The Fit Formula

Memorial Week in Review

Posted on May 28, 2012 by blsanders2

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Our last two Memorial Day weekends were spent in Moab, but this weekend, we decided we had too many errands to do and we’d just enjoy Houston. So here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

Monday – 42mi ride at Bush Park

Tuesday – Body Pump & 3 mile Run

Wednesday – Swim Practice 2300 yd

Thursday – Body Pump

Friday – 1500m Open Water Swim

Saturday – 6 mi easy run

Sunday – 20 mile easy around-town bike

Monday – 6 mile run

It seems like a lot of workouts, but trust me, this weekend has really just been “active recovery” – easy workouts. Other important updates from the week:

My latest oatmeal obsession is steel cut oats drenched in milk (like cereal), with summer fruit and chia seeds on top:

I got a Costco membership again. So happy! Our house is once more stocked up on massive amounts of toilet paper, olive oil, and snack foods.

We car-shopped for two days straight and did not find the perfect vehicle. Still looking for a small SUV for the active young professional – that fits a bike nicely in the back!

Other than the stress of car shopping, we’ve had a relaxing couple of days, so I can’t complain.

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So You Want to be an Ironman?

Posted on May 22, 2012 by blsanders2

I enjoyed reading many of your comments on my last post! Since writing that post I had the chance to catch up with a few of the guys that I mentioned that crossed that finish line on Saturday. I thought you might be interested in some of their lessons learned (slightly paraphrased):

“I wish I’d worn more than just the same tri suit the whole event… lots of chaffing even with Body Glide since I was wet most of the time”

“After I finished I realized I hadn’t packed warm clothes in my bag for the end of the race. My body temperature dropped and I luckily had a friend with a fleece that I could borrow”

“You do the training then all you have to do is show up and manage yourself… Stay with your plan”

“As much as I harp about going out too fast, I definitely made that mistake… started to cramp… then my stomach started going nuts. They say nutrition is the 4th sport and I think that’s right… I have a new respect for anyone who crosses that finish line… that was much harder than I expected!”

“Hydration and attitude are the most important aspects of the race… The hardest thing I ever did was show up at the starting line”

I had a good long chat with my friend Tom, who asked what intimidated me after watching the race. I told him, definitely the run, where people were looking terrible and in pain. He basically told me that he believed in me, and he knew I would prepare properly leading up to such a race, and after that it’s all mental. Tom told me the “it’s all mental” line a few years ago and it got me through many a long run and lead me to run a marathon, so I do believe it’s true!

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IMTX – the [Spectator] Recap

Posted on May 20, 2012 by blsanders2

This Saturday was the first in a long while that David and I took a “rest” day. Of course, it involved waking up < 5AM and driving up to The Woodlands for Ironman Texas (IMTX) spectating – woo hoo. I had no problem getting up early; I was sooo excited to watch the race. David’s cousin, Brett, was participating, as well as two of my friends from the cycling team.

The Pros started at 6:50 AM, then the age groupers with no wetsuits at 7, then the age groupers with wetsuits got a ten minute penalty and started at 7:10 AM. The water temp in Texas is warm y’all. A few pros warming up:

It took a lot of urging from the announcer to get the rest of the age groupers in the water.

Where they clung like ants to the kayaks!

The calm before the storm:

Bam! The gun went off. Would you want to be in this mess??

It was kind of amazing and impressive to see. I honestly have no idea how you could have a strategy or avoid the crowd here:

We saw Brett, a very fast swimmer, exit the water at 1:15 hrs:

Amber came out to cheer too, she’s getting good at this.

Unlike sprint tris, after the swim the athletes: pick up their bag in a big chute (below), hit the changing tent and prepare for the bike ride, run to the bike transition area and get their bike.

Let’s just say we saw a lot of nice bikes today!! Jealous… anyway, David just loved this guy’s GU taping. Perfect anti-bonk trick:

Next stop was the bike course. We chose to go to mile 80/90 and cheer the riders on since that would be a hard part. We jumped up on the CR-V roof and shouted a lot! My voice was gone by the end.

I think the riders favorite cheers were related to how good they were looking. I also enjoyed shouting “nice pedalstroke!” (some guy told me that once, and I always laugh about it). Here is my favorite cyclist though:

Most of the triathletes were still looking pretty strong at this point in the race. We did see some illegal drafting which I was disappointed about.

After we saw & cheered for my friend Tom from my cycling team, we headed back to find the rest of the fam and cheer at the bike entrance.

We saw David’s cousin Brett cycle in – oh, hello!

Last stop was to cheer on the run. Let me tell you, it was getting hot at this point just watching!! We looked for a shady bank to sit down on and watch the runners do their three loops.

We stayed just long enough to see some pros on their second (or third?) lap and lots of age groupers that weren’t looking quite as strong as they had been on the bike. I can’t imagine running a marathon in the afternoon in general, let alone after a century+ ride.

My thoughts on IMTX & the Ironman Distance:

I’ve been borderline obsessive about tri’s lately – I’ve been reading tons of triathlete books (You Are An Ironman: How Six Weekend Warriors Chased Their Dream…, I’m Here to Win), follwing triathlete blogs, and am totally excited about the thought of an Ironman distance. At the start of the event, I was so excited and couldn’t stop thinking “I can do this” type thoughts.

