Race Report: Unconventionally Tackling Vineman 70.3

If you've been following my blog you know I've taken a completely unconventional approach to training in the eight weeks before this half-Ironman, while also recovering from a wrist fracture. It's been a crazy year so far to say the least, but I always appreciate a good challenge and some experimenting. I am happy we're finally at that point where I can talk about an actual race...And not just any race, but half-Ironman #13 of my triathlon career, held on July 13, after breaking my wrist May 13 (2x). Was it "lucky" #13? Not really...

While I went into this race accepting that I could either fail or succeed given the training/situations leading up, of course I wanted to succeed because I care. Simple. But that didn't happen. Ok fine. Some of you may be thinking, "I told ya so." But for the record, I adopted a minimalist approach not as an attempt to cut corners naively, but rather to find some balance and more importantly to find some solutions to some personal sh*t going on. I don't think minimalist training alone failed me. I think there was a lot at play. Too many variables and thus not "scientific" enough to draw any definite conclusions. From an emotional perspective, I will admit, I want to get back to solid racing and to be that girl who's competitive, who gets on the podium, and who achieves her goals of racing sub-5s in a half Ironman -- or at least is in the ballpark of doing so. I'm not there right now at all. I have a pretty good idea why I'm in this rut, but how to remedy it is the complicated part. It'll take time. (Stay tuned for more on that to come.) Even if it wasn't a magical day at Vineman, I don't intend for this race report to be a downer....

Pre-Race
Race week shows up and I took a very restful, rather traditional taper-week approach (mostly because I was also busy as heck with work and had to invest most my energy/time in that). We hit the road Thursday for a mellow trip up the coast opting to take the leisurely/pretty 101 instead of the faster but boring/ugly 5. We broke the drive into two days with a stop in Paso Robles Thursday evening. (Only one tiny weeny wine tasting in Paso, I promise). We drove the rest Friday, taking the scenic route again through SF and enjoying a mellow pace. The two-day approach wasn't rushed but it still was a lot of time in the car; yuck.

I was in great spirits and by no means a nervous wreck nor expressing any fear or worry of the unknown outcome. I knew what I was facing and the variables leading into the race, and I really truly was ready to embrace whatever was going to unfold. I was mentally tough. Ask John.... he saw it all. And he knows when I'm "good" or "bad" mentally because he's seen it both ways; he knows what it looks like when I'm vulnerable and emotional (Vegas 70.3 Worlds!). However, this year with Vineman I held on to my mental fortitude before, the day of, all the way through the damn race, and after -- not getting down on myself.

We settled into our little place in Santa Rosa and all was smooth sailing. No hiccups before Sunday. All the usual prep (after now doing 13 half-Ironmans I could probably do the final pre-race prep stuff with my eyes closed.) HRV wasn't that great, but I figured it was perhaps just some underlying nerves. I was sleeping really well Thursday and Friday especially (scored 100% quality on the Sleep Cycle app two nights in a row!), and even the night before the race I slept well, waking up before my alarm feeling refreshed and ready aka up before 4am and ready to go like a crackhead haha. Yes, I got a little nervous Saturday night/Sunday morning but nothing unreasonable or abnormal. Sunday morning I ate my usual pre-race breakfast of oven-roasted sweet potato mash with chia seeds, almond milk, cinnamon, and sea salt, along with 5 MAP and coffee/creamer. Nothing else before the race except water and another 5 MAP.

Swim
Wetsuits were legal, good for me. Still, what can I say, it was a slow swim! But that was expected and truthfully I was totally planning on going extra conservative in the water knowing my lack of swim training. I hadn't swam more than a mile since April, I had many weeks completely off from swimming due to the wrist, and the swim training I did do once capable was more like "time back in the water" testing the wrist strength vs. actual training. So I swam an appropriate intensity to make sure I didn't come out completely dead tired. Heck, I never swim fast in races anyways (it's a work in progress; one day!). All said and done, I swam 40 minutes.... and apparently 1.36 miles in distance covered! Haha! I only remember going semi off course near the end and misjudging the finish chute entrance, so I'm wondering if others had a long swim?

