Base Building: Round 2 - Week 1

I'm going another round with base-building.  After 4 intense weeks, I feel really good, but there are some weak spots and I have the time before racing season, so I've decided to continue to build my foundation before I start constructing a house/tri season on it.  The workouts are essentially the same as Round 1, but I'm planning to add some yardage to my swims, a little distance to my runs (since there's less than a month until the next Chilly Willy Series race), and more consistent strength training - so don't be surprised if the numbers change a bit this round.

Monday:

Rest day? Hah!  Mr. R&R bundled up and headed out to shovel snow and I got to work on the last bit of my meal prep for the week: spanakorizo, Greek-seasoned chicken, and tzatiki sauce. After a false start (I grabbed 2 bunches of Walter and Spot's dandelion greens and started washing them instead of the 2 bunches of spinach) the spanakorizo simmered away on the stove, the chicken went into the oven, and I threw together the tzatziki sauce.  Total time in the kitchen: 1 hour.   Dinner: Awesome!

After dinner, we gave Walter his weekly bath and then took him and Spot upstairs to listen to music while Walter dried off.  All four of us were dozing off!

Tuesday:

It's cold and crappy outside.  Must be swim night!  The original workout called for 850 yards, but I tacked on another 100 yards because...well...goals.  Dinner (at 9pm - ugh) was identical to Monday's dinner and I was super excited about eating leftovers. If you want to try it for yourself, here' are the recipes for the  Spanakorizo and the Tzatziki  

Wednesday:

Bike assessment time. Tonight was all about seeing if the last 4 weeks of getting my ass kicked at high cadence/low speed and sweating buckets translated to an increase in my functional threshold power (FTP) - the power output I could theoretically maintain for an hour.  According to TrainerRoad, an increase of 2-3% is to be expected.  My increase in FTP, after a really friggin' brutal assessment, was on the low end: 2%.  Mr. R&R and I were both ravenous and big bowls of whole grain spaghetti, puttanesca sauce, and freshly grated parmesan cheese seemed like the quickest way to satisfy the raging hunger beast.

Thursday: 

It was my night to work late.  Fortunately things went quite a bit faster than usual and I was able to escape a little earlier than normal.  Mr. R&R and I hit the gym around 8:00pm for a 3 mile (treadmill) run and a brief strength training session.  The run sucked beyond suck.  Midway through Mile 1 I started getting a weird knot in the front of my abdominals.  This wasn't like a regular old side stitch - it was in the front, not the side.  Okay. Fine.  I dug my fingers into the knot in an attempt to release it and maintain my pace.  That didn't work.  Mile 2 was just an exercise in pain.  The knot basically felt like a someone was pinching the muscle and twisting it any time I tried to go much faster than walking pace.  I must have managed to dig my fingers into it just right because as much as it sucked, I was able to pick it up again a little for Mile 3.

Afterward, I dragged myself into the free weight area for some dumbbell rows and raises and then over to the mats for plank shoulder touches while Mr. R&R finished up in the weight room.  It was well after 9pm by the time we got out of there, so we listened to the Bernie/Hilary debate while picking up burgers for dinner.  Politics and burgers...makes me feel like I'm in college again!

Friday:

So, that nasty little knot from last night had lasting effects.  I actually had a tender spot on my stomach from how hard I dug my fingers into it.  In an unusual turn of events, I actually left work at 5pm, stopped at the grocery store that's on my route home to procure a whole chicken, and had time to lounge around and read for a while before Mr. R&R and I headed for the pool for our Friday night swim date.  The prescribed workout was 850 yards, but in the spirit of trying to add a little more distance this round, I ended up swimming 1050 - and at the fastest average pace I've swam yet!  Granted, I still inhale/swallow a gallon of pool every time I try to do a flip turn, but speed is slowly, but surely improving.  We came home, chowed down on some italian beef and mashed potatoes from my freezer stash, read a little more, and crashed.

Saturday:
I had grand plans of sleeping in today, but that went out the window when I woke up at 7:30am and couldn't get back to sleep.  I ended up having a good breakfast (egg tacos), drinking coffee, and lounging around with a book for most of the morning.  That was the calm before the storm because somewhere around 8am, I had hatched a plan.

My plans for the day had originally involved a training session, a bike session, and a bunch of errands.  I had planned on getting to the gym a little early to squeeze in a 1 mile warm up run before my training session because I didn't want to waste time/money on a supervised warm up - and then I got the bright idea that I'd go in even earlier, do Sunday's planned 3 miler, go to my training session, run the errands, hit the bike, and end up with two back to back rest days.  I was a little behind schedule, so I was only able to cram in 1.75 miles before I met with my trainer (who totally kicked my ass).  I debated calling off the whole plan, but the thought of two solid days off drew me back to the treadmill - and I'm really glad I did.  I ran a really awesome mile and a half!

