I am so glad I enjoyed my two weeks of downtime to the fullest because last week was like a slap in the face! Starting on Sunday, I was right back in action with two hour workouts and, I have to admit, they were kicking my butt. My butt also literally felt like it was kicked and beaten because I did a little workout satan my coach developed that combined speed with hills. I promise not to whine though this entire post because I really did enjoy getting back to work.
WEEK OF AUGUST 29, 2016
RUNNING
My first half marathon is coming up in about four weeks. I’ve been trying to build a bit of a base and, I have to say, I am loving all of the extra running I’ve been doing. It feels like the “old” days.
One workout I would prefer to leave in the old days however, is this one:
5 x 1/4 mile hill repeats – 3-4% grade hill @ 4-5km race effort with 10 minute rotations. Recover twice as long as your hill rep, i.e. if the hill run takes you two minutes, your recovery should be four minutes.
Unfortunately for me, I had to do this workout on the mountain I live on which laughs at a 4% grade. It’s so steep you can actually see it in the above picture. I have done this workout before but never on my hill. I totally blew up on the first repeat and felt like death halfway though. By the second go around I had figured it out and also felt the full impact of just how painful this workout was going to be. I enjoyed those downhill walks so much and, by the last repeat I knew exactly how to run the 1/4 mile. I say this is a workout I love to hate because it is very effective. In fact, it’s so “effective” my butt hurt for days afterward!
Oh and, after this grueling workout, I had a 20 mile ride. I told you I was back in action.
Tuesday: Hill and speed workout followed by 20 mile ride
Wednesday: 5 miles easy (8:11 pace) after 2,000 yard swim
Friday: 6 mile fartlek run after 2,500 yard swim
Saturday: Run/bike brick session, 4 miles total
Total = 20 miles
CYCLING
I accidentally rode to Springfield, Massachusetts. That is an indication of just how much I am loving being back on my triathlon bike! Springfield is not a place you want to be on your bike, and sometimes, not even in your car. After about an hour, I suddenly came up on this “big town” and I wondered just where I had ended up. When I saw the “Welcome to Springfield” sign I immediately made a u-turn back to safety! I definitely love exploring new routes on my bike and now I know an extra long, yet very scenic way, to get to Springfield. #UselessKnowledge
Riding along the lakeside and loving every moment.
I also put my tri bike on the trainer for the first time. I had kind of a complicated workout and, it was raining outside so I just hauled the trainer up to my living room and got it done!
Sunday: Long ride, 38 miles, accidental ride to Springfield, MA
Tuesday: Easy 20 miler after run
Thursday: VO2max 4 x 2’s inside on trainer, 15 miles
Saturday: Bike/run brick session, 20 miles
Total = 93 miles
SWIMMING
I’m back to swimming most days of the week. I say most because this week was four days and it’s usually five. I have one more triathlon in a few weeks and I need to nail the half mile swim!
After my indoor ride on Thursday I had a long pool session. I was tired before I even got into the pool and knew it was going to suck. I was trying to be smart and, I took the workout one section at a time, promising myself I would just bag it if I was dragging too much. I actually found some rhythm in the 3 x 500s and settled into a nice pace. I was giving myself an out in my mind but I didn’t end up taking it. I was really proud of myself for finishing the workout and being smart about the training.
RACING
Here is what my final months of training in 2016 will come down to:
Sunday, September 18: Women’s Triathlon, Farmington, CT | My first chance to qualify for triathlon nationals in 2017
Sunday, October 2: Leaf Peeper Half Marathon, Waterbury, Vermont | My first half marathon since February!
Sunday, November 13: Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon | Two words: Snoop Dog (he’s the headliner)
GEAR
I mentioned previously that I would be testing the Lumo Run wearable device on my runs and I have now done several. The thing I love most is that I just clip it on the back of my shorts and go. I don’t even have to turn the thing on! It’s smart enough to sense when you start running and it automatically begins collecting data.
You can connect the device to your phone and run with it and your phone, if you want to receive real time advice and updates about your form and mileage. I do not.
When I return home the device wirelessly connects to my phone and uploads all the data from the run.
In addition to feedback on cadence, bounce, braking, drop and rotation, Lumo also provides suggested strength training moves to improve upon areas of weakness.
Since my braking leaves some room for improvement, Lumo suggested I do some ankle rotations, shin hops and shin pull-ins. I had no idea what those last two were either so luckily they also provide videos.