As the day went on, though, the reality set in of what it really takes to be an Ironman; not only perseverance, but a tolerance for pain. And while Ironman Texas isn’t one of the hillier races out there, I imagine it’s one of the hotter ones. Weatherspark shows the temperature and humidity profiles for yesterday below:

The poor athletes were sweating like crazy. I was sweating and tired just sitting there. While I felt like the swim and bike looked doable, there were a lot of athletes that just looked like they were in pain on the run. It was extremely impressive, but it was past the point of fun.

The other thing I couldn’t help thinking was the difficulty of a nutrition/hydration strategy in such heat and for such long hours. I’m not sure how my body would hold up for 13-17 hours of working out, trying to take in enough electrolytes and liquids, but trying not to get an upset stomach.

Would I do an Ironman someday? Never say never; there is a little part of me that still likes the idea and knows it’s possible, but this showed me I’d need a good amount of halfs and triathlon experiences under my belt before attempting a full. Probably a serious training program (coach or team) would help too. And make no mistake – a LOT of time training.

Would it be IMTX or a different course? I think doing triathlons close to home are way better than traveling – you don’t have to ship your bike, you can sleep in your own bed and eat your usual pasta dinner, you have friends and family cheering you on. The only downsides to this are that the course isn’t new or exciting, and for IMTX, the Texas heat is killer. It would be tough to train through the winter months then have to race in the almost-summer heat.

My hat goes off to all the Ironmen that completed IMTX yesterday. Congratulations to you! I’m very impressed and inspired by such amazing athletes!!

Posted in Triathlon | 7 Comments

Swimmingly

Posted on May 20, 2012 by blsanders2

Wow, so many good things about this week! I don’t know which is the best. Work was busy, but I managed to get in a lot of workouts – 3 swims, 2 bikes, 2 runs and 2 body pumps! Stellar. It required a few early mornings, but I did it and felt good.

For someone that generally avoids swimming, 3 swims was a really good swim week – what happened you ask? It started off with an early morning 1500m swim on Monday at the Y, but was kind of disappointed with how crowded it was. So I decided to take the plunge and try out group tri swim training at Dad’s Swim Club on Wed evening, and I LOVED it. First, it was a outdoor 50m facility – the longer distance felt great (more applicable to tris too) and I really enjoyed being outside. Second, having a coach to plan your workout is awesome; the hour went by surprisingly fast. Third, I got to swim in an uncrowded lane with some really nice girls.

After being pumped up on my swim training, I decided Friday I’d try my first open water training swim at Lake 288 in South Houston. I was a little nervous going on my own, but I sucked it up and arrived at a beautiful setting (I just loved the palm trees and huts):

I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a warm Friday afternoon than jumping in the water! It was a great set up – sandy beach entrance with a “perimeter 800m” or “triangle 500m” option.

I swam 1,000m continuously (2 x triangle route) with an average of 2:25/100m. While I know it wasn’t fast, it was a huge confidence builder to swim continuously and feel good afterwards. It made Olympic distances go from “scary” to “doable”. So for those that are scared of open water swims, I highly recommend going to a lake training at some point – I wish I’d have known earlier!

After a quick breather & stretch, I swam 500m more, then headed home for dinner. Mmm, dinner: slow cooker chicken tacos that I’d started before I left. It made for a great Mexican flavored meal with some avocado, cilantro, cheese & brown rice tortillas. This was my first time to use the slow cooker and it was AWE-some. Who doesn’t love coming home to a cooked meal?

Anyway, as if this week wasn’t good enough already, I got to try out my *new* Kona jersey (birthday present from my parents in Hawaii). I’m thinking my father-in-law that likes Longboarder and biking will be jealous of this jersey Winking smile

Lastly, I also got some great girl time in on a Sunday 7-mile morning run with my friend Amanda, then joined her later in the week for wine & the Bachelorette, where we thoroughly enjoyed laughing at the silly guys on the show.

Overall a great Spring week here in Texas. Stay tuned for the IMTX Spectator Recap soon!

Posted in Fitness | 3 Comments

A Thank You

Posted on May 13, 2012 by blsanders2

Today is a special day to honor so many women in my life (Mom, Granny, Grandma Susie, Mrs. Breaux), but it’s a really special one since it’s also my Dad’s birthday. I just hope my parents know how much they mean to me!

So thanks Mom, who has always put my sisters and I first.

Who helped me to survive high school and was always the “cool” mom that everyone wished they had.

And who knows me better than I do! Thanks for everything you’ve helped me through and helped me achieve. Oh, and thanks for my legs too Smile

And Happy Birthday to my Dad, who taught me what a trapezoid was at the early age of two and who spent many a “Math with Dad” session teaching me Calculus and other fun things.

And who later took me on my first road bike ride and who still (most of the time) can out-bike me. My Dad has ridden many an MS150 with me and even from sea level to 10,000’ with me (Maui’s Haleakala – my hardest bike ride yet!).