I stopped off at my mom's to drop off some freezer jam and pick up a ladle I'd left there after a family holiday event, picked up two pounds of coffee from a local roaster, and then Mr. R&R and I made a trip to Trader Joes to pick up everything we needed for the coming week and a special treat - the makings of prosciutto and caramelized onion pizza.  Happy early V-Day to us!  Of course before the pizza could happen, the bike workout had to happen.  Let me tell you - getting on that bike did not sound like fun - and it wasn't. 45 really uncomfortable minutes later, Goddard was done, and it was time to eat!

Sunday:
I'm pretty sure that the first thing out of my mouth this morning was: $*%&ing OW!.  My abs and legs hurt!  I didn't really want to get off the couch, but when Mr. R&R left for his run and training session, I dragged myself out to the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee, and threw a chicken in the crock pot to do its thing for the rest of the day before retreating back to the couch to enjoy my coffee, a new book, and to temporarily silence my aching muscles.

My food prep/attempt to cook my way through my Pinterest boards for the coming week included:

- A whole chicken in the crockpot (9 hours on low and the thing practically carved itself)

- Damn Delicious' One Pot Mushroom Rice: Pretty decent, but not sure I'd make it again.

- Epicurious' French Lentil Soup: Turned out way more like a stew than a soup.  I think next time I'd add more liquid and a bit more balsamic vinegar.

Six servings? More like 5.

- Pastry Affair's Beer Bread: OMG. I will never buy a box mix for this stuff again.  6 ingredients, 5 minutes of prep, and so damned good!

I also threw together a few yogurt messes and mixed up the dry ingredients for proatmeal, so I'm all set for breakfast this week too.  My refrigerator is packed - and will be nearly naked by Friday night!

The chicken was still in the crockpot and took up the last of the available real estate

Round 2: Week 1 Totals:
Swim: 2000 yards (1.14 miles)
Bike: 21.07 miles
Run: 6.28 miles
Strength Training: 2 sessions
Total Miles: 28.49 miles
Total Time: 4 hours, 36 minutes

Do you ever cook any of the things you pin?  If so, what's the best thing you've made?

Back to Basics: Week 4

4 weeks. 24 workouts. Over 100 miles. And I did them all!  There have been days where I hurt like hell, but overall I feel incredible and I'm really looking forward to going another round with this base building plan. (Yes, I know this is a week late. Life got in the way of blogging.)

Monday:

Rest Day.  Sometimes I swear that the only thing getting me through the week is the prospect of a day off!  I worked, came home, got a 90 minute massage, scarfed down shrimp fried rice, and spent some quality time with Mr. R&R and the boys - listening to Nirvana and Jethro Tull on vinyl.

Tuesday:

1000 yard swim.  This is one of the best swims I've had yet - even if the drills felt like they were trying to kill me!  Leftover shrimp fried rice was on the menu again tonight - along with some really yummy chicken and cilantro wontons from Trader Joe's.  I think this whole 'cook a bunch of stuff on Sunday' thing is definitely helping.  I love not having to wait more than 5 minutes for food after a long day - and it keeps me from doing really stupid things like hitting the drive thru.

Wednesday:
Today was a 45 minute bike workout called Geiger. 3 blocks of Sweet Spot (just below FTP) work.  Really good, but really sweaty!

Thursday:
It finally happened.  I had to make peace with my nemesis: the treadmill.  It was cold, dark, and late by the time I got home from work, so my choices were track or treadmill.

I haven't been on one of these devices in a few years and once I settled in I ended up having one of the best runs I've had in a while and the people watching was pretty good too!

I also crammed in a quick strength workout after my run - trying desperately to remember all the things that my trainer had me do.  I think I need to take notes or something at my next session.

Friday:
The toughest swim yet. 1200 yards. Sets of 200. By the time I finished, I was exhausted, but happy. I'm definitely starting to feel more of a 'pull' with each stroke as opposed to just thrashing my way down the lane.

Saturday:
Last bike ride of Base Building: Monitor.  5 blocks of sweet spot work and I'm happy to say I. Nailed. Them.  I crawled off the bike, mopped up the puddle of sweat, stretched, and dragged myself up to the kitchen.  I stared at what was supposed to be dinner (a bunch of raw ingredients) and promptly reached for a package of refrigerated mushroom ravioli and a jar of puttanesca sauce.  Dinner in 20 minutes, 2 pots, and no chopping!

