Past, Present, Future-Fitness, Nutrition, Life

I seem to have a month between posts these days.  I have all sorts of posts go through my mind daily, but here is just a catch up post.  I hope to make some more 'informational' soon.
Fitness:
Past-I feel like it has been a long haul of having very structured workout plans.  In February, I started my official training for the Boston Marathon.  After racing it in April, and about a week or so of recovery I went straight into my workout plan for Steelhead half ironman on July 31st. 

Present-I have made it to the two week taper for Steelhead. 

After a late start on the swim fitness, I am feeling ready for the swim.  I had a lot of open water swims on our vacation in Canada, and have been going to the Hiram pool three times a week since school was out.

I feel VERY ready for the bike leg at Steelhead.  I have done many 50+ mile rides, many of them with a group that was pushing the pace.  I feel comfortable in aero position.  As always, my biggest worry is some sort of malfunction during the race.  For example, two weeks ago the seat bolt broke on my bike during a group ride.  My seat went flying off the bike with no warning.  Luckily, I didn't crash, but it was close. 
I am 'secretly' hoping for a 20mph avg. during the race.  I was at 19.3 last year at Timberman on a very hilly course.  But I will need to find the 'zone' and not have a huge headwind.

Liz and I after her first 30+ mile ride

The leg I am feeling the least comfortable with is the run portion.  I want to run under a 2 hour half marathon, but am having some hamstring/hip issues.  I am just not totally comfortable with my running right now.  I have had some very promising track workouts, and some days feel good.  But there are some days that a four mile run seems hard.  Hoping that this two week taper will help everything feel good going into race day.

Future-
Hoping for a great race on July 31st.  I really want to break 5:30, but it will depend on conditions at the race.

Then, I am planning on two weeks of recovery which will include our vacation in Maine.  I MAY do an Olympic distance triathlon on August 15th with Matt and Liz depending on how the half IM goes.

Then I am looking at keeping things pretty UNstructured for the Fall.  I am going to focus on getting my strength back, using P90x,  P90x+, and other beachbody products that I have.  I will lift heavy a minimum of three days a week.  I will continue to run three days a week and bike at least once a week while the weather is nice.  But I look forward to not training for anything big (unless by chance I make it to Clearwater World Championships in November, which means I have a REALLY good race at Steelhead)


Nutrition:
Past- I have been vegetarian and 'almost' vegan since February 1st, when I did a 21 day cleanse that is well documented in this blog.  In these six months I feel like I flucuate from eating very clean, to having way too much processed food and sugar in my diet.  There are many things I need to overcome.

Present- As the workouts this summer have really ramped up, I feel like the clean eating has gone DOWNHILL.   Too much sugar, too much processed foods such as bread, pretzels, crackers and too much caffeine in the mornings with my coffee to start the day.

Future- I am planning another 21 day cleanse that will begin late in August, after our trip to Maine.  I am not sure if it will be exactly like my February cleanse, or a little more structured following The Swiss Detox.  But it will include NO caffeine, added sugar, alcohol and of course no meat or dairy.  It will include LOTS of fruits and vegetables. 

I have 10-15 pounds on my body that are totally unnecessary and need to go!!

Life:
Past- This has been a great Summer so far.  It is so nice to have Matt home and so my whole family sitting down to dinner many nights.  It started off with the century bike ride which I got to share with Matt and John.  Then went on to my trip to Punta Cana with John which was very restful and fun.  About a week later the family went to our favorite place on earth with friends.  The cabin in Canada. 

the cabin

Megan just finished up a very successful fastpitch softball season.  She is a lefty pitcher and had a great year.

Megan pitching

 

I love so much about my life.

Present-Lizzie is going into her senior year and so is making decisions for post-high school.  She is seriously thinking about Westpoint.  She had her senior pictures taken last week and they are amazing.  Matt and Liz are competing in their first summer triathlon this Sunday.  

Future-
We are heading to Michigan for Steelhead, and then about a week later we are off to Acadia National Park in Maine.  This may be our last full family summer vacation :(  Matt will soon be doing summer internships and Lizzie may be only off a few weeks in summer if she is at Westpoint.

School starts back up early this year--August 19th officially!