Feed me!

Tough but good week so far. So far I’ve done all of the scheduled workouts. Not unusual for me, but still. The Conte’s ride went well Tuesday. I was SO tempted to ride easy and skip the crit all together and just ride Military with the “C” group. But I didn’t. Partly because I blogged that I would do it, partly because I knew it was good for me.

I did it 4 times. It hurt, but I would have to admit that it might have hurt just a little less than last time. I think my heart rate was a tad lower this week, too.

Wednesday morning I opted for a solo, 60-min, zone 2 run and I really enjoyed it. Grooved to my music, took a new, different route, and appreciated the absolutely gorgeous weather. Funny thing – riding the elevator back to my condo I saw a neighbor and commented what a great day it was for a run. I told him the weather was about 62 and breezy. When I turned on the TV I was impressed that I guessed the temperature exactly right. How ‘bout that?

Wednesday afternoon I lifted. For a couple of months I’ve been following the “ME” (Muscual Endurance) workout. It basically called for lighter weights, 12-25 reps. I never before did such high reps (25!), but I trusted the plan and did it. It was a nice change of pace.

Yesterday’s workout was “AA” (Anatomical Adaptation – no, I don’t really know what that means). Same exercises as ME (squats/leg press, lat pull, seated leg curl, chest press, calf raise, seated row) but higher weights and 3 sets of 10 reps.

I went back up to my old weight for squats (what I lifted when I regularly did 10-12 reps). Ummm, yeah. Not too smart. I was hurting by the end of the first set. For whatever reason, I decided that since I was already hurting, I would just go for it and keep going hard. Pretty sure that was not what the plan intended. In fact, I am pretty certain that somewhere in there it talks about amount of effort, and I recall something about it not being 100%. Oops. Oh well.

I had a great workout. Needless to say, I felt it afterwards. I could barely bend down to pick up my water bottle. It must have been a sight to see. I hurt today - but I hurt so good. I love this kind of pain. The kind that says, “yeah, I worked hard, I’m building muscles.” [Don’t worry Mom, I’m just sore – I didn’t injure myself.]

If you’re keeping track, you see that there’s been a lot of exercise this week. A little more than usual thanks to the 90-minute swim on Tuesday. My nutrition apparently needs a little work. I thought I was eating enough, but my body declared loudly yesterday and last night that I am not. Ugh.

Basic rundown of yesterday’s nutrition:

--Pre-run: Bowl of shredded wheat with soy milk
--Post-run: Glass of OJ, and bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with honey [yes, I see that there was no protein here]
--Mid-morning: Cup of chocolate soy milk with scoop of protein powder
--Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti with kale and roasted potatoes; Banana with peanut butter; Hershey miniature (special dark – yummm)
--Post-workout: Cup of skim milk with protein powder; Salad with kidney beans, feta, kalamata olives and flaxseed oil; Pineapple
--Dinner: Chicken/tofu/broccoli stir fry with brown rice
--Dessert: Snackwell cookie (1) (random find in the pantry), 2 Hershey miniatures

Sounds good, huh? Well, I thought so. That is, until I woke up -- only an hour after going to bed -- hungry. I drank some water. Just an hour later I woke up again -- starving. I got out of bed, ate, and spent the next hour trying to fall back asleep.

I guess I just need to eat more. I wasn’t hungry when I went to bed, but I pretty much felt hungry the entire day. So does this mean I am officially training for Ironman?

Someone please send me a pizza! Or if anyone wants to cook for me or take me out for a meal, please…. * I feel like I can’t keep up with my nutritional needs these days. Maybe I’ll just start eating lots of chocolate. And cupcakes.

Anyhow, this morning I made it to swim practice. I told Holly I would be there, and I didn’t want to be a liar. Swam well for 45 minutes and then my boo-boo happened. I hit my leg on the rough bricks on the swim ladder and cut my foot. It is really minor, but for fear of bleeding up the pool, I called it quits. Such a wuss!

Just one more workout to squeeze in before it is *finally* a rest day. Since I have dinner plans with the girls tonight at Brabo, I will spin at lunch time instead of going to the team workout at Hains Point. The training plan calls for 60’ zone 2 on the bike. Boring! I can do it, though. I am sooo ready for the break.

* Note that all meals must be carefully scheduled around sleeping hours, workouts, and this little thing called a JOB.