New Endeavor

So I got real sick of not training for something ... look how long I lasted right. So I am contemplating competing in Crossfit. I used Crossfit last year as a way to strength train as well as build muscle while training for IM WI.

I am restarting my blog this year with my Crossfit training and eating plan to optimize fitness levels.

THE YEAR GOALS:

1. Blog three times a week
2. Be 80 % clean eating by the end of August
3. Compete in one Crossfit event by the end of the year 2013.
4. Stay health and Love my life :) 

Here we go. 

Today's Workout Plan :
AM : 7 mile run
Slower than I wanted at a 7:49 pace.
Dealing with some ankle and heal pain and very sore from Monday's WOD which was:
100 Push ups
40 Sit-ups
30 Box Jumps
20 Push ups
10 L Pull Ups
100 KB Swings

Lunch CF WOD (crossfit workout of the day)
2 Rounds

10 Sumo deadlift high pulls (65#)
10 Wall-Ball (14#)
20 Push Press (20# DB)
20 Box Jumps
30 Burpees
30 Ball Slams (20# )

Lunch time workout. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes and keep it updated with my fun new foods I am trying and my "small" additional workouts.
My dad has always encouraged me to set goals and he has me setting monthly, weekly and year goals. In an effort to keep this going I want to post my weekly goals for this and update and see how my progress goes.

WEEK GOALS:

1. Blog 2 more times
2. Eat out only 3 times this week (One with my Mom yesterday, one with my frisbee team last night and so only one more this week.)
3. Get 4 WODs in this week

Wish me luck!

-I believe in redefining my impossible. -NIKE

A "lifetime" of training

Over a year without blogging... 

A year in recap: 

Boston 2012 : Difficult. IT Band syndrome in both knees cause extreme pain at mile 12 and remained for the rest of the race. Extremely hot weather conditions ( 85 degrees in April) lead to dehydration and a rough race. With all those factors I still ran a 3:45 . Not horrible ... defiantly not what I wanted ( 3:30 or better ). I felt like my Ironman training really had prepped me for the hot conditions though and how to handle it better. 

IM WI Training  2012: Summer training was hard in numerous 90 plus weeks. Really focused on my swim this year and improved my time a lot. Had problems with my IT band still and ankle pain. Enjoyed training with some awesome people and realized the importance of training partners and support people. 

IM WI RACE 2012: Cramped in the swim ( this was happening in training too ). Improved my swim time by 13 minutes from prior race. Had me out of the water and on the bike with people who were defiantly not my speed ( ie my bike pace is slow and they were all way faster) . Got passed a lot on the first leg of the bike and I was trying to keep up with the people passing me ( personal flaw being uber competitive in a race I shouldn't have been competitive in ) . Left me cramping on the second loop multiple times and wanting to be off the bike dreading the run. (If it wasn't race day i would have stopped after the first loop because I was cramping so bad). I had an awesome support team out on the bike which totally helped me get through those really hard bike legs. Spent a lot of time talking to the man upstairs which helped with my mental state of mind. Got off the bike and sat down T2 and didn't want to get up or move. My legs were so cramped up I could barely change into my run gear. I finally forced myself out on the run course and figured I had enough time that I could walk the whole run course if  I needed to ( although my goal in my head was for a sub 4 hour marathon) . After mile 2 of the run I knew it was going to be a long marathon. I had a agreed with a fellow runner that we would run the flats and walk up all hills. On the run course I had awesome people who walked/biked next to me the whole time. They made those 5 hours pass by really nicely. It was the slowest I've ever done a marathon but my body just wouldn't let me go any faster. My IT band was causing extreme pain. My body was shutting down. I wanted to go pee so bad and every time i tried I couldn't. I had double vision.I threw up multiple times. Need less to say I wasn't feeling so awesome so I decided that I should just have fun with it and lemonade with the lemons life was giving me. I was able to encourage others along the route and smile and talk with friends and supports and dance when music was played. I ended up running the last mile of the race with lots of encouragement and smiles from friends and family and crossed the finish line in 15 hours and I think 20 some minutes. Not what I wanted or was expecting but grateful to be blessed with   a body to be able to completely the race and the love and support of so many people and the motivation now to redeem myself in the future ! 

Fall 2012: After taking a few weeks off to recover I decided to get back after it ... Well or so I thought .... I was having really bad ankle pain so I thought I would take it easy doing running and do a lot of crossfit. 