T1
Even after ~9 months of not doing a triathlon, my transitions were super efficient. I didn't feel like my HR was blowing up either in T1, which was a good sign -- and proving I did in fact swim very slow haha. (Oh ya, I didn't wear an HRM this race.)

Bike
This was hands down the highlight of the day. I loooooved the Felt IA, and I loooooved ripping through the Vineman course. The bike handled nicely on a course that's always requiring you to be focused on the next turn, hill, downhill or crazy road condition. I love that though; never a dull moment. And it goes without saying that the scenery is beyond breathtaking. I could tell that I definitely was not my strongest ever, but having the IA and a good attitude, I still made it a really good ride for me. It showed, as I went from 30th AG out of the water to 8th AG on the bike! Many passes.My wrist felt good enough and wasn't a hindrance.

I was also riding a new wheelset by Conquer Bikes, and the wheels kicked ass. This is a great company that makes fully custom wheelsets -- you choose the size/depth, carbon style, colors, etc, and can also customize with your own logos and/or slogans. I was riding 50mm wheels, which are smaller than my old Zipp 808s (which I'm selling btw if anyone is interested let me know). Turns out 808s for a girl of my size and the speeds I race aren't really the best choice -- too much wheel in fact, and unless I'm consistently going 23+mph, they have little to no positive aero effect. So working with Conquer Bikes to get a shallower rim depth has been a very positive move. Check them out, and if you decide you need a new set use the code "coachtawnee" for a free carbon bottle cage worth $50 added to your order!

From the minimalist training perspective, my bike performance was actually quite awesome given the fact that I was riding dangerously low volume, and was exclusively on the trainer for 8 weeks minus just two short outdoor rides before the race simply to make sure I could ride a bike again. I rode nearly the same speed as last year (20.3 mph overall average this year vs. 20.4 mph average last year), and splits were thus only a couple minutes different (2:43 vs. 2:45 I think?). My watts were a bit lower than last year but not by much (avg in 170s this year). That said there was a price tag with that performance: The lack of long rides didn't necessarily hurt my ability to bike well; however, it did hurt the subsequent run as you'll see.

On that note, at Chalk Hill (mile ~43) I realized my split for the first half of the ride was a bit faster than the second half had been, so at that point so I laid down the hammer coming home to Windsor High School, which is easy to do; after the Chalk Hill grind, there's a legit downhill then mostly flat from there. Perhaps I rode those last ~12 miles too hard, but I don't care, I felt awesome and was loving it.

Fueling-wise I mostly had water, close to three Bonk Breakers and a little Skratch; I was drinking and eating ad libitum. It worked quite well as usual. It was a hot day and I drank 3.5 bottles (the XLab Torpedo aero bottle). I had the bars cut up and easily accessible in the IA's built-in bento box. I never felt under-fueled, nor over-fueled ;) How I am not yet sick of Bonk Breakers I do now know.... I look forward to every bite.

If there was any negative to the bike it was: 1) the course (not surprisingly) was too crowded/cramped with riders and that makes it impossible to get into a good rhythm for any long period, and 2) my position, which is not quite perfected yet. Quite frankly I haven't had enough experience on the new ride to really dial it in due to the randomness of this year. Plus I changed my aero bars to accommodate my wrist in the healing phase (ski bends so it's not pronated), and I think in doing so that messed up my fit a bit. I had periods of being uncomfortable and sore, which transferred into the run for sure. 

T2
After finishing the bike with a little hammer session, I was perhaps a tad slower in T2 than I could have been, but I wanted to get situated properly and try to then hammer the run.

Run
Oops!!! Up until this point I felt good and was optimistic in having an all-around solid race. In fact without looking at pace out of T2 I settled into a sub-8 pace, which was in my realistic range and felt comfortable.

But then that went out the door and I blew up. Big time.

