8 week IM Kona countdown update

It felt great to get back into structured training last week. I was a bit nervous for my long ride on Friday (4.5 hours) as it was my first outdoor ride since IM Canada so I recruited my friend/athlete Al to join me for company since Karel is out of town. Karel was in Mont Tremblant supporting our athletes who were racing there (both did amazingly great!). I've also been recruiting my swim partner Kristen for my swims - on Thursday we had a toughy of a workout. The main set was 4000 (after a 500 warm-up) and the workout was a lot of building, pacing and specific intervals to hit. Our arms were super tired at the end!

Although I'm still not run training yet, I did my first run (on the treadmill) this morning - yay! Celebrating the small milestones.

While I've never had a bone related injury, I'm well familiar with soft-tissue injuries and the biggest thing stopping me from running over the past few weeks was the tugging and tightness that I was feeling. While not true pain, it was not comfortable so I didn't want to risk running through it. And I'm not talking about normal muscle soreness uncomfortable but the uncomfortable where I would have to change my gait and put all my attention into my leg/back instead of truly enjoying the run. However, over the past few weeks, I am spending time in the pool with deep water jogging with an aquabelt. I find it helpful to maintain my run fitness but also for neuromuscular control to keep the running movement going. Thankfully I can still bear weight so I am still loading my bones with walking. I feel like I'm making some great progress with me weaknesses - which involve turning off my hamstrings and lower back and learning how to better active my glutes. I've been working with a movement specialist and it's tough stuff! My glutes have been on fire! Although I've wanted to give up on my return to running many times over the past few weeks, I know this is part of being an athlete. Rather than thinking about this process as a return back to running, I see it as a great opportunity to learn more about my body.

Total workout stats last week:
Swim: 19500 yards
Bike: 9:57 hours
Run (water jogging): 2:17
Strength: 90 minutes (not include PT sessions)

It can be tough to stay dedicated to training when you are dealing with a setback but time is going to pass by anyways so you may as well focus on what you can do in the moment so you maintain fitness and strength and build confidence for race day. Plus, training is also exercise (and stress relief) for me and I still find great joy in moving and using my body so I want to dedicate time to myself everyday, doing what I love with my body.

Since it's just been me and the Campster since Wednesday, we have been spending some quality time outside each day. Alongside marketing my second book, I have my next book (third book) deadline approaching so much of my day has been spent writing, writing and writing. I feel like writing a book is a lot like training for an Ironman. It has its highs and lows, there are moments when you can't wait to do another and then you never want to do it again. But someone, you keep going back for more. Yep, that's a lot like writing a book.

This has been a busy time for me with coaching and nutrition consultations. Athletes need a lot more attention and care toward the end of the season and with key races approaching, there's a lot more attention to detail around this time of the year. I've had to cut back my nutrition consultation work load because of this third book that I'm finishing up but the athletes I am currently working with are working hard to make great things happen for race day. I truly love nutrition consulting so I can't wait to get back to my full work load in several weeks.

My scratch cornea is finally healed and I've made up for lost time by taking Campy for lots of walks and doing lots of snuggling (careful as to not scratch my eye again :)

IMKona '18: 10 & 9 days out

After a surprisingly great night of sleep on Tuesday, we woke up just in time for the sunrise while sitting out on the patio enjoying a pre-workout snack. We wasted no time with our first workout on the island and headed straight to "dig me beach" for a 40-minute open water swim. 

Sadly, the water was a bit more cloudy and there weren't a lot of fish. It was also rather warm. However, it still felt amazing to swim in the ocean with the sun shining down on us. 

Karel and I swam an easy 40 minutes (~20 minutes out and back). We kept it fairly easy throughout but built the effort on the way back. The focus was just to move blood after travel and to have fun in the ocean. 

Even though it's still 10 days out from the 2018 IM World Championship, the swim venue was pretty busy. It was nice to be surrounded with so many triathletes from all different parts of the world. Karel is looking forward to connecting with some of his Czech friends next week. 

As we were walking back to our condo, we spotted a turtle! 

A local walked by and told us that she has a name and it's "Sandy." So now when we see a turtle, we say hi to Sandy.

I was craving a hearty breakfast after a day filled with snacking on Tuesday (travel day) so I made us pancakes (with the help of a box of Kodiak cakes that I bought at Wal-mart), along with scrambled eggs and chopped fresh fruit (banana, papaya, pineapple). 

Karel unpacked our bikes from our Scicon bags and before getting on the bike, we walked to the farmer's market to pick up a few more produce items and then stopped at Daylight mind for fresh bread. 

It was then time to head out to the Queen K (Bike course). We first made a quick stop at Bike Works for Co2s on our way out of town and then made our way North on the Queen K for an hour out and an hour back of easy spinning just to wake-up the body again from all the travel. Although we started our ride just before noon, there were still plenty of cyclists out on the road. There are a few lights/stops for the first 6 miles or so (to the airport) and then it's non-stop riding - just you and the elements. 

It wasn't crazy windy out but it was windy enough to know that you were in Kona. It was also very warm - drinking two bottles was incredibly easy throughout the ride (INFINIT). 

This was the first time that our Ventums traveled to Kona and based on my feedback, the bike rides so well in the wind. As I mentioned in my IMWI race report (it was super windy there), the design of the bike makes it feel like you are slicing through the wind. Of course, I still need to give it the real wind test in Hawi (which I plan to do this weekend) but with the wind that we experienced and the long rolling hills, I felt very controlled, safe and comfortable on my Ventum. I could not be more happy about my decision to switch from my Trek to Ventum just a few months ago. Also, Karel really loves his Ventum. While his back pain isn't 100% gone, it's remarkably improved since switching to the Ventum. 

Here are a few more pics from our ride. 

I lava you Karel! Sorry, I have been wanting to say that :) 

I love my Ventum! This will also likely be my wheel choice for Kona '19 (possibly a deeper rear wheel).

Obligatory bike-lava picture. 

After the ride, we ate a later lunch and then spent the next few hours on the computer getting work done. Karel and I took a short walk in the evening as the sun was setting and finished off the evening by watching a few Talbot Cox videos and Super League triathlon (YouTube) on the ipad before bed. We forced ourselves to stay up as late as possible to help with the jet lag so we made it to about 8:30pm before we were both out. 

Thursday morning....9 hours of sleep! I couldn't believe that we slept until 5:20am! Our daily morning routine back in Greenville is answering emails and spending a little time on Training Peaks before our first workout of the day so we haven't changed the routine, just the view. 

Karel and I both had our typical pre-training snack (Oatmeal for Karel, waffles and yogurt for me) before driving to the Energy Lab for our run. 

With the new changes to the run course, we wanted to check out the new layout in and out of the Energy Lab. It looks like the course may have been changed because there is no longer an entrance to the Energy lab from the Queen K (heading North). The new section means more time on the Queen K and in the Energy lab and less time on Ali'i drive. 

We purposely wanted to start the run early to avoid running in the hot sun and lucky us, we were blessed with a cloudy sky around 8am. It was still warm but for Kona standards, it was not boiling hot. As always, Karel ran with his Naked Running Belt and I had my Nathan Trail Mix Plus belt. We both had two x 10 ounce flasks for the run. I used Clif Hydration in one and Carbo Rocket in the other and Karel had Clif hydration in both of his flasks. 

Karel's run workout was 80-minutes form focused, smooth running. Since I'm not racing, I could suffer a little more so I did my weekly "track" run on the course which was 6 x 1K (.62 miles) w/ 2 minute rest between. I've been doing this workout for the past few weeks and I really enjoy it. I go by feel and run as strong as I can and then review my file when I am finished to see how I did. For this run, I was able to do all 1K's around or under 6:40 min/mile. Karel and I both listened to the latest PPF podcast about conquering Kona. It was a good one and worth listening to. 

Here are a few pics from the run (I took them during my recovery intervals). 

New section in the Energy lab. 

View of the new section in the energy lab from the Queen K. 

Queen K

Back section in the Energy lab. 

After our run, a few pics and a recovery/rehydration drink, we made a quick stop at Wal-mart for a few more items before heading back to our condo. 

We came home to a condo that smelled amazing! Karel's mom made us Vanocka (similar to challah bread) while we were away and I couldn't wait to dig in and have some delicious bread with my breakfast. 

We headed back outside to the patio to refuel before getting back to work on the computer (it's not all play for us here. We still gotta pay for all of Campy's toys!)

Around 1:30pm, I gathered some energy for my swim workout only to find that the pool was closed until 3pm (after I arrived). I grabbed a quick snack and headed to the ocean instead. 

Karel and his mom headed to the beach/swim start for Karel do a casual open water swim while his mom played around in the water and I headed out for an open water workout. 

Holy waves! It was choppy out there! I managed to do a somewhat quality workout but I would have much preferred the pool. My workout was: ~700 warm-up. MS: 3x's: 100 smooth, 100 strong, 100 smooth, 200 strong. I "rested" 10-20 sec between. Rather than swimming out and then back, I used a few buoys as my "course" and swam back and forth along a ~300 yard course. I saw about 5 other people swimming but other than that, it was just me and the fish. 

47 minutes later, I finished up my workout and before getting out of the water, I saw Sandy! She was swimming and I am pretty sure she was smiling. As for the rest of the day, it was pretty low key. The days seem to go by slowly throughout the morning but with an early sunset (~6pm), it's easy to get sleepy for an early bedtime. The island is getting more busy with triathletes and I can feel the energy building as we only have a few more sleeps until race week! As a reminder, I am not racing (only Karel). But as a huge fan of the sport, I am so happy I can be here to enjoy everything on this magical island, along with all of the athletes who are racing. 

IM KONA training - 3 weeks out

After Ironman Austria, Karel wasn't sure if he would ever be able to go that hard in a race again.

With only 8 weeks between IM Austria and IMMT, Karel was able to fully recover from IM Austria (thanks to his mom's cooking and lots of IPA and pastries) and return home with excitement to train again to achieve his season goal of Kona qualifying.

At IMMT, Karel went "there" again for 140.6 miles.



After Kona qualifying at IMMT, Karel was extremely sore and once again, he questioned if he had anything left for a third Ironman, within 15 weeks.

But after quickly physically recovering from IMMT, his body was in a good place to train again.
And most importantly, his mind was in a really good place.

Not only was Karel excited to race on the big island for the 2nd time but he was excited to train for 5-6 more weeks before dropping down the volume before IM Kona.

There are several things that Karel has done right this season which has helped him take his fitness to the next level but as his training partner for many workouts, there is one thing that I often observe in Karel - he never ever goes into workouts with exceptions and he never gets stuck in the metrics of a workout.



After Karel's 5-day trip to Colorado, where he stayed at 9,000 feet with a few friends, he returned home to Greenville very exhausted. He didn't sleep well in CO and his normal sleep cycle was a little off when he returned home. His appetite was a bit zapped after his CO trip and he all-around, felt flat.

We knew that a lot of this was due to the altitude training (which was not intentional for performance benefits but instead, it was just a guys bike trip that was planned last year, without knowing if Karel would Kona qualify) so Karel didn't obsess over any workout and just did the best that he could, while also focusing on all the little details, like diet, sleep and mobility, to help him recover from the CO trip.
Karel was in the middle of his biggest IM Kona training prep which required a lot of mental and physical strength.

