I am just taking a quick break from medical terminology (I just aced the self test though, so if that is representative of how I will do on test one this coming week, I’m set!) and I wanted to get an update in here. And what a better time (or so I thought) than to do a…

2:10GU

(2010 Goal Update for those not up to date with Dr.TR terminology)

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on the three goals I made for 2010. Here’s a quick rundown on how things have been going:

1. SLEEP – Well, I can honestly say I’m most often getting my eight hours. I can also honestly say that I am taking sleeping meds almost every night, and when I don’t take them, I’m not falling asleep until like 2-4 in the morning. It’s not that I’m “not tired”.. I get eyes-closing-on-me-while-sitting-up tired… I just can’t fall asleep. I need to schedule to get in and talk to my doctor about it for sure. Hahah but I will say that with the sleep aids (which I am totally not endorsing) I’m getting a sound solid night and feeling rested in the am. So… yep. Still workin’ on it.
2. SWIMMING+CYCLING - Again, I’m still doing better on the cycling than the swimming, but I can say that I’m at least swimming once a week, usually twice. Having the underwater mp3 player is still a huge help, but that doesn’t make the pool not cold. Can I swim in my wetsuit in the University pool? All I gotta say is I better be a better dang cyclist after this winter!
3. LESS BLACK-&-WHITE ATTITUDE - Haha, I feel like my opinion on that will be biased, and definitely leaning in my favor, so you’d have to ask someone else. It is a really hard thing to “measure”, but that’s the point right – I’m not supposed to need to have all these objective measures in my life. I’m actively making an effort though, and that’s what counts!

I feel like all I ever say is “I have some fun stuff coming up on the blog. Stay tuned for _____!” but I really mean it! Here are my two lame excuses:

• Some things though have a “missing component” that I’m waiting on…
• School!

I also just took over as the “webmaster” for all our tri team bidness, and the site that our TEAM PAGE is hosted on is definitely not as user friendly as what I currently use for Dr. Tri Runner. Nor is it very compatible with McMac! I am working hard to get it all squared away, but I might be moving our site over to BlueHost, which is what I use here. ANYWAYS, long story short – with Nationals only seventy days away its important that I get on that so everyone has access to the important info going around!

And lastly to wrap up my quick hello, there’s something loooong overdue that I need to take care of. My Progresso contest winner!! Given the overwhelming response to the contest, I must say this winner is quite the lucky duck, because each you only had a 16.7% chance of winning. (No sarcasm allowed here at Dr.TR.) Without further ado, the is…

Melissa @ A Fit & Spicy Life

Not only is this chicky one of my favorite bloggers of all time, she is also a fellow MiniAppleite, and all around awesome! She is my inside source on all the cool restaurants that I’ve never been to in the Twin Cities! Shoot me your contact info to drtrirunner@gmail.com so I can pass it off to the fantastic folks at BlogSpark/Progresso and you can get to slurpin’ and soup’n asap!

Questions: How are your 2010 goals going? Do you have any races/events on the calendar that you’re counting down to?

Time to get back to work! Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Train hard, train smart, and cheer for the Colts in tomorrow’s game!
-E

If you read my last post, you know that I think the topic of hydration is pretty important for an athlete. If you stuck with my post all the way to the end, you also know that one of my favorite ways to rehydrate is with homemade smoothies and shakes. Because I am a broke college kid not particularly financially endowed at the moment, nor do I have the luck of the gods to win one in a giveaway, I have not yet discovered the wonders of the infamous Vitamix (or it’s closely related cousin, le Blendtec). Well, let me retract that one – I have used a Vitamix on many occasions. We have not one, not  two, but FOUR Vitamix machines at work, and yes, taking on ice for those bad boys are like slicing through butter.

But I have digressed, the VMmaster and TecofBlendGods are not the point of this post. I am coming to you today to tell you the story of my dear Magic Bullet.

You see, there was once a time when I was quite the frequenter of infomercials. They’re basically like a full 30 minute program that gets you EXCITED about this amazing product that you absolutely can’t live without, and with practice, you can even say the words along with the host.

“What can you do in 10 seconds? You can start chopping onions for an omelet, or you can chop onions, whip eggs, chop ham and peppers… for the fastest easiest omelet ever!”

