Everything Changes

I don't even know how to write this post, so please bear with me...I'm mostly rambling.

This coming Sunday I was supposed to be standing on a beach in Madison, feeling a mixture of anxiety and ambition, and about to start my second half ironman at 70.3 Wisconsin.  The key words there are: supposed to be.

On the morning of March 19th my world forever changed.  Our sweet little Spot unexpectedly crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  I don't really want to talk about that experience (because living it was more than enough), but needless to say...it completely broke me.

Once the immediate shock wore off,  Mr. R&R and I threw ourselves headlong into doing anything and everything necessary to help Walter adjust to being a solo bunny and to live the best life he possibly can. (More on this another time)

Mr. R&R and I spent every minute that we weren't at work with Walter to the exclusion of everything else - including training.  I cried constantly. I barely slept.  I ate like shit and gained weight.  I didn't care.  The only thing that soothed my broken heart (and my anxiety) was spending every spare minute with Walter and Mr. R&R.

After a month away from training, I knew that being ready for 70.3 Wisconsin was going to be very difficult, but I figured that it was still possible.  After two months, the obstacles were insurmountable.   Mr. R&R and I made the decision to DNS (Did Not Start).  It's disappointing as hell, but I would rather spend more time with Walter.  I regret the hell out of the circumstances that led to the decision to pull out of the race.  I do not regret a minute of the time I've devoted to Walter instead of training.

So now what?  I honestly don't know.  I'm still not sleeping well, my eating habits are hit or miss, and I'm still carrying some extra weight,  but I'm slowly starting to swim/bike/run again and I'm eyeing a few shorter events later in the season, but ultimately I still just don't know what's going to happen.

Whatever happens...I'll keep you posted.

Rest & Recover (70.3 Wisconsin Week 4)

If I learned anything from my first time through half ironman training, I learned how important rest and recovery are.  Every fourth week of my training plan is billed as a 'Recovery Week' and unlike last time, I'm took it very seriously and actually dialed back the activity level a lot.  I definitely took advantage of New Year's Day being on a Monday.  9+ hours of sleep, lots of laying around with the bunnies, and generally doing nothing productive!

I also think that this week couldn't have come at a better time since Mr. R&R and I had some family obligations this weekend that would have been very difficult to make work had there been a full week of training on the calendar.  That said, I'm very happy that the holiday season is finally over for us.  It's been great seeing family, but it's also difficult trying to accommodate these events.  I'm not even going to talk about the food.  I think it's sufficient to say that I look forward to getting back to my normal eating habits/schedule.

The coming weeks of the training plan have a big increase in volume as we move through the second half of the 8 week base phase, so getting back to our regularly scheduled lives will be very important.


How was your holiday season?  Do you have multiple events to attend or do you keep it more low key?

The Race That Wasn't (Steelhead Specialty: Week 5)

I was scheduled to do my first Olympic distance triathlon this morning.  I was all packed up, dinner was eaten, and I was almost on schedule to get to bed at a reasonable hour before my 3am alarm.

So much stuff!

All packed into one very big backpack

Then it all came apart.

We gave Walter and Spot dinner around 10pm and Walter, who is usually a very enthusiastic eater, just nosed the food around and put his head down on his paw.  Uh oh...not good.  When a bunny stops eating (and subsequently pooping), it's an emergency.  Normally this would be cause for a trip to the emergency room, but thanks to Dr. Beast, we have the required drugs at home and we know how to use them.  Before we started the drugs, we decided to try using abdominal massage to jump start Walter's gut.

Long story short...Mr. R&R and I were massaging Walter's belly until about 2am and he finally produced a little poop!  That meant that we didn't have to resort to using drugs, but it also meant that we were an hour away from the alarm going off.  I curled up on the floor next to Walter and Mr. R&R and hoped for the best.  When the alarm went of at 3am, there was just no way I was going to be able to drive 90 minutes to the race site and race.  It would have been the equivalent of driving/racing drunk.

I went back to sleep and by 9am Walter was doing even better.  We're still not out of the woods by a long shot, but I think we're on the road to recovery.  He's continuing to nibble on kale, making poop, and we're starting to hear little gurgles in his belly meaning that his digestive tract is starting to work again.

Ultimately, I'm really bummed out that I missed my chance to swim nearly the half iron distance in race conditions before Steelhead, but as much as I wanted this race, I want my sweet little baby bunny more.  There's always another race, but there's only one Walter.

