So I Guess This is What House Arrest Feels Like...

Let me explain the title before anyone thinks I'm under house arrest or have been placed under house arrest....

My dog had surgery for a mast cancer tumor on his leg. This is his second surgery in three months and he is only 6 years old. I was pretty devastated when we found this new tumor and we scheduled surgery within a week. Our bank account took a hit and we knew how tough recovery would be because we've been through it before. However, this time recovery has been going much better. Maybe it's because we're actually following the rules and putting the cone on him....

We put the cone on him when we go to bed (because we know he'll go after the stitches) and whenever we go out (which we haven't really done). So when I get up I take the cone off and watch him. Since I've been doing that I have opted to do my workouts at home. Since I've been home, I've been: cycling, trying in-home workouts from Fitness Magazine, and getting my butt kicked with Jillian Michael videos.

Today's workout was No More Trouble Zones by Jillian Michaels. I don't know how people can do that video every day. I'm already sore... AND I've been doing Orange Theory for a couple of months. It's ridiculous, no matter how much I train I always get my butt kicked - every single time..

As I was doing the video, I thought about what I would do once my Orange Theory agreement ran out. I like the gym, but it's really expensive. I'd save almost 100/month by not doing it. That's a lot of money, and we've been trying to save money. Also, I've invested in a lot of workout accessories and could probably replace it with doing some in-home workouts. I've got a treadmill, stationary bike set-up, tons of work-out videos, weights, kettle bells, and Fitness magazine articles. I can make it work. Over the next couple of months, I will try to incorporate some of these workouts into my routine. Ok - maybe after the beautiful running weather is over.

This coming weekend my dog gets his stitches out and life can hopefully resume back to normal. As much as this process sucks, I'm just glad he is okay and that his recovery has been better than the first time around. Special thanks to my parents and in-laws for helping out with him throughout the week.

It's FALL!!!

Yes - I love fall. I guess it's because it's not too warm and not too cold. Plus let's be real, in Florida it means you can start wearing boots and cute sweaters. It also means that working out outdoors will actually be pleasant instead of feeling like you're in the depths of hell.

So let's catch up on my workouts. In my last post, I talked about being sick - but guess what? I'm better ... yay.... However, my body has been going through a funk. This past Sunday I had a 5K (after only getting 4.5 hours of sleep the night before due to the rockin' Maroon 5 concert) and it was horrible. Not only did I finish it almost 3 minutes (26- ish min 5K) slower then my normal time I aim for, but my whole body was cramping. I'm not sure if I was dehydrated, fatigued, or still sick - but holy crap was it rough. The next day I went to Orange Theory where we did some interval training on the treadmill with a 3-9% incline with tons of weight reps. In the middle of the workout I felt lightheaded and had to take a breather. It was like my body had given up during the workout. I finished out the workout but figured I would take off from working out the next day. I ended up going back to Orange Theory yesterday where I kicked booty. I was next to a girl who rocked the same speed as I did and it was almost like we were silently pushing each other. It was probably one of my best workouts on the treadmill.

Today I plan on trying to get a run in outdoors. It was nice this morning, but I have a feeling a late summer shower will be rolling in around the time I want to run. No worries. I can still cycle indoors or run on my treadmill. Having both those is definitely conducive (yes I like to use big words on occasion lol) for my workouts.

In other news I subscribed to something called BULU Box. It's part of one of those new fads where you get samples from different companies in the mail. It was $10/month for a subscription (I got mine through a Livingsocial deal where it was $15/3 months). My first box came in a couple of days ago and it was pretty cool. I picked the weight loss version box so I got: an energy gel supplement (it was called Body Glove Surge), pills called Shapeology, a recovery mix called Amino, and a meal replacement shake (I forgot the name of it). I tried the meal replacement shake, and it was okay but had a bitter aftertaste. I also was hungry 2 hours later after I had it even though I had it with an egg and Turkey Bacon. I could never just have that shake as a meal replacement. I haven't tried anything else but plan on taking the gel this weekend or maybe even today if I get my run in. The box is pretty neat, but I think another box set called Klutch Club might be a little better. I had ordered it once through another Livingsocial deal and ended up getting more than my money's worth in it. My biggest win in that box was the yurbuds headsets which costs $30 on their own. Some of the other products were weird, but I don't think you'll ever truly love every item in any of those boxes. I'll let you know if I end up reordering that Klutch Club..

That's it from me.... Thank you for everyone who follows me. It looks like I even have some international followers not... Until the next time.. Happy Trails :)

Being Sick ...

