Saturday, March 13, 2010

nutrition grade for the day = B

Bike 60 miles - Out and back to Johnson City
[3:44 total as negative split 1:54, 1:50]
The route today was an out and back from Fitzhugh/290 to Johnson City and back. This was really an ideal ride - little traffic, rolling hills the whole way, one road with no turns, beautiful scenery and sun. Endurance Nation coach Patrick rode with me on the way out and then took off to hammer the way back.



Brick Run - 3 miles at Town Lake
[24:51]
First mile: ugh. Second mile: holding on. Third mile: ugh. I felt like I wasn't moving and couldn't move my legs, but my pace wasn't too bad. These brick runs are never a fun way to end the day.

My goal was to have good nutrition on the ride so I would feel good on the run. See yesterday's post for my menu. I did pretty well but not perfect so I give myself a B for the day. I had enough calories and didn't feel bonky, but I didn't drink enough water. I had only about 32 ounces during the ride and some water in the car on the way to the run, but as I was running my mouth was very dry and my legs had that dehydrated burning feeling.

I still got the work done, and stayed strong for a negative split on the bike so all in all this was a successful day.

Friday, March 12, 2010

preparing to not bonk

Swim 3200yd
MS= 4x300, 8x100
[1:05]
Not bad. A touch slow but getting in the yards today.

Tonight I met up with Endurance Nation coach Patrick who is visiting Austin for the weekend. He and I are going to ride 60 miles to Johnson City on Fitzhugh Rd tomorrow morning and then go to Town Lake for a brick run. The weather is going to be perfect so I have a feeling that everyone in Austin will be out.

Here's my food for tomorrow's workout:
1 small banana
2 fig bars
raisins
almonds
2 tbsp cinnamon peanut butter
I'll also be drinking my water with Nuun tablets.
This might be more food than I need, but my goal is to finish the bike feeling fueled up, and finish the run not hungry. I tend to eat too little on long workouts and end up ravenous and cranky at the end, barely making it home without meltdown. I would like to change that.



Thursday, March 11, 2010

smoothie bonus

Run 13.5 miles as 5.5 miles hilly out and back with negative split, 2 miles@7:40 pace, 2 miles easy, 2x1200@7:30 pace (0.5 mile easy rec), 2.5 miles easy
[1:48 total]
Long run days are still my favorite day of the week. It's such a treat to be able to just run... no dealing with the swim or bike gear, just the simplicity of going out with my shoes and ipod. This run went well and I feel strong. I sure do a lot of running under an 8 minute pace these days. It's cool how much faster I have gotten and how this pace feels normal. It's also cool how I can whip off a long run like this and then head to work without needing any sort of extended recovery. Heck, I'm not even the least bit sore.

After my run I went to Daily Juice and got myself a deluxe large smoothie. Mo gave me a Groupon for it, so it was totally free :) I got "The Subliminator": blueberries, banana, coconut water, rice protein, peanut butter. Purple and yummy! I sipped on that as I headed over to Pure Austin for my pushups, stretch and roll session, and shower.

Push Up Challenge
18-22-16-16-25
[8:28]
That's 97 pushups!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

wheeee!

Bike 1 hour with 2x12 minutes hard
[1:04, 22 miles]
Today I took my tri bike out for the first test spin since getting new wheels, a new basebar, new saddle, and a fitting. Wow, that thing is FAST! Super-dupa FAST! I rode 22 miles in just over an hour and I would only call today's ride a moderate effort overall. Felt DA carbon frame with SRAM Red components and SRAM S80 wheels. I am going to be flying through my races. Wow, I can't believe my setup. I was even comfortable, and more comfortable in aero-position than upright... that has happened to me... um, never.

Dear Felt Tri Bike,
We have had our issues in the past and I almost sold you, but I take it all back. I fixed you up and gave you some love and now I hope we can patch things up. You do exactly what you were meant to do, and you do it well. Here's to some fast racing this year.
Love,
Margo

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

max workouts in one day = ...

Run 7.25 miles with 2x1 mile, 1x800, 1x400
[1:01 total, splits: 7:11, 7:08, 3:19, 1:30]
This was a very solid run. I was particularly happy to nail the 800 and 400 as the last thing in the workout.

Swim 3500yd
[1:03@ Big Stacy pool]
This was my longest swim of the year so far and my body must be remembering previous training because the distance wasn't a problem at all. My shoulders were a bit sore at the beginning but loosened up.

Pullup-Pushup Challenge
16-21-15-15-25
I'm still doing knee pushups but they are starting to get a lot easier. They are much easier than pullups, even assisted ones with my green band. This was 92 total reps of each and took me about 15 minutes.

Crossfit Nancy
5 rounds of:
400m run
15 Overhead squats

Bomb! After all the other workouts and a full day of work, plus not having eaten enough, I was on empty and had no energy for this. I slogged out the 400s on the track and used PVC pipe for the overhead squats. My body is getting less flexible as I ramp up the swim-bike-run and my range of motion on the OHS is awful. I felt like I cheated by going slow and light. I probably should have just gone home to rest instead. Oh well, the key workouts of the day were good and that's all that matters.

Dinner
quinoa
4 oz lean beef cooked on foreman grill
cabbage, carrots, and garlic
avocado
a lot of hot sauce
blueberries and cherries

Monday, March 08, 2010

Sunday Ride

Bike 3 hours: 45 minutes warmup, 60 minutes steady Z3, 90 minutes steady
[48 miles, 3:04]

I rode the Mansfield Dam loop. It was a good strong ride until I started to get hungry...
Nutrition: 1 scoop Clif shot + Nuun, 1/2 bottle water, raisins and dried apples
This was not enough food and I was starving by the end. I added on a 10 minute run because I know I need brick practice, but it sucked the whole time. It was raining by then anyway and I was ready to go home. I got the work in and was done by noon on Sunday.  Week 4 done.

Some days I'm not in the mood for meat, but today I was.. I got dinner at Torchy's Tacos and had one taco with chicken and one with skirt steak beef (!).