I also did some of the food prep for next week tonight because we've got Super Bowl plans for tomorrow.  I made a pot of Post Punk Kitchen's  Snobby Joes and a bunch of yogurt messes.  Snobby Joe's are a tried and true dish around here.  They're quite versatile in that they can be served sandwich style on a nice, crusty roll or eaten straight from a bowl - which was the plan for this week because rolls seem to go stale around here before they all get eaten!  My only modification from the original recipe is to increase the yellow mustard from 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons.  This was an accident the first time I made them, but it turned out to be a good accident!  I'll do the remaining food prep on Monday - my rest day.

Sweet, Spicy, Lentil Goodness 

Sunday:
It's 40 degrees, sunny, and the only wind is a light breeze.  Easy choice: Run Outside.  I suited up and hit the roads.  It was a little disheartening to get passed by a septuagenarian in shorts with calves like tree trunks, but he was super nice and cheerful as he bounded past, so that helped a little!  I wasn't really planning on doing a tempo run, but that's how the splits shook out.

I got home from my run just as Mr. R&R got home from his training session and after brunch and showers we got to work making a really naughty macaroni and cheese to take to Maverick and Goose's house for the Super Bowl.  This dish contains 5 kinds of cheese, thick cut bacon, onions caramelized in bacon grease, and roasted portabella mushrooms.  It was a hit - even though the game was a miss.  2 beers, a serving of mac and cheese (with a healthy dose of Sriracha), and 4 of Goose's famous spicy jumbo shrimp later - I nearly lapsed into a food coma on the way home!

Maverick and Goose's parrots observed and commented on the proceedings

Week 4 Totals:
Swim: 2200 yards (1.24 miles)
Bike: 15.84 miles
Run: 6.02 miles
Strength Training: 1 session
Total Miles: 23.1 miles
Total Time: 3 hours, 33 minutes

Back to Basics: Week 3

Another 'perfect' week - this is getting addictive!  This is the peak week (read: highest volume) week of the base-building program, and I felt every bit of it.

Monday:

I worked pretty late, came home, scarfed leftover Mongolian Beef Noodles, did laundry, and crashed early.  Rest days are really supposed to be about resting, but I always end up using them to catch up on things that fell by the wayside during the previous week. #TriathleteProblems

Tuesday:

Longest swim yet.  There were some really funky drills in this workout - some of which left me wondering if I know how to swim at all, and others that made me feel like I'm getting stronger.  It was a pretty good mix.  We rolled through the door around 9pm and dinner was 'Breakfast for Dinner': eggs, toast, chicken apple sausages.

Wednesday:

The name of tonight's bike workout, Ericsson, made me laugh.  I kept picturing Marshall and his dad from How I Met Your Mother shouting 'Eriksen!' through the phone to each other. 

The workout itself was no laughing matter.  It was 4x8 minute intervals with  a quicker than normal spin for the first minute, increased cadence for the next 3 minutes, followed by 1 minute all out.  I was toast by the time I climbed off the bike and I ended up making tacos (again) instead of the planned meatloaf because I wanted to eat and crash - not wait another hour while the meatloaf cooked (because I was too lazy to make it and put it in the oven before going down to The Cave).

Thursday:

I've gotta remember that Thursday is the perfect night to go to the indoor track.  The place was a ghost town!  It still took a solid mile and a half before I was sufficiently warm and able to breath well, but the speed was an improvement over last week's attempt.  Still, it's more than a little frustrating knowing that my body is probably capable of better, but being unable to deliver.  Dinner was a hastily thrown together chicken stir fry - which would have been better had I remembered to throw in the garlic and ginger.  Instead it was kind of bland - even when doused liberally with Sriracha.

Friday:

I'm pretty sure I don't work for Barnum & Bailey, but today sure as hell felt like a three-ring circus at the office.  As hard as I tried, I couldn't get everything done, so it looks like I'm going to have to put in some time from home this weekend.  Bah!  

Mr. R&R and I hit the pool for 1000 yards (at the best per 100 pace I've averaged yet) and then spent some more time attempting to teach ourselves how to do flip turns.  Perhaps someday I'll figure out how to simultaneously flip over, actually make foot-to-wall contact, and not attempt to inhale a gallon of chlorine.  The drive home was spent discussing a) how the planned spaghetti dinner sounded unappealing, b) why we shouldn't go out for dinner, and c) justifying the idea that eating something junk-y at home was still better than going out.  A quick run through Target and 25 minutes later, we were enjoying fresh from the oven nachos - and were full much faster than expected.  We were both asleep by 11pm.

Saturday:

I think this could be called: The Day of All. The. Things.  It always seems like events like to crop up on the same day, so it was all about careful timing, powering through, and a couple of wardrobe changes (fortunately I didn't have to pull a Superman and change in a phone booth - do those even exist anymore?).

Event/Wardrobe Change #1: Marquette vs. Butler Game - 

I don't think I've been to a Marquette basketball game since about a year after I graduated - and that was a long ass time ago. When Mr. R&R's company invited us to enjoy the game from a luxury box, we jumped on it. 

