monster weekend

Happy with the training this weekend!

The weather was GORGEOUS so that helps. Saturday I got up early and headed out for some biking- super long ride planned. I was going to ride for 1.5 hrs, meet up with Dan, ride out to his parent's house in Colfax, then I would ride around by myself while he helped out with some yardwork, then we would ride back into B-town together...

But those darn bikes, I love em, but all the technical difficulties and maintenance involved with them are not fun! He couldn't meet up with me, he discovered that his bike had a hole in the tire and the tube, and he didn't have any patches...

So he ended up driving out to Colfax with his bike in the car, I rode back into town and got some extra tubes, CO2, tire boots, and tube patch kits for both of us...then I rode out to Colfax...

2-hr break for lunch and chatter with the fam...while he was cutting down a tree I fixed his bike...then as soon as we started riding, I got a flat! Geez! There was a hole in my tire...patched that, and we got on our way...

We rode around Moraine View Park...they better keep it open...then out to Downs to catch a glimpse of his little cousin playing football (and see a cute little chocolate lab puppy!)...got a tasty sangwich at the gas station...then headed back!

Then we headed to BWW's with my brother, his girlfriend, and her roomie...and I had a tasty veggie burger and a salad...along with some cheeseburger bites, onion rings, mini corn dogs, and parmesan/garlic wings...mmmmm mmmmm......

Sleep! Long run planned for Sunday...

I procrastinated bigtime. Got up and worked on the computer, made some tasty pancakes, took our friend's dog to the dogpark and swimming...then got some lunch...did some work...FINALLY started on my run...maybe a little on the easy side, but I got it done! 1 hr by myself, 1 hr w/ Dan, last hour by myself...the last hour HURT, my muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments still aren't used to the repetitive movements and pounding!

Whew! Lots of training, not a lot of schoolwork. Gonna catch up on that this week!

happy training to you all!

Laura

We are the minority...

Ay yay yay....

Ms Lazy is back again...

I really enjoy casual, easy mornings. I like waking up, making coffee, checking emails, grading, writing (schoolwork), fixing breakfast, lounging with my man, all in the comfort of my bathrobe. Tuesday I woke up and fell into my groove, planning on starting my scheduled loooong run in the afternoon. However, Dan and I thought that there could be a chance that he could get tickets to a Cubs post season game if we sign online and do the mlb waiting room thing...which started at noon. So I ended waiting around for that to happen (he had to teach or had class) so I sat on butt for two hours (grading and starting to study for an exam that night) only to find out that he needed to get a password emailed to him through a lottery for the opportunity to buy tickets! DARN! After that I got hungry again...can't run right after I eat...then I fell into hard-core studying mode for an exam at 6PM. Needless to say, I DID NOT WORK OUT.

Today I had a short run and swim on my plate...Didn't do a workout in the morning, then I taught 2 hours of kickboxing, then went into "data entry/data analysis of RPE at different stages of cycle max testing" mode for hours...Once that was done and emailed, I went for the short run, and I definitely enjoyed it am glad I did something today!

I should probably try to implement a "workout first thing in the morning plan"...once I can adopt this behavior and make it a routine, I could probably actually get in more scheduled workouts...

BACKTRACK...kickboxing...whatta workout!!! If you REALLY throw those punches...your biceps will be sore from jabs...your lats will be sore from hooks...your quads will be sore from front kicks...your abductors will be sore from sidekicks...your butt's gonna hurt from squats/ducks... I forget how good that stuff is!!! Oh and then I had my class try to do ball tucks as part of a core workout...hahaha!! I'll put pics up at some point!

For my personal fitness class, I posted a 6-week training plan leading up to the Jingle Bell run that will have them building up walk/jog intervals to eventually get them fit enough to run for 30 minutes straight! I posted it last night, so I'm looking forward to getting some feedback from the students!

