LMNgetfit

Thanks for your feedback....... I'm enjoying reading about the different aspects in tri training! Impressive that you do the longer triathlons! I'm at the sprint distance now and find them challenging! Good luck this year!

Not so sure where the days are going...... My next sprint tri is in 2 weeks! I'm thinking I'll be fit enough to complete though I'm not sure if I'll improve my times. I've not focused on training harder & quicker like I'd hope! My week this week was spent caring for both fur- kids! My 15 yr old Schnauzer contracted a stomach bug of some sort that landed us in vets office Wednesday for treatment..... I only wanted symptoms treated before jumping into diagnostic tests. He's pulled through today- on the road to being his adorable old cranky slow deaf self!! Mid-week, RJ, our schnoodle had a quick 36 hour episode of Dukes illness..... I jumped on his treatment mimicking Dukes plan and he pulled through much quicker-I suspect because he's young-6 yrs old today! So I squeezed in cardio when possible on Tuesday..... Wednesday: bike/run brick totally 45 mins..... The HOT 100+ degrees temps are killing my afternoon training plans! Thursday & Friday: no workouts Saturday: 2.5 mile slow jog then later 700 M swim pool felt good..... Tomorrow: planning on bike ride 12-15 miles before heat hits! Tonight..... Resting!

Are your bike intervals done on a trainer? Do you recommend a specific trainer that you use? I'm starting my search for one...... I'd believe it help make my bike training easier-my work schedule doesn't always allow for early morning rides when it's cool!

What a crazy week- again..... Thankful that I've got job security while it's unfortunate that my patients are sick requiring major surgical intervention..... Just the way it goes sometimes! I've been managing my workouts around the heat and late work days. Here's a recap of week workouts- Monday: swim 700 yds Tuesday: rest day Wednesday: bike 10 miles (37 mins) Thursday: early morning run before work-nice 72 degrees at 0515! 2.5 miles. Friday: rest from training; I did paint/ primer a 400 sq ft room!! Sore upper body after that project! Saturday: 13 mile bike.... Pushed my pace and felt great! I got my ride in before 9:30- nice at 85 degrees! Sunday: I woke today with a SORE left knee.... It feels like my hamstring is tight. Today was a run day but I'm going to pass on the pounding and do the elliptical and STRETCH!! Nutrition: been going well; I'm eating a large salad at lunch which helps with energy! I've also added a Vega shake once a day which helps keep me full and prevents crashing in energy! In fact, I'm down 1.5# in 2 weeks! ( I'd pretty much quit focusing on weight loss and focused on how I feel!). Here's to another week! Yeah!

Home from vacation on Sunday 7/1..... Been crazy trying to get back into my routine- long days at work both Monday & Tuesday.....I survived!! Im allowing myself the freedom to ease back into my training this week before I hit it HARD next week! My next scheduled triathlon - sprint distance is 8/5!! Monday: elliptical & light exercises upper body Tuesday: 2.5 mile run (11 min/mile) before work Wednesday: 11 mile bike ride before the triple digits hit!! Nice to be back on my bike- sore neck today! Thursday: 700 yd swim at pool.... 50 warm up, 250 x 1, 200 x 1, 100x2.... All freestyle except 50 of breaststroke (this is my rescue stroke when crowded in the first part of swim!) Nutrition: getting back on track too- I survived vaca with no GI upset- now that I'm exercising - I'm starving!! Must increase the veggies!!

Made it back to in-laws Wednesday afternoon..... Pleasantly exhausted! Decided to forego exercise and just relax- we ordered out pizza from a local joint- I had a GF, veggie delight that was tasty! Thursday: up early for a 25 min walk/jog!! Limited workout as I had to rally the kiddos!!! I made it through at a nice, easy pace. I included some stretching at the end too! Bags are repacked for an overnight family trip to DC!! We've got a few must sees on the list from the kids! Super excited!! Food selection could be tricky today as my sister n law and her boyfriend will show us they're fav DC spots to eat!! I'm at a no stress point now.... SO far so good on NO tummy issues!

