2018 Trail Running Races

Goal - collect 4 points from max 2 races that I can use to apply for UTMB OCC in 2018.

Wachusett North Face Endurance
June 10, 2018
*I'm currently signed up for the half marathon which doesn't provide any points. 3 points are allocated to the 50K, although this is very early season so I may use this race as an experience and way to build my uphill strength.

Loon Mountain Race
early July
no points, just fun

Tahoe Rim Trail 55K
July 21-22
Lottery opens 12/3/17
3 points for UTMB

Santa Barbara Trail Marathon
July 2018
2 points

Vermont 50K
September 2018
2 or 3 points for UTMB
There's no map because it crosses people's personal property :-) and running this course is only allowed on race day.

Winter Wild Series
January 14th @ Whaleback, NH
January 21st @ Crotched Mountain, NH
January 28th @ Ragged Mountain, NH
February 4th @ Shawnee Peak, ME
February 11th @ Pats Peak, NH
February 18th @ Ascutney, VT
February 25th @ Okemo, VT
March 4th @ Black Mountain, NH
March 11th @ Waterville Valley, NH
March 18th @ Gunstock, NH

Balancing Hormones after IRONMAN

One of the things I learned this year by training for an IRONMAN was to trust my intuition and trust the way I feel. I verified this by taking 1-2 days off of training per week (most people don't take any days off for at least 3 weeks in a row) and by not pushing myself too hard when I felt tired. I maxed out at 12 hours of training per week when my plan called for 16-20 hours - and I had a race PR.

One of the things that I knew wasn't going well during my training was my nutrition. They say to train with what you're going to use on the course. This meant Gatorade and gels. Going into this I had done a great job of removing sugar and junk from my diet and I knew that there had to be another way to handle nutrition for this training... but I had been out of the game for so long and I was in a race against time to get ready for this IM. Frankly, I just never figured out another way to handle it. I decided to "let that one go." And by letting go, I gained 8 pounds while training for an IM (seriously) and worse, created a sugar addiction with all the symptoms that go along with that.

Now that I'm post IRONMAN, I'm able to slow down and re-calibrate. The real reason why I'm  taking the time to fix this isn't because of the weight gain. It's because I was starting to experience a whole slew of symptoms which I identified as a hormonal imbalance.

I've been keyed into hormonal imbalance since having kids. We experience a total body change with hormones through pregnancy, breast feeding, lack of sleep, and stress. Ironically, training for the IRONMAN raised my stress levels so high that I didn't have time to deal with things like eating well, which deepened my hormonal imbalances.

Here are some of the things that went wrong:

Right before my period I would get intense depression, anger, and frustration. To solve this, I went on a birth control pill that would make it so I wouldn't get my period for 3 months in a row (in an effort to not have that hormonal dip right before my period). I started taking the pill a few months before the IRONMAN and it did help at first. Fast forward a few months after the race, I had breakthrough bleeding and intense mood swings, anger, and frustration. But wait, there's more...

Every night I was waking up soaked in bed. Soaked like - clothes and sheets are wet and I had to get up and change, and sometimes lay a towel down underneath me from the sweaty sheets (yes, I would have loved to change the sheets but that would wake up Pat). There are times when I would wake up 3 times in a night to change. Does this remind you ladies of anything? Think back to when you just gave birth and would wake up in the middle of the night soaking wet with sweat. Was I having menopause? I'm only 38... but I'm starting to wonder, what is this all about?

And then there's the mood. I know that it's still connected to my period but having PMS + road rage x 10 and experiencing anger, frustration, depression, snapping at my kids, and being weepy is no way to live. I wanted and needed to find a way to balance my hormones.

And more about my behavior... one day I found myself eating candy in a frenzy. I looked up from my computer screen and wondered, what am I doing? It was as if I was fueling for some major endurance event but really I was "fueling" to handle this crazy stressful thing I had going on at work. Meanwhile, I was hungry all the time and having uncontrollable cravings especially around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Regarding exercise, I'm post IM and I've been enjoying the freedom of doing whatever my body feels like doing. I've been completely engrossed in trail running and reading everything I can find on the subject including books, magazines, listening to Trail Runner Nation podcast, watching elite runners on YouTube, and of course learning the trails near my house :-) which has been amazing and therapeutic!

On TRN podcast they've had a few guests talk about and validate many of the signs I was experiencing, which I believe to be induced from diet. My favorite shows include Brad Kearns (author of Primal Endurance and Keto Reset), Zach Bitter (elite ultra trail runner, coach, and proponent of high fat and low carb diet), and Dr Phil Maffetone (the godfather of the high fat low carb, and "slow down" way of life). Links to my favorite podcasts below.

