Happy New Year

I had big plans for training over the past 3 or 4 days, but my body had another plan. I woke up on Friday morning not able to talk and it has gotten worse since then. I am hoping that staying at home doing nothing for 2 more days will leave me in better health. Needless to say I haven't been doing anything since walking causes me to cough up a lung. I have also just passed it onto Chad...poor guy.

I have been taking advantage of all of this free time to plan out my race schedule and training schedule! Until I am well again neo citran is my friend. Happy New Years everyone!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Christmas break was really good training wise. I got a few longer runs in; one on Sunday for 80 minutes, and on Tuesday for 1 hrs 45 min. I ran with the dogs on Sunday, which went pretty good. I did have a shoe epidemic though. I lost 1 of my running shoes and didn't realise it until I was geared up and ready to go out the door. I tore the house apart looking for it, also dragged Chad out of bed ( I maybe was speaking in a load voice in his direction) but to no avail, I could not find my shoe. I needed new shoes anyway so I crammed two huskies into my little car and went and bought a new pair of shoes. So I had to switch my runs around and didn't get to go as long as I wanted with the dogs....but they were very tired. We got home and they laid own on the floor right away and had a little rest!

When I ran on Tuesday we were out in Crossfield...and if anyone tries to tell you that country roads in rural Alberta are flat they are lying to you. I didn't want to run on the Madden road because it is really hilly. Well I have learned that running up hill on a gravel road with the wind coming towards you = a hard work out. My poor stabilizer muscles....my legs have been really tight for the last 2 days...ouch.

I tried to go swimming on Monday but the pool was closed, so I ended up doing 60 min on the cross trainer instead. That is on my agenda tomorrow. I didn't get too much cycling in over the last few days so I biked tonight for 90 minutes.

I was able to train and sleep over the holiday....and I plan to do the same over New Years. I am feeling pretty good and ready to bring on the training in the New Year.

In my Crossing America adventure I am a few hours outside of Carson City, Nevada and on my way to Salt Lake City, Utah. Hopefully I will be there by next week as I have a couple swims to get in and a long run and bike. I am going to start putting in a brick workout 1/week (a bike directly followed by a run) to get accustomed to running on dead legs once again:)

Yay Me!

So, I am having an awesome training week. Chad is challenging me a lot with this crossing America thing. It is really good because he is always checking in with me to see what I did each day. As of Wednesday I was about 2 hours away from Sacramento, California.

We are doggy sitting again (2 huskies), last time we had them they were a little restless and we were pretty tired by the time they went home! I have a plan to tire them out...they are going to come running with me. The longest they have ever ran is 1 hr 20 min. So this weekend I am going to take them for a 1 hr 45 min run. Tonight is their test night...I am going to take them for about 30 minutes and see how it goes!

I got some bad news this week, my coach will no longer be able to work with me. I was pretty bummed when I found out. He said he is going to send me a copy of a more general program free of charge. I am going to take that and change it a bit and we'll see how it goes. On the bright side, I have money saved up that I can put towards buying a new bike! That will make anyone happy.

I got a couple good swims in this week; 2100m and 2500m. The pool was at 50m last night which was great. I was able to do some long sets and felt really good in the water.
I went up into the spin room at the gym the other night and did a pretty hard workout with a lot of climbs in it. My legs were pretty dead by the time I was done...I think I need to do that a little more often, especially before spring comes and I ACTUALLY have to climb:)
Running is about the same. I did a long run last weekend and the weather was great and it felt so good to be outside. I ran on the treadmill for 50 min. at the gym the other day. My legs felt like they had lead in them, so I suffered through that one. I had about 20 min left when Chad got on the treadmill beside me...for 15 minutes of walking on an incline. Good for him because he never does cardio, but all I could think was ... booo.

Anyway, I think I have talked enough for today. Happy Holidays!

Leslie

Crossing America

Sooooo, Chad has created a challenge for me. Remember that as I tell you this he is a little bit of a trivia nerd. He wants me to learn all of the states and the state capitals (I can already name all of the NFL, NHL, and CFL teams). He printed out a map and drew and line connecting all of the state capitals. Then he figured out the distance and how long it would take to drive from capital to capital; it would take 215 hrs and 13 minutes. What I have to do is log all of my hours of training for Ironman (cardio only) and I am going to travel to each capital city. Here is the kicker: he is going to buy me a present for doing all of this starting at $700.00. Each week it takes me to complete the training volume I lose $25.00 off of the present money. Also, once I pass through a capital city he can quiz on where I have been. If I get a state capital wrong...it is another $25.00 off of my present money. You are probably asking how he came up with this idea....I don't have a clue, but hey I'm game!

I am going to figure out how to up load the map and keep everyone updated on how it is going. If you are a gym person reading this he has a copy at WOW with a picture of my face on a pin and moving it across the map.

Other than that I had a pretty good training week. I caught a cold Wednesday night and was out of commission on Thursday but I bounced back quickly and resumed training on Friday! I still am a little congested, but that's life. Christmas party's are done for the year, I am looking forward to the holidays...I can sleep, eat, and train. Gotta love it! Well, I had better go and study while I work out so I can get a big present:)

Leslie

Family ties

Last week was not a very productive week for me. Training is usually a top priority in my life and last week I had to put it aside more than usual. I had a few family functions last week and I was getting pretty stressed about how to fit everything and everyone in. Chad put it into perspective a little for me. In about three weeks I am going to have more training to do than I ever have before, so relax and enjoy the free time I have.

Being the type A personality that I am it took a while for me to give it up. I finally go the hint and had a good time visiting with everyone:) I am back at it today and I think everything should run smoothly from now until Christmas.

I struggle from time to time with stomach pain, and along with the pain comes extreme fatigue:( That hit me last week as well, so I took the time and rested up and I feel better now because of it.

The good in all of this, it was an unloading week! Yay! So I didn't miss any key workouts, just a couple of small ones. I'm going to have a good training week coming up I can feel it. I'll let you know how it goes;)

Baby, Its Cold Outside!

Brrrrr, it is frickin cold. I had a pretty good training week everything considered! We were doggy sitting this weekend and needless to say they were a little restless the first couple of nights = no sleep for me. I had a nap on Friday and on Saturday...I can't remember the last time I napped:)

Anyway, I managed to get an 1hr 45min ride on my bike yesterday. My legs felt a little tired after about 90 minutes, but I was feeling uncomfortable on my bike for some reason. Watching an episode of The OC and one of Grey's Anatomy sure helped the time go by!

The countdown is on until January for me right now. I emailed my coach to see where I needed to be before I start the training program in the New Year. That way I will have something to work on in December. I feel like I am treading water right now, and not really getting anywhere.

I did get my swim in last week, so we will give it a go this week as well. I felt good once I got there...it was a little on the chilly side but the hot tub after made up for that!