Last week was race week! Each of us has the power of choice. What choices are you making today to make your life better? I made some choices last week that definitely made my life better…biking outside, running a race, hugging my twin nieces for the first time in over a year, and showing up for myself ESPECIALLY when I considered skipping out on multiple occasions.
Quote of the week:
“Choice is the most powerful tool we have. Everything boils down to choice. We exist in a field of infinite possibilities. Every choice we make shuts an infinite number of doors and opens an infinite number of doors. At any point we can change the direction of our lives by a simple choice.”
~unknown
Swim: 11,000 yards
Thursday’s swim workout had me progressively getting faster with each set of 200s. To complete this swim workout, you need to know your critical swim speed (CSS). My CSS is 1:45/100 yards (although I should probably do a CSS test soon as this seemed a little slow for me Thursday morning), so for the first 4x200s the goal was to swim 1:51/100 yards or 3:42 total time for each of the 4x200s. I went into this swim choosing to feel strong and powerful, so by the time I reached the 2x200s, I was swimming at my CSS instead of CSS+2 as planned. This set me up for a solid 200 at an all out effort to wrap up the main set.
Warm up:
100 swim with fins (20 sec rest)
100 kick with fins (20 sec rest)
100 pull (20 sec rest)
4×50 drills (20 sec rest)
Main Set:
4×200 at CSS+6 sec (20 sec rest)
3×200 at CSS+4 sec (20 sec rest)
2×200 at CSS+2 sec (20 sec rest)
1×200 ALL OUT EFFORT (try to be sub CSS)
Cool Down:
200 any stroke
When you refuse to believe anything can stop you from achieving your dreams, you give your dreams wings. Spread your wings and soar! 💙💛🦋
Bike: 149 miles
Tuesday I chose to ride outside instead of in the basement on the trainer and this choice definitely made my day better! Making the choice to get vaccinated made Tuesday even better, because I got to hug my mama for the first time in 16 months! Thank you science! 🥳 If you want different results, make different choices. 💛💙
#happyheart
Run: 21.6 miles
Saturday I was SO STOKED because I got to race AGAIN IRL! It was INSANELY windy and SO SPICY HOT, but I didn’t even care because I got to race again! I chose to run this entire race at my pace (except walking through the aid stations to make sure I was taking in plenty of fluids in the heat of the day), which allowed me to pass many people who went out way too fast in these spicy hot temps. I’ll have a full race report later this week!
I got to cross another start line and a spicy hot finish line Saturday! Running strong for 13.1 miles in 87F with 50 mph winds and full sun at 2 pm is no joke, but it was SO AWESOME to GET to race again! 💙💛
SUP: 0.8 miles
I LOVE spending time in and on the water! I am SO happy to have had amazing weather to get out on the water for the first time in 2021!
Recovery days with time on the water fill my heart and soul with joy! 💙💛
Strength Training: 15 minutes of core strength daily 2×30 minute full body workouts 2×30 minutes of yoga
Weekly Totals: 19 hours & 36 minutes
Attitude of Gratitude:
Thank you Nick, with Vitality Massage, for keeping me healthy and active!
I knew it was going to be a good week when I saw a smile on the pavement on my way into work Monday. 🥳
I love my “blanket” so much! 🐶🥰
Friday was a perfect 10 to ride all the miles! We don’t get many days with temps in the low 70s and winds at only 5 mph, so we HAD to take advantage of it and get out on the open roads. 87 miles later… #happyheart 💙💛
Last week we got 9+ inches of fresh powder on Monday night/Tuesday morning and IT. WAS. AWESOME! I empowered myself to do what fuels my soul instead of starving myself. I opted for fresh air, fresh powder, blazing new trails, sunsets, joy, outdoor adventures, and family time to fuel my soul nearly every day last week. 💙❄️ Sadly the fresh powder was destroyed by freezing rain on Saturday night, so our snow therapy has come to a screeching halt for a while.
