sometimes days off pay off.

The past couple of weeks have been interesting because I've had SO much work at church, and two retreats where I was out of town. So obviously I missed some training. That was hard because for 5 weeks I didn't miss a day! During those weeks I probably trained a good 3 days/week. I was nervous about how I would perform after the breaks in my schedule, and it actually helped me! The rest helped my body recover and come back harder, faster, better, stronger (thank you, Kanye for the words when I need them).

I rode 20 miles on Monday. Every time I go out now I'm averaging 20-25 mph for my rides, which is a HUGE improvement for me. I've probably seen the biggest improvement on the bike, which is so fun because those are my favorite training days. I spend a lot of time praying and thinking when I'm riding outside. It's encouraging when you're covering a lot of ground and getting to see nice countryside at the same time. I love the wind on my face and the determination that I get when I see a large hill looming up ahead. I feel closer to God when I'm out there chasing the sunrise and enjoying the gifts and blessings that He has given me.

My swimming is smoother now, too. I'm focusing on rotating my body through the water with each stroke, and that cuts back on a lot of time and effort (I'm more thankful for less effort, honestly). I finished my workout this morning and felt like I could've gone much farther. You know what that means....tonight I'm headed out for a run. I'll spend today working up at the church, meeting with people, and eating! I crave protein and cheese! I think that's helped keep me going - high protein and carb diet.

I also got my hair cut this morning. If you're looking for a good place to go, I highly recommend Chrome. It's on University by Wings-n-More. Lindsay Jacobus referred me to Melody and she was great and so fun to talk to. If you go in off a referral you get 25% off! I didn't get anything drastic done, but my head definitely feels lighter. Hmm, I wonder how much faster my times will be...:)

a new PR

Just to keep things up to date, Sunday night I had my long run - 45 min. It was really good! Towards the middle I felt exhausted, but nearing the end I got my second wind. I ran around Reed Arena, and there was one stretch where I was running at an angle battling the wind. Then I turn the corner and I'm running in dead, still air. So half the time I'm dripping in sweat, only to have the wind dry me off and beat me down shortly after. Good times.

Last night the REC closed at 8pm for "clean-up." Dear REC, I hate to break it to you, but I'm just going to come and get you sweaty again as soon as you open. It was too dark for a bike ride outside by that time, so I settled for doing a core workout in my kitchen. Sometimes that happens.

This morning, however, was a small victory for me. I biked 16 miles and averaged 22 mph. That average would have been faster if I hadn't had to stop at stoplights and stop signs toward the end of the ride. Traffic is really a drag when you're in it, but seriously annoying when you're on a bike. Plus, some idiot thought it would be funny to swerve at me. Dear Suburban, you try sitting on a 17 pound bike with a 2 ton 'burb coming at you. You're right. It's not very nice.

Another side effect is a nose full of dust (and bugs...?) that I've stirred up, ridden through, and breathed in (very deeply, might I add).

I'm headed to the gym to swim tonight after work!

rest days are good!

As you know from my last post, I was forced to take a few days off due to work and other circumstances. I did get the unexpected chance to practice an open water swim, however. I was on leadership retreat with church, and we spent the afternoon on Lake Whitney doing some cliff jumping and swimming. I used the opportunity to get comfortable in choppy water. Unfortunately, the weather turned bad and the waves got pretty high, and so an afternoon of leisure swimming at the lake turned into a survival situation. The stronger swimmers had to help the others out, and at the end, everyone was exhausted physically and emotionally. It was good experience for me, though, swimming in choppy, open water.

Yesterday I worked from 8-2 at the Doctor's office, and then headed to the Gym for a Brick workout. I was dreading it, actually, because I was worried that I was going to die within the first 15 minutes of my workout since I've missed some key workouts and not gotten much sleep. It's amazing, though, how well your body does after some rest. Even though I was busy and not sleeping as much as normal, I wasn't exerting myself physically. My Brick was the best one I've done yet! I felt really strong, and I attribute that to the extra rest days I had.

I'm at the Doctor's today from 1-7 if I get off on time. And then I have my long run...45 minutes today. I'm excited about it based off of yesterday's performance. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

The race is exactly 4 weeks from today! I'm starting to get that edgy feeling of excitement. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes!

busy!

One Genetics final. One Biochemistry final. One intruder in the night. One curriculum for church next fall. Road trips to Impact. Not very much sleep.

This is not a good combo for training well. So Monday and Tuesday I didn't train. Sunday I had my long run and it went really well. I felt stronger!

This morning I left for my leadership retreat at Church. We're at a "resort" that is a time-machine back to the 70s. No joke. Shag carpet, vinyl walls, and retro yard decorations complete this treasure.

Despite being tired, I went on a slow jog just to get back into things. There is a small pool outside so hopefully I'll be able to swim some tomorrow. We shall see...

Race day is only 1 month away tomorrow!!!

covering some ground.

I'm almost halfway done! I'm smack dab in the middle of week 5, meaning I have 5 measly weeks left for training. I can't believe it, honestly. In the beginning, I questioned whether or not I would make it, especially since I have such a busy schedule, but I made it a priority and it's working. I'm learning a lot about the benefits of making things a priority, especially as it translates into my spiritual life with the Lord. Progress is made when you put forth effort and time. That applies to anything, I think.