When I finally voiced out loud what it was that I was feeling - that was the moment when I realized that my intuition is correct. At that moment, I decided to stop taking the pill and to do a diet overhaul.

The idea is to re-wire my brain to make it realize that I don't need carbs at every moment of the day. To do this, I'm eating a high fat and low carb diet. What does that really mean? It means that I'm not adding any grains, sugars, or processed foods into my diet and sticking with fat, protein, veggies, and dark chocolate (duh!).

For the first 3-4 days I ate as much as I wanted but no carby foods. I had a headache each day. I dropped 4 pounds of inflammation within 5 days (that's the first time I weighed myself). Moreover, I'm feeling good and so much less bloated. I'm definitely less hungry and having far less cravings. The true repair will take time and I'm going to be tracking how I do when it comes time for my period. On the endurance side of the house, I'm trying to teach my body to burn fat for fuel vs sugars. 

I'm finding more and more examples of athletes who have experienced the exact same thing that I'm feeling - and it's so validating to hear their stories. By the way, I'm so excited about all of this. It's an experiment so far and I'm really excited to see how this goes!

If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend these podcasts:
Trail Runner Nation: Keto Reset with Brad Kearns and Zach Bitter
Trail Runner Nation: Dr Phil Maffetone was right all along! 
Trail Runner Nation: Healthy eating with Dr Mark Cucuzzella
Podcasts by Abel James and Tawnee Prazak

@roadtoironmom

Summary

My Symptoms of Sugar Addiction

• sweating at night
• insomnia
• anger, frustration, depression, weepy
• weight gain and bloating
• feeling low, sugar hangover
• sugar binging
• 3pm need to eat
• always hungry
• dependent on regular "sugar infusions" during exercise and after

How I Became Sugar Addicted

• Training for an endurance event with sugary products, in my case Gatorade and gels
• This created a dependence on sugar. Anytime I felt 'low" I would instinctively need carbs or sugar.

My First Solution (which didn't work)

• going on a birth control pill so I wouldn't get a dip in hormones with period

My Diet Second Solution - high fat and very low added carbs
what I'm eating now

• coffee with cream
• breakfast: omelette with onions, ham, peppers, avocado
• lunch: salad with protein (choice of chicken, eggs, tuna)
• dinner: protein (usually chicken or beef) and veggies
• snacks: cheese sticks, yogurt, dark chocolate, nuts
• carb: 1 piece of fruit per day combined with peanut butter or almond butter
• I still drink diet coke (I know... not great) but I don't drink alcohol (sober for 1.5 years now)

Current Exercise

• refocus on my "why" which is to get outside, breath fresh air, and see the beautiful outdoors, suggested podcast: Trail Runner Nation: Start with Why
• slowing down, more focus on enjoyment
• interest in trail running

Why?

• balance hormones
• be less hungry
• balance mood
• learn how to draw from my fat reserves vs burning sugar for fuel

Results so far

• Days 3-4 felt great but did have a headache
• Dropped 4 pounds in weight which I attribute to less inflammation, swelling, and being bloated from sugar  
• Days 5+ no headache, still feeling things out

If I were to do IM CHOO

Oh ya know... if I were to do IRONMAN Chatanooga, fondly called IM CHOO... my ramp would look something like this:

Mt Wachusett Trail 13.1 June 10 (signed up)

Farm to Fork Fondo VT July 15

Mt Washington Century July 28

Rev3 Poconos 70.3 Aug 12

Farm to Fork Fondo Maine or Apple Country Century Aug 25

CRW Northern Lighthouse Tour Sept 9

IM CHOO Sept 30, 2018

Stay tuned, currently in negotiations with the hubby :-)

2018 - Abby's Bucket List Races

With less than 3 weeks until IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant, everyone has been asking "what are you going to do when this is over!?"

Aside from spending more time with my family, flying by the seat of my pants, and enjoying life - there are lots of races that I'd love to do. My focus will be shorter races, gaining speed, lifting... and generally selecting my workouts based on how I'm feeling that day vs what I need to do to get ready for an IRONMAN. I'd like to do one 70.3, ideally end of summer, and some different style races like Wildman Biathlon and Monadnock Full Throttle that involve climbing to the top of a mountain to complete the race.

Here are some of the races on my list. And yes, there are other great races in the area but if they're not on the list it might be because I've already done them. If I'm missing a good one, feel free to comment below!


