Recap of century bike ride and a tough week coming up

On June 13th I did a century bike ride with John, Matt and 3 other guys we ride with frequently.  It was supposed to be a hot and humid day and I was hoping to average somewhere in the mid-17 mph range.

It started out overcast and we set out at 7am to meet the other three guys and then ride the 15 miles up to the start of the ride in Burton.  It was nice to have our 15 miles in before we 'officially' registered and started.

This is a ride that included a total of about 600 people and they could choose 25, 50, 62 or 100 miles total.  We set out on the first loop which was 25 miles long.  We had just that week gotten our new bike kits and so we were dressed as a team, so it was cool to be riding pretty fast, passing lots of people and looking fast in our team gear.  About halfway through the loop a group of guys passes us and I knew we were in for a workout.  Of course, Joe heads out after them and we speed up to the mid-20s and merge with their group.  I work pretty hard to stay with them for the majority of the rest of the loop and then we all take a rest stop and get back together at the end of that loop.

The heat of the day never arrives and it turns out to be a great day to ride, we had a little rain while on the next loop which was 38 miles long.  I really felt very strong the whole day and never had that feeling that I REALLY wanted OFF the bike.  The 100 miles actually went by fast and I felt good all the way through the end.  In total we were 5:29 on the bike and averaged 18.2 miles per hour.  The first two hours our average was above 19 and then fell of quite a bit in the last hour.

John and I left the next morning for Punta Cana.  Had a great relaxing four days there.

I have a little over a week home sandwiched between my trip to Punta Cana last week (which was amazing) and our family trip to Canada over the week of the 4th of July.  I worked out in Punta Cana doing some running and swimming in the ocean.  And we do a ton of open water swimming in Canada and a little running.  But...they neither of those weeks are HIGH end training.

So in these ten days in the middle I am really attempting to push the envelope on my training.  This is the plan that I am already part of the way through:

Saturday June 19th: 10 miles at 9:30 pace
Sunday: 40 miles on the bike (18mph pace) followed my 4 mile run/ Abs
Monday: 30 minutes Lifting / 2500meter swim

Tuesday: 7 Yassos on the track hitting 3:50 for each 800 repeat (total of about 6 miles)/ Abs
Wednesday: 30 minutes lifting/ 2000meter swim/ 25+ miles on the bike
Thursday: 5 mile run/Abs
Friday: 30 minutes lifting/ 2500meter swim/ speed workout on the bike
Saturday: 11 mile run
Sunday: 50+ miles on the bike followed by 4-5 mile run/Abs

Monday: 30 minutes lifting/ 2500 meter swim
Tuesday: 5-6 mile Tempo run

Then we leave for Canada Tuesday night.

I am less than six weeks out from Steelhead 70.3 half ironman.  I am feeling very comfortable with where I am on my bike training.  But the swimming needs lots of work and I am in need of finding some SPEED on my run.  Hoping to move forward with the training !!

My love affair with my bike...

I have had this post rolling around in my head for weeks.  I am finally done with school, and here I am on my first day of summer break getting to put these thoughts down.

I am on my bike 5 or more hours almost every week of the year when the weather is nice.  This winter I was religious about getting a GOOD hour workout in on the trainer three times a week.  So my bike and I have spent a lot of time together.  And I do feel a strong attachment to my bike and biking in general.

I think for me there are a few reasons that I put my love of biking above my love of the run or swim:

1.  First and foremost, it is a workout that I can do with the people I love.  I ride with John, Matt and just recently added Lizzie.  I can't run with them, they are faster than I am.  I can swim with them, but there is very little conversation going on during a swim workout.  But we can ride together, and do ride together FOR HOURS.  It is a very bonding experience, and I feel absolutely blessed that as a family we can share this.

John, Matt and I (along with some other guys we ride with) are doing a century ride this Sunday.  We did it last year also.  The experience of doing something that tough, together, was amazing.

2.  You can go so far on a bike, and see so much in just  a few hours.  A few weeks ago John and I went out on a Sunday 30+ mile ride.  We started in the NE edge of the county where we live and rode through a large part of the eastern part of the county.  7-8 different towns, and all kinds of different landscapes.

3.  You can ride for 3 or 4 or more hours and it isn't hard on your joints.  You may be tired if you ride hard.  And your 'seat' may be a little sore.  But...my knees and hips don't take the beating that they would if I even went out for a 2 hour run.

