So it was a foot!

Quick update on the foot pain I mentioned last week. I'm both pleased and disappointed to hear my x-rays were "unremarkable."  Pleased because that means I didn't miss anything glaring when I was trying read my own x-ray but disappointed because:
A. That means there is still no solution
B. No one likes to be "unremarkable!"

So the next step is to get an MRI which should be able to show more related to the tendons and any inflammation. The next available appointment wasn't until Tuesday and I won't see the doctor until next Friday.  It's been a few years of this so I guess I can wait a week or so longer!

In other news...

Training plan - 22 minute swim, HR Zone 1-2

My plan - Swim 22 minutes, freestyle, no breaks + at least another 20 minutes but may mix up the stokes

Actual - Swam 44 laps of freestyle in 22 minutes, finished up with 16 laps of breaststroke. Had hoped to do more but was crunched for time and not really feeling it!

Turkey Veggie Chili Win, Blogger Fail

So Monday night I made a pretty darn good Turkey Veggie Chili. About halfway through eating it I realized...I could brag blog about this! Unfortunately it was too late to get any good pictures of the chili situation so use your imagine (hint - it looked like chili)

Turkey Veggie Chili
Adapted from: Bethenny Frankel's Ultra-Healthy Mexican Chili

Ingredients:
1/3 medium red onion, chopped
2 tsp oil
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional/varies based on spicey preferences!)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cloves garlic, mined
1/2 to 1/3 red bell pepper, chopped
14.5oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
5 oz ground turkey breast

Directions:
Over medium-high heat, saute the onion and carrots in a nonstick pot in the oil
Add the chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt & pepper
Stir in the garlic and bell peppers, cook until peppers are soft (about 5 minutes)
Stir in tomato sauce
When all the vegetables are soft, add the turkey breast (about 5 minutes)
Let the chili simmer for at least 15 minutes, longer if you stand it.

Serve over brown rice with sour cream & cheese

I've made many variations of this recipe and I love that it's super flexible! Change up the meat (I've used chicken, I bet buffalo would be great as well), mix up the veggies (zucchini? sweet potato?), I've also served over Bulgar instead of brown rice...

Updated:
Training plan - off

My plan - off

Actual - Pretty sure I'll stick with the plan today!

Poll Results...Don't tell my professors

So as approximately 6 of you know, I've been running a poll the last few days to find out if people love or hate the Facebook statuses I post when I have a blog update.  

Let me just start off by saying, there are so many things wrong with this poll. My professors would be so disappointed... oops.

I'm asking a very biased sample, specifically people on Facebook and more specifically only those who actually click the link and access the blog to vote. Very much set up to get the answer I want (confirmation bias anyone?).  If you consider my "Facebook friends" the sample (and not a good sample at that, certainly not randomized) and the fact that only 6 people voted, there is definitely some nonresponse bias going on here too.  Not to mention, 6 votes is probably not statistically significant. Oh, and I'm sure there are problems with the wording/order/etc of the poll question.  Plus people generally  tell you what they think you want to hear (a little "social desireablility effect for good measure).

Anyway, putting that all aside the fact remains the 6 of you (Thanks family!) voted to keep the status updates. So you, and everyone else, are stuck with them!

In actual triathlon training news:

Training Plan - 22 minute run, HR zone 1 - 2

My plan - 45 (ish) minute run outside to take advantage of the temps being above freezing, get my butt kicked by the hills and my HR wayyy above zones 1 to 2.

Actual - Completed a 4.79 mile run in 47:32; averaged 9:55 minutes/mile and an average HR of 170 (about 88% max/zone 4). Lessons learned: Just because the map says there is a road there, doesn't mean there actually is. Also, those charts showing elevation aren't just an intellectual exercise, you really have to run them. And they suck.

Testing my resolve on Day 1

Day 1 of "official" triathlon training is finally here.  The plan calls for a 36 minute swim.  I had originally "scheduled" this workout to follow my class/meeting schedule for the day.  (Un?)fortunately my classes/meetings have been cancelled for the day due to (a complete lack of) serious weather conditions.

