Time flies when you're having fun. I really have not been able to blog due to training. Weekdays I get up at 4:30/5:00 a.m. most days, workout, go to work, come home and do another workout and/or get ready for the next day and ensure an early bed time as sleep is crucial with my 20hour plus workout weeks. Saturdays are ALL day workout days as the rides are now five hours and more on a regular basis followed by a 30-40min brick run. Dinner and cleaning up and the day is over. Sundays are my long runs and I try and get another swim or ride in. Needless to say Sunday evenings I am just too tired to reflect let alone to write it all down. Training has gone well. And most of all I really enjoy it! I am really good listening to my body and know the difference between not "feeling" like doing a workout (because I'd rather do something else and that does not happen very often) and being tired. In addition, I need to train my body anyway when it is tired so I have learned to distinguish between tired and almost exhausted. The other day I jumped on the bike trainer for my brick workout and 30 minutes later my cadence still sucked, my legs had their own mind and thinking of adding a run to this mess was just unbearable. So I called it a day. The next morning it all worked like a charm. One other training day I dragged myself out for a run thinking that if I can't do the speed work running at all is better than not running (plus I ran home from work so I had to get home somehow) only to find that I ended up having one of my best workouts ever. I train hard and I rest plenty. Monday today Victoria long weekend. Friday I swam 4km; Saturday I rode to Squamish and back (with a break in between visiting Mike and since it is a semi-recovery week that was acceptable) and yesterday I did my longest run - just under three hours. So today I have a massage planned and need to bring my bike to the mechanic for a tune up for my half iron in 10 days and then of course, IM. So it will most likely be a rest day, which allows me to have more quality workouts for the rest of the week. And it will be another high volume week with a long ride on Saturday followed by a brick. Next week is recovery to allow me to race my best in Oliver. Since my last entry I have also had to rethink my nutrition. Last year I used carbopro which does not seem to work this time around. Then I tried diluted gels which were ok but I didn't feel all that good about it. Last Saturday I tried perpetuem and that seemed to work fine. I had that satisfied feeling of never being completely hungry (I still have to supplement with bars or gum chews) but I also didn't feel bloated or stuffed. And I really like the taste and texture of perpetuem plus it is all natural. My run yesterday was great so that shows that my nutrition on Saturday was good. I have also reintroduced hemp milk and my own granola into my daily nutrition. I think the hemp milk is an awesome recovery drink. A few weeks ago since my last entry I also suffered the runs on my runs and I added acidophilus supplements which did the trick. I now take B12 and B6 in the mornings, my iron pill with lunch and a multivitamin at dinner. In the winter months I take VD as well but I finished them now and did not buy another supply since we were blessed with lots of sun the last couple of weeks. I know there is controversy about multi vitamins but I had them and will now use them up. And I have a new favourite meal: fish with home made kale chips! YUMMY! The perfect meal after a long training day. So it is now six weeks to go 'til race day. Three weeks of training and then the taper. And only five weeks 'til travel day; e.g. five weeks from today we are in Klagenfurt! I think that's all friends. Hopefully I'll get in one or two more blogs before departure. Keep the sunny side up and happy tri-ing!

My Body - My Temple - And Listening to It

The week went on pretty good with steady workouts; short and sweet. As usual I swam Tuesday and Thursday morning; Wednesday I only rode to and from work and Thursday I only ran home form work. One workout a day is like a treat; it's almost like a rest day. Friday morning I did my trainer workout followed by a brick run because I was too tired Wednesday; then rode to and from work and went to the gym at lunch. Nothing unusual. In my recovery weeks I intend to swim the distance on Saturday mornings because I only have a short ride. I was wondering why I felt unusually tired Saturday morning when I woke up; almost like I didn't get enough rest that night even though I felt that I had slept well. I lasted a whooping 30minutes in the pool!!! And that was tough! That's the "bad" news; the good news is that I swam 1200m which is a good time for me - even more so being as tired as I was. I went home; ate my second breakfast and called it a day. Mike raced in an adventure race that day and I could have ridden out there which would have been less than a two hour ride. Nope, just the thought of it made me want to throw up! Instead I rested, then ran some errands, then had a nap! I thought that perhaps I could go for a run later - nope. Just thinking about it made me dizzy! So I just hugged the couch. Went for lunch with Mike after his race, came home and ate, slept, read and ate some more! I pretty much sat on the couch and ate all afternoon! I really wanted to want to DO something and stop eating but instead I listened. I listened to what my body wanted. It is pretty unusual but it has happened before. It really feels like the batteries are empty. I gave in to all my cravings, even ate a whole bar of chocolate, made cookies and ate three of those and on and on! I know two things: 1) I do not usually overeat yet I just couldn't get satisfied and 2) I enjoy my training and my workouts so for me not wanting to take one step simply meant that my body was exhausted. So I listened. Listen to your body. Give it what it needs even if it seems weird and unusual. I knew that when I felt good and myself again I wouldn't be able to wait to head out and ride, run or swim! One thing that I thought though that brought that one was that Friday evening we went out for dinner and I had some yam fries with a salmon salad. The dressing was buttery and I do not tolerate bad fat so I barely ate. I think I was not only tired but almost in a bonking state having done three/four workouts Friday. This morning, Sunday, the boys woke me up around six and I was ready to go! I planned on a two hour ride which turned into a pleasant, powerful three hour trip and then enjoyed a (tempo) run later in the day! AND - weighing myself in the morning I was down a pound, my fat was down, my muscle mass up and I was nicely hydrated! One whole day of full rest is the one and only magic pill and never, ever feel guilty about it!!! Listen to your body because it always serves you so well - it deserves a break on the couch - more than we want to admit!