After the ankle pain didn't go away I thought I would go get it checked out by the docs. They x-rayed it and did an MRI and the findings ... 

A couple years a go I got a stress fracture in my talus from jumping out of a tree stand. That didn't heal properly because I went running on it a week after it happened. A year later I was out on a run and my ankle collapsed on me. At that point the stress fracture had not healed and went completely through the bone and broke a piece of my talus off and was floating around in my ankle. I had surgery and removed the piece and they drilled into my ankle to promote the bone marrow to fill  in the whole that was now in my bone and stimulate growth. I was on crutches and no weight bearing for two months and then no running for another two months ( this was when I was training for my first IM) . It healed properly but at the point the doctors had told me no more long distance running , " your ankle wont be able to handle it " . I laughed at that ... well ... since that point I had done two IM and two marathons... needless to say the area they had fixed, after miles and miles of pounding on it from training and racing, had now broken off and was floating around in my ankle again. My bone had fluid in it and was swollen and irritated. The doctor put me in a boot for two months and crutches which I didn't use :). They were hoping that this would hopefully help lessen the pain .. It didn't ... so my options are surgery and they take  apiece from my knee and plug it into my ankle ( -9 month recovery ) or do nothing ( live in pain). Being February when these were presented to me I didn't want to spend my whole summer inactive and in a boot so I chose to do nothing and live with the pain minimizing my running until fall when I think I will elect to do the surgery at that point. 

The common hard question I get now so often is " What races are you doing this year" or "What are you training for now?" ... Well with limited capability to run and do anything without pain, these are sometimes the hardest questions to answer. Would I like to be training for something right now ... of course .. is it smart to be .. NO. So my common answer is "LIFE". I am training for life a head. I am still lifting and doing cardio and "short" runs ( 5- 6 miles) 4 - 6 days a week. This seems like nothing compared to what I was doing last year but training for life is also important. Staying active and eating right is the key . This year and next will be recovery time and exploring other options of extreme fitness. If anyone had suggestions of other things to try I'm all ears... I 'm looking to conquer a new sport and mountain biking sounds pretty fun ... 

The Tapper

Bahhhh. Over a month without Blogging ... guess that means my training has been going awesome.... Or I got really busy with life and totally put it by the way side ... I think I'll have to opt with option number two.

So let’s see Since February, I acquired horrible knee pain while running which I have now chalked up to my new shoes. I chose to be arrogant and wear low impact; low support shoes while running with incorrect form causing extreme pain in my knees and ankles post long runs. Not awesome. I switched back to my well supported shoes for the remainder of the month of March to really focus on Boston training. After a week or two of recovery the pain seemed to lessen and I was able to run for the most part pain free.

For the month of March at work I assisted with post season Men's Basketball travel. I ended up spending a week in Albuquerque, New Mexico and four days in Boston. Traveling does not aid in the training process. It pretty much leaves you stranded at a hotel with a work out facility consisting of a treadmill, a recumbent bike and usually an elliptical and a few free weights. No nice lap pool, no nice bike to ride long rides on. Nope. Instead small, stinky, hot, broken dehumidifier workout room. The area in Albuquerque wasn't exactly my favorite place, just saying, but I managed to get one or two runs in outside and then I biked on the not so awesome recumbent bike at the hotel. Albuquerque is at a higher elevation than Madison so it was interesting noticing the effect it had on my body. I felt a small tightness in my chest while running and often was fatiguing earlier than normal. I liked to tab it up as mental weakness until someone told me about the whole elevation change.... I still might use mental weakness as a motivator for myself.

Boston was a whole different story than Albuquerque though. I absolutely loved Boston. I'm pretty sure I could live there if the situation arouse. I thought while I was out there that I would try to run the course but the hotel was a little too far away from the course. By the time i would run there and run back to the hotel it would have been an 8 mile run not including any part of the course itself. But I love running by water so I ran on this really nice bike path along the Charles River and watched the crew boats go by. The weather was absolutely gorgeous as well while we were out there, Mid 70’s. I couldn't have asked for better running weather. I ran two days and then on the last day rented a nice road bike and decided to head out and try to bike the course. I was excepting a nice flat course since by the river everything seemed reasonably flat. Ha was I in for a rude awakening!!! Oh my goodness!