I will be writing a full review for Women’s Running but Competitor just recently had this to say:
Lumo Run is A Next Generation Wearable Device | by Sam Winebaum
[Tweet “Clean up your #running form with @lumobodytech “next generation wearable device!” #run”]
FUEL
I finally had to start focusing more on food as fuel again. It’s really not all that difficult a shift since, as soon as I start ramping up my workouts, I feel so much better when I put nothing but highly nutritional and substantial foods in my mouth.
I started making bunch of protein packed, whole wheat waffles at the beginning of the week so I can just heat them up and go on weekday mornings. My new waffle maker makes them so huge and thick (that’s what she said) I only need one at a time. In addition to the VEGA protein scoop I put into the mix, I add a spoonful of peanut butter, fruit and a drizzle of syrup, and then shovel it in as fast as I can.
THINGS I LOVE
The first flight to Cuba since 1961! As some of you may know, my father was born in and escaped from Cuba. I wrote an article about it for ESPNW since it had a big impact on my life, both as an athlete, daughter and mom.
I’m the only Cuban in this picture without a cigar! My brother is also the “tall” one in our family.
I’m so excited for our country, my family and especially my dad. Although he is very apprehensive about going back, at least we know we can go, whenever we want. I know my brother and I have dreamed about going to Cuba with my dad and now, that dream just may come true.
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
Colin Kaepernick and the whole National Anthem thing. I know this is so last week but so is the entirety of this post. I have to say that I understand and support Kaepernick’s underlying message and I absolutely support his right to protest, however, he’s doing it wrong.
Since the way he chose to protest is pissing so many people off, his message is being lost in the battle over patriotism. Oh Colin, why not chose a way to protest that everyone can support? You are a freakin’ NFL player. The ways to garner attention to something you are passionate about are endless, yet you chose to call attention to yourself and your message in a negative and dividing way. You’re now inciting more hate instead of love, more racism instead of equality and more discussion about you instead of the issue you’re trying to raise awareness about.
The final straw for me were the socks he wore depicting police officers as pigs. Seriously? That’s like wearing socks with images of football players beating women. C’mon man!
FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2016, file photo, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick wears socks depicting police officers as pigs during NFL football training camp at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Kaepernick says he has been wearing socks depicting police officers as pigs in protest of “rogue cops” who put the community and other officers at risk. Kaepernick issued a statement on Twitter on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016, after photos of him wearing the socks that show a pig dressed in a police hat began circulating on social media. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
READING
I finished Truly, Madly, Guilty and it is worth the wait for sure! Another great mystery from Laine Moriarty and a quick read, although it seems excruciatingly slow until you find out what happens at the damn barbecue! I highly recommend it.
I just started Tracing the Bones by Elise Miller and so far, so good. It does go off the rails a little in a funky and interesting way so you have to be on board for a wild ride…
RANDOM PHOTO OF THE WEEK
The boys went back to school last week which was good and bad. Good because they need more disciplined learning time during the day but bad because well, um, I’ll get back to you on that one…
The prompt for this pictures was “Get closer together and act like you love one another.” Yes, this is in fact how they show love. #Boys
How was your week?
What are you training for?
Dare you comment on Colin K?
Oh that family photo. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
And I felt the same way about the flight to Cuba as well for some reason (AKA TYPES THE JEW).
I have so man friends whose parents are from there and I guess I just got sucked into the joy…
AND THOSE SOCKS!?
I had missed the socks entirely before your post.
THOSE muffle his message for me.
I didn’t think he way he chose to get it across before I saw them was one which “worked’ but that diminished it entirely.
LOL! Yes – so much JOY – great way to describe it!!
Ugh the socks!! Why? *sigh*
Have I told you lately that I love your rundown posts? So much to comment about! 1. I can’t believe we’ll be seeing each other in 3 weeks. And running a half. I haven’t run a half in 2 years!!! 2. Lumo Run – I was contacted to try that out but then I completely forgot about getting back to the rep. Very interesting data that I could use! 3. Colin K. Wtf? He’s got a point but he picked the wrong way to send a message. There could have been MUCH more effective ways.
You have not so thank you 🙂 Hahaha!! I seriously cannot wait to see you!
Try the Lumo – you will like it!
It sounds like you made the best of everything and really had a good week of training. Do you have your race schedule figured out for the fall? Do you think you might do Runners World again?
