I started my bike workout today thinking it would be a piece of cake. 1 hour?! No problem! However, about halfway through the workout, my legs were really fatigued. “What is going on?” I asked myself. Then I remembered that I haven’t even been on a bike in a week. A whole week! Usually I am on a bike at least twice a day. Usually more. But once a year I am forced to take time away from my bikes and that is at Christmas. Maybe that’s the real reason why I don’t like Christmas. My workout today was supposed to be a brick workout with a 25-minute run after my bike ride, but I couldn’t do it. I forced myself to push through the bike workout, but I couldn’t go for a run. I did some core strengthening and push-ups, which I have also lost a lot of. At one point over the last month, I could do 14 full-length push-ups and today I struggled through 4 full-length and 16 knee push-ups. I guess it can be lost very quickly. So here are my “stats”:
Time: 1:01
In zone: 45 minutes
Average HR: 129 (how embarassing!)

I guess it’ll just take a bit of time to get up to par and I’m sure it didn’t help that I haven’t eaten much today. Tomorrow I hope to hit the pool, but I might not be able to due to travelling and visiting.

I thought that I would do a lot less training over the holidays than I did, but it still wasn’t very much. On Boxing Day I went on a 6-mile run. It was one of the best runs in the past little while. I was at my parent’s farm in middle-of-nowhere Saskatchewan and my dad suggested I do a run “around the block.” In Saskatchewan, the gravel roads are set up in a grid with 2 miles between them. So it was easy to calculate that 1 block and then home would be 5 miles. I started out thinking that I would run 2 miles, but I had a realization. I never run without time constraints. I’m always trying to fit my workout into my busy life. This was my chance to run for fun. Because I was – I wasn’t running because I had to, I was running because I wanted to. This is my hobby. It’s not a job and no one is forcing me to do it.

So I lengthened my stride, did some dynamic stretches on that long, lonely gravel road, and set on my way to run around the block. It was such an amazing run. It is very flat where I grew up, so there were no hills and I didn’t do any intervals. I just ran at my pace and enjoyed the amazing scenery. From every direction, I could see snow-covered fields and the occasional farm yard. I met very few cars and it was so peaceful. I wore my ipod to keep me company and listened to Amy Millan’s new folk album, which was so perfect for this particular run. It was slow and easy… or so it felt. In actuality, I think I ran it fairly quickly, but the time flew by. When I got home, I proudly told my dad that I ran around the block and my family was astonished that I had run it so quickly. I don’t know how long it took in terms of minutes, but time seemed to stand still while I was out there. It just didn’t matter. It was amazing.

Contrast that to today’s run. I got up and just wanted to go for a quick run. Today’s brisk temperature of -29 with the windchill almost made me stay home in my warm house and watch a movie, but I got out there. I have not researched the physiological effect of cold on the body while running, but my body was not happy. I actually had to walk some of my 2.5-mile run because I was so out of breath. It felt like I was carrying a backpack full of bricks. According to my HRM, it took 37 minutes and my average HR was 153 with 27 minutes of that in “the zone.” I got home and did some yoga to get my blood coarsing through my body. It felt good to stretch, but I shan’t run in that kind of temperature again.

Yesterday I bought myself a log book. I have absolutely no idea how much I’ve run in 2006 or before and I’m extremely curious. From what I can tell, this is the beginning of my real career as a triathlete because this type of record will be looked back on and thought about and studied. I love the thought of it. I have not been successful at keeping an online journal with mileage, etc. So I hope a paper one will help with it. I bought the Canadian Runner’s Log and hopefully it will be fruitful for me.

My coach emailed me my workout for the week. I’m glad this is an easy week. Next week is supposed to be a testing week. So that’ll be nice before I get into the swing of training in 2007.

Yesterday was my day off. My hamstrings were still a bit sore, so that was good. I didn’t do a lot of anything, except walking around trying to get Christmas shopping done. This is what I have found to be most difficult: juggling work, training, AND getting ready for Christmas. Really, it’s ridiculous! I’m so exhausted and I’m not even training as hard as I could/should be.

So I took this morning off of work and went for a run. It seemed really early, but really it was only 7:30. I did a good 6km and then did yoga. That’s 3 times this week. Nice! I did some walking around again for Christmas shopping. Tonight I’m going to make cookies and maybe chill out. I’m exhausted, but Christmas parties are everywhere. It only happens once a year, but I’m TIRED! Juggling is hard to do.

Next week is going to be fairly chill in terms of training, but I am going to run as much as possible. We also might do some skiing and tobogganing, which will be fun and physically stimulating. And some skating too! I love winter activities! This is the good part about Christmas… doing winter activities with one’s family.

I wimped out yesterday. Yep, I did.

I did yoga in the morning, but was so extremely tired after work that I could NOT make myself get on the bike. It really didn’t help that I had a brutal commute home and was almost hit twice and had a verbal altercation with a guy driving a huge van. So I was emotionally and physically spent.

My hamstrings are so sore. As I was running on the treadmill at work today, I couldn’t help but do some mental training in “the zone.” I quickly found myself was running halfway through the Ironman marathon. My hamstrings were sore, but I had to run through it. I imagined people on the side of the road cheering me on and how I had to keep going and breathe into the pain. “In pain there is truth.” But then I was brought back to reality by the beeping of my heart-rate monitor as I got out of my zone (I was into the 180s), the whirring of the treadmill, and the tunes in my ipod. I remembered that I have 36 weeks left to train. I can still build up my muscles, I can still work on my hamstrings. I have lots of time and lots of reasons to kick it up with my weight training. It’ll be worth it!

This morning I did yoga again and I realized once again that I recover a lot faster when I consistently do yoga as opposed to when I don’t do yoga. My hamstrings are still a bit sore, but I can tell that they are mending well. Also, I’m keeping a food log for this week.