These two have snow much fun playing in the fluffy powder! 💙❄️🐶
Quote of the week:
“There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on.”
~Carol Rifka Brunt
Swim: 0 yards
We woke up Tuesday for swimming, but our street was completely drifted over nearly waist deep, so there was no way we were getting to the pool to swim. Thursday’s and Friday’s swims…well, playing in the snow took priority over diving into the pool. Sunday we were notified that that the pool was closed due to low chlorine levels, so I guess I’ll have to look forward to all the chlorine therapy this week!
Bike: 0 miles
I wasn’t on my bike at all last week because well…the fresh powder was calling me and sometimes you just have to listen to the call.
Run: 5.7 miles
Monday’s treadmill run incorporated some speed work. I haven’t gotten to the track to do an actual 5K time trial to see where my current threshold is, so I guessed on where I thought it might be and used that to determine where my pace should be for this run.
15 minute warm up in Z1/Z2
4×4 minutes Z4 with 4 min Z1/2 recovery
Cool down to 50 minutes
I decided to shoot for 7.5 mph (which is 7:59/mile at 1.0 incline) for the Z4 intervals. The first interval felt easy (hello Mama Bear pace), but I knew I had three more to go, so I didn’t want to be overzealous and push too hard too soon (hello Papa Bear pace). I wanted to push these intervals at a pace that was just right (hello Baby Bear pace) leaving me feeling like I had barely held on during the last interval. While the last interval was more challenging than the first, I still felt strong. I felt that I could have run more repeats or run these intervals at a faster pace, so I guess I ran the Mama Bear pace after all. Next time I am going to attempt 7.7 mph (7:47/mile pace at 1.0 incline) or 7.8 mph. (7:41/mile pace at 1.0 incline) if I don’t get to the track to do a 5K time trial first to know where my threshold actually is!
I can choose to dream in my sleep or work to turn my dreams into a reality.
Snowshoe: 13.1 miles
We went snowshoeing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons/evenings. Oh…and we went out Saturday morning before the rain/freezing rain/ice mix rolled into our area. Our entire family LOVES us some good snow therapy! 💙❄️
Snow what?! Our family LOVES snow therapy! 💙❄️
Strength Training: 15 minutes of core strength daily 30 minute full body workouts
Weekly Totals: 9 hours & 15 minutes
Attitude of Gratitude:
Excited to toe the line in October! 🤞🏻
It’s snow joke! We HAD to go play in the 9 inches of fresh powder! 💙❄️
Snowshoeing at sunset fuels my soul! 💙❄️
Chasing these two trail blazers makes my heart dance! 💙❄️🐶
How can one not love this?! #happyheart 💙❄️
Do you want to snow a secret?! These two are snow angels, but they win best in snow because they have a real winter’s attitude, are all bark and snow bite, and will melt your heart because they are snow lovable!! 💙❄️🐶
There’s snow doubt that today we had snow much fun playing in the powder and fresh air! We are snow grateful to have friends join us on our adventure! 💙❄️🐶
You snow the drill! 5th day in a row adventuring with the family in the fluffy white powder! 💙❄️🐶
Our version of The Beatles cover photo of Abbey Road.
What were your highlights from week 4 of 2021?! How do you fuel your soul?!
WOW! After the inauguration on Wednesday, I felt a huge sense of relief as it feels like 2021 has finally started. As I mentioned in my week 2 post, I had a huge bike block in December, so my swimming, running, strength training, and yoga took a major backseat at the end of 2020. It’s not that I ignored them completely, but they definitely weren’t a priority as my training was very bike focused in December. After doing minimal training for the first couple weeks of January, last week was about re-establishing balance, routine, and consistency in my training…and it feels AWESOME! After all, CONSISTENCY is key to success!
Quote of the week:
“You are what you do consistently, not what you do occasionally.”
