2015: The Year in Review @ I Tri Training

2015 has been one for the books! I started the year getting back on track with the Sweat Pink #NoExcuses tagline. I could go into a lengthy post about everything, but I am using bullet points for an efficient closure to the year.

Highs of 2015:

§  Running BAA 5K in April at my second fastest historical pace

§  Mini Musselman triathlon in July with hubby

§  Wine tasting in Finger Lakes region in July with hubby

§  Travel to Spain in July with hubby

§  Girls trip to Cancun in October

§  Galloping Gobbler 4 miler in November at 18 weeks pregnant

§  Completing a Whole 45

§  Crushing 150 perfect bricks by August (food, lifestyle, exercise)

§  Spending the summer with Mark’s sister and kids visiting from New Mexico

§  Little brother visiting in March

§  Mom visited in October

§  Begin selected a Nuun Ambassador

§  Catching up with Live Free and Run after the BAA 5K

§  Keeping up with my blogging moderately well

§  Finding out my husband and I are expecting a baby boy (April 2016)

  Connecting with more friends throughout the year 
Total Frequency Push ups for 2015 = 15,600!

What’s on the Agenda for 2016?

§  Have a healthy last 18 weeks of pregnancy

§  Get the nursery and office squared away

§  Remain active as long as possible during the pregnancy

§  Complete prenatal yoga and pilates

§  Add in swimming if possible

§  Clean up my food choices (Whole 30 if baby will relinquish the carb cravings!)

§  Lose the baby weight in a reasonable amount of time after he is born

§  Run at least one 5K

§  Resume crossfit once daycare in place

§  Make my workouts count

§  Get a Fitbit for post-baby walking

§  Incorporate more yoga classes

§  Run Thanksgiving Galloping Gobbler faster than in 2015

§  Work towards career advancement

§  Focus on family, friends, and fun!

Workout wrap up and bump photos for December 2015:

Week 19-

Sunday- Yoga / Walk w/Penny

Monday- AM Fasted Cardio /AM Crossfit

Tuesday- AM Spinning

Wednesday- PM Cardio Mix class

Thursday- AM Crossfit / PM Walk w/Penny

Friday- AM Crossfit

Saturday- AM Spinning

Week 20-

Sunday- Walk w/Penny

Monday- AM Crossfit/ Walk w/Penny/ PM Prenatal Yoga

Tuesday- AM Spinning / PM Yoga

Wednesday- AM Walk / PM Cardio Mix class

Thursday- AM Crossfit

Friday- AM Crossfit

Saturday- AM Spinning

Week 21-

Sunday- Walk w/Penny

Monday- AM Crossfit / PM Prenatal Yoga

Tuesday- PM Elliptical

Wednesday- Walk w/Penny

Thursday- AM Crossfit

Friday- AM Crossfit

Saturday- AM Spinning

Week 22-

Sunday- Rest

Monday- Walk w/Penny / PM Prenatal Yoga

Tuesday- AM Spinning

Wednesday- Cardio Mix class

Thursday- AM Crossfit (12 days of Christmas workout)

Friday- Hike w/Penny and Mark

Saturday- Hike w/Penny and Mark

Week 23 (In Progress)-

Sunday- Walk w/Penny

Monday- AM Crossfit / PM Prenatal Yoga

Tuesday- Prenatal Pilates

Wednesday- AM Crossfit / PM Cardio Mix

Thursday- Walk w/Penny/ Elliptical/ Prenatal Pilates

Cheers to all that 2015 has been and all that 2016 will bring!

Laura

50 Bricks & Tennessee Vacation

Alex, Laurie, and Sara. Sibling love!

Last Thursday, I returned from a five day trip to see some of our extended family in Tennessee. My immediate family drove down from Duluth, MN (including my Grandma!) and I flew from New Hampshire to meet them in Knoxville. It was great to catch up, play some cards, and enjoy some warmer weather. The picture above is of my brother, me, and my sister at the nature center in Knoxville.

While in Tennessee, we rented a house in the Tellico Valley area, which was a decent area to try some rehab jog/walks. I did ample stretching, and wore a knee strap to alleviate some of the strain. The first one on Sunday was OK.--pretty slow. I think Alex was bored by my recovery pace, but he stuck with me. I did a longer, 30 minute, session on Monday that felt a little better, but then I had tenderness after the jog. As a result, on Tuesday, I just did a quick 20 minute HIIT workout and skipped jogging. On our last morning there, I did another 30 minute jog/walk and again had the tenderness after. Overall, I am not pleased with where I am at with how my knee feels. During the flight, it was uncomfortable to find a good way to sit that did not irritate it. I'm going to have to find an alternative for awhile as I cannot skip exercise, but running and squatting seem to bug it the most. Cycling, swimming, and yoga seem to be the logical choices, so I anticipate a few changes to my training regimen in June.

