Am I there yet??

The good

This morning I had an awesome long run. I got up at 5:15 and had a whole grain waffle with almond butter and 1/2 banana. Then I laced up my shoes and headed out right as the sun was starting to come up. I love early morning runs when no one is out yet and it's quiet and a perfect 55 degrees. I ran down to the bay trail so my views for most of the run were of the bay, SF, Marin, and the Golden Gate bridge at sunrise. Perfectly serene! I'm not gonna lie, my feet were hurting by the last 4 miles, but all-in-all, it was a great 15 mile run to start off the week!

The bad

I am so sick of training!!!!!!!! I am sick of swimming and I hate my bike at this point. I had a terrible workout this past weekend - 70 miles of biking into the wind. It took everything I had to not lay down in the middle of the street and hope a passer-by would take pity on me and drive me to my car. I almost cried about 6 times in the last 90 minutes of riding from a terrible mixture of exhaustion, frustration, and disappointment. I didn't even run afterwards, I was so beat. And it was so windy that I only got to use my new aero bars twice for about 30 seconds. I don't think I've blogged about them yet, so here are a couple pics for those that aren't familiar with aero bars.

Barton is eye-ballin me from his window perch in the top corner.

Aero bars 

The aero bars were really comfy for the 30 seconds I was using them. But I'm not very stable on them yet so it would have been dangerous to test them out in the wind. Hopefully next time! The course has a lot of rolling hills and flat parts that I think the aero bars will be perfect for once I get the hang of them.

The Ugly

This training has made my feet ugly. No matter what socks I wear, my pinky toe always becomes a huge blister after a long run. And today I was lucky enough to get 2 additional blisters. yay. That, and the fact that I could feel rocks thru the sole of my right foot, convinced me to buy new running shoes. They are being shipped to me tomorrow so hopefully this won't be happening any more. 

I'm not feeling so great about the race at this point. It's just under 5 weeks away (omg!!!!!) and I feel very under-prepared. Training websites that I've been going off of suggest that at this point in my training I should be doing 15-20 hours/week! I'm at about 8-11 hrs/week. Here's where I am as far as mileage:

	Farthest so far	Race day
Swim	2400m	2.4 miles (3860m)
Bike	100 miles	112 miles
Run	15 miles	26.2 miles

Hopefully this week I will have some good workouts that give me confidence that I can finish this thing.  But mostly I just can't wait to be done training. Am I there yet?!?!?

Workouts for this week

Today: 15 mile run

Tue: CrossFit 

Wed: 1hr swim

Thur: Short brick workout (50min bike/ 25min run)

Fri: rest (I can't wait for Friday!!)

Sat: Longest brick so far! 80 mile bike/ 8 mile run (hopefully!)

Sun: 3000m swim

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride Recap

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride - 100 miles around Lake Tahoe. Although the name of the race is self-proclaimed (by BiketheWest.com), it's actually pretty true. The views on this ride were spectacular!! Unfortunately, the competitive side of me came out a little and even though it was a ride and not a race, I wanted to see how fast I could do it. Alas, I did not stop that often to take pictures, but luckily, some of the ones I snapped while riding came out well. Here's an idea of how freaking beautiful this place is:

Def a top 5 favorite pic

Kelsey and I only got to ride the first 33 miles together, but here's one of her .

Mile 25 rest stop - not so pretty

I wish I had a boat

Another top 5 pic - it's crazy how blue-green the water is!

Actually, maybe this is my favorite?!

All-in-all, it was the perfect day! High of 72 with clear skies and only about 20 miles where I had to deal with the wind slowing me down. It took me 6 hours and 41 minutes to ride 100 miles.... and that is the longest ride I've ever done! Kelsey and I trained perfectly for this ride because we both finished saying "meh, it wasn't that hard". 


And to top it all off, we had great supporters! Greg and Rex didn't get to sign up for the race before it sold out, but that didn't stop them from coming to Tahoe to be there at the finish and celebrate with us afterwards!

Lunch outside after the race.
(Picture stolen from Kelsey. Thanks Kels!)

Pre-race refreshments.
The post-race refreshments looked very similar, but I was too busy celebrating to get pictures :) 

We drove back to the bay area today and then at 8:00pm I went to my 3rd CrossFit intro class. I'll post more about the CrossFit experience later, but for now I'd like to point out that after riding 100 miles yesterday, today I was the first (by more than a minute!) to finish the work-out of the day out of the whole class. I was pretty proud of myself.   

8 weeks til Vineman..... Bring it on!! 

Half way there!.... kinda...

