Caballo Blanco and FREE GU

Yesterday was a great day =) To start, I woke up early and met a friend at the pool. We did a short Strength session:

Body Weight Squats: 2 sets of 20 reps

Standing (body weight) Lunges: 2 sets of 10 reps each leg

Push ups: 2 to 3 sets 10 to 20 reps (bent knee style or standard)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Sitting on a chair or a bench do Bent Over Rows: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Dumbbell Curls: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions:2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Plank: 2 to 3 sets of holding it for 30 to 60 seconds

Crunches: 50 to 100 of these everyday.....or more.

This Strength session takes only 10-15 minutes to do and works all your major muscle groups. When I don't feel like doing strength (which is always) I try to fit one of these sessions in before or right after a workout.  

Anywhoo, following the strength we went and swam for 30 minutes. I did 150m crawl, 50m kick, 150m breast stroke, 50m kick and repeated that 2 or 3 times. I can't remember for sure. What I do remember is the kicking..... I used a kick board and it was so hard. I apparently really need to work on the kick!

After my workout my day just kept getting better and better. First I stopped off to pick up my medal from the Sprint Tri only to realize I also had won a raffle for a 25 dollar gift card to Redline Running Company!! WOOT WOOT! 

Then I came home and checked the mail only to find the BEST PRESENT EVER!! Mallory sent me 20 GU's! I was thrilled to the max. I am sick of spending money of those things. Plus, there is no running store that is too close to me so if I don't stock up I am always making an extra trip to get some. Thanks a ton Mal. 

Now even more..... Caballo Blanco from the Born to Run came to my Lifetime fitness and spoke. I was still stuffing my face at the MN state fair but luckily I have the best friends and brother in the world because they went and got me an autograph in my Born to Run Book. I am so happy. This puppy is going right up there next to my autograph from Daniel Radcliffe. I ran into him at the Today show one time while out visiting Sarah. I love Harry Potter. Also, stay tuned for a guest post about what it was like to listen Caballo. =)

Yesterday was good. This morning I went out and did a tempo with 1 mile easy and 5 miles @ pace with 1 mile cooldown. Went well. 

Tomorrow is a Cross Train day with a 17 miler on Saturday.

Happy Running all!  -Jen

Am I gonna miss Summer?

In response to Sarah's question about summer, I am not going to miss this one. I am more excited for fall. 

Tonight I want to make some delicious dessert. Any suggestions?

What is your favorite dessert?

-Mine is typically chocolate cake or some kind of cookie with chocolate. I like chocolate.

Sprint Triathlon Race Recap!

Last Saturday was my first Tri.   It.   Was.   Awesome.

One reason it was so great, I won my age group. =) Yep, one of the great things about local races is you never know who is gonna show up and some days whether you know it at the time or not you can actually be right in the competitive mix of things.

So this quick breakdown.

Overall time: 1:14:15

Broken into pieces:
525m swim: 9:00
Transition 1: 1:27
11.7mile Bike: 37:33 (I think this is the distance, I can't remember exactly and can't find the exact number anywhere...)
Transition 2: 1:10
5k Run: 25:04

So those are my times. Whoever is interested in reading more about my thought process, how crazy the swim was and how running after biking is the most bizarre thing ever then please read. It is a short novel, consider yourself warned =)

To start, I didn't wear my watch. I brought it and I had a friend start my watch when I started and stopped it after I finished. I figured regardless of what happened at least I'd have my own total time.

Here is where we put our bikes and transition gear. Tara (on the right) you have seen in many pics prior  and Lena is a fellow running clubber =) Both amazing athletes. My bike is the one in the middle with white tires.

So, that being said, I set up shop and got out all my crap and made my way to the pool.  The pool was the most confusing part of this entire event.  There were people in all kinds of swim gear, swim caps and goggles along with lots of volunteers.  We were all trying to get organized so that we'd get in the pool with the right group of people.