Harvest Triathlon - Sprint and Olympic
Wareham, MA
June 10, 2017
https://maxperformanceonline.com/harvesttri/

AppleMan Sprint Triathlon
Littleton, MA
June 16, 2017
http://www.applemantriathlon.com/

Hyannis Sprint 
Hyannis, MA
June 17, 2017
Sept 9, 2017
http://www.neeevents.com/hyannis-sprint-triathlon/

Bare Hill Triathlon
Harvard, MA
June 25, 2017
http://racesonline.com/events/bare-hill-triathlon

Loon Mountain Hill Climb
Loon Mountain Resort, NH
July 2, 2017
http://www.acidoticracing.com/loon-mountain-race/#.WYUd_emQyM8

IRONMAN 70.3 Canada
Whistler, CA
Late July/Early Aug
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/canada.aspx#axzz4optPNkbx

Wildman Biathlon
Pinkham Notch, NH
Aug 12, 2017
http://www.wildmanbiathlon.com/ 

Farm to Fork Fondo Maine 
Freeport, ME
Aug 27, 2017
http://www.farmforkfondo.com/

Old Orchard 70.3
Old Orchard Beach, ME
Aug 27, 2017
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/maine.aspx#/axzz4optPNkbx

Lake George 70.3
Lake George, NY
Sept 3, 2017
http://www.adkracemgmt.com/races/

Monadnock Full Throttle
Monadnock State Park, NH
Sept 9, 2017
https://monadnockfullthrottle.com/

IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid
Lake Placid, NY
Sept 10, 2017
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman-70.3/lake-placid.aspx#axzz4optPNkbx

Duxbury Beach Sprint
Duxbury, MA
Sept 16, 2017 
http://www.duxburybeachtriathlon.com/

@roadtoironmom

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: June 19 - June 25

Training Recap June 19-25 (the week following Patriot 70.3 on June 17th)

Monday: day off

Tuesday: 45 min run

Wednesday: 45 min masters swim

Thursday: 7 mile run

Friday: 2000 meter swim

Saturday: 2:45 ride / 42 miles

Sunday: 1 hour ride (16.5 miles) and 35 min run

The day after Patriot 70.3 - lounging in the stroller with my boys!

I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be after my 6 hour and 26 minute 70.3 on Saturday but I was definitely depleted. This week was more about getting my body moving again than hitting any distance goals. Even if my body was ready my mind definitely wasn't. 

Bonus ride / run on Sunday thanks to an impromptu babysitter

This coming weekend crests into July which means that it's go time (holy scary!). What that means is that the next 5 weekends are going to be really tough (75+ mile rides on Saturday followed by a 30 min run and a ride / run brick the next day). These long rides take a lot of time (5+ hours) and a LOT of mental fortitude. I don't really enjoy riding my bike for that long (I admit!) and nor does my tushy.

Summer showers made for a muddy 42 mile ride

I read something that said if you say going into it "this is going to be crazy hard, my ass is going to burn, my muscles are going to be on fire!".. then what really happens might be slightly easier :-) Ha! I'll let you know how that tactic goes!

Here's that ride to Plum Island and back

The other thing it said is to count which is interesting because that's a tactic I discovered this past weekend when I did 20 second intervals (hard) and 10 seconds off, then 20 seconds on... and so on just to get home.

My pit crew making sure all the gears are working

 Follow my journey on Insta: @roadtoironmom

Patriot 70.3 Race Report

Saturday June 17, 2017 was my first Half IRONMAN since 2010! That 7 year gap accounts for meeting my husband, getting pregnant within a year of knowing each other, getting married, getting pregnant again on our honeymoon, having two kids 14 months apart, buying our first home, gaining over 50 pounds with each kid and losing that weight... then starting triathlon all over again.

Last year I got in such great shape from doing 21 Day Fix that I got that thought, "what else can I do?"

In my mind, IRONMAN represents the ultimate test of fitness. Yes, there are other ultra events waaayyyy more crazy than IRONMAN but for me this is the pinnacle of what I'm willing to do. After having kids back to back, c-sections with both, gaining and losing over 100 pounds, seeing myself in a body that I didn't recognize and going through that process of losing weight and re-strengthening my body.... being an IRONMOM is the ultimate revenge. The ultimate come back. The ultimate f-you to the way I felt when I wasn't fit.

Abby Coyle crossing the finish line at Patriot 70.3

After doing IM Arizona in Nov 2010 I had zero desire to do another IRONMAN. Zero. It took every ounce of my being to train that year. I trained like a maniac too. I don't think I did fewer than 3 Cambridge Masters Swim classes per week for an entire year. I biked at least twice during the week at 5:45am, lifted and ran every afternoon, and was out the door by 6am to ride on Saturday. Then on Sunday I religiously did my ride / run brick to complete the week. I also never took a day off. I might have taken a few days off that entire year. It was crazy but it was what I wanted and needed at the time.

Last year I got a "whiff of crazy" and started to consider what it would take to do another IRONMAN. I talked with other moms who had done it, talked with my old coach Jesse Kropelnicki from QT2, and signed up for IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant, Aug 20, 2017.