It's Not A Failure (Steelhead Build: Week 1)

...If you learn something from it.

I was not a good athlete this week.  I did 2 rides, 1 run, and 1 swim this week and I'm oddly pretty okay with it even though it was not the way I wanted to start the build phase of my training.

On Monday night, I ran to the grocery store after work and made a yummy shrimp stir fry for dinner. I added some fresh pineapple and jarred stir fry sauce to the mix to make it a little more interesting.

 I served it over brown rice and we had some chicken cilantro mini wontons on the side.

I woke up on Tuesday morning feeling a mixture of excitement and dread.  Today was FTP (Functional Threshold Power) Testing day.  I've spent the last 8 weeks busting my ass on the bike trying to get stronger and, theoretically, faster. I knew that there was no way I was going to want to do this test at the crack of dawn when I can barely discern between my base bars and my aero bars, so I preemptively canceled my training appointment for Tuesday night - with my trainer's blessing.  After work I filled up my water bottle, tucked a pack of Shot Bloks in my jersey pocket, stuck my headphones in and prepared to suffer hard - and I definitely suffered.

After a rather unpleasant 30 minute "warm up" the testing portion of the ride was upon me.  I went deep into The Pain Cave for this one.  By the time it was over my heart was pounding, my lungs were burning, and my legs felt like they were going to fall off - and when I saw the new power number pop up, I tried to do The Crab Dance (If you watch Deadliest Catch, you'll know what I mean) because I was so happy!  My FTP went up by 10 POINTS!!!!! 2-3 points is the typical result, so you can see why I tried to dance!

I was so pumped up that after my impromptu dance party (on legs that no longer wanted to support me) and a high five from Mr. R&R, I even texted my trainer with the good news!

I was so torched from the FTP Test that I completely slept through my alarm on Wednesday morning and had to pull a double on Wednesday night: a 26 minute run with 16x30 second speed intervals and a 2100 yard swim (.01 miles short of race distance) involving a bunch of sprint intervals.  I crashed like a ton of bricks after that one!

Thursday night's bike workout was a series of VO2 max intervals - at 120% of FTP.  I had rivers of sweat running in unmentionable places by the time it was over and I was cursing my higher FTP since it made the workout that much harder.  Dinner was consumed.  Bunnies were medicated.  Another hard crash ensued - to the point that we both fell asleep in the living room and stayed there all night.

I woke up (late) on Friday morning to find Mr. R&R snuggling with both bunnies.

I was pissed that I missed my chance to run in the morning due to the late wake up, but I wasn't too concerned since I'd made plans to take a half day at work since I was throwing Mr. R&R a belated birthday party that night.  I figured I'd either go run or swim after work, shower, make myself presentable, and meet the caterers by 4:45pm.  Hah!  I got out later than planned and made the mistake of laying down on the bed when I went upstairs to change into my running clothes.  Needless to say, I had enough time when I got up to get cleaned up, make myself presentable, and meet the caterers.

I may have missed my Friday double workout, but I did throw a good party.  I had a taco bar from BelAir Cantina delivered to our favorite bar, opened up a tab, and the rest took care of itself!

We packed up the leftovers and got home around 11:00pm.

Saturday turned into a complete sloth day.  Mr. R&R and I were tired from being out late, we both felt like hell from the last few weeks of training, and we made the executive decision that this weekend's workouts were canceled in favor of:

Saturday:
*  Watching 5 movies while hanging out with the bunnies.
     -Movies Watched: Wanted, Tomb Raider, Ant Man, Doctor Strange, and Deadpool
* Napping
* Napping with Walter after his bath
* Eating taco bar leftovers

Sunday:
* Sleeping Late
* Hanging out on the floor with Walter & Spot
* Making pancakes from scratch for breakfast (and a bunch of extras to go in the freezer)
* Laundry
* Random little tasks that I've been meaning to take care of but haven't had time for

I don't consider this week a total failure since it taught me something useful for going forward.  I've learned that there is no way in hell that I can train at the level I've been at for 24 weeks straight with no real break.  Maybe I could if I  didn't have a full time (and occasionally then some) job or if I could/was willing to outsource a lot of things, but this is the real world, and that's not happening. I'll be doing a little tweaking to my current plan's remaining recovery weeks to promote a little more actual recovery and I'll be taking my need for a little more down time into account when I build future training plans.