This was up there with my slowest runs ever in a half-Ironman... it was a 1:56 ish. After running a 1:41 on this course last year?! Crap!!! I'm not saying a 1:56 is bad, but for me it's not a great performance knowing what I can do/have done. Yes, it was significantly hotter than past years and the course changed a bit (some said it was harder), but those things would not equate to my run being 15 minutes slower. As a triathlete you're supposed to deal with the conditions, not whine about them, and still race your best. I simply couldn't execute that kind of performance -- I don't think it was the heat that killed me. The hills, maybe ;)

Here's what I think happened:
1) Lack of run fitness and not rebounding from a period of detraining in May (that was a rough month). 
2) The bike. It took a toll and perhaps the fit was an issue, which just goes to show how a fit is a work-in-progress and I haven't had enough time/experience on this bike to find my bread-and-butter position.
3) Reality that something is "off" in me, and it has been for a while now. I'm not 100% and I'm trying to get that sh*t figured out. Health must be No.1.

I simply felt like crap-o-la on the run and after the first half mile every single step hurt like a bitch. There was nothing smooth and flowy about it at all. Thankfully what I experienced wasn't "injury pain" (body is strong/sturdy) nor was it a nutritional/bonking problem. In fact, nutritionally speaking, I really think I nailed calories/hydration; I had MAP, a 24oz bottle of water with about 100 calories of honey mixed in (just the right amount of sweetness), plus a lot of coke, bananas and more water on the course -- yup, I went for the coke (2 cups at a time) and it helped give me a little "oomph". I got one side stitch in La Crema around mile 7 -- which literally made me feel asthmatic and out of breath for a good minute or two -- but other than that gut held up, stomach not queasy and nutritionally I felt ok.

My hips and my legs, though. Oh myyyy. I'll admit, I briefly walked some of the aid stations and hills, but never more than 30-45 seconds. The reason I let myself walk was because every mini break at least allowed me to "get it together" for a mini recovery and pick up the pace again for a brief while. It's a really effective strategy that I sometimes use with clients and not a sign of weakness IMO. With the mini walks, I still think all my splits were the 8's and 9's, and overall like an 8:50+ average pace (I dunno for sure, haven't turned on Garmin since. While an 8:50ish avg doesn't suck, it's a little hard to swallow knowing last year I ran a 7:44 average pace. But you roll with it and on this day, I shifted my thoughts into the run becoming a mission of survival to the finish, and not really about performance.

I will say, this run was not as tough as Vegas 70.3 Worlds last year, but it was definitely up there; maybe top 3 hardest ever. However, as opposed to Vegas where I was also mentally breaking down, in Vineman I held my shit together and stayed mentally tough. It was a bad day and of course frustrating to feel "stuck" unable to break out of a bad run, but I wasn't about to let go of the one thing I could control -- my attitude.

The Finish/Thoughts
Repeating a 5:10 finish like I got last year was clearly not happening, nor was even beating my first-ever Vineman time of 5:20 (from 2009). It was a 5:27 this year, and a near-puking experience at the finish. Totally wrecked. It would seem that the minimalist training did not allow for a standout performance. But I can't say that the minimalist approach was a total bust. There's a lot more at play here, and it did work in terms of simply being able to get through the full 70.3 without "dying" or getting injured.

I am not going to throw in the towel on this minimalist thing just yet. I think the time frame I was dealing with and my health were two limiting factors.... hm.

Somehow, I still landed myself in the top-10 in my age group (7th) and 48th woman overall. That makes me think that perhaps it was a harder year for everyone? However, then you look at the rockstars of the race and they still crushed it so it couldn't have been that much harder ;)

That's all for now. Not much else to report; no crazy after parties and sadly not even much time spent wine tasting post race. It went like this:

Sunday rather uneventful... quick stop at Russian River Brewery where I didn't even drink a full beer. I was so dang tired and barely could pull it together like usual. However, my appetite did return in full force and Sunday I polished off a bag of chips and dip, most of a pizza, a gnarly quesadilla, and dessert. Mmmm. Then Monday we had to leave town but we were able to fit in a quick wine tasting before thanks to an awesome podcast fan who invited us to their family winery in the Alexander Valley right where we bike during Vineman.... visiting their property was a seriously awesome treat. The family's owned the land since the 1800s! We got a full education on farming, the wine business, etc. Good way to end the trip...