This time, with a 3 and 4 year old, I really wanted to approach training with more balance. Frankly, training for an IRONMAN requires you to be a little off-center (shall we say?). Or is it that you have to be so "centered" to allow your body and mind to do things that other people don't consider normal? Regardless, the task in itself makes it so that it's not easy to be "balanced" and ask your body (and more importantly your mind) to do so much work. Basically, if you want to be great then "f" balance! But, I've kept myself from passing that line.

If you've been following my progress, you know that I stressed out all winter. It was too cold most of the time to ride outside and then we had a very rainy spring. Only recently have we been able to get outside to ride. I do feel that I'm racing against time to get my fitness to the level I want it to be. Regardless, a couple of weeks ago we did a 90 mile ride (which was tough) and I did a half marathon the next day (which went surprisingly well) and last weekend I did a 1 mile open water swim. Going into Patriot 70.3 I felt prepared.

What I didn't expect was the wave of emotion that crossed over me at mile 12 of the run (that's 69.3 miles into the race). At that point I was really in the zone and sweet talking myself to the finish line. Then, the realization hit me that only two years ago I couldn't run a mile. I had that moment, like - holy shit look how far you've come! With a quick glance over my should to make sure no one was watching I let those happy tears flow! I was crying and crying and just so damn happy. "I'm here. This is where I wanted to be. This is a big deal and I made it."

Abby Coyle Patriot 70.3 2017 Results

Overall my results were pretty good! I was about 22 minutes slower than my last 70.3, which is pretty good considering Pumpkinman is in September vs Patriot in June which means I had a whole summer to get myself to that level of fitness. I have a ton of work to do to get me to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant but that's ok! It's a lot of handle mentally but I'm proudly chugging forward!

Abby Coyle Results: Pumpkinman 70.3 2010 vs Patriot 70.3 2017

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: June 5 - June 18

Training Recap June 5-11

Monday: day off

Tuesday: 1 hour lift and stretch

Wednesday: 50 min masters swim, 30 min lift, 25 min run 

Thursday: 1:17 running of 7 miles with 8 x 400 m intervals on the track

Friday: 1 hour lift 

Saturday: 1 mile OWS 38 min, 25 mile cycle 

 Sunday: 9 mile run

June 12 - June 18: week of Patriot 70.3

 

Monday: day off

Tuesday: day off

Wednesday: 35 min run

Thursday: 35 min run 

Friday: day off

Saturday: race day Patriot 70.3

Sunday: day off

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: May 29 - June 4

12 Weeks to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap

Very windy 90 miles from Haverhill to Portsmouth and back.

Monday: day off 

Tuesday: 30 min swim

Wednesday: 45 min spin class, 45 min lift

Thursday: 1 hour interval run (30 minute warm up, 8 x 2 minute all out intervals with 1:30 min break in between), 20 min swim

Friday: 47 minutes masters swim

Saturday: 90 miles cycling at 5:30 hours

Sunday: half marathon 2:17

Total Moving Hours:12 hours

The headwind up 1A was brutal.

The highlight of this week was a 90 mile bike ride on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. My legs were tired going into Saturday's long ride and we found a headwind all the way up the coast on 1A to Portsmouth. The effort absolutely fried my brains. The adventure definitely taught me that I am only at the very beginning of preparing my body for the task at hand, which is IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Aug 20, 2017.

Best pit crew around!

I am happy with Sunday's half marathon because I was able to hold a zone 1 effort through mile 8 and it felt pretty good. The part that hurt most might have been the blisters!

13.1 completed the day after riding 90 miles!

Patriot 70.3 on June 17th is in my sights. I learned that I need to be careful to not cook my legs going into my long events. I feel ready enough to do it but not ready enough to crush it (there's a big difference there).

Patton Park: interval workout

Now that I've checked a 90 mile ride off my list, my goal is to remove some fear and just focus on getting the work done. I'm also going to attempt to lower my coffee intake (I'm drinking a ton throughout the day) to see if I can make some improvements with my heart rate. Plus, I really want that caffeine to work when I need it most!

This upcoming week is a pretty normal week of training and I'm going to be careful the following which is prior to Patriot. Things are starting to get exciting!

 Follow my progress @roadtoironmom

Ideal IRONMAN training plan

I'm obsessed with creating the perfect week of IRONMAN training.

When I say "perfect" ... I mean perfect for me. I'm a full time working mom of two boys (3 and 4 years old), a wife, and middle of the pack age grouper with aspirations to be the fastest and fittest that I can be. I finished IM Arizona 2010 in 14 hours and I'm currently training for IM Mont-Tremblant Aug 2017.

