Yesterday started out as one of the worst runs I ever had and ended up later in the day being one of the best. The biggest thing I learned from this experience is that I need to plan my weekend meals/nutrition better. Here’s the back story:

I started coming down with a cold so I went to the store Friday morning before work to stock up on cold meds to help get me through the day. Unfortunately for me the pharmacy wasn’t open so I bought a ton of candy to self soothe instead, first bad choice. After a long day at work all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with some more junk food. I convinced Cory to pick up some Qudoba on the way home and gorged myself on quesadillas, chips and guacamole.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling crappy but not bad enough to skip our bike ride. I loaded myself full of cold meds and coffee and didn’t feel too bad. we road 35 miles at a 15 mph average, not bad for me really. We came home and ate a late lunch of veggie burgers. After grocery shopping for the week Cory and I weren’t hungry so we headed to bed without eating dinner.

Sunday morning I was still feeling bad but I really wanted to get our 14 mile run in, so once again I took lots of cold medicine, drank lots of coffee and ate some coffee cake that Cory made. It was yummy but probably not the best long run fuel. The temps were in the low 40’s so I thought I would be ok to wear shorts, I was so wrong! Grey Skies, I should have known I would be too cold!

I was cold when we started out but I kept telling myself I would warm up. I was cold, tired, every step was painful. After two and a quarter miles I knew it just wasn’t in the cards for me. My legs were hurting and bright purple. I turned around and headed back defeated. On the way home I talked Cory into getting Starbucks and Carl’s Jr. (I am seeing a pattern here) After wolfing down a hamburger and fries and warming up in a bath I was feeling much better except for feeling really down about not finishing our run. I asked Cory how he would feel about waiting two hours (to digest) then heading to the gym to finish the last 9.5 miles of our run. He was up for it so we went and I have to say it felt GREAT! I was so happy to complete the full 14 miles that I even ran a little more and I never do that.

I learned that not planning my meals for the weekend can really hurt my training. Lesson learned, I will now plan my weekend meals just like I do during the week. You would think that I would know better by now, but apparently I don’t when I am hopped up on cold meds. Today I stayed home from work because I couldn’t sleep most of the night and was in a bad place this morning.

It’s been snowing all day and tomorrow’s high is supposed to be negative two degrees. So I don’t think I will get any more outdoor workouts this week.

Have you ever broken up a run? Does it still count as 14 miles even if it was broken up by 3 hours?

Tanks so much for all of your suggestions. I think that it is important to keep strength training and actually need to start doing it more. I am going to change up my plan to look like this:

Monday: rest day/yoga
Tuesday: am swim interval/pm interval run
Wednesday: BodyPump/recovery run
Thursday: spin class/run brick
Friday: interval run/long swim
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long bike

Do you always do the same type of workout on the same day or do you switch it up every week? Happy training!

On a different note I am looking for a fun half marathon to do in either March or April, any suggestions in Colorado or neighboring states?

I have been arguing with myself for the last few week about strength training and I could use some help.

Curently I strength train once a week by taking a one hour “BodyPump” class at the gym. Les Mills desceibes the class as:

“BODYPUMP™ is the original barbell class that strengthens your entire body. This 60-minute workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls. Great music, awesome instructors and your choice of weight inspire you to get the results you came for – and fast! Like all the LES MILLS™ programs, a new BODYPUMP™ class is released every three months with new music and choreography.”

I like the class but sometime I get so sore that I end up skipping other swim, bike, run workouts. I have a VERY weak upper body, proof:I have read that strength training is important in training and I do believe that it helps me avoid injury.

So here are my questions:

1. Should I continue with the class even if it makes me very sore?
2. Is it worth it to do the class even if I go light on weights to avoid being sore?
3. Is once a week enough, or should I be lifting 2 or 3 times a week?

Mainly I am trying to decided if I should continue with the class or do my own shorter routine a couple of times a week.

Any advice? Happy Humpday!

I love making green monsters, if you have never tried one I HIGHLY recommend them. My twist this morning induced instant coffee to give me extra an extra lift:
I make mine by adding:
2 tablespoons ground flax seed meal
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 banana, the riper the better
1 packet cold brew VIA
2 cups spinach
a splash of vanilla extract

blend for about two minutes then add as much ice as you like I add a tall glass full.