My Matcha Smoothie Recipe: For Focus, Energy and Satiation

The color isn't the greatest, but taste/quality is amazing!

Sometimes recipes just come together based on what you have lying around. Granted, the items that I have just lying around in my house aren't necessarily "typical" (case in point: gelatin powder that comes from grassfed cattle parts). But it's all relative. Last weekend I was looking to make a killer smoothie that included my new love, Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder (after seeing Lindsay rave about this stuff, I quickly bought it too). I knew I wanted a good amount of greens in my smoothie, but still sweet, not bitter, and not too sugary. Below is what resulted and I loved it.

The best part? My energy was off the wall! I felt so focused and ready to just hammer out tasks. Not BS'ing here. In fact, I put this smoothie to the test again today to replace AM coffee/caffeine, which I've been off of for a bit (something I do every now and then). When I'm "off" the caff I eventually get to the point where I still have good energy, but I always miss that jolt coffee gives. Well I put the matcha to the test this morning for a jolt, and I can't say that it was exactly like coffee awesomeness, but it amp me up and really put me into focus/work mode.

Anyway, try it out. It's pretty easy to make and their are endless options on how this can go. When I formulated this my goals were to:
1) make sure there was FAT involved
2) include at least 3 green things
3) low on fruit
4) no added sugar (but still sweet!)
5) and have some "chunk"... you'll see ;)

~~~

Matcha Smoothie

Use organic ingredients when possible...

Ingredients in order of how I add:

1 1/4 cup of nondairy milk of choice; I used organic unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 tsp Matcha powder

1 tsp Maca root powder

2 tbsp Great Lakes Gelatin powder (pure quality protein!!)

2 rounded tbsp ground flax meal

1/3 large cucumber

4-5 dino kale leaves

Stevia to taste; I used half powder/half liquid stevia

Sea salt, a pinch (the secret to make this drink awesome!)

Cinnamon, a few liberal shakes (this prevents spike in blood sugar and is always a delicious addition

4-5 cubes ice

Optional: 

-more fat such as small handful raw organic cashews, spoonful nut butter, hemp, or avocado

-extra water if you don't want it so thick

-few chunks watermelon (I did this in my drink over 4th of July weekend; it's good with or without)

Next up: Blend!

 The finished product yields slightly more than a pint (fit nicely in a mason jar, with a few extra sips out of the blender's pitcher).

 

Add coconut, then stir in the flakes right into the drink!

BUT WAIT!

You're not done.... 

The best ingredient is still to come:  

Coconut flakes!

...After you've blended and added the drink to your glass, add thick coconut flakes (the unsweetened kind!) for some added texture and a little something to chew on! Great to add if you're having this for breakfast!

Bam. Enjoy and try not to consume too fast... savor it.








Last word: 
Normally I'm not big on using smoothies to replace meals. Especially your standard fruit/juice blend that's essentially just sugar and poor-quality gut-wrenching dairy. But here's why I think smoothies can be a great idea:

1) Hearty, filling, stabilizing. If there are good calories from fat, and not just pure fruit/sugar you can really develop a quality "meal in a glass" that hydrates and also keeps you full for a long time, and doesn't spike your blood sugar (thus leading to a crash).

2) And by drinking your meal you are giving your digestive system a break. We're constantly overwhelming our digestive system to do work with the meals we eat. That takes energy and is taxing. So why not give it a break with a smoothie every now and then and let that extra energy be used somewhere else positively in your body. (Granted, my smoothie has the coconut flakes that you chew but you get the idea ;))

Being 'Flexible' Two Weeks Out From a Race

This is the part where listening to the body becomes the No.1 priority. No screwing around when you're two weeks out from a race no matter what kind of training you're doing -- there's really not anything you can "gain" fitness-wise when you're that close, but there's plenty of damage that still can be done if you go too hard or do too much without letting the body rest and recover. In that final stretch, if you're questioning whether you're body is up to such tasks due to fatigue or lack of motivation or whatever, then (as long is you're not just pulling the "lazy card") be willing to be flexible -- shorten the workout, change it or sometimes just bag it all together. You are better off resting rather than fighting through a workout this close to the big day. You also want to rule out any "fear-based" or "panic" training, aka those last-minute crazy workouts done thinking you'll magically gain some fitness; this is something I talked about on a recent post at coachtawnee.com. If you have a coach, perfect. Work with him/her to develop your ideal rest/taper plan even if that means changing something the coach originally laid out. If you're self-coached, then err on the side of caution. Here's how it went for me last week:

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Week 7: June 30-July 6 
Weekly volume: 8:00:03
Swim: 1:26, 3x (all ocean)
Bike: 3:31:27, 4x (1 road)
Run: 1:43:08, 4x
Strength: 0
Yoga: 1:20, (1x bikram)
Rest days: 1