~Robbie Bruce
Swim: 9200 yards
The swim of the week was Thursday’s 2800 yard swim with the focus being best effort for quite a bit of it. Crazy 8s is a workout that I love to hate…
8×150 descending pace (increasing effort) with 20 seconds rest between…each 150 interval should be slightly faster than the last one finishing with the last 150 at max effort
1 minute rest break
8×50 on the 1:00…each of these 50s should be at max effort. (If you swim 45 seconds, then you have a 15 second rest. If you swim 50 seconds, then you have a 10 second rest.)
1 minute rest break
8×25 sprints with 10 seconds rest between…each of these 25s should be at max effort
Cool down = 200 yards
Cool down = 200 yards
Focusing on my form and concentrating on LIMITLESS during those hard intervals kept me giving my absolute best effort that I had in the moment.
You can choose to be a shark or a guppy. Today was shark day!
Bike: 106 miles
Despite having lost a bit of bike fitness from the summer, I am focusing on INTEGRITY in my training. I am training where I am and being grateful for the little wins every single day. If you know me, I’m not a fan of staying in the comfort zone for long, so I have begun working toward one of my goals which is to increase my FTP in the coming months. Thursday I was rocking my 1 hour & 10 minute workout with 3×10 minutes in high Z3/low Z4, so I felt it only right to host my own little dance party off the bike. Using Zwift, I set this workout up so that each 10 minute interval was a bit more challenging than the last.
10 minute warm up
5x (1 minute at 75% FTP/Z2 and 1 minute at 50% FTP/Z1)
3 minutes at 50% FTP/Z1
10 minutes at 80% FTP/Z3
3 minutes at 50% FTP/Z1
10 minutes at 85% FTP/Z3
3 minutes at 50% FTP/Z1
10 minutes at 90% FTP/Z4
11 minutes cool down
Dance party! When you have a great ride, you should celebrate with a little happy dance off the bike!
Run: 21.1 miles
I have a goal to add more running into my training in 2021 to increase my run durability. This will help build strength in my legs and condition them to better handle a stronger and faster finish on race day. Of the 5 runs I completed last week, only 2 of them had any kind of intensity to them and 3 of them where 35 minutes or less. The key to run durability is frequent, shorter, easy runs. I am grateful for the treadmill to keep me honest on these runs as sometimes it is really hard for me to keep my easy runs easy…especially when running outside. Wednesday was my long (1 hour + 5 minutes) progression run. After a 5 minute warm up, the main set was to get faster by 10-20 seconds every 5 minutes and then end with a 5 minute cool down. This run really helped build my CONFIDENCE and helped me BELIEVE that I can get some speed back in my legs. I increased my speed by 1.5 mph over the course of the main set.
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr
Strength Training: 15 minutes of core strength daily 3×30 minute full body workouts 2×30 minutes of yoga
Weekly Totals: 16 hours & 57 minutes
Attitude of Gratitude:
Jersey doesn’t like Mondays
Combatting Blue Monday with fresh air, sunshine, snowshoes, exercise, friends, and dogs.
I got to swim, bike, and run all in the same day! INTEGRITY…training with where I’m at not where I think I should be.
Snuggles with our baby girl! #happyheart
Today we celebrate the opportunity for change, hope, and healing. Seeing a Woman of Color sworn in as Vice President of the United States of America brought so many happy tears to my eyes.
Wow! What a month! What a truly AMAZING month! It filled my coeur (heart) with pure love, joy, and happiness!
Racing:
Ironman Mont Tremblant was so much fun! A great venue, a great day, beautiful weather, patience, and following my coeur lead me to a near perfect race execution and a shiny new PR. You can experience my day via my race report.
So much coeur on this course! #bikelove
Training:
Due to racing Ironman Mont Tremblant, there wasn’t much training done in August. The little training we did do was in beautiful places…Lake Placid, NY and Mont Tremblant, Quebec!
Swimming in Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, NY
Riding Chemin Duplessis in Mont Tremblant…such a beautiful bike course!
