Wonderful Wordless Wednesday

Miranda on the radio.

Beautiful spring summer weather.

Tasty afternoon snacks

Refreshing midday pick me up.

LIFE IS GOOD!  :)

Ironman USA Training Recap: Week 1 & 2

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  I hope you all are having a super week.  I have officially survived the first build cycle of IM USA training.  Here is what I have been up to over the past couple weeks.

During my first week of training, I logged a total of 74 miles.  I completed 3 crossfit workouts, 1 swim workout, 2 bike rides (1 midweek and 1 weekend), and 1 half marathon.  This isn't super impressive, but it certainly is a start.

How did my half marathon go?? It went pretty well.  Would I say that I redeemed myself for last year's awful performance? Not quite, but it was an improvement for sure.  Just to jog your memory, at last year's Rock N Roll USA 13.1, I did everything you do not want to do when racing.  I did not train.  I decided to go out WAY too fast. I did not know the course.  The list goes on and on.  Even though I did not do as well as I hoped I would do, I still PRed.  I guess I cannot be too upset about that. Below are my splits.

Takeaways from the 2013 Rock N Roll USA 13.1: I need to work on racing a steady and consistent race.  Half marathons are no joke.  They are short enough to be fast, but long enough to hurt. Let's hope that I have a better race at the Nike Women's Half in a month.

Week #1 wasn't all about training though.  I did manage to squeeze in a little St. Patty's Day fun by going to Shamrock Fest. :)

Guinness and Irish hats makes me happy!

The orange facial hair was a little scary. 

Week #2 was pretty similar to my first week with a little more mileage.  I logged a total of 84 miles.  HOWEVER, I did make it to both swim practices!

I never said that I looked good at my morning workouts, I just said that I went.  #DoNotFallAsleepWithWetHair

I completed 3 crossfit workouts, 2 swim workouts, 2 bike rides (1 midweek and 1 weekend) and 1 running workout.  Making it to both swim practices was awesome, but I must say that the big win of the week was that I actually enjoyed cycling.  Shocking, right?  I recently purchased the ISM Adamo saddle, and cycling is a 1,000 times better. Who knew that cycling could actually be fun? :)

Like the first week, I was able to squeeze in a little fun between workouts.  On Thursday night, I went to see Flip Orley at the DC Improv.  For those who haven't seen him, he puts on an awesome show!  I volunteered to be hypnotized the first time I saw him, so it was cool to see the show from the audience.  He certainly didn't disappoint.  Week #2 ended with more fun! I brought this flashy ride home with me.

Yes- my new bike matches T-Bird. :) 

Training goals going forward:  I need to focus on making time for my short midweek runs.  From looking at my workout log, this is where I tend to slack.  I also want to focus on getting my tush to both swim workouts.  I start to get worn down by the end of the week, and have a tendency to turn my alarm off on Thursday mornings. I also want to try to focus on maintaining some sort of balance during my build weeks.  Balance will be the key to me keeping myself sane during all of the training- especially when it comes to IMFL.

Got to run- catch up with you all later! :)

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Coolest CEO Ever Edition

Happy Hump Day!  I hope everyone is having a super week.  My week has been a little crazy, but that seems to be the norm when I have a short work week.

The CEO of my company decided to turn one of our conference rooms into a gym.  This is where I will be spending most of my lunches from now on.  #Triathlete'sDream

Today's midday run- easy 3 mile run.

I did my first run in my fancy new trainers- Adidas adiZero Boston 3. They super light weight  and feel awesome.  This weekend I caved and bought a pair of Newtons, so during my transition those, I will be rocking these flashy shoes.  FYI for non-runners- you cannot jump right into wearing Newtons.  Newton running shoes are designed to make you a more efficient runner.  So if you are a heel striker like me, it is going to take time for the muscles and tendons to adjust to the new running form.  

Three Things Thursday- Lent Edition

Morning, everyone!  Yesterday was the start of the Lent, and in true triathlete fashion, I have mixed in a little triathlon with my normal lenten penance. Here is what I plan to focus on during the 6 weeks before Easter.