Just to recap, last time I wrote about my 40 minute run on Friday. Saturday I went on a bike ride. I rode the "Bird Pond" route, although the ride was unfortunately cut short. My friend's chain popped off and the situation was unable to be remedied. Those things happen sometimes, you just have to pray it doesn't happen on the race day.

Sunday I completed my first Brick workout of my training. A Brick is where you bike and then immediately get off and run. I biked for 30 minutes and then ran for 10. The purpose is to train your body to grow accustomed to jumping off the bike and immediately starting into the run where you'll be using different muscle groups, a different pace, a different rhythm, etc. Initially, your legs just feel like jello, and you have to mentally psych yourself up to start running like you're in a race. It's tempting to just jog out the stiffness in your legs, but you have to quickly switch gears and try to make your times. It's a fun addition to my already diverse workout, and I'm looking forward to my next one tomorrow.

Monday was my much-needed day off. My legs were a little sore, so I was glad to rest, and Tuesday when I did my running, I was refreshed and recovered.

I still love every aspect of training. I'm going to go lift weights and swim today, and I feel lame saying this, but it's probably going to be the highlight of my day. I can noticeably tell a difference in my heart rate and it's efficiency when I work out. It doesn't get as high when I'm exerting myself, and it takes little to no time at all to decrease back to its normal rate. When I'm resting, I can tell that I'm really resting now, because my heart has gotten stronger. Sure, these aren't drastic changes after only 5 weeks, but it's changed enough that I notice a difference.

I think something that has helped me is to remember that I'm not racing tomorrow, I'm racing in 5 weeks. Because of that, my progression can be and should be gradual! Sometimes it's frustrating not to see much progress in one week, but keep telling yourself that you're working for 10 weeks to accomplish a goal, not just one. It's a slow and steady climb. 5 more weeks!

feeling good.

I missed a workout yesterday and so I doubled up today. Initially I was hesitant, because I wanted both my run and my swim to be worthwhile, but I decided to give it a shot. I had to do the two workouts back-to-back because of my work/class schedule, but I went into it determined to go hard during both sessions.

I started out with my 40 minute run. I've been training around a 7:30 min/mile pace, and I incorporated 6 one-minute walks to recover. About half way through it felt like I hit a wall; my muscles were contracting, I was feeling tired, and I was breathing hard. I kept telling myself that I would be so mad at the end if I stopped midway through my run, so I ran 3 miserable laps around the track, hoping that it would get better since I still had 20 minutes left.

It was crazy, because all of a sudden, as I was pushing through, my pace got quicker, my breathing slowed, and my legs stopped hurting. It was an instantaneous change. I was shocked, and yet thrilled at the same time. I think my last half was faster than my first half! This phenomenon is encouraging, and I'll have to remind myself that pushing past the "wall" is worth it. So don't stop when you think you have to!

After my run, I headed to the pool, and I must say I was feeling pretty tired and incapable of busting out a swim workout. My main set was a 6x50 with 10 sec. rest in between. Each swim workout has warmup, cooldown, drills, and a main set that's usually the set that you're looking to dominate, basically. The main set is the speed work that helps you improve. Thankfully, I had a little swim coach to yell at me to keep going. Tiffany had run with me, and stuck around to time my swim. It was motivation and accountability to have her there, and so I did all of it. I wasn't as fast as I would have liked for my main set, but I was consistent and I finished.

One glass of milk, one PB&J, one cup of cottage cheese, and one Gatorade later, I'm exhausted.

up to speed.

So the last time I posted was Monday. Today is Friday....

I definitely worked out in between there. Yesterday I couldn't because of a chemical fire in the area, so I had to evacuate and the REC was closed. So today, tomorrow, and Sunday I'm going to be hitting it extra hard. These are key weeks in training and I need to be diligent.

I guess I can't really help a chemical fire, though. I'll blog about training this weekend. Ask me how it's going if you see me! Even though I love making time for this, I need to be pushed!

I'll write more later. The only noteworthy thing that I feel like I can add here is that I'm slowly but surely radically altering my diet. I ate pizza for lunch on Tuesday with some pasta, thinking that carbs would be a good route to go. My stomach was killing me the rest of the day (a weird feeling for someone used to downing a couple of burgers at a time) and when I was swimming and lifting I barely had enough energy to do anything. I needed protein, and more complex carbohydrates without the grease.

From the many articles that I have read, it seems that I need about 60% of my diet to be from complex carbohydrates (whole grains, pastas, brown rice, root veggies, oats), 20% from protein (meat, dairy, beans), and 20% from unsaturated fats (like fish, nuts, avocados, vegetable oil). I must say that I don't really find myself craving much else. I do enjoy homemade desserts occasionally, but nothing processed and packaged.

For those of you who have known me for a while, I realize this is such a shocker, and I apologize that I am no longer the girl eating entire boxes of cinnamon sticks from dominos (yes, I did this on several occasions...and there were witnesses). That was a fun stage of life, but one that I'm afraid needed to end.