Week 1 Stats:

Swim:    2100 yards (1.19 miles)
Bike:     23.43 miles
Run:      2.60 miles

Total Time:        3 hours, 35 minutes
Total Distance:  27.22 miles


April Totals:

Swim:     5,450 yards (3.10 miles)
Bike:       209.25 miles
Run:        40.0 miles
Strength: 4 sessions

Total Time:       27 hours, 44 minutes
Total Distance: 252.35 miles


Cumulative Distance: 775.61 miles - approximately the distance between Milwaukee and Montpelier, VT  Mmmm...maple syrup!!

Staycation & Steelhead

This may have been the most relaxing week I've had since the week I spent in North Carolina last summer because I took a week off work and stayed home!  I haven't taken a week off without travel plans of some sort in a long time and now I'm convinced I should do it more often.

Monday:
*Snow Day

I decided to take the first day of my Staycation as a rest day when I woke up to 6+ inches of snow on the ground - and not having to work from home due to the plows not having gone through yet.

 I texted my trainer and asked to reschedule for Tuesday evening so I wouldn't have to drive through the snowstorm and she was good with it.  I spent my day doing laundry, hanging out with Walter and Spot, and occasionally looking outside as more snow piled up.  When Mr. R&R got home, he dealt with the snow in the driveway (the snowblower scares me), and we hoofed it up the street for burgers, beers, and a really fabulous dessert - which has kind of become our snow day tradition.

Tuesday:
*AM: Bike: Berryessa (60min)
*PM: Warm Up Run and Training Session

I think the operative word for Tuesday was "Stuck".  Mr. R&R and I spent the morning at Dr. Beast's office learning to give Walter and Spot penicillin injections because they're both still battling a respiratory infection.  Let me just say, that I've never felt such horrible guilt in my life, but if it makes them better, I'm willing to do it.  We got home and I hit the bike for what was supposed to be an hour long ride.  About 30 minutes in, my chain dropped as I was shifting between the big and small chainring.  While this is annoying as hell, it happens occasionally, so I fixed it, cursed all the grease on my hands, and went back to my ride.  10 minutes later, it happened again, but this time the chain got stuck between the chainring and the frame and I couldn't dislodge it.  I called Mr. R&R down to The Cave to see if he could help, but that thing was not budging.  I called my bike guy and they said to bring it in the next morning.

I changed clothes and hauled it to the gym for my training session.  My shoulders were burning by the time I left.

Wednesday:
AM: 40min run (w/ 8x 30 speed intervals)
PM: 1600yd Swim (speed intervals)

So, I completely overslept this morning so an early morning run was out of the question.  Then the "stuck" theme from yesterday continued when I went to turn off the shower and the handle wouldn't move!  I ended up having to call Mr. R&R home to strong arm it into place.  I suspect we'll have to change the fixture in the relatively near future.  After the shower debacle, I loaded up my bike (which after almost 2 years finally has a name: Wicked) and it was off to the bike shop.

While they got the chain unstuck, I looked around the shop and ended up coming home with the addition of an X-Labs Mini Wing bottle cage.  This should make refilling my aerobottle and carrying electrolytes a lot easier this summer.

That evening Mr. R&R and I had our Wednesday night swim date.  I struggled with the main set of 6x100 alternating 25yds easy/25yds hard.  I feel a little defeated that I cannot deal with the 10 second rests between 100s and need about 20-30 seconds between them.   When I was done, I swam an extra 150yds very slowly while Mr. R&R finished his workout.  I had originally thought about parking my butt in the hot tub while he finished, but I was convinced that if I did that, I might not ever get out!

Thursday:
AM: 40min Run (w/ 8x30 second speed intervals)
PM: Bike: Ericsson (60min)

I finally got 'unstuck' today.  I went to the gym in the late morning to make up Wednesday's run.  If I thought the gym was a madhouse at 5:30am, 10:30am was even crazier!  I had a really good run - even if I still can't manage to count intervals correctly!

Thursday night found me perched on my bike alongside Mr. R&R as we both sweated our way through our workouts.  Mr. R&R's workout was 30 minutes longer than mine and the movie we were watching was still going, so I hung around to finish the movie and rode an extra 20 minutes to make up for the minutes I missed on Tuesday when my bike broke!

