Let's consider this a fresh start to blogging

I've been bad about blogging.  I have also been somewhat bad about training, although not nearly as bad as the lack of blog updates would suggest.  Early last week Jeremy called me out (it wasn't pretty at the time, but I'm glad he did) and now I'm recommitted to both training and blogging.

Training last week went well and included a short trip to CA where I got to run the old, familiar bellview trail with my folks, and swim circles around the pool with my dad... good times!

We flew back bright and early Monday morning.  Monday became a rest day since we were in desperate need of groceries and that seemed like a more important task for the evening.

Tuesday- Jeremy and I went on a long trail run after work.  We were out for almost 2 hours.  It was definitely the hardest run I've done in a long time.  My knees and ankles are giving me crap for taking on a trail run of that caliber, but it was totally worth it.  Nice spring evening, staying light later, saw deer out grazing... very, very nice!

Wednesday - Last night I did a quick 1 hr ride on the trainer.  My legs were aching from Tuesday's run, but all in all it felt pretty good.

Plan for the rest of the week:

Today - Run after work (aiming for about 45 minutes on the road)
Friday - Swim
Saturday - SLC Half Marathon
Sunday - Long bike, hopefully outside if the weather cooperates

I'm back on the training bandwagon, and hopefully I'll be back on the blogging bandwagon as well!

~Ash

Behind on blogging... again!

I'll admit, I'm behind on the blog again.  Rather than trying to recap everything I missed, I'll give you my favorite highlight.

I did 3 HOURS ON THE TRAINER this weekend.  Absolute absurdity, but given the weather it was my only realistic option.  The boredom was amplified by the fact that we do not have cable and there was only one channel that wasn't showing infomercials all morning on Saturday! So, I plopped myself in front of the TV and caught up on my ski racing... haha! Did you know that the guy that won the giant slalom for the season is sponsored by Parmigiana Reggiano?? Yep, he's sponsored by cheese.  How do I get that gig?! Luckily, the distraction of dreaming about being sponsored by cheese (or maybe wine) kept me going for quite a while.  Throw in the occasional ski crash and it was almost an entertaining morning... almost. I did a quick brick run after that ride just to get my legs used to the idea that I will have to run after this crazy long ride. Frankly my legs felt better than expected.  The usually wobbly-ness to start, but generally not bad.

So, on to this week. Here's the plan:

Monday - long swim (DONE, see below)
Tuesday - 50 min. run (DONE, see below) + 2 hr. ride after work (on the trainer, since it's snowing)
Wednesday - 90 min. ride (likely on the trainer)
Thursday - swim (another tough workout) + 120 min. run (hoping the weather holds up)
Friday - swim (slightly shorter than the others)
Saturday - Jeremy's 50K, I'll likely fit in an hour or so of running in between my crewing duties
Sunday - 3 hour ride + 30 min. brick run (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do your good weather dance for me)

Yesterdays swim was challenging.  I did 3000m after work at the JCC (w.u. 4x75, main: 2x500, 15x100 EBEH, c.d. 100 swim, 100 back).  By about the 10th 100 of the main set I was starting to feel it.  Those last 5 100's (especially the hard 25 at the end of each) were brutal, but I pushed through. Glad I got it done!

This morning I did my run on the treadmill at the JCC due to the snow and lack of daylight before work. It's crazy how 5 miles really isn't that big of a deal anymore.  I'm starting to get great joy out of the fact that in the time I'm on the treadmill, 2-3 people will cycle on/off each of the machines around me.  This wasn't quite as evident today, but if you stay on the treadmill for an hour or more it's pretty fun to watch. My plan for today is to eat well, and stay off my feet as much as possible in lab so I can get through my 2 hour ride tonight. Right now, my recovery chocolate milk is making me quite happy : )

~Ash

Off on the right foot

This week is off to a rockin' good start so far.  Yesterday, I met Nelly in the morning at the JCC for a swim.  Felt pretty good! My left shoulder showed no signs of pissy-ness... woohoo! Then, last night I hopped on the trainer after work for a 90 minute ride.  I wasn't entirely sure that this wouldn't kill me after a long day at work, but I did the whole 90 minutes. Go me!! My butt was a tad sore from Sunday's ride, but all in all not a bad workout.  I'm a little nervous about the 2 hour ride I'm supposed to do tonight, but let's tackle one thing at a time!

This morning I did 6 miles on the treadmill at the JCC before work.  NOT ideal conditions. Obviously, I would rather run outside, but this whole daylight savings time thing is putting a dark damper on my morning runs.  Not to worry, I made it happen on the treadmill despite the fact that it was about 100 degrees in the gym.  I'm seriously considering a note to the management.  Is it not possible to keep the workout rooms at a more reasonable temperature?  I like to sweat as much as the next girl, but when it's running into your eyes and you think you're going to fall off the treadmill, it's a little excessive!

Feeling pretty good today overall.  Hungry as all get out, but that's pretty normal these days. Speaking of which... it's time for lunch, yay!

~Ash

Big week!

