Fall 2015 Training Plan

Part of my fall training plan includes working strength training into my schedule. Since I am not very good at coming up with my own workouts, I choose to use workout DVDs like P90X, Les Mills, and INSANITY. However, while those workouts by themselves are great, they are just a little too long and too intense.  So once again, I am trying to do P90X3. My rational is that the workouts are all 30 minutes long so I have more than enough time to do them in the morning (provided I give up some of my time on Facebook.)

Last time I tried triathlon training in conjunction with P90X3, I quit P90X3 after a few weeks. I think my biggest problem was that I was too rigid with my schedule. I wanted to do my triathlon training exactly as I had scheduled and I wanted to do the P90X3 workouts exactly as they appeared on the printed schedule, regardless if they complimented or conflicted with tri workout I was doing that day. Since my triathlon training has some fixed workouts like swimming, the triathlon schedule really isn’t too flexible.

With that in mind, I am mapping out my triathlon training first and then fitting in the P90X3 workouts where they make sense.

My Plan

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
AM	X3 Yoga	Total Synergistics	Agility X	The Challenge	CVX, The Warrior, or Run	Long Ride	Long Run
PM	Recovery Ride	Run	Swim	Ride	Swim	The Challenge	Dynamix

Since the weekend is reserved for my "long" workouts, and since I am changing up my schedule a bit for fall and dropping one day of swimming, Monday is my new recovery day. The plan is to start the day with X3 Yoga (which I did do yesterday) and then do a nice recovery ride in the afternoon. 

Tuesdays are now a "run" day, so I am starting the day with Total Synergistics which is a full body resistance workout that shouldn't tax my legs too much. This morning, day #2 of my plan, was a test of my will. I really wanted to just stay in bed a few more minutes. The only thing that got me off the mattress was the fact that a coworker is doing P90X3 and I was afraid she was going to ask if I did the workout this morning (she asked yesterday!).

OMG MOMENT! I did a quick Google search for "triathlons strength training women" just to get a little more info on the importance of strength training for women. I had read something about how women lose muscle faster or something along those lines. As I scrolled through the search results, I came across my own blog post! Apparently I've tried this whole "I'm going to do strength training" thing more than once! I swear...this time will be different!! LOL

Back to My Plan

Since Wednesdays and Fridays are swim days (Don't worry +James Cotta I'm not going to stop swimming like I did last year), I don't want to do any kind of upper body workouts. Its hard enough dragging myself through the water when my arms aren't tired. I think I will mix things up a bit and do either Agility X, CVX, or The Warrior depending on how I feel. I also need to revisit each of these DVDs because I cannot remember what the workouts were like. I am also keeping the option open of doing a run on my "off" Fridays.

On Tuesdays and Saturdays, my designated riding days (besides my recovery ride) I think I will do "The Challenge" which is an upper body workout...gotta keep my legs fresh for the bike.

Sunday, my long, slow run day is going to be difficult. I want to get my run in early (before church) which makes even doing a 30 minute workout challenging. Right now I will play this by ear. I may just end up doing Yoga after I get home from church...theres nothing wrong with doing yoga more than once a week :-)

My Starting Point

Ok, right now I'm not going to broadcast what my starting weight was last Friday...it wasn't a good time to weigh myself. That being said, my goal is to get below 140 by CIM (December 6, 2015). It is a reasonable goal. Here is one of my "before" pics that I had +Lindsey Larkin take of me today.

My starting point

In Case You're Interested

Going Back to What Works

Last week Coach K reminded me that CIM is about 13 weeks away. My goal for that race, not including my pace or goal time, is to get my weight below 140 pounds. At a little less than a 1/2 pound a week, I should make it (figure it out, I'm not doing the math for you or posting my current weight!)

Reflection

Now that I've been at this triathlon thing for a little more than three years, I've got a much better idea of what works and what doesn't work for me. Looking back through my blog posts I see ramblings on crazy diets, workouts, and weight loss ideas. There is a good share of complaining about lack of weight loss, trying to get to race weight, and inevitably, weight gain (this post will touch on all subjects LOL).

One of the many diets I tried

For the past several months I have been less than focused on my nutrition. I think the only thing that was saving me from blowing up was the fact that I was complete consumed with training for Vineman. Within days of finishing the race, HS gently reminded me that now that I wasn't training as intensely as I once was, I was going to have to watch my eating. Then he not so gently added "Because you were eating a lot!"

Thanks for that, honey!

Back to Reading

Since my workout schedule is a bit lighter, I have a little extra time (Ha!) To fill the void, I re-started reading "Eat & Run" by Scott Jurek. I started reading this book over a year ago, but for whatever reason, it didn't hold my interest at the time and I moved on to another book....probably another book about triathlons.