After that, it was time to give the bunnies their meds.  One syringe per bunny every other day.

I felt like the worst human ever even though neither of them really seemed to notice.  Walter even gave me nose bumps afterward.

I hate you for this.

I still love you, mom.

At least it seems like the medication is helping them.  The sneezing seems to be calming down and they both just seem better in general.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Friday:
AM: 40min Run 
PM: 2000yd Swim 40min Run

After some discussion, neither Mr. R&R nor I had any desire to be on the road with all the St. Patrick's Day and NCAA revelers, so we settled on running at the gym closest to us and then holing up at home - with plans to swim on Sunday after our long runs.

Since I ended up rescheduling my long swim, I decided to do something I've been thinking about for weeks:  I registered for Ironman 70.3 Steelhead!

August 13. 2017

So how did this all come about? I wasn't really planning on doing this until 2018, but a few weeks ago, I was looking at the mid-volume plan for my original A Race (an olympic distance tri) and when I was showing it to Mr. R&R he said it was more work than his half iron training plan.  At that point, I looked at his training schedule and decided I'd follow it in hopes of having a really good olympic race.  Then I started thinking about how much work I'd be putting in just to have to do it again next year - and that's when I looked up the date for Steelhead.  It was exactly 24 weeks from the day I was going to start a 24 week half ironman training plan.  *GULP* After some more discussion with Mr. R&R I decided to try the first few weeks of the plan before committing. And then on Friday night, I decided it was time to stop wringing my hands and just do it, so I did!  At this point, 21 weeks to go until I swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run 13.1 miles.

Saturday
I woke up wondering what the hell I got myself into by signing up for Steelhead, but there's no turning back now!  While Mr. R&R was out making up a missed run, I got to work in the kitchen and got some Moroccan Chicken going in the crockpot.  Then it was bike time.  90 minutes of sweat-dripping spinning.

Mr. R&R had another hour to go when I was done, so I took a quick shower and made couscous to go with the Moroccan Chicken while he finished up.  The finished product was absolutely awesome and I would definitely suggest making it.  Every bite was a mixture of sweetness from the raisins, salt from the olives, and a little tartness from the lemons.

Post refueling we ran our usual weekly errands (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Target) and I was really excited when Mr. R&R pointed out the Ben & Jerry's flavor I've been searching for for months!

We got home, gave Walter and Spot their meds, and settled in for dessert until the bunnies forgave us.

We'll forgive you if you 

Sunday:
We both woke up really sore.  Mr. R&R's knee and hip have been bugging him and my left knee has been tweaky since I got off the bike yesterday.  I  wasn't sure that I was going to be able to get my long run and my long swim in since my knee was hurting and I wanted to put in a quick appearance at the TriWisconsin kick off party.  Mr. R&R and I hit the pool in the early afternoon and it was crazy crowded.  I shared a lane with him and ended up with a few more mouthfuls of pool water than I'd have liked.  Afterward, I came home long enough to scrub off the chlorine, semi-dry my hair, and look presentable enough to put in an appearance at the TriWI party.  It was fun seeing the Iron Cheerleader's face when I told him that I'm registered for Steelhead.  The pull of the beer and pizza were strong, but I dragged myself out of there and back to the gym to bang out my long run (Mr. R&R ran outside while I was gone).  Never fear though, as I'm sitting here re-writing/editing this post, a pizza is enroute - no beer though since I need to be functional tomorrow morning.

All in all, it's been a great staycation and hopefully it will tide me over until my next week off - in late August!


Week 3 Stats:

Swim:       3600 yards (2.05 miles)
Bike:         41.08 miles
Run:          14.66 miles
Yoga:        0 practices
Strength:  1 session (30min)

Total Time:       7 hours, 38 minutes
Total Distance: 57.79 miles


Cumulative Distance: 435.46 miles - approximately the distance between Milwaukee and Louisville, KY.

Sloth By Design

I barely did anything this week, and that was on purpose.  After a lot of careful consideration and discussion, I've decided to pursue a higher volume training plan for the upcoming tri season, so just like that Sweet Spot Base training is over and this became a rest week.  It was nice.

Most of my body parts feel rested.  My stress levels are down.  My mind is clear and I'm ready to go.

Let's Do This!