Running on the IM Mont Tremblant course…SO BEAUTIFUL!
Swim: 12.5 miles
Bike: 260 miles
Run: 51 miles
Loving:
Family + spending the majority of August on vacation (we left July 25 and didn’t return home until August 22) = #happyheart
Swimming with my fave in Lake Placid!
My family from California came came for a few days! #happyheart
Love these three monkeys!
Family snuggles
We went to the top on the gondola again!
Getting ready to ride the luge in the summer!
These peeps hold 4 keys to my heart!
Love these peeps!
So grateful to have Dad and Aunt Linda come spend time with us in Mont Tremblant and cheer us on to PRs on race day!
So grateful to have Dad come on crazy adventures with us!
Feeling:
Rejuvenated! Spending a month on vacation was a great way to see new places, refill my heart, and prepare for the coming school year.
Listening to:
The Voice of Ironman Mike Reilly is an incredible podcast! It is so amazing to hear about Ironman from his perspective. The finish lines, the atmosphere, the energy!
Own Your Awesome Podcast with Amy Dixon is so inspirational! Amy lost her sight, but gained so much more as a result. Amy is a blind triathlete who recently became the first women to complete an Xterra triathlon. She is a paratriathlete who will be competing at Worlds in Rotterdam in September and has her heart set on on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She is a motivational speaker and when you listen to her, you will know why!
Returning to:
Work…yes, the dreaded 4 letter word for a teacher at the end of summer vacation! I am very grateful to have such a good job with summers off to enjoy time with family and friends! The beginning of the year is so exhausting, but I will be back into a consistent routine soon enough!
Looking forward to:
The changing seasons…I love summer, but I also love the beautiful fall colors and adventures with my fave and our girls in the snow! I’m looking forward to the opportunities that fall and winter bless us with (remind me of this in February when I’m ready for it to be summer again)! I am also looking forward to returning to a consistent routine. It has been fun to have a break from this routine, but I am definitely ready to have routine and normalcy (for us) back in our lives!
How was your month of August? What were your August highlights? What are you looking forward to?
Hello race week! Where did you come from?! I Have been awaiting your arrival for so long! Now that you are here, I’m kind of wishing time would slow down a bit so we could savor this a bit longer!
We made it to Mont Tremblant last Monday and have filled our week with tapering workouts, family time, and relaxation.
Swim: 2187 yards
We got to swim in one of the most cleanest, nicest pools ever in Mont Tremblant! Why can’t we have an indoor facility like this in Ames?!
Bike: 31.5 miles
Riding in our condo thanks to the rain outside.
Putting in some work, but alas the storms showed up and cut our work a bit short for this ride!
Run: 14.7 miles
Getting my happy on with my last double digit run done before race day in this beautiful place!
These running/biking trails are spectacular!
Running with my fave for a few miles to shake out the legs post massage.
Strength Training: 10 minutes of core most days
Weekly Totals: 5 hours & 54 minutes
Weekly Positives:
Crossing the border into Canada!
Arriving at our condo…look at this view!
Riding the gondola to the top of the hills to look out over Mont Tremblant!
The top! These views!
This amazing pizza…I’m dreaming about it!
Getting a pre-race massage at our condo. Melanie Jardot did a FANTASTIC job. HIGHLY recommend her for massage if you are in need of one in Mont Tremblant!
My family from California came came for a few days! #happyheart
Love these three monkeys!
Family snuggles
We went to the top on the gondola again!
Getting ready to ride the luge in the summer!
Riding into the village…that is the Ironman tent in the background!
Taking a quick gander at the Ironman Village as it gets set up!
Enjoying a beer by the fire after babysitting the nieces so my sister and brother-in-law could enjoy a date night!
Quote of the Week:
My heart is full of happiness, love, and gratitude!
Not sure how this happened, but we are inside of 100 days until Ironman Wisconsin. I guess time flies when you’re having fun!!
