Synchronicity and the 3 Second Shoe Tie

With one breath, with one flow
You will know
Synchronicity

A sleep trance, a dream dance
A shaped romance
Synchronicity

- The Police Synchronicity I

Not only on my playlist but also a fairly good description of my week. This week was pretty well lined up with getting my workouts in and getting work done. Had a fairly low stress week at work which was a complete switch from how the year has been so far. A little breathing room is a good thing. Workouts went well - just had to adjust a little given IronSherpa had some work commitments which then impacted my workouts. He's going to be traveling this week so my week should be sufficiently thrown in a blender and chopped up. 

This work thing is really getting in the way of my workouts and exploration of vegan cooking. I keep waiting for the day that one of these awesome triathlon gear companies calls and offers me the mid 40s, mom, middle of the pack triathlete sponsorship. IronSherpa can quit his job and just follow me around with my favorite music pumping out of his car, wheels on the back in case I flat out while I ride at my blistering 17-18 mph pace, mini me can set up a hydration table for me on my runs. I'll do my open water swims while mini me and IronSherpa play on the beach or ride next to me on a kayak. Okay, back to reality.

Here's how last week shook out on workouts:

Monday: run 3 miles, lift 20 minutes

Tuesday: Ride 60, run 2

Wednesday: Swim 1800

Thursday: off

Friday: Run 3, lift 30

Saturday: Helped lead a run clinic at Piedmont Park for the team. Very fun - did a quick lecture, learned that my Newly Appointed "Niece" (to be called NAN from now on) can not only drink on the bike now, but she can also tie her shoe laces in about 3 seconds. Check out Nan's video below and make sure you tip her on her fundraising page for the invaluable lesson she provides. Could save you some time on your T2, minimally it'll give you a laugh:

How to tie your shoe lace in 3 seconds without elastic laces and lace locks. 

Team then hit the drills with some dynamic stretches, stride counting and breathing patterns. Breakfast with the team afterwards. Always a fun time and crazy. It's amazing how running/triathlon draws such a funny group of people. Not funny in a strange way but funny in a borderline inappropriate, improv way. It's a good thing, you spend so much time together that there better be some comic relief.

 Coach Jo leading the Team through Dynamic Stretching

Got home and took Brooke back to Piedmont Park after our Team breakfast and played, played, played. The park was packed - we played soccer, did the swing sets, slides, etc. It's amazing to me how many parents just chill out and never play or interact with their kids. I sit on the bench now and again too but it's definitely not for the entire time that mini me is playing. We walked back home and had a great night going to see "Mirror Mirror", the Snow White movie with Julia Roberts at Atlantic Station. Good times!

Sunday: Run 4. So beautiful out with the weather a little cooler. I've had about 2 weeks in my new KSwiss K-Ona R shoes and they've been working pretty well. Very light, just haven't decided if they're too light though. The pollen got to me by the end of the run but still managed to get a good four in and then take Brooke back to the Park again after we did some Easter Egg hunting. The rest of the day I spent cooking and baking. Made Tofu scramble with red peppers, spinach and green onions and had a chia fresca. Had Ezekiel bread, hummus and the rest of the red peppers, spinach and green onions and smashed it in the panini press for lunch. Made banana and blueberry bread, pita chips and cookies in the afternoon. Dinner was veggie tacos with veggie grounds, baby spinach, tomatoes, rice, black beans and hot sauce. Below is a bit from my week:

 Banana Blueberry Bread                    Tofu Scramble

 Stir Fry Veggies and Brown Rice                   Cookies!

This week may be a little challenging. Some work constraints, IronSherpa traveling. Going to give it my best shot at getting all of my workouts in, we'll see how it goes!

Ironman 2013, Playlist and Getting More Greens

Big announcement a couple of weeks ago from Team in Training. Georgia will be doing the 2013 Coeur D'Alene Ironman. Immediately after the announcement, the emails started flying around about who from our 2011 IMAZ team would be joining again in 2013. I just so happen to be volunteering this year for IMCDA so I can cheer for my friend Paige, who will be racing this year. On one hand it seems a little bit like it's meant to be. I'm volunteering in 2012 for the race that is the 2013 choice, I'll be able to have first dibs on sign up the day after the race, preview the course, etc. On the other hand, training would start around September of this year and I'm just not sure that I'm ready to undertake that volume of training again. Maybe if it was IMAZ again and training started in 2013 vs. 2012 I would jump in a little easier. 

IronSherpa is not so pleased but is trying to still be supportive. When I talked to him in 2010 about signing up for 2011 IMAZ, he was on board but really, he had NO idea what his role would be for the 10 months of training and race day. I feel like I 'got away with it' once because he didn't fully understand the strain it would be for him too. His exact words to me upon entry into the 2013 Ironman negotiations were, "What happened to the girl who crossed the finish line and said I'm happy I did it once, but I'll never do it again?" Well, yep, he's got me there. I absolutely said that and absolutely meant it but I kind of feel like I have unfinished business out there. My stomach completely screwed my run up so I feel like I could've finished so much faster if I had gotten my nutrition right. Lots to think about. My next IM I really want to do both with the Team but also with one of my besties here in GA, Paige so there's a lot of figuring out to get this deal done. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out my stakeholder (IronSherpa) and my next move in the negotiation process.

Training has been just okay. I've had some pretty puny workouts as far as endurance. This past week I got in a couple of swims, bikes and runs but none felt super strong. My best workout was on Saturday with the team. Just 20 miles out at Cartersville but I got to ride with one of our newer members to the summer tri team and she was doing great. It was fun to see her get more confident with shifting, hills and drinking while riding. Yes, you do have to drink while the bike is moving, Joy! 

