Hello 2017 (and 1 More Week of Pre-Hab)

Welcome to 2017 - and the last week of Pre-Hab.  I had all kinds of good intentions of posting weekly updates during this phase, but obviously I fell short of that goal.  

However, it's a new year, which means a chance to try (and tri!) again.

I'm not really a fan of New Year's resolutions because they're often unspecific, unmeasurable, and easy to push aside at the first sign of having to do actual work to achieve them.  After reading a really fantastic book last year (The 5AM Miracle by Jeff Sanders), I've moved to more of a quarterly goals system of specific, measurable goals - and concrete steps toward achieving them. 

One of my big goals for the last quarter of 2016 was to get back in the pool/on the bike/in my running shoes.  The first 5 weeks of Pre-Hab certainly weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's definitely an improvement on where I was.  I feel stronger and my mood has definitely improved, so right there it's a win.

The Pre-Hab goal is obviously a sub-goal of one of my major (read long term) goals: To Kill My A Race, so obviously that sub-goal is spilling over into the first (and second, and third) quarter of 2017.  Hopefully I'll do a better job of documenting my progress toward that giant goal here.  

On that note, I'm off to bed soon because I'm going to attempt an early morning workout tomorrow since I have the day off of work and then I'm hoping to get in the kitchen and do some serious meal prep.

What about you?  Do you like big New Year's resolutions or do you prefer a more short term system?

I Need Pre-Hab

What happens when you train almost nonstop from March through August?

A. You have get in great shape
B. You achieve monster PRs
C. You burn out and turn into a sofa spud

The answer is D: All of the Above

The Pinnacle of my 2016 Season

My return to triathlon was everything I ever could have hoped for and more, but by the time it was all over, I was exhausted.  The thought of doing anything swim/bike/run related sounded horrible.  I ran a little.  Hit the lake once (and had a fantastic swim). And couldn't even look at my bike without wanting to trade it in for something with fat tires and a squishy saddle.

Finally, when it stopped sounding awful and started sounding like what I wanted to do again, a bunch of stressful stuff started happening in my life, so rather than using sweat as a coping mechanism, I went for food/booze/tv/sleep.  Of course that lead to loss of fitness and a bit of weight gain since cheese and wine is far more comforting than water and a salad.  Some of the stuff that lead to my downward spiral is still going on and new stressful stuff is piling on, but it's time try a less self-destructive way to manage it - and I don't want to have to buy new pants!

I've already identified my 'A Race' for 2017 and in order to turn in an optimal performance, I need to get back in the pool/on the bike/running - and I have a plan.

My plan has 5 distinct phases and each phase is designed with one big goal in mind: CRUSH THE A RACE

The 5 phases are:

• Pre-Hab (6 weeks)
• Bike Power (8 weeks)
• Race-Specific Base (6 weeks)
• Race-Specific Build (6 weeks)
• Specialty (8 weeks)

The Pre-Hab phase is designed to get me back in the rhythm of training 6 days a week, rebuild some of my lost fitness, and shed the excess baggage I'm currently carrying.

• 2 runs per week
• 2 trainer rides per week
• 2 swims per week
• 1 strength training session per week
• Eat more 'clean' than 'dirty'

I'm probably a little insane for starting this in the weeks leading up to the biggest eating/gym-closing holidays of the year,  but if I wait for the 'perfect' time to start, I'll never do it - and my goal race is only 8 months away.

So do me a favor, if I start slacking, please give me hell in the comments!

Zero Week

Week 2 of the Great Wiggle War of 2013 (sounds catchier than 'trying to get my act together' - doesn't it?) is done.  Here's how it shook out:

Monday, January 7: Make plans to hit the gym with Mr. R&R after work.  Get news that sends all forms of motivation crashing through the floor.  The only running I did was to the refrigerator and the only lifting I did was moving the beer bottle from the table to my mouth.

Tuesday, January 8: Slept like crap on Monday night. Woke up an hour and a half before my alarm and couldn't get back to sleep.  What I Should Have Done: Haul my butt down the stairs to the bike trainer.  What I Did: Laid on living room floor reading while one of the bunnies used me as a jungle gym.  Felt like falling asleep driving home from work.  Gave up all pretenses of working out and went to bed at the grandmotherly hour of 9:30pm.

Wednesday, January 9: Pure laziness. 'Nuff said.

Thursday, January 10: Dinner with Little Sister and Mason.  I had plans to hop on the trainer after they left, but they were here until almost 10pm.  I'm okay with that because spending time with the people who are important to me will always matter more than a missed workout.

Don't ask why he's in the bathroom sink.  Just revel in the cuteness.

Friday, January 11:  A big old drama llama kicked up this week and by the time I got home, all I wanted was to crash on the couch and hope the stress headache I had developed went away.

Saturday, January 12: My brother was in town and since I rarely get to see him/talk to him/spend time with him, I opted for a long lunch with him followed by running errands and household tasks.