Mmmm, yep. The Magic Bullet, the Ultimate Party Machine, was one of those items. I have probably seen that infomercial at least twenty times! That was how long it took to convince my dear mother that the MB was definitely a necessary part of our lives. And finally, we made the call. Shortly thereafter, a rather large UPS box arrived on our front doorstep (TWO for ONE baby!!) and the rest is history.

If you read my last post, you would also know that my dear MB is in ill condition. It is difficult to watch those you love suffer, and at times, you wish you could just put them out of their misery. Just last night, we were working together to make a Key-Lime-Coconut shake, and I could tell that he was struggling. A task that was once so simple has now become labored, taking nearly twice the time to do the same work. He sounds sad, tired, and ready to rest. And as much as I want to let MB do just that, what about my needs? What about my Nilla Coffee Mint shakes and Key Lime Lovin smoothies?

Fear not my friends – a solution is in sight. It is crazily coincidental, and I am thoroughly thankful, that a representative from CSN Stores contacted me to review a product for them. CSN Stores is a Boston based web store that offers all sorts of products, from bar stools to kitchen ware, they honestly have something to please everyone! I’m happy to report that I’ll be revewing a new blending beverage making beast of sorts, and I am hopeful that it can fulfill all of MB’s duties. You can definitely expect a thorough review from me in the near future!

In the mean time, I will share with you another hydration+homemade recipe to tide you over. One of my faves for sure:

KeyNillaNut Protein Shake Smoothie DeliciousDrank

• 1 container key lime yogurt
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
• 1/4 tsp coconut extract
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• ICE. as much as you can handle prefer
• 1/2 cup almond breeze, soy milk, moo milk, water. *ETA* omg.. ZICO would be amazing in this!
• (this tastes like it should be alcoholic and sipped on a beach with a little umbrella in your glass. if you are legally of age, feel free to indulge. please drink responsibly.)

Place all ingredients in blender of choice. Go to town. Pull out the polka dot bikini, your lawn chair, a beach towel, and put Blue Crush on the teletube. And oh btw link back with a picture. (Haha kidding.. but you would DEFINITELY get a prize for doing so. I don’t know what, but I’d think of something!)

Ciao lovelies,
-E

Alright… the “sign up for TWO races by tonight” plan was an epic fail – I didn’t even sign up for one!! I even added a few more races to my “options” list! My time wasn’t a complete waste though – I did decide on a couple of races that I am for sure not going to run, and at least that helps me narrow down my options! Here’s what I’ve “decided on” so far:

• No marathon this summer. Which means no Grandma’s marathon.
• My reasoning? The triathlon season (at least here in good ol’ Minnesota) only lasts so long. I want to get in my tris while I can, because lord knows if $$ is my issue, I won’t be traveling all the way to Texas to race. (OK.. maybe just once a year ) That is.. unless a sponsor comes through.
• I have a complimentary entrance to one race… so I can’t “register” for that one. But to be fair, I do at least have this race picked out!
• I’m working on a list of the races the rest of the team is doing. We don’t all race together over the summer…  but it’s always fun to have familiar faces out on the course.

So that’s where I’m at. Now on to the title of the post: HYDRATION. This is an important component to nutrition and training for endurance athletes, and I thought it deserved its [almost] own post. So without wasting any time, let’s dive in:

Throwback to 2007! My baby Dakota knows what’s up: Hydration is key!

NUTR 3721: Hydration for the Endurance Athlete

Instructor Info: Prof. SperlyTriRunner
Office Hours: too busy training. Contact by email: drtrirunner@gmail.com

Roughly 70% of an adults body weight is made up of water. You could guess then that water is pretty essential to human life. Imagine what your body would look like of all the water were sucked up and dried out? No, I’m not trying to convert any of you to vegetarians, but you could end up looking like a bag of this stuff:

So we all get it, hydration is important. But how do we know how much is enough, and what is too much? Does it matter when you hydrate? What about while training or racing? Do I need a “sports drink” or can I just have water? What about electrolytes? I already gave you a disclaimer – I’m not a certified hydration expert here, but I’m going to do my best to cover this topic and at least get a good conversation going!

