Time is flying!

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post.  I was waiting for a good pic or a really good story to write about, but life just went on without anything particularly remarkable. Luckily, I'm an expert note-taker (I also make mean lists!) so I have all my workouts documented!

Friday 19th: 1 hr bike ride on the trainer. I watched the DVD that came with the trainer "Spinervals: The Original Indoor Cycling Workout Series" (their bolding, not mine). I got a good workout, but the host was incredibly annoying and the gist of the workout was all building up to a 20 min time-trial. 20 minutes is a long time to go all out, especially when you're in a 300 sq ft room with nothing to look at it and shitty background music with this annoying guy continuing to say annoying things. So I probably won't be doing this DVD many times, but I'm glad I at least tried it.

Saturday: My first brick workout of the season!! It was short, but it felt really good! 50 minutes on the bike trainer, followed immediately by a 22 minute run. For this bike ride I watched 2 episodes of Modern Family on abc.com and made myself sprint in a high gear during the 1 min commercial breaks. It was harder than it sounds. The run was about 30 seconds/mile faster than I usually run, so I'll have to work on my pacing. Going out too hard is definitely not a good idea on race day! 

Sunday: You might remember that I was bitching about the rainy weather that weekend. Saturday I got lucky and there was no rain during the run part of my brick. However, Sunday I waited and waited and waited and finally it seemed like it was only sprinkling so I put on my shoes and headed outside. I got about 3/4 of a mile away and the the wind picked up and the rain picked up and it was horrible. So I sprinted home. Then it was time to shower so I could go drink bloody marys and watch football with friends so I didn't get to attempt another workout. Oh well, at least I have my priorities straight. 

Monday: Since my Sun workout was almost non-existent, I guilted myself into 2 workouts on Monday. A 25 minute bike ride in the morning (only 1 episode of Modern Family) and a 40 minute swim at lunch. After 3 days in a row on the bike I decided that I need new bike shorts with more padding. 

Tuesday: Speed session on the dreaded treadmill (aka: dreadmill). The weather forced me inside, but I got a killer workout anyway. 

Wednesday: REST!!!! 

Thursday: 35 minute swim

Friday: 12 min run to the gym/ 12 min on the rower/ 20 min weights (done in a circuit to keep my heart-rate up)/ 12 min run home. I haven't been lifting weights at all recently so yesterday and today I've been really sore, which is actually a nice feeling that I've missed. I need to make sure to make it to the gym to lift at least once a week from now until April when tri-training gets more focused and time-intensive. 

Yesterday: I planned a good brick workout, but that didn't happen. I had to wake up early to go to lab before proctoring an SAT and when I finally got home at 2:00 I was exhausted!!! So I walked pretty quickly for about an hour, running all my errands, and then crashed on the couch. 

Today: Planning a 6 mile run with Kelsey in the next few hours. I'm really looking forward to it because it's rare that I have a running partner and we're doing the Bay Trail so it's pretty scenery and really flat! 

Wow, I even got bored writing all that, so if you've read all the way to the bottom, Thanks!! Here is a cute picture of Barton as your reward. 

This is generally what he looks like to me while I'm stretching on the floor after a workout.  I call that his 'slightly interested, but not really amused' face.

Leave me a comment and let me know how your week has been!!

3 days and 3 workouts

Is it really only Wednesday?! It seems like every week I start out with lots of energy and enthusiasm and kick-ass during my workouts. But by Thursday I'm completely out of steam. This week is no exception. I think tomorrow will have to be a rest day.
My workouts so far:
Monday - speed drills
Warm up - 1.5 mi jog
7 x 400m (1min rest btwn) These were done at pace, meaning 1/4 of the mile time trial I did 3 weeks ago. I did all of them 8-17 seconds faster than pace. Go me. 
Cool down - 1.5 mi jog home
Tuesday - 35 min swim
Warm up - 150m slow (50m freestyle, 25m breaststroke, repeat) 
Ladder - 100m, 200m, 300m, 300m, 400m, 400m (~30sec rest between)
Cool down - 25m freestyle, 25m breaststroke (both pretty slow)
Today - 50min run.  I was supposed to go to the gym to lift weights and use some cardio machines today. But the weather forecast says rain is on the way so I wanted to take advantage of the clear skies while I could. I didn't plan a route or anything, just left the house and ran. I love runs like that! 