Sunday, January 13: Woke up to another coating of ice on every available surface.  Resigned myself to utter failure in the workout department this week.

There you have it - my first Zero Week of the year.  I'm sure it won't be the last one, but I find myself actually looking forward to Monday (tomorrow) and the fresh start that comes with it.

May Wrap Up

How is tomorrow June 1st already?  I mean, wasn't it just May 1st last week? No?  Oh well.  

Looking back at my Garmin data for the month I definitely started with a bang and ended with something slightly louder than a whimper, but all in all, it was a solid month of training.  Back at the end of April I had set up 3 goals for May, and I've succeeded at two of them - and barely missed on the 3rd.

My first goal was to beat my April mileage total of 97.27 total miles(between running, cycling and hiking).  I really wanted to see if I could put 100 miles on my legs this month and it turns out...I could. My May mileage total was 101.50!

I decided to subdivide that 100 miles into 2 sub-goals: 50 miles of running and 50 miles on the bike.  The Madison half put me over the top of the 50 mile goal, and I tacked on another (fast for me) mile during my mini-brick workout last night, bringing my total running mileage for May to 56.26 miles.  I didn't quite make my 50 mile cycling goal.  I could have done it if I would have either A) not cut last night's ride short because I was freezing or B) dragged my sorry butt onto the trainer tonight instead of going out for a few drinks.  I'll live with 45.24 miles instead.

I'm feeling pretty much recovered from my adventures in Madison last weekend, so I'm ready to face the next challenges on my racing calendar.  Next Sunday is the South Shore Rock 'n Ride Duathlon.  This will be my first real attempt at a multisport event and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little freaked out by the whole thing.  I've never done this before, so I'm going in completely clueless how it works. How do you rack a bike? What if I blow a tube? What if I accidentally find myself drafting off another cyclist and get penalized?  What if I hit a massive pothole and am launched over my handlebars?  I'm sure I'll figure it out. I mean...you gotta learn somewhere...right?

What I can't get over is the run course.  I was talking to Walter & Spot's veterinarian of all people (turns out she'll be racing that day too) and she warned me that the run course is a tough one.

(source)

See that cute little red arrow I added? Yeah...that's apparently a run up a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan - on the second mile of both run legs.  If you've been reading here for any length of time, you know how I feel about hills!  This is definitely going to be interesting - and possibly a bit painful.  Here's hoping my downhill splits make up for my uphill splits!

If the Duathlon on Sunday and the required packet pick up on Saturday weren't enough, my little sister is graduating from high school on Saturday afternoon and her party is on Sunday afternoon.  I'm really hoping that I don't have to go to the ceremony with body-marking sticking out of my dress and that I can stay awake for her party!  I'm pretty sure she'll kill me if I embarrass her with body-marking or by falling asleep!

Waging War Against 'The Wiggle'

It's that time of year.  The holiday decorations have come down.  The presents are put away.  But something remains: The Wiggle.  What is The Wiggle? It's the illegitimate lovechild of too many holiday indulgences and slothful couch-dwelling.  It leads to formerly toned body parts developing a jello-like jiggle, pants that feel a little too snug, and generally feeling crappy.

In my case, it means that I'm several pounds over my happy weight and I've lost a lot of fitness.  The way I see it, I have two choices: buy bigger pants or declare war on The Wiggle.  I've chosen option number 2.  My battle strategy is simple.  I'm cleaning up my eating habits and increasing my activity level.  The ultimate goal is to be back in top form by the start of the spring racing season (and fit comfortably into my pants).

(source)

I began implementing my battle strategy yesterday.  The clean-eating was easy enough.  The activity part took a little more effort!  After work, I piled on several layers and set off for an easy-paced 3 miler around the office.  My rationale was that if I didn't go home before I worked out, there was no chance that I'd get sucked in by the gravitational pull of the couch!  The first mile was interesting.  I enjoyed feeling like a total badass   I laughed when a guy waiting at a bus stop shouted "You're crazy!"  I was not happy about the playing  - it usually does. Frogger when I encountered a freeway on ramp.  By Mile 2, I was sweating and the cold, dry air was beginning to make breathing a little difficult.  Then came Mile 3. Somewhere at the beginning of that mile I found my rhythm and the run finally started to feel like fun instead of a chore.  I looped through the parking lot at work back to my car and called it a day.  The overall pace wasn't very good compared to where I was a few months ago, but it was a start.

To further enhance my 'battle plan', I set up a "Goal" on my Garmin.  In the period between January 3rd and January 31st (28 days), I'm going to attempt to do something active on 20 days.  I'll be defining 'active' as running, hiking, practicing yoga, hiking, lifting weights, and walking (minimum distance is 5 miles).  The goal tracker is essentially a 'star chart for grown ups'.  What do I get if I get all 20 gold stars?  Stay tuned to find out!

What do you do to motivate yourself?  What do you do to reward yourself for achieving goals?