Adjusted Reality

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Lake Pflugerville Tri – shallow wells, walls of wind, unreasonable ambulation

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On June 19, 2017

In Uncategorized

Let’s be real: I don’t love racing in offseason.

Generally, during offseason, my race helmet is reserved for protecting me from falling off the couch.

Especially THIS part of offseason where I’ve just mostly finished being broken, and I haven’t yet had time to build anything yet.  Ironman took a lot of physical recovery time, and I’m still working with some muscles that don’t exactly want to do what they should yet.  I’m working with a brain that’s starting to warm up to the idea of being a triathlete again, but I also am struggling with the motivation to put together 5 hours of training in a week.  And this is all totally fine until you throw a race into the mix.

I like to toe lines when I feel fit and fiery.  I like to stack my training, block by block, to create my fortress.  I like to dig my well real deep.  My tendency is more towards building a skyscraper that topples over or hitting a water pipe while digging too low, and not that overtraining is good, it’s not, but I really enjoy trying to find that edge.  Right now, my well is about two inches deep and my foundation is just starting to be built again.  Be this as it may, it’s Lake Pflugerville, which is my husband’s favorite race, and a lot of the BSS team would be there.  So, in the interest of fun, camaraderie, and showing my lack of fitness to hundreds of people, I was in to play some triathlon!

We did the normal things you do the day before: pre-race swim, packet pickup, eating a turkey sandwich for lunch and chicken, rice, veggies, and a salad for dinner.  We watched a movie.  We practiced transitions in the living room while packing up our stuff.  Oh, and we test rode about 5 different mountain bikes and came home with one we found on SUPER closeout sale.  What?  You don’t do that the day before a race? (oops)

Food and bikes, the stuff of life…

I couldn’t sleep too early (my brain just doesn’t shut off at 9pm these days), but I slept SOLIDLY when I did for about 7 hours, and waking up wasn’t too hard.  I ate half a sunbutter jelly sandwich on wheat toast and drank a coconut water en route to the race.  All the pre-race things went as planned, except one weird moment about 20 minutes before my wave started where I felt super sick for about 3 minutes and then magically it passed.  I was just about to eat my caffeinated gel before that happened and I abandoned that plan and stuck it in my tri top for later.  I may be kind of underfed right now, but the last thing I need to do is shove too much in my stomach when it’s already doing flip flops.

Swim:

I made my way over to the beach, and in moments we were in the water, and I actually did a good job positioning myself near the front.  I found some feet for a while but then they were going faster than I wanted, so I ended up in fairly clear water for most of the way out.  Some people were talking about the chop, and I’m usually the first one to complain about notice those things, but I didn’t.

Except for the sighting mistake on the way back into the sun that landed me almost in the middle of the lake, this one kinda went like clockwork.  I passed lots of different colored caps and I swam into the beach as far as I could.  I nailed the effort, every year I swim something with an 11 in the beginning, the best 11:10, the worst 11:40, and this one came in at 11:38 which is fine.  6/11 AG.

Ouch ouch ouch ouch pebbles hurt my princess feetsies (picture care of our tri captain, Claudia!).

T1:

Also, pretty much like clockwork.  I didn’t have any weirdness or fumbles, but I can tell offseason has made me a little more tenderfooted than I’d normally be around this time of the year, so I was a lot slower than normal running barefoot.  I was a little slower than my worst at 2:57 (by 4 seconds), but I also didn’t get the normal pimp spot right by bike out.  *shrug*

Bike:

We got going and I drank gatorade and sat up the first mile because the roads are extra super crappy and then noticed my speed.  I was holding 22 mph average.  This made me ecstatic until I remembered that I’m not *THAT* strong of a cyclist and if I was flying sitting up pushing almost no power, the back half (majority) of the course was going to be a bitch.

A girl and I were riding together (legally) and she kept going straight at a completely unmarked/unmanned corner and I followed her, and then two people behind us yelled at us to turn around.  While it might have only taken ~30 seconds, it totally killed my momentum and we both swore about it for a bit as we u-turned into WHOOOOOOSH!  A wall of wind.  Ugh.

Instead of worrying about pace I started paying attention to my heart rate and it was staying around 165 average, which is probably just as high as (or higher than)  I’d like it to be.  My level of effort was probably a little below I know I can race a sprint at, but since I’m relatively untrained right now and my heart rate is pegging itself very very quickly, I decided to be safe rather than sorry.

And honestly, it’s not like I was on a pleasure cruise.  The effort felt hard, but I know I’ve pushed that race harder.  And I know I’ve held more than the ~150 watts doing it.  I found another friend and reason to use my ping pong paddles back and forth with on the back half of the course, and Ironman has forever distorted time for me because it was all over in a blink of an eye and I was dismounting my bike while I wondered what happened to the rest of the ride.

The good: 3rd in my AG/11.  I got in a really good pocket where I had very few complaints about the course being crowded and people being annoying which is normally the majority of my race report on the bike here.  Also, I only got passed by ONE of my BSS teammates, and it was almost near the end of the bike.  The bad: my heart rate was higher than watts, and this is a pretty weak pace for me.  Not my worst, but not my best.  And I should be crushing my previous bikes with my new TT bike.  Total time was 44:47, which is technically a PR, but the course was shorter by a mile, so it doesn’t count.