Monday:
Since we both had the day off work and we weren’t on a rigid schedule, we slept in and completed our workouts at different times throughout the day. We went to the gym at about 9:20 am for an hour strength training session. It was nice not to have many people at the gym since they weren’t officially open. We have a 24/7 key and can go to the gym anytime we want to do strength training and use the cardio equipment. This does not give us access to the pool anytime we want, so after our strength training, we went to the outdoor pool for our swim. It was SO AWESOME to get to finally swim outdoors!! After refueling, we hopped on the bike for 75 minutes of saddle time. We knew there were storms coming, so we opted for the trainer so we could get some yard work and house work done after our workout. With a couple more days of work, we prepared for the coming week, went to shower at our friends’ house (since we still didn’t have a working hot water heater) and then it was early to bed.
Tuesday:
We took today as a rest day since we had put in lots of hours last week and knew we were getting a new hot water heater after work. On my way home from work, I met a client for a personal training session, picked up our CSA, stopped at the pharmacy, and picked up a gift card for the person who was installing our hot water heater. It took longer than I imagined to install the hot water heater, but it felt so amazing to shower at home and not have to heat water on the stove to do dishes!!
Wednesday:
Last day of work!! And to celebrate, I went for a bike ride!! It was an ABSOLUTELY PERFECT day to be in the saddle and on the open road/trail!!
Serious #bikelove in my FAVORITE Coeur Sports kit!!
Thursday:
Happy first day of summer break!! We woke up at 4:30 am (yes, you read that correctly, I still got up early to workout with the Iron Hippie) and ran hill repeats with the sunrise + my two faves!! It was the perfect start to my day!! I spent most of the morning doing house work (vacuuming, laundry, and dishes) before going to the outdoor pool to swim at 11 am. There were a lot of people in the pool, but it was so peaceful to have my head in the water, the sun shining on my back, and not a care in the world about trying to rush off to whatever is next. After my swim, I made lunch, cleaned our veggies from our CSA, took an epsom salt bath, and did more laundry before the Iron Hippie came home from work. We capped the night off with TRX and refueling before bed.
Friday:
It was another early morning and so peaceful to start my day in the 50 meter pool!! The long course + sunrise + quiet morning = #happyheart I consumed my breakfast smoothie on the way home from the pool. I had just enough time to get an easy hour in on the bike (trainer style) and shower before meeting a client for a personal training session. I went grocery shopping for the coming week on my way home…it is so nice to go during the week and not have to fight the crowds of people on the weekends. After eating lunch, I took the dogs for a walk and spent the afternoon relaxing, catching up on email and blogging. The Iron Hippie and I went downtown in the evening for the local “Art Walk,” where each downtown business sponsors a local artist for 3 hours. It is crazy how many different artists there are in our area!!
Folk dancers at the downtown “Art Walk”
Locals knitted a square to be hung as part of a quilt on the outside of a local business
Saturday:
We started the day with a 10 mile run, which I was hoping to average a 9:00/mile pace for…nailed it!! After making a quick smoothie with whey protein, for recovery, we rode our bikes to yoga in the park. Every Saturday from now until the first weekend in August (except July 4th weekend), Ames offers free yoga at Bandshell Park from 10-11 am. It is a great opportunity for people new to yoga to try it for free! For those who love yoga, it is a great opportunity to practice yoga outdoors with others! When we came home, we devoured food, did yard work, cleaned the house, did laundry, and then it was nap time!! It has been a while since I took an afternoon nap on the weekends, but my body loved it!! After my nap it was time for dinner and froyo before bed. It was great to meet my #solesister and her kids for some froyo!!
Basil cooling down in the shade post running. Love her!!
