Training weekend
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
I haven't had much to write about lately. My brain was overloaded all week because I had to prepare for my Nutrition assessment/medical nutrition therapy mid term exam. I took it yesterday and I will find out the results in a week or so. It was incredibly hard and I don't think I did too well. Karel said that if I knew everything I wouldn't need to be in school. I agree with Karel but I just get so frustrated that this material does not come too easily with me. Right now I am learning about feeding tube diets, liquid diets for people in the hospital, assessing people for different nutritional disorders and learning how to plan interventions and monitor and evaluate patients. My dietetic program has nothing to do with sports nutrition but what I am loving about my school is that I am learning valuable information that will prepare me for the clinical world of dietetics. I guess anyone can call themselves a nutritionist or sport nutritionist with some knowledge or passion in nutrition but in the long run, all this stress and education overload will be worth it. Although I had a higher GPA in grad school compare to undergrad, I always felt like I struggled with my courses in graduate school. Even though I understand exercise physiology so much better now than in graduate school (I think being a triathlete helped), I am hoping that one day (probably in my internship) that this will all click and the hands on experience will make me a better sports nutritionist.
Anyways...
This weekend was all about training....and a lot of rain. Luckily, I was able to get in 2 quality workouts this weekend.
Sat morning I drove down the road to bike/run with my friend Katrine. We headed out on our bikes for an easy spin at 7:30. We went 1 hour at a really slow speed but it was a nice warm-up for our run. My legs were super sore from swimming and running on Friday morning and my legs really needed to warm-up for our run. BTW-swimming has been great lately! Super fast and lots of yardage. I told our swim coach that I need to work on my threshold and I need less rest between sets. Well, she listened to me and because of my suggestion we have been doing awesome sets with little rest.
Back to the workout on sat, after our bike we grabbed our fuel belts, running shoes, visors and garmins (did I mention I am really obsessed with my Garmin!!!) and headed out for our run. We averaged around 8:15 pace for the 11 mile run and finished in around 1:30. It was a comfortable run with mile 7 at a 7:35 min/mile pace (just to pick it up for a bit). After the run we walked to the pool at her condo and soaked in the cold water. After the dip in the pool, we picked wild blackberries in a forest by her house. YUM!
After the workout I went home, had breakfast and studied for a few hours. It was storming outside so it made it easy to stay indoors but then a few hours later it was time to take my mid term exam which took an hour and 15 min. After that stress, it was time to get out so Campy and I visited Karel at the trek store.
This morning I could hardly walk from my run and I was moving super slow on the early morning walk with Campy at 5:45am. Karel was nice enough to join me on a group ride with Libby and Katrine, and several other riders. It was a new ride for me and a new group but this time, I wasn't nervous. I was really thankful Karel was joining me cause he always boosts my confidence. Karel and I met Katrine at her place and headed 7 miles down the road to meet with the group of around 15 riders. It is Libby's b-day today so I was happy to see her on the ride and wish her happy b-day. she is getting ready for her IM in 2 weeks.
The ride was super steady at around 22-25 mph. NO slower and no faster...except when Karel was pulling the group at 27mph. It was really tough for me because I have not trained like that in a while. Pushing hard for almost 4 hours, on my already tired legs, was super tough for me. I wanted to give up on the last 10 miles and just pop off the back but I stuck on a wheel at hung on. We all took turns pulling so that was fun..except when Karel pulled :)
It was a great ride and I was happy to be back at Katrine's place. My last 7 miles were super slow but I had no power left. We ended up with 76 miles and it was great to be off my bike.
Then it was time for a run. I never pass up an opportunity to run off my bike. Even if I am feeling super super tired after a bike, I at least get in a mile or 10 min. just to run with tired legs.
I 100% believe in brick workouts (at least 1 during the week) and I really recommend running off the bike after long rides (or 1-2 rides a week for the short distance triathletes). There is just something so mental about riding hard and then telling yourself that it is time to run. Just like in an Ironman, it doesn't matter how bad you feel off the bike, you have a marathon to run after the bike.