T2:

Everything here also went like clockwork.  It’s 4 seconds slower than my worst at 1:46, but also, I was not in a primo spot on the rack.   We slept in a bit instead.  I’m going to say 30 extra minutes of sleep vs a few seconds in transition for a D priority race was worth it. 🙂

Before, during, (no, not me running, but it’s representative of a thing I was doing) and after.

Run:

Here’s where the problem with offseason racing is for me.  I made the decision to give myself some time away from running to really let myself heal up after the Ironman, and long-term-me won’t regret that at all, but short-term-me is going to be VERY whiny about it.  My run fitness goes so downhill so quickly if I’m not training, it’s why I never quit running for more than a week or two MAX during offseason, and I know it’s going to be a long road back.

I didn’t even feel super gassed after the bike, but I got out on the run and someone had stolen my legs and replaced them with these funny appendages that wouldn’t move correctly and took a lot of effort to ambulate at any reasonable pace.  Normally on sprint runs I’m cursing 10 minute miles and willing the garmin to show me 9s (and occasionally 8s), today I was lucky to shove the pace under a 12 minute mile.

I ate a gel right away since I couldn’t even with that while fighting the wind on the bike, and gave myself some time to let my heart rate settle to race effort, but the first mile split was 11:52, and my heart rate was staying pegged at about 174.  At this point, that’s what I have to give, so I switched my display to just heart rate and cadence (which, of course, is also in the toilet at this point) to make sure I kept the proper effort (and also so I stopped seeing paces for the effort that made me think I was back running in Veil at 8k feet).

The wind was so strong yesterday that it actually affected me on the run, about a mile and a half in, I felt like we were running into a wind tunnel and I really really wanted to walk.  On an effing sprint.  I didn’t, but my pace combined with a headwind almost made me feel like I was running in place for a while.  With only a little break, that wind continued to the finish of 3 miles in 32:34, or the pace in which I normally can jog an easy 5k, or 8th/11 in my AG.

We couldn’t manage to get a picture of the entire team contingent but here’s a bunch of us (picture stolen from Frank, our vice captain).

Total time: 1:33:44, for 5th in my age group out of 11.

On the surface, it’s not bad.  I got 5th last year.  I actually placed better in the bike this year.  I expected to tank the run (not quite as bad as I did, but still) so that was no surprise.  However, I had wayyy less people in my age group (11 vs 21 last year), so it’s a top quarter result last year vs top half (barely) this year.  To add insult to injury, this is the Jack’s Generic course.  I did 1:26 on that last year.  This year, I would have been second in my AG and finally podiumed.

However, I spent my pennies on Ironman this year.  I got to the finish and earned my M dot.  I have to cut myself a little slack on not PRing the crap out of things eight weeks removed from that.  That’s not how I work.  I know this, but yet, I’m still letting it frustrate me a little bit before I get over myself in a day or two.

I think the most fascinating thing as a student of the sport and also the most frustrating thing as a highly competitive person is that my husband DOES work like that.  He rocked out a great performance of 1:26-something and had his best AG placement so far (5th as well).  He beat me on every leg (even the swim by a few seconds).  At some point I hope things tip back to my favor (by me improving, not by him sucking more, heh) at least once in a while, but it’s cool to see him climbing the ranks in his age group to the point where he has his eyes on the podium someday soon too.

At the end of the race, I had resolved not to race Jack’s Generic in August.  Why suck at something repeatedly when you can just NOT go? However, after consideration, I think I have an opportunity to put myself into a petrie dish and do an experiment since it’s the exact same course.  I’m not willing to train a LOT over the next 7 weeks, but I am willing to focus.

What if I start going back to cycle class and doing more structured rides with other goals besides #happinesswatts and take FTP tests so I actually have an idea what sort of watts to hold? What if I actually do the running drills and do speed work and work on my turnover even if I don’t run much more than 10 miles a week?  What if I actually take my toys back to the pool and do drills and actual sets instead of just paddling?  What if I actually incorporate the plyometrics workouts in my week like I know I should?  In 5-7 hours per week max, can I get back to a performance which feels respectable?  Good, even?  It might be fun to try and see what happens even if I’m not really ready to go all in on anything just yet.

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Pflug and the rest of the season

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On June 14, 2017

In Uncategorized

I’m going to go play triathlon this weekend, and I’m not quite sure what to think about it.  But, I’m 8 weeks out from the little race I did at The Woodlands, so I should be ready to get back on the horse for a little gallop, right?

Neeiiiighhhh?

I’d discuss this weekend’s specific race goals but there aren’t any, really.  I am going to go swim, ride, and run as fast as I can without fainting or puking and collect my freezy pop at the end and sit in the lake and be at peace with whatever happens because #offseason.

Now, here’s where I contradict myself.  I think the thing I care about is the bike.  I’d like to think I may do okay since I *have* been riding a little bit, enough that those muscles should remember what to do.  I also do have a benefit this year over every other year – they’ve switched the waves to have the women go first, I take off somewhere in the middle vs almost last.  So, if I show up and somehow feel awesome with race day magic, I am set up for success.  Or maybe to at least beat Zliten for once *grumble*.

Since it’s been a while, here’s where I remind myself of what it takes to do a triathlon that doesn’t take a full day to complete.

