It is nice having a slow morning. Yes, I had planned on going on a run with the trail running group this morning, but opted to stay closer to home instead of driving over an hour to run for an hour or two. I needed the sleep. Later I will head out in search of a relatively unknown waterfall and trail in the foothills behind my house for a solitary run, but for now I am enjoying coffee and vegging out while I ponder what to mkae for breakfast.. If there is one major downfall to my routine it is a serious lack of rest and sleep. Rest is vital for recovery and improvement. I know this in my mind, but putting it into practice is difficult for me. Last week was a big week with doubled up workouts every day, and with two open water swims, a ten mile run, and a 48 mile ride, along with strength training, core workouts and plyometrics. So I opted to take it a little easy for the first part of this week to let myself catch up a bit. I am still following the Number One Rule: Train Every Day. But mostly kept it to single discipline workouts daily: Monday, open water swim, stretching; Tuesday, 60 minutes cycling, core workout, stretching; Wednesday (firefighter drill night) 30 minutes cycling, plyometrics; Thursday, 40 laps at the pool, 30 minutes cycling, stretching; Friday, 70 minute open water swim (3 large laps around The Cove, I was nearly the only person there, it was gloriously peaceful), 45 minutes cycling, stretching. I am back to adding deep tissue self-massage to help my poor calf muscles, as well as adding plyometrics to increase strength and stamina.
I have finally managed to get my food intake to match my energy expenditure so that I can maintain my weight. 18 months ago my BMI was about 35, now I am down to 22, which is where I want to hold. I have found I need to eat a lot to keep my weight and energy stable, lots of healthy carbs, vegan proteins, nuts, avocados, more spinach and bananas than you can imagine. I am eating a lot of whole grains. I have found an organic rice mix called "Wild Grains Blend" that is delicious, and decently high in protein. At the beginning of the week I cook it up in a pot of vegan Spanish rice, or teriyaki rice, with quinoa, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, onion, garlic, curry, sundried tomatoes, and either salsa or teriyaki. I take a bowlful in my lunch, garnished with chopped roasted cashews and raw Brazil nuts. It is amazingly satisfying, and a good source of plant based protein.
As September looms I am beginning to feel my confidence growing. I am loving the journey, loving my workouts and how my body is responding. Yes, I have moments of doubt, but they are fewer and fleeting. I have become adept and comfortable swimming in open water, which was a massive hurdle for me. Now I love it more than lap swimming, and feel like a creature of the deep in my Selkie Suit, and can swim for an hour or more with ease and little fatigue. I can cycle for 3 hours, strong and steady, with minimal discomfort in my shoulders and my delicate girly bits. I can run 10 miles at my slow and steady 10 mph pace. Now I need to start pulling all the factors together. Today, I will run, and later cycle and work on core strength. Tomorrow I will take the bike out and ride for 30 or 40 miles, then get off and run to teach my legs to hold up under in the T2 transition. I need to be able to start my run without my legs betraying me and feeling like wooden stumps. I am into my critical training phase now, it is time to really focus. I am excited. Deliriously excited.
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