This is going to be a big week for me.  It's going to be a mental and physical test of whether I'm really up for this whole crazy Ironman thing.  Here's the plan:

Monday - Swim (race specific, before work with Nelly, see below)
                Ride 90 min. (after work on the trainer)
Tuesday - Run 60 min. (before work, likely treadmill due to daylight savings)
                 Bike 120 min. (after work, likely on the trainer, this will be brutal)
Wednesday - OFF!
Thursday - Swim (speed day, before work)
                  Run 100 min. (after work, hopefully outside)
Friday - Swim (long day, before work)
Saturday - Brick: 3 hr. ride followed by 30 min. run (this will be KILLER)
Sunday - Run 45 min.
               Swim 30 min. continuous (this is supposed to be open water, but let's not get too crazy)

Holy crap, this is going to be one crazy week of training. Here's hoping!

~Ash

New tire and spring weather

I will not lie and say this is the only reason that my mid-week training was a little off last week, but I did blow a tire.  I think it was Wednesday or Thursday that I went to get on the trainer and noticed that my back tire had a major blow out.  Amazingly, the tube hadn't blown, but I had a 1-2 inch slice right through my tire.  At first I was puzzled - how do you slice your tire riding on the trainer? Then it hit me... I hadn't released the cam lever after my last ride, and with the dry Utah air and major temperature fluctuations, I think the rubber just finally said "screw you".  Needless to say, my ride that day was a no-go.  The good news is that Jeremy picked up a replacement for me and I installed it before my weekend ride.

Last week wasn't great in terms of training volume.  I got all of my runs in, including an awesome early morning run with Nelly on Friday. Bike and swim took a bit of a hit though. Man, this training schedule is tough to live up to. I'm going to do better though.  Luckily, the weekend afforded an opportunity to catch up a bit.

Saturday I went on a long run with Jeremy.  Not my best run ever, but given my run volume from the week I wasn't terribly surprised. Yesterday the weather was GORGEOUS! I was able to go for my first outside ride of the season... woohoo! Jeremy had heard of a bike path nearby that's supposed to be good for training, so we went to check it out.  It will be a great spot for bricks down the road! I had a good ride yesterday, 24 miles total.  The ride out was awesome - I felt great, the sun was warm on my arms, etc.  The ride back was brutal.  There was no bathroom at the turn around so my bladder was pissed, plus there was a 20 mph headwind to contend with.  Not a fun ride back at all, but I survived.

I WILL do better this week, both with training and with blogging. I swear.

Goodbye "Prep", Hello "Base 1"

The goal of this 2nd phase of the training plan is to "increase hours while maintaining consistency".  It is also the phase where I can seriously start to work on my nutrition and dropping a little excess weight.  Last week was a little overwhelming with work, etc., but I'm feeling good and I'm pumped to dive into this week.

One major bonus of this phase is that I no longer have double days on Fridays.  That was brutal and I'm glad it's over!

Plan for the week:
Monday - Swim (speed workout).  Finished this morning... details below.
Tuesday - 2 hr. ride (before work), swim (after work)
Wednesday - 45 min. run (before work), long swim (after work)
Thursday - 60 min. run (before work), 1.5 hr. ride (after work)
Friday - 60 min. run (before work)
Saturday - OFF!
Sunday - 2 hr 40 min. long ride (hopefully outside, weather permitting)

My swim this morning was great.  It was a tough little workout, 2250m total (warm up: 250, alternating 50 swim/50 kick, main: 400, 4x100, 300, 3x100, 200, 2x100, long sets slow/short sets fast, cool down: 2x75, 1x50).  The main set was very challenging.  Throwing in the speed sets between the longer sets was fun though and definitely broke up the workout.  Happy to not have a double day today : )

I'm not only recommitting to the training, I'm recommitting to blogging.  It really makes a difference when I sit down to write about my workouts.  As of now, there's no reason I should have to skip a workout this week.  Here's to a good training week!

~Ash

Last week was madness!

Seriously, my week exploded.  Work was nuts, life was nuts, everything was nuts!  I did an OK job of training, but not nearly as good as I would have hoped.  The (somewhat) good news is that it was supposed to be a recovery week, so at least I didn't miss lots of critical workouts.  The highlight of the week was my long run on Saturday with Jeremy.  He was very impressed with my improvement since it had been a while since we had run together. Go me!

I am recommitted to the training plan and this week promises to be much better than last!

~Ash

This will be a painfully long update

Wow, I have been horrible at keeping up with the blog for the last week or so!  Sadly, this has alerted me to the fact that no one is going to call me out if I skip workouts.  Come on people... that's what you're here for! The good news is that despite the fact that no one called me out on not posting, I was doing all of my planned workouts anyhow.  If this was a test, my blog readers just failed and I passed with flying colors : )

Anyhow, without my log in front of me, I'm going to be hard pressed to remember every workout I've done since mid-day on the 17th. Between work madness and training ramping up, it's amazing I've even found the time to write in my physical log book! My recollection goes something like this (accuracy not guaranteed):

Thursday the 17th - Crazy swim after work... lots of speed work, felt awesome.
Friday the 18th - Glorious off day!
Saturday the 19th - Long ride on the trainer (2 hr.)
Sunday the 20th - Absolutely insane trail run in ~ 8 inches of fresh snow (more about that in a bit)
Monday the 21st - Swim before work (long day, cut short because my left shoulder was off), 1 hr. run in the afternoon (best run I've had in a long time... VERY proud of myself).
Tuesday the 22nd - 1 hr. on the treadmill after work
Wednesday the 23rd - 1 hr. on the trainer before work, skipped my afternoon swim to allow my left shoulder to recover
Thursday the 24th - long run on the treadmill (9 miles... holy cow, go me!)
Friday the 25th - Off day! (Skipped my 2nd swim of the week... a calculated decision, more on that in a sec)
Saturday the 26th - 4.5 mile run
Sunday the 27th - 2 hr. long ride on the trainer

