Attitude at Altitude

I went skiing this weekend with my kids and once again, was reminded of the fact that they are much younger than me and well, better than me at several things. One of those happens to be flying down a mountain at a break-neck speed.

But I got something on them: I can run 3 miles up a long, steep hill at 8200 feet above sea level, gaining 1000 feet or so, without stopping. And I'm just a little proud of that fact (can you tell?). 

It all started with Domino's Pizza. We got to our condo late Friday night and we did something that we NEVER do: we ordered a Domino's Pizza. The kids were starving and we thought, what the heck, it can't be that bad.

We take it back to the condo and happily dig in. This may be hard to believe but I had not had a Domino's Pizza in 20 yrs. No big deal, I just did an Ironman, I thought. I can eat what I want. Three greasy pieces later and I'm feelin' like the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Not to be-labor the point but I was already having one of those weeks where "the mirror was not my friend".  As I approach 49, I've noticed changes in my body that tell me I can't eat two plates of pasta anymore and stay the same size (more on that later).

And being a dietitian, I'm well aware of the fact that 3 pieces of Domino's pizza is >1000 calories. I'm also well aware of the fact that an extra 1000 calories when you're 49 (aka, peri-menopausal) can and will add fat to places you've never had fat and that can drive you crazy.

So, I ski on Saturday but despite what all the skiers-who-are-not-runners say, skiing is NOT an aerobic sport. It does NOT burn a lot of calories. You're going DOWN a mountain, not UP, and rarely do I get my heart rate up enough to burn off my orange juice, let alone 3 pieces of Domino's pizza.

So today I finally get to run and I'm chompin' at the bit. The Weather Channel says its 4 degrees but the sun is out and there's no wind. No problem, I'm a Coloradoan and I can handle it!

I put on my usual 20 layers and head out the door. Ahhhhh....fresh (freezing cold) air. Nice!  Our condo is way up high on a steep hill so I have only one choice: run down the hill and back up. So I did.

The way down was great. I ran at a comfortable pace and warmed up quickly. The view of Lake Dillon and surrounding mountains was awesome (picture to be added later). Good tunes on my Ipod and life is good.

I got to the turnaround point and well,  I turned around and went back up...and up...and up. My breathing became very labored and I noticed that I feel just like I did at the Boulder 70.3 - I couldn't catch my breath. I told myself that I will NOT stop until I get to the condo, which was 3 miles up the road (key word: up).

It was very steep, probably about a 4-5% grade and the elevation there is around 8200 feet. My heart was pounding pretty hard and it was very hard to keep going. But I love running in cold weather and as corny as it sounds, challenging myself to reach new levels in my training.

Lo and behold, I made it. I ran the entire way without stopping. Over snow banks and numerous ice patches, I ran slow but steady. But I made it and was very happy.  And truth be told, I wasn't really worried about those 3 pieces of pizza anyway.

Now I'm wondering, is it wrong to snicker at your kids when they complain about being tired after skiing all day?  Ha!  Their old ma aint such a slacker after all.

Yeah Baby!

One thing I've learned over the years of running, cycling, sweating...is that some days are good and some days are, well, not so good. And I have yet to figure out why that is.

And every now and then I have a day where I feel like I can't go hard enough or fast enough. I love those days. I live for those days.  I want more of those days. Yes, I'm a total endurance junkie and I need to get my fix.

Well, today was one of those days. I got up at 5:30 so that I could do an hour of Spinervals before the kids got up for school. Two cups of coffee later, I was still lounging on the couch, soaking up the early morning silence. Gotta get going....

There's a lot to do to get ready for a workout on the trainer. Here is a partial list of what needs to happen:
Put on bike clothes (shorts with padding, singlet)
Drink water and apple juice, eat quick snack
Fill up water bottle with diluted Gatorade
Stretch hamstrings
Pump up back tire (so it rides smoothly on trainer)
Put on bike shoes
Find Spinerval DVD, put it on
Put foose ball table by bike so I can put the remote, water bottle, and telephone within arm's reach
Turn on fan and position it so that it blows on me
Stretch hamstrings again
Warm up on bike watching the news

So today I did the Spinervals Aerobuilder 28 again and aside from enduring a squeaky back wheel (that drove me nuts), I had a good workout. I did 8 x 1:00 reps at 80 rpm, then 12 x 45 second reps at 90 rpm. But for once, I didn't feel like it was hard enough. My kids were needing to get to school but I was in such a groove that I didn't want to stop and I desperately wanted to work harder.

So, I did something kinda weird but kinda cool: I got off my bike and jumped onto the treadmill. I needed my fix and I was gonna get it.

I cranked up the speed and ran hard for about 10 minutes, then raised the elevation knowing that I only had a few mins before having to take the kids to school so I might as well make it hurt. I ran hard uphill for 5 full mins but still felt like I needed more....all the while wondering where in the heck this energy was coming from.

I jumped off the bike, threw on some outdoor running clothes, grabbed my water bottle, Ipod, gloves, hat, etc, and oh yeah, my kids, and drove them across town to their school. It was 20 degrees outside, grey, and very foggy. A pretty miserable day outside.

