Don’t worry, this is not a post confessing my addiction to opioids (although I don’t think anyone would blame me) it’s more about taking supplements that have changed my training life. I’ve also come to realize that now, more than ever, my daily activity is my dose of happiness and sanity. So, get your happy pills and join me in reflecting on last week’s workouts!
Happy pills (cookies) for StarFire after a long run!
WEEK OF DECEMBER 4, 2017
RUNNING
Running with Star was the theme of last week which added to my happiness…and hers. A tired dog is an unaggressive one. Since I only had three runs on the calendar (it was a bike focused week) I brought her along on all of them. If only I could run her though life, we would both be a lot less stressed.
Tuesday – 6 miles with some speed before bike | 7:30 pace
Friday – 6 easy miles | 8:00 pace
Saturday – 6.5 easy miles before strength| 8:00 pace
Total = 18.5 miles
CYCLING
As mentioned above, I’m in a cycling block so I was in the saddle for most of the week. I’ve been listening to the Heavyweight podcast I talked about last Friday, to pass most of the time. I also watched part of Jaws 2 (so, so very bad) and caught up on Mindhunter on Netflix which is beyond fascinating.
Don’t even get me started on why I’m wearing my wired up ear buds. My second brand new beats wireless headphones are having issues. Again. Curse you Apple and your stranglehold over me!
Monday – 1 hour power before swim | 13.5
Tuesday – 1 hour 15 min endurance active recovery after run | 17.3 miles
Thursday – 1 hour 16 minute LT 1 base | 18.2 miles
Saturday – 1 hour 15 minute endurance ride before strength | 17.8 miles
Total = 66.8 miles
SWIMMING
No news is good news from the pool. I meet with my coach this week for my monthly form assessment aka soul crushing swim, so that should be fun. Last week though was pure bliss. If you have the opportunity to do recovery swims, I highly recommend them.
Side note: Do you ever look at the lifeguard in the pool and wonder A) are even paying attention and B) could they save you if you were drowning? #random
Monday – active recovery from bike | 1,600 yards
Wednesday – active recovery from CrossFit | 1,650 yards
Total = 3,250 yards
STRENGTH
Luckily for my legs I didn’t have nearly as much strength training this week. I managed two sessions — one at CrossFit and another from TrainingPeaks. The CF workout took 11 minutes and consisted of 3 rounds of 100 yard walking lunges, 50 banded squats and 50 hip extensions. It sucked but was also great.
This is not from this session but is hysterical. I don’t know the proper name for this move but it involves the words snatch, push, press or up. My face sums it up nicely:
THINGS I LOVE
Let’s talk happy pills people. If you happen to be one of the five guys that read this, you can skip to the next segment.
In the week before my period (you were warned!), every training cycle, I would have a huge dip in my energy levels and performance. It wasn’t obvious to me until my rocket scientist coach read Dr. Stacy Sims book ROAR, and noticed the pattern in my training log. She’s worth every penny folks.
I’ve written about Dr. Sims before and even had the pleasure of interviewing her for an article in Women’s Running. Basically, women are not small men and have very different needs when it comes to endurance and racing. One of Dr. Sims pieces of advice was to take small doses of Magnesium, Zinc and Omega 3s for the seven days prior to the first day of your period. I started doing just that and have since not experienced the same lull in my training. It’s magic. Ok, well really it’s science , or maybe it’s all in my head, but it’s totally worth it and I’m going to continue doing it.
Obviously I’m not a doctor, or else I would have figured this out much sooner, so don’t take my advice. I recommend reading Dr. Sims’ book and educating yourself on all of her advice and recommendations. I keep her book on my desk, basically as a reference. #obsessed
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
Being woefully unprepared for the local high school production of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The daughter of one of my son’s teachers was cast as Snoopy so the boys asked to go. The high schoolers did a really good job and and I was pretty impressed with the stage props and their budding acting and singing skills.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how religious the story is. I’m not a big fan of Charlie Brown and, since the story was written before you didn’t discuss things like “Jesus is the reason for the season” they put a glaring spotlight on it. It was basically the point of the story, which was interesting and fine (12 years of Catholic school here), just odd. It seemed to sail right over my kids’ heads, but then there was the “sing along” portion. Wait, what? Before we knew it there was a chorus of “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “O Holy Night” during which I could only hear Cartman from SouthPark in my head so…
Afterward my friend and I decided that counted as church and walked out feeling #blessed.
MUSIC
Just a few new-to-me tunes I have been sweating to and have to pass on…
Nobody Speak | DJ Shadow
I originally saw this on Wendy is Taking the Long Way Home and instantly loved it! Careful, the language is rough and perfect for speed or hills or whatever…and the video is priceless.