Loved the juices, but it was messy and time consuming

As I started getting further into Jurek's story about endurance running (No, I'm not planning on trying any 50 or 100 mile running races), he started talking about how changing his diet changed his racing. He talked about his vegan diet (tried it years ago, not for me) and all the energy he got from eating clean. My current diet didn't feel very clean.

Reading his recipes and how he felt eating food that fueled not only his body but his soul, made me think about juicing again. I loved my green juice as well as the beet and grape juice I used to make. Talk about eating clean. The only problem with juicing too strictly is that my ability to do any kind of workout was greatly diminished. A 3 mile run was tough to manage. I just didn't have the energy.

I knew I wanted to...no, needed to change up my diet, but I just didn't know if I had the focus to tackle a major change.

No More Tuna and Mayo

Prior to Vineman I would eat 5 small meals a day during the week and then throw caution to the wind on the weekend and eat whatever I wanted (I was usually starving after my long rides). After Vineman, this pattern has continued but with less than desirable results. This eating pattern has resulted in a steady but upward movement on the scale (I should have listened to HS). Needless to say, I am not happy.

Vineman nutrition...
Are Skittles part of the "Fruits & Vegetables" group?

Not the best solution

On top of the added pounds, I am tired of my weekday diet of canned tuna for lunch.  My will to try and eat a "high protein lunch" is waning and I find myself crashing every afternoon. I am also feeling lethargic in the mornings. I'm not sure if my low-energy is due to the complacency that Coach K warned me about or if it is my diet.

In an attempt to remedy this, I started taking a multi vitamin. This has helped a bit. It also got me to thinking...What has changed between Barb's Race 2014 and Vineman 2015??? I don't remember feeling like this last year. Well, there are a lot of things that are different...the biggest difference being training volume, but my nutrition has also changed.

Before Barb's Race, I would have a Shakeology shake for lunch instead of a can of tuna with gobs of mayo. Not only did I get a ton of nutrients, but I didn't feel hungry and my nails grew like weeds. Now I've got one missing toe nail and another set to fall off, I really need that nail growing magic.

I didn't even have to pack a lunch because I kept a bag in my office!

This used to be either breakfast, lunch or snack...daily!

Press the Button Already

Over the past week, I've been thinking of placing another order for Shakeology. This is the one thing I ate consistently last year. My race weight was lower, it seemed easier to maintain, and I didn't have a problem with energy levels in the afternoon. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I cancelled my coaching account with Beachbody as well as my long standing order of Shakeology. I had enough in my pantry to last about a month anyway, and I figured that once it was gone I wouldn't miss it, or I would just juice or do something else to get the vitamins and enzymes I was getting with the shake.

This wasn't the case and after about 9 months or so without this shake, I was missing it!

So, this morning, I bit the bullet and joined Beachbody again (I'm too cheap to pay full price for Shakeology, so I sign up as a coach to get the discount). I can't wait until my shipment arrives! Until then, I'm bringing salads for lunch. If I have to look at one more can of tuna I think I might puke!

Funny Video

There are other videos that do a little better job of explaining Shakeology, but I love Tony Horton and this video cracks my up every time he mentions "fatty fat chips"! Enjoy!

PS: If you want to try Shakeology too, there is a pack available that lets you sample the different flavors. Follow this link http://www.shakeology.com/closetathlete

Cooking Fool

After HS and I finished Les Mills "Pump and Shred", I got to cooking. For dinner I fixed baked chicken with cauliflower "not rice". Since I didn't have any dried mustard, I improvised on the recipe... I marinated the chicken breasts in lemon juice, turmeric, curry, and jalapeno powder. While the chicken baked, I prepped the cauliflower "not rice".

Simple ingredients

This is the second time in four days that I have fixed "not rice". It is much easier to make than mashed cauliflower and much tastier. I used a cheese grater to get the cauliflower into rice like bits. Next, saute the cauliflower in grass-fed butter until lightly cooked (do not over cook).

Saute cauliflower in grass-fed butter

When the cauliflower is cooked, toss in the cilantro, MCT oil and lime juice and serve. Simple, simple.

Finished product

Tomorrow's Lunch

For tomorrow's lunch I fixed BP taco salad's for me and HS. While the meat cooked, I did my best to make a bigger mess of the kitchen.

Messy Marvin ;-)

Don't worry...I cleaned up my mess LOL

Salad without the meat

So pretty!

Dressing on the side

The only thing missing from the picture above is the meat, which is in a separate container so it can be heated tomorrow at work.