By the time I got them to school I was started to get chilled so I quickly kissed them goodbye and took off running (my kids are used to this). It was so foggy that I could hardly see 20 feet in front of me but I didn't care, I ran like the wind!

It took a good 2 miles of all-out running before I started losing steam. I hadn't eaten much that morning so I literally was hitting the wall (can you say glycogen depletion). But I had so much fun that I literally laughed out loud. I'm sure the people in the cars that past me wondered why this crazy woman was running so fast and smiling the whole time.

Wish I had more days like this but I'll take even just one once in awhile. Coach Troy would be proud...

Slug City

Have a ton of work to do today and a sick kid at home, so no exercise...thought that since I ran hard yesterday that I would be sore enough today that it would be nice to take the day off but I'm strangely NOT sore today. Could've done a Spinerval tape easily this morning (which is a good sign) but no time today...save for tomorrow.

Going to make one of my favorite lunch meals today:
Healthy Nachos. Take a plate of tortilla chips and sprinkle on 1/3 cup black beans, 1/3 cup fiesta shredded cheese, and salsa. Put in microwave for 45 seconds, then add reduced-fat sour cream.

YUM!

Weird Wednesday

Sleep is a good thing....a really good thing. And I obviously needed it today as I slept until the ungodly hour of 7:00 AM.

And its weird because I missed Master's swim (Master's is Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:15 AM). I didn't get much sleep Monday night and I stayed up last night until 11:00 (oh no!) so I knew I wouldn't want to get up at 5:15 this morning. And I didn't.

So, time to do another switcheroo workout. No swim = more time for running (yippee!).  After dropping off my kids at school, I donned my running shoes and I was out the door.

I ran from my mom's house, which is in west Greeley. I love running out there because I can actually see the mountains. People think that when you live in Colorado that you're surrounded by the Rocky Mountains (not!). But there is a pretty good view from west Greeley.

Long's Peak looked especially majestic this morning. I cranked my Ipod and totally zoned out.

The first half of the run was slow and easy (another change with aging, is the amt of time spent warming up - its probably about doubled!).  Then, as I approached the hill north of the Fun Plex, aka Bunny Hill, I decided to do some hill repeats.

At first it felt easy and I thought that I would have to do quite a few hill repeats to get my heart rate up. But that quickly changed as I neared the top of the first hill. I was totally out of breath. Ugh. This hurts. Maybe swimming wouldn't have been that bad....

But I turned around and ran back down the hill. Its a fairly long hill so I only had time for 3 hill repeats but that was enough. I still had to run back to my mom's house. All told, I probably only ran 4 miles but the 3 long sprints up the hill were enough to make the run equal to at least 10 miles of effort (ok, maybe not that much...).

Tomorrow I'll ride indoors and swim on Friday....unless I get another visit from Mr. Sandman....

Greeley Triathlon Club video

Last weekend, our small-but-mighty triathlon club held their annual "Christmas" party (which we do every January) and I volunteered to make a video of the previous year's races. Well, it ended up being a video of the previous 2 years of races...but anyway, it was fun to make and I'd like to share it here:
http://www.greeleytriathlonclub.com/gtc_2009.wmv.  Just click on the link to see the video.

Nutrition Tips

Today is my day off and since I ran and swam hard yesterday (yes, I'm bragging and I ain't apologizing for it), I feel pretty darn good today. I did walk to class this morning (30 mins each way) so I'm not a total couch potato but will probably be sitting on my butt for a good 6 hrs so it really is a day off (and it feels so good!).

So, how 'bout a nutrition tip?  Since I am now a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (fancy name for sports dietitian), I thought I'd throw in a few here on my blog.

Topic today will be vitamin D. This is a "hot" topic in the nutrition world and as I was walking home today under cloudy skies, I was recalling what I learned from Michael Hollick, vitamin D researcher at some ivy league school back east "it is impossible to get enough vitamin D from the sun if you live north of Texas from November through February, even if you are outside naked for 8 hrs each day".

Well, I'm not planning on joining any nudist camps but want to make sure I get enough vitamin D. There are two ways of doing that: drinking 4 cups of milk each day or taking a supplement. I do both.

I am very skeptical about nutritional supplements because most of them are unnecessary. But one of the few supps I take is vitamin D (1000 IUs). There is intriguing research showing that vit D may not only prevent colon and breast cancer and diabetes (yes, I said cancer), but may play a role in maintaining the integrity of skeletal muscles as well. This is good news for triathletes.

Researchers have found that muscle cells have receptors for vitamin D, although no one really knows why....but if they're there, there must be a reason that muscles need vitamin D. More on this later.

So, I do pop a vit D supp everyday and you should too if you A) live north of Texas or B) do not drink 4 cups of milk each day and/or C) have no intention of being naked outside for 8 hrs each day (or maybe you do but you should still drink your milk).

So, back to work...more on nutrition later.

I did a brick!

Just a quick note to say that I ended up running a great tempo run after my swim today - woo hoo! Felt really strong. Ran for an hour and did three 10-minute "reps" of near all-out running. I can hardly walk now but that's ok (isn't what Celebrex is for?), I'm psyched that I could run that well.

Plus, now I can take tomorrow off and feel good about it.  Cool!