Happy Monday!

"Monday run-day!" 

Derek and I decided to go on a long run early Monday morning. The route we planned was a little over 6 miles. I also used this run as a test for my running nutrition; the energy supplements I would use during my half marathon. Nutrition planning isn't something people usually think about having to train for while also training to run 13.1 miles. However, figuring out your nutrition for an endurance sport is really important. My husband gave me some helpful tips and I decided I would use a Stinger gel 30 mins into the run... and cross my fingers that the gel wouldn't wreak havoc on my body. I've heard horror stories about some products causing diarrhea!

Anyhoo... Our run started out well, we kept up a slow and steady pace as we climbed hills. I focused on my breathing pretty heavily during the first three miles. Around 2.8 miles I looked down and saw a ten dollar bill on the ground! I snatched up the money and stuffed it in my bra without missing a beat. The running gods decided to pay me for my run! YEAY!!

$10 score!! (dont mind my red face)

After mile 3 I stopped for minute or two so I could gulp down the Stinger gel and drink a little water. Mile four was pretty harsh, but i pushed through. I started feeling aches in my hip flexors and some slight pains in my knees. I pushed through the discomfort and made sure to be careful with my movements. The last thing I need right now is an injury. Once I hit mile 6 I decided to walk the rest of the way home. It was maybe 0.15 miles and I knew I needed to stretch my legs. I also took a celebratory selfie!

Finished my long run. I'm a happy girl.

I finished my 6 miler in 68 mins. Not too shabby! My husband complemented my pace. I've got to take a moment to mention how awesome he was during our run. He runs at a much faster pace than I do, but he still chose to stick by my side for the duration of my run. When I asked him why he didn't just blow past me he told me, "No, I wanted to run with you." Kudos for being a supportive man! (xoxox)

Below is a graph of my pace over the elevation changes. Looking it over, I am happy with the consistency of my pace throughout my splits. The large spikes represent the times I walked. Only four times! WOOOOO! Believe me, it's an improvement.

6 miles, 68 mins, 11:21 pace. I am pretty proud of myself!

I have more runs planned for this week. My legs are still pretty sore, but Wednesday I will be getting back out there. I plan to run 3 miles of intervals. Friday morning I am meeting with a friend in the morning and we will be running up and down Sabino Canyon. It will be a really challenging route because it is 3 miles up and 3 miles back. Yikes! I set a goal that I have to run at least 4 miles; at LEAST!

 

Weekend recap!

Hello readers!
Sorry for not updating my blog over the weekend. My husband came home Friday after a long business trip and we were busy running around, catching up, and spending quality time together.
Friday I had some work to do around the house. Housework seems to pile up during the week because I am usually busy studying for my fitness nutrition certification and also working out twice daily. Friday was my day to catch up on housework and laundry so my husband wouldn't suspect me of being a slob while he was away.

It was Monsooning pretty heavily Friday afternoon. The temperatures cooled off after the storms passed so Louie and I enjoyed an afternoon walk.

The dark, cloudy sky.

 Louie's stamina has greatly improved and for once he wasn't panting like crazy during the walk. I'm sure it helps that it wasn't 90+ degrees with 50% humidity. (Monsoons bring the humidity) We walked a total of 1.6 miles before returning home. Louie was a happy pup!

Louie really enjoyed his walk. He also got to wear his new harness for the first time. 

Saturday my husband, Derek, and I decided to swim laps at our gym. I have enlisted Derek's help in training for this triathlon in October. Derek just competed in his first triathlon last month and now has the "triathlon bug" so he will join me for the October Tri. The best part of going swimming was that I go to try out my new swimming gear!

My TYR goodies!

I went a little TYR crazy. I found the one-piece at TJ Maxx last week for $20. Score! The two-piece suit I found online for $30. I'm thinking I will wear the two-piece during the triathlon because the top is supportive enough for me to run in. The goggles are TYR Tracer Junior racing goggles. I bought them off Amazon. Technically these goggles are for kids, but they fit me perfectly. I have a small face, I know.
At the pool Derek encouraged me to swim 100 yard consecutive laps. As I mentioned previously, I am working on building my swimming endurance so swimming 100 yards consecutively is difficult for me. I was surprised to find that I was able to swim a total of 750 meters! The swim was actually pretty fun. I am loving the challenge. Derek was full of complements on my form, technique, speed, etc. Mostly he says he is impressed by how quickly I've improved.