Yesterday I did the bike course for Vineman 70.3.  It was a great day, with nearly perfect weather and I had the company of one of my favorite riding buddies - Kelsey!! For those that don't know, I did Vineman 70.3 last year and absolutely loved the race! The full Vineman bike course is the same, but two loops of 56 miles instead of one (thus, we did half the race this weekend, except for the swimming and running parts, but whatever). I'm lucky enough to live fairly close to the course so last year I probably did 6-8 training rides on the actual course, but this was my first time up there since July 2011. There are 2 major hills and the second one, at mile 45 (out of 56 total), is kind of a bitch. But yesterday both hills seemed so much easier than I remember. I think this whole training thing might be working!


It helps that the course is really scenic. I tried to get a bunch of pictures of the landscape so you can get an idea for what it's like.

There were a lot of vineyards...

.....and a one-lane bridge...

... palm trees (in vineyards)...

....a couple of cemeteries.....

.....more vineyards.... 

... some tree-lined streets...

....more vineyards...

and more vineyards...

  

 

 

Succulents! 

Happy cows

Ostriches! (emus??..I don't know the difference)

Sheep!

And last, but not least - A pink fire truck!

All-in-all we rode 55 miles in 3hr 41min (waaayyy faster than our previous training rides-go us!) and then I ran an insignificant 0.75 miles and met Kels at the local McDonald's for the best diet coke I've ever had. It was really hot and sunny and I finished my electrolyte drinks around mile 45 so I was crazy thirsty!!


This conversation occurred around mile 50:
Me: I would pay $50 right now for an extra large fountain diet coke.
Kelsey: I don't think you should do that. We're pretty close.
Me: Well, if we get to McDonald's and they run out of diet coke and there's only one left and a bidding war starts, I'm willing to pay a lot.


Luckily, it didn't come to that. 


And now it's 9:30 pm and I have to get ready for bed so I can get up at 5am to have time to drink a cup of coffee and eat a banana before running 13 miles before work. Reminds me of something.....

Nutritionist Meeting, Part 2.

My last post was about my visit to the nutritionist. The bottom line was 1300-1950 cals/day and 50-110g protein/day, depending on my workouts. My response was - Great, I'm already doing that! So, what is it that I'm actually eating, you may be wondering?

Typical breakfast: Quick Oats + 1/2 Tbsp honey + 1 Tbsp. All-Natural Peanut Butter + Tons of cinnamon! Some days I use chunky pb, some days it's creamy Most days I save the banana for a mid-morning snack, but after a really tough workout, I eat the banana in my oatmeal because I'm ravenous.

Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinegar & Rosemary Grilled Chicken - it's awesome, especially since I don't have grilling capabilities!

Typical Lunch: A huge-ass salad!! In the mix: baby spinach and/or romaine and/or arugula + fresh basil + 1 roma tomato + 1 roasted red pepper + TJ's balsamic chicken + ~2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Typical dinner #1: 4 oz. Tilapia (baked with lemon and dill) + 4 oz. steamed broccolini (with sea salt). I usually add some horseradish mustard to the fish, which is delicious!

Typical dinner #2: 5 oz salmon (baked with dill) + 1 head of broccoli (steamed). Believe it or not, I occasionally get asparagus instead of broccoli. Or brussels sprouts.....

Mmmmm.... roasted brussels spouts with olive oil and sea salt! These make a great afternoon snack or a side to my fish/broccoli meal.

Another pretty salad!

Snacks: I rarely have a morning snack other than coffee because my lunch is usually pretty early (11:30ish) so in the afternoon I have 2 snack times. Snack #1 is around 2:00 and snack #2 is around 4-5. Lately I've been having lean vanilla protein powder in almond milk + a handful of strawberries for one snack and a Granny Smith apple + 14 almonds for another snack. Basically, trying to load up on fruit and protein.


After dinner dessert: Nonfat Plain Greek yogurt + 1 splenda + tons of cinnamon. Soooo good!! And carb-free :) 


As you can tell, my meals are pretty repetitive. If you have any good recipes/suggestions, leave me a comment below!!

I heart beer....

This week I saw a nutritionist to get feedback on my diet. I had been wanting to talk to a nutritionist for a while, but whenever I researched it, I found it cost prohibitive. Then, on advice from Kelsey, I called my primary care physician and told them I wanted a referral to a nutritionsist. They said "Ok, here's your confirmation number. Call this person..." It was crazy easy! And my appointment (and up to 3 follow-ups) was free! 