"mama, are you exercising?" yes, my loves :-)

Training is completely different to what it was in 2010 when I was single and carefree. As a mama, I have to reserve enough patience to be able to take care of life at home! My hubby has been super helpful and I'm sure he'll be glad when this is over... but then again I'll probably just pick some other crazy goal when this race is over :-)

Below are some ideas for the ideal schedule. My thoughts on this constantly change and many workouts need to be moved around depending on work, kids, and weather. And frankly - sometimes I just get really sore or tired and need to make changes!

love those intervals!

12.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 45 min run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 1.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
3 hours running (30 min / 1 hour intervals / 1.5 hours)
6 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min, 10 min)

14 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 45 min run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim, 1.5 hour ride
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 1.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
3 hours running (30 min / 1 hour intervals / 1.5 hours)
7.75 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

16.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 1 hour run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim, 1.5 hour ride
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 2.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
5 hours running (1 hour / 1 hour intervals / 30 min / 2.5 hours)
7.75 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

Another way to get 16.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 1 hour run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim
Saturday: 6 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 2.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
5 hours running (1 hour / 1 hour intervals / 30 min / 2.5 hours)
8 hours biking (45 min spin / 6 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

Follow my journey @roadtoironmom

A Day in the Life of IRONMAN Training as a Mom

A day in the life of IRONMAN training as a mom. Saturday 4/15/17:

6am wake up

• Coffee
• Clean kitchen
• Clean living room
• It's 37 degrees out. 
• Decide to workout later in day after it warms up
• Bo wakes up
• Feed kids
• Get them ready to go outside
• Rake yard
• Hubby goes to workout
• Clean up yard
• Watch kids ride bikes
• Feed them again
• Put on the TV

12pm

• Husband gets home from his workout
• Finish serving kids lunch
• Temps hit 65
• Get ready to ride

1pm

• Ride for 3 hours

4pm

• 8 minute transition to run
• Grab a bite of a left over burrito
• Chug some Gatorade
• 36 minute run

5pm

• Done with brick!
• Kids are outside riding bikes again with dad
• Shove leftover burritos down the hatch
• Shower
• Make snack for kids
• Settle them down with a show
• Clean kitchen and living room, again
• Make Easter egg baskets
• Eat a second dinner
• Change sheets on the bed
• Hold Bo and get him settled with more food

7:30

• Write blog
• Get kids down for bed
• Watch TV

9:30pm

• Bed

Follow my journey to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant here: @roadtoironmom

Should I back out of IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant 2017?

Should I back out of IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant 2017?

All winter I whined about biking because it was too cold and I didn't want to ride on an indoor trainer. I did spin class twice a week but didn't get in the long rides. Now that the weather is tolerable (over 50 degrees in Boston) I'm still dreading the bike. I've been filled with dread, worry, and fear about not getting in the long rides and the stress is consuming me. I'm not hitting the right volumes, but worse - I'm not sure I really want to?

I'm questioning - do I have the desire to do this? Do I even enjoy biking long distances anymore? Is the juice worth the squeeze (as my friend put it)? I keep talking about the bike because it's the weakest of my three sports and also the longest portion of the race. I know that if I can get strong on the bike then I'll be in a good spot to do the race.

I put a note into my coach and his response of "IMMT seems to be in the cards for you, but not your "life" right now. A happy life, is a happy you....when life isn't happy, then you aren't happy...and then you enter into the dark side of IRONMAN....and that side of IRONMAN, not pretty or healthy for you and your circle." really got me thinking about my options:

1. Worst case scenario, I back out of race. I lose the dream and all costs incurred but regain my sanity ($700 race fee, $4,500 in bike and parts, ~$2K for coaching, $149/month for spin class, $40/month for masters swim class, new biking kits >$600, etc.) This would be a bummer.
2. Show up to race day unprepared. Complete the swim and do as much of the race as I can handle (Not a terrible option).
3. See how I fare at Patriot 70.3 in June. This will be a really interesting indicator on how well positioned I am to keep going.
4. Man up and attempt to complete the volume. Fight the weekend guilt of being away for 5 hours at a clip. Get tougher about doing the work both physically and mentally.

Below is an example of my training week of April 10th. While this is under the volume I should be hitting, the real question that my coach addresses below is that if I'm feeling the squeeze now, then is shooting for an IM this year worth it?

Monday: 30 min swim, 45 min spin class
Tuesday: 30 min run, 45 min spin class
Wed: Day off
Thurs: Day off
I intend to do for the next few days:
Friday: masters swim, 1 hour run
Sat: 1 hour run
Sunday: 2-3 hour bike and 30 min run

I asked my coach, can I train 5 days a week? Is what I'm doing enough?

