race plans

Everyone is on top of their game and writing out their race plans for the year ahead. I have been far too lazy and have not sat down to really look at it, but it is on my list of things to do. I finally got around to research vacation plans for us and that took all my planning brain cells I had. 

I did my spin class with my new bike shoes and it rocked !! It was super easy to get the correct clip in and clip out. I think I was clipping ON and stepping as opposed to clipping IN, which made the difference. I felt at one with that spin bike and really enjoyed it. 

Today I ran 3 miles on treadmill, have not run in a while. It was hard and I was at 10 min miles the entire time. Usually I try to do negative splits but not today, today it was about finishing my 30 minutes. I used the mantra I think I can, I know I can.

Tomorrow is swim with ironlady. I am hoping that we have a few less people since it is NYE and I might get a bit more one and one as well as not slowing the fasties down. One of my daughter's appts has changed from wed. am to sat. which means I have another AM open for working out that I did not have prior to this, so I really need to sit down and look at my days and try to stick with getting in at least 2 swims, 2 spins, 2 runs and a strength class - ideally this is what I would like to do and have a day off, which means i have to double up 0n a day.  

What do you do  ?  Do you always run on mondays, spin/bike on tuesd etc OR do you change it up and just plan the week before ??? 

Clip on pedals

So I got clip on pedals and bike shoes today. Hubby held the bike while I tried to clip in. I brought him down on top of me. Not a good start folks.

I am bringing them to spin class and hopefully that will help me get a feel for these things. Get yourself off the rode NOW if you are training near me b/c I am a mess. 

I need to think of my previous mantra, I think i can, i think i can and not, holy shit i will never be able to do this and i am going to fall and break something. 

These are the shoes....Specialized motodiva. 

Seriously, what is the secret, how will I learn to use these and be 150% comfortable with clipping in and out for a tri ??

Swimming

Today, even though I have a major head cold I went to the gym to swim. The reason I went even with cold was b/c I found out about a class that a trainer has (it is on the down low), she is a 3 time ironman and I have never done any instructional swimming. It was great. Great to get feedback on my stroke, great to learn what drills I should be doing and it was great b/c my arms are killing me. She also took my email and plans on sending me workouts for other days. Swimming is my weakest event. I need to improve and that is one of my goals. I love making a step towards that goal. My other goal is to move to clip on pedals for the bike, which is scary b/c I have no coordination WITH the cages - let alone clip ons. 

The swim workout was a 200 warm up (of course I went as fast as I could b/c I had to keep up with rest of ladies), drills of catch ups, 3 x 400's with first 5o a drill, then 5 x 100's building speed, then 2 x 50 sprints (where you were put against someone your pace) and an easy 50 warm down. I survived but felt like I was awful in form, she spoke with me saying that I needed to get the form and then I will be more efficient, enabling me to go longer and faster. I love having a coach, I always push harder and learn something. I am debating the running coach route as well. I also believe this summer I will do sprint tri's only and then next summer attempt my first olympic tri. then in the way future a half ironman is on my bucket list. 

Merry Christmas !!!

I think I can, I think I can

Normally when I am exercising I am very obsessed with looking the clock, if it is a class I am always looking at the time. If I am running, I am always checking how much time has elapsed. Many times as the time ticks away and I get tired my mind starts the old game of quitter. My head says, damn I am tired, I can not wait for this to end, this sucks, ughhh please end, I can't do this anymore....how much more time, i just want to stop, when will it end. You get my drift.

Lately I have actually tried to have a different attitude. Instead of giving in to being tired and thinking I can't do it, I have decided to say, I will do this, I can do this, push harder, not much longer, you can do it, don't give up, kick ass...I think I can , I think I can. It works. It empowers me. 

Crappy day but controlled eating choices

Today was bad. We have some issues with my older daughter and quite frankly getting her dressed and playing in the snow is closest thing to torture that I have come to. It was a day full of up and downs and I felt like I did not get a break. I did however make some better food choices. Instead of escaping to mcdonalds drive thru for some burgers and fries, i stayed home and made a turkey sandwich, instead of ordering pizza for dinner, I had the turkey chili I had made and froze a while back. 

I had my normal oatmeal with some fruit for bfast, YES I had some of hubbie's most delish swedish pancakes but no syrup. 

I could tell I was so upset and just looking for the easy fix. I did have some cookies tonight but that would have happened no matter what so the thing I am most proud of is that I didn't break down and rush to get that easy bad food. 

