2015 Early Season Update
It’s been a busy year that’s left me with little time to blog, but I wanted to let you all know about my training and race schedule for 2015. I typically do an Ironman every other year to allow for my husband to train and race more on my alternate years, but I wanted to capitalize on my success at Boulder and continue to benefit from my fat-adapted state. My husband is amazing and said go for it so I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin.
The first race on my horizon is the Boston marathon. Unfortunately, I had an issue with inflammation in my bone from my very uncomfortable ski boots. That put an early end to my ski season and kept me from running during peak Boston training. I was worried, but focused on keeping my fitness with riding our new Wahoo KICKR. This is the greatest trainer on the market. I was not able to get my heart rate above zone 2 on my old trainer but the KICKR does the trick! I also started aqua jogging. It sounded like a waste of time but my coach gave me a workout plan that was surprisingly tough. I was literally sweating in the pool! After a week, I was able to run on an anti-gravity trainer, Alter-G, which felt a bit like running on the moon, but as I added more of my body weight if felt more like running. All of this brought some great changes. The Kick’r increased my FTP. The aqua jogging and Alter-G training helped me focus on running form and I was getting better at activating my glutes. I was even starting to wonder if all this would make me a faster runner! Time off running also forced me to swim more, which started to make a difference in my dreadfully slow swim times.
Once I got clearance to run outside, I was ecstatic. But, the first few runs were sluggish. After running on the Alter G, my body felt so heavy. I finally had a good run in Santa Barbara. The cliffs overlooking the ocean were gorgeous and, of course, I got the boost from the extra oxygen at sea level. I felt like I was finally back to myself.
This meant that it was time to kick in the big mileage in a short time to prepare for Boston; but, I had to be smart about it to keep my injury from relapsing. I was amazed as I built the long run weekly to 15, 17, 18 and finally 20. I ran 20 almost one month out from the race and it was my best 20 miler ever. My fastest mile was the 20th mile so I’m excited about the possibilities of the race season!
Now for some of the details on injury recovery and nutrition. I have been dedicated to my recovery boots, foam roller, stretching and glute-activation exercises. My nutrition has not changed much from last season. The carbohydrate focus is on non-starchy vegetables. I’ve only been using water for most of my long runs. I needed to test my nutrition since it’s been several months so I took my usual supplements on the 20 miler, including VespaPower and X2 Performance. I used 1 packet of the Vespa and ½ bottle of the X2. I brought a half scoop of UCAN but I never used it. I will likely do so in the race, but my body didn’t need it for 20 miles. I know I can digest it well so all should be fine for the marathon.
I’ve done some longer rides as well and, since my first long triathlon is still months away, I have used little calories during the rides. I’ve only used a packet of Vespa on my 3+ hour rides.
One of favorite new things is Recovery Nectar by Natural Force. I've been using it after longer training sessions and it boosts my recovery and reduces muscle soreness. Click here to learn more about it.
Things are going well and I’m excited for the race season to kick off on April 20th in Boston! I hope you have all been training strong in the base season and primed your fat adapted fueling so you can capitalize on it for race season.
Stay tuned for more details on my race season!