First open water swim!

Hola mis amigos! It's amazing what a workout can do for my mood. I tell ya, working out can cure anything!

The sun peeked out through the clouds for only an hour or two this afternoon and I siezed the opportunity. Monday's are my swim days and since the Y isn't open today I was bummed that I couldn't get the workout in, but since the sun came out, my mood lifted and I decided to conquer Lake Padden and open water swimming.

I waded in the lake with my wetsuit, cap and goggle on for about 5 minutes to just get used to the water, which wasn't that cold. It was refreshing. I then did some warmup strokes with my head out of the water to get the feel of my wetsuit cause its my first swim with my wetsuit too. My wet suit is AMAZING! It is practically a life preserver, it was impossible for my lower body to sink! I felt like I had a pull bouy between my legs the whole time.

Then I got to business and actually swam. Seeing underwater was my biggest fear and it wasn't that bad at all! It just like staring at a dark green/gray wall the entire time.

I swam out for probably 5-7 minutes then swam back to shore, so a total of 12 minutes or so. In the race, I plan to complete the 400 meters in about 8 minutes which is cake. I practiced sighting so I would swim straight, but it was hard to fix my eyes on something when nothing stood out amongst the green trees. It'll be easier in the triathlon when there is huge orange buoy to sight on.

Although it wasn't a long swim, I'm glad I got that hurdle out of the way. I now know I am comfortable swimming in a lake. Yay!

One question though, when I got out of the lake there was a lot of water that rushed down into the legs of my wetsuit. I noticed that the gaps between my skin and the wetsuit just below my shoulder near my arm pit are kind of big. Am I supposed to get water rushing into my wetsuit like that? I think I'm going to try on a medium sized suit and compare with the large that I have.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day. First and foremost, I'd like to thank anyone who is or has served for our country.

 It is nice to have a day off, but it is very easy to forget why we have a day off.

I started today with a 3.5 mile run. I don't know what is with me, but I feel pretty blah today. Maybe it's this depressing weather we're having, or maybe its because I miss my fisherman. Whatever it is, I don't like it. I just want to feel like me, not all blah and depressed.

Hope you had a great weekend - back to the grind tomorrow. I'll be posting my May recap either tonight or tomorrow. I'm pretty proud of my fitness accomplishments this month.

Ski to Sea!

Ski to Sea - Bellingham's big event. It is a relay race on Memorial Day weekend that starts and the mountains and ends at the sea, hence the name. The legs of the race are as follows: cross country ski, downhill ski, running, road bike, canoe, mt. bike, kayak. The best of the best comes in under 7 hours! Wowza. 

I've never participated in Ski to Sea, although I really want to either do the road bike or running leg one day. I do, however, participate in the other activities Ski to Sea has to offer: drinking, eating and spectating!

I met my friend Jen in Fairhaven (where the race ends) and we dealt with the scene that is the beer garden for as long as we could handle it. We only lasted 1 beer. Since I haven't been drinking very often, 1 beer is enough for me. 

Red Hook IPA

Beer Garden

We then moved onto activity number 2: eating. I had gelato - chocolate, caramel and coconut gelato. bomb. But my tummy didn't really like the fact that I got a medium...should have had the small. Then off to activity number 3: spectating. Watching the kayakers come into the finish line is always cool - I'd like to watch some of the other legs someday.

Ski to Sea is a lot of fun, but there are SO many people, it gets kind of crazy. I only lasted a couple hours down there before I had enough and rode my bike home. Oh yeah, you HAVE to ride your bike if going to Ski to Sea in Fairhaven. The traffic gets crazy bad and it is twice as fast to hop on a bike and ride. Just so you know...for next time. : )

Another lame night for me tonight, this is getting a little depressing. I don't like to go out to the bars, so I decline offers to do so, but then it leaves me at my house, alone and bored. I'd go for another walk (already went on an hour walk and a 45 minute bike ride today even though its my rest day) but the weather isn't walking friendly right now. I'm 25 and have no life...how did that happen?

Nap day

I made it to the Y today and lucked out with an EMPTY pool to swim in! I swam a looong swim: 1,900 yards in about an hour. The awesome thing was that I felt like I could have swam another 1,000 yards. I really do LOVE swimming! Then I ran a 5k on the tredmill cause it was still raining.

After a yummy veggie wrap for lunch and some time with Jack Bauer I passed out for 3.5 hours! One thing about me is that I never ever take naps, ever. I guess I needed it - I felt great when I woke up.

I went to Best Buy to look at new laptops - I've been doing a lot of research online and wanted to actually touch them. I think I've narrowed it down between an Asus and a Toshiba. Just gotta save the dolla dolla bills now. : )

Another relaxing night for me - gonna get up and go for a ride in the AM then off to Ski to Sea festivities! Have a lovely night!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Good morning! It was nice sleeping in even though I still woke up at 7:00. I had hoped to go on a run when I woke up, but the weather is craptastic, so I'm going to wait it out and see if it improves. The rainy, gray whether isn't very motivating to get on my bike either, boo. Great Memorial Day Weekend weather!

Yesterday after work I went to the Y and ran and lifted. I had a tummy ache though from this HUGE truffle I ate at work around 1pm. This thing was seriously monsterous! It was SO good, but I should have known that it would give me a stomach ache. I can't turn down sweets like that though. 

I want to start keeping a closer eye on my diet as my races approach, so here's the plan. As of June 1st (Tuesday), I will refrain from eating sweets and limit my alcohol consumption to 1 serving per week. Originally, I was going to cut out alcohol all together, but who am I kidding? I think by watching my sweets and alcohol intake along with healthy eats and lots of water, I'll feel great come June 26th. 

I'm off to watch the rain fall and figure out what I'm going to do with myself today. See you later!

