105 Days!!
It has been a long time since I have posted about this but the holiday season has been crazy. I went on a week long ski trip to Telluride Colorado. I was going skiing every day at 7-10,000 feet above sea level. So that counts as working out right? Well before the trip I thought so and didn't end up working out outside of the skiing. The problem with that logic: the skiing wasn't very intense since the snow was garbage so there was a lot more emphasis on the beers. From my calendar you can see I also snuck down to Mexico for a few days.
Calendar is a mess....
Now I let myself skip one week of training because of ski trip but that was it. So, on the 17th, I did my long bike ride - 65 miles. And at the end of it, I couldn't walk. I destroyed my legs and actually fell asleep on the floor right next to my bike. I woke up and tried to shove a pizza into my stomach just to get some of those calories back but I found myself thinking - oh shit I am wayyyy behind here. And with that, I went to Mexico!
Ski trip!!!
Fast forward a week, and I did my 55 mile bike ride, and that was a piece of cake. I have had some similar things happen with running - one week it is easy and the other it feels impossible. Swimming - one week it took 3 days to recover, the next I did my two swims on back to back days. So what is going on here?? I think ski trip set me back a little and now I am getting back on track but the whole thing left me feeling like I am not where I should be in my training.
Holiday diet of course
Super cool side note - I got myself a Garmin Fenix 3 HR for Christmas. Ohhhh that baby is cool. It tracks my swim time and laps, my heart rate, my sleeping, everything! It's better than Santa
Swim
Aside from the one horrible swim I had right after Mexico, swimming is going well. Plus with my new watch, I can actually track my swimming. I think I am building my strength and am headed in the right direction to being able to complete this bad boy. Knowing the watch is tracking me, I now try SUPER hard to never stop once I start swimming which can only be a good thing. Concerns at this moment:
1) My speed isn't improving at all. I thought about hiring a coach, but honestly, I just need to survive the swim to be happy.
2) Most of my swims have involved me stopping a few times to rest or clean my goggles etc. Can't do that on race day. The watch is helping me limit/ eliminate this but still on my mind.
3) I have done exactly 0 open water swims, and given the high today is 11, I won't be doing any around here any time soon. I am doing a triathlon in Houston in March so that will help, but is that enough?
Swim splits
Bike
OK so since the ski trip I have knocked out a 55 and now 70 miler (woo!) Both of them felt pretty good so I am no longer freaked out about my fitness levels but man that ride after ski trip sure had me scared. For those of you who have never ridden a bike for 5 hours while staying in one place, let me tell you what its like - hurts the butt, numbs the brain.
70.00 Miles
Haha it isn't horrible but it is definitely not the most fun way to spend a Friday. I managed to watch 4 episodes of Narcos and a movie and still wasn't finished! But with 10 minutes left I usually pop off the bike and stick a rising crust pizza in the oven so when I am done, I snag a quick shower and then FEAST!
Serving size: 1
Gu, Pear, Nuts, and Salt Pills
Run
I did a 13 miler this week outside and let me tell you - it. was. freezing! With any run outside I am usually pretty cold for the first mile and then warm up. So before I started I checked the weather - 20 degrees and then dressed for a typical 20 degree run. The problem: the forecast I looked at was either out of date or plain wrong. It was 12 degrees and windy. Now 8 degrees might not sound like much but I was shivering for most of the run. I couldn't keep my fingers warm and my camelbak kept freezing so I would have to take a sip every 2 minutes just to keep it flowing (I fill it with hot water too!) By the end of the run, my jacket had actually accumulated some sweat and frozen so I couldn't straighten my arms! Not to mention breathing the cold air leaves my throat feeling a little raspy. I may have to give some serious thought to doing some of these runs inside again. I definitely will be adding another layer if I try to run outside again.
Other
Overall things are going well at this point. I have 105 days left (exactly 15 weeks) which means I should be more than prepared if I stick to my schedule. I will keep experimenting with nutrition (both while working out and recovering) and hopefully come up with something by race day.
My attempt at eating healthy
Another interesting side note, I am sleeping over 9 hours per night. I don't know if that is just laziness or my body truly needs that much sleep but boy I am sleeping a lot these days. The only other thing on my mind is time management. This is a huge time commitment and I need to find a way to keep my social life going if this is going to be sustainable. This week, my watch says I did 13.75 hours of cardio. Not to mention going to and from the gym, all the extra laundry and prep, and whatever else goes into making all this happen. Social life: TBD.
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