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Notes: As it turned out for me, two weeks out, I was definitely feeling the need for rest. I think the intensity was catching up (among a few other things), and I planned it it just so happened to work out nicely that this week would be a nice transition into a pseudo taper/rest period leading into Vineman 70.3 this Sunday (which happens to be my 13th half-Ironman; hopefully that number is kind to me... I've never been superstitious, and I'm still not, but breaking my wrists on the 13th day of the month two years in a row? Really? haha).

She just kept filling vials while asking me about triathlons.
 Haha. At least it was a good distraction?

While I didn't feel terrible (overall energy was still good), I could just feel a little bit more of that stinging burn in the legs and signs of fatigue that kept me from having the same snap in workouts as I've seen in the previous ~6 weeks. For the record, I also had a shit-ton of blood taken on Tuesday for my routine bloodwork, and, well, ~10 vials later... I really think that had an lingering negative effect on my workouts until Friday quite honestly. So I just rolled with the vibe... training volume actually looks the same as it's been (or even a bit higher) but more than an hour of that total is from yoga (aka me being flexible, like post title implies, see what I did there?! lol). The remaining ~6.5 hours of training was just going by feel not forcing anything; a little bit of intensity just to stimulate but not fatigue, and some all-easy sessions too. Looking at the big picture, the timing for a nice rest break came at the perfect moment before this Sunday's race.

It wasn't 100 percent R&R this past week though, and I made even more progress with wrist rehab and getting closer to being fully functional again. Among the highlights:

1) Bikram Yoga. Oh how it missed it. Did a class Tuesday for the first time post-fracture, and while that's not really standard triathlon taper stuff especially after being "off" yoga for so long, it's what I wanted to do, so I did it. Loved it. I was able to do all poses (and surprisingly well for my standards) except for locust where you're lying prone with hands also prone on the ground and you use a lot of strength in wrists/arms to help lift lower body/legs. Oh and except toe stand, but I've never been able to that (yet) lol.

Sunday ride view. Surf City USA. Big swell.

2) Ocean swim love. I had three days in a row of super quality ocean swims of about a mile each day give or take, two of those without wetsuits (one with just for practice if race is wetsuit legal). We're having an El Nino summer with water temps consistently over 70 degrees...heaven. Interestingly, I swam roughly the same speed with/without a wetsuit (of course, normally I'm faster with wetsuit). I hadn't been paying attention to temps in The Russian River (Vineman swim course) until Saturday when my athlete emailed me a link to this website. It's kinda interesting to watch trends, but it still means nothing to me as to how it'll be Sunday -- too close to call and I'm expecting either scenario and have practiced accordingly.


3) One last brick... and beer. I actually felt better as the week went on. After some mornings seeing HRV in the 60s on average earyr in the week, by the weekend my HRV was 80s average again. As a result, I gave myself the green light Sunday to do one last "hardish" brick before full rest mode. A 30-mile bike with a good portion at race intensity, and 30min T run. It was good except for the heat/humidity (it's hot!) and me being dumb and only drinking one bottle of water over the course of 2 hours, oops. But after drinking sparkling water, kombucha, green juice... I felt replenished... then, what I really was craving was beer. Question: what is it that makes me crave beer after hot/hard workouts? Not water, not wine, not anything else except beer. I'm still not really drinking beer these days minus the occasional sample or special occasion, and I never ever actually "crave" beer expect for those situations after hard exercise. Hm.

This is a phenomenal beer. Hit the spot. #Deschutes

Looking Back & Looking Forward
So that all said... it seems like I began this journey into minimalist training just a couple days ago. But here we are and I am entering "Week 8/Race Week" in the build-up to Vineman 70.3, a race that wasn't even on my radar until 8 weeks ago and I race a love (it's my fourth time doing this race btw)! In that time, I think I had some phenomenally effective workouts, and on average it's been 7ish hour training weeks (at most 8:27) with super quality sessions. But heck. Taking a drastic leap into lower volume/higher intensity training, with every week being well under 10 hours total, is COMPLETELY UNHEARD OF FOR ME in training for a half-Ironman (and I've done 12 of them). Can I repeat, I have never trained with that low of volume in the eight weeks before a 70.3 (nor any race for that matter). 

In opposition, usually before a 70.3 I'm at 12-15+ hour weeks on the volume train and getting most the work done every damn day whether I feel good or not. At times just hanging on by a thread at times, often more stressed feeling. Don't get me wrong -- the volume has worked for me, and last year I PR'd at both Oceanside 70.3 and Vineman 70.3. But I needed change! Simple!

Anyway I could keep rambling, but bottom line: I am VERY curious to see what happens on race day. It could be a total flop or total success. And ya know what? The "unknown" is thrilling to me. It'll make me a better coach, athlete and person to see how this little change of pace goes.