I did not work out and I am itching to, the priority tomorrow is the gym. 

There were some great parts of the day the girls seeing Santa ANd sledding for a few runs before the next fit. 

How hard on myself should I be ?

So I am really trying to change my eating habits to better ones. Each day is a struggle. Each moment when I realize I could still get McDonald's breakfast b/c it is before 10.30 is a struggle. When I wait on the checkout line and stare at the reese's or twix, it is a struggle. I am not over weight, I would love to lose 10 pounds but my life does not depend on it. When I have a bad day or a bad moment I wonder why I don't have the discipline ? But should I really berate myself and feel guilty or should I move on and realize that life is full of work in process projects. I am trying to eat better but that doesn't mean I won't have a bad day right ? 

What are your thoughts on eating healthy ? 

back in action

Today the troops were back in action. We dropped off the little one at school, she seems fully recovered and talked the ENTIRE day. I headed to the gym with my older one in tow, she hems and haws about going to the sitting room and then when I pick her up she begs to stay longer ??? 

Just pour the guilt on please.

I was able to make a class that is cardio mixed with weights. Love it, the instructor is a ironWOman and she is hard core. Felt good, a bit lightheaded at times but was fine. I am usually a bit sore the day after this class so we shall see what happens when I wake. 

Nutrition wise, so so, I did incorporate fruit into my oatmeal, I have a hard time getting my fruit in. I started making smoothies and home and my girls go NUTZ for them. They love them, and I love that they are eating something so healthy. I on the other hand like them but really prefer when someone at a health food store makes them for me ? Go figure.  I over came a strong desire to have a bacon sandwich and ate a Larabar. My sweet tonight was my homemade pumpkin bread, yummy, probably ate too big of a piece but....

Tomorrow I don't have time for gym, but maybe I will try to run on the treadmill at home at some time ?? Making turkey chili so I have to make sure to get that in the crock pot early. 

Still have something looming over my head and I hate that feeling....need to deal with it.

still off track....

Yesterday, my little one seemed 100% better but I still did not take her out. I was pretty tired as well since I have been up most nights with her. You kind of forget about the fact that one needs sleep. Yesterday at about 2ish, instead of going food shopping I crashed. I crashed hard and just fell asleep. I believe that it was due to a combination of the little sleep and the crap day of eating. Finally I got up and regained some control, made a pizza for dinner, cleaned the kitchen, hubby did some outside christmas lights. 

I decided to let the girls lay with me for bedtime and I wound up falling asleep with them. So at 11 I woke up and thought, wow I must be one tired mommy. I took my contacts out and went back to sleep.  Only to be woken at 4am by my little one crying for a good hour or 2 till we got up for the day. She was complaining about her nose (must give her her meds right now). So we are all off track again. No gym. I am tired. I need to go food shopping. Need to figure out what teachers we are seeing for the last time this week to make sure I give gift. 

Here is to hoping we all get back at it tomorrow.

off track

This weekend I am off. Youngest is sick, fever, sinus infection. I took my oldest to my niece's bday party and hubby stayed home with the poor little sicky. He was left w no car b/c our other car battery died. The morning was a rush of doc, trying to get car fixed, etc. Which meant that I didn't exercise and I ate horrible. HORRIBLE. 

Today we are settling in, but I did not do the 7am run with friends b/c i felt I was away from my sick baby all day yesterday I didn't want her to wake and not have me. reasonable right ?

Today I need to go food shopping so we can all eat healthy again. 

My little sick one is on the mend and raring to get back to her normal activities.

Treadmill running & GRUMPY

So yesterday I actually have a full hour and a half without kids. HOLY COW that is a long time for me. I am able to run outside if I choose. But I am wimped out, too windy, even though I just bought some roadrunner tights and a manzella hat with a ponytail hole. I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I normally run 3 miles and sometimes increase the speed for 2 minutes then go back to a base speed. Or I just try to run a mile and one speed and increase when I feel good.

Yesterday I ran my first mile at 6.0 (10 min miles), then at mile 2 I increased the speed to 6.2 (9.41 min miles), and my last mile I put it to 6.4 (9.23 min miles). It felt good to push harder after each mile.  I need more training plans for the treadmill. 