It was a good game (Marquette won), the food was decent, the beer was great (note to self: 2 beers at 11am makes for a rough rest of the day) and we got to enjoy it with WhoHa, Maverick, Goose, and a handful of other friends.

Event/Wardrobe Change #2: Great Lakes Pet Expo - 

After the game we hightailed it home so Mr. R&R could make it to his massage appointment and so I could change into less dressy jeans, a sweatshirt, and sneakers, pick up my mom, and hit up the Great Lakes Pet Expo.  This annual event is a showcase of animal rescues and pet product vendors from all over the state.  It holds a special place in my heart because it's where Mr. R&R and I met Walter 6 years ago!  I try to go back every year to say hello to the nice ladies who run the rescue we adopted Walter and Spot from and to update them on how the little fuzzballs are doing.  The had a bunch of baby bunnies (about the same size Spot was when he moved in here) and while most people were relegated to petting them through an enclosure, they scooped up Spot's doppelgänger and let me get my fill of baby bunny snuggles!  This little peanut snuggled right up to me and then proceeded to climb onto my shoulder and hide in my hair!  They had the most adorable coasters for sale as well (all proceeds help them continue saving bunnies), so I picked up a set and so did my mom.  I also acquired a handmade blanket and a washable fleece pad for the boys.

We also stopped to pet a rescue husky - which made my mom a little nostalgic.  Fun fact: My parents had a husky (that ended up living with my grandparents) when I was very young.  I think she really enjoyed her husky snuggles.

Event/Wardrobe Change #3: Personal Training - 

After the Expo, I drove my mom home and realized that I had enough time to stop home and put on warm gym clothes instead of changing into the ice cold gym clothes I'd thrown in the car in case I ran out of time!  

I met with my potential trainer and I'm 90% sure she's going to be a keeper. I explained what I was looking for in a trainer (someone to help me build a strength training program that compliments my tri training and possibly someone to refine my swim skills).  It turns out that she swam competitively for years, taught swim lessons, has done a sprint trip, and is now an MMA fighter.  After 30 minutes working out with her, I was hurting in the best way possible.  I think I might have to keep her around for a while!

Event/Wardrobe Change #4: Bike Workout - 

I really meant to do this workout in the morning before the Marquette game, but sleeping in won, so after a quick dash to Trader Joe's to acquire all the stuff I need to do meal prep on Sunday and eat for the week, I did my 4th change of the day into bike clothes.

Carson is a Mean Girl!

If I thought Ericsson was hard on Wednesday, that's just because I hadn't met Carson yet.  Carson is one mean bitch! It's 6, 5-7 minute long intervals at about 85-95% of FTP (functional threshold power) with very short recoveries between intervals.  Oh - and there are hill climbing drills thrown into each interval.  I could barely walk by the time it was over.  Mr. R&R and I finally caved and got takeout for dinner.  It was burgers and fries - followed by Wardrobe Change #5: Pajamas

Sunday:

The only thing standing between me and Perfect Week #3 was a three mile run - and it was raining.  The indoor track wasn't an option due to an event.  My knees hate the treadmill - and so do I. So that left 1 choice: run in the rain.  The first 2 miles weren't too bad - other than my glasses fogging up constantly (heavy breathing will do that). The final mile sucked since that's when the water finally seeped through my shoes and soaked my socks.  To summarize: Uphill. Rain. Foggy Glasses. Wet Socks. Ugh.

After a very long, hot shower, I got to work in the kitchen on this week's food prep.  I'm trying really hard to do a mix of the approximately 8,000 things I've saved on Pinterest and tried and true recipes.

This week I made Iowa Girl Eats' Crockpot Italian Beef.  I've made this before and both Mr. R&R and I are fans.  It's ridiculously easy - just toss a bunch of stuff in the crockpot, set it to low, and forget about it for the next 9  or 10 hours - or at least try to forget, because the yummy smells will keep drawing you back into the kitchen.

While the beef was doing its thing in the crockpot, I made Cooking Light's Carrot Ginger Soup.  The end product tasted fine (although really similar to the Sweet Potato Carrot soup I made a few weeks ago), it was not the beautiful, bright orange color I expected.  I think this was due to using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth - the vegetable broth was pretty dark.  Long story short: It sort of resembled cat sick in a bowl, so I'll spare you the photo.

Finally, Mr. R&R joined me in the kitchen and together we tackled Skinnytaste's Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice.  I don't think the actual dish was at all spicy (and I love spicy food), but adding cayenne pepper to hot sesame oil caused me to have to open multiple windows just to be able to breath!  That was some seriously crazy $#!*.  I'd definitely make this recipe again - as long as I have some Sriracha handy to spice it up.

