And away I go! Day 1 of my 13 week 1/2 Iron Man Training is under way. I'm traveling all week and weekend so my schedule is a little jacked up. I get to babysit my too cool nieces this week so I am super pumped! To make sure I stay on track I'm bringing my bike out to GR with me so I can get in some cool west Michigan ride.
Today's workout was a 2 hour ride. Alarm went cray at 5:45am, I turn on the coffee, slugged down some chocolate coconut water and hit the streets by 6:05am. Today's ride was probably my favorite of the season. My road bike is now adjusted just right, the temps were perfect, there was no wind and I felt great. I tried to stay at the 17mph'ish range the whole time. I also worked on not mashing but instead staying consistent with a higher cadence. Felt great and no aches and pains the whole way! 31.5 miles at 1 hour and 59 minutes was just fine for me!
Nutriton is always something I struggle with on the bike, I tend to overeat, bonk or my blood sugar drops real low. Last week I was able to reach out to Sage Rountree (see below for more info on her) and she supplied me with tons of tips and great nutrition advice. So today I tried this method out: GU and water at 30 minutes in and then every 30 after. I had 1 water bottle and 1 with G2 with a ton of added salt that I sipped throughout. Remember, CF patients lose a shit ton of salt when we sweat so I have to be careful with endurance exercise, especially in the heat. 1/2 of a peanut butter PowerBar was my last intake on the bike and everything seemed to work very well. No bonk, constant energy and no feeling of dehydration at all. This equation seems like it may work though I may add on something more "real" to eat around mile 40 or so to get me through the 56 mile part of the race...oh and then something in the transition area to get me set for the run.
So in January I took a Yoga for Athletes workshop taught by Sage Rountree. Sage is an internationally recognized authority in yoga for athletes and an endurance sports coach. The author of many books on yoga for athletes, Sage writes on sports for Yoga Journal and on yoga for publications including Runner's World, Lava Magazine, USA Triathlon Life, and Endurance Magazine. She co-owns the Carrboro Yoga Company in central North Carolina. Read more about Sage and her practice. I learned a lot from her at the workshop and remembered that she is a great coach. She graciously hooked me up and I really appreciate it!
My favorite quote of the day "I don't train hard enough to taper...", came from an older man in my last 30 minutes of riding today. We rode together for a bit and he told me he was training for a sprint tri in Chicago. Very cool to run into cool people on the road!
Happy Monday!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Meet me at the Battleship!
Super exciting news to report! I was officially asked by PPD to be one of their Heroes for the Beach to Battleship Iron Man in Wilmington, North Carolina ..
Who is PPD? They are the title sponsor of this Iron Man and are leaders in the clinical trials world.
How did they find me? When I was the keynote speaker at the Partnerships Clinical Trials conference in March in Orlando, someone who works for them mentioned the race to me after they heard me speak. It definitely sounded sweet!
What do I do as a hero? Well....I will be doing something that I do best, talk! I will telling my story with CF, exercise, good nutrition and of course how participating in clinical trials has changed my life at a few speaking gigs around town the week of the race.
Also I will be participating in the Half Iron Man!! My goal is the bike and run it and have someone join my relay team to swim...I do not swim....at all! `Unless there is a raft floating portion of the race I will not be getting wet. Just ask my friends who were at the pool with me last week. I was almost a goner, in the 4'10 area.
How long is the race? I will be biking 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles. When I complete this I will be 2/3 of a Half Iron Lady!
Beach to Battleship was voted the #2 Iron Man in the USA and #5 worldwide. I am completely honored to be a part of this race and to represent PPD. The race is October 20 so I will have plenty of time to train smart and make sure I am ready!
Don't you worry...I will publish training reports so you can keep up with my long bike rides, runs, yoga and what I am eating during this whole shebang! It will be a lot.. oh and lots of extra salt with be consumed for sure as well.
I'll be looking for friends to run and bike with...or definitely eat with. So let me know if you are in it to win it with me, or at least finish!
Rock N Roll!
Em
Click the Battleship to see recent Heroes!
So here is the scoop:
Who is PPD? They are the title sponsor of this Iron Man and are leaders in the clinical trials world.
How did they find me? When I was the keynote speaker at the Partnerships Clinical Trials conference in March in Orlando, someone who works for them mentioned the race to me after they heard me speak. It definitely sounded sweet!
What do I do as a hero? Well....I will be doing something that I do best, talk! I will telling my story with CF, exercise, good nutrition and of course how participating in clinical trials has changed my life at a few speaking gigs around town the week of the race.
Also I will be participating in the Half Iron Man!! My goal is the bike and run it and have someone join my relay team to swim...I do not swim....at all! `Unless there is a raft floating portion of the race I will not be getting wet. Just ask my friends who were at the pool with me last week. I was almost a goner, in the 4'10 area.
How long is the race? I will be biking 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles. When I complete this I will be 2/3 of a Half Iron Lady!
