New Gear!

Let me preface this by saying that I purchased all of this gear and was not given any of it by the respective companies (I'm not that fast nor that popular a blogger.  Maybe someday...).  Anyway, to get to the point,

I got new stuff today!

CW-X compression tights and tri shorts

An assortment of gels and blocks

CEP compression socks

Spinervals with IronGirl DVD

Newton Lady Isaac 'S'

I am most excited about the compression shorts/tights and the new shoes.  I took my new shoes out for a 1-mile test run tonight and so far I think I'm really going to like them.  It seemed to be easier to turn over faster, though that may be because they are quite a bit lighter than my current shoe.  Also, I ran that mile, with the stroller, at what I thought was a fairly easy pace.  It was an 8:58!  That's the third time in a week that I've run a mile under 9 minutes.  Not sure where this speed is coming from but I'm sure not going to complain.
Because they have a low heel-toe drop (5mm instead of the 12mm my other shoes are), Newton recommends getting used to them slowly.  I plan to use them for a mile during each of my runs this week, then maybe 1.5-2 miles during each run next week.  After that I'll have to see how I adapt to them. 
I have more new stuff coming next week (sunglasses and bike shoes).  This multisport habit of mine is getting to be expensive! (For the record, in case my husband ever reads this, I didn't pay full price for any of it.)

My First Green Monster

I bit the bullet today and tried a "Green Monster" smoothie.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a smoothie made with spinach or other greens.  And they are very, very green.  I've been a little leery of them but people who love them swear you can't taste the greens.  So I tried it...

And I liked it!  You really can't taste the greens.  All I could taste in mine was banana which will have to be remedied in future concoctions since I'm not that big a fan of banana.  The banana pieces I had in the freezer were quite ripe when I froze them.  I generally like them a little less ripe and a little less banana-y so I'll try a less ripe banana next time. 
I didn't follow a real recipe, but just threw stuff in the blender according to what I thought I remembered reading various places.  (And by various places, I mean that I have no idea where I remembered reading it or if I remembered correctly.  If this recipe belongs to you, please remind me and I'll link you up and give you credit where credit is due.) 

This is what I put in mine:
Almond milk (started with 1 cup, added more while blending)
1 banana, frozen
a few chunks frozen mango
a frozen hunk of strawberries in honeyed syrup (I froze these last June)
2 large handfuls spinach

There are recipes all over the place for different varieties of Green Monster.  For a whole bunch in one place, check out Green Monster Movement.

Liam's first 'Green Monster' mustache- He liked it, too!

A Swimming Dilemma

My swim sucked on Monday.  There's no nice way to say it.  It just sucked.  Usually when I swim I can get into a rhythym.  I get to a place where I'm comfortable and feel like I could just keep swimming.  That never happened.  My form was off and no matter what I did to try to correct it, it wasn't happening.  Which brings me to my dilemma:
When having a bad swim, do I:
A.  Just keep swimming.  I could have a day like that in a race and I should get used to pushing through it.  OR
B. End the workout.  Swimming with bad form just reinforces bad form.
I can see pros and cons to both scenarios.  It may be a question of what point of the season I'm at.  It may not matter at my level.  I don't swim very well anyway.  I just started swimming laps in November and I'm really slow.
Anyway, thanks for reading as I "think out loud".  If you have any opinions, advice or just want to say "yeah, that happens to me, too", please leave a comment.

Training Log April 10-16

This week went fairly well.  My scheduled tempo run Thursday was a big fat fail (when dizzy, get off the treadmill), but everything else went fine.

Sunday: 17.18miles on the bike OUTSIDE!  It was extremely windy so it wasn't the most fun ride (48 minutes on the way out, 24 on the way back), but at least I got outside.  I had to go back on the trainer later in the week because of the weather.
Monday: Swim 2500yds (250 warmup, 2x1000, 250 cooldown)
Tuesday: Ran 3.16 miles, 30:02; biked to town with Liam in the trailer, 52 minutes
Wednesday: Scheduled rest day
Thursday: Swim 2000yds (main set 20x75, speedwork); ran 3miles on treadmill, 30 minutes
Friday:  Swim 1050- drills
Saturday:  Bike (back on the trainer) 2 hours, 33.65 miles; Ran 30 minutes, 3.07 miles

Weekly Totals:
Swim: 5550yds
Bike: 58.10 miles
Run: 9.23 miles

Looking forward to having another good week!

Training Log April 3-9

This week ended much better than it started training-wise.  We ended up needing to do a bunch of work at the greenhouse at the beginning of the week so training was sacrificed.  But, we have a buyer for the greenhouse and are supposed to close in the next few days!  Here's the rundown on what I did get done:

Sunday: no workout
Monday: no workout
Tuesday: Was supposed to be a 45 minute bike, turned into 4 miles on the mountain bike with Liam in the Burley.  Going up a soft gravel hill while pulling a child in a trailer is hard!
Wednesday: Swam 2400yds (2000 continuous, yay!); Ran 3 miles, 30:55, with stroller
Thursday: Rest (swapped with Saturday because of weather forecast)
Friday: Swam 1925yds; Ran 3.14 miles to greenhouse to meet new owners with keys.  Against a 20mph wind, with the stroller acting like a sail pushing me in the wrong direction.  So much for an easy 3! Plan was to walk back home.  Ended up running the 3 miles back home with dad, again pushing the stroller, 31:02.
Saturday: 12 miles, 2:03:14.  I am really excited about this.  Had I added another 1.1 at the same pace, it would put me within 5 minutes of my half-marathon PR!  I felt great when I got done and got a great confidence boost. 
Weekly totals:
Swim: 4325yds
Bike: 4 mi (Yikes!)
Run: 21.14mi

Next week is week 6 of the 20-week training program I'm following.  Two rest days scheduled for next week.  The instructions for one of the days says, "Recovery day, do as little as possible...".  I think that I will have no problem following instructions for that day!

Training Logs & March stats

So I skipped a training log for March 20-26.  Well....that's because I did no training during that week.  I had a nasty case of bronchitis so I played it safe and rested.  I still have some mild coughing when I  exercise but it is getting better every day.

So on to the next week.
March 27- April 2

Sunday: Tri Swim Clinic at MSU- this was awesome.  First they taped each of us swimming.  Then we ran drills for  a little over an hour.  During lunch, we watched all the videos and they critiqued our form.  Then we got back in the water for a few more drills, practicing sighting, and taping us all again.  They are going to put our "before"s together with our "after"s along with a bunch of drills they've taped and mail us a DVD.  This was $65, a steal!  (Total swimming, approx 200yds)
Monday:  Ran 4 miles,  40:36
Tuesday: Bike 9.17 miles, 42 minutes - took mountain bike to town and ran some errands
Wednesday:Swim 1650 (main set 3x400); Ran 2 miles on treadmill immediately after swimming, 21:00
Thursday: Ran 10 miles, 1:45:04
Friday: Rest
Saturday: We sold the greenhouse!  Next few days will be spent cleaning out our stuff and getting it ready for the new owners.  Unfortunately I will have to scrap a few workouts, including this one.

Weekly Totals:
Swim: 3650yds
Bike: 9.17mi
Run: 16mi

March Totals:
Swim: 15,750yds
Bike: 105.64mi
Run: 52.68mi