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Back Pain, Exercise, Race, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

Thing’s don’t always go the way you planned them

Triathlon #2 is in the books!

Well… sort of.

You know, I’ve been talking about my swimming training a lot lately. Swimming is the discipline I’ve put the most work into over the last year since I last did the triathlon. I enjoy swimming the most because I’ve always been a fish and loved being in the water. I struggled some on the swim last year but I was ready to smash my swim time this year!

Well, Friday morning I was checking Facebook and I saw this:

No longer a triathlon, now a duathlon. Just like that. I suppose the water quality was too poor to be swam in safely as well as there being an issue with releasing water from the dam following the freak flash flood that occured in Ellicott City last weekend. Since the swim was cancelled, there a quick (uphill) quarter mile run added in place.

My initial reaction was a sinking feeling and utter disbelief. I’ve been struggling with so much pain, especially over the last week and so the swim was my only real chance to make a great improvement on my time from last year.

August 8, 2016 by meaganleanne

Recipes, Running, Swimming, Training

Peach Crisp, Weekend Shenanigans, and Training Update

Hey there Monday! How was your weekend? This summer is flying by way too fast for me.

Weekend Recap

Today I’m feeling really sleepy after a long day of ~~driving~~ sitting in the car watching my husband drive for 10 hours straight and then going to bed really late. But we’re back in Michigan and it’s only a few more days until Brady is officially done with PT school!

On Friday I finally got around to doing something with the peaches I bought last weekend. It was either crisp or pie and as my pies still have a ways to go before being Grandma status, I decided on peach crisp. I’ve made peach/apple crisps a few times but I always mess up the crumble by mixing too much so I was determined to get it right this time. Please tell me I’m not the only one who has struggled with this!

This peach crisp was a win! It was so warm, crumbly, flavorful and melt in your mouth delicious. I’m going to keep making this over and over until there are no more fresh peaches to buy. The pecans also added a something special to the topping. This recipe has a lot of added sugar so at some point I’d like to work on making it a little more healthy without compromising the yummy flavors. This is the recipe I followed but I used a couple less tablespoons of butter and tiny bit less sugar on the peaches.

July 25, 2016 by meaganleanne

Exercise, Running, Swimming, Training

My Fitbit is lying to me

Time for a workout update! I’ve been trying to focus on consistency, on getting out the door, and getting it done. Sometimes that’s the hardest part! So here’s my workout recap from the last 5 days. I also have a Fitbit question at the end if anyone wants to help me out!

Thursday, 7/14

I had every intention of going to the pool for a good swim but when we got there around 7:30, they were still having swim practice and the rest of the pool was really crowded. I didn’t get in until around 8 and I was pretty tired from a couple days of running so I decided to float instead. I think I swam 100m for fun. We left just after sunset and the glow on the pool water was <3

This photo makes me so happy.

Friday, 7/15

I had picked up my sister on Friday morning so we could go shopping for a handful of things I’ve been looking for including a dress to wear for Brady’s graduation in a couple weeks. I still haven’t found one. We went to Centennial Park intending to run but we got there so late in the day that it was hot, humid, muggy, miserable, and all around sucky weather to workout in. We settled for walking because we probably would have suffered from dehydration and heat stroke if we had tried to run. The animals were all out enjoying themselves though, we saw geese, squirrels, chipmunks, turtles, squished frogs, and various other birds.

July 19, 2016 by meaganleanne

Exercise, Running, Training, Triathlon, Weight loss

Summer Running and Sunsets

I don’t know how some people are able to find the energy to go running after a long day at work. It’s a mental battle just to get out the door when I’m tired and my body feels sluggish. On Tuesday, I texted my sister and told her she had to bug me until I’d gone for a run. She did a great job of being obnoxious and eventually I went just before sunset.