I had a few goals going into this appointment. Most importantly, I am still trying to lose fat while gaining muscle and training at ever-increasing intensity and duration. So I want to make sure that I'm fueling my body enough for my workouts, but not over-fueling and preventing fat loss. I keep really good records of everything I eat and my workouts so it was pretty easy for him to evaluate what I've been doing so far. And according to him, there's not much that I can improve about my diet. Most of the goals he gave me, I am already meeting regularly:
1. 1300 calories/day on rest days
2. 1700-1950 calories/day on regular workout days 
3. <10g saturated fat/day. This should be really easy now that I've discovered that cheese upsets my stomach. Without cheese, there's pretty much no sat fat in my diet.
4. 100-130g carbs/day
5. 52-117g protein/day. This is a really big range, but since I'm training a lot, I'm mostly staying around the top of that range. 
6. Once a week I should keep a pen-n-paper log and compare it to the app on my phone. At first I thought this was a silly suggestion, but I tried it Wednesday and my app said 1398 calories and 111g protein vs my paper diary said 1527 calories and 127g protein. It's tough because mostly I eat produce and lean meat/fish, which don't have nutrition labels. So my app results vs googling "brussels sprouts calories" comes out pretty different. Something to keep in mind when I'm aiming for really specific calorie goals. If everyday I'm eating 125 calories more than I think I am, that's an extra pound/month that I could be losing/gaining.


One thing he noticed from my food log that's not so great: I drink beer 2-4 times a week. I love beer. And there is nothing better than a delicious cold beer after a long workout.

Notable beers from my travels. Clockwise from left: England, Alaska, Half Moon Bay, Nashville (Sportsman's, obviously), and Paris. 

Me: If you tell me that I won't be able to reach my goal unless I give up beer completely, I will. 
Nutritionist Dude: I can't promise that.
Me: Ok good. I'm going to continue drinking beer. 


I have definitely cut back on the drinking since the beginning of January and I haven't been getting drunk very often at all. But the benefit of giving it up completely is not worth the suffering! So I'm glad that he didn't think this was too big of a deal. Although I didn't even mention the bloody mary issue!

They're so pretty and delicious!

So the bottom line: I'm pretty much doing all the right things already. Lots of veggies and fruits and lean protein. No refined carbs, very minimal carbs at all, actually. And I eat small meals often. I'm seeing him again in a month to see my progress. Hopefully knowing that someone else is monitoring my weight will keep me focused on days when I really just want to hang out with the guys in lab drinking beers. 


Have any of you seen a nutritionist before? What do you think of the goals he laid out for me? Leave me a comment!!

90 degree Brick Workout

90 degrees in the Bay Area?! Wtf? Since I moved here I've been telling everyone that I really miss the heat and humidity of the south. But now that it's actually hot here, I'm not so sure that's accurate. Don't get me wrong, I love beer festivals in the sun and 100 degree heat and being able to go out at night in a skirt and tank-top and not get cold, but training is soooooooo much easier in the mild climate of NorCal. So when I set out for my brick workout this afternoon, I was slightly under-prepared for 90 degrees and full-on sun for 3 hours! I only brought 3 water bottles (only one of which had electrolyte drink in it) and I forgot my visor for the run and sweat towel for the ride home. But I made the best of it! 

My route on the other side of Berkeley Hills.

The route was a 19 mile loop with a 1234 ft elevation gain, around the reservoirs on the other side of Berkeley Hills. For reference, my place is on the northwest side of campus (the brownish area). So I drove over the hill, parked, and got on my bike!

Footwear #1

I was planning on doing the loop twice. But as I mentioned, I was a little under-prepard for just how hot it was and was afraid that if I attempted 40 miles with insufficient water, I would actually melt into the pavement. So I did the loop and then an out-n-back to total 30 miles. It's a super hilly ride, so I was happy that after the loop, I was able to actually ride past my car and keep going. Luckily, it's also a really pretty ride....

And then it was time to run......

Footwear #2

I was hot and my calves were super-stiff and crampy, but I managed to run for 20 minutes at my normal pace. I think the only thing that got me through was Kanye West's Stronger. I was singing it to myself during the bike (because cycling with headphones is just dumb) so once I got my ipod out for the run, I turned it on pretty loud. nah nah that that don't kill me... can only make me stronger.... Both were equally possible today, but luckily, it didn't kill me. 


And then it was smoothie time! Yay!

Footwear #3 - I'm still not sure if those are tan lines, or dirt lines

In the mix: lean vanilla protein powder, almond milk, and frozen berries (rasp, blue, and straw). Delicious after a long, hot workout! 


Final stats for the day:

Footwear #4: compression socks!

• 30 mile bike in 2 hr 14 min
• 1.9 mile run in 20 min
• 1685 calories burned
• >25 bugs stuck to my arms and chest (gross)
• $6.19 spent at the grocery store on the way home ($4 for ice and a glitch in the computer gave me a 6er of Abita Amber Ales for only $1.19! My lucky day!)
• 12 min spent in an ice bath (my first one!)

The ice bath was not the most enjoyable part of the day, but I'm hoping that it will help me recover faster so I can do a long run tomorrow. 


Sunday Update: The ice bath worked! I ran 9.2 miles today with (relatively) no problem. I should have done 10, but I was soooooooo hungry I had to stop. I guess this means there will be more ice baths in my future :(


What are your thoughts on ice baths? And what is the best beer to drink in an ice bath?? The Abita Ambers were good, but I'm open to suggestions  :)