I was in wave #2. I ended up switching my swim time at the last minute and put myself in a group of  1:50/100m swimmers.  For those of you who don't know a thing about swimming it like when you put yourself according to how fast you run at the start of the race.

Pool:
If you end up swimming with people faster you could have gotten toe tapped and or swam over (I saw both happen while patiently....nervously.... waiting for my wave) OR on the flip side of things you could be tapping people and swimming over them thinking "get the hell outta my way you turtle" =) I thankfully felt like I was in the middle of my lane. I knew I wasn't the fastest but I wasn't the slowest either.

You hop in the pool, then one at a time someone tells you when to start. So then you swim and hope for the best.  When your down to your last lap the volunteer taps you on your head, or yells at you to get out of the pool at the other side.  So after 21 laps of wave splashing water sucking and total whirlpool craziness I happily jumped out of that pool. I had no idea how I did. My brain was thinking two things: 1. holy crap this is out of control, and 2. like Nemo says, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

This is me in the swim green cap! Thanks Amber for cheering me on and taking some good pics! =)

Onto transition 1: (thats right, this post is a novel, but I warned you)

Here is where I run from the pool to my bike. I then proceed to throw my goggles and swim cap down, dry my feet on my towel, and then put my bike shoes on. I also put on my helmet and shades.  I grab my bike off the rack and start running with it to the "bike out" area.

Here is my transition area all setup. I put my helmet on first, then my bike shoes and took off. On the way back, I remove my bike shoes and helmet, throw on my running shoes, grab my race number and go~

Once across the pad I hopped on the bike and hoped for the best. This course is a tough one. For the first 4 miles you climb and then luckily get relief and come flying down the next 1.75 miles or so until you start that same loop over again. So total, you climb for 8 miles give or take and then spend 3.7 flying.  It was so much fun. I have no complaint whatsoever about the bike. I was calm and felt good but pushed myself pretty hard.

Transition 2:

I came in on my bike, hopped off at the "bike in" area, ran my bike back to the rack, then proceeded to put on my running shoes (no socks this entire time.....). I have no complaint about biking/running with no socks. Although afterwards I did notice some kind of blister-scrap thing above my heel...I am not sure what happened but I am glad I didn't notice until later.

The Run:
Let me tell you what it feels like running after you just spent the last however long riding hard... It feels like you just did 3 sets of heavy squats, 3 sets of lunges and then all of a sudden a gun goes off and you are supposed to run a 5k. I could feel my quads and my calves wondering what the hell my plan was because as far as they were concerned, they had hung in there during my ride and did not expect to work overtime.

This feeling lasted for pretty much the entire time but faded as I kept running. Not having a watch on I had no idea at all how fast I was going. I wasn't breathing crazy hard but I was working. I just kept thinking in my head I have no expectations about this run, I am just going to not stop and give a good effort. I did walk through both drink stations which in a normal 5k would have been a big BOO but I figured that the swim, bike and hot weather were good enough excuses to hydrate. I finished up this run thinking for sure I ran a 10 minute mile the entire time and figured.... ahh what the hell. It was my first Tri and I did my best.

This is me on my way in from the run. Have I mentioned how much I love Colorado. Looks at those mountains in the background.  Whats not to love. P.S. I completed the entire tri with this whole outfit on. It was a combo of sports bra, one piece swim suit and running shorts.

When the actual split results came in and I saw my 5k time of 25 minutes I was on the moon! I had no idea I was basically averaging an 8:00minute mile with protesting legs and water stops. I could not have been happier. Next time I will know what to expect and most likely plan some more workouts with a good run to finish it all off.  I was totally surprised by that crazy leg feeling.

Some awesome friends (Tara B, Scott, Me, Lena, Tara C) who all participated along with the race director down front. He is also our lead man in our running club. Nice race Melver, we all had a great time!

And thats it! I had a great time. I had some great friends to enjoy it with and can't wait to find another one.... like an Ironman or something.  =) Of course, I have a lot of things on my list so the Ironman will probably have to wait a while but it is gonna happen at some point.