Sunday:
I was a bit tired, so I slept in and then completed the 3x(60 min bike + 20 min run) by myself. I set up the trainer in the driveway since each brick was supposed to be slightly harder (higher zone) and faster. This would allow me consistency and not have to worry about traffic/traffic lights/wind speeds to go harder with each one. I also ran the same route off the bike each time to try to go a bit farther with each run. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” was the theme for this workout. In the middle of brick #2, the wheels fell off…it became REALLY hard and I wasn’t sure if I could do brick #3. When I came back from run #2, I climbed back on the bike and reached out to multiple friends to encourage and motivate me to #nevergiveup on this workout, even though it wasn’t going as planned. With their encouragement and support, I pushed through and finished this workout. I seriously hope that our 70.3 race in 2 weeks is much easier than this workout!! After refueling and spending over an hour just laying in the recliner, I decided to move and take an epsom salt bath. We then did a little shopping for the coming week, took the dogs to Peterson Pits so they could swim, gave them baths in the driveway to wash the fishy water away, grabbed some leftovers for dinner, and met some friends for froyo. It was great to sit outside and chat with them while enjoying some froyo!!
Weekly Totals: 18 hours and 1 minute
Swim: 7907 yards (the 50 meter pool throws my yardage off during the summer) Bike: 122 miles Run: 24.8 miles Strength Training: 2 hours & 15 minutes Yoga: 1 hour
Quote of the Week:
“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger. ” ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Basil walking toward the Supermoon on a rural gravel road.
October:
Signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2016!
300+ 8th grade students ready for the AMS Spirit Run!
Fall #bikelove is the best 🙂
Date night with the Iron Hippie as we work on our strength training
Finding some motivation with my #IMWI finisher medal and race bib on the wall next to me as I ride
Lots of #heartandcourage as I heal up from bursitis of the my left knee
Taking the dogs for a swim
Nailing my intervals on the trainer! #bikelove
Dry needling to assist my healing…thanks to Dr. Chris at Team Chiropractic
Getting our #solesista tattoos 🙂
This ink will be my constant reminder while training and racing to #believe in myself, my abilities and my training!!
November:
Enjoying some outdoor #bikelove in November in Iowa…short sleeves and shorts! WHAT?!?!?!
Century ride in November in Iowa…this amazing weather is unheard of!!
I found out that I made the Coeur Sports 2016 Ambassador Team…Such a badass group of women that I’m overjoyed to be a part of!!
My fitness article on “Giving thanks in an active lifestyle” was a big hit this month in our local magazine 😉
Girl’s night out with some running friends…so much fun 🙂
Outdoor #bikelove lasted through November 14 this year!!
Pleasantly surprised with a Passion Planner from one of my colleagues.
Winter greeted us with a LOT of snow (7.6 inches) for the first snow fall of the season.
Romping and snowshoeing with friends
Riding a motorized animal just because I can 🙂
Spending an afternoon with Mom and Grandma.
December:
Thank you to Simone for my wonderful bracelet!! “Believe, Endure, Achieve” will be my mantra for 2016. It will remind me to #believe in all that I am and to #endure and overcome challenges throughout my journey so I can #achieve big dreams! #dreambig #meaningfulmantras
Looking back at 2015 to move forward in 2016 #goalsetting
Yahoo!! So pumped for my new Roka Sports wetsuit!!
Taking part in Rising Tide Triathlon Coaching’s #rttc10dayroutine Challenge and developing a routine that has helped me #believe in myself deep underneath the surface at the very core of my being. 1. Start my “Believe” playlist…time to get down and jam! 2. Take a couple of swigs of Karma Kombucha Orange Ginger…”I #believe I can fly” 3. Listen to my pep talk (previously recorded) while I pull on my workout gear…”Don’t stop believing” 4. Grab my lucky charm from Tonja and head out the door…”In a world of ordinary mortals, you are a Wonder Woman!” 5. Stand on the front step in power pose for 30 seconds because…I am Wonder Woman!
Finally reconnecting with my mat after 9 months off…#yogalove
Running on a beautiful cold morning with 2 of my faves!
Grandma Annie continues to show up at Christmas and surprise us all with her awesomeness…Our hideous pajama pants were a family favorite this year!
PushMyLimits 