It's all catching up with me

Hey friends! It's Friday! And an extra special Friday it is because of the 3-day weekend, are you as excited as I am? I am in need of an extra day off.


I've been pushing it kind of hard in terms of working out since Saturday and it's all catching up with me now. I'm pooped! A co-worker even said to me yesterday, "Megan, you look tired like my wife looks tired when she is pregnant." Gee, thanks.

So instead of going to workout right after work yesterday, I went home where Twilight: New Moon was waiting for me from Netflix. Laying on the couch, drinking a green monster and watching Belle, Edward and Jacob was exactly what I needed to feel better. Did you like the 2nd Twilight movie? I've never read the books, so I have no idea what's next. But I really want Belle to go for Jacob. : )

Since I felt better after relaxing, I went to the Y for a swim and had an awesome swim:

40 warm up
5 x 120 15-20 seconds rest
200 kick
2 x 120 15-20 seconds rest
200 pull
2 x 200 20 seconds rest
Total 1,640 yards in about an hour. There was some chatting inbetween sets with a friend.

I still don't have plans for this weekend - how lame! All I know is that I want to get in a longish run (4-5 miles) a hard swim and a long bike ride, if not more. But other than working out, I got nothin! I'm sure I'll end up posting up somewhere and cheering the Ski to Sea-ers on Sunday. Wish I had got my butt into line and found a team to be on! Next year.

What do you have going on this weekend?

A good choice

All day I was looking forward to getting on my bike and riding the Padden Tri bike course. Since I last rode it on Saturday, I've been thinking of riding it and getting faster and stronger on the hills, so I was stoked to see how well I could do today. 

It started raining toward the end of the work day and I got super unmotivated to go, especially because Rebecca couldn't go with me, so I signed up for spin class at the Y. I got home, had a snack (pre workout fuel!) and thought, "Its just rain, why the heck did I sign up for spin class?!" So I grabbed my bike and headed for the lake. 

I finished the course in 42 minutes - 3 minutes faster than on Saturday! I threw my bike on my car and changed my shoes as quickly as I could and ran around the lake. It is 2.6 miles and I ran it in 28 minutes. Not an ideal time, but my calfs were a little tight and that was my first full brick of the Padden course! Yay! SO glad I sucked it up and went to the lake. Spin class and the dredmill couldn't have given me the workout I got tonight. : )

For dinner, I made a quinoa casserole from Caitlin's blog, Healthy Tipping Point. I followed her recipe, but added chopped mushrooms and 1/2 cup shredded cheese. It was bomb! I have enough for lunch and dinner tomorrow too.

Only 3 more work days until a long weekend and Ski to Sea!

In need of proper nutrition

Over the entire 70 mile ride yesterday, I drank ONE water bottle. All I can say is DUMB. I should have at least drank 1 per hour, so 5 bottles. So obviously, I was dehydrated all day today. I gulped down 2 nalgene's at work (64 oz. total) and I was still thirsty. 

After work I went for a LONG swim, a run and lifted, but didn't have my waterbottle (another DUMB moment) so again I was super duper thirsty and hungry because I hadn't eaten since lunch at 11:30am. I'm a tad frusterated with my lack of nutrition and hydration yesterday and today. Don't get me wrong, I eat a lot, but I don't eat at the right times. I don't fuel before workouts and don't hydrate during, and not doing so may be robbing me of getting the most out of my workouts. 

I plan to keep some Luna bars at work so I can snack on them before I leave work to go to the gym and also carry my water bottle everywhere.  But it's not just about pre workout fuel and hydration, I'd really like to know if I am eating right while training. I have NO clue how many calories I eat a day and I could guesstimate the calories I burn, but as active as I am I would like to know how many calories I should be consuming to maintain my weight, maybe loose a few lbs. I'm going to do some research online and see what I can find. Unfortunately, my insurance does not cover seeing a nutrionist, boo. 


My workout today consisted of an odd swim:


80 yard warmup
5 x 100 with 15 seconds rest
60 yards - got water in my goggles and started the 100 over
2 x 120 with 20 seconds rest
200 kick
200 pull
3 x 120 15 seconds rest
Total: 1,640 yards - longest swim to-date and it felt AWS!


Then I ran a 5K on slightly tired legs and pumped some iron. Solid workout today : )


Off to drink 500 gallons of water - cheers!

Bike ride on an emotional rollercoaster

Sunday night already? I'm ready for another weekend! Before I go on I wanted to point out my new pages right above this post. I now have an About Mego page and a 2010 Race Schedule page - check, check, check 'em out yo!

Today I rode 70 miles with Rebecca and it was a ride on an emotional roller coaster. I'm not in the mood to go into details and I'm sure you don't want to read it all anyway, so here's a quick recap:

Got hot and rained on in the first part of the ride and got irritated, lazy and wanted to go home. Rode a new fun road that made me happy. Stopped at Farm to Market bakery in Edison and ate a huckleberry scone that also made me happy. Faced killer headwinds that pissed me off. Turned around and had awesome tailwinds most of the way home that made us FLY! Yay! The sun came out which = smiles and new found energy to power up Chuckanut. Got home and felt dizzy cause I didn't eat enough on the ride. 

I had read in an advice column in the May edition of Bicycling Magazine that "In endurance events, no matter how good you feel or how bad you feel it will not last." -Chrissy Sassin. I kept that with me from the moment I read it to remind myself when I was feeling sub par that that feeling wouldn't last and to keep going. This bike ride was the epitamy of that quote, it is oh so true. 

Of course, I'm very glad I finished the whole 70 miles even though I may have been all over the place emotionally. Who regrets working out? Not me!

