Fit 4 Jesus

I am happily surprised that my measurements barely changed despite the fact that I am in considerably worse physical condition after internship.  I went for a training workout and I could really see the damage that four months of minimal exercise and worse eating habits had done to my ability to perform what once would have been considered a recovery week workout!  I am excited to be heading back to the university with its amazing facilities and hammering out a training schedule that will help me achieve my goal of a sprint distance triathlon in under 1:30.

My measurements: 

Neck: 13 in

Arm: 11 in

Bust: 35 in 

Waist: 28.5 in

Hips: 36.5 in

Thigh: 21 in

Calf: 14 in

Height: 5`8 

Current weight: 145.7 pounds

Goal weight: not too sure, probably somewhere 130-140 pounds

Goal weight is a funny thing for me because it is so subjective.  What I would actually like to see is some definition in my legs and arms and a flatter tummy but I will take whatever gives me faster times swimming, biking and running!  

My goals for 2013:

Have devotions everyday with God 

Finish my degree in education and graduate with honours

Spend time with friends and family

Complete a sprint distance triathlon with a finish time under 1:30

Compete in a duathlon with my husband

Figure out my career goals 

First Sprint Distance Triathlon: done!

Huge race: 550 competitors, 229 in the sprint distance!

My rank: 145th out of 229, 15 of 22 in the 30-34 female age group or

27th of 43 in the 30-39 female age group 

Back of the pack baby!!!

Time: 1:40.47

Swim 750m: 19:07 (temp: 20.5, no wetsuit for me!)

Bike 20km: 52:21 (lots of hills)

Run 5km: 29:19 (slow pace but sprint finish) 

I was hoping for under 1:40 but this was pretty close.

The swim was quite difficult and choppy and I mostly breaststroked it.

The bike was hills (which I never trained on) and I actually enjoyed them.

The run felt like it went on and on and on until I saw the last turn and sprinted it in.

This was a very competitive race with the top finisher posting a time of 1:08.00

I think I could have pushed a bit harder but I finished it and did it injury free!!!  

I thank God that I have a body healthy and strong enough for this challenge.

Oh, and by the way, my husband raced in the duathlon and enjoyed it! 

So, I have been training for months and just recently began logging again.  I noticed something--I was not meeting my protein goal on a regular basis. 

I took a look at my reports and noted that I averaged about 65-70 g of protein a day.  I consume about 1700 base calories plus exercise calories which means I usually consume about 2200-2700 calories everyday.  For the amount of intense training I have been doing, I was not supplying my body with very much protein for recovery.  So, a little over a week ago, I decided to significantly increase my protein.  I decided that I would increase my protein to a minimum of 100 g of protein everyday.

So, I bought protein bars, protein powder and plenty of lean proteins like non fat plain greek yogurt, chicken breast, eggs and fish.  I also looked for cereal and other food stuffs that had a little extra protein to offer.  I eat at least 4 times a day and so I knew that I would need to be intentional in order to get the protein in--this would be a huge change of habit for me.  I know that many people "low carb" it to lose weight, but this has never been me and especially not now that I spend alot of time doing endurance training.

THE BENEFITS

-feeling fuller

-having to consider choices carefully to ensure that the protein requirement is met

-making better choices and holding off on candy until the protein goal is met 

-the possibility of encouraging muscle repair and reducing the risk of injury

-the discover of some delicious foods like my new fav cereal 

-my hubby has found it to be of benefit to his digestive process 

-finding and using a great recipe for protein bars 

THE DRAWBACKS

-the gas (protein powder is especially bad for this) 

-the expense (lean proteins do not necessarily come cheap)

-the need for supplementation (which I hope to phase out eventually)

-some mild digestive issues for me

Honestly, I cannot find a good reason not to continue with this protein goal--it makes me consider my choices more carefully and omit unnecessary carbs like candy.  It also encourages me to exercise so that I have more wiggle room to fit it all in.

In 11 days, I will be doing my first sprint distance triathlon.  I've been slowly working my way up through the newbie ranks and I have participated in 4 newbie events which are shorter triathlons designed to ease you into the longer competitive distances.  I think doing four is probably my attempt to overprepare because if I am honest with myself, I am not naturally athletic.  Swimming, biking and running do not come naturally to me and I sometimes even dread the thought of another set of laps, climbing sprints or a long aerobic pace run.  I do not build muscle easily.  I tire out and I bonk sometimes. I am fortunate enough to have been relatively injury free but this is mostly due to caution and wonderful people around me that have purchased me good gear.  

It's funny, but I think sometimes people make the assumption that if you are doing something athletic that it must come naturally--like you just woke up and decided to run  5 K because you had nothing better to do.  I think that can demean the process because quite frankly it's mostly about determination, hard work and dragging your body out of bed or off the couch or away from the computer to do something challenging with the body that God gave you.

So, in 11 days I'll be attempting to meet a new challenge by swimming 750 m, biking 20 km and running 5 km.  Hopefully I make it and maybe even make a few new friends along the way. 

Okay, so lately for some odd reason, I have really really wanted to get on the scale and see what I weigh.  However, I promised myself that I would stay off the blasted thing until after my last race of the season on August 18, 2012.  I am allowing myself to measure but could not find the tape measure, so I bought one and here are my new measurements.

Neck 14' 

Arms 12'  (woohoo, an increase from swimming because they are firmer too!)

Bust 35' (a little decrease, oh well)

Waist 28' (pretty steady on this one for a while now)

Belly button  32' (see a problem here)

Hips 35' 

Thigh 22' (another fantastic increase from biking and running!)

Calf 14' (kinda cool that it is the same measurement as my neck!) 

I would like to see a bit of a decrease from the waist but other than that I am actually fairly pleased.  I could see getting even bigger in the arms and legs as long as they get more definition at the same time.