Up-coming weather:
 
I think I'll be modifying my weekend workout plan. I hate running or biking in the rain! 
Anyone have any advice for how to keep motivated when the weather turns to shit and all you want to do is curl up and watch a movie?? Leave me a comment!

Training Week 1 In Review

Week 1 of training is complete (almost):
Monday: 32 min swim (I would have done more but 2 idiots got in my lane and I couldn't stand it any longer)
Tuesday: Speed session - 1.4mi warm-up/ 2x100/ 3x1000 (300 jog in between)/ 3x200 (100 jog in between)/ 1.5mi cool down
Wednesday: 40 min swim
Thursday: 25 min bike
Friday: rest
Saturday: 8 mile hike 
Sunday: yet to be determined. The pool is closed today and my legs are really sore from hiking so running is out of the question. Looks like I need to get on that bike trainer again!
Week totals (so far):
1hr 10min swimming
1hr running
25min biking
3hr 10min hiking


For the hike we went to McNee Ranch State Park in Pacifica, about a 40 minute drive south of the city. The hike was perfectly challenging! It wasn't too hard so it was still fun, but I definitely got my heart rate up and burned over 1200 calories! There was also some gorgeous scenery so I took a lot of pictures.

The first hill top view of the beach where we parked.

2nd hill top view of the beach.

Extremely helpful sign. 

One of the vies from the top. Sadly, it was a little hazy, but still beautiful.

View from the bottom of the mountain.

After over 3 hours of hiking we were hungry! Since the weather was perfect we went to Half Moon Bay Brewery and sat outside to eat. The food was so good I didn't even remember to take a picture of it. But I did get a few of the location.

View from lunch

Awesome brewery on the water!

Delicious beer! The perfect end to that hike.

Plan for Week 2:

Mon - Speed session on the track (I dread these workouts because they're so hard so I like to get them over with early in the week)

Tue - 35 min swim

Wed - Short run and weights

Thur - 45 min swim

Fri - rest

Sat - brick (1hr bike, 30min run)

Sun - reverse brick (1hr run, 30min bike) 

And hopefully I can add a few short rides on my trainer during the week. 

Happy birthday to me!!

My birthday present to myself is here!! It was a big birthday (30, yikes!) so I went big. It's a Kinetic Road Machine by Kurt.

It's super-sweet! I just rode for 25 minutes and all the reviews are true - it's a really quiet, smooth ride. The stand I got for the front tire has several levels so you can adjust it to make it feel like it's going up-hill. Haven't tested that feature out yet, but it should be cool!


And Barton got a present too. It came in a huge box with a plastic bag inside! His 2 favorite things!

Tomorrow is my rest day, which will be greatly appreciated! It's been really satisfying to get back into the groove of eating right and working out hard. But it's also been a really tiring week of long days in lab that have completely exhausted me. I'm glad I get a rest day tomorrow so I'll be fresh for my 8 mile hike with the uncles on Saturday. I'll gladly change my training schedule for that! 

Pre-season Training - Day 1

I started out this training season with a bang - a 12 mile run with Kathryn! Ok, so it was more of a run/walk kind of thing and we definitely didn't set any records for speed, but it was a lot of fun catching up with her and running in Dublin (California, not Ireland). We had perfect weather and ran on a paved trail that was fairly flat. 

1st week of workouts:

Monday - 30 min swim

Tuesday - Speed drills on the track

Wednesday - 40 min swim

Thursday - short run and weights at the gym

Friday - rest

Saturday - 1 hr bike

Sunday - Reverse brick (1:10 run, immediately followed by a 30 min bike)

I'm starting out pretty easy so it should be fun!


Along with starting my training this week, I'm also starting to count calories again. So yesterday I walked to Monterey Market, which is 1.3 miles from my apartment. I like going there for a couple of reasons: 1. It's a nice walk and with 2.6 miles roundtrip, I feel like I'm getting a mini-workout while I run errands. It's also uphill the whole way home when I have a backpack full of groceries so it definitely feels like I'm working. And 2. It's cheap!

I got all this produce for $13.72!! 

(Those are dried cranberries in the corner. They don't look so good in this pic, but they are. And there's an avocado hiding in there. Those are usually pricey, but this one was only $0.70!)

Unfortunately, only the produce is cheap there so then I went to Trader Joe's for everything else. But now I'm mostly stocked for the week! For dinner tonight: Lemon dill tilapia, steamed broccoli, and this squash and apple side dish (it's been in the crock pot all afternoon and now my apartment smells Amazing!). I'm excited.

What are your favorite healthy recipes?