I did snap a few photos with the iPhone on the ride, here is the only one that turned out... And I had to take a pic of my sunburnt hand. I hate sunburns, I think they are a sign of immaturity. But who knew waking up to gray, cloudy skies that it was going to be super sunny and warm that afternoon?! I learned my lesson - sunscreen will be with me at all times from now on.

Rebecca and me - rest stop on Chuckanut

Gross

Big Time IPA Fest

Aaron - this is for you! xoxo

I  love beer - especially a good IPA and so does Aaron. He got me into drinking and loving them. It would have been awesome if he were here and we could have gone to Big Time Brewery's IPA fest today in Seattle. Not only does Big Time have some of the BEST IPAs in Washington - they have 10 on tap today! HEAVEN! Check out this link for a picture of what's on tap - looking at it is making me thirsty!

Padden Triathlon - bike course

Hola! Today started with a workout with my tri group at Lake Padden. We rode the whole sprint bike course then ran right afterwords.

I had previously ridden all parts of the bike course, but had never put them all together, so I'm glad I got to do it today. Lets just say, I need to ride that at least once a week to get stronger. It is only 11 miles, but it is tough! With a gradual climb right off the bat, then two steep hills, then a gradular climb at the end...and I have to do this all after I swim?! I finished in 45 minutes. For the race I'd like to get that down to around 41 minutes.

There is one hill in particular that had me in my easiest gear peddling SO slow and my legs were screaming (con of having only two gears up front...) I alternated between sitting down and standing up - standing up seemed to work best, but I was still just inching along. BTW - my new saddle and stem combo rocked!

Transitioning to the run felt great! The only thing that bothered me were my padded bike pants that felt like a diaper. On the day of the tri, I'll be wearing my tri shorts that have hardly any padding, so I won't feel like an old woman wearing Depends. : ) We ran 2 miles and I could have ran more, but it was the kids Ski to Sea race and they were dominating practically the whole lake. 

I then met up with my friend Kirsten, who I haven't seen in forever and we went bouldering at the WWU rec center (talk about bringing back memories!).  I haven't ever rock climbed before, so I really didn't know what I was doing. I didn't follow any of the taped "routes," I just climbed the way that was easiest for me. I found it difficult, a little scary and it made me sweat really fast... My arms are going to be sore tomorrow! 

Just gonna chillax for the evening - I have a 70 mile ride planned for the AM and need all the rest I can get.

Practically a new bike

I was riding my bike home from work today and I was super uncomfortable. My arms hurt from reaching out to my handlebars and my butt hurt from a narrow, hard piece of plastic that is supposed to be a saddle. I thought, "I need to get more comfortable on my bike, today." 

So I rode right past my house to the bike shop and tested out a few saddles and found one that felt good that wasn't too pricey. And I also got a shorter stem so I no longer have to reach a mile to grab my handlebars, yay! Just on the short ride home from the bike shop, I felt no pain in my rear! The instant comfort I got from two new accessories on my bike made it feel like a new bike. I get to test out the saddle for my ride tomorrow morning and if for some reason I don't like it, they'll take it back. 

 Shorty stem

saddle

I am SO happy for my newly found comfort - I can not wait to ride this weekend!

Happy Bike to Work/School Day!

Happy Friday, friends! Today is a special Friday - it's bike to work and school day! Bellingham is very into using alternative transportation especially biking, so they make a pretty big deal about bike to work day every year. Through a program called EverybodyBIKE, events are put on throughout the whole month of May (bike month) to encourage people to ride more. For example, today they are a lot of stations scattered throughout B'ham with prizes, treats, etc. for bikers. There is also a pancake feed at The Hub and a tricycle relay at city hall. Fun times. 

I did ride my bike to work today, but since I have to work, I don't get to partake in the fun. Boohoo, I want pancakes. Although I bike a lot for fun, I rarely ride my bike to work. I used to a lot, but for some reason I stopped... The ride is only 4.3 miles and I take it at an easy pace so I don't get too sweatty, so it takes me 20 minutes. I really should ride to work more.

Did you ride to work today? Does the city you live in have any bike to work activities?

Last night, I did a hilly 28 mile ride with Rebecca around Lake Samish and back. I wasn't feeling motivated to get on the bike, but thanks to having a biking buddy, I was forced to go. Once I got on the bike I felt a lot better...isn't it funny how that happens?

Today is my rest day this week, I realized I needed one when I was climbing a hill yesterday and could feel the tiredness in my legs and overall body. All I'm doing today is riding my bike to and from work, period. I might even take advantage of my free Friday afternoon and go out for Happy Hour!

I have a funfilled, active weekend ahead - can't wait to share! Have an AWS Friday!

Saladless salad

I've been into what I've been calling saladless salads lately. Since I'm sick of wraps for the time being (I ate a million of them over the past couple months), I ditched the wraps and am just eating innards now. But most of the time I don't add spinich or greens, so it is a saladless salad, right?

iPhone photo opp at my desk

I like it cause I throw everything into a bowl and voila, lunch! My fave combo right now is:

• lentils or black eyed peas
• cucumbers
• cherry tomatoes
• feta
• tempeh
• shreaded carrots
• broc
• califlower
• kalamata olives

Then I top it off with a little bit of Annie's Sesame salad dressing, but not a lot, cause I hate lots of dressing. I'm sure I'll eat too many of these over the next few weeks and get bored and need to find a new meal to be obsessed with. : )

This AM I went to the gym before work! I haven't been in the AM in foreva. It felt good to be up early and get an extra sweatty sweat sesh in. 4.5 miles on the tredmill.

Going on a bike ride this evening, that is if the wind dies down. Later gators!