I am reminded by a statement from Dr. G who once told me that many times, when athletes feel extremely flat, tired and sore, this means a breakthrough is coming. It's often hard to think that your fitness is coming around when you are feeling empty inside but sure enough, with a very smart training mindset to not have any expectations for any workout, Karel was able to successfully get through his 5-weeks out from Kona training (albeit, with a tired body) and then 4 weeks out (this past week) his fitness came around and he had some of his best workout executions, with a feeling of "I've never been able to train like this before!"
And let's remember, this comes after racing deep for 2 Ironmans since the end of June.

It's  been incredible to see Karel stay so strong this summer, despite some niggles that have required weekly care from a great local massage therapist and the occasional sessions with a hip/spine focused PT, but I believe it all comes down to his mind.

He is willing to put in the work.
He is willing to dig deep and go "there".
He keeps his easy sessions easy.
He never has expectations for workouts, thus, there are no "bad" workouts.
He doesn't obsess about metrics.
He focuses on good lifestyle habits (sleep, mobility, diet, sport nutrition) to help him recover and execute.
He never worries about his weight (ex. race weight).
He has never followed a diet plan.
He sleeps great.
He is mentally strong.
He absolutely loves training.

It's sad to hear about the athletes who just want their Ironman journey to end with still weeks to go before race day. With so much commitment, time and energy, it can't be performance enhancing to look forward to the end of every workout, with little motivation to even train.

And with the Ironman requiring so much mental strength, I believe this is what takes Karel to that next level with every workout - he does the work early season so that come peak IM training, he's not training with the intention to "build fitness/endurance" to be Ironman ready but instead, he becomes Ironman ready by executing every workout to his best ability and mentally putting himself into race day scenarios and letting his mind be his only limiter. There is no obsession with paces, watts or speeds, thus no let down or need to term a workout as "bad".

This weekend was a quality weekend of "long" training for Karel. Lucky me, I was able to join Karel for his long ride on Saturday and for his key swim on Sunday.

Here's a recap of some of his weekend IM Kona training, 3 weeks out from race day (which followed a very high volume/intense week of training).
(Matt Dixon with Purple Patch is Karel's coach)



Saturday: 4 hour ride (77 miles, 4500 feet of elevation gain):
All endurance effort with the last 70 minutes at half IM effort.

30 min run off the bike (Karel ran on our treadmill to help him execute this set):
10 min form focused
10 min at IM effort
10 min at faster than IM effort
CD as needed

Sunday: 
AM: 90 min run (treadmill for the purpose of this set):
10 min EZ warm-up
Pre set: 2 x 3 min build effort
MS:
4 x 11 min at 4% incline at IM pace (one of the few times that Karel was instructed to go by pace, not effort)
4 min EZ jog in between
Post set:
10-15 min IM effort at 1% grade
CD as needed

PM: 4200 yard swim
10 min EZ warm-up
Pre set: 2xs
2 x 25 fast, 50 easy, 50 fast, 2 x 25 EZ
MS: 7xs
100 fast w/ 2 sec rest
Right into 75 on same send off
(ex. if you come in at 1:30 for 100, your interval for the 75 is 1:30)

400 pull

MS #2: 7xs
75 fast w/ 0-2 sec rest
right into 50 with same send off

400 pull

It's hard to believe that in 8 days, we will be flying to the big island!


From 2011...Karel's first time to Kona to watch me race in my 2nd IM World Championship....where the thought came into his head "If I ever become a triathlete, I want to race HERE!"

Kona training - long workouts

I can't believe it.
We are just two weeks away from the 2015 Ironman World Championship.
Over the past week, every now and then, it hits me and I have to take a long exhale to calm my nerves and to bottle up my excitement.

In 14 days, Karel and I, and 1500+ age group and professional triathletes from around the world, will start our  140.6 mile journey on the hot and windy island of Kona, Hawaii.

With every Ironman journey, I learn a lot about myself.
This journey has been unique and special in that I had so much fun training my races this season and I had three great performances to help me re-discover my love for racing.
I also really enjoyed how my body responded to all of the workouts.
And many of those workouts were not easy!!
I've never swam so much before, I've never ran so much before and I've never climbed on my bike so much before.
And despite the training load that I accomplished week after week for the past 11 weeks, I've never felt so strong, durable, resilient and healthy before.....And I remained injury and sickness-free.

Thank you body!

This time around, the biggest change for me was that I had a different mindset with my 10th Ironman journey.
Whereas I put in more time training for this Ironman than ever before, I never had "speed" on my mind.
For the first time in my Ironman journey, I stopped trying to get faster.

If there is one thing that I have learned in training for 9 Ironman's (including 3 Ironman World Championships) from 2006-2014 is that Ironman racing requires a lot more than being fast. Actually, for most of us, you don't really have to be "fast" to do well in (or finish) an Ironman.

A successful Ironman race is the one where fatigue is postponed as much as possible.

A great Ironman performance is when you can keep your body from slowing down as much as possible.

If your body is strong, durable, resilient and healthy when you stand at the start line of your Ironman, you can assure yourself that you are ready for the 140.6 miles that you need to cover to reach the finish line.

Speed can help you cross a finish line quickly in a short distance race but in Ironman racing, a lot more is needed from your body than being "fast" in order to cross the finish line.

For this entire season, I never once trained in order to "be faster." I removed all pressure to train in order to see a drop in time in my swimming and running paces or to see an increase in speed with my cycling.

With a huge weight lifted off my back with every workout, I felt so much more freedom this season because I choose to think differently as to what I wanted to accomplish with every workout.

Week after week, month after month, I found myself recovering faster and faster from workouts. I never carried around lingering fatigue and I found myself always excited to train (sure, some days were a bit tougher than others). I constantly felt my endurance improving with a better ability to pace myself (and even push hard in the end of long workouts). I also felt great form throughout my workouts.
And most of all, I constantly found myself enjoying my workouts because I was carrying a new definition of "successful" to describe a great workout.

And you know what?
I got faster this season while training for the Ironman.

Funny how that mind-stuff works (thanks Dr. G!).

Karel and I sweated it out on the trainers this morning due to rainy and cool conditions in Greenville this morning.
After the ride, it was time for a brick run.
Check!

Our last "long" brick is behind us after a great (and needed) recovery week and our next ride on our tri bikes will be in Kona Hawaii on Wednesday!!!

As promised in my last blog post, here are my long workouts for the past 11 weeks of training

(Karel and I didn't do the same miles/time for all of our workouts so this is just my training).
Now if only I can control all these emotions!
I'm trying to keep myself calm with all this excitement and control my pre-race nerves.
No regrets - I feel prepared and ready to go.

Ironman Kona Training
(weekend workouts)

9/26-9/27 - 2 weeks out Saturday: 3:15 hour trainer ride + 4.5 mile run (36:31)
Sunday (planned workout): AM: 30 min spin + 90 minute run + PM: 3500 yard swim (all swims below are in the PM).

9/19-9/20 - 3 weeks out

Saturday: 5:20 ride (92 miles) + 4 mile run (32:40)

Sunday: 2:03 (14.8 miles)

9/12-9/13 - 4 weeks out

Saturday: 5:05 ride (85 miles) + 5.9 mile run (47:28)

Sunday: 1:50 run (13.1 miles)

9/5-9/6 - 5 weeks out

Saturday: 3:07 ride (52 miles) + 4 mile run (31:42)

Sunday: 2:09 bike (37.5 miles) + 15.5 miles (2:08) - Longest run focused brick and longest run

8/29-8/30 - 6 weeks out

Saturday: 3:15 ride (56 miles) + 4 mile run (35:02)

Sunday: 1:45 run (12.3 miles) + 3800 yard swim

8/22-8/23 - 7 weeks out

Boulder train-cation - Biggest weekly training load

8/15- 8/16  - 8 weeks out

Saturday: 3:13 (58 miles) + 6.9 mile run (59:58)

Sunday: travel day

8/8-8/9 - 9 weeks out

Saturday: 100 mile ride (6:06) + 5.5 mile run (45:36) - Longest bike-focused brick and longest ride

Sunday: 1:27 run (10.3 miles) + 3800 yard swim

8/1-8/2 - 10 weeks out

Saturday: 4:50 ride (92 miles) + 2 mile run (17:48)

Sunday: 1:55 (13.1 mile run)

7/25 - 11 weeks out

Lake Placid train cation - Kick-off Kona training

A few notes:
-All of my bike/run workouts were outside except for today's ride on the trainer. I only train on hilly roads.
-All of my runs were by myself and I did about 50% of my long rides alone (otherwise I rode with Karel but not always "with" him).
-Our typical elevation profile when we ride is around 1000-1500 feet of climbing per one-hour of cycling and around 50-150 feet elevation gain per one-mile of running.
-We swim ~3-5 times per week with a few of those being evening swims and on the weekends.
-I typically ran between 8-11 miles once during the week and Wednesday's were typically a longer mid-week brick this summer.
-We did strength training year round with our periodized strength training plan.
-Every workout had a main set/focus.
-Only once on the bike (100 miles) and once on the run (15 miles) did I train just for a total mileage. Everything else was by time.
-I use sport nutrition products for ALL of my workouts. It doesn't matter how short, I have some type of sport nutrition powder in my bottles.
-I spend about 5-10 minutes warming up my body before solo run workouts with dynamic stretching/mobility. Aside from rolling my back once or twice this year, I never use the foam roller or trigger point set.
-My first massage in over a year was in September this year. Karel and I had only 3 massages this year(one being this Monday), all in September. 
-I haven't been sick since 2007, haven't missed a menstrual cycle each month (naturally) since 2007 and haven't had an injury since May 2013 (since then completed 4 Ironman's). Thank you body! 

Staying motivated for Kona

In the last 48 hours, we have gone from feeling exhausted, tired and slow to feeling fresh, strong and excited. 

We had a lot to recover from on Monday and Tuesday this week as we could mentally and physically feel the effects of our last big block of Kona training that happened last week. 

Yesterday, I checked the Ironman World Championship event page and saw that bib numbers were released:

Karel: 1739 (35-39 AG)
Marni: 2129 (30-34 AG)

Talk about the perfect timing for a little dose of motivation before a key workout on Wednesday (today) morning. 

We were both looking forward to a little higher intensity workout on the bike this morning (6 x 4 min strong efforts w/ 5 min EZ in between) but because we don't have many options for a "flat" segment of road to put our head down and push, Karel set up our trainers in the garage (aka Karel's fit studio) and we sweated for 90 minutes while watching the 1995 Ironman World Championship for a little motivation (we love watching the older footage of Kona).

After the ride, we each went for a form focused 3-mile run to shake out the legs.

It was a lot of fun for us to suffer together - there was little talking going on between Karel and I for 90 minutes but internally, I think we were both cheering each other on to "make it" just for one last interval. 

You'd think that just because you are training for an important race, that motivation would always stay high in the final prep. And although we aren't experiencing any chance of burnout, we are normal human beings and our bodies are tired.
And when you are tired, it's hard to get the body going. Motivation or not, the body just doesn't feel as fresh as it did many, many months ago.