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

I’m sure most of you have heard the guideline at some point that you should all be drinking eight 8oz. glasses of water a day. Many studies have shown that that’s not necessarily the case. The “rules” become even more blurry for athletes. It has also been “claimed” that many caffeinated beverages do not “count” towards your hydration intake for the day, such as coffee, tea, and sodas. Again, studies have shown that this is not necessarily true. There is water in almost everything we consume (with the exception of maybe the jerky’s above ) and foods with high water content (such as fruits, vegetables, soups, juices, etc.) all can “count” towards our daily hydration needs. While the “8×8″ myth – 8 x 8oz. /day – has been discredited, there are still about 25,000 other “recommendations” out there. How do you know what to follow? The best general advice: follow your senses. If you feel thirsty, drink. If you don’t feel thirsty, don’t drink unless you want to. The average person is not going to “over-hydrate” on accident.

DOES AN ATHLETE HAVE ADDITIONAL NEEDS?

We aren’t the “average person” though… are we? No sir. For the most part, we can still rely on our “common sense,” but for the sake of optimal performance and recovery, hydration deserves a bit more focused attention for the endurance athlete. USATF recently announced some new guidelines which, personally, I think are great. These are specifically targeted towards long distance runners, but I believe serve well for the entire endurance athlete population.

What I feel is the biggest change in these “fluid-replacement recommendations” is that athletes should be fully replace 100% of the fluids lost during racing, and they should be “sensitive to the onset of thirst as the signal to drink, rather than staying ahead of thirst.” This lowers the risk of hyponatremia – a condition that is very serious, and caused by diluting your body’s sodium levels to an extremely low point. Trust me.. you don’t want that one.

According to my buddies at Hammer and the research that they have done, they give the following recommendations:

• 20-25 fluid oz. of water per hour is a sufficient amount for most athletes.
• For lighter athletes, or cooler temperatures, 16-18 oz. per hour may be what you need.
• Heavier athletes or hotter conditions may require around 28 oz. per hour.

Note that none of these guidelines say what is “absolutely right.” They are guidelines. For a reference point (and quite convenient might I add), 20-25 oz. is the size of a regular to large water bottle.

WHAT ABOUT SODIUM AND ELECTROLYTES?

Your sweat is not only made up of water. You may know this of you develop that rather attractive “salt crust” after a workout. (Really… who doesn’t love feeling like a big baked salt crusted fish?) In addition to the water your pour out, you are also losing sodium and other minerals. And no one needs to tell you this one, but you’re also burning a massive amount of calories! For these reasons, it is important for endurance athletes to consider products that contain these essential items.

MY FAVORITE PRODUCTS

I have done a great deal of experimenting with different hydration, electrolyte, and carbohydrate recovery drink options.. and I haven’t even come close to trying all that there is out there on the market! These are a few of my favorite products, and I will tell you a little bit about why. What works best for you can only be determined by… YOU… and it will probably take some trial and error to figure out. All of my testimonials are based on my own experiences with these products. I have not been asked by any of these companies to review their products, nor have I (sadly) been sent any free goodies.

Nuun Active Hydration tabs: It would be much easier for me to write a review on what I don’t like about Nuun… because that would be short and sweet: they don’t grow on trees. These electrolyte tabs have honestly been my savior on several occasions, one of them being during my running of the Med City Marathon. They’re fast acting. They’re portable. They’re convenient. They do not contain carbs, and I appreciate having this as an option because everyone has their own preferences when it comes to carb replenishing during or after a race or workout. Some people like bananas, some like bars, some like gels, some like drinks. It’s not a one size fits all.

Hammer Endurolytes POWDER: One thing I like about the powder is that that enables me to have personalized dosing. Not every athlete will have the same needs, and I’m glad Hammer pays attention to that! Obviously you wouldn’t be stopping on the side of the road during a race to measure out and mix up your Endurolytes in a water bottle, but premixed before an endurance ride or long run and you have yourself a personalized hydralectrolyte beast. Maybe this goes without saying, but I use this stuff when I’m doing an endurance workout or race.. not just like a regular ol’ 7 mile run. Endurolytes have also been great for me in helping with cramping (or helping to not cramp to be more accurate). Long story short: I like the stuff.

PowerDew: PowerDew is in a category all it’s own. There is nothing better. In addition to being a fantasticly delicious source of hydration during exercise, it is also proven to help during intense study sessions with your anatomy textbook, medical terminology flash cards, and school work of the sort. Caution: may cause dependency when used frequently. You should notify your doctor if you start to experience hallucinations of powerdew during your day, or start having visions of powerdew while attempting to fall asleep. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya

Homemade shakes/smoothies/drinks: Why do I like them? Oh, let me count the ways.

