Thursday, July 28, 2011

A few new workout DVDs thanks to a dear friend!!

My dear friend NATF and I were talking workouts the other day and she mentioned to me Powerstrikes. I had never heard of these and thought I might give a few a try for this next challenge! I think it might be a fun workout for Micah and I to do during my off days from marathon and tri training.

Here's a look!




188 minutes of hard work!

Loved my workout yesterday.....

5 mile walk with Baby M in the BoB - 1:20

Cathe HIIT DVD with Kick max DVD using 5 lb DBs. - 50 mins

20 mile ride with sprint and hill intervals - 58:01 ARPM- 91 AMPH - 20.6

Yesterday was one of the best workouts I have had since injuring my knee. It reminded me of the long workout days I grew to love so much when we were living in Siberia and there was not much to do so I would workout of hours.

Yesterday I woke to walk 5 miles with my baby girl in the BOB, then we went to have our play time. I did 50 mins of Cathe's HIIT pyramid DVD along with her Kick Max DVD with weights. I needed to lower the impact due to my knee, so I used 5 lb DBs. This seemed brilliant as I started the first few minutes but slowly I began to realize I was getting quite a weight workout in. Next time I am taking it down to 2.5 lb weights! Trust me, the 5's were working me hard punching and kicking with them! I loved it.

Little Michaela got a kick out of seeing Mommy workout. She has really grown to love this time we have together. She mimics the moves as best she can and just laughs and laughs at her Mommy. Guess I do look pretty funny! :)

After all of this my girl was ready to nap. As she slept, I got on my LeMond and did an amazing 20 mile ride. This was one of my best yet. I really focused on keeping the resistance high and for my climbs going as long as I could before I burned out.

For sprint training I did several intervals but I kept the resistance strong while sprinting so my candence did not get too high.

The last few minutes I gave it my all. I wanted more than anything to make it under 58 minutes. Despite gritting my teeth and pressing as hard as I could, my final time was 58:01.

After this all the energy and fuel was gone and I was DONE! Today will be a rest day for sure :)

Here was my fuel for yesterday.....



Green Juice to start my day!




Fresh fruit with flaxseeds and chia seeds



SunWarrior protein shake with quinoa and egg whites, spinach, pick de gallo and avocado.



Quinoa, oats, Ezekiel granola, strawberries and almond milk.




Flax bread with natural almond butter and simply fruit jelly.



Metabolic reset and SunWarrior protein shake.


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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

TRX, juicing and core work. It was a fantastic day!

I am tired, sore and have never felt better! Great workout today. A little Yoga then a killer TRX workout along with core work and Cathe's STS series with DB's and bands for an hour. Short blog tonight. My arms are too tired to text this from my phone. :)

Here is my food for today....



Quinoa and Oolong tea.

Lunch did not take a pic but it was blueberries, grapes, cherries with 1 piece of flax bread with avocado.




Juicing before dinner. Parsley, cucumber, ginger, kale, celery, carrot, lemon, orange and spinach



Dinner. Black bean, garbanzo bean, kale, carrot and other veggies in a homemade soup over quinoa and fresh Tomato. Over a gallon of lemon water today as well.

I am doing great and on track and ready to give it my all tomorrow!


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Trilates - Yoga and Pilates for Triathletes

I just ordered this DVD! Should be here by next week.  I think we can all agree that with my knee and ITB issues, my training will vastly improve as I incorporate more yoga and stretching into my routine.

Little time, lots to say....


Working out with TRX, love it!






Core work with 10lb medicine ball and Cathe cardio sculpt DVD.

Why is it that time is just passing by so quickly these days? Mercy. We are staying busy here and loving every second. My knee is doing better and I feel a great peace about my future races.

My second injection was last night and so today I am taking it easy. Yoga and TRX on deck for now, maybe a short walk later on. My final injection is set for next Monday and I cannot wait for this to be over with, well at least for 6 months. We will see how they work then go from there.

I did very well this weekend with my workouts. Several great rides, a decent swim and my first brick workout in forever. It was only a 2 mile run after a 24.8 mile ride but both miles were strong...M1 9:21, M2 9:14.....I will take that for now. I have SO far to go but I am happy with how my knee is responding so far.