GRUMPY, I am not sure why but I am in a major GRUMP mood. Even though it is Friday. I think it is b/c I have to finish some work for the NP I work with and it is stressing me out. It makes me wonder how I got through with school and having projects and papers to do, and NOW I know why I was so stressed out when I had my career. My personality is that I want to do the BEST job and I want to finish it right away and it weighs on me when I am not working on it. I have alloted sunday evening to work on this stuff but it is clearly on my mind. Part of me is upset that I let myself get this concerned about something that I do as a volunteer and should not cause strife in my life and another part of me realizes it is me who needs to learn to balance it and realize that I can do things and it doesn't have to be RIGHT now. 

Caving into a carb craving

Most of my life I have eaten a bagel every AM. Back in my high school/college/post college late nights I would end any late night with a toasted lender's bagel with butter. YUM. It would be just enough to fill my stomach that felt hungry. After kids and my metabolism was NOT the same and I started learning about how to eat better. Now that I am exercising and training for sprint tris I also need to make sure I fuel my body correctly.

I have oatmeal every AM and I love it. However there are those days where I just want a big old buttered bagel. Oh how I love it. Today was one of those days, due to the rain I did not want to get out of the car(if so I would have went to Manhattan bagel since they are the closest to a NYC bagel here in jersey), I had to settle on dunkin donuts drive thru. I order a whole wheat bagel, came home and toasted it(darkly is my preference) slavered some butter on it and ate it up. YUM. I caved. Oh well. 

What do you cave into every once in a while ? 

Running date

I set my alarm for 6am, which would give me time to snooze, wake up, have breakfast, get ready and stretch and still be at the meeting place at 7am for my running date. 

When I hit snooze, I really wound up turning my alarm OFF. Therefore I finally awoke and looked at my clock and it was 6:50am. Holy shit. Brush teeth, dress, GOOOOOO.

I was there at 7.07, she was waiting and off we went. It was mother effing cold but I did ok. Wore my new shoes and felt good. Need pants to run in, I ran in some pants that are stretchy and more for yoga or something. Used my ski hat which was fine BUT I probably looked very silly. Had my nike gloves that I already had bought and they are awesome, they become more like a snot rag b/c I wipe my nose so much on them. 

We ran 5 miles, but it went by so fast b/c we talked AND it was mostly new to me, trails right near me that I did not know about. Loved it. Plus she is serious about her training and has lots of great tips and advice for me. She even brought an extra shell vest to keep me warm. 

So running date a success. Hope to have more. We both admitted that we would NOT have ran if we were not meeting each other, such a great way to get yourself to really DO IT. We went slow but she seemed ok with it. 

Thanks for all the cold weather dressing tips. I think I have to get a pair of warm running pants, a hat and some sort of shell....luckily christmas is right here. 

I am sure I will crash tonight !!

Cold weather running

Sunday AM I have a date to run with a friend. She is faster than me, so I am nervous about keeping up. I don't like to run in the cold and it supposed to be in the 30's, so I am nervous about what to wear and how cold I will be. I hate to talk while I run, I feel like I can't do it and I am out of breath and can't focus, so I am nervous about talking while running. 

So why did I make this date ?? Because I know that I will get up and meet her to run, if I was not going to meet her and run on my own I would hit the snooze button and not do it. Because she is faster than me and I want to get faster and challenge myself. Because even though I say that I don't like to talk and run, running with someone will make it go by faster, I will learn something about this person and could learn about running/training. Because I want to know what type of clothing I do need to wear for outside cold running and what better way to find out then to go do it and see how current items work. 

I don't want to wear my new Brooks Trances b/c I don't want to get them dirty. 

What is your favorite cold weather running clothing item ? 

Muddy run

Yesterday morning I had an hour and a half without kids, one at school, and one at an art class. I was so excited to run outside. We have a nice park near our house that has a mile figure eight to run. I got out there and was pumped to run. It was quite muddy in certain areas and I got myself quite dirty but I was so happy to be running outside !!!

Had my garmin off course, which I love love love. I thought I was going faster than I was, but my final time and mileage was 2.75 miles in 27.34 minutes. 10.02 pace. I was surprised I thought I would have gone faster, but I guess having not run in the past 3 weeks takes a toll. I might run with another woman on Sunday morning, she is hardcore and much faster. I get a bit nervous about that, do I really want to run with someone who I have to struggle to keep up with and then add talking into it ? Yet, I think it challenges me and pushes me ??? 

Do you run solo or with folks ???

Runervals

I really want these runervals. I want my gym to offer a class like this OR at least have some sort of podcast that you can listen to while on the treadmill. Basically I want someone to scream at me while I am on the treadmill telling me to go faster........