4.  I love going fast, and feeling the wind blow past me.  I like how powerful I feel on the bike.  It is an exhilerating experience.  It is definitely my strength in the triathlon.  And I guess we like the things we are good at. 


I do have two main enemies while I am on the bike-->  HEADWINDs and Sucky Roads that are in need of a good paving.  Both of those things just suck the joy out of a ride for me.  Of course I never mind a good tail wind.

John, Matt and I after a very rainy ride last year!

Half ironman training is going well.  I have a lot of running and a lot of biking in.  I am officially on week 7 of my 12 week training plan.  Unfortunately, there has been NO swimming in there.  No pool time available.  Next week we are in Punta Cana and so will definitely get some swimming in every day either in the pool or the ocean.  A few weeks later we are in a cabin in Canada, where we will do open water swims in the river every day with wetsuits on.  And now that school is out I will be able to get some pool time in.

Steelhead 70.3 is coming soon (July 31)!!

"Almost" Vegan eating continues...no meat and very little dairy or egg product.  Trying to kick my sugar habit to the curb...  That will need a whole post later!

The beginning of Half Iron Man training...

Training for a marathon seems 'easy' compared to fitting in all the workouts I feel like I need for HIM training.

The plan is three runs (moderate, tempo and long) and three bikes (moderate, tempo and long), three weight sessions because I miss the lifting and I think it really helps the swimming, biking and running to gain some strength.  And three Abs sessions which are 15 minutes long.

Of course the swimming is missing.  We have trouble finding a place we can easily get in pool time.  I am working on find a place and hopefully we can get in one to two pool sessions per week starting very soon.

Sun:  Weights (Chalean Extreme)/ 1:40 on the bike with John 28 miles/ Abs
Mon:  40 minute run after school
Tues:  50 minute interval workout on the bike before school
Wed:  Weights before school /  Planned on 2 hour bike ride but had 4 hours of papers to grade :(
Thurs:  40 minutes Temp run before school
Fri:  Planned on 45 minutes lifting, put it off until after school and then did NOT do it :(  / Abs
Sat:  2 hour bike with Matt to Megan's softball tournament 33 miles

Did the bike ride yesterday rather than my long run which I will do today (sunday).  It will be 1:15 or about 8 miles.  I am also planning on a weight session today.

Next week looks about the same except the times are a little bit longer for each session.

So in general:
Sun: long bike/weights/abs
M: moderate run
T: tempo bike/abs
W: weights before school/ moderate bike after school
Th: tempo run /abs
F: weights
Sat: long run

Of course life ends up interferring with workouts here and there.  I try to keep that to a minimum, but also know that I need sleep and cannot sacrifice it too many times without feeling totally burnt out.

Once I am done with school, which is not for six more weeks, it is so much easier to get all the workouts in.

Have fun out there!!

The Boston Experience

There were 26,000 stories on the race course in Boston on Monday, April 19th. From people who had worked REALLY hard just to qualify, to the winner of the men's race who ran a 4:46 mile pace on average for 26.2 miles. There were blind runners, who ran with guides and 'charity' runners who had earned their way into the race by raising thousands of dollars for a charity. For me it was an experience I will never forget. I may run Boston again next year, but I will never run my FIRST Boston marathon race again. It was an AMAZING experience.

We left Ohio right after school on Friday, stopped in Syracuse for the night. Saturday morning Lizzie and I did a 3 miler outside in the drizzling rain in Syracuse. We then made our way to Boston and went straight to the race Expo.

I LOVED the race expo. We got our bibs, and shirts and went straight for the apparel section where I bought my 'celebration' jacket, hat, coffee mug, and black zip up hoodie. There is SO much to see at the expo. Lots of food give-aways, Nike, Reebok, Saucony and others have large booths. Garmin, The Stick, Compression socks.....the list goes on and on......I also bought a necklace with 'Boston 2010' charm and a unicorn charm (the mascot of the marathon).

Here we are at the expo at a picture op.

We then went to mass in a little chapel in the expo center and had dinner at PF Chang's.