But - it's all part of the process and we accept the process. There's a time to feel fresh and a time to give our best effort.
And that's in 17 days, on October 10th, 2015.

As athletes, we are constantly pushing our bodies and talking our way through low moments, fatigue and the thought of quitting when the going gets tough. Sure, we have our great moments when a workout feels effortless but the only way to discover personal growth and improvement is to not give up when the going gets tough.

I remember once Gloria telling me "Marni, be excited by low moments - it means a high is coming." She also once told me that breakthroughs often come after really bad workouts.
It's like climbing a mountain that never seems to end and then seeing the view from the top and saying "it was all worth it!"

It's funny how motivation comes and goes. One day motivation is high and then the next, it's a struggle to get started. Some mornings, you wake up excited to train and then 3 minutes later, it's a struggle to get yourself out the door.

As athletes, it's hard to "find" motivation. You can't order it from the internet or borrow it from a training partner.
Motivation is deep inside all of us but sometimes it is hard to find.
 There has to be something deep inside you that says "I want to do this!" and no one can say that for you.

If you struggle with motivation in the final weeks before a key race, continue to embrace your journey. Hopefully the low moments don't happen as much as the high moments but above all, keep yourself focused and excited as YOUR day to perform is coming soon. 

And when all else fails, remind yourself how lucky you are that your body is letting you do what you have been doing for the past x-months or years. 

Weekend wrap-up: 19 days out from Kona

What a great feeling to be starting my less than 20-day countdown until the 2015 Ironman World Championship with a healthy and strong body and mind. 

On paper, this past week of Kona training was tough and not to mention, our hilly terrain makes everything tougher when we train.
But I'm not complaining - training for my 10th Ironman in my new city/state of Greenville, SC has been so much fun! There is never a shortage of bike routes to keep me entertained and I just love all my running hill courses for running (in addition to being 2 miles from Furman University).

 Monday was a needed day off from cardio (a little PM mobility strength) and Tuesday was a 8.7 mile AM form focused run and 4100 yard PM swim. On Wednesday, Karel and I did a higher intensity bike with 2 x 20 minute best effort intervals w/ 10 min EZ spin in between and we followed our 2:42 bike with a form focused 3.5 mile run.
Thursday was a speedy 4400 yard AM swim with 3 rounds of 8 x 100's strong effort and then in the evening, I did a very super duper EZ 4 mile run before my massage.

On Thurs evening, our athlete Joe came in town to train with Karel for 3 days and they did a 2 hour PM ride on Thursday evening (followed by Sidewall Pizza in downtown Traveler's Rest).

We all went for a 2 hour ride (which was rather technical - but still beautiful and fun) on Friday morning and then Karel and Joe went for a 13 mile interval run. I passed on the run to rest my body for the weekend and in the evening, we all had a delicious dinner from made on our grill while watching the ITU race on TV from Chicago. 

The guys made burgers and I had a delicious grilled portobello mushroom (cooked on the vegetarian-friendly side of the grill) topped with rosemary hummus and pepper jack cheese on top dark leafy greens, steamed veggies with butter and salt, mixed beans and grilled peppers and onion.

On Saturday morning, we set out for what was planned to be a 4 hour ride that Karel planned for us......but because Karel had never done part of the route before, he didn't realize that part of the route was on a gravel road. Opps! We realized this when the road ended as we were cycling. Karel discovers new routes all the time with Mapmyride but sometimes, a fun road turns into no road and I was not entertained by the thought of riding on gravel, 3 weeks out from Kona. Karel said he will explore that gravel road by himself on another ride - post Kona.

BIKE

Anyways, we started our ride from our house and we headed up Ceaser's Head. Karel rode steady while Joe and I sat on Karel's wheel. Thanks to me having fresher legs than the guys, I managed to hang-on for the ride. Karel pulled me up Ceaser's Head and I clocked my fastest ever time up that mountain - 39 minutes for 6.3 miles!
After a quick stop to refill bottles, we headed down the other side of Ceaser's Head and entered North Carolina. Although we had to adjust Karel's planned route, the ride was still so beautiful. I just love riding in North Carolina - the pavement is so smooth!

Because of our little detour, the ride ended up being a bit longer than planned but we all had enough fuel and hydration and with 2 stops to refill bottles along our route, we finished strong with 5 hours and 20 minutes of riding, 92 miles and 11,000-ish feet of climbing.

After the ride, Karel and Joe ran an EZ 15 minute run off the bike and I finished off my brick with 4 strong miles.

On Sunday morning, we were all feeling a bit beat-up but thank goodness for having others for accountability and motivation. The temperature really warmed up on Saturday and Sunday so it was great for Karel and I do not have to layer-up for our long run.

RUN
We all started the run together for the first 4 miles with a 30-second walk break each mile to help wake-up the body and postpone fatigue.
After the first 4 miles, Karel and Joe continued on with a form-focused run (they picked it up the last few miles for their 1:40 run) and I started my set on a very rolling hill course: 

4 mile EZ warmup (with Joe and Karel)

MS 3xs: 

20 min at Ironman effort

5 min strong 

2 min walk recovery, then repeat MS

EZ jog cool down
Total: 14.82 miles, 2:03, 1100 feet of climbing

Splits from the run:
8:42
8:29
8:14
8:34
MS: (first 3 splits/paces are from the 20 minutes at IM effort and the last split is the pace for the 5 minutes strong)
7:31, 8:05, 7:40, 7:07 min/mile
2 min walk
7:44, 8:04, 8:14, 7:22 min/mile
2 min walk
7:48, 7:28, 8:28, 7:13
Last .7 miles - 8:57

I couldn't be more pleased with how my body is performing right now but also, how it has handled the training throughout this entire season. It's hard to believe that I started my training for the season with our foundation plan back in November 2014 and now Karel and I are less than 3 weeks until our last race of the season!

By far, this has been my most favorite Ironman journey. I have really enjoyed the challenging workouts and the specific progression of training phases but also, sharing this entire journey with Karel.

I am so thankful for what my body has allowed me to do this season and I am so excited to board our plane to Kona next Tuesday and to race at the 2015 Ironman World Championship in 19 days!!!! 

4 weeks til Kona: Dialing in the sport nutrition

This weekend concluded a big volume week of training.

What a great feeling to have this past week behind me and what a better feeling to know that my body was able to execute during every workout. 

Saturday: 

5 hour/85 miles with over 8000 feet of climbing - all at Ironman effort

Followed by a 6 mile run

Nutrition consumed during bike:
4.5 bottles (slightly short of what I wanted) each with 280 calories
Additional calories consumed from wafer (170 calories)  and shot blocks (100 calories)
Total consumed: 1530 calories and 108 ounce fluid (~2400 mg sodium)

Nutrition consumed during run:
2 x 10 ounce flasks each with 80 calories Clif Hydration
Total consumed: 20 ounce fluid + 160 calories

Sunday: 

1:50, 13.2 mile run (2000 feet of climbing)
2 x 10 ounce flasks each with 80 calories of Clif Hydration
Refill 1 x 10 ounce flask with 80 calories + 1 flask water
Total consumed: 40 ounce fluid + 240 calories

More important to me than using these two workouts to get obsessed about certain paces, speeds or watts to validate my fitness or to determine my race day efforts , I went into this weekend with a realistic mind that my body is holding on to residual training fatigue and I am only one week away from when the magic happens during my 2-week taper. 

Therefore, my only goal was to execute to the best of my ability and to be hyper-aware of everything that was going on with my body and mind. 

Karel and I both did our own workouts this weekend so I had a total of almost 8 hours with my body to think about things like how many times I had to stop and pee during my workout, my weight before and after my workouts, when I experienced low's in my workout (and when those low's turned into highs), when I would find myself experiencing self-doubt and how my nutrition was working to my advantage. 

With very little change in my sport nutrition fueling regime (before/during/after) this season, I took extra measures to record everything that I ate and drink, how much, my weight before and after each workout and any other factors that would contribute to dialing in my fueling strategy for Kona.

Although the weather was much less warm this past weekend in Greenville, with the high in the upper 70's during my brick on Saturday and in the 60's during my run, I did not deviate from my planned sport nutrition regime as I wanted to simulate race day as much as possible. 

One of the most common mistakes that I find that Ironman athletes make in their final Ironman training is getting too obsessed with metrics and forgeting about dialing in the little things like mental strength, nutrition and listening to the body. Many times, athletes just try to "get through" workouts and don't even address pacing, let alone nutrition.

With so many "long" training sessions in training when training for an Ironman and a well-timed/executed taper to catapult fitness,  it's a given that all Ironman athletes should use every training session to practice, practice and practice. Every training session is useful even if you don't hit your watts or paces!

I understand that there is fear and excitement for gaining fitness and endurance but we should save our best performance for race day with the confidence that we can get through any obstacle that comes our way - which in 70.3 and 140.6 miles - there will be obstacles!

Regardless if I am training for an Ironman or an Ironman World Championship, I want to be as strategic, timely and flexible as possible with my sport nutrition. I used "engineered" sport nutrition products when I train to meet my energy, fluid and electrolyte needs and I focus on a healthy, balanced, wholesome, real-food and varied diet when I am not training to help keep my body in good health. With every long workout, I try to find-tune my nutrition for my upcoming key event.

In 4 weeks, I will be racing my 4th Ironman World Championship. My body is healthy and fit and I owe it all to focusing on the little things and constantly dialing things in to ensure performance gains as often as possible. 

140.6 miles is a very long way for the body to go and throw in the Kona elements like gusty strong winds and uncomfortably high heat and humidity alongside the best qualified Ironman athletes in the world, I don't need to be second guessing my nutrition on race day or figuring things out on the fly. 

If you want to dial in your nutrition, here are a few of my suggestions:

-Whatever you plan to eat the morning of the race and night before the race, try it out in training. Similar foods and a modified quantity. 

-Weigh yourself before and after workouts to better understand your sweat rate. It's very easy to calculate your sweat rate but there are some limiters in that it doesn't account for urine volume, urine specific gravity, sodium content in sweat and being applicable to all racing situations for all types of athletes. 

-Address how you perform and feel during your workout. Calorie, electrolyte and fluid consumption can be constantly tweaked when an athlete addresses things like lightheadedness, how often you pee during a workout, extreme fatigue, headache, GI distress during workouts, GI distress post workout, high sweat rate, not sweating a lot (or enough), etc. 

-Focus on your recovery. Feeling overly sleepy, lethargic, moody or weak can often relate to inadequate fueling/hydrating before, during and after a workout. 

-Consider your race venue logistics and lodging when it comes to pre race and race day nutrition. Don't make it super complicated at home and then try to simplify on race day.

-Allow yourself up to 6 weeks to use similar products in similar workouts to train your gut and to build tolerance of sport nutrition products. Consider whether you will bring your own nutrition to the race or use what is on the course when it comes to training your gut and fueling in your training sessions. 

-Don't let body image be your guiding force when it comes to fueling during workouts. An obsession with body image often creates an unhealthy relationship with sport nutrition and fueling your body during training. Every workout that you underfuel is a missed opportunity to boost performance. And underfueled body is also at risk for illness and hormonal problems. 