Happy Running all -Jen

Anyone else have a race last weekend?

6 Days until my First Sprint Triathlon

To start this post I must say how totally bummed I was to miss the Warrior Dash. BOO. From now on I will make it to that race. They were having way too much fun without me.....

Now onto whats next. T-minus 6 days until my first Sprint Tri. I am not nervous at all which is very unlike me. If on race day I all of a sudden have to take 5 trips to the bathroom to makeup for all of this lost time of not being nervous I will not be surprised. 

I am still debating on what kind of clothing to wear. I don't have a tri suit and I'd rather not buy one. (yet ;)) I am trying to decide if I should wear tri shorts after my swim or just throw on running shorts? I am on the fence. I don't really think my rear end will hurt from only going 12 miles on the bike but at the same time I have become quite accustomed to bike shorts and have kind of fallen in love with the extra padding.

Workouts this week:

Monday: My 5 mile tempo with 2.5@ 7:30 pace. Wish me luck. I am really hoping it doesn't feel as hard as it did last time. 

Tuesday: Another hilly bike ride.  I am loving the hills on the bike.  Challenging and refreshing. I will fit in a Strength training session as well.

This is me on my bike =) Going for rides out here is so pretty. I love the mountains.

This is one of my bestest buds Amber who joined me that day.  She is totally awesome and extra speedy. I always use how far away in the distance she is from me to gage how well I am doing(with both running and biking). If she is too far away, I am really slacking off. If I can hear her breathing I must be smokin' because she only knows one speed and it is full throttle. I love it, she makes me wanna do better.

After one workout last week I was able to come home and get another workout by blowing up this crazy huge ball so Peter would have something to do all afternoon.  

I am surprised I didn't pass out. It was huge and took forever!!

He did end up having hours of fun so it was worth it =)

Wednesday: 1600m+ swim followed by transition practice. I went to a meeting about the Tri last week and they talked a lot about transitions. Who knew there was so much thought into how you switch from one sport to the next.  But here is a quick run down on what you would want on the way to your tri.. 

1. Towel
2. Sunblock
3. Goggles
4. Swim Suit
5. Socks
6. Running Shoes (with the shoe strings in that you don't need to tie)
7. Sunglasses
8. Biking shoes
9. Biking Shorts OR running shorts...... I am on the fence?
10. Helmet
11. Refueling Food
12. Bike
13. Running Tank (something to throw on over your swimsuit if you choose)
14. Race Number Belt

Is this list long enough? I dunno, I always overpack anywhoo so I will definitely be taking a picture of my bag on the way to this Sprint Tri... I am sure I will look like I am going out for an overnighter.

Thursday: Easy 12 miler and some easy strength stuff.

Friday: OFF or maybe a short easy swim?

Saturday: Sprint Tri here I come.  I wonder how I'll do......send me good vibes that day because we all know I need them.

Last night I made a delicious steak salad for dinner and because I had spent the better part of the previous day cleaning the kitchen I decided to dirty my kitchen up as little as possible. So I had my husband take out his portion and then just finished off the rest right outta the container I bought the greens in =) Delicious. This salad has a variety of lettuce, carrots, cucumber, steak, craisins, onion, parma cheese, goat cheese and steak.

Heres to a good week! and hopefully a race on Saturday that goes better then my last one... -Jen

Who else overpacks when getting ready for race day?

Does anyone ever wear Tri Shorts?
I guess they are shorts you can put on with cushion but not quite as much cushion as normal bike shorts so running in them feels ok?

Who else doesn't like to dirty dishes if they don't have to?
For a long time I'd go to great lengths to not dirty hardly anything in my kitchen... the less mess the better. But these days I go in spurts.

Who owns a pair of those shoe strings you don't tie? Is there a specific brand you like?

Myrtle Beach Recap

I know that Sarah posted a couple pictures from our trip already but I thought it wouldn't hurt to post a couple more. Our trip was filled with tons of swimming..

