Meet Jala

Friends meet Jala and Jala meet friends.



This is my new speedster bike I just picked up a couple weeks ago.  I purchased an entry level Trek Speed Concept in July of 2012 and right from the get go seemed to have issues with it.  Lots of trouble shifting and problems with the seat post sliding down.  I took it back to the bike shop a few times to get fixed but never really got it to the place I thought it should be.

[caption id="attachment_238" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Riding Mountain Tri 2012, the first Trek Speed Concept[/caption]



Last July, I was passing through Regina (where it was purchased) on my way to a triathlon the next day and thought I would try once more to get it serviced so it would work better.  Much to my surprise, I was told they would not let it leave the store as it had a crack in the frame.  So after I picked my jaw up from the ground and found words to speak I asked what I was going to do about my triathlon.

I was given a loaner road bike called the Domaine who quickly became my best friend.  I loved the way it shifted, handled, and rode.  I was still nervous about the triathlon the next day without having proper preparation with the loaner but was thankful I could still race.

[caption id="attachment_397" align="aligncenter" width="224"] The Trek Domaine[/caption]

Long story short, through many conversations and issues and months later, I finally got word that I was getting a replacement frame, probably the Speed Concept 4 Series.

Then about 2 weeks before the pickup date I received an email that informed me I was receiving the frame for a Speed Concept 9 Series; a frame worth at least 4X  my original bike.  I had been inconvenienced for quite a long time (9 months) and Trek wanted to keep my business.

So, my fiery hot red machine, Jala and I have become very close very quickly.  Jala (pronounced Hale, short for Jalapeno) is an amazing bike that has not disappointed in any way.  It handles well, shifts great and has fit me perfectly.  I couldn't be more pleased.  And thankfully, the transition from road bike back to tri bike has been very smooth.

I guess patience and understanding pay off.



 

Got a name for your bike?

Odds and Ends

Hey

A few quick pics and events lately.



An amazing lunch called a Jerusalem Rice Bowl from the 13th Ave Coffee House in Regina, Saskatchewan.  A bowl layered with brown rice, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, tahani sauce, hummus, sprouts and falafel. It was very filling. I couldn't finish it all at one sitting and I am anticipating my next bowl!



 

The new sports machine I just brought home. Had a frame crack in my new Trek bike and it was replaced with a Speed Concept 9.  Waited since last July for this but boy what a beauty!  Looks like it will handle like a Lamborghini with red hot fire!



Birthday party in the hotel.  Now that the oldest is getting well, older,  19 candles could send the smoke alarm off and the water sprayers going so we refrained from lighting the candles.  The cake is called Chocolate Marquis and it is basically a bottom made of fudgey brownie topped with a rich chocolate mousse.  It is unbelievable.  It is locally made by a restaurant called Madoco's where my son used to work.  Was looking forward to this all day!



A really cool shirt with the logo made by my son in his graphic design class.  He incorporated all his favourite sports teams into it.  Kerry Price, goalie for Montreal Canadians was in the center and was surrounded by logos from the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings, Canadians, SF Giants, New Orleans Saints, Saskatchwan Roughriders and a soccer logo.  He is a sports guy!

 

Hope your day has had great odds and ends like mine.

February Training Totals

Here is a break down of my totals for Feb.

Running: 95 miles

Biking: 351 miles

Swimming: 1 mile

I am not sure to if this is a good amount of training or not, if I will be prepared for April 6.  I know that my training volume has not typically been this high but I have also not been training for an event of this magnitude.  I have been very satisfied with the plan I am using and the way my body has been responding to it.  I believe that the success to injury management has been due to my religious use of stretch bands and muscle balance exercises.  It has helped my legs recovery pretty well most of the time.

Sometimes data is misleading as Daily Mile also tells me that I've lost 15 pounds in calories expended.  This is certainly NOT the case.  Guess I need to watch the donuts!

Happy Training

Brainsport Brainfreeze Half Marathon Report

Farewell February and Hello March!

I have reached the point in the training schedule where I am at the peak of my workout plan.  I am hoping that some extra sleep, great nutrition and good recovery will help me gain tons of fitness after all my long, hard workouts.  This past week was a good week in terms of nailing my long events however my running for this past week was scaled down due to some left calf tightness which equated to IT band tightness in the quad and hip.  I was really nervous about Sunday's long run as it was a 13-14 mile run according to the plan and if it was any other regular Sunday, I would be at home on the treadmill and I could stop anytime I felt it was necessary.  However, this past Sunday was different.  We travelled to see our university son in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and had also registered in the Brainsport Brainfreeze Half Marathon.  I was locked into 13.1 miles.