As promised, more detail about my run on the 20th.  Somehow I let Jeremy convince me that a trail run was a fabulous idea despite the fact that it had snowed overnight and was still actively snowing.  I don't think either of us was fully prepared for the fact that there was about 8 inches of fresh powder on the trail (I say trail, but you couldn't actually see it due to the snow).  We took the dog and I'm fairly certain she had a better time than both of us.  Our long run turned into a hike in, and a treacherous run back out in our own footsteps trying not to turn an ankle or blow up a knee joint.  Lest you think I'm exaggerating... I had Jeremy take photos as proof.  It was a fun experience, and definitely a workout, but I don't think I'll be repeating it any time soon.

I'm smiling, but Ruby is smiling more!

Our "trail"

Final thought, I alluded to the fact that my left shoulder has been giving me a bit of trouble on the swim.  I actually don't think it's an "injury" per se.  I think my right side is still stronger than my left from all those years of pitching.  Thus, the right is handling the increase in swim volume better than the left.  I decided to skip a couple swims last week (and add in an extra run) to give it a chance to relax. Hopefully it will pay off in happy swimming this week! 

Whew, what an update! 

~Ash

Switching it up

This is turning into the week of switched workouts!  Last night I was supposed to do a long-ish swim after work.  By the time 5:30 rolled around I was exhausted and the thought of a long swim was super daunting, so I made myself a deal and switched yesterday's swim workout with Friday's planned swim workout - effectively making yesterday a speed day.  This turned out to be a great decision because short quick sets was exactly what my body needed last night.  I did 1500m total (w.u. 300m; main 10x100, descending 1-5 and 6-10; c.d. 200, alternating 50 kick/50 swim).  I actually felt awesome when I was finished.

The switching ended up biting me in the butt though, since a hefty little snowstorm hit last night and I was less than motivated to drag myself out of bed to do my long run in 5 inches of snow this morning.  So, I decided to switch things up again.  This meant moving my long run to tomorrow and doing tomorrow's bike and swim today.  I did the bike workout on the trainer this morning before work (55 minutes total with  some speed intervals thrown in).  It felt good to get a sweat in before work, and it felt even better to get to shower at home rather than at the JCC! However, all of this switching means that now I'm headed over to the JCC for a longer swim than I would like after work.  Oh well, at least I made it all fit and didn't skip any workouts : )

I'll post tomorrow about tonight's swim and my long run in the morning.

~Ash

Week 2 update

Yikes, it's been a busy couple of days.  I just haven't had time to sit down and write! The good news is that even though it's been CRAZY busy, I have yet to miss a workout... go me!

Monday night Jeremy and I went for a quick 4 mile run around our neighborhood.  The weather was perfect! I couldn't believe we were out after dark and I was in capris and a very lightweight long sleeved top... awesome!  We topped off our Valentine's Day by ordering Thai take-out - perfect : )

Yesterday I had a crazy day at work.  I managed to sneak out at lunchtime for a quick run.  I only got in 3.5 miles, which wasn't quite as long as planned, but was better than nothing.  By the time I got home from work I was exhausted, but I forced myself to get on the trainer for my scheduled ride.  I did the whole hour, and frankly it was much better than anticipated.  I actually felt better the longer I was on there.  I was still super tired come bedtime, but I was proud of myself for getting it done!

Today is not a double-day... woohoo!! I have a fairly long swim to do after work, but it was AWESOME not getting up early this morning.  Hopefully the pool won't be too crowded.

~Ash

Week 2 begins

I started Week 2 of "official" training with a long swim this morning at the JCC.  I was trying to think back... this might be the longest swim I've ever done.  I could be wrong, but either way it was a tough one! I did 2400m total (warm up: 6x100, main: 3x500, cool down: 2x150).  The main set was supposed to be 4x500, but I skipped the last 500 due to time constraints.  Since I've never swam these sorts of distances before I didn't have a good concept of how long the workout would take.  As it was, I was in the pool for and hour.  The extra 500 wouldn't have added too much time, but I had an early meeting at work and had to call it quits. I was a bit disappointed, but overall I'm still pleased with myself for getting it done.

Tonight Jeremy and I are going on a Valentine's Day run.  It's not that often that our training schedules coordinate, but as luck would have it we're both supposed to do 45 minutes today. So, it's a date!

Running by headlamp... uber romantic!

Fun with the Gleason Fam

The Gleason clan was here this weekend, which gave me an excuse to take Friday off work... woohoo! Friday was my off day for training, and I thoroughly enjoyed running around town with everyone.

Saturday we all went snowshoeing in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  We did most of the trail up to Scott's Pass.  It was pretty strenuous on the way up, but they were troopers and handled the altitude like pros!  We were out there for about 3 hours, so it was a good little workout.

Sunday we went to Antelope Island and did a 3 mile hike.  We had one up-close-and-personal bison encounter, but all managed to get out in one piece (even Ruby, who was a bit of an instigator).

No "official" training this weekend, but plenty of unofficial training to make up for it.  Plus, the weather was gorgeous!