So now I have to fight against my every instinct and head to campus on a "snow" day so I can swim. I feel like this must break some kind of student rule/code/law?  I need to head out anyway so I can hit up the grocery store. For better or worse (worse, definitely worse), food will always get me out of the house and I might as well get a workout in, I guess.

I usually swim for more than 36 minutes and shoot for distance or a certain number of laps but stop every 30 laps for a 30 second break and usually swim 10 laps of breaststroke as a break for every 20 laps of freestyle.  I may shoot for swimming 36 minutes straight, all freestyle although that seems ambitious.

I'll report back.

Update:
Training plan - 36 minute swim, HR zone 1-2

My plan - swim only freestyle for as long as possible, see what happens

Actual - 36:28 minute swim, 68 lengths, avg HR 143 (74% max HR, zone 3 ish)

(PS - mere hours left on the Facebook update poll. If you haven't voted yet, please do!)

Lest you think I've changed

Anyone who read the previous iteration of this blog might remember my semi-crazy schedules and calendars.    While I haven't changed, the focus of my calendars/schedules certainly have.

I like tracking my workouts on a calendar so I can look back and see what I've done/how many days I ended up taking off/how many days of strength v cardio/etc. I've also always needed a plan so I usually sketch out my workouts a week or two in advance.

Speaking of needing a plan...I may or may not plan almost every minute of my week on Sunday evenings. It's just a rough guide. I promise I can be flexible...sometimes?

Fully Oriented

Just got home from the orientation session for my triathlon training program! I can't decide if I'm more or less overwhelmed? I did get most of my questions answered...because, yes, I was the person asking them.

The leaders emphasized the flexibility of the program which I definitely feel better about. It sound like the keys are: do the workouts when you need to, don't do the same discipline 2 days in a row, if you skip, skip the shorter of the two workouts in that discipline that week, don't take a few days off but then jump into a really long workout, etc.

The program is set up not to increase the workout lengths by more than 10% every week. I likely won't reduce my workout lengths but when my distances/times sync up with the plan, I'll stick with the 10% increases. I'll also stick with the workout phases. The first 2 months are 3 weeks of workouts, 1 week of active recovery, then it switches to 4 to 1.

They also emphasized heart rate zone training. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. In the first month, all the workouts are supposed to in zones 1 to 2 or 3. Using the basic max heart calculation of 220 - age, my max heart rate should be 194. Zone 1 is 50% to 60% of max HR, so 97 to 116. That's like walking. I'm not even sure if that's a brisk walk. The first workout on the schedule is a 36 minute swim in HR zone 1 to 2. My last swim workout was about 50 minutes and averaged a HR of 147 (HR zone 3) and maxed out at 165 (HR zone 4).  I don't really feel like doing less than that...so I probably won't.

I'm definitely still overwhelmed by the amount of gear and equipment necessary.  It sounds like there will be plenty of clinics coming up to address that  what you really need versus want but I could see this getting very expensive very quickly.

Also they tried to emphasize that triathlons are all about balance...balancing the 3 disciplines, balancing work life, social life and workouts...I've never been very good at balance....this could be an issue.

Doing everything I know I shouldn't...

So I mentioned the other day that I was having some residual foot pain from the 7 mile run my cousin and I did last weekend. In actuality, I've had some level of pain in that foot for approximately the last three years. A few years ago I saw a podiatrist about the issue who thought it might have been the sesamoid bones.  I had X-rays done which did not show any issues and was basically told to wear Danskos all the time (note, I'm 26, 5 feet tall and female...clearly that didn't happen).

Over the last few months as I've been more active my foot has only bothered me more and more. I put off scheduling another appointment for quite a while, mostly because I've been scared of what I was going to be told! But I finally bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine specialist through Student Health. (How weird is it that I'm back to going to "student health" and that they have a sports medicine specialist on staff?)

The doctor I met with took me a bit more seriously than the last, which I appreciated. As a first step she sent me over to the hospital to have x-rays taken and we scheduled a follow up appointment for next Friday. If she cannot determine the cause of my pain from the x-rays I will then, likely, need to have an MRI.

Fortunately I was able to get right over to the hospital and have the x-rays taken. Naturally I also requested a copy of them to bring home....