A Run In The Sun

It wasn't a "Perfect" week, but it was a damned good one!  I missed one (bike) workout, but crammed in an extra swim and after months of being confined to the treadmill, I got to do my long run OUTSIDE!!!!!

Monday was the usual: On the bike before sunrise, work, quick warm up run before training, training session, mad dash home to eat and get a few things done before crashing into bed.  The added bonus of Monday was the restocking of the Shot Blok stash. We were down to 1 pack of tropical punch bloks and 1 pack of mountain berry bloks - and I think the mountain berry ones taste really gross. I much prefer black cherry, citrus, or margarita!

I got a rude awakening on Tuesday morning when I woke up and couldn't move my left arm without a lot of pain.  I'm pretty sure I strained a tendon or something on Monday night while attempting to do pull ups, but not being able to straighten my arm completely sucked and made doing simple tasks rather difficult.  For example, my coffee cup usually sits to my left when I'm at work.  Not today!  I had to move it to my right side so I didn't wince every time I went to take a drink!  It improved somewhat by Tuesday night, so I was able to do a short yoga practice and fold a mountain of laundry.

That's just the workout clothes from the previous week

Wednesday started with a really good interval workout on the treadmill before work and ended with a really interesting swim.  The pool was really busy, so everyone was sharing lanes.  I shared with Mr. R&R and between him and the 6 other bodies in the pool, the water was actually choppy!  At one point I remember turning my head to breathe, getting a face full of water, and thinking 'Huh, it's just like racing.'  It never hurts to be reminded that the water isn't always going to be flat calm and I'm not always going to have as much personal space as I'd like!

I had really good intentions of getting on the bike on Thursday night even though I felt like I was going to fall asleep standing up, my arm still ached it I tried to hyperextend it, and my legs felt like lead sticks.  I even went so far as turning on the heater in The Cave and walking upstairs to put on bike clothes - and then decided that my body was screaming for rest, so I put on my pajamas and called it a lost cause.

Mr. R&R hit The Cave for his workout and I figured that since I wasn't going to ride, I could at least put together a decent dinner.

Shrimp Burrito Bowl

After looking at the weekend forecast I opted to join Mr. R&R at the pool on Friday night and do my long run on Sunday (when the temperature was predicted to be in the low 60's!).  I've never been in the pool at that particular gym location, but I can tell you that I'm going to become a regular fixture there.  The water was rather chilly, but it was really clean feeling, and apparently that combination made me rather fast!  I ended up doing the longest swim I've done in quite a while - 1750 yards (although my Garmin decided to skip 25 yards in there somewhere, so I only get credit for 1725).  We came home, had a late night snack, and crashed hard.

I enjoyed my usual leisurely Saturday morning activities of lounging, reading, and bunny-petting while Mr. R&R went to the gym for his training session and then it was time for my weekly long ride.  90 minutes of leg destroying over/under FTP drills while watching Twister - which holds up surprisingly well for a 20+ year old movie.

I was actually excited to do my long run on Sunday.  As promised, it was 60+ degrees, sunny, and not windy!  I haven't run outside since early November and that run was absolutely terrible. This one was anything but terrible!  I got to wear my favorite running shoes (too filthy to wear to the gym) and ran a route that I normally don't get to run by myself since I usually run alone and at night I feel after sticking to well lit, busy streets.

Graffiti Under The Bridge

My route took me down the Monster Hill, under a bridge, and onto some gravel/dirt paths.

Add caption

I It's been so long since I ran outside that I forgot how hard running on concrete is and how good those paths feel.  Parts of the paths were a little flooded/muddy, so I did my best to pick my way around those sections without soaking my feet, and kept a pretty consistent pace for the majority of the run and only felt bad when I tried to chug my way back up the Monster Hill. I ran for an hour and finished with even filthier shoes, mud spattered on the backs of my legs, and a huge smile on my face.

My run ended about 3/4 of a mile from home, so I had plenty of time to enjoy some extra sun and fresh air - and now I can't wait for spring!

The sun actually felt WARM!

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?  Did you get outside this weekend?

Sweet Spot Week 5 Stats:

Swim:    3,325 yards (1.89 miles)
Bike:      30.49 miles
Run:       11.04 miles
Yoga:      1 Practice (20 minutes)
Strength: 1 Session

Total Time:        6 hours, 50 minutes
Total Distance:  43.41 miles

Cumulative Distance:  256.79 miles - roughly the distance between Milwaukee and Windsor, Ontario (assuming one could drive or swim directly across Lake Michigan!).