In other fitness news, I have been quite active on Pinterest gathering recipes and quick, at-home workouts. I found those workouts to be useful and convenient in Tennessee. I think my family thought I was a bit odd doing jumping jacks, abs, and push ups around the rental house, but it worked for me! Feel free to check those out on my Feel the Burn board. What are your tips to fit in quick workouts on a tight schedule? Also, keep your eyes out for my Vega product review in June.

You'll notice in the title that I mentioned hitting my 50th perfect brick. I hit that benchmark on May 25th (hoping to squeeze in a few more in May), which signals 1/3 of the 150 brick goal I have set for 2014. Preferably, I'd like to hit that before the end of the summer or early fall. For my goal, a perfect brick is morning fasted cardio, frequency pushups and clean eating for the day. June is going to be a big month for bricks as I don't have holidays, travel, special events, etc. weighing me down (literally!). Therefore, I am going to attempt to take full advantage of a month where I have ample opportunity to eat clean and work out consistently. I am ahead of where I was tracking on 2013, so I am optimistic that I can meet my goal.

Workouts for 5/19 - 5/25
Monday- Pinterest workout, 20 minute jog/walk
Tuesday- 20 minute HIIT workout, short walk/sightseeing walk
Wednesday- 30 minute jog/walk and Pinterest workout
Thursday- Rest
Friday- Rest
Saturday- AM xfit
Sunday- AM yoga/pilates and 60 minutes cardio machines

Laura

Listen to Your Body

One of the most difficult tasks for a fitness enthusiast is listening to his/her body. I tend to think getting in the workout is more important than rest, which can be hard on my body. Yesterday, in the spirit of focusing on forward progress, I opted to not participate in the Rock N' Race in Concord, NH. It was disappointing to let down my White Mountain Crossfit team and some of my friends from the gym, but ultimately, my knee was not ready for a 5K. Could I have finished? Sure thing, I've done 5Ks, 10Ks, and half marathons; however, I think I'd rather recover fully and enjoy a summer of running and working out vs. pushing through one race that I've completed in the past.

Last week, I went to the chiropractor and they completed some ART therapy on the muscles around my knee and used the dry needling technique as well. I go to Performance Health in Concord and I have to say they are friendly, professional, and very effective! I have felt improvements each day, but still get irritations from certain movements (particularly squats). So after my Wednesday crossfit workout, while I was not in excruciating pain, I did have some slight pangs in the knee area. It was not worth it to me to have to sit out my favorite season for that one run.

Tomorrow, I leave for a five day vacation in Tennessee. While I am there, I am going to test some slow, short distance run/walk combos to ease back into the runner mode. Hopefully this gradual training, and a week off from my more intense crossfit workouts, will be just what I need to combat whatever junk is festering in my knee. The good news is that it does not seem to be patellar tendinitis. However, they were a bit concerned it could have something to do with my meniscus--hopefully not!

On another note, I am finding that I like the morning crossfit workouts. I feel like I accomplish quite a bit in those early hours and the group that attends those classes is very fun and friendly. I plan to keep those up as often as possible. I did sleep through my alarm one morning this week, but got to the 6PM which was a fine substitute for the day.

Workouts for Week of 5/12:

Monday- AM Xfit, lunch walk, PM yoga and short Pinterest xfit workout at home
Tuesday- Brief Pinterest xfit workout at home
Wednesday- AM walk/ lunch pilates/ PM xfit
Thursday- AM yoga
Friday- TBD but most likely a rest day
Saturday- TBD, planned morning boot camp video
Sunday- TBD, planned run/walk and Pinterest xfit workout in Tennessee

Frequency Set Push ups = 6 days of 5 sets of 15 = 450 push ups for the week
Perfect Bricks for 2014 so far = 49 (almost a 1/3 of the way to 150!)

Laura

August Conclusion

As I knew it would, the remainder of August flew by. Here it is September 2nd and I am recapping the final two weeks of what is usually a fun but busy time. We spent our vacation at Squam Lake for a week and then it was back to work. During the vacation (Mark's family rents a house on Squam every summer), I was able to squeeze in a few long bike rides (we lapped Squam Lake) that incorporated some brutal hills. One morning I completed a yoga session on the dock with the sunrise which prompted me to begin doing more sessions of yoga at home (I needed it badly!). I returned to Concord for a few crossfit sessions in order to keep up progress for the WMCSF challenge. We enjoyed beautiful weather the whole week and spent plenty of time out on the boats. It is always sad when the week comes to a close, but it is something to look forward to for the next year.