The next morning we had a little time to relax at the hotel, and then I met Michelle for lunch at a Vegan restaurant near Harvard Square.  Michelle lives in Boston and I have been 'internet' friends with her for about three years, but had never met her.  We connected on the P90X forums, and she also does triathlons so we have a lot in common.  It was awesome to finally meet her, and we had a LONG lunch catching up on so many things.

Of course, on Sunday I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, but ended up walking WAY too many miles.  John and I went back to the expo later in the afternoon, and then we walked to the 'T' to go to the athletes pasta dinner, etc...

It is amazing how many athletes you see around town in the days before the race.  They are everywhere.  In every store you go in, and in every restaurant you go to.  The town of Boston seemed so welcoming to all the visitors in town.  For most runners, it seemed they had a whole entourage of friends and family that were there to cheer them on. 

We got our bags ready, bibs pinned on, chips on the shoes, some food packed up and a blanket to sit on in "Athletes Village" the next morning, and tried to get to bed early.

Monday morning before heading out.

Monday morning we got up a little after 5am.  Dressed, ate a little and then walked about 1/2 mile to Boston Commons to catch the school busses to Hopkinton around 6:30.  They have a great set up there to get thousands of athletes out of town pretty quickly.

We arrived at the Athletes Village in Hopkinton about 45minutes-1 hour later.  There is music playing, huge tents with bagels, gatorade, water, bananas, and coffee. Also some other tents with Powerbars.  And HUNDREDS of porta-potties.  Even so, the lines for the potties were constantly pretty long.  We sat around and relaxed and talked to quite a few of the thousands of runners there waiting for the start.  They called for the first wave of runners at about 9:15.  You take all your stuff (extra clothes) and put it in your bag with a bib number sticker on it (provided at the pick up on Saturday) and you take it to the school bus with your bib number marked on the window.  After you are done racing you go to that bus and pick it up.  It is a pretty nifty set up.

John's wave started at 10am, with F-15s flying over head about 10 minutes before hand.  My wave started at 10:30.  It was about 0.7 mile walk to the starting corrals from the village and I talked with quite a few interesting women. 

The weather was perfect!!  about 50 degrees and sunny at the start.  I felt very relaxed and excited.

I just wanted to ENJOY the experience and not push the pace too hard.  I wanted to look around at the crowds cheering, high five the little kids and smile the whole way.  I feel like I accomplished that.  I really could not get a smile off my face.  As the race started, I could not believe the crowds that lined both sides of the road almost the entire way.  There were parties in lawns along the way.  Little kids high fiving, and passing out licorice pieces or orange slices.  Music playing everywhere.  I heard one little kids say to his mom around mile 3, "Mom, there must be a MILLION runners that have gone by."  I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The infamous girls at Wellsley college at about halfway were cheering LOUDLY.  Many of them held up signs that said, "KISS ME".  and I guess many of the men take advantage of that :)

The students at Boston College near mile 20 were even more boisterous.  I felt like the famous Heartbreak Hill at mile 21 was really not too bad.  What really surprised me was how much my QUADs hurt going down hills in the last few miles.  The race goes down a total of about 400 feet from beginning to end, which seems like it would make it easy, but...it hurt.

The last few miles as we come into Boston, the crowds were even more amazing.  They say that there are about 500,000 people cheering along the route.  It was unbelievable!!!

I felt pretty good the entire way, didn't really look at my watch.  Used a porta-potty at mile 18, which was a relief.  The last few miles I slowed quite a bit, and my legs felt pretty heavy, but I never felt awful.   I was hoping for a 4:00-4:15 and was on pace with a 2:01 at halfway.  But ended up with a 4:17 with the potty stop and some 10:00+ miles in the last quarter of the race.  I am fine with that time.

In the last quarter mile, I caught a glimpse of Lizzie, Meg and John waving to me, with their signs saying "Go MOM"  Tears started flowing, and it wasn't the first time in the race.  There were many motivational signs throughout the race that brought tears.  After a long walk to get my medal and some water and banana, I met my family at the 'C' for Cymanski. 

This has been a dream of mine for years.  It was a dream that for many years, I really never thought would ever come true.  But I worked REALLY hard for this.   Lost some weight, ran the hard track workouts, and hill workouts and BELIEVED in myself in those last 6 really hard miles in Columbus this Fall. 

And I did it, and it was worth every bit of the hard work!!!

