Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Not enough hours in the day

This is an expression you always hear adults saying...now I'm saying it. I guess I'm an adult now!

I read a response to an article in Triathlete magazine the other night. The article was how to avoid getting divorce while training for an Ironman... I wonder if this applies to Fiance's as well?

The lady who wrote it read the article to late she said, because she recently divorced while her and her spouse where training for an Ironman. I did some research and found a good article that gives you 5 tips on how to manage the training schedule and still maintain a healthy family, productive work enviroment and maintain a social life.

5 Ways to Have a Triathlon Training Schedule Without Getting a Divorce 

I don't think I will get divirced, I mean I have to be married first and thats not happening until May, but I have the 5 rules down patt and think John and I will survive.

 In response to a few post from some awesome followers. They asked how much swimming, running and biking I'm doing. Well it changes as I progress through the phases. Right now I'm in Phase 1. which is the adaption phase. My swims are anywhere from 1200 total Yards to 2000 yards. Run is done by time and i'm doing 30-60 min. And the Bike is 1hr - 2.5 hr with intervals. This will all ramp up. Today I did 1400yards in the pool and a 3mile run after. It varies, right now is the easy stuff..Oh and I'm also lifting 2 days a week!

Some days like today I swam 1400 yards and ran 3miles. Other days I will just lift upper body and do core workout.

I'm still having fun!

Happy New Year to everyone. Be safe.

Monday, December 28, 2009

2 Weeks down, 34 more to go!







I hope everyone had a great Christmas weekend. I know I did for sure.


Here's a short recap of the holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve- Dinner at John's Dad (Pete) and Diane.
Christmas Morning- Watch puma open presents, watch a Christmas story, and I had to ride my bike for 1hr and 15min and do intervals! ( I watched the Kona Ironman again to get inspiration!)
Christmas Afternoon- Pick up Jordan and watch him open his presents at our house.
Christmas post-Afternoon/Evening- Dinner and presents at John's Mom (Pat) and Joe's.
Day after Christmas- Swimming, take Jordan home and post Christmas gift exchanges for different sizes!
Last day of Christmas weekend- Bike ride OUTSIDE with John. I love riding with John, we also saw my old teammate Pam and John's friend Pat and Jeff. It was a good thing we did see Pat who also does the mechanic work for us, because my cable broke 30 min into our ride. Lucky for me it was the cable to the big ring, so I left it in the small ring since we were out in the hills. Hopefully that gets fixed today!

Overall I had a great weekend. Although I didn't see my family, I had a great time with my soon to be in-laws!

Whats going on this week-

Monday- Rest Day
Tuesday- Bike
Wednesday- Run & Swim
Thursday- Weights & Run
Friday - Weights ( hopefully the gym is open)
Saturday- Swim & Bike
Sunday- Run

I'm still loving the training. I got some new workout clothes for christmas and some awesome things for my Gym bag from Adventure Woman, I have no excuses!

Cheers!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

23 inches of snow and still going!



This past weekend we had a "blizzard," as some weather reporters call it. I think we just got a lot of snow. It started falling late Friday night for us in Langhorne. By the time I woke up on Sat morning there was a good covering on the ground, but not enough to stop my Fiance John from taking his cross bike into the woods for a ride. He makes me so proud:)

We had Jordan last weekend so I spent the morning hanging with him, watching christmas movies and eating breakfast. When John got back I only had a two hour window to get to the pool before they closed. The worst portion of the "blizzard" would be hitting around 2pm. John and Jordan dropped me off at the Gym and I did my swim workout. I keep getting bad headaches after my workouts in the chlorine pools, but i'm fine in the alt pools. I hope this goes away,
because I was hurting the rest of the day.

Sunday the snow stopped, but at that point we were pretty covered. Living in an apartement complex, they have people to clear out the sidewalks and walkways...at 4AM!!!!! Not fun, but at least I didn't have to do it. I made the best breakfast ever for my boys. In honor of the snow i made snowman pancakes, with bacon for the hat and mini chocolate chips for the eyes, mouth, nose and buttons and syrup for the arms!!

My discipline today was running..on the track. That clearly was not going to happen seeing how it was covered in snow, and I don't know of an indoor track to use. But before any of the could happen, my brother Pat and wife Helena came up for the afternoon. We all took Jordan to the ice skating rink, and was surprised at how empty it was. I was not complaining. Lunch followed then it was time to run.

I ran outside all last winter training for the Boston Marathon, so I was used to the cold. I bundled up and headed out doors. It felt great, I love running outside. I would run in any condition outside as long as i didn't have to run on a treadmill! The snow made it challenging, but thats part of the adventure!

Week 1 down and 36 to go!

This week looks as follows.
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-Run and Core
Wednesday-Swim
Thursday-Lower Body and Run
Friday- Bike
Saturday-Swim
Sunday-Bike

I had to switch around my Thursday and Friday workout since the gym is not open on Christmas day...seriously don't they know I need to train!

Tuesdays Run on the treadmill was pretty dreadful, but managed to not go completely crazy. My swim this morning at 6:30am hurt. My arms were super tired this morning. I'm ready for bed already, but I have to work.

I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Holiday. Don't eat too much so you regret it later and remember a Thank You goes a long way:)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Kickin' in the pool!