And last, but definitely not least, Week 3 and January Totals:

Week 3:
Swim: 2,200 yards (1.25 miles)
Bike: 21.82 miles
Run: 6.07 miles
Strength Training: 1 session
Total Time: 4 hours, 29 minutes

January:
Swim: 5,925 yards (3.36 miles)
Bike: 73.24 miles
Run: 18.4 miles
Strength Training: 1 session
Total Distance: 94.95 miles
Total Time: 12 hours, 56 minutes

What's your favorite workout?  Cooked anything good lately?

Back To Basics: Week 2

I did it...I had another perfect week!  That's not to say that all the workouts were perfect (because they weren't), but I didn't skip any of them.


Monday:
After 6 days of workouts, this was much appreciated.  I squeezed in a call to my bike guy about that awful creaking sound, worked until about 6-6:30, came home, scarfed down some leftover spanakorizo (I swear I'll take a picture the next time I make it), did a little laundry, played with the bunnies, and crashed hard.

Tuesday:
1000 yard swim.  This wasn't easy, but I felt pretty good in the water.  I think my body is slowly remembering how this whole swimming thing works.  The key word here is S.L.O.W.  I'm not fast in the pool, but I'm okay with that.  I'm hoping that all this base building leads to less open water freakouts once I get to that point.  After the swim, Mr. R&R and I were both starving so tacos were on the menu again.  Perhaps Taco Tuesday will become a thing around here?

Wednesday:
My arms didn't ache when I woke up this morning!  Yes!  Tonight's scheduled workout was supposed to be on the bike, but I swapped it with Thursday's run workout because I am scheduled to work very late on Thursday (no chance of walking out of the office before 7pm) and I know there's no chance in hell that I'll be willing to leave the house and run after that.  It's been quite frigid here, so I headed over to the indoor track for 3 miles.  It took a solid 2 miles to get warmed up/used to the cold, dry air, but my 3rd mile was encouraging.

The hamster on the wheel goes 'round and 'round

Thursday:
By the time I got home from work, I was ready to eat all.the.things.  I had picked up sushi from the place down the street from my office, but it had to hang out in the refrigerator while Mr. R&R ran and I hit the bike for 45 minutes.  I took a few extra minutes to implement Brent's suggestion of how to make the awful creaking noise stop - and it worked!  The workout may have only been 45 minutes long, but I was dripping sweat inside of 10 minutes.  It was composed of 4 intervals, each 7 minutes long - designed to improve both muscle endurance and pedaling economy.  I did my best to match my wattage and cadence to what was on the screen, but it was tough! When it was over, the sushi was devoured at an alarming rate.

Friday:
Note to self: Friday night is rugrat night in the exercise pool.  My gym is adults only, but they allow family swim for a couple hours on Friday night.  Fortunately, the kids are relegated to the small exercise pool.  There was a handful of people in the lap pool, but we were each able to get our own lane and I banged out my 1000 yards.  I was even slower than I was on Tuesday night, but I was pretty pleased with how I felt again.

On the way home, Mr. R&R and I were both hangry.  If you've never heard that term before, it's that feeling of being so hungry that you become angry and snappish.  Obviously this situation called for dinner - fast!  We debated going home, getting cleaned up, and going out to dinner, but it was already 8:30pm and going out would have meant waiting at least another hour+ to eat.  We swung by Trader Joe's, grabbed a few things, and headed home and into the kitchen.  I dealt with chopping and Mr. R&R manned the grill pan.  We were eating delicious fajitas in under 30 minutes - and for less money and fewer calories than we would have had we gone out.

Steak and Chicken Fajitas

 Saturday:

One word to describe today: Busy.  Mr. R&R had a meeting with a personal trainer (they throw in 2 sessions when you join) and while he was out, I ran around to pick up coffee, groceries, and all the crap we needed from Target.  When I got back, we unloaded the car, put all the groceries away, changed into bike clothes, and hit The Cave for another 45 minute sweat/suffer-fest.

We crawled off the bikes, hurried through showers and getting all dressed up, and stopped to pick up one of my coworkers on the way to a somewhat mandatory work event.  It was a nice party (chilled crab claws on the buffet and open bar with designer cocktails), but by 10:00pm we were both struggling to keep our eyes open.  Lucky for us, my coworker was ready to call it a night as well, so we excused ourselves, dropped her off at home, and we crashed as soon as we got home.