Going to the beach only at night.  It was so hot there and combined with the two shark sighting that happened while there which made the lifeguards clear the ocean both times we felt it was best to only visit the beach when it was cooler and were not going to be swimming in the water.

Lots of dancing.  This is Elsa group that took fourth in the overall finals.  They totally rocked it.

Below is the costume Grace wore for the dance that took 2nd overall in finals.  Wish I had a picture of the entire group but I don't so this picture will have to do.

It was a great trip.  We worked out all but one day while we were there.  Ate tons of salads and had tons of fun hanging together.  But now back to the grind

My brother and his family are here and Sarah gets here today!!  Love summer for many reasons but one big one is that everyone comes to visit.

My brother also loves to work out so we just got done will a killer stair/run workout and snapped this picture.  It was a great one and I swear it was like 100 out with about 70% humidity.   Anyone else feeling the major heatwave that is going on right now???  It is killer.   My workouts this week will be all Kinetic Edge classes.  I am taking all my family there for classes this week as well.  For all those of you that have asked about the gym.. yes it is only in one location as of now.  It focuses on mainly Kettlebells but he likes to throw in some plyometrics to I think break it up a little.  It is intense and unlike any gym I have ever been to and I totally love it.  If anyone of you are ever in the area email me and I will hook you up with a class to try it.  You will be hooked. 

We are all doing the Warrior Dash this weekend.  Anyone else done it yet??  It should be super fun.  If you have done it let us know!! How was it?  Any tips we should know?

-Heather

Veggies and More

While I was in Minnesota my intake on veggies was pretty minimal.  But on the last day Heather and I woke up went for a run and then headed over to the St. Paul Farmers Market.  It is probably one of the nicest farmer markets I have ever been to.  They always have a ton of stuff and it always looks amazing =) I decided that I am going to try to eat lots veggies everyday.  I typically do eat some vegetables but I need to eat more.

Heather stretching after our morning run.  Towards the end of the run we spiced it up a bit and played don't let the other person pass you.  It was quite fun =)  I highly recommend it.  

Check out all the fresh produce.  YUM. You can only see 1/10th of what was there.

They had lots of flavored honey sticks. I picked up one of each flavor for myself and a friend. I have actually never tried one yet, but I have a stash of about 15 in my little running box.

Who can say no to these asparagus?  Standing them up like that made them look extra delicious.

So far this week my workouts have been going well.  I am actually loving them.  Which is good because I know that sometimes I truly don't love them.

For a recap, Monday I ran 5 Miles.

Tuesday: I went to running club and did 12 - 200/200's with 1 for 1 recovery. Basically the 200/200 is a 400 but the first 200 was supposed to be at 3k pace followed by the last 200 at 1 mile pace.  So you come in relatively fast and then recover for the same amount of time.  Then after that I headed to barbell class where I pumped some iron.  I don't know about you guys but I NEED SOME MUSCLES!  I totally slacked during my training for the last marathon and I don't want that to happen again.

Wednesday: I went biking for 23.5 miles. Then I went and swam 525m.  I am trying to figure out how fast I can actually swim.  I have no idea how to judge so today I just went at a pace where I felt in control and knew I could keep swimming that way for a while.  So now for my Sprint Tri I am going to try to be faster.  I don't really know how to shave off time in the pool?  Speed workouts??? I dunno.

Thursday: Run 8 miles with friends from club.  YAY for running buds.  They rule.
Friday: Swim again and also attend a Total Conditioning class at lifetime.
Saturday: Tempo run with club followed by some kind of bike ride.

Does anyone know any good biking speed workouts?  Like riding up the same hill 10 times or something??

Also, who likes honey sticks?
-I will try one tomorrow, as I was typing this post I realize it is ridiculous that I keep buying these things but really have no idea what they taste like.