Hump Day & Flying Wheels

Happy Hump Day folks! It's all down hill from here! : )

Due to the weather yesterday, I opted to take my workout inside. I had a brick planned, so I took the spin class with biking buddy, Rebecca, then ran for 20 minutes on the tredmill. When I started the run, my legs were heavy, but I felt pretty motivated to keep on moving. I got SO sweaty though...sorry dude next to me, I may have sprinkled you with some nice salty sweat! Yuck!

The few bricks that I have done, the run part has gone surprisingly well. I get motivated to keep moving more so than I would on a regular run. Is that weird? Maybe I feel better because my muscles are already warmed up and I'm not starting with cold muscles. I like the feeling of pushing myself more while bricking because I know I'll have to endure the pain in a triathlon. Getting my body used to that will help me complete a successful triathlon...I hope.

On a biking note, Rebecca and I signed up for the Cascade Bike Club's Flying Wheels bike ride on June 12th. I want to do the 100 miler, but Rebecca is on a time crunch, so we may just do the 70 miler. Should be a fun ride though. Lots of new roads that my bike has never seen!

In other news:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON!

Unfortunately, AA is on a boat somewhere in the Bering Sea slaying halibut and black cod so he doesn't really get to celebrate is big day. I promised him we'd celebrate when he gets back from AK in August. Until then, I need to find the most PERFECT birthday present for him. : )

After work today I went for a swim that totally kicked my booty:

8 x 100 yards 20 seconds rest

200 kick

10 x 40 yards as fast as I could go, 20-30 seconds rest

Total: 1,400 yards

Adding in those sprints, I guess you can call them that, really pooped me out! I usually swim at the same pace for the entire workout, so this was a nice way to mix it up. Plus, I imagine that varying speeds in the pool has similar benefits to varying speeds while running: increased endurance and swim faster eventually. My heart rate though, was going nuts for each of those 40s. Wowza!

I got out of the pool and noticed how worn out my swim suit is...it is stretched out, the top layer is not really elastic anymore and kinda slumps down and the material is getting thin - so hot! I've had it since January...how long are swim suits supposed to last? I've been averaging 2-3 swims per week since January. Regardless of how long their supposed to last, I decided to buy a new one - a TYR Solid Reversible Diamondback. I stuck with TYR cause I really liked this last suit I got. I even found one on sale!

I couldn't let the shopping stop there though. I've been wanting to purchase a wet suit for my upcoming triathlons and after doing some research I chose the Zoot Women's Fusion sleeveless wetsuit. 

 

 Why did they put this on a manequin? No one is that size!

I was looking for something not bottom on the line, but a step up from that in my price range and I found this one. I wanted to get it ordered because since I can't try it on, if for some reason I don't like it, I need to return it and get a new one before June 26th. There were a ton of sites selling it, but I found FREE OVERNIGHT shipping off zappos.com. The free shipping definitely sold me on purchasing it off of zappos. Plus if I don't like it, they pay for the shipping back to them. Aws!

Alright, my CC has gotten quite the workout today, it needs to rest and so do I. Take care folks - see you later!

Craving running again

Howdy! After running the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon last September I strained my calf, putting me out of running for a bit. Then the winter came and I was not motivated to run. Starting to run again has been frusterating and hard. How could I have run 13.1 miles in September and I could hardly complete 3 miles in January?!

I started running inside on the dredmill and got comfortable on it and my body started to slowly get back into the groove of running. Then I took stuff outside as the weather got better, but the transistion was difficult and I really had to work at getting used to ourdoor running. I used a run/walk method to get used to running outside again and slowly but surely, it worked. I'm a 3-4 mile at a time runner, and now I can comfortably run that distance again.

I'm happy to say that I'm craving running again! This hasn't happened since training for the half last summer and it is a WONDERFUL feeling! Well, except when I'm sitting at my desk and I can't run... I can't stop thinking about seeing how far I can go on my next run, or if I can pick up my pace a bit. This has made me ponder doing a half marathon this year, which I had crossed off my list after I decided to do more triathlons. Maybe the Seattle half in November? We'll just have to see if I can keep this running up!

Do you crave on type of exercise?

Surprise!

Hi! Wow, it has been awhile since I last blogged, sorry! I had a GREAT weekend with the family - it was my Mom's birthday and my sister, dad and I planned a surprise party for her. She has NO clue whatsoever, so that made it even more awesome. My little sister Lindsay even flew in from Madison, WI for the party - that was a surprise to me! This was the first party I've co-hosted, so I was fairly stressed out getting things ready, but I definitely calmed down once we shouted, "SURPRISE!" Have you ever hosted a party before? It is tough work and EXPENSIVE!

Waiting for my Mom to arrive

Surprise, Mom!

Tears of happiness!

The party planners! Check out my cute nephew in the background raiding the fridge!

Time for cake! Really good carrot cake, yum!

Grayson helped Grandma blow out the candles. : )

The party was a success! Since I was down at my Parent's house for the weekend, I didn't get in my normal weekend workouts. That is TOTALLY okay because I could feel my body wanting a rest. I still ran a 5K on Friday before I left, ran walked 2 miles Saturday morning, then logged 3.5 miles Sunday. Although it isn't that much, it is what I need to feel good and happy. If I don't do anything physical in a day I get a little cranky.

Today I swam 1,200 yards - felt really good, but the pool was SO busy! There were 4 people in my lane! It is never this busy at the Y...oh well, I don't mind, still got my workout in. After the swim I tried to run, but only made it 2 miles - I was hurting. I decided to not push it and get in a good run tomorrow. So I pumped some iron and went home.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and started off your week great... see ya tomorrow!

Lady in Red

I purchased a new dress this weekend that is red and REALLY flippin cute and since the weather is just perfect out today, I wore it to work. 3 people have walked by me starting to sing "Lady in Red!" hahaha. Maybe I should start wearing girlier clothes instead of my jeans and t-shirts all the time...