This seemed to be a bit unsettling for me but I had bigger problems than that.  The main one being that it is desperately cold.  I think it has been a colder than usual winter for almost everywhere in North America and we are no different here in the central, western, Canadian prairies.  Our drive on Saturday morning to Saskatoon started out at  -37 Celcius and with the windchill, took it to -51 Celcius.  Our destination (Saskatoon) was supposed to have windchills and temps of -64 Celcius that morning.  We were sure questioning our sanity in even leaving our home but life does need to keep going on and we had many reasons for our trip; meeting and appointments that couldn't be postponed or changed to another time.

So there we were, registered for running a half on Sunday with a forecast of a sunny (thank goodness) and -22 Celcius day with wind it was -28 Celcius.  And if you know anything about me, one of my greatest fears is being in a situation where I am really cold and can't fix it.  I was once snowmobiling with my husband as a rider in a poker derby and I got really cold, really cold and couldn't get warmed up and you are in the middle of nowhere so it takes a long time to get somewhere warm.  It left a real fear in me.  That's why my snowmobiling trips are limited to short trips, I don't go ice fishing or like to go cross country skiing on long out and back trip and only run outside where I have short run loops that repeat.  It always gives me a way "out." Runny a long out and back- what happens if I get cold?  What can I do about it?  I took my phone so I could call my son if this happened and he could pick me up.  It wouldn't be instant but it comforted me enough that I was ok to run.

The race started at 1:00 in the afternoon so it did allow for the day to warm up a bit compared to the morning.

[caption id="attachment_539" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Too sunny to see what I was taking a picture of. Lots of roaring runner a little of me.[/caption]

I started my Garmin and it froze while finding the satellite then shut off completely and wouldn't turn on again.  Thought it was still all ok as I was bringing my phone so I would use Map My Run. My total distance after the run as .21km so obviously I was tec challenged.  Perceived exertion was the way I ran and it was quite liberating to not be checking on my watch all the time.  The course was very scenic along the North Saskatchewan River.  The paved Meewasin Trail was quite slippery in many places and sometimes the running was demoted to shuffling.  There was also a lot of ups and down and turns.  I was planning to take some pictures along the way, but it was so darn cold on my hands.  The turn around point was welcomed with warm water and gatorade as well as some gels.  The event was in support of the U of S Huskie Track Team so the aid stations were staffed with cheering and motivating university students.  Good to keep the momentum going.

At about the 10 mile mark, my eye caught something and upon looking down I discovered a mouse had jumped out of the snowbank to my right (by my husband) and was making his way across the trail to the other side.  I had a major fit and provided free entertainment to all those around me with my yelling and screaming.  I asked my husband why he didn't warn me and he said it wouldn't have made a difference, I would have freaked anyway.  I guess he has a point.  The funny thing about this is that about 2 min later, he was the one that needed to find a washroom!  I kept running as I couldn't afford in my heavily sweated up state to stop and walk for even a minute otherwise the cold would consume me so I proceeded on alone for the next couple miles.  This last bit was all uphill as we crossed a bridge and then climbed a big hill.  There was a couple runners just ahead and there is nothing like a bit of healthy competition to get to the finish a little faster as I tried to pick the off one by one. I turned around as soon as I crossed the line and headed back to finish with roaring runner.  He was just coming up the hill so only had 2 blocks till the end.  My official time was 2:08.  Funny how you can tell yourself that it's just a practice run but then get bummed out by the time.  Not very good at lying to myself yet.

We headed inside to grab some goodies; cookies, gluten free brownies, banana, oranges and hot chocolate.  Didn't hang out long as we didn't want to get a chill.  Showered up at our son's apartment while he cooked us supper and a protein smoothie.  On the road an hour later for home.

I'm sure most runner can relate to some of the one way conversation going on during that 13 mile run.