-Feel off or don't know what you can change/tweak with your sport nutrition? Consult a sport RD who can take the guessing away so that you can focus on your training with your well-fueled body. 

Kona countdown 34 days: Every choice matters

We have approached the "less than 5 week" countdown until Kona!!! 

After we returned from Boulder, I mentioned that I was overly exhausted after our 9-day train-cation in Boulder. After taking several days to recover, I was able to get back to my planned training but I did have to make some modifications. 

With so much climbing and hard efforts in Boulder, I came back with a body that was not very happy. Nothing new to me with many years of back issues but with less than 6 weeks left until Kona (at the time), I did not want to take any chances for a tight back to turn into a back injury to turn into a hip injury (which I have had much experience with in the past - 6+ years to be exact from 2007-2013).

My right scapula was so tight/inflamed that I was barely able to swim last week. Additionally, because of the tightness in my upper back, it was tugging on my lower back and hip area and my right leg felt very weak (again, nothing new to me from past hip issues). I also felt calf and ankle issues...all relating to my back. Pretty much - my right side was totally out of whack. 

Rather than trying to treat myself (I never use our foam roller or Trigger Point set- even though we have both), I made an appointment with the best massage therapist in Greenville (I saw him last year before IMWI - my last massage was September 2014!) and simply modified my training. 

I had to back off with the intensity and yards in the pool and I lowered the intensity on the run/bike.  With every workout, I was constantly aware of my back and listened to my body. 

Every day, I found myself feeling better and better and after my massage (last Thursday) I felt so much relief in my hips, neck, back, calf and ankle.
I have always had back issues (which came from years of swimming and then turned into hip issues) so this is just something that I have to constantly be aware of and be proactive with as an endurance triathlete. I do a lot of strength and mobility work to help with my back but I should get more massages than I do to help with all the tension I carry in my upper back. 

Both Karel and I had massages on Thursday evening and decided to take Friday completely off from working out. It was SO needed. 

This Saturday (1.5 weeks after we came home from Boulder), Karel and I rode together on a beautiful country-road route with lots of rolling hills for a very nice, 3 hour low-stress ride. We loved seeing so much wildlife on our ride too. 

After the ride, we went for a 4 mile run (with two walk breaks) and kept the run low stress.
Amazingly, we both felt so good and for the first time in over a week, my back felt almost normal again and I finally felt more comfortable running again. 

I'm so thankful that I was able to make smart decisions with my body since returning home from Boulder and throughout this season. My body is not perfect and I always have to stay on top of it. For the past two years I have remained injury free and it's all from listening to my body and being smart when it speaks to me. It's always hard when you are an athlete and you are nearing a race - accomplishing workouts is often the number one goal. But I want more than simply checking off workouts - I want to be consistent and have quality workouts that will better prepare me for race day. And if I can't have a quality workout, then I want to do whatever I can to help my body stay healthy so that I can have the best performance possible on race day with the fitness I have accumulated over the past season. 

These choices are often tough as athletes but we have to make them if we care about our race day performance. Sure, it feels great to workout and it sucks to miss a workout....but what sucks even more is being injured, sick or burn out. Then you can't do anything with your body in training......or on race day. And on race day, that is when you want to have your best performance - not in training. 

With 5 weeks left until Kona, I did my last long run before the race. But more than my last long run, I was able to properly execute in one of my most favorite Ironman race-prep workouts:

2 hour bike + 2 hour run

I have done this workout several times before when gearing up for an Ironman and I just love this workout. I love the specificity of the workout as well as an opportunity to test nutrition before and during (bike/run) and to work on pacing. It is a great confidence booster and I love the mental test of knowing that I will be running my longest run after a 2 hour bike. 

Here's how the workout went down:
(all pain free - yay for being smart last week!)

2 hour bike
40 minute warm-up spin
MS:
2 x 30 minutes (10 min IM effort, 10 min faster than IM effort, 10 min strong effort)
10 min EZ spin in between

EZ spin home

2 hour run
5 x 3 mile IM effort w/ 1 min walk in between each 3 mile segment
I was able to hold 7:45-8:10 min/mile for the entire run and for the first time, I felt steady and strong with this pace.
(extra stops to refill flasks - it was hot running from 11:30-1:30pm!)

Total workout: 

2 hour bike
2:10 run, 15 miles (my longest run since IMWI last September and this will be my longest run until Kona)

Average pace on run (with walks): 8:15 min/mile

So my question to you is, are you making good choices?

Since every choice matters......

Do you listen to your body or push through pain?
Do you fuel/hydrate before/during/after workouts or are you just getting by?
Do you give yourself time to warm-up before you start your workout or do you hope that you will loosen out when you get going?
Do you recognize that you gain fitness through consistency or do you just focus on getting-by?
Do you focus more on your body composition that you neglect proper fuel and nourishment or do you focus on performance and keeping your body in good health?
Do you make time for recovery or do you tell yourself that you will recover better tomorrow?
Do you prioritize restful sleep or do you feel like you can just get by with little sleep so long as you don't miss a workout?
Are you flexible with your workout or do you struggle to modify when needed?
Do you get stuck in the moment rather than thinking about the big picture? 

I've spent many years training for a 140.6 mile race and I have learned through many mistakes that every choice matters. When we make choices, we have to think about the best decision in the moment that will make for a better next-day workout.
 Performance gains are built from many, many training sessions. With every training session, we have to make smart choices. 

When it comes to your next training session - make a good choice when it comes to how you warm-up, how you fuel and hydrate, how you pace yourself, how you choose to execute and how you recover. 

If you keep making good choices, you will make good progress. And with good progress, THAT is when you experience performance gains to feel ready for your upcoming race. 

Less is more...42 days 'til Kona!

In 30 days, Karel and I will be boarding a plane to Kona, Hawaii.
Holy Moly.....we will be racing in the 2015 Ironman World Championship in 41 days!!

This upcoming Ironman is very special for three reasons.

1) I absolutely LOVE racing in Kona. The island, the competition, the energy, the elements, the race vibe...it all makes me so excited to race for 140.6 miles!

2) This will be my 10th Ironman and 4th Ironman World Championship! I can't believe I have been racing endurance triathlons for 9 years and my body has allowed me to qualify for Kona at 4 of my 6 Kona qualifier Ironman races. 

3) I will be sharing the race course with my best friend and hubby, Karel. This is his first Ironman World Championship and 4th Ironman that he will finish. We love racing together and sharing our personal race stories to one another, after the race. 

Around this time of the Ironman journey, I find that Ironman athletes can make a few mistakes as it relates to training. There is a lot of self-doubt, worry, anxiety and fear that the body and mind is not and will not be ready for race day. This uncertainty and lack of trust in the training process often leads to doing more than needed in preparation for the upcoming Ironman event. 

You know what's funny...I don't believe you you need to feel in the best shape of your life, to race  for 140.6 miles. There's no magic number of hours you need to train or miles to cover for each sport to feel "prepared". And certainly, there is no "look" as to what your body composition needs to look like to race well for 140.6 miles. 

 As athletes, we are constantly developing, learning, gaining skills and improving. Year after year, we get stronger, faster, more efficient or smarter. 

Therefore, I do believe that you can feel ready, confident and prepared for your upcoming race. And that readiness comes from trusting the plan that keeps you healthy, injury free and hungry to race. 

Around 3-6 weeks out from an Ironman race, I often see and hear of athletes doing way too much volume and/or intensity. Perhaps it's inappropriately scheduled in the training plan or at fault of the athlete who feels she/he needs to do more as a result of fear-based training. 

This is my favorite time of my Ironman journey because every workout completed is one day closer to the race. Rather than chasing certain watts, times or paces, I chase improvements. 

Just improvements. 

Some days it's perfecting my fueling whereas other days I feel stronger or faster. Some days I feel like I am more resilient whereas other days I feel better with my endurance.

But this is not the time for me get greedy - wanting every workout to be perfect or better than the previous day. 

For Ironman athletes, the 3-6 weeks out from race day bring a lot of baggage. There is the emotional stress where your mind wants to be "all in" but as an age-grouper, we still have to balance work, family and other to-do's. Then there is the residual fatigue that we bring to every workout simply because we have been training for at least 3 months....if not way longer. 

With this baggage, we have to be extremely careful as to listen to the body. We must be ok to do less, adjust the intensity/duration, modify the week or take an extra recovery day. 

Certainly, work needs to get done to prepare the body for race day. There should be great dedication to every workout, workouts shouldn't be skipped because "it doesn't matter" and motivation should be at an all time high as this is the time when we execute to the best of our ability to feel as prepared as possible come taper. 

Sure, I have a few big time/placing goals for race day that keep me excited to train but above all, my focus is on arriving to the start line in Kona with a very healthy and strong body.

For the next 6 weeks - all I need my body to do is to stay healthy and I will be ready to race! 

More is not better. 

I trust my plan. I trust my previous fitness and I trust what I have learned in this Ironman journey. 

For the next 6 weeks, my main focus is on being smart so that I can be as consistent as possible with every week of training.
And most of all, I want to keep having fun. 

If you are currently training for an Ironman, it is important that you have the strength to adjust.
There's no good in taking risks 3-6 weeks out from race day because many times, these risks don't pay off. The fear-based training doesn't make for better race day performances. Being "in the moment" to get a workout checked-off for self validation may give you confidence but it isn't necessary in the big picture.
Remember that you are bringing months of fitness to your upcoming Ironman race...not one or two epic completed, haphazard workouts. 

Save your BEST performance for race day. 

Trust me - your body and mind will know what to do on race day.
Stay focused, stay smart and keep having fun. 

Boulder Train-Cation - day 1

Day 1 in Boulder started with a 50-minute run through Wonderland Lake Trailhead.

With this being my first workout in Boulder, I just went by feel to make sure I didn't overdo it with the altitude of ~5400 feet above sea level. 

We are staying at our athlete's house which is just a mile from the trailhead so it was the perfect warm-up before an absolutely wonderful, beautiful run. 

The altitude wasn't too much of an issue but I certainly didn't push it during my run. I did notice that for the same RPE, I was running 30-60 sec per min/mile slower which was just fine by me. I really enjoyed the ups and downs on the trail and if you know me, you know I just love running on hills and trails so this was a very welcomed run. I included a few more frequent walks if I felt short of breath just to make sure that my aerobic run didn't turn into an anaerobic run (regardless of the pace). 

I had 2 x 10 ounce flasks during my run in my Nathan hydration belt - one with water and the other with Clif Hydration. 

Here are a few pics from my run. 

After the run, I had breakfast #2 which consisted of homemade banana bread (thanks Kristen!) and a glass of milk. I didn't want to eat too much as I only had an hour or so before our morning swim at RallySport Boulder. 

An outdoor pool with a view....yes please!!!

My friend Katie invited Karel and I to join her at her masters swim at Rally Sport at 10:30am. 

Did I mention that the swim was coached by Professional triathlete Julie Dibens?

Here's the workout (if I remember correctly):

800 warm-up (150 free, 50 non free)

10 x 100's (first 4, moving 25 of kick, the rest free. Last 6, 3x100 of the first 25 of each 100 being IM order, then freestyle for 75. The repeat). 