So my test last night was for my Advanced Body Composition class...pretty tough test! Lots of statistics regarding obesity...here's some general ones you might find interesting:
70% of Americans are SEDENTARY
60% of Americans are Overweight or Obese

Here's a sad one:
There is a 2% success rate for obese individuals who attempt a diet or exercise program that will bring them down to a healthy weight; they are not willing to make the proper behavioral changes. Research is suggesting that more focus should be put on children, since statistics show that they are more likely to make appropriate behavior changes.

The essay questions were fun to answer:
1- What factors contribute to the rise in obesity, and what can we do to prevent this trend?
...I went into different factors in the school, community, and workplace that can be changed

2-Discrimination of obese individuals is becoming more predominant, since the majority of the population is ow/ob. Explain why this could be counter-productive, give some examples, and alternate solutions.
...I talked about airlines charging obese individuals for 2 tickets, health insurance companies charging a higher premium, and the portrayal of obese people in the media. I gave the "rationale" for the discrimination and some more "rewarding" alternatives, instead of the "punishment" that they are describing. Rewards tend to be better motivation for most individuals...with the exception of some athletes!! =)

Longer bike ride tomorrow...we'll see how it goes! Back to grading! =)

busy bee

Training is going alright, I'm feeling pretty good. Last week I did skip/alter a bunch of workouts, but I also got some important ones in, such as a brick workout (intervals on bike trainer - tempo run), actually getting to the pool 2-3 times, a couple decent rides and runs, and an amazing long ride on Saturday with my favorite training girls! I'm feeling a lot stronger on hills and tempo workouts, so that's good! Swim needs loooots of work though!

My major training related goal this week is just to show up/attempt each scheduled workout! So far I completed my short run today, yay! I still gotta get to the pool this evening.

Besides training, here's some other projects I'm working on...

• I'm teaching an online personal fitness class, and I want to post 2 different walking/jogging programs for the students to follow- 1 program will help beginners build up to jogging 30 minutes, while the other program will have intermediate/advanced versions of 10K training. I also want to video a do-it-at-home strength workout and post that.
• Studying for my advanced body composition test tomorrow!
• Finishing the introduction for the first chapter of my thesis- I have the methods, results, and stats pretty much done, and I have the rough draft complete for the intro, but I need to clean it up and cite everything
• Enter and run stats on the rating of perceived exertions for all the subjects (my instructor and I speculate that the athletes understimated their exertion at the beginning of the test, but were pretty right on for threshold and max efforts)
• Get all my aerobics stuff graded (and this week I'm teaching kickboxing...fun!)
• Finalize travel plans for Ironman Arizona (and the conference that I'm presenting at immediately prior!)
• Hopefully get the lactate analyzer when the replacement parts come in so I can help start up a fee-for-service program for endurance athletes that would like to get VO2/lactate/body comp tests done!

=) busy busy but I love it.

ironman wisconsin

So Dan and I were up at Ironman Wisconsin this weekend and had a blast!

During my internship this summer, I worked with Tom Ziebart, one awesome guy and he is kiiiind of a big deal in the Ironman community =) I keep in contact with him, and he totally hooked Dan and I up this weekend! We volunteered to help him at the Gatorade swim on Friday and Saturday morning, and he got us all-access passes for the weekend- we got into the VIP section at the athlete dinner (free buffet and drinks) and the party at the Great Dane afterward (again, free booze and desserts) and on race day, we got into the VIP sections - at the swim start we went to a roped-off section on top of the terrace with a a great view and breakfast...then for lunch we were in Verona for another delicious meal of food....then at the finish there was dinner and booze as well! The finish tent was awesome- it was a platform RIGHT next to the finish arch and announcers! sweet!

On race day, we also had a fun job to do- we were "spotters" for the pros, which meant we got a "race support" sticker to put on the car (and park WHEREVER we want!)...and we went to the 30/70 mile marker in mt. horeb and radioed in to Ironmanlive when we saw the first male and female pros and the minutes behind the 2-10th place racers were. For the run, we went to Camp Randall stadium and we radioed in their positions at 3,11,16,24 mi. markers. fun fun!