Finding My Groove

4 weeks into Sweet Spot Base training and I think I'm finally finding my groove - at least for the moment.  I haven't done all the workouts exactly when I planned to do them, but I'm still getting them done.  The biggest challenges right now are getting up on time to work out in the morning and managing occasional bouts of insatiable hunger.

Monday:

I was on the bike before dawn for an hour of intervals, scurried off to work and a breakfast meeting (involving food that made me nauseous for the rest of the day), stopped home long enough to change and scarf an apple since I didn't want a repeat of my near-fainting episode from a few weeks ago, and hauled ass to my training appointment.  After last week's 4 day post-session misery, my trainer backed off on my abs a bit and we had a productive session.

I also had some company/help while folding the basket of workout clothes when I got home. I'll never get tired of Spot's love of laundry.  He likes to survey the basket/pile of clean clothes, walk across/stand on whatever I'm folding, and then lay next to the folded clothes.

Tuesday:

Once again, I failed at getting to the gym this morning, but I did resurrect the Green Monster for breakfast thanks to some leftover spinach lurking in the refrigerator.  It was a nice change of pace from proatmeal.  Tuesday night found me on my yoga mat for a 30 minute flow practice - which I desperately needed.

Wednesday:

Since I missed my run yesterday, I hitched a ride to the gym with Mr. R&R again this morning.  I think my body is rebelling against the idea of running so early, because once again, my psoas flared up again after a mile.  I ended up figuring out that I could run about a quarter mile at a reasonable pace before the pain got unmanageable and required me to walk until it was under control, so after a little fiddling with my watch, I was able to turn my crap run into an interval workout.  I ended up running 4x400, getting home with just enough time to shower, make another green monster, and get to work.  The day flew by (work has been C.R.A.Z.Y.) and I got home in time to make dinner and go to the pool.  Swim nights are always tough because by the time I get home from work, I'm freaking starving, but I have no real desire to cook and I don't want to eat too much because swimming + full = feeling like I'm going to puke.  The answer was to indulge my inner toddler.

It wasn't the healthiest option, but it did the trick. I was supposed to swim 1400 yards and ended up swimming 1500. #ExtraCredit

Thursday:

The late swim made me hit the snooze button again, but having to ride in the evening wasn't so bad since Mr. R&R was suffering right next to me doing his missed morning ride as well - and then there was my view for the rest of the evening after I got off the bike:

Friday:

Can all mornings start like this one?  I was doing yoga on the living room floor with a blanket draped over me because I was freezing cold and Spot decided that this was an invitation to curl up next to me and demand to be petted and snuggled.  It was so sweet!

Normal people have date nights at bars and restaurants on Friday nights.  Triathletes apparently have them at the gym - where one person swims and the other runs.  After last week's successful Friday night long run, I decided to repeat the performance but increase the distance a bit.  It was nice.  The gym was mostly empty and I pretty much had the entire row of treadmills to myself.  It's nice starting to run a little longer again.  I miss my distance running roots.

Saturday:

Sleep. Glorious sleep.  I slept for almost 9 hours, drank coffee and surfed the web while Mr. R&R went to his training appointment, and then parked my ass in The Cave for 90 minutes of over-under intervals.  All I can say is: Holy F**k that was hard.  Like really hard.  When I climbed off the bike, everything I was wearing was soaked with sweat and my legs were jello.  My top priority after 90 minutes of leg-burning sweatiness was food - and then dragging myself to the grocery store.  Ow!

Sunday:
And on the seventh day, I rested.  I slept for upwards of 8 hours, consumed copious amounts of coffee, and washed a mountain of Walter and Spot's laundry.  Still to come today: 90 minute massage (I have so many knots in my back and legs right now), human laundry, and some food prep.  Right now, I'm thinking of making tuna salad and another batch of roasted chicken sausage and veggies to get us through Monday and Tuesday - a good start to what will hopefully be another 'Perfect Week'.

What was your biggest challenge this week?  Your biggest triumph?

Sweet Spot Week 4 Stats:

Swim:     1500 yards (0.85 miles)
Bike:       41.80 miles
Run:        8.87 miles
Yoga:      2 practices (50 minutes total)
Strength: 1 session

Total Time:       7 hours, 5 minutes
Total Distance: 51.51 miles

Cumulative Distance:

213.38 miles - roughly the distance from Milwaukee to the city of infamously contaminated water: Flint, MI.  (Eek!)