600 buoy (300 build, 300 steady/strong)

6 x 100's (25 fast, 75 EZ)

6 x 100's strong

400 paddles/buoy

8 x 25's (15 yards fast, then EZ, 20 yards fast, then EZ, 25 yards fast, then EZ, last 25 EZ. the repeat)

100 cool down

4200 yards total

Once again, the altitude was a factor in that the effort felt a little harder than what we were doing but after around 35-40 minutes of our 1:15 masters workout we felt more normal. 

And since Karel and I have been swimming long course meters all summer, it was fun to swim short course...outside!

Thanks Julie and Katie for welcoming us to Boulder with a great workout! 

After our swim, it was time for lunch. 

Katie took us to Modmarket. Karel got the Wintergreen salad and chicken sandwhich and I got the Superfood salad with tofu. The menu had so many great selections! 

After lunch, Karel and I did some grocery shopping after a little walking around Pearl Street and stopped by Vecchios.

I suppose you can call this a bike shop but for Karel, this was a bike museum filled with all things cycling memorabilia. 

Now you may be thinking that we didn't have a lot of carbs after our swim. Oh don't you worry. We made up for that at Bread Works.

If a place has BREAD in the name, I'm pretty sure we will walk out with something in our hands..or in our belly. 

After a busy day, we had a little furry company while watching Stage 1 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. What an amazing performance by Taylor Phinney! 

As for the rest of the evening, Karel went for a short run in the evening and I took a walk with our athlete/friend Kristen and then we stayed-in for dinner. 

9 weeks out 'til Kona - "all-in!"

This past weekend included a lot of training, which followed 5 previous days of training (with Monday/Friday being recovery days). With 9 weeks left until the 2015 IM World Championship, I finally experienced my first week of Ironman training and included a lot of swimming, biking and running!

If I were to reflect back on the past 10 months of training, when I started an 8-week plan to build my foundation back in November, a part of me was not fully committed to my training. I was still following my training and I was not slacking on strength training or key workouts but I never found myself "all-in" at any point in my training over the past 10 months. 

This was quite evident as I was gearing up for my first half IM of the season, at Challenge Knoxville. I felt strong and healthy but I questioned my why as to why I was racing. I love competition and I love training but some part of me wasn't "all-in". Four weeks later, at Challenge Williamsburg half IM, I started to feel a bit more "in" as I felt healthy and strong but oddly, I still felt neutral about my passion for training and racing. 

As I stuck to my training plan and continued to trust the process of my season development throughout the spring and summer, I continued to excel in my races with a fantastic season to give me confidence going into my 10th Ironman and 4th IM World Championship. 

With so much to balance in my very busy life, a big part of me intentionally did not want to fully commit to training. Deep inside, I felt like I could be faster and I knew that if I devoted a bit more time and energy to training, I would be able to take my fitness to another level. I would often think, "if only I could shut off my life/mind when I was training, I could really devote myself to what I feel it would take to get to that next level."

 In no way do I feel I got lucky or slacked my way through two great performances at Knoxville and Williamsburg half IMs with 2nd place overall amateur female and overall amateur female winner, respectively but I knew I had more in me and for some reason I wasn't allowing myself to be "all-in."

Last Monday, Karel told me that our Kona training was about to get real...really hard. Karel is coached by Matt Dixon with Purple Patch Fitness and I piggyback off some of his workouts. We love Matt's coaching philosophy and he has a lot of experience and knowledge to pass along to us as athletes and coaches. 

So when Karel told me about our Kona build, I knew that it was time to make the decision to either continue to get-by or to be all-in.

I choose all-in. 

So what's changed in the past week versus the last 10 months? 

First off, I have been 100% committed to building a strong foundation so that I can properly absorb my Ironman training load. In other words, the training over the past 10 months was not specific to helping me prepare for Kona but instead, to help me prepare for the training that was preparing me for Kona.

Hope that makes sense. 

Up until last week, I never fully allowed myself to be "all-in" because there is only so much mentally I can handle when it comes to dedicating myself to training. As for the physical part of training, I love to workout so it's never a mountain to climb to get me out the door to train (ok - that was a bad analogy as I do love my mountains!)

This restraint that I put on myself to not be "all-in" until I reach 8-10 weeks out from my upcoming Ironman is something that I knew I needed to have going into IM #10 and at this point in my athletic career.

Although I have remained injury free for well over 2 years and never battle with sickness or burnout, it's always a thin edge that I feel I am balancing on when it comes to being a competitive age-group endurance triathlete who also has a business, a marriage, a furry family and a life to balance. 

In no ways has my life, commitment to my business and helping my coaching and nutrition athletes, diet, sleep regime or love for life changed for the worst in the past week but I have chosen to allow myself to check out of life and be "on" only when I train.

Amazingly last week, I instantly felt a difference in my training.

When I use to train, I was always thinking about everything I had to do. My mind was elsewhere and I would be satisfied with "enough." My work load has not lightened and my to-do list is still long (often, longer than ever before) but I have given myself permission to be "all-in" when I train as I work hard for a great performance in Kona, Hawaii on October 10th, 2015. 

Many times, I see athletes who are "all-in" all season long. Starting from very early season, they either train too much or race too much. I feel a lot of the problem is lack of patience and/or trust in the development of building a great performance.

With so much hard work going into developing the strength, skills and resilience that I felt I needed before my Kona build, I find myself in a great place now, physically and mentally. The training load changed but it was designed to change because I was mentally and physically ready to handle the increased load without setbacks. 

Because consistency brings great performances, I am incredibly happy that I resisted the urge to be "all-in" earlier this season nd stuck to my game-plan of getting stronger before going longer. Getting faster has not been a direct priority of mine with my training this year so speed work has not been part of my training vocabulary. I knew that if I could follow my training plan to build a strong foundation, then I would be able to confidently use the 9 weeks leading up to the IM World Championship to get myself in the best shape possible to race a strong and "fast" race for 140.6 miles. 

There's no way that I can predict the future but I can confidently say that I feel like I am in the best shape ever and I still have 7 more weeks of training before taper to be "all-in" and see what I can do on race day. 

As for my first big weekend of training (which followed 3 days of two a day workouts on Tues, Wed and Thurs):

Saturday
100 mile ride (120 miles for Karel) followed by a 5.5 mile run

Karel took me on a route that he has done 5 times. I accepted the cycling challenge and joined him for the first time. We did over 11,000 feet of climbing and explored Table Rock, Rocky Bottom, North Carolina, Ceaser's Head and so much more. It was a nature-filled, absolutely beautiful 6 hours of riding.

I was able to ride "with" Karel for some parts of the ride but when we would climb up a mountain pass, he would often regroup with me after he got to the top (or bottom). After we descended down Ceaser's Head, we parted ways and Karel extended his ride for 120 miles and I finished with 100 miles. This was only my 2nd 100 mile ride since moving from FL and Karel and I both felt really strong.

After the ride, I put on my Nathan fuel belt and got myself together for my run.
1 mile easy

2 miles IM strong

The rest of the run easy

Somehow, with a good state of mind (and good fueling/hydrating on the bike), I managed to run 7:45 min/mile average for the strong, which was a bit challenging considering it was past 2pm and it was well over 90-degrees.

As for the rest of the day, I got to work with a few emails to athletes and ate and ate and ate to try to do my best to refuel and rehydrate. 

Sunday: 

Thankfully, "only" a 90 minute run on my schedule and all low-stress. Although I only run on hilly terrain (my hips don't do so well on flat roads), it was an enjoyable 10.3 mile run which included a little over 1300 feet of elevation gain.

Karel had a RETUL fit later that morning so after his run/walk (he is slowly returning to running after his foot injury 9 weeks ago) he got to work and then we had some Jacksonville friends coming through town who raced Lake Logan.
After everyone left, Karel and I had some work to do for 2 hours and then we headed to the Furman pool for a swim:
500 warm-up
1500 (buoy/paddles/ankle strap)
3 x 500's descend 1-3 from 75-85% w/ 45 sec rest

Total: 3500 yards

Thank goodness for a rest day today. Aside from walking Campy, there will be no cardio (or strength training) performed by our bodies. 

Can't wait for what's in store for another week of "all-in" training. 

Kona prep: the puzzle is complete!

22 weeks is a long time. 140.6 miles x 2 is a long way for the human body to travel. 

My journey of training for two Ironmans is now complete.....and now I anxiously await the day when I can stand at my 7th Ironman starting line. 

I am so very grateful to my body for allowing me to train for 2 Ironman distance triathlons (with the second round being 100% injury free) within 6 month time span. I trained for 10 weeks specifically for Ironman Lake Placid and after a 2 week unstructured bike/swim routine from training (with only 1 run/walk at the end of that 2 week period) I dedicated 12 weeks to preparing for the Ironman World Championship. 

Aside from needing to clean my car (My triathlon bag explodes in there almost daily), I am very excited to be approaching my active recovery week and then race week which will be my official "taper". Active recovery week allows my body to recover from many weeks of structured, quality "train hard, recovery harder" training and to rejuvenate my body. Taper, on the other hand, will include high intensity efforts w/ plenty of recovery to prepare my body for race day. Through experience as an athlete who has struggled with tapering and peaking at the right time, over the past few years Karel and I have learned that my body does the best with a heavy load at the end of my training cycle (keep in mind - I did not do over 17.5 hours a week of training for the IM world championship so my typical weekly load was more intense and race specific than high in volume) and then following that with an active recovery week. As you may have experienced, after a hard training load the body needs to repair and that can bring heavy legs, altered sleep (body wanting a lot more sleep), perhaps a change in appetite (my appetite stays the same with IM training so I never get super "hungry" or cravings with training - thanks to proper sport nutrition and daily fueling) and mood changes (nerves, excitement, highs and lows). These are things that no athlete wants to or needs to experience on race day so to ensure the body feels 'hungry' to race on race week, I allow the 2 weeks before a race for total body and mind recovery and I welcome active recovery to help flush things out and to keep the body active without a lot of training stress. Then on race week, I get to wake the body up with a few bursts and keep with my motto of saving my best performance for race day. 

One of the best parts of our training style is seeing all the pieces of the puzzle come together when they need to come together. With MANY 3-4 hour "IM rides" behind me, my body was set to put it all together for my last long ride last week. It was raining and I was in a 11-mile loop for the ride but all things considered, I was not going to let excuses get in my way for my 2nd 5-hour ride during Kona prep (the other ride was 99.1 miles with Karel).

5 hour ride + 30 min run
Bike main set:
45 minutes at IM Pace watts w/ 3 min EZ in between for 5 hours.
(yep  - that's it! Put all those pieces together and all those 3-4 hour workouts were coming into play for my first solo 100 mile ride in the past 22 weeks).

Run off the bike was great - averaged 8:12 min/miles w/ 30 sec walk in between each mile as usual.

I switched over my Garmin to my main page (from my interval screen) and I couldn't believe my eyes. Holy cow....NEVER have I held 20 mph alone and finally I could fully experience how this quality training approach pays off! Karel was just as happy as I was for you never know how the body will adapt to training stress and I'm so happy that we have been able to put the pieces together very nicely with my 3rd time training for the IM world championship.