So I'm sick again... I think I have a cold... I rarely get sick, but already this year it has hit me twice. I try to nip it in the butt when I first feel it coming on, but I don't feel like I've been too consistent with my treatment. So, what do I do when I have a cold? I take 2 Echinacea pills twice a day, a zinc pill, a B12 pill, and a multivitamin. Afterwards, I gargle salt water and have some tea. When I follow this routine, I usually feel better in about 2-3 days. I'm on day 3 and I still feel like crap. I also typically take Emergencee (I mix it with OJ and it tastes DELICIOUS), but I don't have any at home and I've been too lazy to stock up on some. So there you have it. My quick fix for trying to nip a cold in the butt. I'm hoping that tomorrow I might finally feel better.

Enough with my sickness, what about your workouts? Well, since I've been MIA for almost two weeks, I figured I should catch everyone up. I won't bore you so I'll give you some of my workout highlights:

  • I raced in a 5K this past weekend and pulled a 24:08. This time was not bad considering that I haven't been training for a 5K race. What's also impressive is that I was bogged down by slow runners during the first 5 minutes of the run. Since I tend to stay in the back this typically happens to me, but this time it was pretty bad.
  • I did a hill workout last week. I used the overpass right next to my house as my "hill". I ended up doing 6x400s in less than 2 minutes each with a jog down the hill as my recovery. This KILLED me but afterwards it felt amazing. I definitely want to incorporate more hill workouts. Next time I might aim to do 4x800s.
  • I've been getting my Orange Theory on twice a week. I love this place and my husband says I should be on their payroll I talk about it so much. I honestly can't help it though, I feel like they really give me a hard workout and I love seeing my numbers after class.
  • I bought new shoes!!! They are Sauconys of course! I'm trying a new type of Saucony - Progrid Kinvara 3. I'll let you know how the shoe works. I'm an underpronator so I'm actually trying to find a shoe that works for me.
So there you have it! Some exciting stuff going on! This coming week I've got another 5K and I'm hoping I can continue my trend of getting low 24s or maybe even a 23 minute 5K. I'll also be going on some doctor appointments next week. I'm not sure if I blogged about this before but it looks like I might have an underactive thyroid. I'm going to my primary care physician this week to see what the deal is and hopefully get some more information. This all came about because I was suffering from some weird heart palpitations. It turns out the underactive thyroid MIGHT be causing this. Anyways, I'm a firm believer in trying to get your heart conditions taken care of since you've only got one. I'll keep everyone posted once I hear more.

Happy Trails :)

Sushi as a Pre-race Meal? Who knew!!

Last night I had sushi for dinner. It was my friend K's bday and in an effort to try to find something healthy, I opted for sushi. I've actually had sushi as a pre-race meal before and ended up doing really well, but you know that you need a second success before making it a tradition.

So this morning I woke up ready to go for my tri! I honestly haven't been training, but I figured since I've been cross training I would be okay. The race was in a park, and the course was pretty much flat and didn't have as many bike loops as last time. My biggest concern for the race was actually the swim. Last tri I had a complete melt down in the water, and so I was trying hard not to psych myself out for this one. This race was nice because I had two of my friends doing it: G and C PLUS I had three friends watching K,B, A (A took the pictures I'm posting). Races are definitely more fun when you have people you know in them.

Since this was a smaller race, there were only 3 waves and me and C were in the last wave. C had a friend there (S) and so all three of us wished each other luck. Seconds later the horn started and we were off. This swim course was kind of tricky. There were no buoys that guided you so you kind of had to find the most direct route on your own. I "sight" a lot when I swim so I was fine. "Sighting" is when you take a moment to look up while you're free styling. When you look up, you're "sighting" an object.

The swim started, and like any other race, I totally got kicked in the face lol. It's really not as bad as people think it is. I mean you're going to get kicked, run into, and swallow some water - that's just the way it is. I tend to be in the back so I waited it all out and then got into my steady stroke. As I gained speed my chest tightened and I could feel myself panicking a little bit. After a couple of minute, I still couldn't shake it so I tried breathing more. Sometimes when you start off to fast you can literally run out of breath and so you need to just slow down a tad. I ended up just breathing more and was able to complete my swim without a meltdown.

My transition was fine. I mean there's nothing to really report about during transitions. I don't clip in and so I end up just wearing my running shoes. I did learn today about some new pedals that might be able to help me: Power Grips. They have a strap that will help bring your foot up with less effort. Talk about a win :)

During the bike I just tried to focus on catching the people in front of me. The course was flat which was awesome and I know that course relatively well. Again, nothing exciting to report. However, after the race I found out that I was averaging 18.5 mph. I can remember during my first tri when I was struggling to go 13 mph. Crazy how much time I've cut since starting out on this journey.

I came back from the bike and was ready to kick booty on the run. I got to wear my awesome headband (the Will Run for ...pictures of junk food...) The run went quickly and was pretty well shaded. I had a couple of people who I was pacing off of and I think that definitely helped.

Official Results: 1:07 something... I was so happy with this time!!! Here re some pictures!!!






Lesson of the race: Eat More Sushi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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