Deoderant, Banana Bars, and Badassery

The first two weeks of the Rocket City Training plan in the bag!  I've made 100% of my planned workouts for 2 weeks straight.  The sore spot along my shin (which actually popped up during my swim block) is feeling much better.

This week ended with just under 8 hours of training; just under 22 miles ran, just under 40 miles ridden and just under 3k swam.

 It was a BADASS week.  I discovered the following:

1. I can gain a lot of speed in my flipturns
2. I can ride 18-19 mph average on 5 hours of sleep
3. I can now run in zone 1/2 at a sub-11 pace

Doesn't this look like
a BADASS!?! 
Just sayin'.

I have run 20-21 miles total the past two weeks, so if you average my pace for the 20-21 miles that's about 11:30/mile.  THE BEST PART IS, I FEEL AWESOME!  I don't have the bonks or the jimmies or the heebies during 6-8 mile runs like I did last year when I started into long runs.  That's an excellent indicator of progress that I am FEELING AWESOME and TRAINING around or under my goal pace. My goal pace for this race is 11:20/mile - ALTHOUGH the pie-in-the-sky goal with 4 more months of work and some Yassos is 4:30-4:48.

WHY 4:48, YOU ASK?

I'm glad you did.

6:48 was my very first marathon time, and I'd really like this to be the year I can say: I've taken two HOURS off my marathon time since 2007.

Still, I'll be SUPER HAPPY with a 5-hour marathon, especially considering 5:35 is my best so far.  5 hours would still be an hour and 48 minutes less than my first marathon.


HERE'S SOME STUFF that I am loving right now that makes all this badassery possible.

Cytomax Pom Berry.  None of the belly-upsetting over-sweeteness of Gatorade/Powerade, and a flavor that is not too strong and nothing like your standard lime/lemon/orange/blue drinks.

MetaSalts. Necessary in the Florida heat/humidity. The only thing I don't like here is you take 2 at a whack, unlike Salt Stick (a serving of Salt Stick is 1 pill).  I still ADORE CarboPro (this company's main product) for LONG LONG training (100 mile rides, Iron distance weeks), but I may switch back to Salt Stick so I have to carry less on marathon day.

Clandestino Banana Bars.  120 calories of dark-chocolate-coated-banana deliciousness.  Seriously, that's all that's in them - bananas and chocolate.  They pack a nice little potassium and sugar punch, they are WAY more delicious than GU or chews, and you can eat  half of one and jam the rest back inside the little foil wrapper for later.

Secret deoderant (really any of the invisible solids, but Flawless Renewal or 48-Hour Outlast in particular.)  Did you know you could use deoderant as Body Glide?  I am sure there are some sensitive-skinned out there who can't, but I sure can.  It's half the price, you can find it anywhere, and - BONUS - it makes you smell better too!

RunKeeper - www.runkeeper.com  I live in a mid-rise building with a concrete parking garage.  If I waited for my Timex Global Trainer to grab satellites every day, my runs would be an extra hour each.  I back it up using the RunKeeper app on my phone, which I have to have for safety purposes, and then I have more detailed data about heart rate on my Timex.

 This is how August looks so far:

Bike:	2h 08m - 39.29 Mi
Run:	2h 45m 25s - 14.24 Mi
Swim:	59m 26s - 2700 Yd
Strength:	40m

This is how I finished out July:

July's totals:
Bike:	7h 37m 41s - 133.5 Mi
Run:	7h 40m 53s - 40.57 Mi
Swim:	6h 31m 42s - 16950 Yd
Strength:	1h 35m
Massage:	1h 10m
Walking:	3h 00m 

BONUS PHOTO:



This isn't tri-related, but she got locked
out of the bathroom and pooped in a closet last month.
Totally the mommy's fault.



There's Badass . . . And Then There's Bad Ass



Did she just say "un-shitty?"

 By now you know that I believe two things about life:

1. You can always find a way to look on the bright side. 



2. That doesn't mean that a situation isn't still shitty.  It just means you're choosing to find something un-shitty about it.

I'm still recovering from my vertigo attack. I'm exhausted from that, and I'm trying the medication that's supposed to help with my inner ear AND blood pressure.  I have only worked out once this week.  It has been impossible to get up before 7am most mornings and I've worked a few late nights and had prior commitments on others. 

Ugh.

So, about that one workout so far . . .

Wednesday night I headed out to WTF with my ride and run gear, fully intending to complete a brick since my 11-hour day at work on Tuesday prevented me from doing my Murdolator ride/run on Tuesday night.  As I've said, I am in no shape to be going on some of these rides, but I keep going because I am convinced that, EVENTUALLY, going on them will turn me into a Badass. 

I usually get to these rides totally pumped up (and, I will admit, a little afraid), hoping to keep up with the break a little and stay completely out of my comfort zone for at least 15-20 of the 30 miles.  Last night, however, I just wasn't up to it.  I saw the break form around mile 5, tried to get on The Pain Train right away, and instantly crashed.

I didn't feel like a Badass.  I felt like Bad Ass.

When I got done, we were all talking about the ride, and one of the guys reminded me of something.  "Remember, just last summer, when the farthest you'd ever ridden was like 60-70 miles?  And didn't you just do another century?" 

Pace Report: 2010-2012

He was right; I have come a long, long way.  Looking down at my computer, I saw that I'd averaged 19.14mph for the 30 miles.  I had done most of the ride alone, and I hadn't felt good, and I'd still averaged almost 20.  You can see on the right how my average pace for cycling and running have climbed over the past 2 years.

(Side note - my swimming is faster but so infinitesimally! Almost unchanged !@*!#!)

But I still felt more like Bad Ass than a Badass, so I skipped my run and headed home to dinner.  In the process, I stepped on the scale. 

When I did, I almost fell off. 

The number looking back at me hasn't shown up in almost 3 years.  If I lose less than one more pound, I'll be at a weight I haven't seen in 6 years, and I won't be racing Athena anymore.

I have had a ton of breakthroughs in the past few months.  Speed, distance, weight.  A lot of people assume this all happened recently - but, like my training, it is the product of 6 years of hard work.   Forcing myself to get up when I don't feel great but still respect the weeks where I really need to rest; not giving up when my speed increases and weight loss are so much slower than the norm.  (It took me 3 years to break a 9-minute mile in a race and 5 years to break 20 on the bike, and my weight loss has progressed at the breakneack speed of 1ish pounds per month.)

And a lot of it has been slowed by my battles with the most annoying of my health issues (including my latest addition to the mix).  I rest WAY more than most people, and I have to take a complete week off every few months. 

In spite of that, it is starting to come together and I'm finally feeling like a healthy, athletic person.

Or maybe because of it.

Now, more than ever, I am thankful for all my illnesses, setbacks, and health problems.  Here is why.

1.       Having one more issue to add to the pile used to dishearten and frustate me.  Now, every time someone says, "You can't!" I get feisty and cantankerous and say, "Watch me."  It's just another reason to be determined.
2.       I did not appreciate how good it felt to win, PR, or just log a 13-hour workout week until I had felt bad enough to NOT win, NOT PR, and not have a 3-hour workout week.
3.       I know I am only improving my heartbeat, weight, cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, energy levels, and the way my body feels and looks.  If I wasn't doing all these things,
4.       Focusing on my health versus my weight has taken the obsession out of eating and allowed me to enjoy food again.
5.       Focusing on my fitness versus my weight has allowed me to eat more or less what I like. 
(These last two are kind of a big deal for a former disordered eater.)

Maybe you can feel like Bad Ass and still be a Badass.