Half Marathon Training

Ever since Rev3 Maine last August, I've been really struggling to get my training back on course. I know, it should've been easy. Well, it wasn't. I didn't. I've lost a LOT of fitness because of it.

Jon & I decided we were both going to do the Space Coast Half Marathon. Well, I decided to do it. Jon decided that since he'd be there & be getting up super early, he might as well do it too. Plus, the race has to do with space... and Jon's an aviation nut. So, he'd want my medal and I told him he couldn't have it. He had to earn his own. (Nice of me, hu?)

Since neither one of us trained for the Disney half in January, we decided we'd both follow the Galloway half marathon training plan for this race. So, I took the time to match up the runs with our dates and made up our training plan.

We started our runs last week and have been doing them together so far. I've been really enjoying the runs. Since Jon started running, we've only run together a couple of times and neither of us really enjoyed it.

Week 1: 2 - 30 min run, 3 mi long run
Week 2: 2 - 30 min run, 2 mi long run (gotta love the beginning of a 20 week training plan!)

Chocolate Island Boost Testing - Not just for running!

One of the perks of being an ambassador for Island Boost is that I get to road test the new flavors. I was so excited when Laura told us that chocolate is the next flavor that she's working on.

I got the package with the chocolate Island Boost last week and have been waiting for the "perfect" workout. Today was that day.

Mmmm, chocolate!

When I opened the vial, I immediately smelled it. Because well, it's a chocolate energy product and historically most of the one's I've used in the past just don't smell & taste like chocolate. I'm VERY happy to report that this one DOES indeed smell like chocolate. Like very yummy chocolate. Almost like a chocolate shake (without the dairy!). I have a feeling that this is going to be good!

We were asked to take a sip before doing our workouts to get a taste. Oh boy, I'm afraid to buy these. I'm not sure if they'll ever make it TO my workouts! It's sinfully good. I can only imagine popping one of these into the freezer would be akin to having a nice, healthy fudgsicle waiting for me after a workout.

Initial taste test (prior to workout). It's silky smooth. There's a little aftertaste, but it goes away within a minute or so. Very chocolatey. (Can you tell I'm a bit of a chocoholic?!)

Then, I had lunch (avocado sushi & chicken with mixed vegetables) and waited for about an hour before my workout. Probably not the healthiest pre-workout meal, but i was seriously craving the avocado sushi. Anyhow... back to the review. I took the time to pump up my bike tires pre-workout.

After the hour, I did two Fitness Blender workout videos - low impact cardio & upper body - totaling about 50 minutes. Immediately following the videos, I went downstairs to my tri bike, turned on Tour de France, turned on the fan, put on my bike shoes, and hopped on. After I got the bike computer set up, I opened up the vial of chocolate Island Boost and started pedaling. My goal was 30 minutes.

The pain cave

I started out in a pretty easy gear. Even as easy as it was, I was struggling a bit. About 3:30 in, the Island Boost must've hit because my legs all of the sudden stopped screaming. Around 7:00, I was able to kick up the gearing and again at 13:00. Normally, I'd say it was just my legs getting warmed up, but they were already pretty warm prior to starting. I had no problems keeping my gearing where I wanted it and pushing my cadence (hey, I had to try to keep up with the guys riding Tour!). At 30:00, I felt like I could've EASILY kept going. Given that I wasn't wearing bike shorts (given the 1st part of the workout), I figured 30 minutes was enough.

The chocolatey-yummy goodness. All gone. :( 

I think I found my new favorite flavor of Island Boost; I can't wait until the chocolate flavor hits production and stores!

For now, I'll stick with Passion, Renegade, and Aspire and not so patiently wait for the chocolate to be available at REI.

Reality Check!

Today, I weighed myself... and it was bad. I'm struggling to make sure I'm not concentrating so much on my weight that it defines me. I read this article and it really opened my eyes.

Back to tracking calories in/calories out for me. Also, back to working out more than 2-3 times per week. Gotta get back into it. Enough is enough.

Recently, on one of the Facebook groups I'm on, there was a discussion about losing weight vs leaning up. The phrase "losing weight" gives off a negative connotation. It also sounds like you're looking to find it again. "Leaning up" is a little more positive and can mean getting rid of weight and/or changing the shape of your body. I'm going to TRY to use "leaning up" more now in my discussion about weight.

Goals - Lean up by 20 lbs. Drop 2% body fat. Get back into triathlon shape!