" Oh man, what AM I doing?  Whose idea was this?  It is so freakin cold.  Ok, smarten up, this isn't helping anything.  Look at the positive side, it is nice and sunny and you are getting some fresh air.  Not feeling any better yet.  Hmm, I like that black jacket that lady up ahead of me has on.  Maybe if I pick up the pace a bit I can get close enough to see what kind it is?  Come on, pick up those feet.  Oh shoot, no name or tag on this side.  Rats!  Is there time to get some shopping in yet before we go?  I can't believe that guy only has that light jacket on and tights.  Isn't he freezing his tush and other unmentionable parts?  I have 5 layers on- I dressed smart for the weather. No cold butt for me.  Oh crap,  I am getting so hot now.  How can this happen; dressed too hot when it's so cold? I feel like a stuffed sausage ready to bust the casing.  How can I be a runner for so long and totally mess up the dress code for this one?  What have I learned, maybe back to dressing for a race 101. Just go with the flow and relax, it's all going to be great.  Darn, nearly kissed the ground that time, pay attention! "  And so it went on and on!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Anyone run any races?

 

The Ups and Downs

Well there is one thing very certain in the journey of sport and life:  where you're up, understand that you will sometime be down.

This realization has comes quickly on the heels of a long 50 mile bike ride yesterday and a 12 mile run today.  One would think that since I am training for a half ironman and am just a little bit shy of accomplishing the full distances in the bike and run disciplines that I would feel full of confidence in my achievements.  However, this is far from the truth.  And this all comes mostly because my legs are sore.  Add that to this and that and what does that spell: DISASTER.  All of a sudden, everything crashes down. You know that saying, "the straw that broke the camels back?"

Ever get that feeling of defeat? surrender? giving up? not sure what you are doing that is right?  How does the tide change so quickly and more importantly: how do I pick myself up?  Going past physical limitation and pushing beyond what you think you can is very hard, but the mental check in/ check out is so much tougher to overcome.

We build our lives daily on truths that we hold.  Truths about our relationships, our loved ones, what we stand for, what we do.

Well, there is one thing I do know- my kids love waterslides and I have tried my share with them.  Some of them I like and go back for more and on some; it's truly a wild ride that I never want to repeat. There is lots of screaming, some tears and a lot of self talk that questions my sanity.  I can't wait till I hit the water and the ride is done.  That's maybe what  life is like.  Some days, the sliding is just the right speed, turns are good and the ride down is very enjoyable.  Others, well not so good.  But one thing is for certain, each ride will sometime come to an end, and another will follow.

January Training

I am pretty good at keeping up with my training log for each week.  I have a formulated a plan for myself for the next few months.  It took a lot of this



and this



to get the final results.  My attempts at planning my training life.  So far, things seem to be going well.  My one weakness is not always looking at the whole picture and seeing how one thing affects the other and then causes the next thing to happen.  You know how that goes.

I decided to tabulate my totals for the month- something I have never done. (I know, I am probably the only one in the entire world that doesn't get hung up on numbers and I teach math????)

Putting this out for all to see is a true testament to my desire to walk to my own beat because it is so hard to put your numbers out there.  Kinda like advertising your weight online for the world to see.  Makes you vulnerable and comparison rages like a wildfire.  So easy to find those who have numbers like this in a week never mind a month.  But I gently remind myself that this is me, my life.  The numbers only show miles and doesn't show schedules, family obligations, work issues and personal sufferfests.  The truth is I have pledged myself to a training program and so far I have not missed nor shortchanged any of my workouts.  I am preparing myself physically and mentally in so many ways and I am proud of my efforts.  My goals have never been to be the best out of everyone but to be MY best and enjoy the journey this road of life takes me on.

So, this is how it adds up;

Running miles- 91.5

Biking miles- 323

Cross country skiing miles- 15

Swimming in meters- 1000

Did you just laugh- don't try to hide it, I can hear.

I took the swimming out, then added it back in too many times to mention.  It is an embarrassment that I am training for a triathlon and get no swimming in.  We have no pool here.  Ya, you don't need to read that again.  I live in the sticks and have no pool. We actually have a wellness center that was just built and the opening was scheduled for last Nov., around the time I signed up for the triathlon.  Delays, pool leaks and more have led to no pool opening probably until late March.  So I will be driving a couple hours hopefully every 10 days to get my locks wet.  It is safe to say I may not be rocking the swim portion of my first triathlon in 2014.

I am hoping that looking at the monthly miles will help me see smaller things in the big picture and also boost my confidence.  I try to always tell myself to look short term, only 5 miles, only 10 minutes because the magnitude of a 50 mile bike ride seems kinda, well, huge.  But 5 miles is good.  I can do that.  I see now that I can do more than that and that is good too.