I always look forward to reading your rundown posts too.
Those three races ARE my fall schedule! I raced hard all summer so… And, as much as I would LOVE to do RW again, I just can’t make it happen this year 🙁
I just finished Truly, Madly, Guilty as well and I second your emotion! I thought it was well worth the read. Her writing is so amazing, it’s worth the reading just for her prose.
You summed up the Colin Kaepernick debacle perfectly. Yep, he can protest, but he’s doing it ALL WRONG. Way to inflame people. And haha, socks of NFL players raping women? Where can we find those?
Now I know what you think about when you’re getting lost on the bike.
So glad you agree with book review and yes, her writing is just so lovely, you can melt into it!
Love the comment on the socks because, seriously? So wrong.
Shhhh don’t tell anyone 🙂
Wow, that Lumo thing seems a little crazy….. I think maybe it’s too much data for the average person like me. I guess it could be great for someone with some serious goals like making nationals, etc, but at a certain point, it starts to feel like it takes just as long to analyze and review the data of your run than it took to run….
Oh it’s really not that much at all. Especially if you just have some weird aches and pains, this may pinpoint exactly why that’s happening. It’s definitely not for everyone but I actually think beginner runners can benefit more and make form corrections sooner rather than later!
Just added Tracing the Bones to my wish list – sounds intriguing! I’m reading Alice Hoffman’s newest (as a pre-release) – loving it so far.
So many things I love about this post Allie – your humor (the “that’s what she said” crack), your wisdom (your take on the Kapernick saga), your nod to short, Latina women (hello!), and your enthusiasm for fitness (as always).
Your boys have your smile, btw. 🙂
You are the best. Thank you so much Dana! xoxo
Ha!!! i’m starting from the bottom up. ok i LUV the pic of the boys. i think punching your sister/brother is the universal sign for i love you. right???
my reading is just whatever i can read on my phone, not much, so can’t really comment on books. although i am reading a nutritional book on metabolism because i like to geek out on nutritional stuff as i breastfeed 😀
OMG i want to visit Cuba so much. i’ve always wanted to see Havana and just had an affinity for all things Cubano. maybe it’s the great Cuban coffee that i’ve tried lol. i have short people on both my asian and european sides, but there is that one brother who is a whopping 5’9″. we all look up at him.
i need to get a waffle maker, those look great. i’m a fan of anything i can make in batches! currently my fuel is a mug of yogurt with all the stuff in it: extra protein and mixins. anything i can eat with one hand is amazing.
that lumo run sounds awesome! later on will check it out.
i swear your training is always so mind blowing and hard core to me. i don’t care about IM, your training is like ultra beast mode every week and it’s so awesome! i envy that hill you run up, i miss having little hills around. we have some tiny ones but not as close as my front door anymore. right now i’m just happy to run anywherrrrrrre 🙂
happy mid week!!! you rock!
“anything I can eat with one hand is amazing,” YES!!!!
Love all of this and how you can relate to basically my entire life! Thanks so much Danielle 🙂
You said it PERFECTLY about Colin Kaepernick! He is doing it in the complete wrong way! No one is focusing on why he is even doing it in the 1st place. There are so many different ways to express your beliefs. If he decides to sit at the game Sunday on Sept. 11, he should be kicked out of the NFL.
On a more happy note!.. I’m slowly training for my 1st half! I’m the opposite of you though. I LOVE swimming and highly dislike running. I’m still trying to figure out why I decided to do a half! Lol. Your blogs are always inspiring and give me the little kick in my a** I need. So, thank you!!!!
Thank you so much!!! I wish we could get together on the swimming and running somehow!? And so glad you agree with me on the whole Kaepernick debacle 🙂 Thanks again.
ja ja This -> “My new waffle maker makes them so huge and thick (that’s what she said)” Hilarious!
Those waffles sound delicious!
aww! look at the boys! My son kept saying “enough pictures already!” when his first day of school came.
I’m on the library waiting list for Trully!
Glad you caught my humor in that 🙂
The book is worth the wait!
I can’t get into the Kaepernick thing, but i WILL say that I don’t agree with his socks.
I TOO am so excited to visit Cuba, one day, its way too new now and from what I understand you have to have a reason? Though a friend pointed out to me that my blog falls under “journalistic” hmm, we shall see!