Walk on Water | Eminem ft. Beyonce
I love almost everything Eminem does and this is no exception, and Beyonce is ok too. Slim Shady raps about how I think we can all feel at times, like an imposter, like something we’re “supposed” to be or trying to be something or someone we once were. It’s raw and heartfelt, in classic Eminem fashion, and he saves his best for the last line…
RANDOM QUOTE OF THE WEEK
So my kids have me pack them a hot meal in a thermos for lunch because the hot lunch at school is usually horrible. I’m more than happy to do it and sometimes even make a fresh pot of mac and cheese before school just so they can have a semi-nutritious meal at lunch. I know, I’m Martha Fucking Stewart over here but anyway…they have been coming home without eating the lunch I slaved over before 8:00am and I let them know it’s not acceptable. If they want to eat snacks and garbage for lunch, fine but don’t have me make you food and then waste it.
All that drama led to this scenario when, after school one day, Miles rushed though the front door:
Miles: Mom! Quick! Get out my lunch, I have to stress eat!
Me: *busting into laughter* Do you even know what that means?
Miles: You have to eat really fast before you get in trouble?
Me: No. It’s eating a lot of food that’s not good for you like candy or whatever because you’re stressed about something.
Miles: So, what do you do when you’re stressed?
OMG…is this kid serious? I RUN!…and bike and swim…and repeat.
Here’s hoping you don’t have to stress eat this week!
[Tweet “The Rundown is taking happy pills this week with #supplemets, new #music and all the #workouts! #train4life”]
How was your week?
Do you take any “happy pills?”
I have that thought about every life guard. Especially the teen or college kid at 5 a.m. Are they really watching us or sleeping with their eyes open?!? lol!
It’s a crapshoot. I’m pretty sure if I passed out in the pool I would be dead…or another swimmer would save me first. #happythoughts
Nobody speak, nobody gets choked…am I right?
I too have had that lifeguard thought. When I was pool running, I also had the need to explain WHY I was jogging around the dive well wearing a safety belt. #insecure
You are RIGHT!! Plus, I think of you every time I hear it, which is pretty funny 🙂
When I was doing a lot of pool running one of the lifeguards asked me if I was “going for the wet mile?” Yeah.
LOL! I swear almost every bit of this post was my life this past week.
I was seriously thinking the same thing about the life guards when my daughters were swimming at their meet this weekend. What if my kid starts to flail about in the middle of her race? Do I need to dive in from the balcony?
And the lunches…don’t get me started. Last night, after a full two days of swim meets, what was I doing at 8pm? Making a pot of mac and cheese. Not regular mac, but the whole grain “healthy” kind. Really? All I can say is that she’d better eat it ALL and love every bite of it (for the next 3 days).
I’ve read ROAR and need to get a copy of my own to highlight. Dr. Sims is spot on and has really helped my training immensely. I am a true believer of the power of BCAAs, for sure.
Oh I’m so glad you can relate!! The struggle is real!
And thanks for the reminder about the BCAA’s – those are next on my list 🙂
And one more thing to add…glad I’m not alone with the whole Charlie Brown thing. We had the show on recently and I was thinking to myself that I didn’t realize how religious it was. I guess we’ll stick with the Grinch…
It just totally took me by surprise and then the sing-a-long was over the top! At least I had a fellow mom friend to laugh with.
You are killing it with the workouts! Wow!
The pool at my gym has no lifeguard, so sometimes I am the only one in there which is a weird feeling. And yay! So glad you are finding the magic of supplements. The right combo has made a huge difference for me too.
Thanks Laura and be careful in there all by yourself woman!!
YES to finding a the right supplements at the right time. Totally life changing.
That’s so interesting about the supplements – and so happy for you that they work! My doctor put me on vitamin D and iron and I swear they both were a life changer. I take magnesium and omega 3s also. It’s amazing how just a little extra vitamin intake can make a difference! I think my husband is getting me Stacy Sim’s book for Christmas and I am really excited to read it. We are not smaller men and should not be trained as such!
So interesting about taking zinc, magnesium & omega-3s to up your energy levels before you get your lovely friend… I always feel so tired a few days before I get mine, so maybe I’ll try that just to see if it helps!
Opiods actually suck. The only thing they do is make you a constipated vegetable.
holy shit Miles is amazing!!! i wish i could babysit your boys, my daughter would absolutely LOVE them and i would get a kick out of it. darn geography and reality and crap lol.
i had never ever thought about Charlie Brown and religion until you mentioned it. how interesting!!! i was raised by a hippie universalist/buddhist and my dad was a hardcore born again jesus. i didn’t see him much luckily but when i did he always asked if i knew jesus. i always said, sure do! why mess with his mind? i felt bad for him, always thwarted with guilt… poor guilty people. guilt is just something i’d like to toss like any other trash. bye. i was raised by an asian great grandma and she bled guilt and cooked guilt soup for breakfast lunch and dinner. if i didn’t eat her food, oh man talk about guilt muffins for dessert! she practically cut off her own feet for my existence after all. i didn’t take her for granted but sure did get enough guilt in my life to feel ok not wanting anymore.
the most amazing gift you gave me, without knowing, was your recommendation of ROAR… i’ve read it twice now and am soaking it up like… soap. i love it and she makes so much sense!!! i had so many ‘a-ha!’ moments that i started to worry my husband with all my head shaking. this book is my current bible and i have no guilt about worshiping the book and all its ways from my indoor bike trainer, while sipping on on my BCAA’s and waving to the recovery and strength gods.