Friday: 3 mile run.....easy 12 min pace-good stretch afterwards. Saturday: travel day that started at 0300 for a 0600 flight-had to rise early to rally kiddos!!! Great day with safe travel thankfully!! Sunday: run-3 min walk warmup, 25 min run w/ sprints mixed in, 7 min walk cool down- I ran in my in-laws neighborhood on a fine gravel path- awesome!!! Beats concrete anyday!! Body squats & lunges with stretching afterwards. Late yesterday afternoon, we arrived in NYC- such a neat, bustling city!! It was cool to drive in from NJ and see the skyline..... We all liked the Lincoln tunnel!! My hubby did a nice job in NYC traffic!! For dinner last night, he surprised us- Cafe Blossom near Central Park!! So tasty- organic vegan with many GF options!! I had Veggie Lasagna- I tried his veggie-lentil burger.....delicious!!! We all finished our meal with soy shakes - mine= butterfinger!!!! YUM!! I loved this place.....kids ate paste- had a shake- both were surprised and ate well!!! My youngest even tried and liked raw zucchini & yellow bell peppers!! Wonder what today holds for us?!?

Oops- not sure how I put this post in introductions.......

I'm currently in route to NYC with my hubby and girls ages 8 & 10. We are a open for suggestions for vegan/mixed places to eat....casual, fancy, trendy, local- open to all! We will be hungry and ready for adventure! We tried Nizza in Theater District previously and had a delicious meal (GF veg pizza!)!!! Our itinerary has us staying in Midtown with a Yankees game one evening. Any suggestions are appreciated! Lisa

Been a busy week as I'm preparing for a family vacation starting tomorrow! We are off to PA to see my in-laws then on to NYC for a few days then finish out week in DC!!! We are all super excited-my girls have been "packed" for 2 weeks now! This week, my workouts have been laid back and I changed it up slightly. For my trip, I'm packing my running shoes hoping to get a few runs in....... Do plan to stretch and do my body weight/core exercises in mornings before heading out each day! Lots of walking is on tap too! Monday: felt really good.... No workout-I made myself rest!!! Tuesday: still felt really good physically and mentally- I was on such a completion triathlon high!! Elliptical-30 mins level 5; core, legs & stretching Wednesday: swim 700M in pool..... Goal is to swim longer distances so my sprint distance of 500 M will be easy, quick & second nature! Thursday: home gym..... Elliptical 20 mins, treadmill 25 mins which included 5 min fast run, core & upper body exercises. Friday: run day! Plan to run 2-3 miles here in a hour- still cool outside!

Completed my 1st triathlon of season yesterday!!!! Reasonably pleased and I'm already planning my areas for improvement! 500M swim: 11:41 (surprised here because it was a crowded swim heat!! It was difficult to get my swim stroke on!!) T1: 2:56 (shooting for 2 min & under.... Had a long hike/run thru transition) Bike 9 miles: 34:15 (hooray!!) T2: 1:24 (hooray!) Run 2.4 miles: 27:22 (11.24 min/ mile pace.....fast pace for me! Huge improvement since I'm not a fan of running! I actually relaxed during my run part, chatted with others and enjoyed the moment. I just couldn't make my legs go faster especially since last mile was an uphill challenge!! I have room for improvement here!) Overall time: 1:17:46. Again, I'm happy- goal was less than 1:20!! I placed first for my age 30-39 yr olds & 1st for my division for my company!! I'm getting my plan for relaxation & training together for August's triathlon!

Thursday: felt achy most of afternoon, chilled-flu like symptoms....- ran kids to various activities and landed in bed by 7:30pm- no SWIM! I listened to my body..... Slept 9 hours-went to work feeling much, much better! Friday: hit the pool today-swam 600 yds-1st 500yds non-stop.... Mentally I visualize being in a lake without visibility.......came home and walked jogged for 35 mins..... Calves were tight but quickly loosened up after stretching. Tomorrow- plan is to hydrate, enjoy my carbs freely ALL day & prepare both mentally and physically for Sunday!