You do realize that your coach absolutely knows what she is doing right? So those torturous workouts are SO worth it in the end!
Oh I wish you would Nellie!! I would love to have dinner with you on that, and so many more topics!!
I was thinking the same thing about “journalistic” travel. Great minds.
And yes, I trust CRS 1000 percent 🙂
xoxo
Oh how I’ve missed the good old days of extra running. Yoga teacher training took over my life and now finding a studio that I love to teach seems to have taken over. It’s all great stuff but, soon. Very soon. I’ll be back to the good old days 🙂
It’s funny how a new passion can take over your life…in a good way 🙂 Here’s to both of us getting back to the good ‘ol days! Thanks Jill.
Dang girl! You did have a tough workout week. Four days in a row of two workouts is tough. Way to get it done and make it happen.
LOL – thanks! I just take it one day at a time and try not to think of the whole so I don’t get overwhelmed. I know you understand that!! 🙂
I’ll be interested to hear about the Lumo Run – I’ve looked at the Lumo Lift before (my shoulder roll forward more than I would like them to), and found the technology interesting. Not enough to buy it though, nor do I want to wear ANOTHER device.
How do these ankle exercises help with braking? Are you overstriding and therefore slamming (that’s a relative term) heel into the ground? So many questions. Have you ever had a running analysis done? SO MANY QUESTIONS. Will read more about it, but of course love your opinion.
Nice workouts! I don’t know how you take pictures on your bike, I’d fall over…
I have a lot of questions myself which is why I’m talking with two of the founders tomorrow!! I can tell you that everything on the app is broken down and explained for even the newest runner. The app and web site explain exactly what braking (and all the other analysis points are) and then each suggested exercise gives you a video and an explanation as to how it helps.
From the web site:
Braking is the measure of how much your speed slows down on every step. Each time your foot hits the ground, your speed temporarily drops and then has to pick back up again for push off. This is a good measure of running efficiency, because the greater the change in your speed before and after each step, the more energy you waste slowing down and having to speed back up.
Ankle Rotations are suggested prior to running, to get your tendons and ligaments warm and therefore ready for the absorption of impact and ability to push off.
And LOL on the pics from the bike. I was reluctant to do it at first but now it’s pretty easy. I don’t do it too much b/c if I ever fell off and broke myself or my phone I would never forgive myself!!
Speaking of – I love seeing you improve and recover each and every day!! keep your updates coming!
First of all, how cute are your boys in their back to school pic! Secondly you are such a badass, just look at those abs! You are killing the training my friend! Thank you for sharing about LUMO bodytech as I have been curious about that!
Thank you so much Sandra! And it takes a badass to know one!! I’m so impressed with your half Ironman and cannot wait to talk with you more about it! As for Lumo – I really like it and it’s so simple to use. You should test it out!
I was so pumped about Cuba. I want to go before all the American’s go a screw it up (only sort of kidding…). I really am happy we’ve reached this point; I think it’s be good for both countries and their citizens.
Kaepernick. My opinion is unpopular among white people, but I think he has a right to do what he wants. This country was founded on dissent. American Freedom doesn’t come with a loyalty oath. If it did the Civil, Women’s, and Gay Rights Movements never would have happened. We all get to criticize our government and nation. Sometimes it’s a racist bumper sticker, other times it’s taking a knee during the National Anthem. If you want to be upset with the NFL and a show of patriotism, look at the fact that they owe DoD money for all those Salutes to the Troops when thousands of veterans could use that money for proper healthcare and rehabilitation. Just my 2 cents.
Totally with you on Cuba!
I absolutely love and respect your difference of opinion and you make great points. I agree with a lot of what you said and also love that you said it. #props
There is so much to comment on, but let’s talk about Vegas, shall we? You and Sue are going – I need to go!!
Could it be possible that I would see you twice in two months?!!!
Great job on kicking butt on your workouts this week. You are looking sleek and super fit in that running photo.
Yeah!!!
YES! Please go to Vegas!!!! Obviously you, me and Sue will all be besties by then 🙂
Thanks so much Nat!
You accidentally rode to Springfield? How does that happen? LOL. Yay for school being back in session. Those boys are so funny! We seriously need to get our boys together again!
I just start making turns and, before you know it BAM, I’m in Springfield!! Crazy 🙂
Yes, the boys need another get together! I’m sure we can come up with something over the winter…