I've been messing with my playlist lately. I listen to music whenever I workout indoors (never outdoors) so I get bored with it pretty quickly. I had a blend this week of classic/80s rock, hip hop, I don't know, just about everything really. I'm strange with music, I admit it. Here's a taste (no particular order - I shuffle songs):

Paul Revere - Beastie Boys

Ah Leah - Donny Iris

Universal Mind Control - Common

When it's Over - Loverboy

Abacab - Genesis

On the Loose - Saga

Look at Me Now - Chris Brown - Lil' Wayne

My Philosophy - BDP

Lips Like Sugar - Echo and the Bunnymen

Strictly Business - EPMD

Bleed it Out - Linkin Park

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

Electric Relaxation- Tribe Called Quest

On the vegan side, I've been trying to get away from the vegan cheeses and convenience foods. I looked at what I was eating and while yes, it was all vegan, it really didn't get me that many greens so I went back to the drawing board to try and make more things myself vs. buy the pre-made things. I also tried to get more greens in and really branch out. It's been a couple of months I think so I'm ready to explore.

Here are a few pictures from this week - Hummus

Panini!

Ezekiel Bread, Hummus, baby spinach, mushrooms and cilantro and the Panini is done!! 

Thanks for checking out my blog! Let me know any songs you think I'll like - always looking to add different music to my workouts! If you've got some great vegan recipes with lots of greens, please send those my way too.

Old Lady Spine and My Fav Documentaries

It was kind of a slow week in training. You know you're an old lady when you pull your back doing a plank and then can't work out for a few days from pain. I got in a good swim Monday, did a ride/run brick Tuesday and ran, lifted Wednesday which was when I tweaked something. Coached Wednesday night swim with some pain and then nothing until my ride Saturday with the team. I didn't do too much on the bike with miles or speed, just tried to circulate throughout the team and make sure everybody was feeling good. Such strong athletes, they're doing so well! Love, love, love to see them growing in their confidence on their workouts. GO TEAM!

I've been able to catch some documentaries now that my Ironman training has ended and left me with some actual free time. One thing to know about me is I absolutely love documentaries. I thought I'd put some of my favorites in here so if you've got some time, you can check them out. Most are on Netflix so they're free if you've got an account, woohoo!

•  Food Inc
• Burma VJ
• Running the Sahara
• Startup.com
• Fat Sick and Nearly Dead
• Forks over Knives
• King Corn
• Hood to Coast
• Spirit of the Marathon
• Living is Winning

Hope you see some that may interest you. Next week I'll put in some books that are pretty incredible on food, running and triathlon. 

I'm at 3 weeks of being 'Plant Strong' and feeling great! It hasn't been easy, but it's been a great adventure so far. I had Broadway Cafe and Green Sprout again this past week. We had a family breakthrough when IronSherpa asked for Green Sprout on Friday night. Couldn't believe my husband asked for vegetarian, pretty cool I must say.

Vegan Triathlete?

 

It's been a while since my last update. I've been training about 5 or so days per week, mainly cycling with some running, some strength training and very little swimming. I don't know what my hangup has been up the swim but I just haven't been able to drag my butt into the pool consistently. I'm working on it though. Still a good way from my first race of the season so I think I've just had that in the back of my mind that it's not a huge deal as long as I'm cycling, running and lifting.

The big news is that I've made the decision to go vegan. Years ago I was vegetarian but for some reason I slowly went back to meat. I can remember my first burger after not having one for so long. My boyfriend at the time took pictures of me eating it. I was pretty sick for a while after that but slowly, I was back to eating some meat. Never was a fan ever really so even after I started eating meat again, it was very infrequent and primarily chicken. While going vegan has been on my mind for about a year, I was training for Ironman so I definitely didn't want to make that type of a change in the midst of training for the biggest race of my life. Now that I'm not training like that, I think I can give it a go and see what happens. I can't make any promises that I won't have a relapse (only on cheese, not meat) but I'm going to try my best to stick to it. It's important. If you haven't seen Food, Inc, Forks over Knives, Food Matters or other food system documentaries, I highly recommend them. There are some really graphic documentaries depicting the treatment of animals and slaughter practices but I can't watch those, I can barely read about them. I will say that it factors into my decision to go vegan for sure, but really, I don't want to be preachy as it's a decision that everybody needs to make for themselves. I want to go with a plant based plan because I want to be healthier and for my family to be healthier. I also want to be a good role model for our daughter. Again, these things are important to me.

So how is someone that completes an Ironman not healthy? Very easily, a lot of processed food during training and there you have it. I'm not trying to lose weight though I feel like it will happen potentially. I'll keep an eye on it. When I was vegetarian I got pretty puny so I'll be keeping an eye on my calories to make sure I'm getting enough in to fuel my workouts and body.

This was day 3 as a vegan athlete. Today I took a 60 minute spin class and fueled with Vega's electrolyte replacement. It's a vegan line created for workout fuel so I'm testing it out some before taking the plunge and buying the big jugs. I tried the berry pom which tasted pretty good, different, but good. Had oatmeal, cranberries and granola afterwards. Lunch was my leftover dinner (brown rice, mushrooms, asparagus, onions) and some couscous. By 2p I was starving with a splitting headache. I got lightheaded by late afternoon so tonight I've got to pack some food to eat throughout the day. Normally I eat all day but nothing I had at work would 'fit' my new eating so I went without food until I got home and had dinner. Important lesson. Tonight I had some udon noodles and mushrooms. Enjoyed a bean cookie from the batch I made last night. I'm still learning what's vegan and what's not so if you see something in here that I think is vegan and you know it's not, let me know, haha!! 

I'll keep updating as I go, especially how it impacts my workouts. At Ironman I had massive stomach issues so I'm definitely hoping that the plant based nutrition will work it's magic on my workouts and stomach problems.