Beach to Battleship was voted the #2 Iron Man in the USA and #5 worldwide. I am completely honored to be a part of this race and to represent PPD. The race is October 20 so I will have plenty of time to train smart and make sure I am ready!
Don't you worry...I will publish training reports so you can keep up with my long bike rides, runs, yoga and what I am eating during this whole shebang! It will be a lot.. oh and lots of extra salt with be consumed for sure as well.
I'll be looking for friends to run and bike with...or definitely eat with. So let me know if you are in it to win it with me, or at least finish!
Rock N Roll!
Em
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Bad to the, uh...bone
Bones are overrated...well that's how I feel right now at least. My femur bones and I have had a rough relationship the past year or so. Twice I've had bilateral stress reactions/fractures in the shaft of both femurs. How did this happen and who does this happen to? Well me and my stupid overtraining and weak ass brittle bones.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with osteopenia, which is like the beginning stages of osteoporosis and very common in CF..especillay us old ass patients. You've seen Sally Field talk about her once a month Boniva..well I was on a bone pill for a few years and still developed fractures. After some research it turns out that these pills actually CAUSE stress fractures in the femurs. BRILLIANT! Not making this shit up, NYTimes.com did a story about it. My really awesome CF doc and I decided to take a holiday from the pill to see if I could maintain my bone density while off of it and still be able to run well. I added more vitamin D into my diet and do as much as I can nutritionally to make sure I'm eating all the good bone food. Who knew celery was good for your bones? I hate it but eat it and juice it all the time now..
Well.....I think my bones are mad at me again. Just last week I started to get that really deep ache in my groins, aka my loins were ablaze. When this deep ache first happened a few years we thought it was hip flexor stuff but after it getting much worse and me physically not being able to run, the MRI's showed stress fractures. It got to the point where I could not run, not that I just didn't feel like it and it hurt..no, I could not move my legs to run.
Now I do a hell of a lot of yoga, like 4-5 times and week and I know for certain my hips are o-p-e-n. Don't get excited....
The aches came last week a couple hours after a 7 mile run. I could barely walk from my car to inside the Ren Cen..my legs were just weak. Climbing my stairs to my apartment is tiring and riding my bike is not going well. I did a 36 mile ride around Old Mission on Saturday and just couldn't dig. I cruised at 17 mph most of the time but when I needed to dig up a hill or into the wind my legs just couldn't do it. I never do this but I had to stop half way up 2 hills. My breathing was so loud it sounded like I was being chased by a pack of dingos after I took their baby! This am I tried to catch a ride but that only lasted 30 minutes..freaking rain and lightning cut it short but really pedaling was a chore, averaging 15 mph felt like work. Frustrating? Nooooooooo...
For now I'll just self diagnose and cut my running way back, cycle on low gears and yoga it out. Hopefully this resolved quickly and the pain doesn't develop into true stress fractures again..that would be super duper uber laaaaame! I have raced coming up in August and September and I better be able to run them.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with osteopenia, which is like the beginning stages of osteoporosis and very common in CF..especillay us old ass patients. You've seen Sally Field talk about her once a month Boniva..well I was on a bone pill for a few years and still developed fractures. After some research it turns out that these pills actually CAUSE stress fractures in the femurs. BRILLIANT! Not making this shit up, NYTimes.com did a story about it. My really awesome CF doc and I decided to take a holiday from the pill to see if I could maintain my bone density while off of it and still be able to run well. I added more vitamin D into my diet and do as much as I can nutritionally to make sure I'm eating all the good bone food. Who knew celery was good for your bones? I hate it but eat it and juice it all the time now..
Well.....I think my bones are mad at me again. Just last week I started to get that really deep ache in my groins, aka my loins were ablaze. When this deep ache first happened a few years we thought it was hip flexor stuff but after it getting much worse and me physically not being able to run, the MRI's showed stress fractures. It got to the point where I could not run, not that I just didn't feel like it and it hurt..no, I could not move my legs to run.
Now I do a hell of a lot of yoga, like 4-5 times and week and I know for certain my hips are o-p-e-n. Don't get excited....
The aches came last week a couple hours after a 7 mile run. I could barely walk from my car to inside the Ren Cen..my legs were just weak. Climbing my stairs to my apartment is tiring and riding my bike is not going well. I did a 36 mile ride around Old Mission on Saturday and just couldn't dig. I cruised at 17 mph most of the time but when I needed to dig up a hill or into the wind my legs just couldn't do it. I never do this but I had to stop half way up 2 hills. My breathing was so loud it sounded like I was being chased by a pack of dingos after I took their baby! This am I tried to catch a ride but that only lasted 30 minutes..freaking rain and lightning cut it short but really pedaling was a chore, averaging 15 mph felt like work. Frustrating? Nooooooooo...
For now I'll just self diagnose and cut my running way back, cycle on low gears and yoga it out. Hopefully this resolved quickly and the pain doesn't develop into true stress fractures again..that would be super duper uber laaaaame! I have raced coming up in August and September and I better be able to run them.
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