Here was his response:

"Here is the deal with IM, it isn't about the number of days, but volume covered. So yes, you can train for 5 days a week and do an IM, but those 5 days have to reach a workload that will allow you to cover the distance. Volume for racing, is dictated by what is called Critical Volume....the volume needed for endurance to not be a limitation on race day. For an IM, CV is 12,000 yds, of swimming, 300 miles of biking, 66 miles of running....that is the average of your peak weeks (not sustainable volumes)....so we build seasons to peak for two weeks, and those numbers would dictate performance (from an endurance standpoint) on race day. CV for an IM is pretty much impossible if you are not a pro...it would take over 30 hours per week to cover those distances. That doesn't happen for 99.9% of the folks that toe the line at Ironmans. 90% of athletes will pace like they have covered CV, and will end up walking most of the marathon. So we pace folks based on what they have for volume, so they don't overshoot their endurance account and can have strong races.

Minimum for an Ironman, is 2/3 CV....so 8000 yds swimming, 200 biking, 45 running. The training schedule built upon your logistical constraints provided by you, will not meet the 2/3 CV for IMMT. Since we are not even close to those numbers yet, and you are feeling the squeeze, that is concerning. What does not meeting 2/3 CV look like on race day...you will dance in/out of possibly missing the cutoff times, the swim cutoff time is manageable, but the bike cutoff time will be close. Straight up, you will walk most of the marathon and will dance with the cutoff time for the day 17:00. The statements above, are made, with me not "knowing" you....so don't take it personally....you may know things about how you perform better than I. But if we are having the discussion about what is required "on paper" to do an IM...the paper is showing it is possibly "doable", but it will be damn close.

Now we get to the "feeling the vice" of training in April, and it adds another layer to my concerns mentioned above for you to have a successful day at IMMT. The dark side of Ironman training, which is nothing folks talk about, or post on social media, is that it brings your life to its knees. You'll see posts on how great training is going, but you'll never see posts about how that great training is stressing every aspect of your life, and everyone around you that loves you. Your circle, has to be ready to Ironman train....so you can. I always have this conversation with folks.....I don't care if YOU are ready, I care if your LIFE is ready. I will warn folks about certain weeks...especially peak weeks....that this time, is all about you/training....and get your life and love ones on board because mommy is going to not be around. Ironman is a decision for everyone that supports the athletes decision to take on the 6 month challenge. YOU deciding to do an Ironman, and everyone else deciding is very different. So you might be getting this feeling of "yeah, I signed up for this....but damn, my kids didn't sign up for this...they just want their Mom" I don't know the age of your kids...but I would say, if they are under 10....it is going to be TOUGH...since the understanding isn't quite there for them to "get it".

So, if you were to corner me for a decision...from the very little I know about "you"....I would say to not to IMMT...do tri, do HIM's, relish in the sport and get better....get some training cycles in you, and you'll learn more about how to fit training into your life's logistics. If you decide to do it, the volume has to be covered to ensure you meet the cutoff times...even then, it will be close (that is with no knowledge of performance numbers from you). IMMT seems to be in the cards for you, but not your "life" right now. A happy life, is a happy you....when life isn't happy, then you aren't happy...and then you enter into the dark side of Ironman....and that side of Ironman, not pretty or healthy for you and your circle.

Below is the link to the article about Critical Volume. http://www.qt2systems.com/tips/

Let me know if you have any questions."

I happened to read this email around 1:30am. Deep breathe.

Let's give this a little levity. I'm part of a group on Facebook that is absolutely hilarious, called Pathetic Triathletes Group. There are about 29,800 triathletes in the group and they make me laugh daily.

I posed the question yesterday, What time range are you targeting to finish your IRONMAN? I was happily surprised to see that the majority of people are shooting to complete the event in over 14 hours (same as me)...in fact 82 people claimed to be in that range!! That made me feel not along and gives me a little perspective on all of this. I follow a lot of really excellent athletes and their abilities far exceed my own so seeing people who are just like me trying to do something outrageous is comforting.

Check out this poll:

One person responded "If I hit anything less than 16.59:59 then I over trained."

That makes me smile :-)

What next? For now, I'm going to attempt to hit the right volumes and see if I can ramp this thing up. I do feel confident that I can complete the 70.3 in June so I'm going to focus on getting myself to that point. I'll keep you posted on what I do from there!

Follow my journey to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant here: @roadtoironmom

IRONMAN Mexican Meal Plan

I was so thrilled with my first meal prep experience that I decided to go for it again. For this round, I selected a Mexican themed menu of 1800-2100 calories per day. Having gone grocery shopping on Sunday (total cost $116) I was ready to rock out a couple of meals tonight after work.

I'm loving how easy these recipes are and that it's teaching me new recipes and showing me how to properly serve portions. My goal is to continue to learn new recipes so that I can eventually create my own meal plan.