This past week was one of the hardest weeks of training (Mon - Fri) that I have ever put in and I could not be more proud of my body. It was a lot of commitment, dedication and mental strength and as usual, I do not let excuses get in my way. Trying to keep everything balanced, I focused on the controllables and did waste any energy on things out of my control. 

Oh - speaking of uncontollables - I must mention that I did have a mental break down on Thurs as I was doing my "planned" workout which was modified thanks to a power meter that decided to malfunction just 24 hours before I needed to drop off my bike at the Trek Store for Tri Bike Transport to pick up. But as usual, Karel saved the day just like he did at Branson 70.3 and IMWI when I had two mechanical issues the day before the race. 

When people ask Karel about what gadgets/bikes to buy, Karel is always honest in terms of quality gear but he also focused on customer service. I am so grateful to Stages for sending Karel (and me) a new powermeter overnight so that Karel could do his magic and install it, sync everything and tune-up my bike within 2 hours of sending my bike off to Hawaii. THANK YOU KAREL and STAGES!!!

As for this weekend, a glorious well-deserved gadget free 2:45-3 hr-ish ride on my road bike (yes - no gadgets not even a bike computer) followed by a Campy walk in the rain. I could have ridden forever on my road bike but the focus today was to ride like a kid and stop when I wanted to stop. I figured my ride was over when it started pouring but I really enjoyed today just riding for fun. Tomorrow I will enjoy a day off from training and cheer for Karel who is racing at the local HOT olympic distance triathlon at camp blanding (with Campy).

And lastly....how about those taper blues and concerns about the diet/body composition before race week? 

Putting things into perspective if you struggle with your relationship with food as an endurance athlete, it's important that your mindset does not change throughout IM training....even if you are still training despite lowered volume. The entire focus of training is to put all the pieces together for race day and I could not be more excited to see what my body can do on October 12th, 2013. I did not put in all this work to stand around in spandex and show off my body. I trained to use my body, to test my limits, to overcome obstacles and to thank my body for the gift it has given me to swim-bike-run for 140.6 miles.

14 days until the Ironman World Championship and I will continue to eat the same foods that have fueled my workouts, have kept my immune system strong and have helped me recover. I will still love every day as triathlons are not my life, but instead my lifestyle.
My body will perform on race day based on how I trained it to perform and not based on a number on a scale. 

And most of all, my "reward" food will continue to keep me healthy until I get to the starting line.

A yummy post workout meal:

Local fresh whole grain bread
Scrambled eggs (1 whole egg + 1 egg white)
Sauteed kale w/ olive oil, goat cheese, leeks and red peppers
Sliced peaches

Thank you to all who have continued to follow and support my IM journey! Keep dreaming big!

Kona training update + Karel's weekend workouts

8.5 quality, "train smarter to train harder" hours of Ironman World Championship training this weekend. My whole wheat pita bread pizza topped with marinara, cheese, BRAGG powder and oregano and olive oil, stir fried veggies (mushrooms, mixed frozen veggies, red and yellow sweet peper, garlic) with tempeh hit the spot tonight. Body and mind are feeling strong, healthy and happy.

Another week of training is behind me and I am excited to recover tomorrow. I am always amazed that with one recovery day per week (sometimes two) that my body can recover from 6 previous days of training and be strong for 6 more days of training and keep this cycle going for x-weeks. One thing that really helps me stay balanced is constantly changing up my routine and only limiting my "key race training" to around 10-12 weeks at a time. When I started endurance sports, I was like many athletes and had a specific schedule Mon - Sun and would repeat that same routine week after week, month after month. Over the past few years, Karel always changes up my workouts, often with Thurs - Sun being the key workouts and then using Mon - Wed as active recovery. I love how my body is always getting use to something new and I think that is why I don't get burnt out from training. There is a lot of flexibility and challenge so I never get bored and my body never feels run down (tired and sore at times but nothing I can't recover from). After my two week recovery from IM Placid, the first few weeks of my IM training for Kona had a routine of an intense brick or interval run on Tues but now I know that my body can't take the added stress after the weekend training with my training on the weekend being much more intense and specific to the IM (now that the building is overwith). As an athlete, it is always important to weigh the pros and cons with training. Ask yourself what you can accomplish each day and week to move closer to your goals for you don't want to have 3 weeks of great workouts and then find yourself 4,6,8 weeks away from race day feeling tired, on the verge of injury or burnout. Keep it fun and never lose sight of your goals and dreams. 

Self doubt can be a challenge for an athlete, let alone any individual trying to reach goals. My belief is how do you know you can't do it unless you try and give your best effort?

This morning I woke up excited to train but the typical thoughts of "can I do this?" were on my mind as I drove 6 miles down the road to Nocatee to train. I never let my mind win when it comes to controlling my body but I do have to use my mental skills to hush up those thoughts. I never want to miss an opportunity to give a good effort just because I think I don't have "it" for the day. Of course, this is not an appropriate thought for an athlete who is sick or injured and that is why I always focus on training smart for I respect my body too much to push it went it can not adapt to training stress. My ultimate goal is to always have my mind as my only limiter when I train and race. BTW - I can't tell you how excited I am to have my personal sport psychologist and friend Gloria with me in Kona from Oct 7th - Oct 15th.

Sunday training:
After a 1 hour warm-up on the bike (18 miles and oh did my body really benefit from that) I started my long run:

First 8 miles steady @ IM Pace w/ 30 sec walk in between
2-3 min break - bathroom/refill flasks w/ sport drink
Main set:
5 x 1 miles Descending from IM pace to whatever my body would give w/ 30 sec walk in between

Last mile cool down
1 hour EZ spin active recovery (16 miles - oh this felt sooooo good to loosen the legs and sip on Hammer FIZZ - so refreshing to replace electrolytes as it was a major sweat fest this morning running from 8:30-10:30am in the Florida heat). 

Stats from my run:
2:08 hours
Average pace 8:37 min/mile (including walking and cool down, not including break)
Total miles: 14.93 miles
Average HR 140 bpm
Mile 1: 8:27, 120 HR
30 sec walk: 112 HR
Mile 2: 8:18, 126 HR
30 sec walk: 120 HR
Mile 3: 8:22, 131 HR
30 sec walk: 125 HR
Mile 4: 8:29 (incline), 139 HR
30 sec walk: 135 HR
Mile 5: 8:23, 140 HR
30 sec walk: 133 HR
Mile 6: 8:30, 140 HR
30 sec walk: 134 HR
Mile 7: 8:35, 142 HR
30 sec walk: 140 HR
Mile 8: 8:28, 143 HR
Break
Mile 9: 8:20, 141 HR
30 sec walk: 139 HR
Mile 10: 8:12, 147 HR
30 sec walk: 141 HR
Mile 11: 8:10, 145 HR
30 sec walk: 141 HR
Mile 12: 8:10, 143 HR
30 sec walk: 153 HR (body was getting hot - look how my HR went up during the walk to try to cool my body)
Mile 13: 7:56, 153 HR (but I had just enough mental strength to convince my body that I could do this! And fueling was perfect so had plenty of energy for this run)
30 sec walk: 153 HR
Mile 14: 8:26, 150 (steady effort before cool down)
.57 miles: 9:07, 141 HR


Karel is currently training for the Miami 70.3 so his training is a lot more intense. It took him a few weeks to recover fully from Placid and a few more weeks to get his snap back into his legs. Here's his weekend training:

Saturday: 2 hour bike + 30 min run
Bike - first hour warm-up until steady "fast" pace (draft legal behind two of our athletes JM and Josh)
Main set: 10 x 6 minutes @ Z4 watts w/ 1 min recovery in between (about 1 hour of hard efforts)
Run off the bike: 30 min negative split run - 6:50, 6:40, 6:30, 6:13

Sunday: 13.1 mile run (1:30, 6:52 min/mile including walk breaks) + 1 hour social spin (active recovery)
2.5 miles - warm-up (7:17, 7:00)
Stopped and stretched for a few minutes
Main set 3x's:
3 miles descending w/ 1 min walk in between  (start at 6:50 min/miles and descend 10 sec each mile)
6:49, 6:39, 6:29
6:47, 6:39, 6:29
6:48, 6:40, 6:15 (with strong finish)
Walked 1 minute
Jogged cool down 1.4 miles - 6:50 min/mile

We train smarter to train harder and in order to do so, we recover even harder. 

Kona training update and food is fuel (yummy)

This body is not disappointing me despite pushing it to higher limits and challenging workouts. Thanks coach Karel!

Today's workout was a breakthrough. I owe it to two great recovery days last week (Mon off, Tues 3000 recovery swim) and a balanced training plan since IM Lake Placid that has allowed my body to train hard but recover harder. I still don't forget that I didn't run for 90 days in Feb  - April but I thank my body constantly. Sometimes I even do it out loud. 

Wednesday - UNF masters swim team (joined Karel who has really benefited from this group and Coach Mel's assistance with his stroke)

Main set:
100 fast, 50 EZ

2 x 100 fast, 50 EZ

3 x 100 fast, 50 EZ

4 x 100 fast 50 EZ

The goal was to get faster with the fast as the set went on (2 minute cycle) but to be consistent. I really woke up my fast twitch fibers and oh boy was my body filled with lactic acid. I went from 1:16 to holding 1:14 on the last 4 and I was done after that. Whewww.

After the swim Karel and I went for a 90 minute bike, I included 8 x 2 min "fast" w/ 3 min EZ to wake up the body before Thursday's workout.

Thursday: Brick (bike + run)

Bike main set:

10 x 3 min Z4, 2 min Z3 low (Recover in IM watts) - loved this set!

Run off the bike
1 mile EZ (8:10), 1 min walk
Main set: 4 x 1 miles @ 7:30-7:40 min/mile pace w/ 1 min walk/rest in between
1 mile steady (8:10 min/mile)

Fri - 5000
Main set:

2 x 800's IM pace w/ 1 min rest

3 x 400's IM pace w/ 1 min rest

Hip/core work

Saturday: 3:37 bike (71 miles) + 1 hour run (7.2 miles)

Bike:
1 hour warm-up (building to 15 watts below IM pace)
Main set 4x's:
35 min at IM pace (my new pace is now 12 watts higher - yippe for training smarter, less is more) w/ 4 min EZ

(this set went by super fast and my body felt strong, no residual fatigue as the set went on. Sport nutrition liquid fueling was spot on (I don't do any solid foods in my training/racing) and haven't had any stomach distress with any of my IM training in many many years.)

Run off the bike:

6 x 1 miles @ interval of goal IM pace (the focus was to run faster than goal IM pace and then walk until the goal IM pace cycle was up. My goal IM pace is 8:30 so I was running comfortably 7:57-8 min/miles and then walking 30-35 sec in between. Great set, loved it! It got hard on the last mile as I was super hot and running out of my drinks in my two flasks.

10 min cool jog down (this felt sooo good to run 8:50 min/mile pace after that)


The other day while I was working in the hospital (I work PRN as an inpatient Clinical RD) I had a patient who was admitted for Jaundice and electrolyte imbalance. This patient was also diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia.