~~~

For the record, I'm also ready to talk about things other than training on here soon, like my other favorite topic... food! We had some good eats over 4th of July weekend like braised short ribs and my favorite easy summer appetizer of watermelon, balsamic glaze and goat cheese.

June 23-29: Making Progress

June 23-29:
Weekly volume: 7:16:08
Swim: 2:10, 5x (3 ocean swims)
Bike: 2:24:56, 2x
Run: 1:41:12, 3x
Strength: 1:00, 4x
Rest days: 0 (but, seriously, 2 days were a mere 10-20ish easy minutes)
.
Notes: I started last week off with recovery/rest, which I felt like I needed. I didn't want to continue on the path of accumulating fatigue without shedding it. Monday was an ocean swim with literally just 10min actual swimming with a client who was resting up for SDIT (and she ended up PRing the course by 5min and top 10 AG against tough competition). Tuesday was also rather easy, but it did include a big highlight of getting through a full mile of swimming without the brace, as well as doing "slow weights" at home throughout the days while I worked. Then, Tuesday night was an "oops" slip up. Summer around here has it's perks, and Tuesday was preview night (aka local's get crazy night) at the annual Sawdust Art Festival. It's an invite-only kind of things, not open to general public. It always ends up being a giant party with copious amounts of wine, live music and dancing, and lots of incredible arts, crafts and clothing to browse and buy on the festival grounds. I wasn't going to drink at all... but then, well... I did. Haha. That said, I think it was staying up late that had more of a negative effect than the drinking. Worth it though.

My late-20s definition of partying: classy art event with my two faves, sister & mom.

But seriously, the art here is my favorite. I want it all. #nofilter

Back to training. Last week was actually pretty significant for several reasons with the wrist rehab and what I'm now able to do:

1) Strength training: I went even "heavier" and did some real lifts in the gym; relatively speaking to what the wrist can handle. Monday I did back squats again with the Olympic bar on my back and could bend my wrist that way to solidly support the weight for 3 sets. Also did some heavier deadlifts, but still less than 100lb. Tried ring rows too with success.