Better

My do-over of Sweet Spot Base Week 3 went better than my first attempt - a lot better.  I did all my workouts!  Was I tired? Yep. Were there days when I didn't want to do anything?  Uh huh.  Was it all worth it?  Absolutely.  I may be sore, exhausted, and have a pile of laundry the size of Mt. Rainier, but the sense of accomplishment is definitely winning here.

I was on my bike by 5:30am on Monday morning, listening to podcasts (my new favorite form of solo trainer ride entertainment thanks to Mr. R&R), and working up a sweat. It was tough doing hard work first thing in the morning, but it was nice to have it out of the way.  I had an appointment with my trainer that night, so I didn't get home until a little after 7pm.  Fortunately, I'd done a little meal prep on Sunday night, so Mr. R&R and I didn't even have to think about what to make for dinner.  We just tossed a couple bowls into the microwave and dinner was on the table in 5 minutes.

If you haven't tried the One Pan Roasted Dinner yet, stop whatever you're doing right now and get thee to the grocery store and into the kitchen.  This dinner is a total lifesaver.

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
• Line a large sheet pan with foil for easy clean up.
• Chop up a bunch of veggies (or cheat like I do and buy them pre-chopped from Trader Joe's), slice a package of chicken sausages into rounds, and toss it all on the sheet pan.
• Mist lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
• Cover everything with foil and roast for about 40 minutes
• Remove the foil and roast for 10 more minutes
• Voila...dinner for two...twice!

Chicken Sausage, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, and red bell pepper

Tuesday morning didn't go according to plan.  I overslept, woke up sore beyond words from my training appointment, and missed my chance to get a run in before work.  I ended up doing a 20 minute yoga practice that morning, and a 30 minute deep stretch yoga practice that night after work.  I think the after work one was my favorite since I did it in the living room and Spot kept coming over to "help" when I was draped over a bolster stretching out my hips!

Wednesday morning brought the opportunity to make up for Tuesday's missed run.  I hitched a ride to the gym with Mr. R&R at 5:30AM and put in a really uncomfortable 3 miles.  I was hoping to run farther in that 30 minutes, but my evil psoas kept flaring up and necessitating walking/stretching breaks, so I guess it was more like an interval workout.  That night we headed for the pool.  I wasn't sure how my planned 1200 yards would go since I couldn't stand up from a chair without my abs complaining, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The swim went reasonably well and I was able to complete it without any real pain issues (other than the pain in my eyes resulting from the creepy old guy in an itty bitty speedo).

We were the last people in the pool before closing time

Thursday morning's bike ride did. not. happen.  I got to bed late and couldn't manage to peel myself out of bed at a reasonable hour, so that meant an after work ride.  I dreaded it all day long, but once I got down to The Cave, the hour passed quickly thanks to another batch of podcasts (NPR's TED Radio Hour if you're curious).

Friday was interesting.  I had originally planned for it to be my rest day with a long ride on Saturday and a long run on Sunday, but when Mr. R&R said he was going to the pool on Friday night, I decided to tag along and get my long run out of the way in favor of complete and total rest on Sunday.  I'm really happy that I did that.  First, we checked out the newest location of our gym that opened 3 months ago since they're open later on Fridays than the rest.  It was stunning.  I've never seen such a nice gym!  I parked myself on a treadmill, fired up a Spotify playlist, and ran negative splits for the next 45 minutes.  I haven't run a step over 3 miles in months, so that was a pleasant surprise! Mr. R&R reported that pool was also amazing - not crowded and really, really clean.

Saturday started off with sleeping in (for almost 10 hours!), a few leisurely cups of coffee, and a visit to the Great Lakes Pet Expo. I really enjoyed saying 'hi' to the ladies that brought Walter & Spot into our lives and seeing all the other animals.  

Flemish Giants with the Wisconsin House Rabbit Society

I even found a herd of turtles (yes, I know that a group of turtles is actually called a bale) - which would normally freak me out, but I'm trying really hard to be less afraid of things that live in the water.

