Weekly Update: Gobble Gobble Edition

I'm positing a few days early, I'll be visiting the west coast all week!

Holidays are a weirdly stressful thing for many serious athletes. I love the time off work, and traveling and seeing family but I always feel like I am throwing my workout and diet plan way off track. I am limited to running and the odd swim workouts and I end up eating poorly because we tend to eat out more often. So how are triathletes supposed to handle this break from the routine?

Typically vacation means relaxing, catching up on sleep and having fun with family, and we should do the same. Rest should be an integrated and critical part to any athlete's training plan, and variety is refreshing. No significant impact is seen in muscular strength or VO2 max for approximately a week, so while many triathletes feel guilty for missing a workout, a workout here and a workout there will not be the end of your race. 

Tips to surviving the holiday (as far as training goes anyway):

• Relax! If you stress about training the whole holiday you will miss out on all the benefits of recovery.
• Plan ahead, if you're traveling you'll likely be limited to running and a few swims so map out a few routes and find a lap pool near by. If there is no lap pool, a swimming leash is a viable alternative.
• Workout in the morning. Family and friends will likely not be planning any early morning activities so it's a great way to avoid conflicts between working out and family activities. It also will leave you refreshed and awake for the rest of the day and you will not be worried about completing a workout later.
• Sign up for a turkey trot! Most towns have a 5k/10k race on thanksgiving day and it can give you a small goal for the week and justify at least some of the turkey dinner face stuffing. This also can be a family activity with some people running and others walking. 
• When you do eat out try to order a healthy meal, but not if its in lieu of something on the menu you actually really want. Healthy eating is important, but if you let it control your life to the point you don't enjoy your meals you won't be able to keep it up. Sometimes cheat days are ok.
• If you miss a day working out, don't stress about it! You will survive and live to fight another day.

Now go forth and enjoy your vacation!

Recipe of the week: Leftover Turkey Salad

A great way to use thanksgiving day leftovers and by substituting Greek yogurt where mayo would typically be used increases the amount of protein and decreases the saturated fats. The yogurt is a bit tart, so go crazy with the grapes if you want!

What you'll need: 

• 3 1/2 cups diced turkey
• 1 6oz plain greek yogurt
• A handful of dried cranberries (to taste)
• A handful of halved grapes (to taste)
• 1 cup diced celery
• Pepper to taste

Toss it all in a bowl and mix it together. Really complicated I know, but you've this.

Delicious sandwich filling for the upcoming week!

Workout of the week:

Thanksgiving 5k/10k!

Races, even small, local and unsanctioned races can bring out your competitive side. That's the side that arguably makes us awful people, but also better at sports! (I think I just realized why my girlfriend didn't want to do a relay race with me...)

Week in Review: 10/10/2013

Hello All!

Well it has been an exciting week on the Gulf Coast. I am over the top excited to join my new team, Big Sexy Racing and have already been hearing from many of my new team members. The official announcement of the 2014 team should be coming this week and it is exciting to see triathletes from all over the world joined on one team!

As my first week in review post, I am going to try a few things and see how it works. I am hoping to keep up with a healthy recipe of the week, best workout of the week and maybe a few other notes so here goes:

My Favorite Workout of the Week: 20/20s on the Bike
20 minute intervals are always a good standby for endurance athletes and I typically do them when I am time crunched and trying to pack a good workout into an 80 minute time slot. They help increase an athletes lactate threshold (power output before everything really starts to hurt) by teaching the body to metabolize the lactate faster. It also allows for a fast, but effective trainer workout.

*efforts are based off of a functional power threshold (FTP), the maximum effort that a person can hold for an hour at a time. If not using a power meter, these efforts can be approximated through feel and heart rate.

10 min Warm Up at an easy pace
5x (30 second sprint, 30 second rest)
5 min Rest 
20 min at 85-95% FTP
10 min Rest
20 min at 85-95% FTP
10 min Cool Down 

Total Time: 80 Minutes

As an example, my workout power plot is below: 

If trying to replicate without a power meter think of the 30 second efforts as a 9-10 out of a scale of 10, and the 20 minute efforts as a 7-8. You want to be tired at the end of the first interval, but not so tired you can't complete the workout. 

Recipe of the Week: Quinoa with Cranberries and Cashews

I'll admit it, I had to Google a picture because I got distracted and ate the dinner before I had a chance to take my own!

This is a very easy recipe and easy to make in bulk if you want to pack up the leftovers for lunch. The quantities below make about 5 meals worth (at least for me!). It is a bit of a spring time dish, but it was 80deg here today, so I feel like it's still acceptable.

• 1.5 Cups Dry Quinoa
• 3 Cups Chicken Broth
• Three Diced Shallots
• 3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 5oz Package dried cranberries
• 1 cup Cashews (chopped to preferred size)
• Fresh Mint, chopped
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• Pepper to Taste

Step 1: Saute the diced shallots in 1 tbsp of the olive oil until tender. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add quinoa and cook until most of the chicken broth is gone.

Step 2. Add cranberries, cashews and mint and mix together.

Step 3. In a small bowl whisk together remaining olive oil, lemon juice and pepper. Once combined mix in with the quinoa. Dish is good warm or cold!

With that I'll head out for the week and see how this does! 

I am new at this so appreciate any advice you'd like to leave in the comment section!

Have a lovely week and ride on! 

Kicking Off the New Season

Hello all!

Many friends recommended I start up a blog and a few months ago I made the web address.... then I stopped there.

Recently, I was very excited to learn of my acceptance to Big Sexy Racing triathlon team with Chris McDonald at the helm and figured this was as good a time as any to get the blog started.

I am recent convert to triathlon, having gotten my start in cycling races at 15 in Denver, CO. My cycling career resulted in several state championships as well as a couple conference championship wins once I reached the collegiate level.
My first inkling of interest in Ironman length triathlons came during a road trip with my college friends. We listened to podcasts to pass the time and happened upon Limits, discussing the limits of the human body and mind. The first segment of the show documents Julie Moss's journey to becoming an Ironman, and I knew just had to find that limit. 
My move to the Gulf Coast of Texas was the final push into the sport, with such a strong triathlon community, making the leap was easy and encouraged. 

My first year in triathlon included three half Ironman races and one full Ironman. I managed to qualify for the Las Vegas 70.3 World Championships by winning age group at Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3. Placing second in my age group at Ironman Texas gives me hope to qualify for Kona this coming season and I'll put everything I have into it. 

Over and out!- Lydia