Not only did I return to the grind of work the last week of August, but also we had testing for our 6 week challenge. I was not sure how the testing would go. I made it to 3 sessions of crossfit for all but one week during the challenge. My food choices during the first week and last week were clean; however, I had a 3 week time frame where I just did not focus on nutrition. My body felt the wrath of those choices, but that was not enough to push me back on the right track for the month. However, testing went well and I made some progress towards my goals of kipped pull ups and improved double unders. I'll add in the side by side comparison of lifts later this week (my workout log is at the gym), but I was psyched by how much I went up on some of my lifts. The highlight of the week was benching 105lbs. My major goal with the bench press is to be able to bench my own body weight--so with a few lbs shaved off and a few more added onto the lift, I should get there ;) Also, we did our mile time trial run and I was able to complete that in 7:54. This may have been my first mile under 8 minutes, so that was super awesome! We have not yet gotten the announcement of who won the challenge (I don't have any grand illusions that I did), but I consider it a success. I'm very glad that we had something to focus on during the summer. I can't imagine how things would have gone if I did not have the support of my gym. Though it was by no means my best summer in terms of exercise and life choices, it was not a failure. I progressed on lifts and crushed some long run times. As far as the other things to improve (morning cardio and clean eating), I know what to do--I just need to be ready to make those things a priority in the fall.

Week of August 19th- August 25th

Monday- Crossfit
Tuesday- AM yoga/Kayaking
Wednesday- 41 mile bike ride
Thursday- Yardwork/ Crossfit
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 10K Run
Sunday- 20 mile bike ride

Pushups 5 sets of 23 for 6 days

Week of August 26th- September 1st

Crossfit testing week

Monday- AM Yoga/Short Cardio Boot Camp / PM Crossfit- Brick #60
Tuesday- Crossfit
Wednesday- Crossfit
Thursday- AM Yoga/Short Cardio Boot Camp/ PM Crossfit- Brick #61
Friday- Crossfit
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- 9 mile run

5 sets of 24 pushups for 6 days

And so it begins...

2013 has not exactly started in the way I had hoped. I had high ambitions of jumping right into perfect bricks and participating in more snowshoe races. Although I have not been completely sedentary, I am disappointed in how the year is panning out. Nonetheless, now that I am into the second month of the year, I feel that I am getting my act together, finally!

The month of January was actually not a total wash--I completed 13 perfect brick days and participated in one snowshoe race in Hollis. The snowshoe race with my friend Alaka was enjoyable. Could I have put more effort into a faster pace? Sure, but it was really more about getting outside and having some fun! I had plans to complete at least 3-4 more snowshoe races but was derailed by our honeymoon in Jamaica and another back muscle injury.

Jamaica was fabulous and I'd return in a heartbeat! Mark and I did moderate cardio and lifting while we were there. I continued with my frequency pushups throughout that trip. Also, we participated in a variety of water sports including snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and jogging on the white sand beach. Despite a fairly active trip, I indulged heavily in delicious foods and beverages. And this was ok. After all, I had worked out in order to enjoy our trip. However, I had plans to jump right back into my routine/food plan as soon as we returned from our trip. But unfortunately, my body had other plans...

About three days prior to Jamaica, I strained a muscle somewhere in the right side of my back. I ignored it and figured I'd be easier on it during the vacation. I felt some pains during the trip but didn't push it to the extreme so I was able to function normally.

Upon returning from our trip, I went to crossfit on Monday. I'm not exactly sure if it was the overhead press or kettlebell swings that pushed the injury over the edge, but I was in a lot of pain that evening. The next day, after sitting at my desk for an extended period of time, I stood up and felt a stabbing pain that made it difficult to move and breathe. It seemed I had pushed my body to its limits and it was time to see the chiropractor. This is also meant some serious forced rest. Unfortunately, when I am not active, it is very difficult to maintain healthy habits due to boredom.I ended up taking a total of 8 days off with just a few low-impact elliptical sessions mixed in. My food choices during this rest period were awful. I still drank my gallon of water every day and had a decent breakfast but that was where my healthy habits stopped. I ate a lot of carbs/sweets during the afternoon and evening hours. I did not cut carbs at 2PM and had wine in the evenings. The result was irritability in mood, difficulty sleeping, and of course, some weight gain.

Last week, after 5 sessions with the chiropractor, I finally felt almost one hundred percent better. I went to three sessions of crossfit, completed four sessions of fasted cardio, and made much better food choices. It was so easy to fall into a pattern of poor habits and a much bigger challenge to dig myself out. I also started running on the treadmill again which helped me feel like I was making substantial progress.

Even though I started 2013 a bit slow, I still have plans to make this a great year for physical fitness. The next steps to meeting this goal are committing to some races and getting involved in some of the crossfit open sessions at White Mountain Crossfit in March! Additionally, I will plan to blog weekly as it holds me accountable. Finally, I will look to the people and blogs that inspire me: Ignite the Fire, Irongirl & Ultrarunning Boy, Live Free & Run,, Weaving in the Ends, House Bella , and of course White Mountain Crossfit..

Week of February 11th Workouts:

Monday- AM Elliptical/ afternoon xfit
Tuesday- AM run
Wednesday- PM xfit
Thursday- AM elliptical/ afternoon xfit
Friday- AM run
Saturday- rest
Sunday- afternoon run

* 6 days of frequency pushups 5 sets of 20