I finally found out my splits from my last race.  
As usual, I like to take some time to evaluate 
how things went and where the mechanics need work. 
Splits from Regina Beach
Swim 300 m 7:33 (2:31 per 100 m) 4th
Bike 10 km 26:37 (22.5 km/hr) 3rd
Run 3 km 13:13 (4:25 per km) 4th
Total time: 53:06
Second place overall (men and women, 2 minutes behind first man)
First place female
Total competitors: 15
Okay, so I knew that the swim was terrible (6 min would have been a good time)--I actually had to ditch my googles and do breaststroke because they kept filling with water.  The saving grace for me here after a pathetic swim in which I drank far too much lake water was a well executed transition.  Note to self for next time: check your googles for seal prior to race start--sometimes the swim cap they provide fits differently than your own!  Also, this was my first open water swim race and I learned that breaststroke is actually an option for me in an open water swim as I was keeping pace with others who were using freestyle.  I felt more control in the water and better able to tackle the next phase of the race.  I have therefore changed my race strategy for my next race to include a combination of breaststroke and freestyle.  Yesterday at the pool, I did an endurance swim with this combined approach and completed 1500 m in 33:38. Maybe not as fast as I would like to be but I felt good in the water.
Though I placed third in the bike portion, I am not really that pleased with my pace.  When I convert it to mph is only about 14 mph (my training HRM is in mph).  I can do better.  I'd like to be pushing for more like 16-17 mph which I know is doable with some out of the seat sprinting and by operating in the hoods (which I definately need to work on!) I do know that I was feeling pretty fatigued until we got to the turn around on the bike and then my legs started to feel fresh again. This was probably more a mental block--I kept wondering when the turnaround was coming and should have been more focused on my form.  Part of this mental block came from the fact that I was sick the morning of the race and I honestly just wanted so badly to see the finish line. The transition out of the bike could have been a bit smoother but it went okay overall.
The run was definately better than my last race and was a good race pace (for me!) of about 6.7 mph.  Of course, it could always be faster and I should have been lifting my legs a bit more on the trail.  I should be aiming to increase my race pace to 7 mph for the next race.  I did have another minor stitch in my side at the beginning of the run, though it was nothing compared to my previous race and got worked out as I ran downhill.  I still need to work on properly hydrating on the bike to ensure that this is not an issue on the run.  It needs to be a priority to get the right amount of water.
Finally, that sprint finish at the end got bumped up a notch thanks to the second place woman who I beat by a meagre three seconds.  Turns out she was the fastest runner!  It was a strong finish and I am very pleased that I won this shorter race before I move onto the "big kid" races in August.  I will be doing a sprint distance triathlon (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run) and I am nervous for the enormous leap in distance and competition.  I hope to finish the race:)  No matter how I place or what my times, it will be a personal best because it will be the first time!
 
 
 
 

Booyah!  I won my first race.  Yes, it was a newbie race but I still won!

300 m swim, 10 km bike, 3 km run in a little over 53 minutes.

Near the end of the race someone almost caught me and I booted it into high gear and squeezed out the top female finisher. 

My splits, from last to first from tonight's swim.   I was supposed to do six sets of 300 m pull and have a longer warm-up and cool down, but the pool was closed down for a swim meet at 7 p.m. and I got there at 6:25.  I am kinda proud of myself for being undeterred from going, especially because there were alot of people watching me swim who probably could have been critiquing my stroke (kinda wish they would have shared pointers!)  Hoping that they will leave the long course open for a swim tommorrow which would be a fabulous way to round out my training before my first open water swim race on Sunday.  Excited about the new Ironman watch, I recorded my splits.  I really want to get under a 2 minute split as my race pace and I will aim for that on Sunday.

100 Free 2:06

300 pull 7:06

300 pull 7:09

300 pull 7:01

100 Free 1:56

50 Kick 1:24

100 breast 2:31

I also did hill intervals on the treadmill. 15 min warm-up at 4.5 mph, 5 sets of 2.5 min at 5 % grade at 6 mph (1 min off), 16 min at 4.5 mph cool down.  It's amazing what a little incline will do to my calves, they are feeling it!  Plus, I walked to the gym at a moderate pace, so tack on another 10 min at 3.0 mph for good measure (I probably walked faster LOL). Pretty good workout even though it was cut short.

Seriously, over the last month or so, more than once, I have considered (and not in jest, like in the middle of a murderous run) doing an IRONMAN.  This is something that I laughed off as an impossibility at the beginning of my training but as I increase my endurance in all aspects of triathlon--I am beginning to see it as a distant future type of possibility.

There are two types of ironman events: the "half" ironman or Ironman 70.3 and the full ironman 140.6.  I put half in brackets because it seems to me like that makes it seem like the cowards way out when it certainly isn't.  I would consider someone who did the ironman 70.3 to be an ironman or ironwoman--it is still about a 6-9 hour race for a reasonably fit person!   Upon consideration, mainly training volume (I cannot see myself able to dedicate more than 3 hours a day to training due to other commitments) the only race that makes sense for me to even attempt is the Ironman 70.3  WAIT!  Hold the phone, did I just type that it would make sense to do this race?  What is wrong with me?

1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run

At this point it would take me about 1 hour to do the swim, 4 hours to do the bike and 3 hours to do the run.   8 hours!!!!

Crazy as it is, I even know what race I want to do.  I would like to take my hubby and I down to Hawaii for our tenth anniversary (which is two years away) and do the Ironman 70.3 and then spend a week soaking up the sun.  However, I would settle for a race closer to home--I have no idea if we can afford such a venture.  I just think it would be sooo cool to be able to say that I did it in Hawaii and the vacation would be the reward for all that training!!!