Is there a swimmer out there can give me a good workout for the pool?
-I only have 1 workout that my swimming teacher gave us while doing a swim lesson a month or so back.  I am looking for more.

Happy Running, Swimming and Biking all -Jen

Hello Hamstring and Happy 4th of July!

Todays workout: 5 Miles Normal.

Happy 4th! I needed a little stretch after my run today so thanks to my husband you get a pic.

It felt great to be running at home! Running away is fun but it is always good to come home and hit the road where you know the route. It also feels nice to just run. I kind of just go at a pace that feels good and normal. I occasionally pick it up and I occasionally hold it back but when I am in the middle of recovery and not really training for anything it is fun to just run however fast or slow you want.

This week I am going to really try to incorporate more cross training and strength into my workouts.  Here is my schedule for the first part of this week.

Monday: 5 Miles Normal pace with 10 mile bike ride later.
Tuesday: Killer 200/200 track workout followed by a Strength barbell class
Wednesday: Swim and maybe a 15 mile Bike ride

Anywhoo, onto the Holiday!  Happy 4th of July.  This day is one of my favorite holidays.  The weather is typically great there is lots of food to eat and usually an amazing fireworks show to catch.

They have an amazing fireworks show on the golf course right by our neighborhood on July 3rd.  Here we are waiting for the action to happen. (a lot of these pics where you can see up my nose are self portraits...)

Every kid waiting for the fireworks to start had a glow stick. Of course I totally had forgotten to pick up some so Peter stalked out another family who generiously gave him one!  THANKS random family for giving Peter "the one thing he always wanted since forever and ever......" said Peter himself.

HAPPY HOLIDAY and happy running -Jen

What to do..

Now that the marathon is over I am trying to decide what to do next.  First thing first though and I need my knee to stop bugging me and just let me run.  I went on what was suppose to be a 5 miler yesterday morning with my sister and it turned out to be almost 7 miles.  Which would have been fine if my knee didn't start to suck right in the middle of the run.  So had to run/walk the rest.  So annoying.  I think that I am just not going to run for an entire month and see if then it gets better.  But then what should I do in the mean time??  Will still go to Kinetic Edge but I need something else also.  I am thinking I will just start biking and swimming.  We will see how those to go.  We are living in a tiny apartment and not sure where I would put a bike.  And well the swimming... My mom has a pool.  It is good size.  When I am in it my kids are usually right along there with me and hopefully somehow I will be able to sneak in a solid 20 mins or so.

In other news....Yesterday was not all that bad.. after the run.   What better way to have the kids burn some energy then giving them a shovel and having them try to dig a hole in super dry rocky dirt.  They loved the challenge although in the end only one stayed with it long enough to make a very small dent

At night we went to dinner with friends.  Our good friends are home visiting.  The ones that I went and saw when we went to Costa Rica.

We had some Thai Food.  We actually had a little more then just some.  We had lots.  It was super good and very spicy.   So after dinner we went to Izzy's and got some ice cream

                                                       (sorry for the blurry Iphone pic.)


Always so fun to get together with friends that we don't see very much.  But now that I overslept my gym class and I can't run what am I going to do today to burn off all those calories I ate last night??  The sun is shinning... finally.  So today I think I will try and get a swim in.  Wish me luck!!

-Heather

My Wednesday, Ingredients and Last Nights Dinner

Today was a good day. I started the day with a swim =) My swim workout was as follow:

100m warm-up
500m steady swim
then
6 x 25m faster with 10 second recovery
6 x 50m faster with 20 second recovery
4 x 100m faster with 30 seconds recovery
-I allowed myself a 1 minute recovery between each set.

(I apologize for any blurry pics below, sometimes I only had my phone to capture these memories and unfortunately there is no guarantee....)

This is the outside pool at Lifetime that I like to swim laps in as well as take Peter to for an afternoon dip.