Pre-race:

  • I will need to remember to practice transitions a few times this week.  At the IM, I took 10-15 minutes and made full changes.  Not this time.  The least amount of stuff possible in the shortest time possible.
  • Pre race food the day before – bringing my calories back up to flush (or close) vs less than I burn.  I definitely feel the calorie deficit working its magic – both in how my clothes are fitting (yay) and the lack of fuel for training (boo).  My plan is normal breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and chicken/potato/veggies and a salad for dinner.
  • Pre race swim.  This has become a tradition and I <3 it.  Probably will accomplish this at Lake PF after packet pickup (or before, depending on how early I’m up) so I can check out the lake monster (hydrilla) situation.
  • Breakfast will probably be a tried and true sunbutter jelly sandwich and some coconut water.  I’ll bring either blocks and some nuun or just a gatorade to sip on for hydration and calories between then and race start.

This race is also the best and hard to skip because of all the friends and teammates that show up. 🙂

During the race:

  • I’ll position myself at the front-ish of the pack for swimming since I’m typically about top quarter/third out of the water at this type of race.  I need to remember than yes, even if I am a little untrained, I do swim faster than my average age group fish.  I’ll keep an effort that is challenging but not anywhere close to redlining.  I’d rather save some energy here and put more into the bike.
  • Transitions are quick and focused.  Sock, sock, shoe shoe, glasses, helmet, and go.  Shoe, shoe, shoe, shoe, visor, frozen bottle (it’s supposed to be killer hot), race belt, go.  Don’t need anything else for ~40 minutes on the bike or ~30 minutes on the run.
  • The bike is going to feel like sucking wind for 40 minutes, sprint races always do, and that’s ok.  Keep pushing anyway.  I have zero watts metrics or any idea how fast I’ll ride but I know where my heart rate can hang and I expect it feel like death, but hopefully enough unlike death that I can still find my Hokas afterward.
  • I have zero confidence that holding anything back on the bike will help me here much on the run, so I don’t plan to do it. I expect a run personal worst and that’s not being self-depreciating, it’s being honest.  If I can hold 10:30s for 3 miles right now after a bike ride, I will be shocked and amazed.  However, I’ll go out with the goal of getting to the finish line as fast as humanly possible so I can plant my overheated butt back in that lake.  I know where my HR is just shy of redlining but can stick it out (around 175 bpm) and I’ll just watch that to make sure my brain isn’t making shit up about being tired while my heart is actually just at 150 bpm.

My best is 1:30:30 (2015).  My worst is 1:40:37 (2011).  I’m going to start with the goal to go sub-1:30 but I’ll abandon that as soon as it doesn’t make sense (really, the bike will tell the tale) and see if I can come in somewhere sub-1:40 at least if all goes to hell.

As for the rest of the year, I am still maintaining that I will not put any more A races on the schedule.  Ironman Texas got the one and only slot for 2017.  Nevertheless, I also am ready (kind of) to go play triathlon and bikes with LOTSA friends a bit so it was time to start thinking about putting some things on the schedule before I spend the entire year paying late registration fees to jump into things at the last minute.

In concert with Zliten, we put together a scale of how much we care about each race.  A is obviously your most important race, B is kinda important but not the MOST important, and C is kind of a training race, something you’re not going to taper for.  We added the D category, which would be a race where you’re almost completely untrained but show up and toe the line anyway.  Obviously, like any convoluted grading scale, there are minuses and plusses for various and arbitrary reasons.

Look how awesome I am, just beating this guy who is probably twice my age…

Bold = signed up or definitely planning on.  Italics = possibilities

Lake Pflugerville – D (6/18).  We do this one every year and it’s Zliten’s favorite.  I am counting this as a D for the fact that I’ve swam less times than I can count on one hand and I’ve run approximately 9 miles since 4/22.

El Diablo Poker ride – C (7/15).  This is not a race, but a team ride, and this is training for HHH100 below and also motivation to ride bikes longer than 25 miles a few times beforehand.

Jack’s Generic – C/D (8/6).  Eh.  Maybe.  I either need to volunteer here or race for the TX Tri series completion so *shrug*.  On the pro side: lots of friends doing it, it’s my sprint PR from last year on minimal training (so it’s not exactly a hard one to crack), and I have to either work packet pickup the day before or be there anyway.  Con side: It’s hot, not sure I actually want to train even that much just yet, I could save money by just volunteering if I’m not going to take it at least semi-seriously, I might want to use this weekend to redo the kitchen instead.  I think I’ll take stock again after Pflug and see if there’s fire in the belly.

Hotter than Hell 100 B- (8/26).  This will solely exist on the schedule to keep me doing a few long rides over the summer so I can complete this one and not totally die.  I’ve always wanted to do it and this summer is about bikes (not 70.3s like normal).  It’s a B simply because I’m training FOR it (since it’s long), but I honestly don’t care how fast I finish it as long as I stay #rubbersidedown.

Kerrville Sprint Triathlon B+ (9/23).  This one is MY favorite and I’m overjoyed at an opportunity to race the sprint again.  It was one of my fastest bike splits WAYYY before I had any business riding that fast.  I think I could, on a day full of unicorns and rainbows depending on how things are going, possibly podium given the finish times and what I’m capable of, if I’m interested in training again for this race (otherwise it will be super fun anyway).  At the very least, I’ll really go for it here.