What a great day for the race too! All our racers looked awesome, I am so proud of everyone!

It was so motivating to see my friends do so well- they work so hard and deserve their amazing times!

Driving back home was AWFUL though...Dan and I switched off, and we still needed to nap at a gas stations 40 minutes from bloomington for 45 minutes....ironman makes for a looooooong day.

So I got in a couple decent workouts- Friday I ran 2:30 (loop of the run course plus some)- felt awesome, running fast and couldn't get my HR up...by the end though, my tendons and ligaments were mad at me for not working out enough though!! Saturday, Dan and I rode the 40 mi Verona loop...that was fun. I love a rolling course- hills are fun and I feel strong, but I am an awful technical rider- I hate downhills, turns, switchbacks, etc...cycling elements a lot of people consider "fun"....

Took today off b/c I'm exhausted and I really need to caught up with schoolwork. Let's see if this weekend will spark a JUSTDOIT mentality...

i've lost that lovin feelin...

so the "training" thing hasn't happened the last few days...no success yesterday- I chose to stay in and eat chinese food, and today, I actually got my butt to the pool...to find out there was an error in pool times on the website and it was actually closed...so instead of doing an alternate workout...or doing a workout this afternoon...I chose to do school/other things.

I love training- nothing beats the feeling after you've completed a tough workouts; I love the feeling of accomplishment. I love the actual workouts too- long runs and bikes are great for thinking and enjoying the outdoors; intense/interval rides/runs give me this empowered feeling- I love hills,- whatta way to work your muscular endurance in addition to your cardiovascular endurance! I love what triathlon has done for my body and my mind...and honestly, I don't hate swimming. When I was in Florida for my internship this summer, I was doing some consistent swim training, and I really did enjoy the pull/paddle sets and middle-distance sets. I do miss that 50yd outdoor pool...

I'm fighting this battle with myself...it's like I'm "punishing" myself by depriving myself of what I love to do- "it takes up too much of my time- I should be working on school/running this errand/etc..." when I DO have time, I've worked hard and been given a great opportunity, and I'm not letting myself take advantage of it.

I'm afraid this battle is also not allowing me to work to my potential in other aspects of life as well- I can put a lot on my plate, and handle it well, but I choose not to put in that "extra" effort to do something great. I've always been a hard worker and have always aimed big, but my work ethic and "do" capacity has definitely diminished over the years.

I've gotta get that ugwi feeling back...

Let's try this again...

hey everyone! So blog attempt #2 is on.

So Boston (april) didn't go so hot...4:06...beautiful day, legs cramped and spasmed big time!!! I was keeping a consistent 8:45 min/mi but wheeeeew the last hour and half was rough!!!!

I had been mostly doing basework...HR of 155 or less...nice long stuff. This helped me out for Ironman in June....

I was extremely nervous about Ironman Coeur d'Alene...I didn't feel like I got the training in. My run was alright, but I hadn't been doing the long bikes I aim for in training, and hadn't done much with swimming...SOMEHOW, everything was RIGHT ON during the race, and I ended up with a BIG PR of a 12:37! Swim as usual...1:33 Bike: close to a PR 6:40!...run....a whopping 4:08!! hoooooly cow!! I kept my HR between 146-150 the whole time...my mile pace was 9:30 the WHOLE TIME....amazing. and my zebra arm warmers rocked.

So....with as "little" training as I did for CDA...wonder how I can do at Arizona in November with some awesome and consistent training??

I've got a very tough plan...and I'm NOT doing so well sticking to it. I really suck at being consistent with training! I was supposed to do a brick today....didn't happen. felt hot, lazy, and tired. I have such a flexible schedule where I can do all my school, thesis, and teaching stuff whenever I want...but I convinced myself that it HAD to be done...during the time I should have been training!

Well, time for class...let's see if I can get convince myself to do a teeny workout today...JUST 1600 yards in the pool after class...come on LV!!!!