So the Boston Marathon is very different than any marathon I have ever done in the past. It is a you start at point A far outside the city and finish at Point B inside the city. Pretty much creating a straight line ( like this ... A-----------------------B) . I am use to there being loops or lollipops or some sort of circle where you come back to an area that you already ran by. So I had to start at the finish and bike to the start and then reverse the route. Needless to say I only made it to around mile 6 and then had to turn around so I would make it back in time for the basketball game that night. I probably put close to 56 miles on the bike that day (Not ready for that long of a ride yet). I loved sightseeing and looking at the different parts of the course and especially since running is really mental to me I wanted to know what to expect a little before I was going to have to run it. ) Well I found out that from about mile 13 on there are these nasty rolling hills climaxing with heart break hill. These were not fun on a bike so I can only imagine how painful they are going to be on a run. If it were early in the run not that big of a deal but these hills are later on in the run when your legs are already cashed. Not looking forward to these hills. My next couple of weeks at home I tried to hit some hilly areas to prep for this. After mile 23 though it is all downhill into the city. Most people would be really excited about this except for the fact the your legs again are jello at this point so going downhill when you can't feel your legs or every step is painful can be really hard when you are hammering down a hill. Oh well guess you can't change the course so better embrace it :)

Well for the remaining weeks leading up to the marathon I have been trying to get out and hit the hills and put some miles on my running shoes. The knee pain has come back though so I am a little worried about longer mileage runs. I have been trying to take it easy but it’s hard to hold back when I know I have to go out and do a 26 mile run. I'm trying to keep the frame of mind I would rather go into it a little under trained and injury free then over trained and injured. But I maybe a little undertrained now and injured ... not a good combination. Or I'm just mentally breaking myself down to think I am undertrained. We shall see. This last week though I am on the tapper and started my week with a 10 mile run on Saturday and will step it down to a 8 and then 6 and then 3 and  then 2 and then nothing the two days before the race.

I head out to Boston on Friday and will have two full days out there before the race. If you would like to follow along you can text "runner" to "345678" and it will give you instructions on how to follow me. My bid number is 13216. Wish me luck and pray for a safe pain free race. They are predicting mid 80 degree temperatures on race day. Not ideal conditions when you are used to training in mid-50 degree weather. Can't control the weather so I guess I can't worry about it but I can prep for it. Lots of Water!!! :) (Causing me to have to go pee every 30 minutes)

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body ?

So I think it might be easier to do a weekly update ... maybe a few a week dependent on the business of my schedule. Any ways ... last week was rough rough rough rough ....

Sunday - After my ride on Saturday my legs were tired and sore so I decided to take it easy. Thought I might go for my run later in the day ... ha ha yeah right. Note to self never procrastinate the run!!! NEVER. If I don’t get up and do it in the morning, my motivation for a long run falls off the map. So needless to say I did a whole lot of nothing on Sunday. I think I may have even gone for a long walk outside to enjoy the beautiful weather but a run was not in my mind set. I decided that since I didn't run I could play hockey. Stupid me though forgot a hair tie. Ever try to work out with your hair down. I mean long hair sticking to your neck and face ... it was nasty to say the least. I will never forget a hair tie again

Monday-After a late night of hockey my morning motivation was shot so I slept in a little instead. I went and lifted upper body and did abs during my lunch. I find it easier to work out when other people are doing it to. I get a little extra motivation when someone else is doing the same workout as me (i.e. I force people to let me join in their ab routines :) (Thank you, you kind souls). I was hosting life group (bible study) at my house that night. So after work instead of going to the gym I went to the grocery store and picked up food and drinks. I believe that God has given us each unique spiritual gifts. One of mine I believe is hospitality. I love having people over and opening up my home to them and serving them with a comfortable safe environment. So of course by the time i had gotten everything ready and picked up my apartment  a little there was no time to work out pre and post life group. I figured a day or two off wouldn't hurt...

Tuesday- Oh my,  recapping this week makes me cringe. Ahhhh so I totally fell off the horse ... Let’s see last Tuesday I went to a bowling outing for work and was going to go to the gym after work and then go out to dinner with a friend for their birthday. Well.... I suck at bowling but I did bowl the best game of my life. I got a turkey!! Not an actual turkey that goes gobble gobble but a turkey like three strikes in a row. I was so excited and it was on the last frames of my last game. I ended up with a 148 (personal best :) ). I ended up hanging out after bowling and chit chatting with friend until 10 pm. Soooo needless to say the gym or the birthday dinner didn't happen. The chit chat was long overdue and needed so I'm glad I did  it. It was well worth giving up a night at the gym ... But if I had gotten up in the morning I wouldn’t even of had to do the evening workout ... Lesson ... Don't procrastinate ... hmm I'm seeing a theme.