I think that’s plenty of things to keep me out of trouble over the summer.  After that… *shrug*.  I’m not doing Austin 70.3 for SURE this year (have a conflict) and I don’t want to do anything that long anyway.  My next A race I’m planning on is 3M half marathon (stupid 2:08 PR is GOING DOWN Y’ALL) and I’ll probably put my eggs in that basket from Oct-Jan.

What’s on your plan for the summer?

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Open mouths and open wallets.

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On June 12, 2017

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Ah, THIS week.  This one happens every #offseason.

Energy+enthusiasm-a training plan to apply it to = open mouths (and open wallets).

The fatigue from the season is finally gone, and it’s like a curtain being lifted from my eyes and I see ALL THE THINGS I can go do and it’s overwhelming in a good way.   I’ve gone from thinking ALL I wanted to do was jump back into IM training because everything else in life seemed so crazy to hoping I have enough time before I start training seriously again so I can tick all the amazing things I have planned off my list.

This week, I would consider my first one back into being a recreational triathlete.  I did five days of training (4h30m), I followed a loose plan, and I even did a brick workout.  It feels like nothing and everything at the same time.  90 minute bike rides are plenty right now, though I will need to start ramping this up soon through the summer to do a 100.  20 minute swims and 3 mile runs are also plenty, and since I’m *NOT* planning on doing any long races, they can be enough for a while.

Tuesday, I rode bikes on an F1 racetrack with hundreds of my closest friends.  You would think of a racetrack as a flat surface, right?  Nah.  It has a killer hill right off the starting line, and a steeper, longer one just after that.  That day, it was right into the wind.  Lovely.  However, there was a flat back straightaway section that was SUPER fun to cruise at 28 mph. We did six loops (totaling about 22 miles), taking the cheater way to skip the hill every other time, and then headed home.

Saturday, we were going to ride and run at the lake, but poor sleep the night before (and frankly, a lot of the week) made us miss our alarm and snooze.  Instead, we rode the trainer and ran around the neighborhood.  I haven’t been on the trainer since… my birthday, I think, and I forgot how challenging it was.  I couldn’t really handle it for the 4-5 hour rides, but now that I’m doing shorter ones, I think I’ll make some improvements by being able to push myself.  Once I get some aerobic base back.  Let’s not talk about the 2 mile run after at 11:09 min/miles at a heart rate of about 170 bpm.  Sigh.

Last week:

  • Monday – ran 2.68 miles
  • Tuesday – 22 bike miles in about 90 mins
  • Wednesday – 17 bike miles in about 80 mins
  • Thursday – off
  • Friday – off
  • Saturday – 30 mins on the trainer (about 7.5 miles) + 2 mile run
  • Sunday – 1000m swim in about 19 mins.

This week I race… so I’ll probably do approximately the same stuff as last week and then see what there is in this little tank of mine right now.

  • Monday – ran 3.1 miles (37 mins, further and faster than last week)
  • Tuesday – brickie workout ~1 hour (maybe bike 20 mins/run 1 mile/bike 20 min/run 1 mile
  • Wednesday – BSS ride
  • Thursday – off
  • Friday – 20-30 min pool swim
  • Saturday – 15-20 min lake swim
  • Sunday – Pflugerville Tri! (500m swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run)

This will be over FIVE hours of training/racing y’all.  I’m not sure if I can handle it. 🙂

I always want to start this food/nutrition weekly update section with, well, last week was a shit show.  And then I add up the numbers and they are not so bad and I’m making progress and it’s just that unrealistically, I did not eat only chicken and celery all week and also unrealistically, I did not lose 10 lbs.

  • Weight: 187.8 (+0.4) lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 1753 (+21) calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -970 (+132) calories
  • Macros: 43 (-13)g fat, 181 (+17)g carbs, 102 (+9)g protein, 27 (+4)g fiber

The weight went up a little, but there are two important mitigating factors here.  1. I haven’t seen anything over 187. something for a week now, which means I’m stabilizing, which is a sign that if I don’t fuck it all up, I’ll drop a few lbs soon. 2. It’s that TOM, which also means if I don’t fuck it all up, I will drop a couple lbs once I lose the bloat.  So, if I can manage to eat all the veggies and not all the chips, I might make some progress.

Healthy food!  Yay.  Almost all pre-prepared?  Meh.  Close enough.

Other than that, the numbers look GREAT.  I maintained almost the perfect deficit that’s still within the healthy range.  I’m still in the lower tax bracket with activity, so my appetite is doing just fine.  My fat is down, my protein is back in the normal range, and so is my fiber.

Let’s attempt a diet quality score now, shall we?

Monday: 24.  Then it goes downhill.  Tuesday: 18.  Wednesday and Thursday: 16.  Friday: 13. Saturday: 10.  Sunday: 9.  Average comes out to approximately 15 (out of 32).

I won’t belabor the point (if you want the deets, check the link), but you give yourself points for veggies, fruit, whole grains/complex carbs, dairy, and nuts/seeds.  You subtract points for booze, sweets*, refined carbs, fried food, and fatty meats.

