Changing It Up

These last few weeks have been a struggle. I have been getting back to sporadic training with my triathlon team.  I manage to hit the running and swimming workouts, but since I do my bike workouts on my trainer due to the hazardous road conditions and my lack of insurance, I have been weak at keeping that up without team support. I went back to using some training apps (Runkeeper at crhanse and MapMyRun at Sarah_Hansen - feel free to friend) that I used to use to see if knowing that people would see my workouts would motivate me. I think it will. That, and confessing to you all that I've not been towing the line training wise. I hate having to type this.

I also put in my goal in both the apps and my mind to complete a full Ironman by June 2013. I should be back in the states by then and can zero in on a race closer to the date.  My team is doing the Miami 70.3 in October.  I would very much like to join them if I can get it together.

 Pool surrounded by jungle where we train

The reason my training has been sporadic is the pull of family.  You see, the team trains at 5:30 or 6 in the evening.  That's right when my husband gets out of his med school lab and wants to have dinner with me.  It's the one time of the day we get to spend together, since he's studying the rest of the evening and at the school from 8 to 5. On nights I train, he just stays up at the school (as we share a car) and eats dinner there. I had a heart-to-heart with him and he shared with me when I pressed him on what he really wanted that it would be nice to have me home to support him these last weeks before his exams.  Finals are a very stressful time for all med school students, and having a homemade meal with his wife was important to him. So, I've told my team I'm taking a break till after finals.

This also means I'm pulling out of the Olympic Triathlon I had planned to do next Sunday. It's the day before my husband's finals, and I feel the stress of the race would just be too much to add to an already stressful time. He wouldn't be able to come, and I would be gone most of the day instead of being there helping to quiz him on materials. It was a difficult decision, but one I feel was in the best interest of my marriage. I always want him to know he comes first.  There will be other races.

So, I'm now training solo in the mornings while Chris is at school. It's not as much fun without my team, and I have to work harder to make sure I'm pushing myself like I do when I have the pull of the group. But, I trained for a marathon basically alone, so I think I can handle two weeks without the team.

I've also gotten into the Insanity workouts.  They are great for building up core strength, which is something I'm very weak in. Another plus is my husband can do these workouts with me, so it's a great way to spend time together. I have never been pushed as hard during a workout tape as I have during this series, so I'm excited to see the positive changes in my endurance shortly.

I was also fortunate to be asked by fellow peers to speak at SGU on my raw vegan diet.  The talk went very well, with many people participating in the discussion.  I made raw vegan pizza, "cheesy" kale chips, and banana chocolate pie for everyone to try.  It was fun to share my journey and hear other people's opinions. 

I have also made another compromise and am no longer 100% raw vegan.  I'm still vegan, but now I'm eating healthy cooked-from-fresh meals.  My husband agreed to no longer buy the junk food that tempts me, and I agreed to eat cooked meals with him again.  I'm still trying to stay 80% raw, but having lentils, potatoes, and rice added back into my diet has been a nice change. We still stay away from all animal products, processed foods, and wheat, but again, I felt a compromise was needed.  Also, being 100% raw made it very hard to eat with other people, as cheating on even a little cooked food caused me to get very sick.  I didn't ever want to be that guest who shows up with their meals all made and refuses to eat the host's entrees. You don't get a lot of social dinner invitations that way. It's very tempting for me to be a purist when it comes to this stuff, but I realize compromise is needed here.

While I still believe 100% raw is the best thing for me, I don't think it is for my husband given his high metabolism and difficulty with weight gain.  I don't think he could consume enough calories here on the island with our limited selection. Since we want to eat meals together, this means adding cooked food into my diet is also essential.

So, those are my current changes to the plan and philosophy.  I promised I would be real, right? I'm certainly not above adjusting again, but for now, we will see how it goes. Well, my husband just woke up.  I'd better get to making our daily raw smoothies and start the day! Make it a great one, my friends!

Setbacks and Seeing Backs

I read a great quote: "Train hard so you can race easy."

While I didn't put in impressive workouts, I definitely felt training was hard. All last week, I felt pain in my stomach that I finally determined was a kidney infection. But, I let it go pretty far hoping the pain would go away and not seeking treatment until early this week. I don't have medical insurance, so I was hesitant to go and wanted to see if it would clear up on its own. I used to get UTIs all the time when I was unhealthy, but I haven't gotten one in over three years until now.  I'm not sure why I would suddenly get one out of the blue when I'm following such a healthy diet and including so much exercise, but I am dealing with some personal stress that may take my immunity down a notch or two.

I trained with everyone last week, but due to the pain and fever I was much slower than normal. What made it worse was that even though it felt like a tough week to me, it was actually an easy week as the group had their first sprint triathlon on Saturday.  I choose not to race on Saturdays as this is a day I keep holy for God. But, even if it had been on a Sunday, I certainly wasn't ready to race.

 Sprint Triathlon Set Up This Weekend

Even their easy running pace is now a 7:30 min mile.  I can hold that for about a mile or two, but I soon drop back and finish up my 6 mile run far behind. It's discouraging that I let my fitness go so long while they were training.  I feel like I will never be able to catch up.  I know I will eventually, but these are the times that test me the most... constantly being the slowest one. But, at least I'm not getting too comfortable with success.  That will never be my problem!

I never was gifted athletically with natural talent.  I had to work hard to achieve success when others could skip training and still smoke me. It made those fast runs in my peak form all the sweeter and addictive, but it was so hard to not wish for more genetic superiority.

Now, I've been forced to rest this week.  My body is telling me not to train and I'm listening.  Today was the first day I really felt like I could pass for a normal human being. I still woke up at 3 a.m. due to the discomfort and stayed up, but I'm certainly improving on the antibiotics.  I may try to do a light bike workout tomorrow on my trainer while Chris is at the school just to see how everything feels when I push things a bit.

I anticipate a light workout weekend.  It's my 10-year anniversary tomorrow, and while we may do some light hiking this weekend, I will probably elect to spend the weekend with my husband vs my triathlon team... as wonderful as they are!