Sport 4 {Nutrition}

So my next big challenge in Ironman Training is nutrition.   Many people say that it’s the fourth part of a triathlon.  I think that they may be on to something as this becomes more and more clear to me each week when I head out for my long days.  Take Saturday’s bike ride for example.

Here I am, reloading my pockets with food at a country store…

I recapped this ride and what I ate.  But recall … I had G2 gatorade in my aero bottle.  In the first hours I had a strawberry cliff shot.  Next up was a package of honey stinger chews.  Then I had a honey stinger waffle.  I also at a go macro bar as my last snack.  This ride was four hours and about 4,000 feet of climbing.  I’m relatively certain that I was under fueled by about 100 calories per hour.  I didn’t bonk, which was good, but I was really starting to feel that amount of work that I had done by the end of the ride.  We rode 63 miles.  On race day this leaves me with another 49 miles to ride and a marathon (26.2 miles) to run.  So I definitely need to make sure that I eat more than this.  As one of my training peeps says, your bike ride should be ” a moving buffet.”  Meaning eat up essentially.

So, now to figure out what I need to do differently from Saturday’s ride.

I need to eat a good breakfast before heading out the door.  (I admittedly didn’t do this Saturday.  I gave most of my breakfast to the dog.)

I have a hard time saying no to this sweet face!

Because there was awhile between breakfast and the start of the ride, I probably could have taken a gu or something of the like at the start of the ride, rather than waiting for an hour.

The next thing that I’m doing is setting the alert timer on the new G-Money (my garmin.)  My plan is to make this thing go off every 15 minutes to ensure that I’m drinking enough and every 45 minutes as a reminder for food.

I am also planning to start carrying salt tabs.  I’ve experienced some cramping on the bike and I want to absolutely prevent this from happening on race day.

And last…. I think that I’m going to start bringing real, yes real, food on the bike.  Just gu’s and chews are not going to do it for me come race day.  I’ve read lots of Ironman in Training people talking about eating potatoes on the bike.  I’m not totally sure how this is accomplished, but I continually hear that it’s the bees knees.  So, I plan to start experimenting with what real food I can eat in the first 75-80 miles of the bike.  After that I need to keep it simple in order to head out on the run.

So those are the things that I’m working on nutritionally.  I’m pretty good on hydration.  I either use G2 or Nuun and water.

So people, now’s the time to weigh in.  What works for you on race day?  Share and share alike!

What Works for You?

I {Love} The Weekends & My Bike

Oh geez, I really love the weekends, especially when the weather finally cooperates and I can get in a long bike ride! What a gorgeous day today was to spend outside.  With a long bike on my schedule, I had really hoped the weather would cooperate, so I rounded up a crew of peeps on facebook and we made a plan to ride from Saratoga up along the Great Sacandaga Lake and back.

Have Bikes … Need People

Can I have an aside?  Um, I must state how lucky I am that I can look at my training plan, see a long bike, put out a plea and pull together five people to bike with.  And did I mention that these incredible friends of mine are NOT training for a full distance Ironman, except for one.  I mean these people don’t bat an eye at riding for four hours and covering over 63 miles.  Lucky…… Thanks peeps.  You rock.

Anyway….. We met up at the Saratoga High School and Alex had a route all planned out for us.  For some reason, I had thought that it would be relatively flat.  Ha, almost 4,000 feet of climbing later we were done with a beautiful ride.  The weather seriously couldn’t have been better.

We made a few pit stops at country stores to fill up on water and gatorade.  Some people chose to refuel with potato salad, milky ways and salt & vinegar chips…… I do not count myself in those people, although by the time we finished I was starving so maybe I should have.  I’m currently really trying to practice eating what I’ll have access to on race day so over the course of the ride I ate a strawberry cliff shot, a package of honey stinger chews, a honey stinger waffle and then (my favorite new find) a mini go macro bar.  Not too bad as I was also drinking g2, but I may have been a little low on the calories considering it was a 4 hour ride.  But I never felt like I was bonking.  I do need to probably invest in some salt tabs though as I got a leg craps right at the end of the ride.

