Trying to veg

So this might be a mistake I'll live to regret but in addition to trying to train for my first 70.3, I'm also trying out the vegetarian lifestyle. It's more for health reasons than anything else, lets be honest I really love a nice steak. So far so good after close to 3 weeks but I do worry that I'm not eating enough or in a balanced enough fashion to support my training. Going to see a nutritionist in 2 weeks and looking forward to her suggestions/support. In the meantime our household has been in the throws of food experimentation, all new ingredients and spices have passed over the kitchen counter lately. Quite a few hits (wild rice salad was delish) and the occasional miss (fettucini with leeks and lima beans needs a do over). Joe has been a good sport but I suspect he's been running to the closest burger bar every day at lunch! An argument could be made that I should wait on this and focus on the training but the timing felt right and I haven't missed meat...yet. Recipe and snack suggestions are welcome!

Trained 40 mins on treadmill and 60 mins on trainer today.

Hyannis Half Marathon Race Report

Lessons learned is what I'm filing this race under. My first half marathon since having the kid, so we an check it off the list and move forward. I'm rusty at long distance racing, happy to recognize this early on.

Sleep - not much at all the night before, maybe 2-3 hours. I don't ever sleep well outside of my own house, race or vacation it doesn't matter.

Nutrition - Night before I ate well and felt great. Morning of things started to go south. We stayed with the hotel buffet and it wasn't enough, fruit salad and peanut butter toast. It was also too early, we ate at 7 and the race was at 10. No snacks in between = big mistake. I also had nothing on the course and really could have used cliff blocks or some gu.

Race - Started out strong, my form was good and I felt strong. My garmin got left in the hotel room so I had no idea what my pace was. Things got ugly around mile 6, kicked my own ass by not having enough to eat and bottomed out. Stomach cramps, leg aches. The race was great with water stops, too many too count and all well stocked. Crowd support was thin but where there were crowds they were enthusiastic. The course was nice other than the wind. After being told it was a flat course, I would argue that it's rolling hills. I finished and again am happy to have crossed it off the bucket list. My biggest critique of this event was the management of the finish line. It was a bit crazed and hard to find where the water and food for runners was.

Lessons learned - it's time to bring back race day nutrition. I know what has worked in the past and just need to reincorporate it. The body seems to be tolerating the training well so far, I think that if I had been better fed, I would have been less sore. Also having Miles at the finish was fun, but having a baby post 13.1 mile sucks and bring a babysitter for the afternoon might be worth considering.

Miles raced today: 13.1

FAIL

I had been looking forward to today's ride, planned to ride 20 miles of the 70.3 course. Once I got out there though, I lost it. Panicked almost immediatelt after getting on my bike. Mostly related to my crash a few weeks ago but all those come back after terrible tragic accident stories aren't helping anything. I turned back home after less than a mile, was shaking when I walked in the door. In some ways it doeasn't matter, I got my 20 miles in on the trainer watching re-runs of Sex in The City. I'm not going to be able to complete the race in my living room so I have to get over this fear. Suggestions are welcome, but having coached many through anxiety I can now say its easier said than done.

Miles trained today: 20.24

ishecryingishecryingishecryingishecrying

Miles and I hit the Y first this this morning, nap time was even postponed. He was off to Prime Time (aka free babysitting) while I got in some laps. At baseline it doesn't take much for me to get distracted in the pool and completely loose count. It's amazing how complex a day dream can become when I should be focused on keeping the elbows high and counting strokes between breaths. It also doesn't take much for me to take an unscheduled breather at the end of the lane and watch what other people are doing, today was ridiculous. The kid was right downstairs, I knew he was fine and if not they knew where to find me. But all I could think about was if he was crying, which is silly b/c for the most part he's a pretty chill kid who enjoys strangers. Yep, I said it, strangers. Miles is a bit like Stanley (our dog), they would both go home with most anyone...I think they get it from Joe. But yet I found myself hyper focused on the door to the pool area and anytime someone wearing even a hint of red would appear in my sights I stop and check to see if they were looking for me. The stranger caring for Miles was wearing red. So I can't tell you how far I went, or anything useful about this workout other than the fact that I swam for about 40 minutes. Oh, when I went to rescue Miles from the strangers he was having a blast drooling on another little boy about his size.