My calf is still tight from Tuesday's bike ride, so I didn't think running was a good idea, but I went for a short one anyway. Just two miles and I was keeping up a nice 9:30 pace most of the time, well until my Garmin died. So I'm assuming I kept that pace...

I also swam tonight and I FINALLY switched up the workout...a bit. I needed to start pushing myself, so I did with this:

60 yard warm up
4x100 yards 20 seconds rest
200 kick
2x100 yards 20 seconds rest
200 pull
1x100

I got more cramps in my ankles and feet today or else I think I could have swam forever, I felt ON tonight in the pool and started really believing that I'll do well in the swim leg of the Padden tri. Any suggestions for feet/ankle cramping?

I then had to do some shopping and I finally got home at 9pm. I proceeded to stuff my face with my last flat out wrap (boo) with faux turkey, seedy mustard, avacado, carrots and herbed lettus mix, it was amazing. 

I want to go to bed, but I just ate and need to clean and get ready to leave for the weekend. NO TIME! Ah! How does the time go so quickly?! Oh yeah, I forgot, I spend 9 hours at work a day. Speaking of work, my boss sent the Marketing department some funny quotes cause we've all had a tough week and there were a couple that literally made me LOL: 

"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." -Drew Carey

"If you have a headache do what the aspirin bottle says. Take 2 and keep away from children." - I forget who said this.. 

Speedy bike ride

I can't believe it is only Tuesday...ugh. I gotta get more positive or else EVERY week is going to be looooong. 

We are having just fantastic weather here, so the Tuesday night ride with the Mt. Baker Bike Club had a good showing of riders tonight. We were able to split into three medium-sized groups. I chose the middle one and I found it a little fast tonight. There was a little wind, which made it harder to push through, but we sustained 20-21 mph for a LONG time. When I got in the front of the pack, we were told to slow down because people couldn't keep up! Maybe it was the nice weather that was making everyone giddy or the fact that biking season is full on! : ) It was probably the quickest 20 miles I've ever ridden - I don't know our exact time though. 

After the ride, I drove straight to the Y for a swim. I didn't know how I was going to feel after the ride, but things went okay until the last 100 yards. I got a cramp in my foot and calf, so I called it quits. I did do 1200 yards of my normal swim that I post on every swim workout post (how boring am I? I need a new workout!) Gotta eat those nanners to prevent cramping!

For dinner I tried a new form of meat subsitute - Tofurky slices. It's like imitation deli turkey. I put it in a wrap with mustard, cottage cheese, cucumbers, tomato and spinich. It was okay. I was really expecting the same flavor as deli turkey and thats not what I got. It just tasted off to me and I'd rather eat something else to get some protein. I don't know if I'll buy it after I'm done with the pack...at least it was on sale. : )

I hope you had a fan-flippin-tastic Tuesday!

Case of the Mondays?

I had a case of the Mondays today...ugh. I slept horribly last night, which was suprising because after I blogged, I was super tired, yet I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me! 5:15am came early, lets just put it that way. 

Work was, well...work. Enough said. The only exciting thing that happened was that I got to play a lot in Adobe Illustrator (love!). The small amounts of graphic design I get to do at work definitely keep things on the happier end. : )

After worky work, I ran...outside! My goal was to do at least a 5k. I ran down by the water until my Garmin hit 3.1 miles. It took me 31:26. Although it was slow, I felt good, so I don't even care about the time! There was a hill at the end of my 5k, so I ran up it (.06 miles) and walked down 5 times then ran a little after that which brought my running total to 3.62 miles. Then I had to get home, so I just walked the 3.1 miles back. The weather was nice, it was a lovely walk. And I have to remind myself, walking is exercise too!

I sure hope tomorrow is better than today. I know after work will be great, its just the hours from about 6:00am - 3:00pm I worry about getting through...

How was your Monday?

Nutritional Yeast

It's almost 9pm and I'm very ready for bed. I wasn't too tired last night after the century ride, but everything is finally catching up with me now. I have a date with my bed in about 10 minutes (yes, I love going to bed early).

Today was another beautiful day in Western Washington. Sunny, probably about 64 degrees and a day that makes me really LOVE where I live. I met my biking buddy, Rebecca, downtown for some coffee and we browsed some shops. I managed to find a really cute dress that I'll wear at work and outside of work, I love it when I find clothes like that. 

I also purchased some nutritional yeast. I had first heard of this stuff on Fitnessista and wondered what the heck it was. Then Rebecca told me it is a good protein source for vegetarians and is rich in B-complex vitamins. It has a flaky texture and a cheesy, nutty taste. Vegans often use it as a cheese flavor substitute. What really got me to buy it was that a 1.5 tablespoon serving (70 calories) has 8 grams of protein. I sprinkled some in my veggie/tempeh wrap for lunch and it was de-lish. I also sprinkled it like parmesan on top of my pasta for dinner and it was also super yummy. I have a feeling this will now be a staple of mine, especially if I continue to be a vegetarian past the end of the month. 

(source)

I did make it to the Y today for a swim. I wanted to see if it hurt my knees or not, they're still sore when I stand up and sit down from the ride yesterday. I swam this weeks triathlon group swim workout, plus some:

10x80 yards 25 seconds rest

200 kick

200 pull

2x100

Total: 1,400 yards

I didn't even feel my knees! I love swimming, it's so non-impact. For the rest of the day I sat on my front porch in the sun, went for a walk, caught up on Glee and cleaned. Ready for the work week? I'm ready to log some running miles this week! Nighty night.

Skagit Spring Classic Century ride

Good morning! The century ride went SO great yesterday, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I found a new friend to ride the century with because my other biking buddy, Rebecca is sick. Thank goodness that I found Kirsten wanted to do the ride, I don't think I could have ridden this without her or her friend Phil. Thanks guys!