I hope to start my PT soon for my ITB. Hoping the ultrasound therapy will do wonders for my ITB so I can avoid another steroid injection.

In terms of my foods, I am on track and doing great! Here's a look at a few goodies from the past several days.

Truly hoping to reach my December goal. One month at a time right? I am so close, I can feel the excitement rising inside of me. I can honestly say, I do not think I have ever been this happy.

Hope to blog more soon, when time allows!




Tilapia with raw salad.





Raw veggie salad.






Watermelon and Oolong tea






Salmon over spinach salad with avocado. Mango, banana, chia protein shake.






Another protein shake.







Homemade Vegan pizza! Whole wheat crust with mix of veggie and vegan cheese on top! yum!







Grilled veggies over Kamut.


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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Slowly getting back....


3 mile walk/run and 1,100 yd swim......

Swim - 1,100 yds with 800 pull. Slow today - focusing on stroke, 23:30 mins.  Felt great though post run. 

Run  - Easy 3 walk/run with 1 mile super slow cool down. Total miles 4....
M1 - Walk /Run - 13: 42 mm
M2  - 9:41mm
M3 - 9:54 mm
Cool down 1 mile....the longest in history I am sure :) 
This was the longest run since my knee injury.  I am SLOWLY getting back to where I was but it is going to take some time. Must be patient...but its hard...VERY hard. 

Off to enjoy the rest of this day! Make it a great one......KEEP PRESSING ON! 




Friday, July 22, 2011

TRX Triathlon ST Exercises.....

Time to hit the RESET button!!



There are times in our lives that it is important to stop, take inventory of all that is around you and regroup, refocus and then hit RESET!!

I guess the down time spent from resting my knee as lent itself to some reflection, which is a good thing. In this fast paced life we so many times know we should make changes, but never act on them as they get lost in the massive amounts of clutter that can sometimes fill our mind from all that is around us.  This past week was a hard one for me, for many reasons. First of all, I had to tone down my workouts as I was receiving my first of three knee injections for my OA and I was experiencing some ITB issues.  I felt a bit down after the first treatment as I was on a roll with my workouts and suddenly stuck on the couch with an ice pack resting instead of tearing it up on the bike which is what I wanted to do. Now after a few days of rest, my ITB feels better and the swelling of my knee has gone down. I am on some prescription anti-inflammatories which have been very helpful and the rest has done me a great deal of good but it is time to get back into the saddle! I really want to lose another 12 lbs by December when we leave for our 12th anniversary trip. It has NOT been easy losing as of late. My weight is STUCK! My measurements are fantastic, infact my hips are going down but the scale - NOTHING! Stuck in mud. But I am ok with this. I need to review my training, diet and overall plan and HIT IT HARD!!!!! I always knew these last few lbs would be very hard to shed off but I am up for the challenge!

If ever there was a time to plan, it would be now. So, it will come as no surprise to you all when I say I have another plan, mission and set of goals before me. Usually I aim to accomplish monthly challenges but I feel a bigger set of goals before me.  I need to remember I am in this journey for the LONG run, not the short term and it is ok to hit that ever so wonderful reset button a time or two before you get all of this just right! I will be starting my 12 by 12 challenge starting in August and my mission is to get those 12 lbs off by December 15th. That is about 18 weeks. I think with hard work, dedication and a great deal of discipline, I can make it happen.

This weekend I will be slowly getting back into my workouts and then look forward to hitting it hard.....or as hard as my knee will allow next week.  I feel blessed to be given the chance to work with two people I admire more than anything in the world. My aunt who is an accomplished elite runner and triathlete, doctor and my personal hero was so sweet to offer her expertise and help me train for my upcoming races. My aunt, along with her own running/ triathlete coach will be making me monthly training programs to follow for my marathons as well as my tri training. This is HUGE for me! They are two of the most brilliant, successful and extremely talented athletes and they will be working with little old ME! I consider it an honor, more than you can know. I feel so blessed to have this level of talent taking the time to help me reach my goals.