For as many group rides as we have done, we haven’t had a lot of flat tires.  Today we had one, which wasn’t bad considering we end up riding on a patch of unpaved road for over a mile.  Whoops.

Will & Olya (My only other Ironman in Training) examine the situation…

Again, all in all a great day was had.  I have fresh new sunburn lines to prove it and we finished the whole thing while wearing smiles on our face.  (And after climbing West Mountain Road, that’s a feat in and of itself.)  I truly love the weekends where I can do these kind of rides … oh and I love, love, love my bike…. Please make my legs, which are very aware at this moment of the climbing they did, aware of all of this love as well.

Thanks again to my peeps.  You really do rock! How did you all kick it today?  Anything fun?

{Little} Boy Blue

It seems almost like a false statement to call my guy little.  He’s still only five, but he has such a big personality and he’s so full of life.  Today was graduation from preschool and he’s now officially heading off to kindergarten.  I really didn’t think that today would be a big deal to me, until well… I was there.  So, it’s rare, but words are still escaping me…..

Can’t find the cheerios!

Loving Life

Being Each Other’s People

My Best Taste Tester!

And My Biggest Fan!

I love you kiddo.  More than you’ll probably ever know.  Happy prek graduation.  I’m looking forward to all that we have to explore together now and far into the future.  I’ve more than enjoyed the journey thus far.  I Love You! Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday.  Thanks so much for being my little boy blue.

~ Mama

{Today} Is 100

Today is Thursday.

Today is another rainy day…. Truthfully, today, I’m thinking of building an ark.

Today is a swim-run brick.  It is a 2,000 yard open water swim (hahahaha) and a five-mile run.

Today is another day in the journey.

Today is a day to be grateful for all that I have.

Today is a day to be thankful that I’ve come this far.

Today is 100 days until Ironman Lake Tahoe… Yes, 100 days.

But in all seriousness, with just 100 days left, I truly need to take pause and take stock of where I am and where I’ve been.  And I need to take a quick moment to say thank you.

I started running just over three years ago.  I was hard pressed to make it down the block let alone around the neighborhood.  But each step that I took was an opportunity for me to discover who I really am.  Each step was an opportunity for me to learn that I am much tougher than I ever dreamed possible.  In order to keep my momentum growing I joined a few local running groups and the momentum grew as did my friend list.  Fast forward over the last three years and I have completed 5k’s, 10k’s, half marathons, relays, marathons, sprint & olympic distance triathlons and a 70.3.  And today, I am training for a full Ironman … 140.6 miles.

I would be remiss to think that I would be where I am today with out all of these friends.  They make up this amazing support system that I have.  Truth be told if this little family of people didn’t believe in me the way that they do, I can guarantee that I wouldn’t believe in me.  There is a lot of power in family … wherever you find it.  And I count myself in the fortunate few who have found it.  So a great big huge thank you is due to all of you who stand by me, even when I’m sure that I don’t deserve it.  You all mean more to me that you’ll probably ever know.  And while I’m very thankful… I’m also excited.  There are exactly 100 more days on this little Ironman journey and I’m so happy to be able to share it with you.  So, with 100 days to go, let’s do this!

{Almost Wordless Wednesday} The Swim

Yowza…. Rough night at the pool.  My gym pool is just small.  Four lanes makes life difficult.  So I shared a lane with a variety of people in my 2800 yards.  And each one of them had to interrupt to see if splitting or circle swimming was ok.  Of course it always was.  And truly I suppose it wasn’t that big of an interruption.  I just wanted to keep swimming so I could get the work out started and done since I didn’t even get to the pool until almost 8:00….. Yowza…. Any how….. It’s Wednesday

Source

{Two Things Tuesday} Long Rides & OWS Season!

1) I’m currently in the midst of planning every long ride possible.  After not being able to complete the Tour de Cure due to weather, I’m really on a kick for the long ride.  For one, I didn’t get to complete what I had set out to do.  For two, I liked it.  (I feel a little bit like a commercial for some cereal, Mikey liked it!) But I did, I liked it.  And that’s a new thing for me and my bicycle.  Oh, and I looked again at the bike course for Ironman Lake Tahoe.