Looking back at previous years when I did this, I actually am doing better on the weekends than I was before (it would go in the negatives sometimes), but I had better quality food during the week when I tracked this previous.  So, why not both?  So, my goals this weeks:

Previous weeks goals: water, tracking, fruits, veggies, maintaining macro balance (protein, fat, fiber).

Incorporate more fruit and nuts into my day.  These are things that were low on my positive points list, but I need to add them slowly to figure out how to do it without increasing my calories much (since I’m not snacking a lot, I don’t have a *lot* of things to replace with them).

Carb conscious.  Be conscious of areas where I’m eating refined carbs and make a plan next week to switch them to whole grain/complex carbs.  I don’t want to go crazy and chuck out things in my pantry, but I will switch over when I need to replace them.

I’ll try the tally next Monday and see how I’ve fared.

Let me tell you a story about adventure.  On Friday, we realized that we had some unplanned time off because of moving offices and the Independence Day holiday, so for 2 days of PTO, we have a 6 day weekend.  While we have plenty of things at home to keep us occupied, of COURSE we’re going to go out of town.  Then I started looking at options.  We thought maybe we’d try going somewhere super north like Vermont or Boston, but those flights take up most of the travel days.  Then we looked up Boulder to go play bikes and it was just about as expensive (though less travel time).  But… I was really close to pulling the trigger anyway.

Then, I made the comment that camping sounded just as fun but gosh it’s hot in Texas.  Could we rent a camper?  Spoiler alert: it’s stupid expensive.  Like nice hotel expensive.  So no.  Then, I made an offhand comment about wondering how much they cost to purchase.  Fast forward through a weekend of researching everything about them, driving to a RV mall to check out a new one, driving to the middle of nowhere to check out a used one on a super cute farm with chickens and goats….

And as of about 1pm today, we’re the proud owners of a JayCo 2008 pop up trailer with AC.  For about the cost of two modest/average continental USA trips, we’ve now got a mobile hotel room!  And, because of a cancellation, we were able to secure a spot for six days at Krause Springs over that weekend.  I’m SO flippin’ excited, everything (so far) has fallen into place nicely, so I feel like this was meant to be.

So as for the previous goals…

  • Find a doctor and schedule a check up.  I had something written up here about excuses and whining and how I’d found someone but hadn’t called, but while I was writing this, I put on my big girl panties and while that SPECIFIC doctor was leaving, I have an appointment with at least someone that lists running when not injured as one of their hobbies. I felt a connection with that. 🙂
  • DDR Pad.  Nope.  Spent the weekend doing other things.  This didn’t even register on the radar.
  • Office.  Nope.  I technically had the time on Sunday, but we had been running around like crazy all weekend, so we watched a movie and painted minis and read books instead.  No regerts.

What we DID do besides make completely impulsive purchases that will result in awesome adventures:

  • Bought a shed.  CostCo had this roadshow thing with a great looking shed for a great price, and that even included delivery and installation.  At this point, besides being there when they arrive and leave, and painting it within a month or so after they install it, this one is almost off the list.  Yay!
  • Got a hitch installed on the Xterra.  This was on Zliten’s to do list for other reasons, but it’s a thing we have done now (and needed to bring the trailer home).  Check!
  • Started talking in real terms about the kitchen remodel.  We have gone over the list with Zliten’s parents, and we’re looking at scoping things out to do things over two weekends at the end of July or mid-August.
  • Non-fiction.  It’s hard to fall asleep reading non-fiction (or at least these particular ones), so I’m alternating.  I’ve read about 3 more chapters in the big yellow endurance book and I’m about 20% through How to Win Friends and Influence people.

This week will be sort of pop up centric, and we can’t do too much other stuff because of the race, but here’s my list.

Pop up stuff.  We need to get it under the insurance, registered, and get it to at least it’s temporary storage (right now it’s parked on the street which is NOT where it will stay).  Additionally, I’m sure there’s about 1000 other things we’ll discover we need so those To Dos will go under here.

Finish the shredding in the office.  It’s not as much as I intended to do last week (and didn’t), but it’s a step in the right direction.  And if I start, I might do more if I’m not exhausted after the race.

Pick one of these.  #1 – Get the DDR pad set up.  #2 – Do more kitchen remodel research.  Neither of these should involve standing on my feet much, so they can keep me busy on Saturday since I don’t have a packed day.

Between the shed, the pop up, and the kitchen remodel, we REALLY need to stop #projectoffseason because it’s so expensive.  Triathlon is pricey, until you compare super motivated triathletes during #projectoffseason who turn their attention to something else with the passion of 1000 fiery suns. At this point, once the general adulting and renovations are coming to a close, the year should turn more to side hustle and fun stuff, which are a little less WE SPENT HALF OUR MONTHLY SALARY THIS WEEK and a little more adventures and learning.

If not, we’ll just have to put a 70.3 on the plan at some point simply to keep us out of trouble. 😉

 

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Losing the blues.

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On June 5, 2017

In Uncategorized

I’m done with the Ironman blues.  Hello from the other side!

Finally this week I came out of the fog.  I remember what it was like to be doing all that training, but it doesn’t feel wrong to *not* do it.  I still get to ride my bike.  We hit the pool once and that made me a happy fishie.  I laced up my hokas this morning for their intended purpose, and it wasn’t far and it wasn’t fast and it was kinda hot but it felt good.  I’m going to try to keep it to 5 hours a week, give or take, but I think both my body and brain are ready to be a super casual recreational triathlete.