Now, onto week 2.  The plan:

Monday - long swim at the JCC before work, 45 min. Valentine's Day run with Jeremy after work
Tuesday - 60 min. trainer ride before work, 45 min. run after work
Wednesday - moderate swim
Thursday - long run (hopefully before work)
Friday - 55 min. trainer ride before work, speed swim after work
Saturday - OFF!
Sunday - 120 min. ride

Goal for the week: Finish every planned workout!

Crunched for time

Last night was a little crazy since I needed to get a long run in after work, plus get the house ready for the Gleason's arrival today. So, in an attempt to compromise (and not be up until midnight scrubbing the bathroom), I shortened my long run from 90 minutes to 60 minutes.  Jeremy and I went out together for the run.  It was pretty cold and there was a super brisk headwind in City Creek, but it felt good to get out! We did just under 6 miles, not bad for a work night.

I figure that the speed cleaning session that went on after the run probably takes care of the remaining cardio... haha!

This morning I jumped on the trainer for a quick session.  I think I went 60 minutes, but frankly it's possible that it was only 50 minutes (halfway through the ride I totally forgot what time I got on).  Sometimes I think I'm losing my mind!

Almost time the head to the airport... fun weekend ahead!

~Ash

Double days!

It's been a long time since I've regularly completed double day workouts!  My body is basically saying "Whoa there turbo, what's this nonsense?!".  In all seriousness though, this week has been a bit of an adjustment.  The workouts haven't been that bad, but the logistics of scheduling them around work, packing the appropriate clothes, making sure I bring enough food, etc. has been challenging.  I just had to go buy myself a snack because what I thought was a sufficient lunch just wasn't cutting it calorie-wise.

Last night I hit the JCC for another treadmill run.  I did 4.5 miles and felt much better than I had on Monday. Woohoo! I was up a bit too late last night getting the house ready for the Gleason's visit this weekend, so I was less than energetic when my alarm went off this morning.  Not to worry, I made a quick half-awake decision to sleep another hour and do my swim at lunch instead : )

My lunchtime swim was actually quite enjoyable.  It was a "race specific" workout, although frankly, I'm not entirely sure what that means.  I did 1650m total (warm up: 4x75, with some backstroke; main: 3 x 400; cool down: 1 x 150).  The backstroke was a fun change, although I felt totally uncoordinated.  I was starving by the end of it, but it made my lunch feel earned!

I'm modifying my schedule for the week once again.  In general, I don't want to make a practice out of this, but between the Gleason's upcoming visit, our Urgent Care run yesterday morning, and my lab schedule I'm having to get a little creative to fit everything in. So, the new plan is as follows:

Today - Swim (DONE!),  90 min. run with Jeremy after work
Thursday - 60 min. trainer ride (probably before work), swim (after work, but before the airport)
Friday - OFF!!!
Saturday - Snowshoeing (which will replace the 60 min. ride that would have been on Friday)
Sunday - 90 min. on the trainer (I'll squeeze this in somehow)

Holy cow, it's training season!

~Ash

Treadmills and stitches...

... luckily only one of those terms is in reference to me, and it's not stitches!

Last night I hit up the JCC for a run on the treadmill.  Sadly, the snowstorm came in early - killing my plans for an after work run with Ruby.  Instead, I slid my way over to the JCC in the middle of a whiteout to run on the treadmill.  Apparently others had this idea as well... I had to wait almost 30 minutes just to get on one.  Ugh, nothing saps my motivation like sitting on the gym floor waiting for a treadmill. Anyhow, I finally scored a spot and put in my 45 minutes.  I got a little lightheaded around 30 minutes, but this was likely due to the fact that when it snows the JCC turns the heat up to tropical levels.  I slowed my pace a bit and got some water and all was right with the world.

This morning, I was all dressed and ready for a trainer ride when Jeremy popped his head into the bathroom with a bloody paper towel around his thumb.  Apparently he was refereeing a fight between a carrot and a kitchen knife and the knife got out of hand... haha!  Needless to say, I aborted my plans for a ride so I could bandage his thumb and drive him to get stitches.  He's all sealed up now, and is sporting an awesome neon green thumb splint which he gets to model for the next 10 days... bummer for him, entertaining for me : )

Given this morning's adventure, I had to rearrange my plans a bit.  I will still run tonight after work (probably at the JCC again due to ice on the road concerns).  I will do today's bike workout tomorrow morning, and swim in the afternoon.  Hopefully this leaves enough recovery time for my legs before my long run on Thursday.

Whew! So far, today is off to a crazy start!

~Ash

IMCdA training has officially begun!

I swear this day got here faster than I thought it would.  My training plan starts today... I am officially 20 weeks away from IMCdA.

I met my friend Nelly at the JCC pool early this morning.  She is looking for a new gym, so I snagged her a guest pass so she could check it out. Today was my long swim for the week.  I was a more than a little intimidated by the workout, but having someone else in the pool with me definitely helped.  It was tough, but I did it! The grand total was 2000m (w.u. 4 x 200 drills, main: 1 x 1000, c.d. 4 x 50).  My shoulders were definitely feeling it by the end, especially since I hadn't done pull drills in years, but I did it! I was starving by the time I got to work, and had to snack my way through our morning lab meeting.

Tonight, I'm doing a 45 min. run.  If the snowstorm holds off I'll do it at home and take Ruby along. If not, I'll be on the treadmill at the JCC, sorry Ruby.