Our gym has a gorgeous lap pool!

Active rest day

My workout schedule is broken up into four days of lifting. I trade off focusing on upper-body and lower-body and I make sure to take rest days in between. Woo for rest days! I refer to them as "active rest days" because I usually end up throwing a Cardio workout in.

My morning started off with some yard work. Blah. It is hot and humid in Arizona right now so I broke up the yard work and completed it over the course of three days.

Three days later: my freshly cleaned yard. Believe it or not, the ground was COVERED with mesquite beans.

I didn't get away without some bloodshed. Hey yard, thanks for the hang nail!

I like to set mini goals for myself. Mini goals can be achieved daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Aside from getting the yard work done, my mini goal for yesterday was to drink my water. Specifically, to drink 75oz of water from my new water bottle. Pictured below is me and my newest water-holding friend. If you ask my husband he'll tell you that I've started collecting water bottles. Hey man, you can't have enough water bottles! Anyhoo, I found this baby at the grocery store the other day. I'm hoping that having the one jug will make it easier to be sure I drink enough water daily. It was $8 well spent!

Later that evening I joined my best friend Brett at the gym. She and I are both training to run half marathons so we needed to get a run in. (Yes, I am training for a triathlon AND a half marathon. Crazy? Yes.)

This was the result. Not pretty. [laugh]  I decided to run 3 miles of intervals on the treadmill. It looked something like this: 2 mins 3 speed @ incline 9... then 2 mins 5.7 speed @ 3.5 incline... and then 2 mins speed 6.4 @ zero incline. It was tough and absolutely awesome!! These intervals are my new favorite workout on the treadmill.
Oh! And I managed to finish off the WHOLE 75oz water bottle and then some. Go me!

Desert living...

Howdy from the Southwest!

Yesterday my day started out with an early morning walk with my favorite chihuahua, Louie. My poor pup has gained a lot of weight so it's my goal to slim him down.

My sweet chunky monkey.

Yesterday's walk was full of different desert-dwelling creatures! We saw the usual lizards and bunnies, but what really set yesterday apart from the norm was our close encounter with a young coyote. As we followed a winding road further into the desert, I looked up and saw a curious coyote staring right at us. Creepy. I stopped and stared at it until it got uncomfortable and walked away. As we continued on our walk I noticed that the coyote was following us at a distance. It was very interested in Louie and I! Double creepy. Louie and I decided to turn around at that point. Louie is so plump that he would feed a family of coyotes for days. Too risky!

On our way back home we had to stop and let some javalinas cross the road. I kept distance between us and the beasts because javalinas can be really viscous. Considering that I also caught them mating on the side of the road, I decided to back off a bit. No one wants to be interrupted while mating; that's just rude. After they crossed the road, Louie and I continued our journey.

Post-coital prickly pear fruit snack for these javalinas.

Our walk was very interesting. I am surprised by how much wildlife we saw in one morning. Louie is happy that he got his daily walk in today. He walked 1.15 miles! Afterward, he passed out on the couch and began snoring rather loudly. I hope weight-loss will improve his snoring. It is pretty bad.

Smiley dog.

I am continuing my triathlon training. After the walk, I jumped on my spin bike for 45 mins. I love breaking a sweat in the morning. My dog and cat watched me huff and puff with confusion. There is nothing like having a furry audience while I kill myself with my workouts. [laugh] Yesterday afternoon my P.M. workout consisted of lifting weights and swimming laps.           

 

I focused on my lower body. AKA: legs and glutes.

I am new to swimming so while I am trying to build up my endurance, I am also trying to get the proper technique down. Specifically, I am trying to figure out how to simply turn my head to the side to take a breath. Right now I am still lifting my head out of the water to get air. It is harder than it looks! I decided to see how many laps I could swim in 30 mins. I got in 20 total laps, which in our pool equates to 450 meters. I am a slow swimmer for sure. Things I have to work on: endurance, breathing, and pace. The triathlon is in about 2 months so I am hopeful that I have enough time to train myself and vastly improve. Am I deluding myself? Maybe...