My run off the bike was great. I ran in the pouring down rain (luckily it didn't rain in the bike) and ran consistent 8:13-8:15 mile splits for 3 miles. After a 30 min. run and 3.5 miles, I was back at Katrine's, soaking wet, super hot, covered in dirt (from the bike) and ready for a shower!
Well, there's my weekend. I'm tired but I am feeling good. Ironman Kentucky is in 2 1/2 months and I am getting ready for my first BIG build of my Ironman training. I've put in so many quality hours of hard training but with the progression of Ironman training, I anticipate that my weekend workouts are going to get longer and even more exhausting.
Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and have a great Monday.
Of course, my weekend is not complete without quality time with my Campy
Anyways...
This weekend was all about training....and a lot of rain. Luckily, I was able to get in 2 quality workouts this weekend.
Sat morning I drove down the road to bike/run with my friend Katrine. We headed out on our bikes for an easy spin at 7:30. We went 1 hour at a really slow speed but it was a nice warm-up for our run. My legs were super sore from swimming and running on Friday morning and my legs really needed to warm-up for our run. BTW-swimming has been great lately! Super fast and lots of yardage. I told our swim coach that I need to work on my threshold and I need less rest between sets. Well, she listened to me and because of my suggestion we have been doing awesome sets with little rest.
Back to the workout on sat, after our bike we grabbed our fuel belts, running shoes, visors and garmins (did I mention I am really obsessed with my Garmin!!!) and headed out for our run. We averaged around 8:15 pace for the 11 mile run and finished in around 1:30. It was a comfortable run with mile 7 at a 7:35 min/mile pace (just to pick it up for a bit). After the run we walked to the pool at her condo and soaked in the cold water. After the dip in the pool, we picked wild blackberries in a forest by her house. YUM!
After the workout I went home, had breakfast and studied for a few hours. It was storming outside so it made it easy to stay indoors but then a few hours later it was time to take my mid term exam which took an hour and 15 min. After that stress, it was time to get out so Campy and I visited Karel at the trek store.
This morning I could hardly walk from my run and I was moving super slow on the early morning walk with Campy at 5:45am. Karel was nice enough to join me on a group ride with Libby and Katrine, and several other riders. It was a new ride for me and a new group but this time, I wasn't nervous. I was really thankful Karel was joining me cause he always boosts my confidence. Karel and I met Katrine at her place and headed 7 miles down the road to meet with the group of around 15 riders. It is Libby's b-day today so I was happy to see her on the ride and wish her happy b-day. she is getting ready for her IM in 2 weeks.
The ride was super steady at around 22-25 mph. NO slower and no faster...except when Karel was pulling the group at 27mph. It was really tough for me because I have not trained like that in a while. Pushing hard for almost 4 hours, on my already tired legs, was super tough for me. I wanted to give up on the last 10 miles and just pop off the back but I stuck on a wheel at hung on. We all took turns pulling so that was fun..except when Karel pulled :)
It was a great ride and I was happy to be back at Katrine's place. My last 7 miles were super slow but I had no power left. We ended up with 76 miles and it was great to be off my bike.
Then it was time for a run. I never pass up an opportunity to run off my bike. Even if I am feeling super super tired after a bike, I at least get in a mile or 10 min. just to run with tired legs.
I 100% believe in brick workouts (at least 1 during the week) and I really recommend running off the bike after long rides (or 1-2 rides a week for the short distance triathletes). There is just something so mental about riding hard and then telling yourself that it is time to run. Just like in an Ironman, it doesn't matter how bad you feel off the bike, you have a marathon to run after the bike.
My run off the bike was great. I ran in the pouring down rain (luckily it didn't rain in the bike) and ran consistent 8:13-8:15 mile splits for 3 miles. After a 30 min. run and 3.5 miles, I was back at Katrine's, soaking wet, super hot, covered in dirt (from the bike) and ready for a shower!
Well, there's my weekend. I'm tired but I am feeling good. Ironman Kentucky is in 2 1/2 months and I am getting ready for my first BIG build of my Ironman training. I've put in so many quality hours of hard training but with the progression of Ironman training, I anticipate that my weekend workouts are going to get longer and even more exhausting.
Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and have a great Monday.
Of course, my weekend is not complete without quality time with my Campy