Here is a short recap of the ride, longer recap below. Beautiful, sunny day for a 100 mile ride. Had a rest stop ever 20 miles or so. Varied terrain with lots of fun, gradual hills and 2 HUGE hills, but legs felt good powering up them. Butt hurt from sitting on the saddle - need more comfortable seat and some chamois butter... Finished the 104 mile course in 7:26 (averaged 14.2 mph) of actual riding, 9 hours total including rest stops. Not sore today besides knees aching (I think it's my ACL...), been icing them, need to adjust seat. Had a lot of fun, but realized I don't think I can do STP (205 miles) in one day. 

Phil, Kirsten, and me ready to go!

Detailed recap: Kirsten and I left Bellingham at 6:30 and headed south to the starting point. With rides like these, there is no firing of the gun to start because it isn't a race, just a ride. So people started on the course from 7am to 8am. We got all our gear situation, bibs on and started peddling at 7:36. It was a chilly, yet clear morning and we rode through the flats of Skagit county for the first 10-12 miles. No wind, just sunny. : )

Then we started the climb up Chuckanut, which runs along the water from Skagit County to Whatcom County. I thought this was going to be hard, but the hills were very manageable and I really enjoyed our time on that road. Our first rest stop was at mile 19ish, with a great view and tasty treats. I had some grapes, a quarter of a bagel and cream cheese and a handful of chips. 

Rest stop - beautiful view of the San Juan Islands

Thanks to all the great volunteers - we had tasty snacks the whole way!

Doesn't get much better than this!

The next part of the ride was on roads I'd ridden before, so I knew when the hills were coming...We tackled them and continued on. By the way, I am SO glad I took those two rest days earlier this week, my legs were so ready for all the hills I usually dread. Since I only have two front gears I really need momentum on hills, so I was speeding past everyone on the hills - so fun!

 Kirsten at 2nd rest stop. 

Lotsa bikes!

My champion bike! I heart you!

Made it to the second rest stop at about 37 miles, refueled and went on our way. This is where the 62 milers broke off from the 100 milers. I was now in brand new territory and it was fun and exciting riding new roads. I did start to get pretty uncomfortable in the saddle at this point. A little chaffing combined with a horrible seat caused a lot of discomfort. I was SO relieved when we reached the 4th rest stop at 48 miles. Gotta rest that butt!

Pretty much half way done at this point, we still had a loop to go before we started to head back to the start that included one HUGE hill. Oh. My. Goodness. I have never ridden a hill like this. It went up, then up some more, the turned and went up, and oh, did I mention, it kept on going up? And it was steep! I am usually in my easiest gear on hills and never need something easier, but this was the first time where I wished I had one more smaller gear in the front. I was only managing to go 5.5 mph, maybe... I kept saying, "keep those legs moving, keep those legs moving!" I finally reached the top and yelled out "that hill was dumb!" to my friends who had to stop mid way.

The ride only solicits 2 big hills on the ride - that hill and one to come on Bow Hill Rd, yet the whole course is so varied with terrain that there were a ton of shorter hills, gradual hills, etc. which I was very thankful for. As my legs got tired it actually felt better to be on an incline because I would get into a grind that forced me to peddal correctly. 

We made it to the last "hill" where the devil is known to be spotted - Bow Hill Rd. I've learned  to stay away from any road with the name "hill" in it... The hill was steep and pretty long and yes, the devil was there. A woman dressed in a devil costume! HA! As I rode by she called me the queen of the mountain because I was able to stay ahead of the pack that was on the hill, yes! It was funny that she dressed up for this, it isn't the first time she's done this either, its a yearly thing! : )

The last rest stop was 10 miles away from the finish and we were back in the flats. I was tired and my knees were SORE! Right on the outside/underneath of my kneecaps hurt. I really wanted some ibuprofen, but it was no where to be found... The last 10 miles took forever. The course took us along some nice roads that were along the water and there was even a slight tailwind that helped. FINALLY, we turned a corner and my catyeye flipped to 100.0 miles! I raised my hands, and yelled, "100 miles! Yay!" Yet the school where we started was not in sight. We rode an extra 4 miles to the school which were the longest 4 miles I have EVER ridden. I was getting pretty bitter because I wanted to get off my bike so bad. 

We made it back after 7:26 of riding and 9 hours of being on the course! It didn't feel like that long at all - I'm at work for 9 hours a day and the bike ride felt a lot shorter than a day at work! Anyway, it felt SO wonderful to put on my chaco sandals, just amazing. We wolfed down some spaghetti and bread they were serving - which tasted incredible, by the way - and made our way back home.

 All done

I only signed up for 100 miles, not 104.17... : )

Way too long to be on a bike.

What a great experience! This really made me question though, my ability to ride Seattle to Portland in one day. That is DOUBLE what I rode today. I think I could do 150 miles the first day and 55 the second day, but the whole thing in one day sounds crazy. My body hurt after 100 miles, I think I would just be miserable after 205 miles.

My body is not sore today except my knees. It hurts to stand up and sit down. I've iced them twice last night and will do more icing today. I'm glad no muscles are sore - a sign that I'm getting into shape!

Ready to continue training, this ride only made me more pumped to keep on riding! 

PS. I would have taken more photos, but my camera was a little unaccessible in its case in my jersey. How do you carry a camera on a bike? I think I should ditch the case...

Century preparation

Ugh, I could have SWORN I pushed publish on this on Friday night...anyway, here's a post from Friday. : )

Hi! Since I really don't know how to taper for a century ride, I hope my 2 rest days this week are what my legs needed to feel fresh and strong tomorrow morning. I ran 3.3 miles this morning, but haven't done much else on them all day. I walked to the grocery store and around town for a short bit, but that's about all. 