After our Pet Expo adventure, we did our grocery shopping for the week and promptly came home to nap.  Obviously, Mr. R&R and I are becoming old people!  Post-nap, we both went down to The Cave for our weekly long ride.  It was a tough ride, but watching Spectre made it slightly more bearable - although I think I'm going to bite the bullet and try a new brand of tri shorts because chamois seams get really uncomfortable - if you know what I mean!

Today, Sunday, was finally my day to do nothing in the swim/bike/run department.  It's been busy (laundry, making snacks for the Super Bowl party we're going to, getting ready for next week), but kind of wonderful since I'm not beating the crap out of myself on top of all that!

I finished Sweet Spot Base Week 3 with:

Swim:    1200 yards (0.68 miles)

Bike:      42.02 miles 

Run:       8.70 miles

Yoga:      2 practices (50 minutes total)

Strength: 1 session

Total Time:      7 hours

Total Distance: 51.40 miles

January Totals: 

Swim:     2.34 miles

Bike:       105.91 miles

Run:        14.86 miles

Yoga:       20 practices

Strength:  6 sessions

Total Time:        23 hours, 15 minutes

Total Distance:  123.12 miles

Cumulative Distance:  161.87 miles (If I got in the car and started driving from Milwaukee, that would put me just outside Lansing, Michigan!)

5AM...the Miracle Hour?

The first week of Sweet Spot training was tough, but I kind of enjoyed it.  I feel like I'm finally starting to get back in the groove of working out consistently - and the whole 5AM Miracle thing is starting to get easier too.

Monday started with a 5AM wake up followed by a short yoga practice, and a full day at work.  After work, I scurried home, changed clothes, and hauled ass to the gym to get a run in before my training appointment.  I didn't have as much time to run as I wanted, but I made the most of the 20 minutes I had by running hard.  10 minutes into my training session, I was on the verge of fainting.  After a couple of questions from my trainer, it hit me...it was 6:40pm and I hadn't eaten a thing since noon...so my body was running on fumes.  After we finished our session and I hightailed it home for dinner. Note To Self: There's no such thing as being to busy to scarf a banana before a workout!

I'm never too busy for a banana!

After the near-fainting episode, the rest of the week went well. All workouts were done, yoga was practiced, and getting up on time happened every day but Thursday.  We swim late (starting around 8:45pm) on Wednesday nights, so I didn't get to bed at a reasonable hour and my brain decided that this was a good excuse to thwack the snooze button...until 6:30AM.  I skipped my yoga practice that morning, but still made it out the door on time. We'll leave a discussion of my really poor food choices on Thursday for another day.

I don't think I'll ever love getting up before the crack of dawn, but I am starting to see the benefits of going to bed at the same time every night and getting up really early.  Since I've started trying to follow the 5AM Miracle, I've had time for yoga, books, and breakfast before leaving the house every day.  On the day that I overslept, I felt completely out of sorts.  Eventually, I'd like to find a way to fit in my bike workouts before work too.  Am I on the verge of becoming a morning person?

I think I'm still in the Ostrich Stage

I may have made some poor food choices on Thursday, but can we talk about some of my good choices for a minute?  I was starving when I got off the bike on Friday night and talked myself out of going out for dinner. Instead, I put together this lovely concoction in under 30 minutes.

In the bowl:

• brown rice
• cuban style black beans (from Trader Joe's)
• shrimp cooked in hatch chili salsa
• a little shredded cheese
• salsa
• sour cream
• guacamole (not pictured because I forgot to throw it in there before taking a picture)

I'm pretty sure that these messy 'meals in a bowl' will become more and more common in the Rabbits and Runs household as tri training really gets under way.

I'm also getting reacquainted with my crockpot since it's a hands off way to make a bunch of food. Both Mr. R&R and I have been craving red meat for the last few days so I pulled out the crockpot to make Beef with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce.   I threw everything into the crockpot around 9AM (I used 2 packages of baby portobella mushrooms because I really like 'em), set it and walked away until dinner time.

I closed out Week 1 of Sweet Spot Training with:

Swim:    1200 yards (0.68 miles)

Bike:      40.3 miles

Run:       6.55 miles

Yoga:      5 practices (ranging from 10-50 minutes)

Strength: 1 session

Total Time:       7 hours, 11 minutes

Total Distance: 47.53 miles

Cumulative Distance: 68.86 miles (that's roughly the distance between my house and Madison, WI!)

What's your morning like?  Are you an early riser or do you prefer to snooze until the last possible second?