Time for lunch : )

~Ash

Romp to Stomp and other weekend fun

Saturday was the Romp to Stomp snowshoe race.  Jeremy and I made our 1st annual return appearance and I must say, it gave me a major sense of perspective.  As I watched the first-timers this year I couldn't help but be pleased with our progress.  First, we've not only learned to snowshoe, we have our own (thanks to my folks).  We were FAR more coordinated than last year.  Second, we've adapted to winter weather like champs.  We both were laughing at the folks carrying 3 layers of jackets by the end of the race.  We were them last year and this year we proudly chugged along in minimal layers.  So, for the second year in a row we had a great time, and didn't win a dang thing in the raffle! Oh well, it's for a good cause!  Jeremy has decided that next year we need to do the "race" part, rather than the walk part. Yikes, I better learn to run in my snowshoes!

Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday!!!  It was also my long day on the bike.  I hopped on the trainer mid-afternoon and cranked out a solid 90 minutes.  I felt WAY better than anticipated and was super pleased with myself.  Workout completed, I settled on the couch with some nachos and a glass of wine (I know, not your stereotypical football beverage) and watch the Packers win.  A VERY good Sunday : )

This was my final week of prep training.  I didn't miss a single workout, and I'm feeling good. Go me!

Plan for next week (modified a bit to accommodate the Gleason's visit):
Monday - long swim before work at the JCC, 45 min. run after work
Tuesday - 60 min. trainer ride before work, 45 min. run after work
Wednesday - moderate swim day
Thursday - 90 min. long run before work, speed swim after work (should have been on Friday)
Friday - OFF!
Saturday - Snowshoeing with the Gleason's (this will replace my 60 min. bike from Friday)
Sunday - 90 min. trainer ride

Cold morning run... so cold, my butt went numb!

You think I'm kidding?! Well, I'm not!

First, let me update you on last night's swim.  I got to the JCC just a few minutes too early and had to wait for swim team practice to end before I could hop in the pool.  Those kids were a riot to watch! Motivated me to find more joy in my swims : )  I did a moderate length day, 1400m total (warm up: 2 x 50, main: 3 x 400, cool down: 2x50).  Each 400 felt smoother / easier than the one before, so I took that as a good sign that I was settling into my stroke.  All in all, a nice little swim!

Side note - we went to PF Chang's for dinner last night and ate for free! Thanks for the gift cards, Gleason's... I LOVE me some veggie lettuce wraps!

Now, back to the main topic of discussion.... my frozen butt.  In my opinion, butts shouldn't be able to go numb from cold.  It defies physiology! There is probably more fat in my butt than anywhere else on me, therefore it is insulated, therefore it should stay warm unless I'm sitting on ice or something equally stupid.  NOT THE CASE!! The plan for today was an 80 minute long run.  I was already having motivation problems since I'm not used to doing my long run on a work day.  Then, I got up to let Ruby out to pee early this morning and I saw the thermometer... not promising!  So, I decided to stay in our warm bed until the sun was all the way over the mountains.  This plan backfired since it's completely overcast today.  Nonetheless, it had warmed up to 25 degrees by the time I finally headed out.  I bundled up accordingly, and off I went. It was cold at first, nothing too bad, but I swear it got colder with every mile.  I was heading up City Creek Canyon and the temps were falling fast!  It's a bad sign when your quads don't get warm even though you're running uphill! It was so cold that the creek was totally frozen over... yep, running water, frozen solid.  I decided to see the positive in this and was thoroughly enjoying the view... then my butt went numb.  Numb fingers - normal. Icy earlobes - normal.  Frozen tears - pretty normal.  Frozen butt - totally NOT normal!  I managed to make it the whole 80 minutes, but I swear I JUST finally thawed out.  I think the steaming hot cup of soup I had at lunch helped : )  Final thoughts on the run: proud of myself for getting it done.  Oh, and I should probably invest in thermal running tights!

Tomorrow is the Romp to Stomp snowshoe race for breast cancer awareness.  We did this race last year, having only been in Utah a few weeks, and having never snowshoed before.  I'm excited to go back and do it again with a little more experience under our belts!  Just got notice that they're delaying the start by 1 hour since all of their gear got stuck in the midwest in the blizzard... yay for an extra hour of sleep!!!

~Ash

4.5 happy miles

I am feeling pretty proud of myself.  Yesterday got a little crazy at work, but I still fit in my run! I snuck away to the JCC while my assay was running in lab, and got in 4.5 miles on the treadmill.  It was nice being at the JCC mid-afternoon. It wasn't as crowded so I didn't have to wait for a treadmill and it wasn't nearly as hot in there as usual... woohoo!  I realized part way through my run that my options were to do my whole workout and not shower, or quit early and shower.  I opted for finishing the whole workout... by now my labmates are used to me coming in after a workout all sweaty... haha! Anyhow, I had a great run.  Definitely the best I've felt on the treadmill in a long time. Maybe I'm finally getting myself back into shape!

Plan for today is a swim after work.  I'm planning a moderate length day - I'll post results later!

~Ash

Happy Groundhog Day!!!

First things first, last night I went home and rode the trainer for 60 min.  I didn't really feel like doing it, but I did, and I felt great afterwards. Yay for motivation!

Today is my favorite holiday... it's GROUNDHOG DAY!!! I know that this just adds to my overall weirdness, but I don't care : ) Punxatawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, thus he's predicting an early spring.  I'm not getting my hopes up (especially since he has a >70% error rate... yep, that's worse than chance), but I'll be thrilled if he's right... it would certainly help with training!!