Tonight I’ll hit the bike for about an hour. I’m still not sure how I will get my Christmas shopping done, but I’ll figure it out. I also have a chiropractor appointment today after work. Taking care of myself… check!

Monday:
Breakfast: 2 c. oatmeal with 1 apple, 1/4c. soy milk, 1/4 c. hemp seeds, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar
snack: 1 orange
Lunch: 1 black bean burrito (homemade with tomatoes, lettuce, vegan cheese)
1.5 c. lentil soup (with potatoes and carrots)
snack: 1 orange
1 Cliff bar
Supper: organic corn chips with tomatoes, peppers, and vegan cheese

Tuesday:
Breakfast: 2 c. oatmeal with 1 apple, 1/4c. soy milk, 1/4 c. hemp seeds, and 1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 orange
snack: 1 orange
Lunch: 1 black bean burrito (homemade with tomatoes, lettuce, vegan cheese)
2 – 2.5 c. lentil soup (with potatoes and carrots)
snack: 1 orange
1 Cliff bar

I found a trick to drinking protein powder:
BANANAS!
Tonight I tried the berry-flavoured Vega protein powder (I bought the sample packages so that I could see what I liked best) with a banana, and some soy milk. It was actually pretty tastey. I would recommend throwing a banana into the mix if anyone ever tries it.

Today I did everything I wanted to in the way of training. I feel so accomplished!

This morning I got up bright and early and hit the pool. I did a solid 2500 yards (2286 metres) in the pool. I just did intervals of 500 with a 250 warm-up and 250 cool-down. Simple and easy is the way for me.

This afternoon, we had a killer run session with the tri club. 26 second 100 metre intervals that went like this:
300, 400, 500, 400, 300 rest 5 minutes x3

I ended up doing the second and third 500m interval at 28s 100m. My running coach was a total hard-ass and wouldn’t let me do the entire third interval at 28. But my legs seriously felt like shite. It felt like they could not stretch and my stride was so short on the 500m intervals. It hurt a lot. I guess that’s the point, but it sucked! I have to remember the quote “In pain there is truth.”

Now my lungs feel super oxygenated, which I absolutely love. I feel like I’m completely pure or something.

Today I tried the Vegan Complete Whole Food Meal Replacement, Chocolate flavour. I tried it just mixed with water and I have to say that it’s not my favorite thing in the world to consume. But I’ve heard that no protein powders are very good, so I won’t take my distaste for this too seriously.

The thing with this stuff is that it is made from awesome stuff like hemp protein, yellow pea protein, flax seed, and brown rice protein. All very good for you. In the ingredients list, it even lists Omega-6 and -3 in it.
Here is the Nutrition Facts:

240 Calories (80 from fat, 15 from Saturated + Trans)
Total fat: 9 g
Saturated: 1.5 g
Polyunsaturdated: 6g
Omega-6: 2.5g
Omega-3: 3.5
Monounsaturated: 2g
Sodium: 230mg (10% of RDI)
Potassium: 460mg (13%)
Total Carbohydrate: 21g (7%)
Dietary fibre: 9g (36%)
Sugars: 2g
Protein: 25g

Vitamin A 40%
Vitamin C 15%
Calcium 20%
Iron 20%
Vitamin D 25%
Vitamin E 29%
Thiamine 23%
Riboflavin 25%
Niacin 26%
Vitamin B6 22%
Folate 27%
Vitamin B12 13%

Anyway, the peculiar taste is definitely worth all the good stuff that is in it. After my feel-good bike ride, it was exactly what I needed.

So my inspiration came at about 8:30pm, but I took it. I got on my bike more out of boredom than an actual want to train. I suppose my results won’t be as good as if I was actually inspired, but at this point I’ll take all I can get!

Total time: 1:10 (ie. 2 episodes of Sex and the City, Season Six Part 2)
In zone: 0:56:47
Average HR: 143 bpm

Now I’ll do some core and push-ups and I’m going to go for a walk in the snow. Hopefully the streak continues tomorrow!

Also, I tried the Chocolate sample of Vega, the vegan version of protein powder. It wasn’t too tastey, but it was definitely worth it for all the good stuff in it! I can’t decide what flavour I should invest in.

The past few days have been pretty sketchy in the way of training. Between feeling a little blue about a friend dying, our staff Christmas party, really uncooperative training, and sleeping poorly, I just have not really felt like training. Last night I biked for about half an hour on my trainer and I did some yoga yesterday. This morning, I slept in and it was snowing so I didn’t even run! I’m trying to convince myself to get on my bike tonight and put in some intervals and then go for a walk outside in the fresh snow. I could probably get into that. Tomorrow I’m going swimming with a friend of mine and then running, so hopefully that’ll help kick-start my week of getting back into it.

This is a really hard time of year for so many reasons. First, is the darkness and the low energy that goes along with that. Usually Saskatchewan’s saving grace is that while it’s freaking cold, it is also sunny. But this winter has not held true to that. It has been cloudy, rainy, and snowy. I hate it! I am a sun person for sure. I can deal with cold temperatures as long as I can spend some time outside. Also, Christmas is a bad time because it is super stressful and we’re supposed to eat lots of baking, but because I can’t eat most of it, it makes me a little more stressed out because I constantly have to figure out a tactful way of saying “no.” At the same time, I haven’t really been motivated to eat healthy either. This is probably the worst part of being a vegan because there aren’t a lot of healthy, easy meals that one can make. Although tonight I’m planning to make burritos, which should be good.

Since I’ve put all of these plans in my blog, I really hope to follow through on all of this. If any of you all out there have any suggestions, PLEASE leave them! I will report tomorrow.