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Archive for May, 2009

Tapering Diet

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Now that my taper is in full swing and I’m letting the legs completely rest before Rev3, I realized that I need to make some serious changes to my diet. I’ve gotten pretty lean with all the HIM training, but I’ve also been eating a ton to try and make up for all the extra calories that I’m burning.

I’m a huge snacker and eat something different every hour or so. If I kept that up during the taper I’d blow up like a baloon and I’d be rolling myself across the finish line. Either that or I’d get DQ’d because I couldn’t even fit in my tri top.

I emailed with Coach Brett about it and he had some good tips that helped put things in perspective, but I decided to go straight to the source and hit up Team ZenTri’s nutritionist, Christine Lynch (@holisticguru). I sent her everything that I ate the day before, and asked her to basically tear it apart. And she did. I probably didn’t pick the best day to send her, since the only veggie that I ate were some pickles on a BBQ sandwich. Some days are better than others, and this clearly wasn’t one of the better ones, but at least I get points for honesty, right?

Here is my mini diary:

7:00 – bowl of frosted flakes w/ 1% milk. Multivitamin and fish oil pill
9:00 – tea w/ stevia and half a grapefruit
10:00 – peanut butter and jelly on wheat bread
12:00 – another PBnJ or some sort of chicken sandwich
3:00 – hand full of fig newtons or something else stashed in my desk drawer
6:00 – stuff something fast down my face before PM workout. Usually reheated leftovers or BBQ sandwich w/ pickles.
9:00 – bowl of cereal w/ 1% milk
10:00 – bowl of ice cream

If you want to read some really awesome tapering nutrition tips (and really just great nutrition tips for any time of the year) check out her post: http://holisticguru.blogspot.com/2009/05/i-think-you-should-blog-about-how-to.html

Here is my new tapering fuel plan that should keep me happy and lean for race day. I’ve got some shopping to do this weekend, but am really looking forward to trying it out on Monday.

7:00 – Steel cut oats (made ahead of time from HolisticGuru’s blog recipe) Multivitamin and fish oil pill.
9:00 – tea with stevia and half a grapefruit
10:00 – apple slices or celery with almond butter or peanut butter and raisins
12:00 – quinoa cooked with veg or chicken broth, cut up veggies and beans (sweet potato and black bean with salsa sounds yummy in my head right now and would only take 25 mins to make… you can make it while you’re cooking the steel cut oats)
3:00 – handful of dried fruit with dark chocolate chips and a giant glass of water
6:00 – hummus sandwich with veggies (lettuce, tomato, cucumber)
9:00 – quick omelet and a side of something leafy and green and maybe some potato wedges
10:00 – bowl of fruit sorbet, or a small amount of ice cream isn’t terrible

In the mean time, I did make some killer raspberry/papaya pie yesterday and cut out almost all of the sugar. (At least Christine can be proud of me for that). I had some leftover pie crusts from another baking venture a few weeks ago and not enough raspberries to fill it up. A big ‘ol papaya was calling my name at the grocery store, so I decided to throw it in with the raspberries and test it out.

It took about 3 cups of raspberries, one cut up papaya, 4 packets of stevia and 2 or 3 tablespoons of lime juice for the filling. Because raspberries are so sweet anyway, they don’t even really sugar or stevia anyway, but I was curious how well it baked, so I tried it out. Cover it like a normal pie crust, sprinkle with brown sugar (Okay, I couldn’t cut out ALL the sugar) and bake at 400 for 30-45 minutes.

TA-DA!

The raspberry flavor also totally overpowers the papaya, but it is at least good having the papaya in there for some nutritional variety. Seriously, look at all the health benefits inside of Papayas! That pie is awesome. And no. I’m not sharing. Make your own, it tastes better when you make it yourself anyway.

This is what one looks like in case you get lost on your next trip to the produce aisle.

papaya

Happy tapering fatties!

photo(2)

Tags: raspberry papaya pie, triathlon tapering nutrition | Posted in Triathlon | 5 Comments »

Final Tune Up

Monday, May 25th, 2009

This weekend was my last minute tuneup before starting to taper for Rev3. I found out that some of my friends were planning on doing a road race down on Cape Cod, and since I was already planning on getting a long run in, I figured I might as well join and have some company while I run.

There was a 5k, 7.2 miler and a half marathon all on the same morning. One college buddy was doing the 5k, and two others were doing the 7.2 miler. I was left doing the half all by myself, but at least I had some familiar faces to run through the pre-race routine with and I had a guaranteed cheering section once I came through the finish line, so I was happy.

Since it was a last minute addition to the training plan, I got some advice from coach to help with my race day game plan. Much to my dismay, he nixed the idea of tapering, but I at least had a few mental touch points to run through in my head while racing.

Don’t taper for it. Just treat it like a regular run. Definitely enjoy yourself, pay attention to nutrition, and especially pay attention to the ups and downs you feel as the race goes on. Notice how after a down, there’s an up. You must train yourself to not give in to the downs and to not go too hard during the ups. Don’t get caught up in the moment and pay attention to yourself. Do this and you’ll have an amazing run “experience” no matter how it goes and you’ll learn a lot about how you run.

It was pretty cloudy and cool, but was perfect weather for a run. The wind kicked up and almost blew me backwards as we ran along the beach during 4 or 5 times along the course, but otherwise it was a perfect day to race. I stuck almost exactly to an 8:50 pace all the way through mile 5 and gently cranked up the pace all the way to the finish.