My plan for today is a 45 minute "easy" run.  Given that it's approximately 14 degrees outside (without factoring in windchill), I'm planning to do this run on the treadmill after work.  With any luck they won't have the heater set to 90 degrees again today!

~Ash

Tuesday Afternoon

I just realized that I didn't post about my swim yesterday... whoops! I went to the JCC after work and the pool wasn't too crowded which was nice.  I had decided that I needed to do a long day to prove to myself that I was ready for the beginning of the training plan next week.  After a short warm up, I swam 1000m straight without stopping.  I actually felt GREAT! I absolutely could have kept going, but I remembered what my training book said "Even if you're feeling good, don't push beyond the planned workout", so I did a quick cool down and stopped.  Overall, I was quite pleased with my swim!

I did not do my planned bike this morning, but I swear I had a good reason.  I did not sleep well at all last night. Something I ate did not agree with my stomach, and I was miserable all night. I'm still deciding how I'm going to reconcile this with my training plan.  In all reality, I probably won't do both the 1 hr ride and the 45 min run tonight after work (just being realistic).  I think I'll do the ride tonight, push the run to tomorrow, and swap my Thursday and Friday plans. I lose a swim workout by doing that, but I think the rides and runs are more important at this point, especially since I had a good swim yesterday. So, my revised plan for the week:

Today - Ride 1hr on the trainer after work
Wednesday -  Run 40-45 min (before work, probably on the treadmill since it's SUPER cold)
Thursday - Swim (moderate, before work), maybe bike 30 min after work if my legs feel good
Friday - Long run (75 min.)
Saturday - Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Race... fun!
Sunday - Long bike (80-90 min.)

~Ash

Weekend Update

Saturday - I did an 8 mile run in the morning.  Same route as last weekend (although extended), but without the mental breakdown in the middle!  I still struggled a bit on the uphills, but I felt MUCH better than last week.  All in all, it was a great run, and a good mental boost to have done that distance.  The only negative was that it was bone-chilling cold.  The temperature wasn't that low (only 30 degrees), but it was foggy and the moisture just soaked right through you.  Despite the cold, I was a very happy girl.

Sunday - I rode the trainer for 75 minutes.  My legs were pretty dead from the run the day before (I'm starting to understand why the training plan separates my long run and long ride days in the future), but I got through it!  My butt bones were super sore at first, but went numb about 20 minutes into the ride.  It'll be interesting to see how they feel on Tuesday for my next ride.

Plan for the week:
Monday (today) - Long swim at the JCC
Tuesday - Trainer 60 min, Run 45 min (separate)
Wednesday - Swim at the JCC (Speed Day)
Thursday - Long run (80 min)
Friday - Swim at the JCC (easy, recovery)
Saturday - Romp to Stomp (5K snowshoe race)
Sunday - Long ride (90 minutes, likely on the trainer)

National Chocolate Cake Day!!

I hadn't been back long from my run yesterday when my labmate announced that it was "National Chocolate Cake Day" and we must celebrate.  You can't argue with that logic! So, we all headed over to the hospital cafeteria in search of cake... and they came through!! Danielle and I justified the splurge by adding a glass of milk and saying that it was the equivalent of our post-run chocolate milk (that's actually good for recovery, it's been proven). Anyhow, we had a lovely afternoon snack and returned to lab full and happy!

It then dawned on me that I still had to go for a swim.  Not to worry, apparently chocolate cake and milk is the perfect pre-swim elixir. I had the best swim I've had in a long time.  I did 1000m as an increasing/decreasing ladder (50, 100, 200, 300, 200, 100, 50).  The 300 was actually the best set of the whole workout.  I totally got into a groove and felt like I could have gone on forever.  YAY!  Oh, and my sincere apologies to the adorable 3 year old girl I plowed into mid-workout.  Your mommy should have been paying more attention so you didn't cross over the lane buoys.  You came out of nowhere, I couldn't stop in time, and I'm very sorry if I scared you! It's always an adventure at the JCC pool : )

Today is a glorious rest day and I'm very much enjoying my only cup of coffee of the week... earned it!!

~Ash

Bike and a Run

Last night I put in a solid 60 minutes on the trainer... kept what I thought was a pretty good pace.  Jeremy came home about 45 minutes into it and said "Wow, you're going pretty fast", so that made me feel good! I still haven't moved the freakin' speedometer to the back fork, so I have no clue how far I went or what my actual pace was, but I'd guess it was somewhere in the 15-16 mph range. The first part of the ride was tough, but I settled in and actually felt pretty good by the end of it! Woohoo!

I just got back from a run with Danielle.  I am really starting to enjoy my mid-afternoon run breaks at work. We did a quick 3 mile loop in 26 minutes... not bad! I'm headed to the JCC after work for a swim.  Ruby was super snuggly this morning and I just couldn't pull myself out of bed early enough to go swim before work!

I'll post later about the swim.

~Ash

I swear I've been training...

... I just haven't had spare time to blog about it! So, here's what I've been up to.

Saturday: 70min run with Jeremy in City Creek Canyon.  The run started well, but I had a little mental breakdown about a mile in.  I was feeling like this whole IM thing is too overwhelming and there was no way I could do it.  It probably didn't help that we were going uphill at this point and I SUCK at hills.  Anyhow, I had my little breakdown, cried a bit, and Jeremy talked me down.  He convinced me to just get it out of my system, and then start the run over as though it never happened.  Amazingly, it worked.  The last 40 minutes of the run were awesome.  It started snowing and was super peaceful in the canyon.  All in all, it turned out to be a good run.  We think we went somewhere just over 6 miles. Not bad!