After that- I had some shopping I needed to do.  Last week I went grocery shopping as usual but for whatever reason started looking at all the ingredients in things that I typically always buy and I realized that the list was real long and most of the ingredients I hadn't heard of.  So I decided to become more ingredient free.  I would only buy things that listed ingredients that I was familiar with. So I put back my Fig Newtons (ingredients listed below), Wheat thins, Pretzels, and Oreos... and tried to pick up some other more natural foods.

I thought I'd buy some dried fruit thinking it would slightly good for you. But my first two choices 1. Mango and 2. Craisins all added additional sugar. Luckily, raisins and dates had no additional sugar added.
                                                              (Sugar and Powdered Sugar.....really??)

After roaming the aisles at Target and not finding too many healthy options I decided to take myself somewhere a little more health friendly. The Sunflower Market.

(this was straight after swimming.....I typically look like a nut until around 3 when I actually make time to shower and look normal =)) 

If you haven't heard of it and want to check it out click here. But there motto is Serious Food, Silly Prices. They have great locally grown produce as well as a wide variety natural and organic foods.  They try to keep these foods priced reasonably so we can all afford to make good choices.  Here is some of what I bought.

(The Nature Valley had totally Normal Ingredients and the Honey Sticks I heard are a great natural way to boost some energy....)

               

Triscuits are always good along with animal crackers and wasabi peas. Last but not least a variety of chocolate and yogurt pretzels. I do realize these are more of a treat then health choice, but at least they were made kinda fresh =)

Sunflower had Mangos on sale 2/$1... definitely beats the dried mango with two additional kinds of sugar added.

Then after sunflower I came home, picked up Peter from cowboy camp and went back to the pool to spend some time with Peters Uncle James, Auntie Mel and cousins.  We LOVE hanging with family.

I also picked up some Clarifying Shampoo for my lovely Chlorine hair.  I am trying the Paul Mitchell and Ultra Swim versions and I'll let you know which I like best. Chlorine and my hair do not mix well and it could definitely use some work after the time I've spent in the pool lately.

Then for the Grand Finale.... last nights dinner was a panini or grilled roast beef and havarti sandwich. Oven fried sweet potatoes, grilled some asparagus and black and blueberries for sides.  It was delicious.

Sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper. Cooked in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes. Stir and cook for another 20-25.

Roast beef, havarti, whole wheat ciabatta bread sandwich.

Asparagus tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper cooked on hot grill for 2-3 minutes, turn and 2-3 minutes more.

BON APPETIT =)

Happy Running, Cooking and Shopping all -Jen

My day

I started my day out thinking this will be the last day that I drink a diet soda until after the marathon.  So in honor of this day I decided to have one on my morning school run.  It was good.  

After the school run my wonderful babysitter came over so that I could work out.  Went to Kinetic Edge.  It was super hard like always.  Love it there.

Since my knee is still bugging a little, my big sis told me it might be my shoes.  So headed down to Run and Fun and of course got some new shoes.  I told them about my pain as well and they think that I have runners knee from overuse and sold me some kind of knee wrap thing.   Anyone else use one?? Does it really help?

Since the weather is so hot right now... which I love... I picked up my boys and headed to the pool.  My wonderful niece Sabrina is here for a while and I couldn't be more thrilled.  Love this girl and it was a great afternoon hanging with her doing nothing but enjoying the weather.  Since the race is so soon I am really trying to enjoy not running so much.  I am not sure why some people think it is so hard to just rest!   I love it.

My evening was filled with dance and then I went to a Stretch Intervention.  I took pictures too but my battery died as I was uploading the pictures so you will all have to wait until Friday to see what that was all about.  I am sure you will all be dying to know how it went.  

I am really hoping that my knee gets better before the big day.  When I ran Saturday I went 9 miles and it was a little painful.  Not bad where I could not run on it but enough pain that I would not want to run 26 miles like that.  Anyone else have runners knee??  Any good tips or tricks I should know about?

-Heather

And I decided that I am not giving up diet soda.  Will limit it as I usually do, just now I am going to try to drink even more water than normal during the day.