Tuesday: home gym elliptical 30 mins; light body weight workout- squats, sit ups, overhead presses #5 wts, lunges.....stretched to cool down. Ok work night.....couldn't sleep once home at 10 pm!! read book - fell asleep at 11:30...need more sleep tonight! Wednesday: bike 12 miles at 3.5 mile/min pace.....fairly flat with a few hill climbs where I pumped it out trying to keep my MPH up in prep for the hilly course on Sunday; pleased with my workout today!! appetite back-ate decent today and treated myself to vanilla soy ice cream with chocolate syrup-YUM!! Looking forward to my lake swim tomorrow evening!

Monday: longer than expected at work but it happens! Accomplished my 1st open water swim of the year-I survived! It's more a mental task than anything because I'm more than in shape to swim the full 500 M......the lake where I went tonight is the location of my previous tri last September-there's a ton of seaweed and the visibility currently is 3 ft or so....I could SEE EVERYTHING which is creepy- my first 200 yds out, I was panicked thinking the things would grab me.....pure mental!! I made it to 1st floating lifeguard on her boat and rested about 25-30 secs before continuing.....I had to recover and lower my pulse!! I continued my swim and did it in 12:38!!! I was shocked considering my last years race time was 13:01!! I'm so pumped and know that I'm ready for the swim coming up!!! Still shooting for my race goal time of under 11:00 for the 500 M!!! We shall see......I'll swim in the lake on Thursday that I'll race in on Sunday! It was cool to see other women out swimming tonight....quite a few competing in upcoming tris around the KC area....we all have the same goal in mind!! Tomorrow....late start at work- hope to gently cross train in the morning and stretch it out!

Saturday : ran 4.25 miles at 10:30 pace....sore calves all day- continued stretching & better today! Sunday: 5 mile hilly bike ride followed by 20 min active walk. Felt pooped- I need to track my cals better as well as protein intake.... I've gotten sloppy in that I'm just not hungry!! Sooo.... I'm thinking I'm behind and that's equally decrease energy for my training! My first triathlon of season is in one week- excited and nervous! I did practice transitions today... Thinking I'll be quick there- goal is to be under 1.5 mins at each transition.

Haven't had much time post over the last week! I'll see if I can recall the weekly events...... Sat/Sun: our softball team played 4 games (record of 2 wins, 2 losses)..... Last game was Sunday at 0900..... I was fairly sore having used muscles to bat & catch that weren't previously used! We had a blast and are excited for next year!! It was fun to see my co-workers involved in a sport outside of the hospital-athletic bunch we are!! Sunday afternoon after a nap, I rode 10 miles with a friend who'd just gotten a road bike! She's gotten the tri training bug and will be doing a tri in August! After our hilly ride, we walked 2.5 miles for an active cool down! Felt tired but in a good way! Monday: rest day from training...... Sore! Worked a horribly long call shift 15 hours which ended at 0400!!! Got home to my hubby (who'd had lithotripsy earlier in day for pesky ureteral stone).... He was In excruciating pain, so off to the ER for drugs..... After ER we went to urologist who only prescribed stronger drugs! Ugh!! Guess we can expect this pain to occur until stone is out of ureter or until one can no longer stand it & signs up for a cystoscopy for stone retrieval! I'm not too sold on lithotripsy.....when all of this stone mess started a few weeks ago, my hubby drastically chAnged his coffee & cola consumption to virtually zero!!! He already limits animal intake...... After watching him in misery, I prefer to never have stones and will prevent them at all costs! Even this morning, he's miserable...... I feel bad! So we both crashed Tuesday at 1pm!! I slept for 3 hours...... Cancelled my involvement in CC track meet events. I was scheduled to run track 1 mile (based on results, I would have been 2nd place with my time) and throw shot put (again 2nd place for my age group!)....glad I did because my hubby was still sick and I was exhausted!! Wednesday: ran 4 miles but took kids with me on their bikes..... Cool way to go as they kept me company and the time flew!!! Running is getting easier (thankfully!) Thursday: pool swim 700 yds total.... 250 x 2 w/ 15 sec rest between then 100 x 2.... Felt ok.... Disappointed I didn't make it to open water swim at lake which was at 6 pm...... I'll go Monday night! I did run track this night..... Totally shocked myself- ran 800 M in 3:43!!!!!!! My goal was 400 in 2 mins or so...... Couldn't believe it!!!! It was fun!!!! So running this fast helps me to realize I can and should push my body to go harder and farther when training! Totally motivated for upcoming tri in one week! Friday: rest day...... I was in bed by 2030!!! Yes on a Friday night!!! Saturday: up after 10 hours of rest, got my pre-race nutrition going on ...... About to do a 60 min run! I plan to practice my transitions this weekend!