As we all know electrolytes are vital as our nerves, cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle all rely on them on a daily basis. They also help control pH balance in the blood and body fluids. Our electrolytes are best obtained from food but as we know as athletes, we also find them in sport drinks. Electrolytes are tightly controlled in body fluids (ex. plasma, blood and interstitial fluid) and must remain in specific concentrations or else serious medical conditions may arise.

Now as a clinical RD, it is appropriate for me to let everyone know that restricting food or purging food will lead to an electrolyte imbalance (among many other issues) and may cause further stress on the kidneys and heart. 

I'm sure we can all agree that restricting food for anyone is not recommended for we can put the body into a very serious situation of poor health as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies. 

So why is it that so many athletes feel that they don't need sport nutrition during workouts? As if the body is just fine with water (or nothing) and that dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, organ failure and even cardiovascular issues are not likely because training for a sporting event means that you are immune from these issues. 

Seeing that the body can "shut" down to try to resume balance without adding exercising into the mix when a person voluntarily restricts food (for whatever reason), this is why I am very adamant about not only consuming a balanced diet for athletes and fitness enthusiasts and learning how to fuel the body for health and for fitness/performance but also supporting the body with sport nutrition during training- when the body is under the most physiological stress. Sure, you can argue with me about fat burning and that your body doesn't need it but how about training the body to need it and then training the body so that the body takes care of itself to get stronger and more efficient?

I've said it before but I fuel before every workout, during every workout and after every workout. I never sabotage my body by not fueling it properly, especially when I want it to perform as beautifully as possible during training in order to get stronger and to recover faster.

Here are a few of my recent creations to help you continue your quest of learning how to develop a healthy relationship with food as an athlete. Remember - food is for fuel, for health and for pleasure. 

Brown Rice

Frozen Veggies

Boca veggie "meat" crumbles
Frozen edamame

Marinara sauce

Mozzarella cheese
topping: Sesame seeds
1. Microwave ingredients in bowl and top with sesame seeds.

Breakfast bread (nuts and dried fruit - Publix grocery store, made fresh daily)
Fresh fruit - raspberries, bananas
Greek yogurt (daily eats - 0% Fage)
Scrambled eggs (1 whole egg + 1 egg white)
Kale w/ olive oil (sauteed)

Roasted veggies - peppers, eggplant, onions (purple), mushrooms
Millet
Asparagus w/ garlic
Sunflower seeds
Goat cheese
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Marinara sauce
1. In 425 degree oven place veggies in large casserole and toss lightly in olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
2. Steam asparagus and then place in small casserole dish and top with chopped garlic and bake until golden brown (15 minutes).
3. Prepare millet (1/2 cup dry prepares 3 cups cooked) - 25-30 minutes
4. Place 1/2 - 1 cup millet in bowl and stir in marinara. Top with roasted veggies and asparagus and top with cheese and seeds. Season to taste.

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Pre training snack: flat bread cracker + peanut butter, banana slices, cinnamon and honey

1/2 cup oatmeal (dry)

Apples
Peaches
Raspberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
~10g whey protein powder
Almonds
Water (to meet consistency needs)
Raisins

I love supporting small businesses especially the bakers and bread makers at the farmers market. I went to the Bartram Farmers market on Thursday and as I was browsing the breads, many tables where trying to pitch me their treats/breads by what was not in the ingredients (sugar, salt, fat, gluten, etc). I guess they don't know my personal philosophy and what I am all about when it comes to eating for fuel, for health and for pleasure.
I decided on Hugo's muffins because I could tell he was truly passionate about his food and he knew I would feel great eating it.... And I did, gluten and all. Check out Hugo's story HERE!

YAY - Campy walks are the best!! The most looked forward part of my day (for both of us).

(Pampered shades from Oakley Women)

Training the body: thanking the body.

My legs were tired, it was hot and humid, the wind was blowing and I was riding behind Karel on his new Speed Concept.

33 days until Kona and I think I just finished one of my hardest training blocks ever.

Thank you BODY!

-Sunday's workout-

5 hour ride + 15 min run

Bike:
1 hour warm-up, building to 10 watts below IM pace (legs took a while to warm-up thanks to the stress I placed on my body from Saturday's 3:15 bike + 9.5 mile run).
35 min IM pace w/ 5 min EZ
Main set 3x's:
35 minutes @ Half IM pace (watts) w/ 4 minutes in between (see below of details of this set)
Steady riding upper Z2 until finished
Total hours: 4:58
Miles: 99.3

15 min run off the bike (RPE 75-80%, ended up holding 8-8:15 min/miles)

Since Karel is training for a half IM (Miami 70.3 in the end of October), his training is a bit different than mine right now. He ran 1 hour before the bike and then joined me on my 2nd interval. After I did 35 minutes of riding at my IM pace and then recovered for 5 minutes, Karel joined me and we were ready for the main set.

The duration for the main sets has grown over the past few weeks and no more am I feeling the "low" I use to feel around 2.5 hours during my long rides. While training for IM Lake Placid, I knew that my endurance was going to come slowly after not running for 90 days (Feb - April) due to my chronic hip/back issues. But I continue to focus on the CANs with my exercise/training routine and enjoying everyday with my healthy, pain free body. Now, I feel my endurance is better than ever and since the training is getting very intense and specific, I am super mindful of resting my body before I really need to rest it. I really love the progression that Karel has given me with my training for it was a work in progress. I spent all last year working on my speed as Karel did not want me to do an IM but instead work on the little things that will improve my endurance. Hence, get faster before you go longer.  I remember blogging last year about doing my first Olympic distance tri in 4 years! Oh the nerves!! Then there was The Iron Girl Half Marathon in Clearwater . Then another Olympic distance tri (first time for Karel!). And then I was able to put it all together at Branson 70.3

Anyways, the body is an amazing thing and I don't feel it is always respected. It takes a lot of time to train the body and mind, not only in athletics but with anything in life. You just have to have patience and I think our society loves quick fixes. Our society wants something to happen today just like.

Sometimes we have to shut up the mind to make the body go that extra mile to get stronger but many times, we don't listen to the body when it is speaking.

I feel athletes are no more stubborn than the rest of the population for many people push the body (or don't listen to it) when it needs to rest or slow down. I think for many of us, we just don't want to miss out on life and because of that, this is the reason why we should listen and constantly pay attention to the body and what we choose to feed it, do with it and most importantly, how we speak to it.

On Sunday, my main set was more than just 35 minutes at Half IM pace. It involved no tail wind (thanks to Karel choosing country roads with the long blades of grass blowing right at me or to my side) and very little shade from the heat. It was perfect Kona prep and Karel constantly reminded me what I was about to do with my body in Kona in about 4 weeks for 140.6 miles. "It's not going to be easy Marni. You can never beat the wind."

Riding with Karel is amazing. I can't tell you how much I learn and benefit from him as a cat 1 cyclist for many many years. His knowledge of bikes is one thing as well as his passion for anything on two wheels but it is his attention to details and tactics that really make him so smart as an athlete.

The set was as follows:
10 minutes of me in front riding half IM pace.
Then Karel would go in front and hold a similar pace (he did this workout for me so he obviously wasn't pushing his watts) and I had to stay draft legal (7 meters) behind Karel. He wanted me to pay attention to my speed and watts and to stay draft legal but still be "competitive" with who was in front of me. This is something I have a hard time with as I typically stay a bit too focused on myself and don't take a lot of risks when it comes to being pushed by the other girls who pass me. Karel wanted me to be relentless within my own ability and I felt like this was one of the hardest sets I have ever done and it really pushed my limits (physically and mentally).

I repeat myself quite often but the thought in my mind is that I am always grateful for what my body allows me to do. There have been many times in my life when I have wanted to give up - when things aren't easy, when obstacles arise or when it seems like everyone else has it easier than me. 

For the past few years, I have experienced a lot in life and I owe it all to my body. We go to great lengths to reach goals together and because of it, I have really taken advantage of life. 

You see, success in life- whether sports, career or anything in between - is having a purpose and then thinking in a positive way as to how YOU can go about reaching your goal.

I constantly remind myself that my body does not have to let me do "this". When I train I push my body and challenge myself. I get sore, tired and rely on sport nutrition because I am depleting my body of nutrients, fluids and electrolytes. I see patients in the hospital who are too tired to get out of bed, lay in pain, are unable to think straight and feel miserable - not because they just did a marathon or an IM or biked 100 miles that day but because their body is failing them at that time.

I find so many people are so focused on what everyone else is doing that they forget who they should really be paying attention to on a daily basis - their own body.

This morning I received an email from a Trimarni follower and it 100% sums up everything I believe in. With permission from Sarah S. I wanted to share this note from her which she shares her thoughts after finishing her first Ironman distance triathlon. There's a great lesson in thanking the body. 

I started Ironman Arizona last November but DNF'd due to dehydration about 100 miles into the bike....Rev 3 Cedar Point was my redemption race.

First of all though, you really have changed the way I think about my body and my relationship with food. I don't come from an athletic background at all....I couldn't run over a mile until 2009, never really rode a bike until 2010 and couldn't swim a lap until 2011. So this has been quite the journey! 

I never have had a healthy relationship with food but reading your blog has taught me that as athletes especially food is FUEL and we need to treat our bodies right. Also, thanks to you the whole day yesterday I kept reminding myself to thank my body for being awesome. 

When it got hard (which it did a lot) and I wasn't preforming how I *thought* I should, or going as fast as I had hoped, instead of being angry at my body or dragging myself down, like I used to do, I thanked my body for letting me get through training and for carrying me through this race. 

In the past I would have felt bad for myself and thought "you're so slow, you're near the back, why do you even do this?" but yesterday not a single negative thought entered my mind the whole day. 

I spent hours thanking my legs and my lungs and encouraging my body to keep moving forward. It's still a new way of thinking for me, but I love it!

How did Sarah's race turn out? Here's the end of her race report:

Miles 18-22 were the worst, I just gritted my teeth and used every single ounce of grit and determination and will I could to move one foot in front of the other. With about 4 miles to go I started feeling good again! I actually did a little bit of slow running and let myself get a tiny bit excited about finishing but not too much because I still had over an hour to go at my pace. I could see the lights of cedar point getting closer and soon I could see and hear the finish line. Miraculously once I got in the chute all the pain vanished and I was able to run again. I took it all in…everyone cheering my name like I was a rockstar and the tears started flowing….I did it! A 6:23 marathon isn't what I hoped for (about an hour slower) but it didn't matter, I was so proud of myself. After 15:19 of swim, bike, and run! I am an Ironman! After years of training and a DNF last year, I did it. It was the hardest day of my life and nothing anyone can do or say will prepare you for how deep you have to dig out there. I am just so proud of myself!

5 weeks away from Kona: Training update

Over the years, my training has changed tremendously. I wasn't sure how to approach the training as an endurance athlete so I followed the crowd and trained twice a day, long workouts on the weekends and dreaded the recommended "off" day on Monday. 

It worked for my first Ironman, so I decided that if more is better, I should do even more than before. However, I became injured and extremely fatigued for my second Ironman and now I pay for that race (2007 Ironman World Championship) a few times every year since.

With Karel's thinking outside the box, we have adapted a philosophy of "train hard, recover harder".

Training is periodized so that we peak at the right time and training stays balanced with life. Every workout has a purpose, there are no junk miles and we have fun seeing progress.