So now it is up to me to give it my all. 100%.....all that I have! And so I shall.

Big goals, big races and big dreams are before me. So many wonderful things I look forward to sharing with you all in the next coming days! I feel extremely happy right this very moment. I do not feel bogged down by the negativity that this world can produce, I feel as if I have the world before me. I feel as if NOTHING can hold me back. I feel encouraged, blessed to have dear friends in my life who give so much of themselves to not only me but to others. You know who you are, and I am so thankful for you! The long talks, the support, the friendship.....everything!

I feel very blessed to have my health now more than ever. I am thankful for Gods continual strength, grace, peace and wisdom. I feel a great sense of peace right now and it is a beautiful thing. Peace in knowing who holds my future. Peace in knowing I am serving my Lord the best that I can and striving to give Him the glory for everything in my life.

I long to be more. I long to be better. I long to truly LIVE this life and I cannot wait to give it my all.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My knee injections start today....


I just spoke with the doctors office and I am going in today at 4 to receive my first of three injections of Hyaluronan. I am really hoping that the treatments will improve the pain and swelling due to my arthritis and soon I will be back to running and training for the many races I have coming up!

Because I am getting the injections today, I need to ease off of my workout schedule for a couple of days, in other words, more swimming and light biking, no walking/running. I will see how much the doctor will let me workout tomorrow but as it stands now, I think it will be an all swim day.

Off to do some Yoga and core work, maybe an easy ride on the LeMond later before my appointment. My ITB is pretty sore from yesterday so I do not want to go in to my Ortho all swollen and sore so I am taking it easy today.

VERY hopeful that relief is on its way.  I want you to imagine how it feels. I am motivated, willing and ready to train as hard as  I can. I am determined to do what it takes.  I have a husband who is my biggest fan and support willing to help me in any way. I have dreams, goals and some very big races  I have committed to and yet, every day  I feel as if there is this ONE limiting factor in my reaching my goals. I run through the pain, ice, take meds and then start the process all over again. I want to run PAIN FREE. I want to run FAST like I once did. I want to soar above my dreams and reach even higher than I ever thought was possible.  So imagine for a moment how it feels to have all this passion and determination bottled up inside and you will get an idea of how I feel right now.

I am ready.  I am willing and I WILL through Gods grace and strength MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Shake it up!

Pre workout goodness......

Soy milk, coconut water, strawberries, banana, SunWarrior Vegan protein powder, HealthForce Nutritionals Maca Force, Garden of Life Raw fiber blend, hemp seeds and chia seeds!! Here's to a long healthy life!!!

Off to get in a strong 20 mile ride today on the LeMond, along with ST on the TRX.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Workout plan for this week.

This past week of workouts were some of my best since my injury.

I hope to do even better this week and remain injury free! My knee is constantly improving and I have yet to receive my injections. They called and the first may come this week.

Below is my plan of attack for this week!

Monday - 3 mile Run/walk an easy pace, bike 20 miles, flat ride and ST using TRX.

Tuesday - Hill work. 10 miles hard on the bike. Easy 3 mile walk and 1 mile swim.

Wednesday - ST with P90x or Drill Max. Easy ride for 10 and a 3 mile walk.

Thursday- swim 2 miles easy with pull and kick drills. Light 10 mile ride.

Friday- ST with TRX, a 20 mile ride flat and a 3 mile walk.

Saturday - Mini brick - 15 mile ride / 2 mile run easy. Followed by a 1/2 mile swim with a 800 pull.


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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Day 9...A little Mommy Triathlon of sorts!


Today was another success! I am crazy tired so this will be short and I hope to blog more about it tomorrow! 


The workouts....20 mile bike, 2 mile run and 1/2 mile swim....weird order I know but that is how it happened. 