Swam for 40 mins

20 week count down starts today

Today was day 1 of my 20 week training for the Providence 70.3 Half Ironman. We are taking about a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run, this is further than my husband will drive in a day without staying overnight. I'm ready, or ready to train. In actuality I've been craving a challenge like this. I've missed the training and the obsessing that comes with it. The last 4 months I've spent rebuilding my base and focusing on incorporating more swimming and cycling. The next 20 weeks will be focused on getting me to the finish line at the RI State House. I have no idea what to expect other than I'm going to make mistakes and as fun as this will be, it's likely going to hurt like hell. The hardest part right now is accepting that this is all new, I'm not sure what I need or where to turn to. I know running, I know track and how to train for a long distance running event. I know my strengths and know very well my weaknesses with running. But this is all new territory, it's overwhelming and exciting all at once. So what are my goals? To get to the starting line healthy and injury free and more importantly to the finish. I have no idea what to expect for a time, I hope to get a better sense of that as training progresses. So here goes nothing!

Ran 4 Miles
Swam 14oo yards

Overdue for a purge

I had to get out there, it was imperative that I was on the Blvd in front of India at 8:30 this morning. It didn't matter that with the wind it felt like 3 degrees or that I had been up past midnight the night before. I had to be there, Melissa was running 20 and I was the pit crew. So don't ask why I lolly-gagged in the kitchen sipping coffee and watching the news play clips of too many Whitney Houston videos until 8:07. Then panic set in. Given the temps I had a certain outfit in mind and thought I knew where it was. Well I didn't. This tale might actually be more humorous as told from the perspective of my husband who watched me race up and down the basement stairs about 14 times, getting more frustrated and louder with each pass. In some warped way this was all his fault that I couldn't find those damn tights. Then there was the episode upstairs and hence the reason for the purge. All my running stuff is crammed into 1 (well 1.5) draws in my dresser. The main draw is so full I have to brace myself to open it all the way. Everything in there is that slippery tech wick material and 93.4% of it is black. The tights that I couldn't find but needed for this run were also black. My bedroom is now strewn with black tech wick articles of clothing and the draw is empty. It was ugly up there. I found several pairs of tights that are riddled with holes, they should be purged. Why the F are they still in there, and where are the tights I need?!? Along with the male sized medium shirts that I have received at races and don't fit. Why the F are they still in there and where are the tights I need?!?! There is also that white running skirt that is just wrong on so many levels. Why am I even looking at this skirt, I need those damn tights!!! Finally I find the tights, get dressed and book it out the door. I was still jazzed up when Melissa ran to my car, when she asked I blamed it on the coffee. It was still to raw to discuss and I was still trying to decide how much of the blame Joe actually deserved. Unfortunately my prediction is when I roll into bed in a few hours, everything will be crammed back into that draw (including that white running skirt) and I'll repress the memory of this morning until something else goes missing at the 11th hour.

Miles run today: 13

You want to borrow my ride?

I'm not sure how many of you are "fans" of active.com on facebook but I recently saw a thread about running with jogging strollers and feel the need to respond to some of the negativity. Prior to joining the stroller bracket I was often impressed by those who can get out and run with the added weight of stroller and baby or in some cases babies. I now understand what it's really like, pushing an additional 40+ pounds ahead of you, stopping to pick up toys that the little boss has ejected to the side. Stopping to give a snack or adjust a blanket. Running to a playground as a form of compromise, you can swing but we are running there and back. Singing a song at the top of your lungs, while also keeping an eye on your pace during a mile pick up. Running downwind of a dirty diaper and debating if it's bad enough to skimp on some miles. I could get a babysitter rather than run with the kid but what fun is that. I don't do all my runs with him but the miles we put in together are OUR miles. I choose to run those miles behind the stroller and am stronger because of it. To the haters out there, if you haven't been behind the stroller then keep quiet. Call me when you want to borrow my training partner and his 22.8lb ride.

Miles run today: 3