To end it all, we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the North End.  I wore my medal, as do many other runners, and my celebration jacket.  We talked to many other runners that we saw in the subway or just on the streets about their race experience.  It is such a feeling of community in the whole city!!

John and I are both already qualified for 2011 and are hoping to go back for next years running of the Boston marathon.

Hope to get a post out soon on the next big thing...Steelhead 70.3 (half ironman) on July 31st and the training for that.

What are you working on right now?? Are there some things that you want to do, but are not sure you can do?? 

New Foods I have gotten to know...

Today is the two month 'anniversary' of going vegan. And along the way it is incredible the number of foods that I had never tried before that have become part of my diet. I could never list all of them, but thought I would go through a list of some of them.

Grains:
amaranth- a tiny seed that can be sprouted, popped or just used as is. This week I added a 1/4 cup to my steel cut oats that I make for breakfast.

millet- can also be added to the steel cut oats for a different taste in the morning

Lundberg brand wild rice: a mix of wild and whole grain brown rice. It takes 50 minutes to cook and before this the only brown rice I had ever prepared was Minute rice. This makes a huge difference and is one of Lizzie's favorites

red quinoa: I had used regular (white) quite a bit before, but never red

Kasha: just another grain that can get added to different meals

Vegetables and Greens:
Kale, Anise, collard greens, beet greens, brussel sprouts, Daikon radishes, napa cabbage, leeks

Beans: Again I had never had beans that weren't out of the can. Some of these beans need to soak overnight and then cook for quite a while.

Lentils- yellow and green
Azuki beans-The Kind Diet has a delicious 'stew' made with these beans and squash. Again it takes a LONG time to cook but it is good.
Garbanzo beans-from a can go on my salads every week
Pinto beans-making vegan stew with these tomorrow night
and many others

Sea Vegetables:(AKA seaweed)
These I had never even heard of before, but found them suggested in both the Thrive Diet and The Kind Diet. Surprisingly tasty.

Kombu
Hijiki
nori
wakame

Sweeteners:
I had already been using Agave Nectar and Stevia. But have now added Brown Rice syrup to my list.

Other miscellaneous things:

Umeboshi Plums-one of the 'magic' foods listed in The Kind Diet. They are very salty and used in Cure All tea and as seasonings in other foods.

Miso-used in soups

Maca- a powder that is an 'Incan superfood' that goes in smoothies and energy bars that I make

Dates- used for sweetening lots of things


In general, I have somewhat learned my way around The Mustard Seed Market health food store and yesterday I even checked out an Asian Market. I have never spent so much time in the kitchen cooking as I do now, but I love it. We are trying new things every week, and repeating things that we have loved in the weeks before.

Many of the things listed above I have not become an expert at using in any way. But this is a journey that I am really enjoying. And I feel absolutely great!!

I'm BACK!!

I was planning on posting at least weekly once my cleanse was over. That was 6 weeks ago.

I have found that there are very few blogs of VEGAN ATHLETES, so I am going to try to commit to keeping this blog alive.

So here is a brief update of how my life has gone over the last six weeks:

On February 21st the successful Quantum Wellness cleanse officially was complete. I reintroduced alcohol (once or twice per week), caffeine (with a mix of half decaf and half caff beans in the grinder), gluten (although continue to try to keep it to a minimum) and sugar (my downfall).

I continued to keep all meat out of my diet. As far as dairy and other animal products, I am keeping them out of my diet but not being too extreme about it. I will have bread that may contain some whey products or eggs, and when out to dinner I have had to choose some things that had dairy sauces.

The more I research and experience this lifestyle, the more I believe it is the best way for me. So now I am trying to take it to the next level. Get more extreme about keeping the animal products out, but even more importantly, get the sugar out, get all processed foods out, and work at getting to be consuming as HEALTHY a vegan diet as possible.

I will never be perfect. But my motto is NOT PERFECTION, BUT PROGRESS.

I have tried to use Thrive Diet and The Kind Diet as guides to, as The Kind Diet describes, Superhero diet. Lots of greens, grains, sea vegetables and other super foods.

I will try to regularly post the new foods I am trying, along with how my workout routine is going.

A little on the training. Boston marathon is less that 3 weeks away. I have received my bib number and the packet of info (so exciting). I had a little hamstring strain a little over a week ago, but did a 7 mile tempo run yesterday and all was well.
I have 6 miles easy today, and a 20 mile bike ride tonight and then on Friday a true test --> 22 mile long run. The weather is looking beautiful, almost too hot.