Minus some cramping around mile 10 (which was helped out after I gumped down some water at the next aid station), everything went amazingly smooth. My favorite part about taking the first part of the race a little easy is all the people that you get to pass during the second half of the race! I made a point of cheering on anyone who looked like they were bonking and were walking, but every other person was my rabbit. I picked out anyone with a bright colored shirt (or crazy purple/animal print skirt in once case) off in the distance and slowly tried to reel them in.

And once again, the race plan worked like a charm! I crossed the finish line in 1:48:43 (unofficial). That averages to a 8:17 pace. That is almost two minutes faster than pretty much the same course in February, and without a taper. Sa-WEEEEEEEEEET!

And the best thing about this race? I topped it off with a nice dip in the ocean to cool off the legs and some cold beers.

And with one more hard workout/race in the books, I enter Taper Land. Population: ME!

Tags: half marathon, johnny kelley half marathon | Posted in Race Reports, Running, Training Log | 4 Comments »

Training Weekend 2009

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Training weekend totally beat me up this weekend.

After making the road trip up to Franconia, NH on Friday, I woke up bright and early and headed out with the team for a hard 90 mile ride with a belly full of fruit and pancakes.

Last year I stuck to the 60 mile route, but decided to step it up this year and go for the long route. It was definitely a good decision. There were 4 or 5 different groups that started along the same route. I was able to keep up pace with the “A” group for a while, which was a nice fitness test.

Up through the first climb, descending down the other side at around 49 mph (which was pretty slow because of all the wind) and half way through the climb up the Kangamangus, I was able to hang on to the caboose of the”A Train” led by speed freak Toby Wells. I even felt pretty good hanging on the back as we climbed, but once the climb started to get really steep, my HR got dangerously close to my lactate threshold and I had to drop off. Mile 30 is way too early to blow up on a 90 mile ride.

While I love the company of my teammates for the whole weekend, one of my favorite things about training weekend is the views from the road. Surrounded by snow capped mountains, waterfalls an moose crossing signs every few miles, I couldn’t be happier.

While the route was already hard enough, the wind made it pretty brutal. It was gusting around 30 or 40 mph at some points. And when you are heading up the side of a mountain at 12 mph, and a head wind gusting down your throat drops you down to 7 or 8, you just have to do anything you can to stay upright and keep the rubber side down.

Eventually we did get a few headwinds to take us home. We closed it off with just shy of 6 hours in the saddle. I averaged around 15.5 mph, which seems slow, but it sounded like the A group averaged only around 17 mph, so I didn’t feel so bad.

Views from my 90 mile ride:

The next morning me and hardcore climbing machine Andrea headed out to test the waters for a “swim.” Ther wasn’t much actual swimming involved. It was more of just splashing around until the nerve endings in my face died and stopped screaming in pain. Yeah, the water was somewhere between 50 and 52 degrees. And yes, that is snow on the top of the mountain behind us.

Eventually once my face went numb, I was able to keep pretty normal form. It was less for building my swim fitness and more of just getting used to racing in cold water, but it was definitely a success. This was my first time ever breaking out the booties for a swim. They made a HUGE difference. I love ‘em, but I can’t wait for the water to warm up and I can leave them in the car.

The obligatory super hero flexing pose.

Andrea and I discovered this megaphone on the side of Echo Lake.The sign below it says:

“This megaphone was originally used by guests of the profile house around the turn of the century. Removed after the 1938 hurricane, the only one ever to come inland in N.H., it was discovered and reestablished in 1981. Listen and you shoudl be able to hear two distinct echos.”

Funny how people entertained themselves back in the day, eh? I could actually hear three distinct echos bouncing back from the mountain across from the pond. Fun times.

And remember that brutal head wind that I mentioned? Unfortunately not all of my Wheelworks team mates weren’t so lucky to keep the rubber side down. On the 60 mile ride, a big gust nocked down Natalie, and Sara went right into, and over, her. She ended up taking most of the impact to her face, but thankfully she ended up a lot better than the damage looked.

She had the best attitude throughout the whole thing. All smiles (or as much as she could muster up through the swelling) and jokes. And the whole team rallied around to help her out like a huge family. I love my team.

For the whole story, check out Sara’s blog post here. She is Bad Ass! She even had Natalie shoot some video of her on the backboard ad the hospital.

http://ironwoman.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/i-fought-franconia-notch-and-the-notch-won/

Crash Damage

Tags: bike crash, wheelworks multisport training weekend, white mountains | Posted in Cycling, Training Log, Triathlon, Videos | 8 Comments »

Climbing and Descending

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

This weekend is the Wheelworks team training weekend. One of my favorite times of the triathlon season.

This year, I will be trying my luck with hardest bike workout I’ve ever attempted. Ninety miles along the Kancamangus Highway and over 5,000 feet of climbing.

kancamagus highway

I did a section of this course last year, but topped out at 60 miles, but the most fun part was the descents. I maxed out at 57 mph and can’t wait to fly down those hills again.

I even just outfitted my bike with new shifter cables and brake pads, just to be safe. So if you don’t hear from my by Monday night, come find me. I might be hanging off the edge of some cliff somewhere.

Tags: kancamagus highway | Posted in Cycling, Training Log | 6 Comments »