Happy Monday, everyone! Did you have today off for MLK Day? Three-day weekends are the best, right? Before transitioning to the bulk of this post, I want to thank everyone who came to last night’s first official #TriChat.
We discussed 2013 season goals, and Jen and I were blown away by the sheer amount of participants and the high-quality conversation. It wouldn’t have been as successful without USA Triathlon’s presence, and we couldn’t have asked for a better first chat. If you want to #trigeek out with us (and let’s face it, who wouldn’t?) our next Twitter-based conversation will take place Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. EST. Yes, it’s Superbowl Sunday, but this afternoon chat time leaves plenty of time for football festivities! (After Feb. 3, we’ll return to our normal time of 8 p.m. EST.)
Workout #1 – Running
Today’s workout with Full Throttle Endurance (FTE) included the same running drills we did last week, including more barefoot running. During the tech work, Andrew told us to shorten our strides and increase our cadence, which will help improve running efficiency, muscle memory, and arguably recovery. As you can tell from the title of this post, the phrase of the day was “shorter, shorter, quicker, quicker”—shorter strides and quicker turnover. Eventually, we split up into our pace groups for 2-3 tempo miles. Even though my group’s prescribed pace was 8:28 (which is a little conservative for me), we banged out two miles in the 7:20-7:30 ballpark, so I struggled to hang on for the final four laps. I kept telling myself “shorter, shorter, quicker, quicker,” but I fell off the pace and ended up finishing about 10 seconds after my group’s first runner. (Our group contained three people, and our third member dropped off with 800m left.) I’m obviously disappointed I couldn’t maintain my splits, but it’s early in the season, and I can only improve.
Breakfast
I refueled after practice with coffee (obviously) and a spinach and egg-white breakfast sandwich.
Mmmm! A few hours later, I sliced up a banana and sprinkled on some cinnamon and almond butter.
I don’t usually blog my snacks, but most days, I have a banana or almonds between breakfast and lunch.
Lunch
After doing laundry and watching President Obama’s inaugural address, I turned to the fridge for lunch.
First, I steamed a boatload of spinach in the microwave and then added some of the spicy vegan black bean quinoa I made yesterday. It tasted good, but it still seems to be missing something. Hmmm …
I spent about two hours shopping for big-girl internship clothes—and subconsciously thought “shorter, shorter, quicker, quicker” as I walked from store to store—which proved to be unsuccessful except for an unpictured Americano from Starbucks. Priorities.
Workout #2 – Biking
Since Syracuse conveniently played Cincinnati at 3:30 p.m., I multitasked by watching the game and pedaling away on my indoor bike trainer. (I originally planned to swim after this morning’s workout, but the masters swim team had taken over the pool, and none of my teammates wanted to swim with them—ha!) Anyway, my legs felt a little tight and an easy 60-minute recovery ride sounded ideal. Holy cow, though–what a game! The Orange barely held on, 57-55!
When you run or workout, do you repeat words or phrases in your head? What do you say?
Those bananas look delicious! I usually repeat “halfway done!” or “2/3 done!” during my workout to keep me going
I definitely remind myself when I’m halfway done–it’s all about noting progress.
One step at a time, One step, One step… Kinda cheesy, I know.
I think similarly during longer runs: “Run the mile you’re in.”
I always picture myself at the finish line of a race and how good the feeling of accomplishment is to get me through a tough run. Every run leads to something greater!
That’s a good one!
I don’t know how you do doubles, more power to you girl!
Girl, I don’t know how I do it either–it’s 7:30p, and I’m ready for bed!
When I workout, I definitely think about the good feeling of being done! I definitely have some crazy conversations with myself, though ha!
I’ve definitely thought to myself, “you can rest as long as you want–when you’re done.” Ha!
YES! Trichat was purely awesome! You did a great job. You’re really amazing.
I like seeing what your team is doing for workouts. Very interesting to compare.
On my workouts, I do a lot of visualization of myself succeeding or in a good place racing somewhere. It really helps – I don’t much repeat things. I might have to occasionally tell myself that I can “do this.” I usually end up smiling like a total weirdo on my runs.
I’m going to try the banana and almond butter with cinnamon, that’s a combo I haven’t tried.
Visualization is really important. I used to do it all the time for basketball back in the day, and in the days leading up to a tri, I would picture myself swimming, biking, running, transitioning between sports, etc. It really helps you feel more confident and prepared.
Breath and halfway (or whatever percentage!) there!!
When I’m skiing it’s “lean forward and look ahead.”
I always congratulate myself when I’m halfway done!
“Keep going. Keep going.” Not when I run though. That’s when I watch out for deer.. I really don’t like deer. Trichat was awesome btw. Nice work!
Glad you enjoyed it! Can’t wait for the next one!
Your breakfast looks delicious! I also totally do the almond butter with banana snack. It’s so tasty
It’s definitely a go-to snack for me.
I love that phrase you repeat! I have to think about that next time. Those running drills sound so awesome, really wish I had a club around here. Solo training gets REALLY old
ps I LOVE setting up the trainer while watching sporting events, I think it motivates me more 
I love pedaling away and watching basketball games; I definitely push harder when the game gets close–it’s great motivation!
TriChat was so great! I’ve been hesitating to set up a Twitter account, and it just so happened that yesterday was the day and I found TriChat. Awesome! When I run or need motivation during any hard workout, I repeat to myself, “I am stronger than I think, I am stronger than I think.” It helps me remember it’s usually mind over matter!
So glad you enjoyed #TriChat–it was a lot of fun! That’s a great mantra; no matter how beat or exhausted you may seem, you *always* have a little more left in the tank. You just have to find it!
I think I say “almost there, almost there” a billion times in my head, guess you could call that my mantra!
You *are* getting closer …
The quinoa looks yummy. I really need to start experimenting with that!
You’d love it, Natalie! It makes for such a tasty and filling lunch, plus no post-meal carb coma.
That quinoa looks delicious! Maybe a little pineapple or vinegar would have given it some zing?
Pineapple could work. I definitely want it make it spicier–hmmm …
Ah! Then maybe Sriracha? Sriracha makes everything better
Very true!
That’s awesome y’all got such a great response at the first #trichat – hooray! I don’t know why I’m amused by the fact that you ate your bananas and almond butter snack out of a Purina bowl. That’s a pet parent for you.
Sometimes I use mantras when I run but typically I use a lot of negative self-talk. I know I shouldn’t use negative self-talk but it gets the job done. There’s nothing like telling yourself to put your big girl panties on and get the job done during a run.
LOL–I thought about saying something about the bowl! It was a giveaway from a New York Liberty WNBA game I went to back in 6th grade. It was my first WNBA game, so the bowl (even though it’s technically for animals) has a special place in my heart.
Don’t be too hard on yourself! You’re still so early on in training, you’ll get to the pace you’re aiming for, I’m sure of it. And bananas with cinnamon and almond butter is one of my favorites, I usually have mine on a piece of toast, delicious!
Ah, the toast–I knew it was missing something!
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Sometimes I repeat “Fast, fast, quick, quick. Light feet don’t stick.” Especially when I’m tired and I feel my form slipping!
Oooo, that’s quite catchy too!
Sometimes when I run I count in my head, that helps me get through a hard workout!
When I try to count my laps, I always lose track! I should probably start running with my Garmin indoors.
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