But first, a sober cocktail! Soda water & ruby red:

Side note, cheers to celebrating ONE YEAR SOBER this past weekend on April 8th. It was such an emotionally awesome day. It started with finding long course at the pool, like it was setup fortuitously for me to enjoy. Then I got to workout with the woman who changed the way I think about health and fitness, the one and only @autumncalabrese, and celebrated withTeam Beachbody - the entity that encouraged me to take the first step with this journey, to be the best version of myself, and to KEEP GOING. 

Here I am on my one year sober-versity with my two boys, Jack and Bo:

Back to the Mex menu - First step was to make a rub for salmon and steak. I LOVE that I only had to make one rub and could use it twice.

Then I made a mango salad (to which I had no mangoes and substituted with strawberries). The portions were 1 cup of dark greens, 1/3 cup of the mango salad, and 3 oz of protein.

Tonight's dinner:

Perfectly portioned meals:

 Hmm, was this on the meal plan? :-)

My next health and fitness group begins April 24th and I would LOVE ❤️to have you join us!!

• learn how to meal prep

• workout for 30 min a day 

• learn portion control 

• weekly contests for extra motivation

• boost daily nutrition with a superfoods shake

*All levels welcome. Best for people who want to lose 7-12 pounds in 21 days. If you're interested, shoot me a message on FB here.

Follow my journey to IRONMAN Mont Tremblant here: @roadtoironmom

Day 2 IRONMAN meal plan

I'm even more excited about this meal plan today than I was yesterday. It took me about 3 hours including grocery shopping to make the meals for all 5 days. Especially on days when I'm working from home it's so much easier to grab and go then to make meals - so right now I'm really pumped that I took the time do prep.

Because this meal plan involved no cooking and lots of raw veggies, I thought that it was going to be a little hard to eat (too much salad) but surprisingly I really enjoyed the meals yesterday.

Here's another cool thing, because there was a full grocery list there was very little waste from what I bought and used compared to what I didn't use. I always say - it's not expensive to eat healthy, it's expensive when we don't eat what we buy.

Here's what's on the plan for today:

Breakfast M/W/F: Coconut Mango Chia Pudding
Shakeology Snack M/W/F: Blueberry Spinach Shakeology
Lunch M/W/F: Tuna and White Bean Salad
Snack M/W/F: Hardboiled Eggs, Apple with Nut Butter
Dinner M/W/F: Black Beans and Rice with Veggies

Full 5-day meal plan here.

Follow my journey to IRONMAN Mont Tremblant here: @roadtoironmom

IRONMAN Meal Prep 1500-1800 Calories

You may be wondering "why is she putting so much effort into meal prep when she's burning so many calories through training?" 

Good question. 

Ironically, it has been much harder to eat healthy and maintain my weight since beginning IRONMAN training. That, and I'm burning surprisingly fewer calories then you might expect. Doing 30 minute high intensity training (like my Beachbody video workouts) is actually a lot more effective for burning calories than long slow cardio, which is the definition of IRONMAN training. 

About 20 weeks out from the race, I'm not even at a super high volume yet but my appetite thinks I am. It's no secret that I do not enjoy cooking -- so especially when I get tired I spend even less time preparing healthy food. Inevitably, I reach for when is pre-made (enter snickers bars, cupcakes, you name it). 

If I'm not careful then I could easily gain weight during this process. My race day goal weight is about 125, and I'm around 132 now. Even if I lose a fraction of a pound each week then I'll be on track. So - how am I going to do that? Well, I originally lost weight by following Beachbody's 21 Day Fix which includes a portion control meal plan. I'm going to follow that again but simply choose a meal plan with more calories.

Here's the meal plan of 1500-1800 calories that I selected. I know there's someone out there reading this and thinking - "she's eating way to few calories." The reality is, I need a foundation for my day and this plan provides that. Plus there is nothing saying that I can't add food if this is not enough. Did someone say chocolate? Kidding, not kidding.

Here's the menu, created by Beachbody: 

Breakfast M/W/F: Coconut Mango Chia Pudding
Breakfast T/Th: Overnight Oats with Strawberries and Hemp Seeds
Shakeology Snack M/W/F: Blueberry Spinach Shakeology
Shakeology Snack T/Th: Peach and Nut Butter Shakeology
Lunch M/W/F: Tuna and White Bean Salad
Lunch T/Th: Greek Chicken Salad
Snack M/W/F: Hardboiled Eggs, Apple with Nut Butter
Snack T/Th: Greek Yogurt with Berries
Dinner M/W/F: Black Beans and Rice with Veggies
Dinner T/Th: Shrimp and Veggie Rice Bowl

The entire prep from going grocery shopping, driving home, unpacking, cleaning the kitchen, putting away the dishes, preparing every meal, cleaning up, and taking a picture... took about 3 hours. The cost of the food was about $140; plus my Shakeology (dense superfoods shake) which is about $4 a day. 

