Warning: I am about to sound like a broken record. Let's go ahead and get that out of the way, okay?
I have sucked at training for triathlon #2 of the season. I really haven't pushed myself. I think I was a little burnt out from triathlon #1. My eating has been all over the place- some good, some bad, lot's of the really bad are just habits I need to break (diet soda, going nuts on the weekends, over-consumption of sugar and carbs, etc.). Some of this is due to a bit of a struggle I've been having with menstrual migraines for the last 3-4 months. My doctor and I have pretty much narrowed it down to my birth control pill being the cause, and switching pills has at least decreased the number of weeks per month that I get headaches down from 3 to 1, but they are not completely gone. This week in particular has really thrown me for a loop, as I suspected that the headaches were now just occurring on the week of my period, but I started a new pack of pills without waiting around for my period this month, and I STILL got a migraine on what would have been my period week had a I not started a new pack of pills. It's so frustrating, and when I have them, I don't really give a #$%6 about healthy eating or exercise, I just want to burrow under the covers in the dark and eat junk to try to make myself feel better.
Now onto the good stuff. Triathlon #2 is THIS Sunday, and it's going to be great for a number of reasons, but mainly it's going to be great because I get to watch all the athletes who I got to mentor this year become triathletes. To me, that is more exciting than whatever happens as far as my own race, and, well, that's probably good due to aforementioned lackluster training. This was my first year as a mentor and while it was harder than I thought it would be in terms of not always feeling like I was of any help to people and maybe feeling like I wasn't always as patient as I could have been, now I know what to expect as a mentor next year, and hearing other people's stories on what brought them to Tri It For Life has been really fun. I've really enjoyed getting to know approximately 40-50 new people this year, all thanks to this group. I learned that one of my friends from last year has a husband who is not naturally skinny like when I first saw him and assumed. He's actually lost a ton of weight over the last several years. I met a girl who was over 350 pounds, but you would never know it. It's neat how triathlon training is the beginning of a journey for everyone, but a lot of times it's in the middle of some bigger journey. Very inspiring group of ladies!
As for me this Sunday, I do think the bike portion will go well, and if I am having a good swim day, I think I can at least not be WORSE than last year. The run will just depend on my legs, and, I'm not going to sweat it. I'd LOVE for my total time to be less than 1:14, but if I can't do it this time, I have another chance to give it a go at the end of September.
I have a huge to-do list this week prior to the race. Tonight I am going to yoga with the tri training girls, as it is taper week. I'm not tapering as much this time since I've technically been in training since February. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to go run a half marathon on Saturday, but I'd like to get 3-4 workouts in this week along with the triathlon. Last year I did absolutely NOTHING the week before the tri because of what was the worst case of swimmer's ear I believe I have ever had, and that was a bit of a setback, although I was MORE than ready to do a triathlon after sitting on my rump and wallowing in pain the entire week before.
Tomorrow after work, I'd like to catch a spin class, as I haven't been to one in like 12 weeks since I've been biking outside, but I also need to work on adjusting the cleats on my road bike shoes because I've had a hard time getting clipped in since I changed them out myself a couple weeks ago and I don't want that annoyance on Sunday if I can help it. I think I just need to move them forward a bit on the shoes. Thursday I plan on a short run/walk interval set on the treadmill and some weights, then I plan to take Friday off due to having to rush across town after work for our celebration dinner for the new athletes. I have to help set up, then take blood pressures and weights prior to the dinner (our group gets grant money by tracking weight and blood pressures before training starts and after we are finished). Saturday, I am helping with packet pickup for the race on Sunday, which earned me a free entry into the September race, which I am pretty pumped for. Sunday is the race, and Monday I plan on getting a pedicure and celebrating. If my body says I'm up for kickboxing on Monday evening, great. If not, I will call it a rest day. I just don't want to get into the habit that I've gotten myself into after the last two races where I just don't do any form of exercise for several weeks.
There is still a chance that I may do the triathlon in August, but as a relay with two other people where I will only be doing the bike portion, so I'm not really sweating it either way. I would love to do a relay though for the experience, but if it doesn't work out, it's okay, because that race would involve me carting my bike up to my parents' house two hours away, then getting up at like 4am to get to the race site which is an hour from their house. No amount of coffee makes that sound fun.
I am really, really aiming to do more meal preps as well in order to be more on top of my eating, and I've found a decent food/diet combination that I think can work for ME- kind of a hybrid of Weight Watchers and clean eating, but with the clean eating rules bent just a little so as not to feel deprived or like meal prep/shopping is so much work. Basically I'll eliminate MOST processed foods, try to shop more local fruits and veggies, but keep it convenient. I have a bad habit of over-complicating meal planning, and I think that is why I don't stick with it so well. If anyone has tips for easy meals to cook for two (dinner only- the hubs doesn't eat breakfast and eats 99.999% of his lunches on the road), that would be great. I'll track "points" with an app on my phone Sun-Fri and take a cheat day on Saturday, but try to keep it sane. I really would love to get about 20 pounds off before the next race, and I KNOW I can do it if I stick to it.
I can't wait to write a race report next week and compare this year to last year!
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