It was SUCH a beautiful day here today - sunny, no wind, about 62 degrees (which is warm for us right now). It was hard to not hop and my bike and go for a quick ride. I know my legs will appreciate that I didn't tomorrow when I'm climbing the hills of Skagit and South Whatcom County tomorrow. : )

I've been actively hydrating all day today between H2O and Powerade and have made sure I stick to the food I know won't do crazy stuff to my stomach tomorrow. For dinner I had 3/4c. quinoa smothered in tomato sauce with steamed brussle sprouts. I also had a "desert" of 1c. soy milk, 1/2 scoop protein powder, chocolate syrup and 1 tbls. chia seeds. Wasn't that great though, next time leave out the protein powder.

I also made my breakfast for the AM: overnight protein oats! My fave! It has mushed nanner, oats, soy milk, protein powder, chia seeds and frozen blueberries and they will get super duper delicious sitting in the fridge overnight. In the morning I'll top them with some slivered almonds. This is a mondo breakfast - 500 calories! Is this a big enough breakfast for the morning of a century?

A few websites say on average people burn about 3,000 calories on a century ride...a day and a half of caloric intake burned in what I think will take me 7 hours. There are 4-5 rest stops along the way where I'll refuel and fill up water/sportsdrink bottles. I need to force myself to eat because I'm really good at just eating a clif bar for the whole ride then feeling sick and light headed after I finish, which is a nasty feeling. I love eating after the event is over, but its hard to eat during for some reason.

I have all my gear layed out and/or packed in my bag so I have to do hardly anything tomorrow before I leave at 6:45. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon! Wish me luck and tail winds!

I guess I can call it a taper week

Happy Friday! Aren't Fridays amazing? I think so! Especially when you wake up to a sunny morning, a sweaty run, birds chirping and a good attitude!

Due to a work event I went to in Seattle yesterday, I was unable to fit in a workout. That is the 2nd day I havne't worked out this week...yikes. I do have a 100 mile bike ride tomorrow, so I guess I'm tapering? I guess I'll use that as my excuse. : )

The weather is supposed to be sunny for the ride tomorrow morning! But still a bit chilly. I'm thinking of wearing my short-sleeved jersey, but with arm warmers, so they're easy to take off and store in my jersey. I hope my trianing will prove effective on this super duper long ride! I'm estimating it'll take me 7 hours to complete - that is a crazy long time to be on a bike!

I want to have a good dinner tonight to prepare me for the ride, any suggestions? I should probably have a good amount of carbs and protein and be sure to get a good night sleep. I have to leave my house at 6:45 tomorrow morning to get to the starting line and be on the course by 8am.

I hope you have a fantastic Friday and the weather is beautiful where you are. I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of my first century ride!!

Off my schedule

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Are you going to enjoy a margarita today to celebrate? I probably won't...I had enough to drink last night.

I went to happy hour for a friend's birthday yesterday expecting that I'd have ONE glass of wine and some snacks, but still be okay to run later that evening. Well the wine was poured tall and I had two glasses, so I made an executive decision that it would be a rest day.

It was nice to let loose for the evening, however I woke up not feeling so super. I ate pretty crappy all day yesterday with cookies and baked goods at work, a baked potato bar at a work lunch, then wine and pizza after work. Blah. The funny thing is, I used to eat like this a lot and it didn't make me feel as bad as I do this morning. Maybe because I was always eating like this and now that I've switched to healthier eating habits, when I do stray the consequences are bigger. But its only a day, back on to my normal schedule and eating habits today.

Have any plans for Cinco de Mayo? All I have planned is a run and a swim. : )

Oh, and I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTDAY KIRSTEN! I don't think you read my blog, but wanted to give the shout out anyway.

Supergrain: Quinoa!

Hola! Good morning! It is a good morning because I was able to try out a new breakfast! Since going vegetarian for the month, I am in a quest to find new, exciting protein sources. I refuse to rely on protein powder because I don't consider that real protein.


I was reading an article in Oxygen magazine about where to get protein if you're a vegetarian and I came across quinoa. Although it is a grain,quinoa is a supergrain! It is highly nutritious and can supply us with all of the body's requirements: carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. (source)


What makes quinoa different from other grains is that it has adequate amounts of lysine, making it a complete protein.

So I purchased some quinoa, cooked it up (really easy to cook and a lot faster than rice). I recently read an article in Bicycling Magazine about eating quinoa for breakfast, so I experimented by treating it like cereal. I combined 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch, 1/2 c. cooked quinoa, 1 tbls. chia seeds, 1/2 blueberries and then toped it off with some almond milk. YUM! I liked the combination of crunchy and soft and I think chia seeds make any bowl of cereal awesome. Now it is up to the test...how long will it make me feel satisfied?

Last night I did a quality swim workout:
 
10 x 80 yards, 30 seconds rest between sets
200 kick
200 pull
100 timed
1,300 yards total
 
I'm making my swimming sets longer, trying to up my endurance and lungs. By the 4th lap to make 80 yards, my lungs are screaming! How do I get in better control of my breathing? I timed a 100 again at the end of my workout and I dropped 10 seconds off last time's time! I swam it in 2:00 flat! Yay!

I'm trying to do more quality, key workouts throughout the week rather than having okay, mediocre workouts everyday. This may reduce the amount of days I workout, but will increase the intensity. Get more out of the workout in hopes it will improve my performance the next time I have a workout. The key to this, though, is resting. If I don't feel I can give 100% at a workout, maybe I need to stop, rest and try again the next day. Quality over quantity!

Am I an athlete?

I've been asking myself this question lately and I don't know what the answer is. Coincidently, Angela at Oh She Glows posted about this this morning and got reading comments about other readers who do and don't consider themselves athletes. 