It’s a good thing too, because I signed up for a race!

We do this one every year.  Last year I was about 3 months into offseason, I just bought my new bike that week, and I was just a minute and a half off my PR and my second best showing ever.  This year… I’m going to go in again with no expectations and see what I can do.  Go play triathlon hard that morning.  Maybe not even with a watch. All hippie-like without data (but I like looking at it later so maybe not).

So, this week I start with the swim/bike/run – yes all 3 of them in one week.  Here’s the plan.  It’s super detailed.

  • Monday – ran 2.68 miles
  • Tuesday – ride TT bikes at the Circuit of the Americas track for ~2 hours
  • Wednesday – ride bikes with the BSS crew
  • Thursday – probably be dead from all the exertion plus I have gaming so *priorities*
  • Friday – swimming, maybe in the lake
  • Saturday – short brick at Lake Pflugerville (probably 10-15 miles on the TT bike + once around the lake)
  • Sunday – go die somewhere because obviously I’ll be worn the eff out

After these two weeks I may just hang my TT bike and hokas back up for a while again, or I may continue to play triathlon at this low level for the summer.  I haven’t decided yet.  I should probably lift some heavy things soon (like at least my own bodyweight) so we’ll see how I want to prioritize everything.

Last week I was about 2 for 3.  I actually did 4 things (3 bikes, 1 swim).  I got 10k steps on my fitbit every day (technically minus Saturday, because it counted steps for a 2 hour bike ride, and I only really *walked* 7k but details…).  I did not wake up and do stuff because a) my back really wasn’t ready and b) I realized waking up in the morning and going cold to do some stretching without a warmup was probably not the finest idea ever.

I assure you that the second panel did not turn into the third, although I have threatened before.

My adventures in nutrition can be summarized thusly – I did really well all week.  Then I went and rode bikes for 2 hours kinda hard on Saturday and hosted a party with lots of food so I ate and drank a lot.  Then I resumed normality on Sunday and here we are.

This week’s tally:

  • Weight: 187.4 (-1.6) lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 1732 (+17) calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -838 (+35) calories
  • Macros: 56 (+2)g fat, 164 (-12)g carbs, 93 (+3)g protein, 23 (+1)g fiber

So, besides a little extra fat (still within the acceptable range), everything is going the right way regardless.

Last week’s goals:

Continue with Week one goals.  Track and maintain a deficit.  Water.  Try to keep the alcohol consumption to reasonable levels. – Check.  Saturday was a little out of hand but in the grand scheme of the week it all normalized.

Fruits and veggies. – Check.  I went back and could count at least 5 fruits and veggies every day.  Thursday was pushing it a *little* bit including celery from the wings we split but if you’re counting 5 average per day over the whole week?  Nailed it.

Protein.  – Better, but not quite 100g.  I went up to 93g from 90.  When I eat more, this is effortless.  With smaller calorie counts, this takes some planning and perhaps a snack with protein because I’m just not making it some days.

This week’s goals:

Continue with previous goals.  Track and maintain a deficit.  Water.  Try to keep the alcohol consumption to reasonable levels.  Five fruits and veggies per day.  This is a reminder to not regress.

Protein.  I need to watch this carefully.  On nights where I’m having some adult beverages I should skew towards things that are carb-light, and have quality protein and fiber instead to make my macros.

The tally.  Now that my appetite is back to mortal levels and I’m used to not having a food orgy every day, it’s time to START working on my diet quality (the word of this season is baby steps).  Not doing anything this week, except trying to make good choices.  Next Monday, I’ll add up my DQ score and see where it’s at in comparison to where I was a few years ago.

I did some things besides swim/bike/run/eat!  #offseason is glorious.

It’s so weird.  During periods of heavy training, I’m like, what the heck do I fill my life with on the weekends if it’s not either riding bikes for 6 hours or running 20 miles and then laying exhausted on the couch watching Netflix?  Just laying on the couch watching Netflix sounds rather dull without the bikes to tire me out first.

Then, I remember how awesome it is to have some spare mental and physical energy on the weekends.  It’s the worst when you’re recovering because you feel tired without the fun and endorphins, but then once that breaks… HALLELUJAH!

Here are the things I did this weekend:

  • Had two glasses of wine on Friday because I had calories left and I could.
  • Rode my bike with friends for 2 hours.
  • Went out to lunch.
  • Actually died on the couch for a while watching all the 2017 IMTexas videos to try to catch ourselves in them.
  • Picked up the house and prepped for the party.
  • Hosted 11 people and had a fantastic time.
  • Read a few chapters in the Big Yellow Book and finish section 1/3 (and some in my fiction book as well).
  • Did laundry and actually put it away the same day.
  • Cooked a BUNCH of batch meals – curry turkey with brown basamati rice and veggies, shepard’s pie, chili.
  • Went for a walk.
  • Watched a movie.
  • Painted some minis.

…and I was still in bed early enough Sunday night to wake up and run this morning and I feel refreshed and happy instead of overwhelmed.  Glorious!

