Today I officially started training for the Cozumel Iron Man, my first Iron Man-distance triathlon.
The first five weeks of training are considered the "base phase."
Before it's all over with, I will have a peak week that calls for 18 hours of training!
It's going to be a long 21 weeks . . .
Training kicked off this morning with a relatively short 1200 meter swim (my last swim was more than two weeks ago!)
Tonight, however, was a doozy! Leave it to my husband to say "want to do some hills?" and then plan the most hellacious, 28 miles he can think of. Not only did we tackle the absolute worst hills in our area, but he made sure that on all other roads, we were riding against the terrain--going left to ensure an uphill climb, verses right where we could have coasted a bit. Ultimately, this is what makes him a good training partner--the way he pushes me to go harder than I might on my own.
And push me he did! My heart rate hit 187 bpm on some of the worst climbs. But, despite my heart hammering in my chest and being unable to speak for half the ride, I actually felt pretty good on the climbs (and made good on my vow not to curse our local hills after the boring, pancake-flat rides in Hilton Head last week). However, the hills took their toll and sapped my energy pretty quickly.
Workout recap:
1200 meter swim
28-mile bike:
1561 cal
max speed: 40 mph
Nutrition recap:
Lots of water all day.
Breakfast: Power Oatmeal (2.5 hours prior to swim)
Lunch: 1 slice honey whole grain bread with almond butter and honey, carrots and hummus, and a peach. (post-swim)
Dinner: Big green salad, quinoa pilaf (recipe below) and chocolate covered almonds for dessert. (1.5 hours prior to bike)
Bike: 44 oz water, though I could have used another 10-15 oz today.
Post-Bike: 8 oz Recoverite, almonds with dried cranberries and a few dark chocolate chips.
Quinoa Pilaf:
Tonight is the first time I made a quinoa pilaf--the recipe was on the box, though I modified it using the fresh veggies I had on hand: Diced carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, squash & swiss chard sauteed in olive oil with oregano, salt and pepper, and then added to a pot of cooked quinoa. It looked a bit dry, so I added another T. of olive oil to the pot before serving. It looked something like this:
I thought it was pretty tasty. My daughters, who are pretty adventurous eaters, didn't rave about it, but ate it without complaint. What was especially satisfying was to hear them saying "mmm" as they chomped on their salads!
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