1. Going to church more.  I try to make it to Mass as much as possible; however, I always use the excuse that I have a workout early in the morning to justify skipping Mass.  Over the next 6 weeks, I am going to try to change that.  I know when my workouts are well in advance, so I should be able to find one hour of my weekend to go to Mass.  
2. No more skipping workouts. Like I said above, I have to mix in a little triathlon with everything. Not to mention that giving up my excuses to skip workouts will be quite the challenge. I am going to try to complete every workout for 6 weeks. Wish me luck! :)
3. No more cursing.  I do not have a mouth like a sailor; however, I can let it fly every now and again.  I will find better ways to express my thoughts and feelings over the next 6 weeks. 

Oh and on a completely unrelated note- Happy Valentine's Day!  Sending lots of hugs and warm and loving thoughts to everyone. <3 <3

This is how the BF shows me he loves me- putting stickers on my tush  while I walk around a store for 30 minutes not not knowing.   :) 

New and Wonderful Wednesday- CFA Edition

Happy Hump Day!  I hope everyone is having a super week.  I know I haven't been blogging that much; however, I am hoping that will change as my IM USA training is starting to ramp up and I will have lots of tri adventures to share. This year I have decided to add some additional strength training to my usual swim- bike- run routine.  During 2011, I did bootcamps sometimes twice a week.  I know, I should have been more consistent with the bootcamps, but some days I just wanted to be able to "sleep in" (7am).

Times are changing though! :)  This year I am adding something new and oh so wonderful to the mix- CROSSFIT.  I have heard a lot about CrossFit in the past, but it took me almost 6 months to finally drink the CrossFit Kool-Aid.  With the level of training IM requires, I will only be doing CF 2 times a week.  Lord knows, that I do not want to wear myself out to the point where I cannot do my normal workouts.  My plan is to replace my regular strength workouts with CF until it is time to taper for Lake Placid.

How is it going?  Well, I am five CF workouts in, and I am absolutely loving it.  I am feeling super strong, and the variation of the workouts is a nice break in my swim-bike-run routine. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Hopefully, I will look like this by July! :)

What are you doing this year that is new and wonderful??

Happy Training!

Three Things Thursday

Happy Almost Friday!! I hope everyone has had a super week so far. Mine has been really busy, but enjoyable for the most part. :)

• My time trial results were finally posted. Woop Woop! Overall, I was really happy with my results and glad that I now have a base line for my training.  Here are my results.

Lap 1: (Each lap was approximately 7.2 miles)

Time: 0:25:06

Speed: 17.2 MPH

Lap 2:

Time: 0:25:29

Speed: 17.0 MPH

Overall:

Time: 0:50:35

Speed: 17.1 MPH

Pacing: Positive split (1.5%)

• I got in to the Nike Women's Half Marathon!!! Totally pumped about this.  I cannot wait for April 28th! 
• I am getting the Garmin 910xt.  Merry Christmas to me!! 

Five Things Friday: Food Edition

1. I am madly in love with Sweet Green's December salad.  I absolutely love it!  I had it for lunch 2 days in row this week because it is sooooo yummy.
2. I had my very first Sprinkles cupcake this week.  I had the Chocolate Peppermint cupcake, and it was very delicious.  The cake was moist and Sprinkles definitely has the icing to cake ratio down. However,  I would say the icing was a little sweet for me.  Just to make sure I am not making a rash judgement, I will be going back sometime next week to try another flavor. :)
3. I am desperately looking for yummy quinoa recipes.  I have found a few online that I like; however, none of them have moved me enough to want to try them.  Does anyone have a super yummy way to prepare quinoa?
4. I started a new job 2 weeks ago, and much to my surprise they keep 3 types of Kashi stocked in the kitchen. #BestWorkplaceEver!
5. Please do not judge me for my next comment. This week I was craving junk food, like terrible for you junk food, and I had managed not to eat anything horrible for me all week. Please note that the cupcake mentioned above totally does not count because I was having a stressful day and needed comfort. :)  However, yesterday I finally caved.  Last night, I went through the McDonalds drive through and ordered a Chicken McNugget meal with a Coke, and loved every bit of it.  I did wake up feeling kind of gross though.  Thank goodness I have a long bike ride and run this weekend to burn off all the calories I consumed last night!

Happy Friday!!  I hope everyone has a super weekend! :)