Swim - 925 yds/ .52 miles

My avg per 100 yards was 1.49 and I really need to get that under 1.40....next time!! :)
This was my second swim after having my baby, 15 months ago, so I am SLOW to get back but I will in due time. I need to be faster in the pool but for just started out, I am pleased with how I did. I need to take my watch next time with me. I had my 610 with me but there is NO way I am putting that in the pool so there was a guy there who fortunately had a watch and gave me my time. I started out only swimming 825 but then I realized I was 100 m short of where I needed to be so I did another 4 laps.
My 825 yd time was aprox 15 mins. My 925 time is an estimate as again, I did not have my watch with me.
Bike - Ride Type - Steady state, 1 sprint with medium resistance, final minutes high resistance with speed work. Very happy with my performance today!!!
Cadence - 106 avg
Speed - 24.45 avg
Miles - 20
Time - 49:05
Brilliant Ride! Felt very tired this morning but pulled myself out of the haze of fatigue and soreness to get in an amazing workout. I wanted to ride under 49 mins but I was just over....next time right?!?! I dug deep today. Riding on the balls of my feet to increase my down stroke. I need to get clips for my Lemond to help my overall speed and performance as it does on my road bike. It really does make a HUGE difference! I will try and get this done this week to help with next weeks workouts.
The final minutes of my ride....aprox 5 -6 mins....I lowered down on my aerobars, closed my eyes and PRESSED HARD keeping my resistance high. Felt a strong burn in my thighs but I have to say I loved every second of it. I must love pain :)
Run - Great run! Still taking it easy with the knee so I only did 2 miles. My first mile was a run/walk then the second mile I ran and my knee did quite well. 
Mile 1 - 10:35 Run/walk
Mile 2 - 9:10 Run
Only my second run post injury so I am happy! Slowly but surely I will make my way back!

The fuel.....


Ezekiel granola with oats and a peach, soy milk and stevia along with tea.


Post ride shake - Garden of Life Raw meal with greenberry Shakeology, spinach, Vitamineral Green, cantaloupe, strawberries and banana with soy milk


Veggie juice from last night...see yesterdays blog.


Salad - Black beans, avocado, jicama, pico, lettuce with mrs dash fiesta lime and lime juice and a whole grain  hemp tortilla.


The BEST Vegan Protein Power  I have tried yet! SUNWARRIOR!!!!!

Spinervals....

I am interested in looking into a series of DVDs called Spinervals to take my cycling and triathlon training to a more advanced level.  Does anyone have experience using them? From the reviews, they sound perfect for what I need but I was just wanting to get some other opinions.

Thanks!

www.Spinervals.com

New products to try!!

When I arrived home today from the gym I was so happy to see my new products there waiting for me! I am trying out another 2 items from HealthForce Nutritionals....Liver Rescue 4 and Maca Force.


Along with these, I am excited to finally try Sun Warrior Protein. I first learned about this protein when I was doing the Clean Program by Dr. Junger back in February. Everyone is always telling me just how wonderful of a product it is so I am going to give it a try. I am curious to see how it matches up with my other favorite Vegan protein powders.....Garden of Life raw protein, Vega and Warrior Food by HealthForce.

Looking forward to a shake tonight and after todays workouts, I will need it!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Day 9 Results, A Success!


I have to say as of late  I am on another one of my fantastic streaks that I hope never ends. I will be honest, a part of me is a bit afraid that my fitness level will drop when I start getting the injections shortly for my knee issues. I do not know how much the doctor is going to let me do while receiving the treatments for the 3 week period of time. We will just have to wait and see. The injections have been ordered and now I am just waiting for a call back to set my first of three appointments up. I am ready to get these over with and move forward with my fall training. 

I am doing well with my ITB thanks to rolling and icing, so this is promising, I just need to remain consistent with it. That for me has been my problem, consistency with stretching and my PT exercises. But, I am doing better this month mostly due to my monthly challenge and that being a major goal of mine.

Todays workout was nothing short of pure, wonderful, grit your teeth, lactic acid building up painful, amazing workouts on the bike! You know what I mean! I did hill repeats today and felt every single one of them BIG TIME! I love the burn you feel with climbing and today I got a full dose of it and them some.  I had tears at one point while doing a hard interval as I wanted to stop SO bad. My legs felt as if they were filling up with cement, stretching and burning. I did not stop however I stayed high on my bike and continued to climb and climb until I just burned out. I love this feeling, when you KNOW you have surpassed your comfort zone and you are really pushing it.