Wednesday- Ha so I once again didn't get up in the morning ... I feel like it's these long winter mornings when it is still dark at 5:30 - 6 am  that make it so hard to get up and out of bed. In the summer I have no issue. I'm gunna say that it’s a sunlight thing .... Anyways, I lifted lowers and did abs again during lunch. I did squats and pushed my legs pretty hard. Needless to say I was sore by later in the day. I then had homegroup that night and stayed at work a little late. Not allowing myself enough time in between work and homegroup to go to the gym.


So I never posted these but saved them so I thought a late post is better than no post ... SORRY !

I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Sorrrryy!! Long week. But my training is going well. As I was telling one of my friends this week how behind I was on my blog, they rolled their eyes at me and said that now if I don't feel guilty about working out then I feel guilty about not blogging. It made me chuckle but I'd rather feel guilty about not blogging than working out. Sorry, priorities right? :)

So recap of the previous week:

Sunday - Long run 16.25 miles. It was supposed to be a 15 mile run but I couldn't find any courses that I really loved so it ended up being a 16 miler. I always say I have to live by some body of water because it just makes long runs like this one so enjoyable. I love looking out over the water (even if it is frozen). It helps be to connect with God and center myself. So needless to say this was a great run for me. I was shocked at how well it went. I always get a competitive when I am out there running so I was planning on a RELAXING long run but then I see other people ahead of me on my path and I play the game that I have to catch them. But the problem with this idea which I never think of when I am behind them is that once you catch them well then of course you have to pass them and then once you pass them you have to stay ahead of them and you cannot let them pass you again because then what was the point of catching them. So my relaxing run somehow always turns into this faster pace running game for me. Of course until this time I think it was mile 10 and my feet started to hurt and so I switched my running technique (I will go into another time, I am trying to alter my running form to help reduce stress to certain parts of my body) which helped but my little running game wore me down by mile 15 I was tired and soar and ready to be done.

Monday - This was supposed to be a 45 min swim day. Well since I ran 16 miles the previous day I was tired and wanted to consume all food insight. It was actually very humorous if you have gone through this before you can relate. After long runs / bike rides I always get really hungry a day or two after the workout and want/need to consume every food insight. Well this was my Monday then. So I tried to go lift during my lunch hour. That turned out to be an epic fail. I was so exhausted that when I tried to bench I could barely put up my starting weight. After a few miserable attempts to get the bar back on the rack, I decided to do a light ab workout and call it a day. My body just had not regained the strength it needed to complete a good workout (or my mind had not recovered yet from the previous day).

Tuesday- Got my butt out of bed early and hit up an hour and ten minute bike on the trainer feeling completely energized and ready to go. I have found it very hard to sit on the bike in front of the TV and do nothing but bike so I have tried a few new things. First I have started reading my bible on the bike when I first start out and I get lost in the word and time just seems to fly which is a really cool way to wipe out a half hour to 45 mins on the bike and after that I turn on the morning news and get my fill for the day. I went to the gym after work got in a quick 3 mile run. Although I find it really hard to just do a short little run like 3 miles after a long weekend run. I feel like I have barely started and then I am done already. Really pointless to me but it had to be done. I am thinking of changing those short little runs to make them a little longer (part of my modification for Boston.) .

Wednesday - I saved 3 lives! Which means I gave blood! I wanted to do this recently and found out that our Student Athletes at the UW were hosting a blood drive I decided what a perfect opportunity to donate. I donated my pint of blood in less than 5 minutes ( I always make it a competition and see how fast I can fill up my bag ) . I was told i have garden hose veins :) I am proud of my big easily accessible veins. I was also told by the technicians that I have very good blood flow which I am hoping is helping supply my muscles with lots of blood during my work outs and my heart is pumping out some good volume. Anyways I like donating blood and going to the doctor because they always check your vitals and I love to see by blood pressure is and my resting pulse. I always make this into some personal competition to see how low I can get the numbers. This makes visits like this fun for me. Just reporting 112/60 ... just saying.... Okay enough about my health. I gave blood at 2:30 pm and then I wanted to get a run in before going to home group so I they give you this nice little handout when you leave which tells you to eat and drink plenty and to not do any strenuous behavior for like 5 hours or something. Well I really listen well when I have an agenda (NOT!) so I chugged two 20 oz bottles of water and then decided that I would be okay going to the gym and running on the treadmill for 6 miles. Whhheewww let me tell you, it was hard! I felt like I was dragging the whole time but till made it through the workout and ended up making a smelly appearance at home group ( a high school youth group which I help out with once a week ).