2) Cycling: I had my FIRST road ride in 7+ weeks!!! It felt soooo good to get back on the road again; John and I rode super early Saturday morning, ~30 miles and actually at a rather hard pace because I was ready to see what I could lay down. It felt like I didn't miss a beat, and body performed awesomely. Watts were strong. That said, riding on road made me realize I don't mind the trainer that much. I feel safe on trainer (from crazy drivers) and I get in quality rides that are clearly paying off when I hit the pavement. We had another tragic accident here recently in which a local triathlete was killed by a driver on PCH right near my house on a stretch of road that we've ridden a million times. My heart was torn for his family (he was training for his first Ironman apparently), and even though I didn't know him I feel like all the athletes are "family" to me in some way, ya know? Just so sad.

Exploring Laguna. This reminded me of a wave.

3) Swimming: Exatly 6 weeks after the wrist fracture, almost to the hour, I swam a mile set without the brace in the pool, but after ~1.5k I was feeling like I still wasn't 100 percent strong in the fracture area, and that mile was my max for the day based on feel. But recovery was quick and the next day we swam a mile in the ocean. That actual felt better than the pool, even in choppier water. Times, you ask? Time shmime... least of my concerns right now, folks, lol. I'll be ready to race, but I gotta let go of swim time and just focus on moving forward. I'm just happy I read that Vineman swim WILL happen and the water levels are fine. If it is wetsuit legal I'm going with a sleeveless. Really liking the sleeveless over full-length arm.

....So when you look at those three things, well, that's a pretty solid week on the training front of progress. I ended the week with a hard run Sunday morning that included a little tempo and also 10 X 1:00 intervals of  sub-7:00 pace on flats as well as a few done on short steep hills. I probably should have eaten a bit more prior, but I started early and I didn't want too much right before and risk upsetting my gut. I got hungry though so halfway through I had banana and that saved the effort.

Love is when bacon awaits for you at home

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The highlight (and possibly the most random thing ever) of the run was meeting fellow blogger/triathlete friend Kiet, who I've never met in person but have known for years via social media... you know how that goes. He was staying with friends literally less than a 1/2 mile from where I live, and he recognized me as I ran by (and he was just finishing his run; us triathletes all alike haha). We had a great chat. Made me wish I had a training partner like him around :)


When I got home I was hangry. Ended up doing one of my eggs/avocado/veggie bowls cooked in liberal amounts of butter "on crack" by adding in bacon, more banana, coconut, almonds and cashews. It was this interesting sweet/savory thing that hit the spot. I was a lucky gal, as John had made bacon while I was running and I came home to 4 pieces waiting for me. Done.

Free transportation in summer! We took our 8 y/o guest on some adventures!

Other than that? Work was again busy as heck and I can't even tell you how many hours I spent on the phone/skype for athlete calls, podcasts, etc, but man was it all good stuff. HRV stayed in mid-70s to 80s last week with no big drops. We babysat and I wasn't "too tired" to hand with a soon-to-be 8-year-old. However, I finished Sunday run feeling like I had pushed myself to what I feel is my current "that's enough" threshold for then needing to step back and rest. Little signs clue me off to just chill because I know nothing quality will come of more working out unless the recovery happens. So this Monday (yesterday) was a full day off, and Tuesday (so far) is TBD.

 ~~~

In other news, it's test time! I get blood taken today and am doing a series of three other tests this week. It's been a while, but it's time to get some new results. Bloodwork is getting done via a local naturopath I am starting to work with (she is incredible and finally I've found a doctor who is on the same page as me), and the other three tests are being run via NourishBalanceThrive.com; if you're curious about those tests you can see them here. It's so great to be able to do these few tests remotely from the comfort of home -- saves so much time and still getting amazing testing done! More details to come on that and some exciting news on how I'll be sharing some of my results.


Last but not least, treats:

New quick snack: dipping cheese in goat yogurt! Amazing. Try it.

More wine. Arguably not as healthy as the snack above, but just as delicious so I had to share. A great red blend from one of our favorite wineries in Paso Robles, Dark Star. If you ever get a chance, pick one up, you won't be disappointed.