The things I do for family...

Yep, on my tip toes

Today is my cousin's 25th birthday!  It is for that reason, and that reason only, I ran almost 6 miles outside today.  It is about 3 degrees here (ok, 30, but still) and I had already ready mentally committed to getting today's training run in on the treadmill. In fact, I had mentally committed to not running outside in temps under about 45!  But Vic wanted to run around the Mall today so run around the Mall we did.

We set out with no grand plan in mind or distance in mind. That was actually nice, I usually know how far we're going to run and then start feeling "over it" when I'm about two-thirds of the way through the run, whether it's a 3 mile run or 6 mile run.

Miles 2 & 3 miles were a real struggle for me.  The first mile was fast but then I was hating life by the second mile. Eventually I got into it and actually really enjoyed the run.

Other than the first few minutes when I turned my tracking app on before Vic was ready...my pace was actually pretty consistent (except that darn 3rd mile).

Because of the tracking app issue my overall speed is incorrect but I feel pretty confident it was below a 10 min/mile!

Training plan - 36 minute run

My plan - treadmill run, shooting for something longer than 36 minutes

Actual - 5.7 mile birthday run!

I eat like a kindergartener

Ideally I eat every 2 to 4 hours. Basically I'm hungry every 2 hours, try to make myself wait 3 hours to eat and can push it to 4 but I might not be any fun to be around. On weekends in addition to my constant snacking I often eat a "snack lunch."

Basically eat a lot of little things instead of one meal like a sandwich. Today was turkey with laughing cow cheese, PB2 with Wasa Crackers and an apple with cinnamon and sugar (ok - splenda baking blend but whatever).

You might have noticed I called my Friday lunch a "weekend" lunch. One of my favorite things about my grad school is that we never have classes on Fridays! So may weekends generally begin at 9am Friday morning.  One would think they begin Thursday evening, but you would be wrong. I often have to attend meetings at the hospital from 7am until 9am.  Not an ideal start to your weekend, but I'll take it.

To be fair, I often spend my Fridays (and every other Monday when we also do not have class) getting all my work for the week accomplished.

Training plan - off

My plan - first it was strength training, then it was at least an hour on the bike, then I thought maybe yoga

Actual - a whopping 3.47 miles on the bike; a good 15 seconds of yoga #trainingfail

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?