Usually, my general routine for running is to warm up for around 5 minutes, walk/run for 20 or so minutes and cool down for a few. This will get me to around 2 miles or a little more. I really need to start getting more distance in but I know I can’t run a few miles straight up. So my aim for the day was to walk 1 full mile, then run with a strong effort til I hit my threshold, and hit around three miles.

I finished with 2.97 miles + at least another .3 because I my watch took a while to connect to GPS and I stopped it as soon as I finished running.

My Running Splits:

1.03 mi @ 16:34 min/mi
.52 mi @ 10:40 min/mi
.24 mi @ 16:03 min/mi
.42 mi @ 11:06 min/mi
.11 mi @ 17:43 min/mi
.63 mi @ 11:36 min/mi

Overall Distance – 2.97 mi

Overall Time – 41:06 min

Overall Average Pace – 13:50 min/mi

Running Distance – 1.57 miles

Running Average – 11:12 min/mi

I stopped for a minute during the run to quickly snap this picture. I loooove sunsets and it’s usually my favorite time of day to run because I get to enjoy more than if I was inside doing something else. I came back exhausted with wobbly legs especially after the large hill I had to walk up at the very end to get to the house. It was also very humid outside so I felt like I was swimming in sweat. I tried the NUUN tablets that I’d bought last week for the first time. I don’t think it’s supposed to make you feel different but it’s to help restore electrolyte balance. Whatever the case, it has barely any calories, no sugar and makes my water taste better. So win-win.

July 14, 2016 by meaganleanne

Back Pain, Running, Swimming, Training

Training with Back Pain

Happy Monday!

It’s always sad to say goodbye to a lovely weekend and hello to another work-week… but here we are again. I try not to live for the weekends, but it’s hard not to when my energy dies so quickly during the week. This weekend was a battle between pain and training because I woke up on Saturday morning barely able to walk. I’m hoping it’s a phase and that I can stretch and strengthen my way out of it. Usually, if I lay down for a little while, I “re-align” and it helps a lot but even that wasn’t working. I try not to take my pain meds unless I really, really need them and I suffered through training and the weekend without them. I went to the pool yesterday which is probably why I’m surviving so far today.

Since I’d been having a rough day on Saturday, I was only going go for a walk that evening, but my sister was running and I really wanted to as well. I feel like I keep falling behind in training. I started walking and felt a lot of the tightness ease up after walking for around 10 minutes so I did a light 11:00 min/mi for 8 minutes. I ended up walking for like 30 minutes in the glowy sunset light. I finished off the evening by having a movie night with my siblings and watching National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

July 11, 2016 by meaganleanne

Life, Swimming, Training

Learning How To Swim: She’s finally had a swimming breakthrough!

Yesterday was a long but definitely fun-filled day. I spent most of the day hanging out with and catching up with one of my friends from college. I met Kelli my first week at Andrews University because she was my RA on the first floor freshman hall. Even though I moved to the 3rd floor on the opposite side of the building for my sophomore year, I got lucky and she was my RA that year as well! Over those 2 years we got to know each other pretty well and she was an amazing support while I was going through my mom’s illness and then her passing during the fall of my sophomore year. It’s been 2 years since the last time I saw her, and so when I found out that she was coming to town, I was grateful that I’ve been off work for a couple weeks so we could spend some time together. I think we ended up up chatting non-stop for almost 6 hours yesterday! We started by heading up to Columbia for brunch at Cafe Mezcla which, if you live in the area, is amazingly delicious! I think the service is a bit slow, but the food is worth it. I’ve been there a few times and I think I’ve always gotten the same thing because it’s just that good!

Cafe Mezcla Sunny days crepe and Nutella Freeze

I got a nutella freeze and a crepe that I think was called “Sunny Days”. It was a crepe filled with eggs, cheese, fresh baby spinach and tomatoes, and aioli. I don’t think I could choose which one was better because my taste buds were exploding with happiness from the deliciousness they were being bathed in. I’m generally trying to avoid dairy at the moment but I haven’t come here in a long time so this was too good to pass up!

June 29, 2016 by meaganleanne

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