Best workout yet

I kind of fell off the training wagon the last three weeks but I have had several workouts that show that if I started training properly I can have some decent results. I need to remember those workouts to keep me motivated when I get lazy:(

I did a 20/20/20 bike today, meaning 20min at 160W, 20min at 180 and 20min at 200+. And it went really well and better than when I tried to do it last week. It was actually my best bike workout yet! I held 165 the first 20' no problem and then 185 the second 20' and 206W the third 20W. The last 20W was getting harder both physically and mentally so I played a game and was switching positions between aero and sitting up to get me through it.
I did 3x5' hard two weeks ago and I managed 241,241 and 246. Nothing awesome but I am happy with it for now. They were hard!

I also went to pool this week. I could not go before because of the pool hours but my mom arrived last week so she watched Alex for me. I swam 1900 yards (clearly, I am not one of those A type personalities that need to finish the workout at nice round number:))) and I was getting tired towards the end. But that was expected since I have not swum for months. Now that my mom is here, and staying for 5 months, I can finally go swimming regularly. Woohoohoo!

On a running front...I did a tempo 5k at 8' pace, which felt like just a tempo pace so that is progress too! I also ran 7.5 miles at 9' pace, which was my longest and fastest run in a year, almost exactly to a day:) My ITB was bugging me a little bit so it might be time to start going for ART as a preventive measure.

And a baby update...Alex is almost 4 months old! She is so cute and awesome:)
I am worried that she will be one of those kids that walk at 8 months because she refuses to lay flat. She has always been very active and wiggling all the time but she started to demand to be pulled into sitting position a month ago (as soon as she catches my hands she starts lifting her upper body to sitting position) but even that is not enough now. She flexes her legs and locks them when we try to sit her up because she wants to stand now and she loves it. But I dont blame her. Laying on your back and staring at the ceiling is boring. Whereas standing up she can see so much more:)

FTP test

These last 3 days were days of testing. I did a 5k on Saturday to get a benchmark for running and today was bike test.

I really needed to get it done, because my bike workouts were pretty much just tralala rides without purpose but now that I know my FTP I will feel more motivated to do real workouts.

As I mentioned before, I thought my powermeter was not reading right because it read under 100W for all my rides and a tiny part of me was horrified that it might actually be where I am right now. But after my power was 103W after 2' of my test I knew it was not right. So I took the pedals off (I use Favero powermeter pedals), put them back on, calibrated everything and voila!, numbers are more reasonable now. Pheeeew! I was worried there is something wrong with my powermeter.

So the test:

I only did 20' test this time but plan on doing x20' in 2 weeks.

20' was enough today.

Avg power: 212W

Avg cadence: 74

I warmed up for 15', did one stride and started the test. Stopped after 2' to fix the pedals; not sure how long it took but I guess less than 10'. Pedaled for 5' to get legs moving again and started the test again.

I started very conservatively since I had no idea what I can do. I was at 203W avg at 10' and then built up from there. I told myself that every pedal stroke must hurt at least a little bit (and yes, they did hurt, esp last 2'!), only then I am doing it right.

I was staring at baby monitor the whole time hoping it will go off and I must "conveniently" stop and go tend to Alex:) But no such luck. She slept right through it, I even had time for a protein shake.

I am pleased with today. Power was not great but considering I havent done anything fast on a bike for over a year and dont know how to push and suffer and that I had no idea what I can do, I am happy with it. I know it will improve. 

I am mostly happy that I have a benchmark now.

I would like to do another FTP test in 2 weeks, this time 2x20' and I hope to be able to hold a higher power just because I will have a number to beat and I will be used to faster riding/suffering.

Btw, I have been here for 5 years now. This is the longest I have been in one place since 2005 when I started college. And this is the most boring place of all the places I have been but it is part of adulting I suppose. I made a choice not to move to India with an infant so I am staying here for a few more years.

Mt Vernon Fall Fest 5k RR

I found out that there was a 5k race in town I live in a few days ago (why dont they advertise these things more?!? And then they are surprised when only 35 runners show up! It was well organised, nice weather, they also had 1/2 mile kids race) so I decided to do it to get a benchmark for my runs.

I have been doing my intervals at 8' pace and the results from those two triathlons I did showed that I ran 8:20ish pace (which I did not really believed because my intervals didnt feel I could run 8:20 pace) so I was hoping to be able to hold 8' pace.

I did taper little bit for the race (run intervals on Mon, easy 4 miler with Bob on Thursday and 1h bike on Wed and 30' bike on Friday, plus my daily HIIT class) to make sure I can get a good benchmark.

I left Nathan and Alex at home, which was both nice and sad because I like having them at races (ok, they have been to only 2 races so far but it was still nice). Race started at 8 and Alex got up at 5ish to eat so perfect timing on her part! I pumped, ate a mandarin, drank a cup of tea, and arrived at race site at 7:15.
I felt little stupid warming up because well, I did not see anyone else warming up but I knew I needed to warm up at least a litle bit. I ran 10min and then did one 40sec stride and some dynamic stretching. I am glad I warmed up because I didnt feel that great warming up but felt little better after.

So normally I can win any race in the area. Southern Illinois is not known gor its running scene....But now that I can barely run 8' miles for a 5k I was not sure whether I can win. Because 8' pace not that fast and I thought that there might be a lady or two that can run 8 minute miles.
One interesting fact... it seems there were more women (20) at this race than men (15). Cool, huh?

Gun went off and I settled into a pace that felt comfortably hard. The course was rolling, ups and downs alternating every quarter mile or so. First mile was little more uphill and I went 8:03, sweet, right on target. Second mile 7:53 and feeling good. Third mile was slight downhill and I went 7:23, for an average pace of 7:53.
My total time was 23:31, which would put me at 7:30ish pace but I am not sure that it was correct since my Garmin showed the course at 2.97 miles and I believe that the course was short because I dont think I can run 7:30 pace yet, thereforeI am using my Garmin paces.
Total time does not matter really, I was interested in getting a benchmark for my interval paces and now I know that I can start doing the intervals little faster than I have been.
And I won female race (6th overall) and I won $50, which put me at $20 net profit:)

I am pleased with my progress and I am excited about it. Now I need to continue loosing the weight. It is not coming off as fast as I was hoping it would with breastfeeding. I only lost 10 pounds in 2 months. Which is a good healthy sustainable weight loss, but slower than I would like. I finally started to see 18x numbers on a scale two weeks ago but I kind of let my guard down after the wedding so I doubt I lost anything the last week. I still have 40 pounds to go! I have a new appreciation for heavy people and big chested ladies! Lugging 190 pounds and two watermelons around is hard! Especially when you are running.