First Fail

Since I was on a roll, I decided to try the "ice cream" recipe. Unfortunately, I didn't read the instructions completely and missed the step that said to mix the ingredients until creamy AND THEN add the water & ice. Ugh.

While the ice cream had a good flavor, the bits of congealed butter and or MCT oil was too much for me. I had a small serving but was really disappointed. I should have stopped after two meals tonight ;-)

#dreamingseason

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P90X3 and Me (First Three Days)

I will always credit the original P90X for getting me and Hot Stuff on the path to sustained fitness. I think we did P90X four or five times before moving on to other workouts like INSANITY and P90X2. Eventually we got involved with triathlons and became focused on swimming, biking and running and unfortunately I just didn't have the time for P90X.

Results from first 90 days in 2009

Actually, every once in a while I still try to get in a P90X Yoga-X workout, but I just don't have the time to do the full program and continue with my triathlon training. Something has to give, and when you have a 70.3 mile race looming in your future, you tend to want to give the race all the time necessary...not that it's a bad thing.

So Where Do I Find the Time?

2013 is almost over...I finished Barb's Race as well as my second marathon. Both races were a success in my book, but I have room for improvement. As I re-read through "The Triathletes Training Bible" I was once again confronted with how to incorporate strength training into my workout routine. Here are a few excerpts from the book...

"Although I advise many athletes to stop strength training during the racing season, women in particular benefit from year-round strength training. Unlike men, women tend to lose muscle mass more quickly once they stop working in the weight room." 

"Most women duathletes and triathletes are relatively stronger in their legs than in their upper bodies. Especially in need of strength are the abdominal muscles and arms. This weakness impacts climbing hills when on the bike." 

"Strength work for the upper body involves doing pushing and pulling exercises that use all of the arm joints plus the back muscles and abdominal muscles."

I could have always gone back to P90X, but most of the workouts are at least an hour long and on the days you have to do ab-ripper, that adds another 16 minutes. I could not see working, doing P90X, and then doing my triathlon training...just not enough time in my day.

Then, last week, Beachbody released P90X3. This is an entirely new approach and is not intended to be a progression from P90X and P90X2. P90X3 is a 30 minute workout developed to give you the results of P90X in 30 minutes a day. I was sold and ordered it the next day.

It even came with a hat for Hot Stuff!

The Plan

My intention is to do the full 90 days of P90X3 while maintaining my regular triathlon training. I hope to see a marked improvement in my body. Hot Stuff and I both took our "before" pics on Monday. Here is a sneak peak of mine...

HS was pissing me off, hence the lack of smile

In the picture above, I am roughly the same weight as I was at the end of the first round of P90X back in 2009. I think I was a little more ripped in 2009 which is a little surprising to me given all of the training I have been doing. I will post another photo at my 30 day mark.

After Christmas, I plan on getting serious with the nutrition side of things.

Here is a quick recap of the workouts we have done so far...

Day 1 - Total Synergistics

Ok, if you've ever done the original P90X, you are familiar with synergistics. In fact, the original synergistics was one of my favorite P90X workouts... it just seemed to work out everything and the time flew by quickly. Total Synergistics did not disappoint. Some push ups, some pull ups, some resistance training...I was pretty tired at the end of 30 minutes.  Finished up with a 3 mile run with HS.

NOTE: I am really out of shape in terms of push-ups and pull-ups :-(


Day 2 - Agility X

Next week I will wear a different pair of shoes. Tony recommended court shoes instead of running shoes and I didn't listen. There is a lot of lateral movement and Tony was right...don't wear running shoes. This particular workout was similar to something you would see in INSANITY:Asylum.  Finished up with a 5 mile run at Fleet Feet.

Day 3 - X3 Yoga

The original P90X yoga is 90 minutes. P90X2 shrinks it down to about an hour. P90X3 knocked it out in 30 minutes. In the original, Tony spends a lot of time explaining things which is helpful if it is your first time doing the workout. If it is the 87th time you have done Yoga-X, not so much.

In X3 Yoga, there isn't a lot of explaining. If you are new to the workout, you may have to hit rewind to figure out what to do...don't worry, once you've got the moves down, you will appreciate being able to keep going through the moves. Did not run today.

Abs and pecs were sore from Monday's and Tuesday's workouts...its a good feeling :-)

Tracking My Progress

Writing stuff down (especially food) has never been my strong point. I do wear my Garmin 910XT for most of my workouts and this data is transferred automatically to Garmin Connect. However, I have found another tracking system called Training Peaks. Training Peaks is a little more robust and it has the option of downloading training programs...hmmm, I wonder if any of them have P90X included in the plan :-)