It looks like baby poo but tastes great!

This mornings workout was 2000 yd swim, 200 warm up with 4 by 400 set and 200 cool down. Tonight I have RMTC track practice I think the workout is 8 by 400 sprints with a mile warm up and cool down.

What did you have for breakfast? Happy Tuesday!!!

I can’t believe the weekend is already over, but it was a good one!
On Friday we went to REI and came home with this haul:Love REI!!!

We started Saturday with a difficult 12 mile run over Green Mountain. I took all of this with me:**I didn’t end up eating the GU or LUNA bar but we did have Qudoba after, YUM!

Cory caught some great pictures of me warming up.

Thanks honey for always getting the weirdest pictures of me.

You should know that I take my warm-ups very seriously and I am NOT normal.

The run started out great it was windy and steep but beautiful.

It is a big climb but you are rewarded with great views of Denver and the Front Range at the top. We ran back down the other side with no issues. Soon we were headed back up to our car on a bike path when the wind picked up. It was not fun to spend the last 3 miles struggling up a hill feeling like you are being blown back down, but I was super happy to be done.

We spent the rest of the day eating, taking an ice bath and resting. This morning we headed out early for a 30 mile bike ride. I was so excited to actually be outside on my bike, although I was very cold. We then headed to a friends house to watch the Bears lose to the Packers. I am not really a fan of either team but our friends are from Chicago so we were sad to see them lose.

Now it’s just laundry and getting ready for tomorrow morning. What did you do this weekend?

Week three goals and week two recap:

1. Get back on track by following my training plan all week
2. Really, actually do plank…..really.
3. Track my calories all week to get a baseline try to stay between 1600 and 1800 calories
4. Don’t stress at work too much, it’s going to be a draining week but it will pass.

Week 2:

1. Enjoy NYC and try not to lose too much sleep. Check =)
2. Plank every night (this one hasn’t been going so well so far) Not even once, with the flu it just wasn’t happening
   
3. Be present while in all day meetings Yup, I really learned a lot
4. Pace myself well on Saturday’s race so that I put up a good time (for me) and also not have an asthma attack. Didn’t race =( but Cory took third in his age group, way to go baby!

To work on my new years resolution to learn to cook healthy meals I wanted to share a Salmon cake recipe that Cory came up with. They are seriously good, especially with a big spinach salad.
These are simple, healthy and quick salmon cakes.
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10
Ready In: 30
Yields: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 6-oz cans salmon, drained well
2 eggs
2 stalks celery (75g), chopped
1/2 small onion (75g), chopped
5g fresh minced garlic
10 drops Worcestershire sauce
2 tbl cold milled flax seed
1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp dried thyme
pepper
50g panko bread crumbs
extra virgin olive oil, divided

DIRECTIONS: In medium sized bowl combine all ingredients up to and including the salt. Mix panko bread crumbs, thyme and pepper in small bowl. Divide the wet mixture into 8 balls and coat with bread crumbs and set aside. Heat oil in non-stick skillet and cook until done, flipping halfway through.

Workout today was 50 minutes on the bike trainer:
No, I didn’t ride in my jeans, with my eyes closed. Cory was trying to position my tri bars, I seriously need a bike fit!

Even though I am still sick I had a great morning. Cory and I had a leisurely morning, we took advantage of the fact that we didn’t get up early to bike or run and headed out to breakfast at the egg and I. We then headed over to bike village but we got there about a half an hour before they opened. So we had to go to Starbucks to kill time.
After we were done killing time we headed back to Bike Village and bought a pair of clip on aero bars for my bike.I know this isn’t the best solution but I am hoping that I can get through one more season on my road bike with clip-ons then invest in a true tt-bike.My bike on the trainer in my basement, where I hope to spend some time tomorrow. I really suck at using the trainer, it’s hard for me to keep my motivation and cadence up.

Do you use a bike trainer? How do you keep yourself going for hours?

Tomorrow is technically a holiday for me, I had planned on going in to try to catch up after being out last week but I think one more day of rest will make the rest of the week bearable.