What is an athlete? To me it is someone who plays a sport like soccer, basketball or football. OR someone who excels at sports like running, swimming and biking. Yes, I do run, swim and bike, but I don't feel as if I'm super great at them. I go out there and give it an A effort most of the time, but I'm still a novice at all of them. For this reason, I don't call myself an athlete, I'm a beginner.

Some people may consider me an athlete because I do these activities. AA says I'm an athlete cause I can run longer than him! LOL. I do want to think of myself as an athlete, but I feel I need to progress and become a better swimmer, runner and biker before I can openly say that I'm an athlete. Maybe I need to accomplish something, like a race, to get me to that point. Perhaps come June 26th (day of my 1st triathlon) I'll proudly call myself an athlete...we'll see!

If you're active, do you consider yourself an athlete? If not, what do you think of when you hear "athlete?"

Blurry eyes and 70 miles

Happy Monday! I hope your morning is going well. I'm still working on my first cup of joe...

I went on a crazy long bike ride yesterday, 70 miles to be exact. What is really crazy about this is that I found the motivation to do it solo. I knew I needed to get in a longer bike ride than last week's 60 miler before my century ride this coming Saturday, so I mustered up the motivation to tackle the ride by myself. 85 miles was originally planned, but I was worked after 70 and I was right by my house, so I stopped.

I left the house at 6:25am on a Sunday. I know, I know, waking up that early on a weekend is not fun, but I wanted to beat some of the traffic and rain that was expected to come later that afternoon. It was SO hard to get out the door! Knowing the mileage I had ahead of me and knowing how hard 60 miles was the weekend prior WITH a biking buddy, I was nervous that my lack of motivation would be a hiderance on my ride.

On the bike, though, I went with a tummy full of a huge bowl of protein oats. I rode and rode and rode until I hit about 40 miles and stopped for coffee, to warm up and to refuel. I had one of the Clif Bar Builder's bar in chocolate mint. OMG, that was tasty!

Yum! Hot americano and Clif Bar at the Woods Coffee

Sitting close to the window so I could keep an eye on my bike

This is for my sister.

Aws!

I wasn't real stoked to get back on my bike and head home, but of course I did and tried to think of how wonderful a hot shower and my couch was going to be when I got home.

I encountered some serious headwind on the way home. So much wind that I was slowed down to 10mph. I hate the feeling of working SO hard to be only going 10mph! I pushed through and finally made it back to my house with my cateye reading 70 miles. I said outloud to myself, "So tired, so tired, did I really just do that?"

Final stats:
70 miles
4 hours 56 minutes

My eyes, after that ride and after most cooler weather rides ALWAYS get blurry. It's almost like they have frosted over from the cold weather. It happens whether I have glasses on or not. It takes a good hour or more for my vision to come back to normal. Do you ever get this? Maybe I don't blink enough when I ride? Ha! Imagine me on a bike just bug-eyed, not blinking for 5 hours! LOL.

My body was tired after that ride. For the majority of the rest of the day I ate and layed on the couch and watched 24, it was glorious. I also found out that my biking buddy who I'm supposed to do the century with on Saturday has come down with phenomia and can't ride! Bummer, guess I'll be riding with sans buddy. At least there will be a lot of other peeps riding the race that I can chat with and draft off of. I know it'll still be fun, as it'll be my first official road race!

Have you ridden in a metric century or full century? Any suggestions?

April Recap and May Goals

Good morning! I don't feel like it's morning anymore because I've already had a fun filled morning, but more on that in a bit.

April recap! I use BeginnerTriathlete.com to track my swim, bike and run distances and sometimes I get lazy and forget to log my workouts, so I'm constantly trying to remember what I did over the past two weeks to log everything in. I was able to do that for the last part of April, but near the beginning I didn't log any workouts for from the 4th-9th. And you know I didn't take all those days off, so my totals are pretty skewed.

Bike: 212 miles

Swim: 9.100 yards

Run: 28.8 miles

Meh... that's all I can really say. I feel like I've been working hard, but the numbers don't prove it. I don't know how much they'd change if I knew what I did from the 4th-9th... Last month my numbers looked like this: 

Run: 56.81 miles
Bike: 438 minutes
Swim: 10,339 yards

I want to keep my swim numbers right around 10-12,000 yards a month, I think this is working for me and my biking WILL increase due to my STP training, so all I really need to increase is my running. Back to my 15 miles per week goal!


So now that is is MAY 1st, *NEW* goals for the month!

• Eat vegetarian. My man is gone in AK for the summer and I usually eat meat when I'm around him otherwise I'm a tofu, tempeh and veggie girl. It isn't going to be hard, I just want to see how my body reacts.
• Run a 5K race. Since I want to improve my 5K time, why not run a race? There is an arthritis 5K on May 15th I'm going to participate in.
• Run 15 miles per week. Run 15 miles per week. Run 15 miles per week. Okay it's in my head now. 
• Blog more with pics. I'm sure all of you would rather see pretty pictures rather than a bunch of text. : ) This would be easier if I had a super fast laptop and it didn't take hours to upload pics from my camera to the web. Better start shopping for a computer!

Attainable, realistic goals...I like it!

This AM I woke up and went on a bike ride with my tri group. We did a hilly 15 miles that included part of the route for the triathlon. Then we did a 2 minute transistion and ran for 5 minutes. BRICK! This really quick transistion made me a bit scared for the real deal. How the hell am I going to run 2.6 miles after a hilly bike ride if I'm tired after 5 mintues?! Gotta keep working at it and it WILL become easier. Get my leggies STRONG! 


The rest of today is for RELAXATION and MENTAL PREP for my 85 mile bike ride tomorrow AM. I'm also getting my hair did!


Do you have goals for May? Can you believe it is already May? Where does time go?