Thursday- I got up and since I had not been to the gym in the morning yet I figured I better get an early morning swim in . So I got in the pool and had a few problems. I felt like I was about to drown the whole time I was in the pool. I couldn't breathe. It was so frustrating! I have been doing a three stroke breathing pattern, alternating which side I am breathing from to get use to breathing on both sides. This is done so when you are swimming in open water, if there are waves on one side you can breathe on the other side. Besides the breathing issue there was a lady in the lane next to me and me in my competitive spirit had to race her the whole time. May have not helped with my breathing issues either. I blamed the crappy workout on my lack of blood from the day before. May or may not be true. That evening I went back to the gym and hit the treadmill for a 6 mile running while watching the Badger Men's basketball team get lit up by Michigan State. I find it so much easier to run on the treadmill while watching a sporting event... i.e. football or basketball or hockey.... a TV show though is a lot harder for me to concentrate on , stupid commercial breaks. I always catch myself looking down at the time during those. Although I’ve played this game with myself that I cannot look down for the entire commercial break and I’ve learned that commercial breaks usually last 4 minutes. Each commercial averages about 30 seconds. Any who... I then lifted machine lower body for the remainder of the night. It was a long day but I felt so good to have accomplished all of my workouts in a day and do a lift as well.

Friday - God created the world in 6 days and on the seventh day he rested. In my training program, Friday is my day of rest ... so I rested on Friday. It felt so good.

Saturday- Since I rested on Friday I felt so rejuvenated and ready to go that I woke up before coaching and did a 2 hour bike ride on the trainer. It went well. I read my bible and then turned on the TV... the only issue though is that on Saturday mornings at 4:30 am there is nothing good on TV so I biked to the country music network .. If anyone has any good movies I could pop in for my long rides I'm always up for suggestions. So Saturdays are my long bike rides followed by a short run. I didn't have time to do the short run after. They want you to get off the bike and start running so your body gets use to change over of muscle groups. This change over is extremely painful but the more your body gets use to it the better you will be on race day. Guess I will have to wait till next week to put my body through that ... :)


"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139: 13-14

Oh Mr. Sandman

So continuing on my weekend training log. After my morning workout on Friday I worked and then had the remainder of the night to do whatever I wanted. Loved having that freedom and not feeling bogged down by the pressure of having to complete a workout. I had bought fresh salmon and asparagus earlier in the week and decided that Friday night would be the perfect time to make it. I was feeling really ambitious and had also made a long list of tasks to complete as well that night. After running and around after work and picking up things from the grocery store, I finally made it home by 8:30 pm to start dinner. I always wonder where time goes while I am shopping. I'm convinced that somehow the world just speeds up or I get lost in the isles. Anyways, I ended up making this amazing Maple syrup Salmon recipe with asparagus. See recipe below:

Baked Salmon with Maple Syrup Glaze

1 lb fresh salmon
2 tsp. maple syrup
olive oil or non-stick spray baking pan
salt to taste

Salmon Rub:
2 tsp. sweet paprika or smoked paprika (don't use hot paprika)
1 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. ancho chile powder (optional, or use another tsp. regular chile powder)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Combine all the spices in a small bowl. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the skin from the salmon (hardest part of the whole recipe). Place salmon in baking pan. Coat salmon with spice mix and place in oven for 20 minutes or until cooked to desired likeness. Remove from oven and pour maple syrup over to taste desired.