So now I'm googling x-ray images of healthy feet and comparing to my own. This kind of stuff is why past doctors have explicitly forbidden me from googling or researching on my own! This one doesn't know me well enough yet...

Anyone know how to read x-rays?

Looks like a foot to me?

Unfortunately I don't have a medical degree so none of this actually means anything to me. Seems like I'll have to wait until next week to learn more. Oh and bonus, the doctor mentioned what I thought was a bruise could potentially be either a result of this foot pain...or melanoma and may need to be biopsied. So the waiting this week is going to be fun. 

Time to go run now...(I wasn't told I couldn't)!

Learning to like running

I have always been vehemently anti-running. Growing up on the beach my sisters, friends and I always participated in Junior Lifeguards. I used to tell my instructors I was sick to get out of running at least once a week (to be fair, running on sand is hard)!

When I was in high school and on the field hockey team we were required to run an 8 minute mile. I ran past those same instructors, years later, on the boardwalk. They were so shocked they stopped what they were doing, dropped what they were holding and started clapping. That hockey season was probably the last time I ran. And even then, once we reached an 8 minute mile we didn't have to run laps in practice any more, plus I was the sweeper so I didn't have to run the field quite as much. (And I got to tell the defensive players what to do, pretty much my dream sports position).

So flash forward almost 10 years, my cousin suggests a triathlon and I find myself agreeing. I was fine with the idea of biking and swimming but the running had me scared. In early December, when we were still just contemplating this, I decided to attempt running a 5K to see if I even could!

I can't believe I stopped at 599 calories!

Turns out I could! And no, it didn't take me more than an hour to run 3.1 miles, I felt so good after my run I ended up doing another 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Since then I've run quite a few times and increased my runs from 3 miles to 4 or 5 and most recently 7. Not only that, I've almost even enjoyed them.  It's helps that I'm incredibly fortunate enough to run past some great views.

I particularly enjoyed running along the beach (note, not on the sand because again, that's hard) while I was home for the holidays.

And DC offers it's own impressive views (if you just tilt your head a bit).

Bike ride to nowhere

So apparently winter decided to show up this year. I was so hoping it wouldn't...

On Tuesdays I have two classes, 1:00pm to 3:00pm and 5:00pm to 7:30pm.  I despise ending class at 7:30 but really love the 2 hour break between classes. It's just enough time to get to the gym, workout, shower, change and get back to class. Today I had initially thought to run but after my 7 mile run this weekend and some residual pain in my foot, I decided to bike.

I would much prefer running/biking outside but since it was about 20 degrees today, not including the wind chill, that was definitely out of the question.  I'm kind of conflicted about the whole gym biking situation.  Definitely nice to be out of the cold and I try to still challenge myself with the workout by choosing a relatively high intensity level and selecting a random or hill course.  At the same time I feel like it cannot possibly be as effective as a road biking workout.

On the other hand, I'm so busy right now (2 independent contractor consulting positions, a Graduate Assistant position, school, training, occasionally actually attempting a social life, etc) I like that the gym workouts allow me to multitask. Today I was able to get a decent amount of reading down.  But of course, I have to imagine when you're splitting your focus like that, it's only further taking away from the quality of the training.

Although, I just went back and looked at some of my past bike workouts and my average speed today was on par with previous, flatter, rides (12mph).

Who knew one workout could cause so many conflicting emotions??

PS Please vote in the poll on the right hand side of the blog! Love the Facebook updates? Hate the Facebook updates? Let me know!

This is why I shouldn't be given too much information...

I have so many questions and no one to answer them!

The organization running the training program Vic and I are doing just posted the training plans!  The actual orientation for the program isn't until next Saturday (at 7am...ugh) and technically the training doesn't begin until Jan 29th.  So now I just have all these questions and I have to wait for answers (I hate waiting).