I'm betting you can too!

 

What kind of training plan do you use?

What do you tell yourself to get through long workouts?

 

 

 

Eating Plan # ??????

Hello from freezing cold Manitoba!  I will spare you the details of how cold exactly it is because otherwise my sanity ( or not) will be confirmed.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading over the weekend which initially started with a post from Mileposts concerning food allergies and the FODMAP diet. What has got me so excited about this is that it is something that comes and goes, flares and settles because of the tolerance our digestion has at any given time.  We overwhelm it, it responds unhappily.  We have balance, our digestive tract is happy.  I also read another great post by Chris Kressler about common foods harming the digestion of some people some of the time and how the FODMAP diet can help.

I have never been a dieter nor a sucker for bouncing around with the diet of the month.  I have always tried to eat for health with moderation in mind, denying myself nothing and going overboard on nothing. Sometimes my eating involves carbs, sometimes not. Sometimes it is Paleo based, sometimes vegetarian based.  I try to listen to my body and eat for what it is telling me.  For the past couple of years I have been failing miserably at this as what my body is happy with one day, it is terribly unhappy with the next.  There has been no rhyme or reason.  I haven't known what to do.  Keeping a food journal has proved nothing except inconsistencies.

However, I have made a very conscious decision to try and eliminate as much sugar as possible from my eating.  I have been a strong fruit person and this has been a great opportunity to cultivate a love for veggies.  I have also enjoyed carbs because as an athletic person, I believed this is what fueled me.  I have also been reducing my carbohydrate intake and can still pump out strong workouts without trouble.  I have chosen to reduce sugar and carb consumption because of the increase of inflammation associated with a high sugar diet.

So, now I am about to undertake another adjustment to my eating philosophy.  Learn more, do better, change occurs.  Here's hoping!

I have printed out a couple of Low FODMAP diet food lists and it is apparent to me that the veggies are actually the main adjustment I need to make.  fodmap-intolerances (1)

I consume many of the high FODMAP foods daily in terms of the veggies like asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower as especially beets and garlic.  I have been juicing these regularly.  What is going to happen with my juicing right now I am not sure about.  It appears that juicing the offending foods still is a problem so I will adapt my juicing recipes to try and get the juicing benefits without the problematic veggie.  I will also need to change my yogurt to the lactose free option (which I have been buying but not eating as my daughter is the one who needs it) and the coconut.  I am very sad about this right now as I LOVE coconut and it will be hard to go without it for a couple weeks.  However, most info states that a couple weeks is all that it takes to see significant changes and if this is indeed what is happening- then I will re-adjust my plan.  The good news is that once foods from all the FODMAP groups is eliminated for a while, they can be reintroduced as not all groups offend everyone.

Dr. Allison Siebecker, an expert in this field has this to say.

The science of FODMAPs starts in the name: Fermentable Oliogosaccharides DisaccharidesMonosaccharides And Polyols.  For many reasons these carbohydrates are easily fermented and the byproducts of this cause digestive pain.  But as we’ve discussed before this is very individual and the quantity consumed is very important.

This next information is from the following IBS site.

FODMAPs are types of sugars and fiber, found in wheat-based and other foods:

Fructans and Galactins	Polyols
Fructose Lactose Fructooligosaccharides Galactooligosaccharides	Sorbitol Mannitol Xylitol Maltitol

There is a cumulative effect of these foods, of their osmotic (water moving) and fermentative (bacteria feeding) actions, on IBS symptoms such as  abdominal pain, bloating, gas, altered bowel movements and lethargy. Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms could result from many different (and independent) reasons including  low absorptive capacity of the small intestinal epithelium, increased sensitivity of the bowel, rapid transit through the small bowel, and bacterial overgrowth in the distal small bowel.

This means that you may eat some of the problem foods listed in the tables and still fill fine. It's not about the foods eaten in isolation, it's about hundreds of food components that are adding up. To follow the right diet, you need to identify your individual sensitivities and dietary combinations.



 



 

I am disclaiming any diagnosis as an expert as I am not trained in these areas.  I am only providing what I feel is very valuable information for myself -onto others who may also be needing it.  How do you know what to look for if you don't know?  My eyes opened because of one person's blog post a week ago and I hope that I may be of help to someone who just maybe doesn't know.  Symptoms and issues may be different but the planting of an idea, a spark of information can yield a great hunger for learning and then healing.

Happy Eating!