It's working

Last week was a great training week.  I clocked almost 11 housr of training and it felt amazing. 
Swim - 4km
Bike - 140kms (6hrs)
Run - 27kms (2:50hrs)

I mentioned in my last post about my non-existent weight loss and that I was going to start counting calories.  Well, I gave Fitday.com another chance and good news....  they must have done some upgrading because it is pretty quick to upload your foods/activities.   I lost about two pounds.  I am so happy!  It really helps to see what you are eating and to be accountable for the calories/fat/carbs you put into your body.  I am going to continue to track my food intake and hope that the pounds keep coming off!  :) 

My bike on Saturday was cut short as my son had his first soccer practice at 1pm and did not get done until 3pm.  When I got home I brought my bike outside and then my tube stem just exploded.   So now I had to change my first flat on the new bike with no help as John was already on his 145km+ ride.  I changed it with ease.  :)  Now the time was almost 4pm and that left me with little time to do my whole 90km route.  I could have tried but did not want to chance losing daylight if something mechanical were to happen. On my way back home I seen a familiar face.  John came back to met me and we rode home together.  That added another 30kms for him - total 180kms.  He is a machine!!  :)

I will not be able to run with the Road Rebels on Tuesdays now as my sons soccer games are Tuesday evenings.  Now my Tuesdays are non-stop busy.  I get up make John breakfast and lunch, make myself lunch, go to work from 8-4, come home and immediately run 8km, then eat supper (when I say eat I mean inhale), drive Tyler to soccer for 6:15 (game is done at 8pm), then go to the pool for 8:20 and swim for 50min or 2kms, relax in the sauna for about 15min, shower, then go home.  When we are home I usually have to make John a snack them I am ready for bed.  Are you tired yet?  lol

April Totals

April has been more successful then last month.. I could have done better but I took a week off to let my shin splint heal.  I also should be doing something on the Mondays. I think I am just lazy!  May will be a better month.  I am making a promise to myself!  As well, I think I really need to control my calorie intake as I have not lost any weight.  I said in the beginning that it was not about weight loss but who was I kidding.  I want to see some pounds shed, damn it.  ;)   I don't think I eat bad at all but I find myself eating/snaking on anything/everything while I am making supper and then I sit down to eat supper too.  I need to stop snacking like this!  :(  I was using a calorie tracker, Fitday.com, but it takes so long to upload the info.  I have no patience so I stopped.  Maybe I'll give it another try. 
Yesterdays run was a rainy one.  I didn't make it out for the early morning Road Rebels group run as we were out late at a friends house watching UFC..  Go GSP!!    So we ran in the afternoon after it started to rain.  I took my two sons with me as I do not want to run alone (there has been some women attacked on the trails).  They rode their bikes while I ran.  We were all soaked.  Good quality family time!  hehe
Bike - 12:20hrs (249 kms)
Run - 13:30hrs (113kms)
Swim - 4:20hrs
Core - 1hr

Shin splint

Ok, I may have pushed myself a little the last couple of weeks and now I am paying the price.

Two weeks ago the weekend weather was so nice and considering the loooonnnggg  winter I was desperate to get out for a real bike ride. I have not been on the trainer in a month and half and decided to go out for a 95 km ride by myself on Saturday as Mr. LOTC was out for his solo century ride.  I rode to my brothers, then to my parents and back home.  This was a tough ride.  There was a headwind all the way to my brother..  uuggh! Riding to my parents I thought about asking them to drive me home, but I didn't.  I would have hated myself if I cheated. 



Bike route to my brothers

Then on Sunday the weather was iffy at best.  While eating breakfast it was snowing, then raining, then snowing.  Hmmmm, this was going to be a very interesting run.  When we got to the meeting spot for the Road Rebels group there were only three of us that showed up.    Of course I could not keep up with John and the other runner so they ran together and left me in the dust.  I ran the 16kms all by myself and with longer run/walk times then normal.  I ran for 20min and walk for 2.  I usually will do 10 and 1's for my long slows.  The good news is that the snow and rain stopped and held off for the whole run..... Sweet!  I didn't notice my shins too much at that point but my legs were spent for the 7kms runs on the Tuesday and Thursday. The following Sunday I ran 18.5kms and that is what did me in as the group threw in hills.  Right,,,, I have not even worked on hills this year. Plus, they ran a faster pace then I am comfortable with!!  I couldn't even walk up the stairs without some strong discomfort. So last Tuesday was my last run and decided that it was time for some much needed to rest and healing as my half marathon that is only 31 days away. Wait, what...   OMG... that crept up fast!!!  AAGGHHHH.  I am not ready....  hee hee whooooo  (labour breathing...  LOL  ;) )
I ran last night for the first time in a week and the pain is still slightly there.  Once I got going I hardly notice it.  I will take it easy and swim tonight and run again tomorrow. 