Please note the description…. this is not my handy work, but it should be!

Yes, I think that getting in as many long rides as possible between now and then is essential.  Lucky for me I’m training with three of my bestest triathlon supporters for this crazy lil race.  So when I had a minor melt down yesterday in recapping that this ride has 2 category 2 hills, 2 category 3′s and 7 (yeah, I said 7) category 5′s, they essential said oh well and followed it up with so when do you want to go to the pain cave?  Sweet.  As I stated aloud last night,  I cannot change the course, all I can do is train for it.  So, this weekend will offer up another 4:45 ride.  Next weekend will be something comparable and we’ll go up from there.  I’m diligently searching for century rides as many weekends as possible between now and September.  I will be one with my bike.

2) It would appear that we are closing in on the 100 day mark.  There are 103 to be exact. For now I’m ignoring the day & week count, strapping on my new swimmin’ garmin and heading to my first ows of the season on Thursday night.  (I still think it’s too cold and murky!) But again, with the time ticking down, I guess it’s time to get on it.  Hopefully, a solid open water swim is exactly what I need to calm these nerves….

Come on little swimmin’ garmin, let’s do this!

What are your two things this Tuesday?

Learning to Love the {Bike}

If you had asked me two years ago how I felt about riding my bike, I probably would have rolled my eyes and told you that it was ok.  Now fast forward and throw in a lot of early mornings on the bike trainer and I can now say that I LOVE riding my bike.  Love it.  I mean love people…. did you hear me?  I should clarify that this does not mean that I’ve become lightning fast or anything of the sort for that matter, but it does mean that I’m a happy camper riding on two wheels.

Getting Ready for the Tour de Cure

So, how do you learn to fall in love with your bike you ask?  Good Question!

1) Ride it.  I think that in my first two seasons of triathlon, I really refused to give up the running and take to the biking.  I couldn’t quite figure it out and I really loved the freedom of running, so I just didn’t spend enough time on my bike.  I mean it was fun on the downhill, etc.  but the uphill felt like extreme torture.  So, sometimes, I just skipped it.  Now that I’m spending a minimum of 8-10 hours a week on it, I feel differently.  So, as a friend has told me for the last two seasons, it’s important to spend the time in the saddle.  Ok ok, I’m finally listening, and you’re right….

2) Make sure you get the right fit for you.  This is a biggie.  Go to a bike shop, get the right fit.  It makes all the difference in the world.  I mean think about it, especially in long course triathlon, you are spending a substantial amount of time on your bike so you need to be comfortable there.  (Can I please point out that for those of us mere mortals that are completing and Ironman, we are putting in close to a full work day, 7-8 hours, sitting on a bike.  Yowza.)

3) Ladies – Get the right gear! It’s a long time to be sitting on a bike seat.  Trust me, invest in the things that you need to make your saddle comfortable.  These include chamois cream, the right saddle and a good pair of bike shorts.  I keep wanting to be the person that doesn’t need to wear bike shorts on the bike, but I am telling you, my bike ride is so much more comfortable when I wear bike shorts rather than tri shorts.

Some Training Peeps in da House…

4) Recruit Your Favorite Friends to Ride With You – Having supportive friends who can keep you chatting, singing and laughing is a good move.  It really makes the time go by.  Unfortunately in Sunday’s ride, I lost all of my data, but I know we were on our bikes for a long time …. aka 80 miles.  Having a great training partner with me helped me to pass the time.  (No joke, we really did sing…. cuz we’re cool like that.) Recruit riding pals and you’re good!

5) And lastly, I’d say Sign Up For Some Supported Rides – After being out there for Tour de Cure on Sunday, I’m frantically searching for more local-ish century rides.  I really think that this may be the way to go in order to get in the 100 milers.  And remember that time in the saddle is important so these seem to go hand in hand.  (PS… Anyone know of any great century rides in the upstate NY area between now and the end of August? I’m looking for a few!)

Anyway, these are the things that are working for me and Foxy as of late.  So that leaves me curious…. how did you all learn to love your bike?  Any new tips to share?