My goals were:

Find a non-fiction book. – Check.  However, I had just started the new Argonauts book and I’m into it so I’m waiting until I finish it (certainly this week) to start reading How to Win Friends and Influence People (in the Digital Age) – figured I’d start with a(n updated version of a) classic.

Find office chairs.  Check.  600 bucks later, we both have seats we’re happy with that we can sit in for a while.  They’re worth it.  I sat in it to paint for about 2 hours and I didn’t want to die like I do in any other non-couch chair in the house.

Host people without stressing out. Check.  We spent maybe 2 hours cleaning and prepping simply because we effed up with the timing and didn’t schedule this on a cleaning service week, so next time should be even simpler.  There was plenty of food and drink without me going overboard.  We all had a blast playing games.  This will happen again soon.

Life goals, super check.  This week has a few more extra curricular activities, so I am picking one thing that will be a time commitment (Sunday), and the rest should be low hanging fruit.

Find a doctor and schedule a check up.  I have no idea why I’m putting this off.  Actually, yes I do.  This is definitely the year to get my blood drawn and I probably need to recover my account info for the login and the UHC website is confusing and blah blah blah.  Get over yourself and DO EITTT, woman.

Dance dance.  While the next two weeks I’ll probably err on the side of spending my energy doing triathlon stuff, I purchased a DDR pad a few weeks ago and I’d like to get it set up and working BEFORE I really want to use it (and get frustrated that I’m spending my play time getting it set up).

The Office, round 2.  Zliten thinks we can get at least through Step 3 this coming weekend in a few hours.  I’m cautiously optimistic.

And on that note, off to do all the things I can do with a brand new week!

 

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Stahhhhhp!

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On May 30, 2017

In Uncategorized

Ironman blues have been a thing.  I hate to keep whining about it but this is my reality.  I think I’m starting to see the light but this last week I was definitely still in the tunnel.

Volunteering means: an excuse to ride bikes downtown, get a picture with the hi how are you frog, sport our #imtexas hats, and ask anyone with similar finisher gear “why the hell are you racing already”?

I just did not expect not to want a nice long downtime.  I really didn’t expect my brain to immediately want to start training again.  Of course, I knew that was body suicide (and a recipe for impending burnout), but I spent the last month trying to poke at being an athlete again.  I rode my bike for 90 minutes 4 days later.  I’ve swam in open water every week.  I even tried to do a (super short) splash and dash which was a huge, catastrophic failure.

You’d think vacation would be an excuse to relax, right?  Not us.  7 hours combined of diving and snorkeling.  Roatan was kind of chill but Costa Maya was mostly swimming in rough waters and Cozumel was drift diving which meant fighting some massive current and fighting for every picture.  We did 3 days on the stationary bike totaling almost 2 hours.  We were even talking about what training we wanted to do on the way home.

This last week finally, our bodies said STAHHHHP.  My back took the entire week to feel better, and Zliten got a righteous cold.  So, we took a full week off touching no swim bike or run (Saturday the 20th through Friday the 26th).  My triathlon this week has been sleep/work/read (in bed).  It felt really good to let my body crash after weeks of trying not to, and I think it’s a necessary part of the process.  However, it’s so humbling how much rest I actually need.

I finally rode my bike this weekend a bit, with the seriousness of a thousand comedians.  I really really really want to go swim around the lake this week but probably more because it’s warm vs wanting to really train.  I’m thinking that sometime within the next week or so I’ll make my running debut of a few miles slightly above walking pace, but not just yet.  And that’s where I am.   I feel that endurance deep inside there but it’s definitely not ready to come out and play yet.  And there’s no use in rushing it.

I will honestly say that this is the worst part of Ironman.  I may have gotten frustrated with some workouts and felt overwhelmed at times during training and worried about every little thing during taper but the waiting for your body to be your own again after the race is JUST MADDENING.  The waiting is the hardest part.  But my body gave me a great season, ending with a successful Ironman finish.  It did all I could have asked for.  So patient I will be.

Movement goals last week:

  • Unfuck my back – Check.  It’s at about 90%.  I think some of the muscles are still tight because it went so long without being properly adjusted but it’s better every day.
  • Do whatever feels good – Check. Nothing until the weekend and then some biking as transportation.  Got it.
  • 10k steps per day – Check minus one day and I more than made up for it the next day.

Movement goals this week:

Productive wakeups.  15 mins of yoga/stretching or easy bodyweight work before work every day this week.  I think I’m ready for this.

10k steps per day minimum.  Walks have been nice!

More if I’m ready… Optional, if I feel up to it: bike commuting as much as possible (since it goes from 4 to 10+ miles in a month when we move).  Bikes with friends.  Swimming in the lake.  But ONLY if my brain and body both agree.  If I need another week of sloth off, I’ll take it.

It was a 4-b weekend, bikes, burgers, brussels, and brats (and chicken and cauli-taters).

The internet and other reading has the universe sending me not-so-subtle hints about the need to refocus on diet.  My stasis weight the last two years or so has been about 10-15 lbs higher than it was previously.  The last two years I’ve focused on diet quality less, and during the IM training cycle, it was kind of a food orgy because my appetite/caloric need kind of scared me and it was overwhelming to try to beat it back without using junk food.