1. They cost a fraction of what a pre-made store-bought drink would cost
2. I am in control of the ingredients – how much protein do I want? How many carbs?
3. I can have a flavor that I actually LIKE, sans chocolate! Muahaha. (Oh… ‘Nilla Mint Coffee shake you say? I can hook you up!)

While  I KNOW for a fact that a VitaMix would do a helluva lot better job, my Magic Bullet is doing ok for now. However, my roomie did say to me the other day, “Is the motor on that thing dying? Or are you just blending more ice?” No, no more ice. The MB has seen better days for sure. I just hope it gives me a two weeks notice before it craps out on me!

Alright kids.. a post wouldn’t be a post without a question, and I said I wanted to get a conversation going here, right? So here are my questions for you:

• What is your favorite way to hydrate during a race? Do you have an “old standby” product that you use every time?
• What is a “rule” that you always here about hydration (like the 8×8 rule for example)? Do you follow that?

That’s all I got for ya’ tonight – I have mucho school work that needs to be worked. I just got back from a very nice run (although slightly slick out there) with my guys, and I’m going to take my own advice, rehydrate, refuel, and get crackin! I have TWO product reviews coming up, and ahhh so much more – the “to post” list is seriously longer than I can handle right now! One thing at a time Wishing everyone strong legs, no injuries, and happy days.

-E

Sources:
Dartmouth Medical School Journal
USATF Hydration Guidelines
Hammer Hydration

If you and I are buddies on Facebook, you know my most recent status update sounded a little something like this: That’s right.. it’s race calendar time –  early registration fee deadlines are passing, prices are going up, spots are filling up, and I need to figure out which races I want to dedicate my time and efforts to before I miss my chance! As much as I would love to just do as many races as possible this summer, there are several inhibiting factors to that ideal:

• $$
• time
• the preservation of my bones, muscles, and what’s left of my left hip

If you really know me though, you know I’m mostly just talkin’ $$ here. Training alone isn’t free, but racing takes a big bite out of my Sperly-Financial-Pie. There are several things I take into consideration when building my yearly racing calendar:

• Distance of race
• Date of race
• Cost of registration
• Location
• Cost of traveling to ^ location
• Size of race
• Who else do I know racing?
• Have I done this race before? Did I do well?
• Race’s history (race day conditions? organized well? course support? crowd support?)

Given those considerations, here are the races I’m considering for 2010. I would LOVELOVELOVE any and all input from you, especially if you have done one of these races before or heard good (or bad!) things about it. Some of these races I’ve done before – you can check out some of my RACE REPORTS – others would be a first time. If you’re a fellow runner / triathlete from Minnesota and still trying to build YOUR race calendar, maybe some of these will give you ideas!

RUNNING RACE OPTIONS 2010

Med City Marathon 2008

(5Ks not included.. those are all last minute registrations)

• May 30th – Med City Marathon (See my race report from when I last did that one!)
• June 6th – Minneapolis Marathon (A fairly new race.. I hear good things)
• July 19th – Grandma’s Marathon (My race report on it. Plus, THIS girl might be there for her birthday?)
• August 7th – Urban Wildland Half Marathon (One of my faves for sure! Race report)
• August 14th – Gopher to Badger Half (had a buddy end up in an ambulance during this one…)
• August 21st-22nd – Ragnar Great River Relay (WILL be doing this one again! Pre-Race)
• September 7th - Victory Memorial 10K/5K Double Header (Will for sure do again. Race Report)
• October 3rd - Twin Cities Marathon (The country’s most beautiful urban marathon, obviously!)
• October 30th – Monster Dash Half Marathon (Wasn’t blogging yet when I ran this for the first time. Home course.. fast.. love Team Ortho races!)
• October XX – Moose Mountain Trail Marathon (don’t see a 2010 official date yet…)

TRI RACE OPTIONS 2010

St. Croix Valley Triathlon 2009

• April 17th – USAT Collegiate Nationals – Lubbock, TX (Already registered. CAN’T WAIT!)
• June 12th – Liberty Half Iron
• June 19th – High Clif Half Iron
• August 14th-15th – Green Lake Olympic (Didn’t do a race report, just a photo. LOVED it.)
• August 22nd – St. Paul International
• September 5th – St. Croix Valley Olympic (Race Report. Froze my a$$ off during the bike, but loved it!)
• September 12th – Square Lake Half Iron (Buddy on the team did this last year – I went up to cheer and run the race course. There was great race support!)

