quick spin and a good swim

Writing this down before I forget it:

Biked a whopping 8 miles in 30 easy mins on the trainer this morning. Then stretched forever and iced. Felt gooooooood.

Then lunch time swum it:
500 WU
6 x 300 (first 100 ez, 2nd 100 hard, 3rd 100 survive)
100CD
25 backstroke/25 free
50 to get back and forth in the pool
------------------
2500 yards

I won the lottery!: NYC Half Marathon

I guess I got lucky because I was able to lottery into the NYC Half Marathon which is on March 21st.

The timing of this race couldn't be any better. Its 4 weeks out from New Orleans, and (if the knee plays nice) could be my 3rd half of the year.

Another good thing about doing this race will be the exposure of running with 10,000+ other runners. This will be a good warmup (with crowds) to the full NYC Marathon next November, which I am qualified for.

And so this completes my race schedule (for major races) for the year.

1/24: Manhattan Half
2/xx: still looking for a half, there are a few possibilities
3/21: NYC Half
4/18: New Orleans 70.3
6/6: Mooseman 70.3
8/22: Timberman 70.3
11/7: NYC Marathon

I said I wanted to improve my half marathon abilities this year, well, here I go!

I graduated to the elbow

Went in last night for another torture PT session. I should back up and say that last week she kept saying she was "being nice to me." Uh, what?

Last night she used her elbow.

Have you ever had your IT Band "roll" over? Here I am laying on my left side with the PT's elbow deep into the IT Band when she "rolls" it over and suddenly I am screaming bloody murder and flattened on my stomach on the bench in pure agony. Meanwhile she is laughing.

This happened 2 more times.

She kept asking me why I was so quiet. Cuz I am biting my tongue in pain!?!?! haha!

The good news is that I am much looser than a week ago. I can bend over and touch my toes now (a first). I need to do my alignment lunges more often and I need to continue to keep up with the foam roller.

I drank two beers after that session and I go in again for round #3 next week, same time, same elbow.

REALLY good recipe, squeaky wheel and a swim

I combined two recipes together into a burrito that tastes just oh-so good! The first part is that spicy quinoa recipe mixed with a sweet potato veggie medley. Somehow quinoa and sweet potato go perfectly together and it mellows out the spice.

So make these two recipes first:

Vegetarian Grain and Bean Mix
(im going to chop this recipe in half next time I make it, it makes a LOT)
Grain Mix:
1/2 c Israeli couscous
1/4 c Orzo (green or red)
1/2 c Quinoa

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Bean Mix:
1 can black beans
1 4oz can chopped green chili

Use a 2:1 ratio for the liquid:grains. 2.5 cups in this case Add water (or vegetable stock for more flavor), spice mix, and grains to a pot and cook till all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Add the beans and green chili and stir. Viola!!!

Sweet potato veggie medley:
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1" cubes
1 small red bell pepper, diced large
1 small red bell pepper, diced large
1 med zuccini, diced large
1 small onion, sliced
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried thyme powder
salt and pepper

combine veggies in a bowl and season with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. bake @ 375 for 45 mins or until sweet potato is soft

to combine the entire recipe together, i take 1/3 cup of quina mix and 1/3 cup of veggies, place in a large burrito shell, then cover with 1 oz shredded cheddar and 2 Tbsp of salsa. Wrap and nuke for 20 seconds. So yummy and it filled me for practically 5 hours.

Then for today's workouts:
Meant to do 60+ mins on the trainer this morning, but after the first 10 I couldn't take the squeaking of the wheel. I had on noise canceling headphones and I could still hear the squeak. I apologize to my neighbors if I woke you!

Turns out the rear tire's tread was completely flat and worn out, resulting in a near 90 degree ridge on either side of the tire. So I swapped out the front and rear tires and problem solved. *Note to self* replace front tire before going outside. After the time spent changing tires, I was able to get in another 20 mins before I was out of time.

Then I did a lunch time swim. No speed, just volume. Nothing too special.
1000 WU
3 x 500
50 CD
2550 total.

I was actually sore before the swim due to supporting myself while using the foam roller this past weekend. Who knew that its a pain machine AND an upper body workout all in one! ;)p

new dreamill PR, Last week of "Prep"

I ran for 70 mins on the dreadmill this morning to simulate ~7 miles of running. That is a new PR in terms of time spent @ once on a treadmill. It was boring but I went into the "zone"....i.e. zoned out.

Tomorrow I start my last week of "prep." It looks really similar to a base week, but is meant to kick me off of the off season habits and into a more structured week. Next Saturday I already have my first race of the season, the NYRR Fred Lebow Classic, 5 miler down in Central Park. I'm gonna use this race to simulate my race pace for the half marathon on Jan 24th. I'm aiming for a 8:30-8:45-ish pace. This reminds me of a VERY funny race pic of me from last year's edition of this race: (I'm saying "Get this over with!!!")

(The woman behind me says "Oh hai!")

"The Cervelo and the Foam Roller"

"The Cervelo and the Foam Roller".....sounds like a title to a cheesy knockoff children's illustrated triathlon book. If you write me a story based upon this title, I'll send you a box of 24 Chocolate Gu's. And the story HAS to be cheesy!

But really, that is what my late morning was like.

I hopped onto the trainer for 90 mins watching some really-way-to-serious Irish movie called The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Got in ~25 miles:


I alternated between 5 mins sitting up, and 5 mins in the aero position. I stood up every 10 mins for 1 min to give my butt a break. My legs felt great. I'm still chomping at the bit to get outside.

Then I stretched, iced, and foam rolled. Thanks to Krista @ Commitment Is Liberating for giving me a link to a really great foam rolling how-to site. I foam rolled until I couldn't tolerate the pain anymore. Ouchy ouchy ouchy! The guy who wrote the how-to says its gonna hurt for the first few weeks, but eventually (if you stick with it) you will kneed out all of the kinks. I seem to have a lot of kinks because I couldn't spend more than 60 seconds on a muscle.

a running start to the new year, my cockpit setup, and do you like spicy?

I hit the ground running (literally) this year by putting in a short 3 miler to finish in 27 mins on the dot. It was 33 degrees outside....that temp actually feels warm now!

While watching hours of Ironman World Championships on the Universal Sports channel I got motivated to install my Speedfil hydration system onto the P2:

I tested it out on the trainer and I don't have to move my head to drink, only my left arm and hand. The tube clips in easily between my PowerTap computer and the aero bars. In my opinion, this beats Profile Design's aero drink and tube mounted and rear mounted water bottles. With my XLAB bento box, I think my setup is complete and will keep me in the aero position for the entire bike portion of a race. If anything, I will add a Gu flask mount.

Finally, here is a recipe a guy from work gave me. It sure is filling, and its SPICY!

Vegetarian Grain and Bean Mix

Grain Mix:
1/2 c Israeli couscous
1/4 c Orzo (green or red)
1/2 c Quinoa

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Bean Mix:
1 can black beans
1 4oz can chopped green chili

Use a 2:1 ratio for the liquid:grains. 2.5 cups in this case Add water (or vegetable stock for more flavor), spice mix, and grains to a pot and cook till all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Add the beans and green chili and stir. Viola!!!

I'm thinking of adding some salsa, shredded cheddar and sauteed bell peppers and onion and sticking it all inside a tortilla. Yum!