I also sautéed asparagus in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then add lemon after. Delicious. See, I do cook when I have time. But by the time I was done and had finished the dishes and few loads of laundry it was already 12:15 am. Waaaayyy past my bed time. I was determined to get up in the morning to get my hour forty-five bike ride in but when my alarm went off at 5 am, my lack of sleep from the last two days had caught up with me and I hit my snooze and slept until the last possible minute. I had to get up to coach skating all morning. After coaching all morning and then attending a beautiful baby shower for a co-worker, I arrived home at 6:45 pm with full ambitions to throw in a movie and hit the bike trainer for my long weekend ride ( very short relative to summer training rides). As I was changing into my biking outfit my bed looked oh so very enticing. I laid down and promised myself a quick power nap and then I would bounce back and be ready for my ride. I wake up to my phone buzzing next to me at 9:30 pm. Crap guess that was a long five minute power nap, kind of felt like when I go shopping and time flies. By this time I was so exhausted that I decided to stay in bed and call it a night. Needless to say the score board read:

Mother Nature: 1 Jackie's Movtivation: 0

“Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”

A Better Brand of Beef Makes A Butter Burger Better ???

So if I'm slacking on by blog that means my training is on schedule. Okay ... I'm just going to say that to make an excuse for not blogging the last couple of days.

So Thursday night I made a last minute decision to go snowboarding. I went a week ago for the first time and had a blast but only went for about an hour and stayed on the bunny hill the whole time. This time it was the whole night and I graduated myself off the bunny hill because I felt like I had mastered the tow rope and honestly felt like I was better than all the little people on the bunny hill ( ha, oh how arrogance is bliss). So I became ambitious and every time I went up the chair lift I ended up carrying a little more snow with me. The mountain and I had a mutual agreement that every time I would take a little bit of it and it would take a little bit of me. After numerous face plants and snowball rolls down the hill, I ended the night laying face first in the middle of a run calling timeout and excepting the fact I'm not perfect at everything (very hard for me to believe now) and with the complete understanding as to why when I was skiing that I always saw snowboarders sitting down on the hill. I would have been content sitting on the hill the whole night on my butt, but I was told I couldn't do that and that I had to get down somehow. After a failed argument that the ski patrol could pull me down on one of their boards I painfully tumbled down the hill and into the warming house. I remember thinking ... I'm gunna pay for this later ... So at 9 pm I left the hill and half of my body and swung through Culvers (my favorite fast food restaurant of all time). Grabbed a team Scoppie butter burger meal and inhaled the whole thing on my way home.  For those of you questioning, which you shouldn’t if you know me, yes I did get the custard and after a long night on the hill this was my reward or so I thought. Now having blogged earlier that day that I was going to swim and run I forced myself to the gym at 10 pm at night ( oh so thankful at that point that I had decided to start blogging that day otherwise I probably would have been hitting the hay, way to hold me accountable! )

I hit the treadmill for a 6 mile run which was horribly painful. I thought my bum was on fire from falling on it all night long. I’ve never struggled so much through a run before, not only from the pain my body was feeling but also the pain my nostrils were going through. I decided to hop on a treadmill next to someone who could have used  a little more axe deodorant, if you know what I mean. And then of course you always have to check yourself first to make sure it’s not you, which most of the time it is me. So I did the armpit swipe, nope not me this time. Anyways, I was exhausted and fatigued and was thinking how I had to do an hour swim after this too ... Ekkkkk!! Well I hopped in the pool fatigued and wanting to just float for the hour I had wondered if that counted since I was technically still in the pool. I started out with a warm up 500 meter front crawl swim. Half way through my second 500 I was burping up Culvers butter burgers and fries. It was so gross, nothing like a regurgitated burger. I have no clue how cows do it!. I was really regretting that team Scoppie meal. It was not the feeling I wanted at 11:30 at night. I also had not taken any product/supplements all day. Oh was I one hurting girl. In the middle of my second lap of my third 500 I had a swim stopping, foot cramp. I felt like my right leg was paralyzed. It was a good thing the pool was only 3 ft 6 inches deep. Yes I am taller than that and my head is above the water contrary to all the short jokes out there.. Just remember ... good things coming in small packages. Anyways, I was able to hobble over to the wall and chug some water. I decided to modify my workout to 4 x 500 and to do my 3rd 500 as a pull. When I had finished it was 12:10 am and as I was leaving the gym reviewing my workout, my nutrition background slammed in my head and I remember the importance of a good diet while training. Needless to say on race morning a Team Scoppie Meal will not be on my menu.

The next morning I was up at 5 am and took my Slam and catalyst (supplements, I will go into further detail later) and did a 55 minute Bike Trainer ride and was back at the club at 6 am swimming my little heart out and by 7:30 am fully fueled and ready to take on the world with an egg breakfast in me. What the difference nutrition can have on the body!



"Never eat more than you can lift"
- Miss Piggy