First official swim today. I started my day nice and early with John. He gets up at 5am for work, so this morning I joined him. Puma our Boston Terrier stayed in bed nice and comfy. I was at the gym nice and early and to my surprise the pool was hoppin! This was the first time swimming at the gym by my work and I was excited because it is a salt water pool. I had to share a lane with someone, which was fine. The nice thing about all the swimmers there was you know they were serious because who swims at 6:30am! I gathered from the swim caps that they were triathletes, and after a few introductions I made some friends and some new people to train with. One of the guys (Joe) actually did the Louisville Ironman this past year. They invited me to swim with there club when they do open water swims. I was so happy about this, because the open water swim was giving me some anxiety. I didn't know where to do it and I wasnt thrilled about doing it by myself. I guess it pays to be chipper in the morning. The only bad thing about working out so early besides the fact I was done my workout before the sun came up, is that I have already eaten three times today and it's only 12:30!! Good thing I packed a couple snacks. Tonight I'm making Shepards Pie for John. He is half English and lived in London for sometime, so I thought I would give him a taste of his hometown.

Cheers!


Monday, December 14, 2009

Day 1 of Ironman 2010 Training!


This day has been a much anticipated day for me. My whole life I have been an athlete. Little League, Cheerleading, Track & Field, Sprint Triathlons, Cycling and then running. Through all of those sports I can't honestly say I looked forward to the training. I was always the type of Athlete that just loved the competing element of the sport.

As you get older your perspectives change and for me, for this part of my life and the caliber of event I am setting out to achieve, the training is half, if not more of the whole Ironman Experience. If I am not excited about the training and looking forward to 6 days a week for the next 37 weeks of my life being consumed by working out, then mentally it will be a tough road...for everyone!!

For those readers who are new to ME, there is something very special about being an ESMONDE! We were born with this special gift of being planners, organizers, packers, anticipators and competitors. With that it explains much of who I am and my approach to my training. After much research I bought a training plan online and then finessed it to my likings. I.E I turned it into a 150+ Training Bible that is Spiral-Bound, color coordinated, with a training log behind each weeks workout. Some might say I'm a little neurotic, but I like to look at it like being prepared!

For the past few months I have been reviewing what the next 37 weeks will be like. Mentally preparing myself. Last night I felt like I was putting in the final review before a test, reading over and over about my nutrition plan and the first week of Training. The nice thing about my program is that it's broken down into three levels of athletes. Age group, Elite and Pro. For Swimming I classify myself as Age Group, Running Elite and Cycling Pro. I can adjust as I go along depending on how my body is feeling.

Day One: 45 minute run. Easy enough. I was up at 6am this morning. I bundled up to embrace the 35degree morning. I wore my reflective jacket so cars don't hit me and ankle reflective straps. The sun was up 30 minutes into my run. Body felt good, but lungs were still really tight from the cold. I am feeling much better and back to myself, cold is gone, but have a small cough. I should be 100% by this weekend.

The rest of week one includes
Mon-Run
Tue-Upper Body and Core weights
Wed-Swim
Thur-Bike
Fri-Rest Day
Sat-Swim
Sun-Run

37 weeks to go!!! Can't Wait!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Down for the count:(

I can't even remember the last time I was sick it was that long ago. But I guess it's better that I'm sick during my 3 week break then during my training. Everyone at work has been sick so I have been washing my hands more, taking my vitamins and be extra cautious. It didn't work, cause Saturday night I felt it coming. My weekend started out great. Friday after work I cooked dinner for John and Jordan (Jordan is John's 7 year old son) and then we took him to the Christmas lights show at ShadyBrook farms. It's a tradition to take him every year and is one of my favorite things to do. Saturday I hit the pool and swam 1200 meters. By night time I knew i was getting sick. I spent all of Sunday in Bed. I made it into work Monday but Tuesday i didn't. I need to get better by Monday, that's when my training begins, so after work today it's back to bed. Send some vitamin C vibes my way.

thanks!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Thanksmas and more

I would definitely have to say my family is pretty unique. For the past 4 years my immediate family has been celebrating a new holiday..Thanksmas! It is the combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Holidays get a little more complicated the older you get. People move away and get married and have to share the holidays with both sides of the family. I think we solved the "In-Law Holiday Crisis".

Thanksmas is celebrated the weekend of Thanksgiving. John and I were able to still have Thanksgiving dinner with his family and still drive down to Washington D.C. to my brother and sister ( Mike and Michele live next door to each other!) and still celebrate with my family. In addition to the turkey coma, we also do celebrate the Christmas side...and that means presents. I got a great gift, triathlon shorts and race nutrition. What every girl wants!

So now that the post turkey coma is finally over, I'm back to my usual routine..well kinda. My usual routine involves running or riding, but I'm on the 2nd of 3 weeks rest. I did get a run in when i was in D.C. There are so many great places to run and ride. Helena (sister-in-law and running partner) went out for a 1:45 min run along the Anacosta Trail. This was my first run since the marathon, and it sure did hurt..my right foot especially. It hurt so much that i barely made it 200 feet the next day when i tried to run again. After a few lost toe nails and bad blisters, its back to the shoe store to find yet again a new pair of shoes. Lucky for me my sister rides and I was able to use her bike and equipment to go for a ride. I was going stir crazy so it was nice to get out and burn off the holidays treats!

I did get my gym membership started back up today and will hit the gym bright and early tomorrow before work and get some easy laps in the pool. I am resting, I promise, but I'm an athlete and I can't not do anything. I would go crazy and would drive everyone around me and how does that help anyone!

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and let me know if you are thinking of giving Thanksmas a try...it works wonders!