Glad to see you back- sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Also, nice to hear your strength and energy are returning- love that good nutrition and exercise will do that!! Keep it up!

Friday: 700 yd swim- after 50 yd warmup, I swam 250 non-stop x 2.... Then 100 yds nonstop then my cool down 50 yds. Hoping to get an open water swim in sometime this week..... Went out for dinner last night to a burger place with many GF & "non-burger" options. I had a veg/lentil burger that was outstanding!! Also, had delicious truffle sweet potato fries-happy tummy afterwards !! Saturday: 60 min cardio-5 min walk warmup, 45 min run (only 1min walk within run) 10 min walk cool down then good stretch! I focused on heart rate control 155-167..... Did spike to 175-178 with sprints & hills. I don't know distance as I just went out and hit the trails close to my neighborhood. Resting now then off to play in co-Ed softball tourney today/tomorrow for corporate challenge-should be interesting!!

Thursday: rest day due to long work day..... Did practice throwing shot putt in backyard! I improvised using a #8 wt ball .... So far distance is 20-23 ft consistently. Im crazy I think..... Official bike race time posted: 10:09! My personal best officially! I placed 14th/39 in my age of 35-39 for my work division I placed 2nd! Overall, 5 of us rode and collectively with our point total, we placed 4th out of 30 in our division! Our overall group standing is 5th place up from 7th!! Corporate challenge is great-we are having a blast! Yesterday I went to the track.... I'm not a track runner- I'm not built to be a speed runner-too much muscle I'm thinking.....but I can run a mile so that's why I'm entered for my division/age for next Tuesday! I'll take it for the team......total yesterday: 2 miles Not sure what's on tomorrows agenda.... Need to swim & weights!

3 mile bike race for corporate challenge was this evening-pretty happy with my "unofficial" time of 10:20.....personal best for me!! Great sprint race......I'd been advised that is was a weird feeling in that you are only competing for a time....the start time consisted of individuals taking off at 5 sec intervals....Kinda lonely in that no one was close in racing for that "competitive" race feeling.....but cool feeling at end when it was complete! Excited to see my official time and placement for my age and division! off to bed.....plan to go run sprints at the track tomorrow after work seeing that the track meet/shot putt is next Tuesday!! will post pics later after I find the message telling how~

Monday: pool 700 yds..... Really enjoyed the bigger lanes... Helps to prepare me more for the open water swim. Pool got crowded quickly, thankfully my laps were done in time! Day one of no processed food-I'm full!! Ate my goal of protein & fiber as well as kept my sodium intake low. I made a lentil & spinach soup for dinner- YUM!! My hubby enjoyed it too- enough leftovers for both of us for lunch tomorrow! He's feeling better too! For dessert, I made a coffee cup chocolate cake recipe courtesy of Happy Herbivore- So tasty & satisfying for my sweet tooth!! Super easy - made in 5 mins!

Hope you're doing better!!