Some of my questions include:

• If I'm already running/swimming/biking longer than is prescribed on the training plan, should I keep up with what I can already do, or stick with plan?
• Can I swap workouts around across the week?
• When we get up to working out 6 days a week, can I take a different day as my "off" day?
• Is there a benefit or detriment to stick with my current strength training workouts on the off days?
• When we get up to working out 6 days a week, should I do strength training in addition to the running/swimming/biking or forgo it all together?
• If I can't bike outside, any tips on using the gym bikes? Settings? Resistance? Hills? etc
• What if I have to miss the training tri? Will there be other opportunities to practice transitions?
• All the plans only have run/swim/bike times, what distances should we be expected to accomplish within those times?
• How soon after the goal race can we expect to be able to complete another race? 
• I saw the first happy hour is a block from my apartment, how do I make sure the future ones are as well?

I'm sure there are other things I need/want to know, this is just what I came up with in the first five minutes, and it doesn't include the questions I assume will be covered the various bike maintenance/nutrition/gear buying/etc clinics. 

Very much looking forward to getting the answers to these questions and getting started!

Because you can't stop at 6.93...

So as I mentioned yesterday my cousin and I decided to attempt a 10k as our Saturday workout.  I found a 6.2 mile run already mapped out on mapmyrun.com which started at my cousin's house and has us running through the District. This was the route we set out to do:

This is the route we actually ran:

In general we stuck pretty closely to the route.  It was beautiful day and in just a few miles got to see quite a bit of DC.  We ran past embassies, ambassador's houses, the Vice-President's residence, through residential, urban and historical areas. Turns out it's really difficult to follow a route on your phone while running though so there was a detour or two. It all worked out in our favor because it actually pushed us to run 7 miles.  I contemplated walking at 6.5 and doing the last 1/2 mile as a cool down but I'm really happy I pushed through that. (Dad, before you say anything, we did do a cool down/stretch but I turned the GPS tracking off for that).

We certainly didn't set any speed records but I'll take an average 10:00/mile.  Also, that last mile or so was all uphill. Oh, and these are just my times. Vic had to show me up and sprint up the last hill. We got back to Vic's house with 6.93 miles behind us, so clearly couldn't stop until we hit an even 7.

It was definitely a challenge but I was pretty happy with the pay off. (Although a little bitter Vic burned more than 300 calories more than me!)

Blackened Tilapia Tacos at Surfside!

So here's how this should work

The last few weekends my cousin, Vic, and I have set out on various longer workouts, more on those later. This week we're attempting a 10k or 6.2 mile run.  In fact, I should be getting ready for that instead of typing this post!

I wasn't kidding yesterday when I said this was my first time running 5 miles. I actually maxed out at 5.5 miles while I was home in NJ over winter break. As my Dad can attest, I've always been vehemently anti-running so I'm going to need that peer pressure I mentioned to get me through this!

Here's the route we're planning to run today:

It is a 6.2 mile route through parts of DC including Georgetown, Glover Park, Woodley Park and West End.

It has a total ascent of 229.66 ft and maximum elevation of 301.84 and includes a "Category 5" climb.  These are things that make me particularly nervous since the longer runs I've done were at the beach in New Jersey, essentially flat and at sea level!

The plan is to stop typing up this post, get my butt in gear (running so far behind) and start this run in the next 40 minutes.  Ideally I'll be back here in the next day or two with details on how it went!

Because I believe a little peer pressure is a good thing

So I'm resurrecting the blog.

My cousin and I recently decided to attempt a triathlon. We started "training" for it by doing things like swimming laps for the first time in ten years and running 5 miles for the first time...ever.  We also signed up for an actual training program that starts next Saturday.  The training program is set up for a goal race on June 2nd and, if things go according to plan, we hope to do a few more across the season. Right now I'm 85 percent committed to the Olympic distance race (.93m/1500m swim, 25m/40km bike, 6.2/10km run). At the very least I'll start that training program and can drop down to Sprint distance (.5m/800m swim, 12.5m/20km bike, 3.1m/5k run) if necessary.

I'm planning to use this blog to write about my training experiences, hold myself accountable and basically peer pressure myself into seeing this sucker through. So for anyone that still checks this thing, what would you like to know about triathlon training? What would you like to see? Before/after photos? Run/bike routes?

Oh and by the way, for those that don't know, I actually am still in health care.  I'm currently attending Georgetown getting my Master's in Health System Administration. So who knows, occasionally I might post something about that as well (also I'm too busy/lazy to set up a new blog or figure out how to change the name).