Sunday:
Sunday = Run Day.  I really didn't want to run this morning.  It was cold, my legs were really tight, and the gravitational pull of the couch was insane, but I knew that the only thing standing between me and another perfect week of workouts was 30-ish minutes outside.  After some coffee I piled on the layers (fleece-lined tights, wool socks, 2 shirts, fleece jacket, mittens, ear band, and hat) and headed out the door on a 2 part mission.  Part 1: Get My Run In  Part 2: Stop at the crappy grocery store on my route and pick up green onions (my usual grocery store didn't have any on Saturday).  The first mile wasn't fun, but the second sure was - it was downhill and at sub-9 pace.  I darted into the grocery store, grabbed my onions, jammed them in the inside pockets of my fleece, and hauled my ass uphill for a mile - while hoping I wasn't steaming the onions in the process.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Time: 29:03

Avg. Pace: 9:23/mile

Mr. R&R and I scarfed a late brunch of eggs and chicken apple sausages before getting started on all the laundry/cleaning/food prep we needed to do.  He took over laundry duty while I hit the kitchen.  This week I made Ambitious Kitchen's Dark Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Banana Bread (made exactly according to her recipe), Skinnytaste's Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup (modifications: left out the celery, used full-fat freshly shredded sharp cheddar, skipped the American singles), and Iowa Girl Eats' Mongolian Beef Noodle Bowls (modifications: used broccoli slaw instead of coleslaw mix).

The Dark Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Banana Bread came out great.  I ran all the numbers and it comes out to just 207 calories per slice (assuming 12 slices per loaf).  This will be consumed as a pre-workout snack.

I'm a soup snob - or at least very particular about soup - and the Potato Broccoli Cheese soup tastes exactly like a baked potato topped with broccoli and sharp cheddar.  That just happens to be one of my favorite ways to top a baked potato, so I was happy.  It's approximately 275 calories per bowl, so it will be perfect for Mr. R&R and I to take for lunch early in the week.

The Mongolian Beef Noodle Bowls were kind of a project to make - lots of careful timing, searing in batches, etc.  I'm very happy that Mr. R&R joined me in the kitchen for this one.  The finished product was incredibly un-photogenic, but tasted phenomenal. My only complaints were: A) The rice noodles were a little gelatinous (I think they got a little overcooked ) and B) The rice noodles and sauce were a pain in the ass to clean out of my wok.  Overall though, I'd make this recipe again and I look forward to having the leftovers for dinner tomorrow night.

All my food prep is done through Wednesday morning and it's time for some bunny nose bumps and bed!

Week 2 Totals:
Swim: 2025 yards (1.15 miles)
Bike: 18.71 miles
Run: 6.28 miles
Total Time: 3 hours, 43 minutes

Back To Basics: Week 1

What do you do when you feel sluggish and cruddy after the holidays? When you haven't worked out in a month and you've been eating all the things? In my case, you go back to basics and rebuild your base.

After rediscovering my love of multisport racing last year, I think I'm finally ready to end my break with triathlon (yep, we're getting back together).  I'm also ready to stop lugging around the winter/holiday fluff that I put on while being a total sloth after the Last Call 5k.

Obviously, there's a plan here - there's always a plan.  I came across a really interesting triathlon base building plan on my bike trainer app/site (TrainerRoad), so I've committed to following it for at least the next 4 weeks.  I may actually do a second round of base building before moving on to the build phase since it's been a long time since I tri trained and I need all the help I can get!

The plan looks something like this:

*Mon: Rest

*Tue: Swim

*Wed: Bike

*Thu: Run

*Fri: Swim

*Sat: Bike

*Sun: Run

This seems pretty reasonable to me and it's acceptable to rearrange things to suit your schedule so long as you don't do the same sport on back-to-back days.  I'm in!

I'm also making a concerted effort to clean up my diet.  I've been skipping breakfast, eating too many meals out, and drinking far too much.  I've decided to do a lot more meal planning and weekend prepping - and only 1 cheat meal per week.

So here's how Week 1 shook out:

Monday:

It may have been a rest day on the workout front, but we were definitely busy around here.  Mr. R&R and I finagled our schedules and got out of work at a somewhat reasonable hour and promptly drove over to a local gym to take a tour.  This particular gym has multiple locations in the area - and most of them have the thing we need most in a gym - a pool!  After a tour and some chatting, we signed up.  I'm officially a gym rat again.  

After that, we headed home and had dinner: Butternut Squash and Apple soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.  I didn't love the soup, but it did the job.

Tuesday:

The gym location we toured on Monday has a pool, but it's only 16 yards long and is mostly meant for water walkers and AquaZumba types.  It'll do in case of emergency since it's open 24 hours, but there's a location about 20 minutes away that has a standard 25 yard pool, so after a long day at work, we headed out there.  My first pool workout in 17 months was only 850 yards, but it kicked my ass all over the place - it felt so good to be back.  We didn't get home until 9:30pm and we were both freaking starving!  Dinner (tacos) was thrown together in between showers and we were eating by 10pm. I'm pretty used to eating dinner late, but this was just silly!  I'll definitely have to make plans for fast dinners on swim days.