Sunday: Jeremy's co-worker scored us a deal to try cross country skiing in Park City on the cheap. Couldn't turn that down! After a brief lesson on how to propel ourselves, and more importantly, how to stop, we were off.  We ended up doing the 5K course and it was super fun!  It was actually a pretty decent workout.  Including the lesson, we were probably out there about 2.5 hours.  It was a sunny, but brisk day... gorgeous!!!

Monday: The first three days of this week have been a little crazy work-wise.  I have been doing day-long surgeries that don't leave tons of time for training. I've made it work so far though and I'm pretty proud of myself! Monday, after work, I went to the JCC for a swim.  As I was driving over there, I realized that there has been a fatal flaw in my swim workouts up until this point.  I typically would go to the pool with some set amount of time in my head and just swim.  What I needed to be doing was going in with a predetermined plan.  So, in the 4 minute drive over there, I quickly devised a plan. Swim 1000m (warm up - 2 x 50, main - 8 x 100, cool down - 2 x 50).  It was great! My workout was so much more focused. Loved it!

Tuesday:  Again, I was up against a monster surgery day.  Add to that the fact that we had planned a fondue girls night at 6:45 and I was short on training time to say the least.  So, I headed to the JCC afterwork, hopped on the treadmill and did high-intensity intervals for 20 minutes.  Honestly, I was shocked at how good of a workout I got in such a short amount of time.  Intervals will definitely be my go to for those days where I only can fit in 30 minutes or so.

Plan for the rest of the week:
Today - Trainer ride after work (60 min)
Tomorrow - Swim before work, Run with Danielle at work in the afternoon
Friday - Off
Saturday - Long run (70-80 min)
Sunday - Long bike (I want to go at least 75 min).

I need to get back to posting daily.  This took far too long to write!

~Ash

New Shoes

Today was the official first test of my new running shoes.  I wanted to test them out on the treadmill before hitting the road (just in case I needed to return them).  This bummed me out a bit because it was a sunny afternoon and a road run was super tempting, but I knew it was for the best. I hopped on the treadmill at the JCC and did a quick 3 miles.  My original plan was to do 3-4 miles, but it was approximately 95 degrees in the gym and 3 miles was all I could take.  Seriously, who sets a gym thermometer that high? You know people are going to be working out in there, breaking a sweat, why try to kill them in the process?!  Anyhow, it was a straightforward 3 mile run, and the shoes passed the test... mission accomplished! They'll get their first road test this weekend - woohoo!

~Ash

Modified Plan

Yesterday was supposed to be a trainer day.  I hopped on after work all excited and OUCH!! My poor butt is not used to being on the bike seat this often.  I decided to suck it up and see if it would go numb.  I made it 15 minutes before I couldn't take the pain anymore.  I could barely sit, let alone lean forward to the proper position.  Frankly, it wasn't worth it if I couldn't ride properly.  So, yesterday became a rest day.  My plan for the rest of the week is as follows:

Today - Run 40 min
Tomorrow - Swim before work
Saturday - Long trainer ride (at least 60 min). Hopefully I'll be able to tolerate the saddle by then!
Sunday - Long run (6-7 miles)

~Ash

Nice afternoon for a run

Danielle and I had planned a mid-afternoon run break from the lab today. What a fabulous decision!  For the first time in weeks it wasn't super cold, the inversion was gone, and it was sunny... all at once!  We did about 4.25 miles with some decent hills in just over 40 minutes.  My quads were totally shot on the hills, maybe from the trainer this weekend??  Either way, it was so nice to be outside in decent weather, not having to worry about dodging ice puddles.  A great run overall! 

~Ash

Weekend Update

Didn't manage to get myself in front of a computer this weekend to update the blog, but I did get some good workouts in!

Saturday - Jeremy and I went snowshoeing at Mountain Dell with one of our friends.  We went for about and hour and 15 minutes.  Not sure what the distance was, but it must have been at least a couple miles.  Fun times, and good cross-training!

Sunday - I rode the trainer for 1 hour. I've discovered that crime dramas, or suspense-type TV shows really make the time fly on the trainer.  I suspect this will be useful information when it comes time for me to have  to spend hours at a time on there.  This was my longest ride so far on the trainer.  I need to reconfigure my bike computer so it's reading off my back tire.  It would be nice to know how far I went and what my average speed was.  Even without that info, it was a pretty good ride.  Legs felt good, although my butt is still re-familiarizing itself with the bike seat. Ouch!

Monday - Jeremy and I both had the day off of work... woohoo!  We let ourselves sleep in, then went out for a quick morning run. We only went 2 miles, but we kept a pretty quick pace the whole time.  Still felt like a great workout even though it was short! Also, I bought new running shoes today.  Hopefully they will rock and will become my racing shoes for the Ironman.

I've decided that I should probably post my plan for each week at the beginning of the week.  My thinking is that this will keep me even more accountable.  Not only will those of you who read this be able to see if I've been training, now you'll be able to see if I actually did the workouts that were planned. So, here goes:

Tuesday - Run w/ Danielle at work
Wednesday - Swim before work, spin class after work
Thursday - Run w/ Danielle
Friday - Swim before work
Saturday - Long ride
Sunday - Long run

~Ash

Pros and Cons

Yesterday was a rest day.  I hadn't planned it that way originally, but ended up having to go with it due to work issues and extreme hunger.  Not to worry, my planned rest day on Friday will now be a workout day.  All is balanced!