I did a strong 20 miles, APRM 92, AMPH 20.93 which I was impressed with due to the amount of climbs I did. I recovered with an easy 5 miler for a total of 25 miles today.

After my ride and a bit of stretching I did 20 mins of TRX training along with DB work and core exercises. At this point I was DONE, and it felt great!!

My meals were spot on today, another victorious day all around and for this, I am very proud of myself.


Nettle Tea with two types of quinoa ( red and regular) mixed with soy milk, strawberries, peaches, flaxseeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds.


This was my pre workout treat! Almond butter, honey and banana over the Health Starts Here fourteener bread from Whole foods. I also snacked on grapes and avocado with part of a hemp tortilla today before my workout.



The post 25 mile, no makeup, crazy workout hair, sweaty proof of exercise photo!! I worked HARD!



Post workout shake - Garden of Life Raw meal mixed with 1/2 packet of Shakeology, Chia seeds soy milk and ice along with Green Tea. 


Fresh juice as part of our dinner. Fennel, beets, carrots, celery, dandelions greens, purple kale, one apple, lemon and cucumber. Enjoy for tonight, tomorrow morning and tomorrow night!






The start of dinner. Wild Sockeyed Salmon grilled then covered with spices and dijon mustard and a pineapple, jalapeno sauce! VERY good!


 I then stuffed the salmon into a roasted Poblano pepper and topped it with pico de gallo and jicama over sauteed greens and black beans. It was incredibly good!


Post dinner I had my HFN greens along with earth in water water.  For the greens I used 100% cranberry juice ( like RWK just cranberry or other pure cranberry juice) along with water, 2 tbsp of Vitamineral Green and 1 tbsp of Spirulina Manna

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Day 8 results...

Busy, beautiful day!!! We had a wonderful time at Whole Foods for lunch with my husband then shopping for the week with my baby girl.








I did really well today, rested my knee but it is feeling really strong. Ready for another ride tomorrow.

Foods for today.....




Quinoa, TVP, chia seeds and flaxseeds with apple and soy milk. Oolong tea.




Whole Foods lunch. We split everything, except for the pizza..Vegan whole wheat pizza ( my piece, Micah's had cheese....bad boy). Tofu meatloaf, cabbage, tabouli, broccoli, salmon cake and tofu





Snack - avocado over tofu bread, black beans, fruit and Nettle tea.

Dinner was the same as yesterday...black beans with Quinoa. See pic from Day 7.

Post dinner more tea, more tea, more tea.......And lemon water.

Keep pressing on!

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Monday, July 11, 2011

Day 7 Results....

Playing catch up here! Why does it seem that I am so busy these days? So sorry for the lack of posting. I have never been better. My weight loss, training, nutrition....everything is spot on.

I am one tired lady today after a hard but wonderful day! Still have not managed to finish the weight loss photos, in fact I did not even start working on them. Too busy this weekend with the family doing fun things together! I will try and make it a priority this week.

Here are my results from today.....

Workout - Run walk 2 miles - my first since my injury back in May! Yea!
Bike - 30 miles in 81:54
AMPH - 21.89 / ARPM - 94
Strength Training - TRX with DB work

Foods for the day.....

Oolong tea, grapefruit with my LACV drink




Shakeology before adding my Vitamineral green, wanted to taste it as is....


Shakeology with greens. 


Veggie Juice pre lunch - Cucumber, parsley, ginger....


Post workout lunch - Textured Vegetable Protein with red quinoa, chia seeds, flaxseeds, apple and stevia. Grapefruit and oolong tea. My black bean "sandwich".....Avocado, pico de gallo, sprouts, black beans ( fat free organic refried with peppers) added with tomatillo sauce. YUMMY! 


Dinner. Homemade Ceviche with Mahi Mahi, Tilapia and Shrimp with lime, onion, spices, mango and avocado. Black beans over Quinoa. These were the BEST black beans!!! 

It all started with a habanero pepper, coconut oil and a TON of garlic! 


Then I added my onions, seasoning, fire roasted tomatoes and more chilies :) 


Then finally the beans and cilantro with more seasoning! SO GOOD!