Wednesday:

Today started with a valuable lesson: I will not take 17 months off of swimming ever again.  My abs hurt like a mother and my arms were ready to fall off.  Trying to wash your hair when your arms hurt like that really sucks!

Dinner (cheater chicken, potatoes, and green beans) came first tonight, which is a very good thing because the first bike workout was brutal.  I've done it before and every single time, I'm reduced to a quivering pile of goo.  In one hour on the bike I went through 2 bottles of water, half a package of Shot Blocks, and my shirt was repurposed as a sweat mop.

Back in The Cave

Thursday:

The arm pain continues. In fact, I think it intensified. I guess it's a good thing that tonight's workout mostly beats on my legs. 

It's been over a month since I laced up my running shoes.  In fact, the last time I ran was the Last Call 5k - and it was about 20 degrees warmer.  Mr. R&R and I both bundled up and went our separate ways.  Not. A. Good. Run.  Between dodging ice, unshoveled sections of sidewalk, being out of shape, and being dressed like Randy from A Christmas Story, it was a slow jog (slog?) not a run.  This doesn't bode well for Saturday's Frosty 5k.

Dinner was a couple of eggs and some toast - because I had to eat, but had no motivation to do anything more involved.

Friday:

It's Friday!  That means beer and all manners of fried bar food, right?  Nope.  Mr. R&R and I checked out the pool at another gym location - this one is only 5 minutes from home.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to swim at all given that my arms still felt like they were going to fall off.  I was slower than slow, but the pain let up once I was in the water and I made it through the 800 yards, hauled myself out of the pool, and called it a day.  We rolled in the door around 9pm and dinner (spaghetti) was cooked, showers were taken, and we crashed as early as possible since Saturday was both run day and race day!

Saturday:

I ended the 2015 race season on an incredible high by breaking my 5k PR by 8 seconds.  2016 started out in the toilet.  We bundled up, drove to the race site, and hid in the toasty warm car until the last possible second before doing the usual pre-race warm up and stretch.  I was shocked at the number of people who showed up!  We hoofed it about a quarter mile to the Start Line, listened to the race director's warnings of ice and narrow spots on the path, and then the gun went off.  I flew for the first quarter mile (low 8's) and then my nose started freezing up.  I seriously could not breath in through my nose, which doesn't work at all.  I spent the first mile breathing mostly through my mouth (not good) and it clipped by in 9:08.  It was all downhill from there and I'm not talking about the course.  I was in such bad oxygen debt that I finally had to slow to a walk, cup my hands over my nose and try to thaw everything out. Mile 2 was a pedestrian 10:03.  The misery continued for another mile.  Every so often I had to walk and thaw out my nose. Obviously this meant a pathetic performance on my part.  Not only was it the slowest 5k I've run in a long time, but I fell to 4th overall in my age group for the series. Mr. R&R, on the other hand, won his age group and is now assured of winning his age group for the series (it's mathematically impossible for anyone to overtake him as long as he shows up for the last two races), and he's the second place male overall!

 Time: 29:37 (9:33/mile pace)

Overall Place: 88/190

Gender Place: 43/128

Age Group Place: 10/20 (F35-39)

I also had a 90 minute massage on Saturday night and my arms and shoulders feel much better and my lousy mood disappeared while listening to music and snuggling with these guys.

Saturday Night Cuddle Puddle

Sunday:

Sunday is always about preparing for the week ahead. On the food front, I made a big pot of chicken pot pie soup and a giant pot of spanakorizo (greek spinach rice), so we'll be eating that for lunch/dinner for the next few days.  The soup turned out okay - a little bland for my liking.

Soup for you!

The spanakorizo turned out great - it was almost identical to the version made by a restaurant I used to love.  I also made up some tzatziki sauce to go with the rice and a few pineapple yogurt messes for breakfasts. We're set through at least Wednesday.

The workout du jour was 45 minutes on the bike for a workout called Goddard.  I was a sweaty mess inside of the first 15 minutes and my bike was making a weird creaking sound whenever I put a lot of pressure on the base bars or the aero bars.  Looks like I'll be making a call to Emery's tomorrow because I'm 99.99% sure that my bike is not supposed to be making that sound!

Week 1 Totals:

Swim: 1700 yards (.97 miles)

Bike: 20.51 miles

Run: 6.05 miles
Total Time: 3 hours, 39 minutes

2015: A Year Of Rediscovery

Every year I swear I'm not going to do one of these posts, but somehow I always end up feeling compelled to write one.  Looking back at 2015, I feel like it's been all about rediscovering things that I'd forgotten about/let get away from me - and other adventures followed.

There was camping - which I hadn't done since April of 2013.