Danielle (my most fabulous running partner) and I snuck out of lab this afternoon for quick run.  The major pro of this run was that it was approximately 33 degrees when we left.  This may not seem like a pro to my CA friends, but this is the warmest temp we've seen in WEEKS.  Totally beats 20 degrees at 6am, which is when we typically run.  So, the above freezing temperature was a major plus.  Unfortunately, this was matched by a con... a yellow air day.  For those of you unfamiliar with SLC inversions, a yellow air day isn't as bad as a red air day, but you still feel like you're smoking a pack of cigarettes while you run... yum! All in all, we were pretty pleased with ourselves for getting in an afternoon run while our experiments were running themselves in the lab. Danielle's Garmin battery crapped out about a 1/2 mile into the run, so we're not sure exactly what our distance was, but gmap-pedometer puts it at somewhere around 3.5 miles.  Not bad for a shitty air quality day!

For me, it was a personal success.  I haven't run since Dec. 31st (pre-death bug), so I wasn't super optimistic about my run.  As I said to Danielle, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been having taken 2 weeks off!  And, super bonus, I didn't cough up a lung while out there, which is really saying something : )

Gotta love small victories!

~Ash

Swim Team

I managed to stick to my plan.  I got my stain running in lab and walked over to the JCC for a swim.  I had been in the pool for about 15 minutes when a whole herd of kids showed up... swim team! I hadn't even considered that it was about 4pm, prime swim team time.  They leave one lane open for lap swimming during swim practice, but there was already a woman swimming in that lane.  She offered to split the lane with me, which I did for another 5-10 minutes.  Unfortunately, she was swimming backstroke and despite her best efforts could not stay in her half of the lane.  I got tired of running into the lane line trying to avoid her, so I just called it a day.  Not bad for my first swim back.  Probably got in 600m or so of solid swim time before chaos hit.

Note to self: swim in the mornings... it's WAY less crowded!

~Ash

The road to recovery

Wow, that was one killer bug that hit me!  I made a calculated decision to spend the entire weekend recovering, rather than forcing a workout, and I hope it paid off.  Jeremy came down with the same snotty-disaster that I had, so we spent the whole weekend laying around the house watching movies.  I realized at some point on Sunday that it was the first weekend I can remember where we just relaxed... no errands, no workouts, nothing.  Maybe this illness was the world's way of telling us to just chill out for 48 hours. Anyhow, I allowed myself to sleep in a bit yesterday morning before heading to work and I actually felt rested for the first time in recent memory!  I told myself that if I got through the day and didn't feel like I had been hit by a truck that I would get on the trainer when I got home. So, I did!  I only made it 30 minutes before my nose was running so badly I couldn't stand it.  Something about that bike position wreaked havoc on my nose.  It was a very short ride, but I broke a decent sweat and it felt good to be at least somewhat active again.

The plan for today is a swim at the JCC.  I decided that sleeping in is probably still a good call, so I have to fit my swim in somewhere else.  I'm running a super long assay at work, so I'm going to try to sneak out during one of the longer incubations this afternoon and get in a swim.  I'll post later on if I'm successful.

~Ash

Freakin' Flu

What I optimistically thought was a cold mutated into something more like the flu.  Not long after my posting on Monday, I found myself on the couch under a blanket wearing a coat & a beanie, and holding handwarmers...  I was still freezing.  This was my first clue.  The second clue was the aches (like knives were being twisted in all of my joints).  The third clue was that I barely had enough energy to roll over in bed. Not pretty! 

After two days off of work, I'm starting to feel human again.  Needless to say, working out hasn't really been an option and I'm less than thrilled about it. My energy is coming back today, but I'm still pretty congested and deep breaths send me into fits of coughing.  Not exactly the picture of health.  I'm bummed because I need to use every bit of training time this month to get up to speed, but I know that I'm better off taking it easy and trying to heal. The silver lining is that I seem to be kicking this thing pretty quickly (knock on wood), so maybe I can work out again starting this weekend.  Here's hoping!

~Ash

Holiday Catch-up

Whew... what a whirlwind couple of weeks!  Training took a bit of a back seat before Christmas so that I could get all of the wrapping, packing, etc. done in time.  Even with all of the travel craziness and uncharacteristically cold and rainy CA weather, I did a pretty good job of getting some training in while we were home for the holidays.  All in all, I fit in 4 runs ranging from 2-5 miles, a good swim session, and a New Year's Day hike.

Unfortunately, I woke up on New Year's Day with a brutal head cold. I'm still feeling pretty congested and foggy today, so I think I'll forgo a workout in favor of a nap when I get home from work.

Health permitting, my plan for the rest of the week is to increase my frequency to at least one workout per day.  I know it's the frequency of training that will hit me the hardest when the "official" training plan kicks in next month, so I want to try to minimize the shock to my system by increasing my frequency now.  Danielle and I are planning to resume our Tues/Thurs morning runs.  Since the projected temp for tomorrow morning is in the low 20's and I'm still battling this cold, Danielle suggested we wait until Thursday to start back up. Probably a good call!

Here's hoping that a shot of Vitamin C and a nap will get me back on track ASAP!

~Ash