainer after spin and told him we were not on speaking terms. He pretty much laughed at me and I shook my fist back.

Tuesday 12/3/2013-Workout with my trainer which included squats, lunges, pushups, and some TRX work. Early in the workout I told him I still had a 3 mile run that day and could not be as sore as last time. We are back on speaking terms apparently. I’m sure I am the client every trainer hates. I whine and complain and try to sneak out of reps. Maybe my New Years resolution should be to complain less during my sessions (I’ll think about it).

After my session I hammered out 3 miles at 9:00 pace. This is about 15 seconds per mile slower than I have been running lately. I started out at a 8:45 pace but quickly had to slow down because I could feel my right quad knotting up. When I got home from the gym I stretched, rolled and iced my quads, and drank my beloved chocolate Vega Sports Performance protein. It’s the best tasting vegan protein powder I have been able to find.

Wednesday 12/4/2013-Swim Day!

200 warm up

2 X 150 (50 kick, 50 pull, 50 swim)

1,000 ladder (400 swim-40 seconds rest, 300 swim-30 seconds rest, 200 swim-20 seconds rest, 100 swim)

4 X 100 EBHE (25 easy, 25 build, 25 hard, 25 easy)

4 X 50 sprints on the 1 minute

200 cool down

2100 yards total

Great swim and I met another member of TriWi in the pool. Turns out he’s doing the same 70.3 as me.

Thursday 12/5/2013-Another upper body workout with my trainer and a 3 mile run. This time I was able to push the pace a little better with less soreness.

Friday 12/6/2013-One hour spin class. Not the usual Friday instructor which was a bit of a bummer.

Saturday 12/7/2013-Rest day.

Sunday 12/8/2013-Long run in the cold and snow. 6 miles with an average pace of just under 9 minute miles. I had to slow down due to icy roads and I was having a little trouble seeing because of the ice that kept forming on my eyelashes. I wanted to turn back early a couple time but toughed it out. The only reason I’m still running outside is to work on mental toughness.

The thumb and index finger of my left hand were numb for about 10 minutes after I got home. I will take any and all suggestions for winter running gloves. The rest of my attire was appropriate for the conditions. I thawed myself with the hottest shower I could tolerate and spent the rest of the day watching football!

   

Hope you had a great week!

 

 

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.

Rest Day

Seeing as how this is my first blog post ever, I wanted to write something pithy, exciting, or intellectual. I thought maybe I could talk about some amazing workout I did or wax philosophical about nutrition and hydration. The truth is, I workout 6 days a week and Saturday is my rest day. I have consumed way more coffee than water today and my my food choices so far today have been nothing to blog about. I am going to snack well into the evening while watching UFC 167 with my husband (Go GSP!). And I have heard way too much about Angry Birds and monster trucks today to convey anything pithy much less intellectual!

I take my rest days pretty seriously. In addition to NOT working out I tend to wear my glasses and clearly I don’t wear make-up or do much with my hair. I try to clear my mind of  anything pertaining to racing and try to spend time with my kids and my family. Today I took my kids to a superhero themed event at the local library. My kids were in rare form so I was lucky to have my sister and GiGi there to help me wrangle them. My 3 year old’s future aspirations include being an American Ninja Warrior, so he was pretty excited to find a “superhero training course”.

As you can see, he dressed as Bumble Bee from Transformers for the occasion. The final stage of the training course was weight lifting. Of course, my little over achiever had to lift both the “barbells”!

Tomorrow I’ll be back to my routine. Sundays are run days, and I haven’t decided how many miles I’ll log. Somewhere between 5miles and 8 miles has been my average lately, but if I’m feeling good I’ll go 10 miles. I’ve tried to keep running outdoors and the temperatures drop to improve my mental toughness. If I wake up to the thunderstorms predicted, I might just work on my toughness next week and do treadmill sprints at the gym. All this can get sorted out in the morning.

Right now it’s time to watch some fighting and do some snacking. I will leave you with my first treat of the evening.

A jonagold apple dusted with cinnamon and allspice that will be slathered with a mixture of raw-unsweetened almond butter, pumpkin puree, little bit of vanilla soy, and maple syrup for sweetness.

Happy Rest Day