Sometimes there are off days but there are a lot of great days. The off days finish with the mindset that we accomplished something that we almost didn't start and the great days finish with motivation for the next workout. 

There is an understanding that for the body to adapt to training stress and improve performance/fitness, there must be training stress. There is commitment to the training plan and a realization that you can either make excuses or progress. But when there is too much training stress, it is hard to adapt in a positive manner. Therefore, we have learned how to create training plans for me (and for my athletes and pre-built plans) that provide workouts for gains in speed, endurance and fitness and balance in life. For if you are burnt out, sick, injured or on the verge of injury, adaptations can not take place. Our bodies get tired with our training load but it is not to the point that we can't recover to set up ourselves for a great next training session the following day. There are recovery days, there is an appreciation of other important areas in life that can bring fitness gains (balanced diet, understanding of proper fueling around/during workouts, compression, epson salt baths, restful sleep, massages, good attitude, mental strength, hip/core work, stretching) and most importantly, the training plan is designed for long-term success. 

Everything is coming together amazingly well for Kona in just 5 weeks! I do not expectations of being on the podium but instead, having a strong race. It is an honor for me to race at the Ironman World Championship for the third time and my #1 goal is to arrive to the starting line healthy, injury free and hungry to race. 

Just like every Ironman, I really love the journey. Still reminding myself that I just did an Ironman 6 weeks ago (with 2 weeks of recovery), I am constantly thanking my body for what it is allowing me to do. Thanks to Karel having a very good understanding of my body (which is important for any athlete who works with a coach to consider the long-term investment that is required for a coach to understand how you, the athlete adapts to training), he has developed a perfect plan for me to get even stronger, faster and more efficient before Kona. 

There are no two-a-days and my weekly hours are around 15-16 hours a week. I have yet to do a bike ride over 4.5 hours and my longest run was 15 miles last weekend. I run an average of around 15-30 miles a week, with most of my runs off the bike. Every workout has a main set and my sets are typically long on the bike and RPE focused for the run. I swim 2-3 days a week (depending on my choice of day off or active recovery) and my swims are around 3500-4500 on average - with more yardage because I love to swim and sometimes have trouble getting out of the water when my inner fish comes out. I do hip/core work every night for 15 minutes + stretching and I do hip/core work in the gym twice a week. 

The best thing about quality training is the energy that I have for life. Rather than having an expectation as to how much I need to train each week, I have my week laid out (hospital/home with my business) and I have a training plan that allows me to separate my work time from training time. Even though I work from home and have flexibility with my work day (which is typically 8-10 hours a day dedicated to Trimarni), I would rather walk Campy in the evening, cook a delicious creation and go to bed early instead of squeezing in another workout in the evening. I give myself 2-2.5 hours every morning for myself to train during the week and I like to be finished training by noonish on the weekends. This doesn't mean that I have train all those hours and as much as I love to train, I like to see progress. I also respect my body and understand that too much training stress does not make me a better athlete but instead, an active individual with a dampened immune system. 

I really love this article Recover Right which include tips from Coach Matt Dixon from Purple Patch Coaching who is a strong believer in the "less is more" approach. 

Just to be clear - training smarter doesn't mean that I don't take risks. Just like any athlete, I love to push my body and not always does it work in my favor. But the most important thing I can do as an athlete and fitness enthusiast is appreciate the value of recovery. Your progress as an athlete is only as good as your ability to recover from workouts. Every athlete is different and keep in mind that as life changes, so does your training routine. The best thing you can do as an athlete is make it all work by focusing on your needs, your body and your goals. 

Here's a recap of my training this week: 

Monday (finishing off a 3-day training block with the holiday) - 4:15 social/fun ride (solid effort with the group)

Tues - day off from all training. 20 minutes of stretching in the evening and a 40 minute Campy walk in the am and several mini Campy walks during the day around the block.

Wed - 4300 swim + 1 hour spin (brick)
Swim main set 3x's:
300 steady at IM pace
4 x 50's fast on :45 seconds

Thurs - (in Macon) - 1:15 run of intervals (I rarely have mile-based runs for weekly runs, instead I go by time)
1 mile warm-up
Main set 6x's: over/under thresholds
1/2 mile @ sub 7:30 min/mile, 1/2 mile "slower" w/ 1 minute in between
(I did this around the block at Stefanies which was a perfect 1/2 mile loop). I went 100% by perceived exertion and ended up descending the 1/2 miles (thanks to my fast twitch fibers waking up over the set) and getting a little slower on the 1/2 mile "slower". I averaged around 6:33-7:15 min/mile for the first 1/2 mile and around 7:40-8:15 min/mile for the last 1/2 mile.
Last mile cool down and then 1/2 mile or so with Campy.
8 miles total.

Fri - 5000 swim + core/hip work (20 minutes) + stretching
Main set:
10 x 100's on 1:30 (holding 1:20)
500 pull w/ paddles/buoy  steady (holding 1:27 pace)
5 x 100's on 1:30 (holding 1:19)
500 pull w/ paddles/buoy steady (holding 1:30 pace)
400 kick (50 free, 50 fly kick fast)

Sat - 3:15 bike + 1:20 run (AMAZING WORKOUT!)
Bike - (even though a shorter bike, this allowed me to push a little harder to receive a bit more stress without risking fatigue from long volume. This also allowed me to run on "tired" legs for training stress which is more valuable to my body than a "long" run on fresh legs).

1 hour warm-up building to IM pace watts

Main set 3x's
5 min Z4, 10 min Z3 low (IM watts), 5 min Z4, 10 min Z3 low
5 min EZ
(30 min main set + 5 min recovery)
Total 60 miles

Run off the bike (starting at 10:30 am)
8 x 1 miles @ RPE 80% effort (I managed to hold around 8 min/miles which really made me happy. I knew my HR would go up over time as it was nearing 92 degrees when I finished my bike according to my Garmin so I just monitored my HR to keep under 160 as I knew that was too high for me and I would have trouble recovering from a long run off the bike with a high HR even if I wasn't running "fast") w/ 30 sec walk in between. At 4 miles, I walked 1 total minute to refill my flasks.
Last mile + extra was "cool down"

Stats from my 910 XT (SO happy with this run as well as the entire workout today - what a solid workout for my body)
1:20 run

9.49 miles

8:26 min/mile pace (including walking)
Average HR 154

Mile 1: 8:04, 134 HR
30 sec walk, 138 HR
Mile 2: 7:56, 146 HR
30 sec walk, 138 HR
Mile 3: 7:57, 149 HR
30 sec walk, 140 HR
Mile 4: 7:57, 153 HR
1 min walk, 143 HR
Mile 5: 8:05, 154 HR
30 sec walk, 152 HR
Mile 6: 8:02, 156 HR
30 sec walk, 153 HR
Mile 7: 8:06, 157 HR
30 sec walk, 153 HR
Mile 8: 8:05, 157 HR
30 sec walk, 155 HR
Mile 9: 8:40, 170 HR (Super hot but felt really "EZ" but HR was not showing that it was EZ. Massive rush of blood to try to cool my body.)
2 minutes (.32): 8:20, 182 HR (officially done!)

Sunday (tomorrow) - 5 hour ride + 1 mile run

Total training hours: ~17 (including the 4 hours on Monday due to the holiday and three day training block)

You might be a triathlete when.....your car looks like this!

Kona IM training update + yummy creations

Wow - 45 days until the big day!! I'm so excited for my 3rd opportunity to race in the Ironman World Championship and I am incredibly grateful to my body for allowing me to have some awesome workouts so quickly after recovering from Ironman Lake Placid (IM #6). 

Last week was very challenging but I allowed myself plenty of rest so that the weekly volume wasn't so high that my immune system, motivation and body would suffer. 

Sunday was a mentally and physically tough workout thanks to Coach Karel for reminding me that you don't get very far without hard work....and you have to get faster before you go longer. 

Saturday: AM 4 hour bike + 45 min run (average pace ~8:15-8:20 min/mile) (brick)

Bike Main set: 

4 x 30 min @ 10-15 watts higher than IM pace w/ 4 min EZ in between

Nothing like a 2 hour and 16 minute main set to keep my mind focused. 

Monday was a day off (+ hip/core work and stretching). 

Tuesday: AM 1:45 bike (trainer) + 6 mile run (+ 1/2 mile campy run) (brick)
Bike:
Main set 3x's:

5 min @ Z4 watts, 10 min Z3, 5 min Z4

5 min EZ spinning

(another mentally and physically tough workout!)

6 mile run off the bike:
First mile steady, perceived effort 7 out of 10. walk 1 minute.

Main set: 4 x 1 miles at sub 7:30 min/mile pace (Half IM pace) w/ good form w/ 1 min walk in between

(7:22, 7:21, 7:12, 7:18 min/mile)

Cool down + Campy run

Wednesday: AM 1 hour swim + 1 hour run (brick)

Swim: 3100 yards
Main set: (with 1 minute rest in between each set)
4 x 200's w/ 20 sec rest (IM effort)
4 x 100's w/ 10 sec rest (olympic distance effort)
4 x 50s w/ 5 sec rest (fast)
4  25's w/ 5 sec rest (fast)

Run:

20 min warm-up (walk as needed to keep good form, slow pace)
Main set (20-60 minutes):
3 min @ marathon goal pace, 2 min @ half marathon goal pace. Straddle treadmill 30 sec, keep repeating until 1 hour.

Total 7 miles with warm-up//cool down 

Stretching + light hip/core work

Body and mind feel healthy and happy. No signs of being run-down, overtrained or injured and I love the balance of training with life. Just enough training stress for my body to adapt but not too much that my life would feel overwhelming with the upcoming IM. I'm looking forward to a bike-only workout tomorrow, long swim on Friday and a solid 3-day weekend of training with focus on intensity and moderate volume (and day off Tues). My first "long" ride after Placid will not occur until Sept 7th and that will be 5 hours. 

I love to keep my body and brain fueled on a daily basis, in addition to fueling before, during and after EVERY workout that I do. No ifs, ands or butts about it...I love to fuel my body when it is under the most physiological stress as my body doesn't need  "extra" fuel when I am sitting around in the evening after dinner from 7-bed (~9;30/10pm) and it rarely asks for it because it received adequate fuel when I want it to adapt to get stronger, faster and healthier. There is no time during my day that I restrict myself from food so I am consciously aware of when my body needs it the most.

Nutty Fruity Oats

                                   

Peaches

Raspberries

Blueberries

Apples

Raisins

Walnuts

Cashews

Sunflower seeds

Almonds

Flax seeds

1/2 cup oats

Water (no milk at work)

Cinnamon

~10g whey protein powder

(I used a little of everything)

Homemade 90-second popcorn

1/3 kernels in a brown bag and fold over twice and pop for 75-90 seconds.

Cabbage, edamame and quinoa stir fry

Karel's mom's cabbage recipe (steamed cabbage with seasonings)

Edamame (bagged, frozen)

Stir fry - mushrooms, onions, garlic in olive oil with toasted quinoa

(My picture doesn't look that pretty but me an my belly enjoyed it so I wanted to share the wonderful mix of flavors and color). 

Warning: DO NOT EAT this little delicious ball of cuteness.