This Saturday the forecast looks great so I hope to get out for another 90km ride.  Dear Mother Nature, please be kind and let it be warm and not windy..... we've had enough wind.... REALLY!  :)

So far, so good

I am still suffering from my respiratory infection but it is getting better so I decided to try some short 20min cardio/core (Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred) videos last Thursday.  The result was that I was sucking wind 5 minutes in.  Someone had jumped up and sat on my chest again..... but I pushed through and finished the workout.  When I woke up the next day, OMG, my legs were so sore (squats and lunges galore).  So I decided I was going to torture myself some more and did the video again.  Sufferfest! lol

Hiked to Dundas Valley peak with our boys - January

On Saturday, John was going out for a long 4 hour rail trail mountain bike ride so I decided that I was going to go out as well and enjoy the beautiful day with our boys.  They got their bikes out of the shed, pumped up the tires, lubed the chains and made sure the gears were working ect.....then we were off for our own 2 hour rail trail ride which ended up to be about 30 kms.  Again, with my infection/cold I was coughing up a lung but I endured.  It was fun to be out together but I don't think my youngest enjoys the sport much.  His bum hurts!  hehehe

Yesterday, our running group was scheduled for a 16 km long slow run.  I was hesitant to join as I knew my lungs were about to burst and I have not ran anything over 10km on my long weekend runs and during the weekdays I would run anywhere from 5km to 8km.  But I decided to go anyways and John said if I need to walk more then usual or at slower pace then so be it.  As long as I get the kilometers in right!  In the end it was NOT an enjoyable run, not that I was expecting anything other then just that.  I used about 20 Kleenex's to blow my nose, my lungs were telling me to slow down and I did.  By the end I think I was running 8 and 2s, maybe less.  LOL   My muscles were a bit tender from adding this much distance but nothing out of the ordinary or worrisome. 

Tonight I went to the pool with John and I swam 2000m.  I was worried about how I would feel in the water with my breathing but surprisingly enough it was not too bad.  All in all, not a bad couple of days.  Hope I can stay on this wagon and enjoy the ride!  :-)

Update

It has been a while since my last post but John just fixed my laptop so I should have the opportunity to post more often.
This month has been another so-so month.  I am letting myself down on the training front.
Some good news though is that John and I have finally found a running group in town and we started running with them about two weeks ago.  They are the Road Rebels and they are amazing people and I hope that running with them will help keep me committed as doing it on my own has proven not to be very successful.     

Yesterday, John completed his 30km Around the Bay race in 2:48:32. What an amazing time for his first ever running only race! He still thinks he is fat and slow but I am very proud of him and strongly suggest that he see a psychiatrist for his body image problem! lol   Today we are both home as he is still pretty stiff and I am fighting some sort of bug.  I feel a lot of pressure in my chest and my cough sounds like a bark and it is very painful. My doctor called in a prescription for me so I will be on the mend soon. 

February - FAIL

OK...  I am extremely disappointed in myself.  Since my exam I have not done anything,  I have lost every ounce of my motivation, there is no drive and no willpower to exercise.  John has been mad at me more then a few times because I refuse to go swimming with him.  I have only been out for one, yes one, 6km run which was last Thursday and I did P90X Yoga with John yesterday.  What is wrong with me???  I only have 95 days until the Toronto Half Marathon and I feel BLAH! 
I watched the 2010 Ironman video with John a couple of weeks ago as I think he was hoping this would inspire me again.... ....obviously it did not help.  I am still lazy!   I want to be fit and be a better athlete and watching John do so amazing with his training does inspire me but I can't seem to get out the door!  However, watching John also makes me tired thinking about exercising that much!
HELP!!!!!!!!

We did get all of our parts on for my new bike and John has it pretty much built for me.  All he needs to do is run the cables and tune it up.  This makes me happy and I can't wait for the warmer weather so I can ride... OUTSIDE!! 

My almost done Bike and Tyler  :)

My seat is on, yipe!

January totals

So for the majority of January I was doing really well with my pre-base training.  This month was just for me to get out there and go through the motions.  However, toward the end of the month I slacked...  granted I have an exam on February 9th so I have been studying my heart out.  AAGGHH..  I better pass!!!
I took my measurements this morning and have not lost any weight but my measurements are:

Chest - 35"       Waist - 27.5" (-0.5")        Hips- 35"       Thigh - 22"

Calf - 13 1/2" (-1/4")       Bicep - 10.5 (-1/2")       Neck - 12" (-1/2")

Body fat - 27.1% (-2.1%)

Water - 50.7% (+1.5%)

Muscle Mass - 90.2 lbs (+2.7lbs)

Bone Mass - 4.8 lbs (+0.2lbs)

I seem to gain muscle pretty good so this would offsets any weight loss.  However, John says that the scale does not mean anything.  How negative!!!

Here is my monthly activity.  There are a couple of runs missing as I have not uploaded them yet.

Monthly totals:

Bike - 10:00 hrs

Run - 4:50 hrs

Swim - 4:20 hrs