But first, I had to have coffee and my Shakeology :-) Below is 1 scoop of Vanilla Shakeology, 1/2 frozen banana, ice, water, and peanut butter blended with cocoa powder garnish. Delish!

 

I was surprised at how easy and fast it was to do the grocery shopping. When you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the directions, there's actually a full page grocery list. Hello game changer!! Here's a pic of my cart when I was finished (plus a few extra items for my kiddies).

The meal prep that I chose is one that involves no cooking. I was happy to see my favorite breakfast included, chia seed pudding.

This was a nifty salad that included beans and cilantro.

Here's my prep in full glory - meals for 5 days!

Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone. There's something very comforting knowing exactly how much to eat to get the nutrients needed and not too much or too little food.

By the way, if you're wondering what I train with - it's Gatorade and Hammer gels.

Yes, there are healthier alternatives out there to Gatorade, like Beachbody's Hydrate, but the reality is that Gatorade will be on the course so that is what I am training with. For any workout over an hour I will use these products. For every hour I'll have one bottle of Gatorade, and for every 45 min I'll have 1 gel.

Follow my journey to IRONMAN Mont Tremblant here: @roadtoironmom

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant: 20 Weeks to Race Day

Woa, are there only 20 weeks until IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant? 

Even though this race is at the end of summer, it's still an "early" race for me since I live in New England. It's only just warm enough (the first week in April) to ride outside. Even though I've been spinning and lifting throughout the winter, I need to ramp up my biking ASAP to capture the miles needed.

I know from my first IRONMAN (Arizona in 2010) that I need to get stronger on the bike. I'm not sure if there's any way to avoid having my legs feel shredded to pieces after the race, but I am putting in a lot more work with lifting and plyo to build power in my legs. 

On Saturday I did a ton of squats and my favorite leg day moves from 21 Day Fix, T25, and Brazilian Butt Lift. 

On Sunday I did masters swim and a 20 mile bike ride. 

That lift/bike combo completely crushed my legs and I could barely walk all day on Monday. Here's what my coach QT2 said when I asked if I should workout today:

Soreness is discomfort that goes away as the workout progresses....pain, is discomfort that gets worse over the course of a workout. As soreness goes away, form is not compromised....so you carry on.....as pain increases, form will get worse, and you will get injured....so you don't workout when in pain at a level of 3 or above on a 1-10 point pain scale....or if you are sick, below 85% health.

Welp, I'll break it to you -- I rated my pain at a level 4 and I took the day off! Here's why - the point is to build muscle right? If so, I broke it down and now I have to heal. However, I often wonder if the point is to learn how to manage pain. If that is the goal, then I should have spun it out today.

Up until this point I've been totally freaking out about this endeavor. I referred to the process as a "sacrifice," and my friend kindly asked "is the juice worth the squeeze?" The answer is - I don't know! This is a completely crazy and insane thing for me to try to do. I've definitely been putting in my fair share of worry over it, and probably for good reason. But, I'm going for it anyway.

It's natural for people to want to push themselves. This, is a really just a test for me to see what is possible after having two boys (who are now 3 and 4, Jack in the pic below).

I've been modifying my QT2 program quite a bit just to accommodate our crazy weather. Here's what I'm planning to do this week:

Week 20 Training
Sunday: masters swim & 20 mile bike ride
Monday: day off
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 35 min run
Wed: 1 hour masters swim & massage
Thurs: run (not sure how long... will probably ask for advice to QT2)
Friday: forecast is 51 degrees and cloudy so I'll shoot for a 2 hour ride and 30 min run. My program calls for a 3 hour ride but I have to be realistic... am I really going to last out there if it's only 50 degrees? It's warmer than it has been... but it's not that warm.
Saturday: I'm going to Boston's Supa Saturday with Beachbody so I'll likely get a 30 min HIIT workout. I may need to find a way to run in the afternoon.

Week 19 Training (will likely modify this)
Sunday: 1 hour masters swim
Monday: 45 min spin class & 45 min run
Tuesday: swim & spin class
Wed: 1 hour bike & 1 hour run
Thurs: swim
Fri: 3:10 bike & 30 min run
Sat: 1:10 bike & 1:15 tabata run
Sunday: 1 hour masters swim

Generally, I am looking at April and May as my bike ramp up months. I need to get outside each weekend and build from the 20 that I did this past weekend to 60. From June to July I will ramp from 60 to 100. I'll add in a few races including Patriot on June 17th and Fork to Farm Fondo VT July 16th. I know that is a big ramp and probably not smart... but it's my reality since I was allergic to the bike trainer this winter.

That's all for now folks!! Will keep posting my training and progress! For daily updates follow me @roadtoironman