The good thing about the indefinite break from focusing on race performance is that I can really focus on my diet quality.  When I was maintaining a lower weight, I was much more focused on the quality of the food I was putting in my mouth.  Fast food was not even a consideration.  Something other than sprouted grain bread or corn/whole wheat tortillas was a splurge.  My carbs were more natural sources like corn and potatoes.  Desert was a few times a month, max.  I rationed my alcohol a little better and avoided beer like the plague.  I think this summer will be me working on getting back to there.

I spent the greater part of about 10 months really focused on my carb intake – i.e. trying to get it high enough to sustain my workouts.  Now that I’m not regularly doing multi-hour training sessions on back to back days, I don’t need a lot of that quick-burning fuel.  Some sources argue that to do the long distance stuff you don’t need a whole lot of that at all, but that’s another topic for another day.  While I think avoiding carbs is not the answer unless you’re doing it for a specific short term reason, I have been neglecting good quality stuff that makes my body happy.

It’s hard to do that when you come home from a long workout and you need FOOD NOW.  It’s hard to do that when you have precious little time to do food prep and all of a sudden you need to handle like 2-3k calories per day vs 1200-1500.  It’s hard when your stomach is telling you NO I’m done with fiber but I still need carbs.  The last one is the toughest and I’ll definitely have to figure out a better fueling situation next time my hours start ramping up.

I have a tally of this week:

  • Weight: 189.0 lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 1715 calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -803 calories
  • Macros: 54g fat, 176g carbs, 90g protein, 22g fiber

Last week’s consumption goals:

  • Track food/weight and try to stay at least 500 under my calorie burn overall – CHECK.
  • Water Water Water – Check.
  • Detox a little – Check.

This week’s consumption goals:

Continue with Week one goals.  Track and maintain a deficit.  Water.  Try to keep the alcohol consumption to reasonable levels.

Fruits and veggies.  Since my appetite is back to normal human levels, I don’t need much beyond my 3 normal meals.  The VAST majority of my snacks should be unrefined plants.  I should be able to track what I consider 5 servings (which is probably closer to what the FDA would consider 10 servings – considering my lunch had at least a serving of veggies in my homemade soup and I had about 3 cups of salad on the side) per day.  Fruit with breakfast and as an afternoon snack.  Veggies with lunch and dinner and also as a snack.  This should help up my fiber a little.

Protein.  This shouldn’t be so low.  My goal is to make sure I get my allotted 100g protein per day.

It was such a chill week, the only other picture I have to present to you is me, not looking half bad.  Makeup, hair not completely crazy, a smile instead of crazy eyes.  I was twenty-six seconds away from pajamas, so, don’t get *too* excited.

I love long weekends.  I think if I could have three days off per week, I could really get my life together.  Too bad it only happens a few times a year. Anyhoo, the combination of the lack of training we’re doing plus the three day weekend made it feel amazingly long and wonderful.

We got to stay up too late one night.  We got to spend a lot of time relaxing in bed reading, watching movies, and getting lots of sleep.  We volunteered for the Cap Tex Tri.  We rode bikes three times.  We went on walks.  We cooked a bunch of delicious food.  We helped some friends with a moving project and had lunch. We got some errands done, made some progress on the office, hung some pictures, and did some other chores around the house without it feeling like it took up our precious little free time.  While we lamented this was the first Memorial Day in a while without a big ol’ cookout anywhere, we were able to do a lot because of the lack of that.

Last Week Life Goals:

  • Sleeeeeep.  So CHECK.  I averaged 9 hours per night (and probably more because it didn’t count my 3 hour nap on Saturday).  Apparently I needed that more than I thought.
  • Non-fiction reading. Check (however, I can only read a real paper book for so long when Zliten was like sleeeeeeeeep now, so I did a chapter per day before I turned out the light and read fiction books because I don’t have anything non-fiction loaded up there).
  • The office.  Check. We have two usable computers and desks now, the floor is mostly uncovered, and the table is moved from the guest room.  There’s still a lot more to do but STAGE 1: COMPLETE

This week’s life goals:

Moar books. The obvious thing after writing above – find a non-fiction book about business or marketing or badassery or something I want to learn about and buy it for my kindle.  Something I don’t feel like I need to maintain as a reference book but would be a good read.  Also, continue to work through the big yellow book, trying for a chapter a day.

Hostess without the mostess.  We’re hosting a game night potluck with our friends on Saturday.  My goal for this is to not overdo it like I like to do.  We’ve promised a (sort of) clean house, pork tacos, a veggie tray, and that’s it.  I don’t need to buy a bunch of alcohol or make 20 appetizers or decorate or do anything super fancy.  I’d rather get in the habit of hosting people at my house again without stressing about things being perfect and pintrest-y.

Seat-u-ation.  The next step for the office is to get us some chairs.  Mine got donated last year because it was about 15 years old, broken, and really dirty.  Zliten’s is *adequate* but not for multi-hour sessions.  We found the chairs we want at Office Depot for 280$ each.  This week we want to hit the discount store to see if we can find something cheaper (if not, bite the bullet and spend the money).

And that’s a lot of words about a short week.  So, let’s get on it, shall we?

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About Me

I'm a video game producer and a lover of anything game related by trade.  I'm a triathlete by hobby.  I live for being on or in the water as much as I can - scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, water slides... you name it.  The dichotomy between my outdoor and indoor realities are interesting, but they're all mine!  Longer version here...

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