On that camping trip, I also rediscovered hiking - particularly the Ice Age Trail - which led to hiking a few more segments and trail running another!

Rediscovering the Ice Age Trail

Knocking off the second half of the Lapham Peak segment

Trail Running Perfection

I also rediscovered how much I like riding my bike: I hit up the Ozaukee InterUrban Trail and the Glacial Drumlin Trail.

InterUrban Selfie

I fell so in (back in) love with my bike that I decided to get back into multi-sport racing by entering the Lake Country Duathlon - and ended up acquiring some new wheels in the process!

Bringing Home The New Baby

This led to a nail-biting morning of learning to control my new ride and ride in aero - accompanied by Mr. R&R, YadaYada, and EuroGuy.  The rest of the summer was filled with long, fun rides with the guys and Texas.

Aero: The New Way To Ride

Pretty Rides All In A Row

Then came my return to multi-sport racing at the Lake Country Duathlon - and a finish I never would have dared to dream of!

The Closing Sprint To My First Age Group Win

I also rediscovered a friendship that had fallen by the wayside.  Having my once-upon-a-time BFF back in my life has been great.  We both agreed that it's a testament to our friendship that we didn't see each other for almost 4 years and yet somehow we picked up right where we left off (with the addition of her 2 kids)!

Two Key Symbols of Our Friendship

There was also rediscovering how damn good it feels to set a new running PR.  The The Firecracker 4 was an automatic PR since I'd never raced that distance - and I freakin' earned it at the The Last Call 5k.

Finally, there's music.  Mr. R&R recently acquired a vintage stereo receiver and we've both been rediscovering our love of music - particularly on vinyl.

Somebunnies have also been enjoying the tunes:

There were so many amazing things happened in 2015. I can't wait to see what I discover/rediscover in 2016!

Last Call 5k Race Recap

3 Series Races Down. 3 To Go.

Last night I realized that I was severely under-prepared to run a half marathon and in the interest of not injuring myself to the point of not being able to finish the series/being sick for days/limping for a week in the name of being stubborn, I opted to drop down from the half marathon to the 5k distance. I wanted to run a race I could be proud of, not one that made me question why the hell I run in the first place. It turned out to be a very good decision.

It's been a fairly warm winter so far - like 50 degrees yesterday, so Mr. R&R and I were a little surprised to wake up to 30 degrees and fog!  We did the usual coffee/water/choke down a Clif Bar on the way, parked, and headed for the timing table to make the switch from the half to the 5k.

We went back outside to do a quick warm up run before retreating to the nice, warm building to stretch and keep warm while the half marathoners took off.  3 minutes before the gun went off, we made our way to the start line, fired up the watches, and listened to another little kid count us down.

Off we went.  Mr. R&R was off like a shot and I was way too close behind him - meaning I went out waaaaaay too fast!  About .17 miles in, we hopped a curb and headed out onto the Glacial Drumlin Trail - yes the same trail I rode on a bunch of times over the summer.  The course was almost pancake flat and I let my ego run away from me for the first mile.  Mile 1: 8:40 (see what I mean about the ego?)

Of course I paid for that 8:40 big time.  I did my best to tuck myself behind a dude/human windshield at the turnaround, but he managed to drop me and I was on my own.  I passed the time watching the rear of the pack still heading out and ended up doing a little walking to catch my breath. My mile split showed it.  Mile 2: 9:33.

Somewhere after Mile 2 I remembered that I wanted to run a race I could be proud of - even if it wasn't a PR - and decided I was willing to hurt for it.  I picked it up and kept telling myself, 'It's okay to be uncomfortable' over and over again.  I stopped looking at my watch, knowing that if I did, whatever I saw would get in my head and screw with me.  I just pushed as hard as I could and when I saw the finish line, I pushed a little more.

Ready to die now.

I was all thumbs afterward and couldn't get my watch to stop immediately, so I wasn't really sure how I actually did.  All I really knew was that I ran something faster than a 27:39 - which is what my watch read when I finally got it to shut off.  I grabbed a cup of water and waited for the 'I'm going to yak/pass out/die feeling to pass and Mr. R&R and I walked back to the car to pile on a few more layers before heading back to check the results.

Mr. R&R turned in another amazing performance - taking 3rd in his age group and PR-ing by 36 seconds!  I ended up 4th in my age group - with a totally unplanned 8 second PR!  I wasn't happy about missing the podium by one spot, but I was over the moon about the PR.

We hung out through awards, gulping coffee and munching on Twizzlers, and then headed home - both of us having had races we were proud of.  What a way to end the year!

Time: 27:25 (8:49/mile pace)

Overall Place: 42/92

Gender Place: 19/53

Age Group Place: 4/8 (F35-39)

Up Next: JanBoree Frosty 5k