After that long run I am in taper mode. After Boston, with a week or so of recovery we then go straight into half ironman training. I REALLY want to get the weights back into my routine at that time.

Day 21-what's next?

First a little debriefing of day 19 (Friday) and 20 (Saturday):
Friday was a typical day. Donuts at school which are not even an issue anymore. Ate the typical and had some leftovers from the week for dinner. I did have a 2 by 2 piece of the family's homemade whole wheat pizza, so a little gluten and a little cheese.

I had been a little apprehensive for Saturday to come all week long. I had a 16 mile run planned and the furthest I had run since Columbus marathon in the Fall was 12 miles. The turned out to be sunny and about 30 degrees, and I have to say my run was a JOY. I ran out in Amish country, very few cars, a few Amish buggies. I felt great until the last 1-2 miles. Pace was better than expected. No issues with my knees or hips. I think this diet is helping with the inflammation. I was a little sore the rest of the day and this morning, but after 16 miles that is to be expected.
Of course, after burning over 2000 calories on my run, I needed a little extra as the day went on. I had a chocolate almond smoothie from the Thrive Diet book in the afternoon and a homemade energy bar.
We went to 5pm Mass and then had to go directly to see my neice in a play at 7pm, so dinner was a bit of an issue. I brought an apple and a Larabar and a bottle of water, but was starving...so I had stopped at Subway for my daughters. Lizzie got a veggie delite and so I had about a third of her foot long. Again gluten, and it had ranch dressing so some dairy. I also then had some popcorn at the theatre, with butter so more dairy.

I think to take care of those problems I just needed to bring more food with me, especially after a long run day.

So here we are on the morning of DAY 21.
When I started I was hoping to:
* get control of my cravings, which I feel I have for the most part

*lose a little weight, as of this morning I have lost about 7 pounds in these 21 days

*become more conscious of what I was eating before putting it in my mouth. I think I have improved on this. I want to continue making progress on this.

*see how some changes in my diet would make me feel. I feel like I have MORE energy, my skin is clearer, my body seems like it is recovering quicker from workouts, I feel lighter and my mood is better.

OTHER things that I did not expect:
I did not expect to feel like I wanted to give up all animal products for good. It had never crossed my mind that I would become a Vegan. Because of how I feel, and because I am immersed in reading The China Study, The Thrive Diet, and Quantum Wellness I do not feel like I should go back to animal products. It is partly for humane reasons, but mainly for health reasons.

I am not going to be an EXTREME vegan, which may offend vegans out there. I may have a piece of cheese pizza every once in a while. I may have soup that is made with Chicken Stock, or has cream in it every once in a while. I may have buttered popcorn. But in general these will be things I will avoid.


So...what's next?
When day 22 comes tomorrow, I will have 50%caf/50%decaf coffee beans in my coffee maker (Actually I am trying it out right now as I type this) and so reintroduce that small amount of caffeine into my diet.

I will reintroduce a glass of wine once or twice a week.

I will still avoid added sugar as much as possible. I will keep gluten to a minimum, but will reintroduce a piece of whole wheat bread now and then.

So for the most part, things will not change. My typical day will continue to be:
oatmeal
almonds/dried apricots
Big leafy salad
apple/energy bar
dinner of lots of vegetables and a little bit of grain (quinoa/brown rice...)

Hoping to keep out between 'meal' snacks and after dinner snacks. After dinner I will have Teavana tea as my evening 'treat'.

Hoping to lose another 7-8 pounds for vanity and to help me run faster.

I also want to continue to make progress on making my diet healthier. In the Thrive Diet Brazier talks about trying to stay as RAW as possible. He also suggests NO soy. He has some very different recipes in there. I want to continue making progress toward eating HEALTHIER. even more leafy vegetables, less of anything that is not WHOLE foods...there are lots of improvements I can make.

I would highly suggest people that are out there thinking about trying this to JUST DO IT. 21 days is such a small percentage of your life. You can do this for three weeks. Plan your meals, prepare some things on Sunday, as you walk out the door have something that you can eat if you are going to be out for a while.
See how you feel.

as I posted on my facebook status yesterday...not perfection, just progress!