Monday: happy Memorial Day- so blessed and thankful to for all of our service men and women! Yesterday's workout: 13.5 mile bike ride-mostly flat course-under 4 min/mile which is my goal. I'm scheduled for a Corp Challenge 3 mile bike race Tuesday..... Should be fun! Today: hoping to make it to pool-thinking I'll hit a different pool with 50 yd lanes.....(my gym pool = 25yds)......change it up a bit then I plan to sunbathe..... Here's to getting rid of some racer back & short tan lines! Haha! Nutrition: going to focus on following HHs meal plan for the next few days-it's great in concept with tons of fresh (NOT processed-a weakness of mine for convenience) food. For example, this mornings breakfast, baked sweet potato sprinkled with cinammon, with PB, and a banana! Extremely filling- I'm concerned about my hubby..... Found out Friday that his stone in still stuck in his ureter (same spot as before!). He needs it surgically removed possibly sooner than later! . In fact, his flank is back this morning..... Mild but it's there!!

Whew-a busy last few days!! Karen-I'm a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist-an advanced practice registered nurse)...... I administer anesthesia in both in-patient and out-patient settings. I've been in this profession since 2004 after finishing my training in Texas and Arkansas. I started as a critical care RN and then went on to become an anesthetist. I enjoy what I do-I have 15-20 mins to establish a trusting relationship with each patient and as we all know, each person is unique!!! My current position with an Anesthesia group here in KC allows great flexibility in taking care of ME and my FAMILY! I'm extremely blessed! Did I give ya too much info?!? Let me backtrack on my training schedule: Wednesday: after long work day- in bed at 0200..... I managed to sleep an interrupted 6 hours then went for a bike ride. I went to tri course to do 2 laps (9 miles)...... Felt yucky!! I wasnt hydrated enough and my pulse stayed too high-high enough that I was nauseated!!! Ugh!! Lesson earned-fatigue and dehydration don't mix for a good bike ride-I finished but not happily! Thursday: still recovering..... Rest day! Friday: pool time!! 600 yds-felt great! I'm looking forward to some open water swim time in the next week or two! Saturday: after good nights rest, I went for a run-50 mins total. Includes 15 min walking! Nutrition: I've purchased Happy herbivores weekly meal plan...... I'm going to see if it benefits me in meal organization!

It's been a few days since I posted..... Busy with kiddos, family & training that I've not had much down time until I collapse at night into bed! Not complaining-thankful & I count my blessings daily! Friday 5/18: ran/walked 3.5 miles.....ran approx 30 mins total-focused on keeping heart rate under 160's. I attended co-workers going away party..... Had 2 cocktails & sweet potatoe fries...... Too tired to do much..... Kept after my water because I was thirsty!! Home in bed by 9:15pm..... Party poopers we can be at end of a week!! Saturday 5/19: 15 mile bike ride..... Beautiful 75 degree morning, cloudy!!! Loved every min of my ride especially with my new road shoes..... Made great time and mostly flat surface with few hills sprinkled in-4 min/mile average!!! All was well until I hit my own steep driveway! I was going too slow on incline, freaked out and decided to jump off! I forgot I was clipped in..... Right foot off and I slowly fell to left side landing on my left knee!!! I've got a good bruise and road rash on my left knee now!!! I felt so silly-great ride and then to fall in my own driveway! Ha! Not my last fall I'm sure! I was going to swim later but not with an open wound! Sunday: day of rest from training..... I did play 18 hole golf for KC corporate challenge for my company. We had a blast- placed 5th! Wahoo! Monday: finally made it to pool! I covered my knee with an occlusive dressing and had a great swim! It was so nice to be swimming outdoors in the sun! 550 yds go vit D! Tuesday: plan to go cross train here at home since I'm call and have a late start at work! 15 min elliptical, 15 min treadmill, body weight training Diet: above all on track-can always stand to eat more veggies! Just not that hungry at times! I am focused in water consumption!