So obviously I have some hang-ups here… some races are on the same day (Grandma’s Marathon & High Cliff Half Iron, Gopher to Badger Half and Green Lake Tri)… I wouldn’t do two half iron’s two weekends in a row (Liberty Half and High Cliff)… and I don’t have the money to register for all of these even if I wanted to! It would be pretty damn cool to just eat, train, race, and repeat (and get paid to do it), but there are two little things I need to keep in mind – finishing up with Kinesiology and Med School. And paying for both of them. Anyways, these are just ideas that I have circling around in my head. I told a girl on my team that I want to report back tomorrow and have registered for at least TWO of my summer races, so we’ll see where that goes but I’ll keep you posted!

If you need help figuring out your race calendar, and are from Minneapolis/St. Paul or our lovely state of Minnesota, I would be more than happy to give my opinion on the local races I’ve done (they’re definitely all not listed or accounted for under the RUNhard tab)! I also want to share some great resources to get you started:

Apple Raceberry Jam

Vacation Sports

Midwest Events

SCS Multisport

Good luck to you, good luck to me, I’ll report back soon with any decisions!
-E

Shoutout to two of my favorite Twin Cities bloggies Melissa and Kate! They joined me this morning for part II of my endurance ride, and then after showering (ohhh how I love thee) and cleanin’ up we made our way to Whole Foods for food bar lunch and a lil shopping treat! Well, I can’t speak for the rest, but treat for me for sure! My two food boxes totaled up to $14.39! Paying by the pound is serious business kids… I think it was the 5 hard boiled eggs that did me in. Girl’s gotta get her protein! Neither of them are regular spin takers, but I don’t think that will last long! The biggest treat though was their company – they are both awesome ladies and so much fun!

Kate, Myself, & Melissa

Today has been jam packed, with a 140 minute endurance ride to start the morning off strong, lunch with these two lovely ladies, a job interview (which I scored! question is.. do I take it?), some research work, some team bidness’, and now I’m off to a housewarming party for my good buddy and long time running partner who just recently bought his first house! There will be tons of people that I used to run with, a bunch of people from my Ragnar team, and others that I haven’t gotten to catch up with for too long, so I’m really excited!

Also excited about all of the things going on here at Dr. Tri Runner! I don’t have time to go into too much detail, but for the time being, these pages have been updated:

• RUN hard
• ABOUT me
• PRODUCT reviews

And you will also be seeing posts about some great people that I am working with leading up to Nationals! AND training schedules. AND some reviews. Haha maybe I’m the only one excited, but that’s OK with me, this is my website Gotta get off to partaay, but while you’re here, take a quick sec to tell me your favorite soup and win some for free!

-E

Raise your hand if you like warm delicious soup? Good. Now raise your hand if you like free things? GOOOOD. Here’s what I got for ya:

Progresso teamed up with BlogSpark and they were awesome enough to send me a TON of delicious soups to try! They also (unaware that they were feeding my oversized mug addiction) sent a cool Progresso Mug, just big enough to hold the whole can. My upper body strength work came into play when I carried these bad boys up my three flights of stairs from the delivery truck to my kitchen!

I know it’s been a little while since my last GU:2010 (I promised you though, there’s one coming!) , but what about YOUR goal update? Was healthy eating a part of your goals for 2010? Well, Progresso wants to help you out!

The Souper You Debut Contest!

[From Progresso:] Celebrate the New Year and a new you with Progresso Light and 100 Calorie Soups because from January 4 through March 15th, you can visit www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to enter the Progresso “Souper You Debut” contest for the chance to win a full makeover in New York City.

Three grand prize winners will be awarded a trip for two to New York City from May 21st-23rd. The prize includes roundtrip airfare, a two-night stay in a NYC hotel, a full makeover, a $1,000 wardrobe shopping spree and personal consultation at a New York department store.

To enter the Souper You Debut contest, you’ll need to do the following:

• Go to www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to learn more and enter the contest
• Submit a short essay (200 characters or less) telling Progresso why you love Progresso Light or 100 Calorie Soups and why you would like a makeover
• In addition, please submit a photo of yourself that visually reinforces the theme of your essay

Once you enter, you’ll have the chance for your photo and/or an excerpt from your essay to appear on www.Progresso.com/SouperYou, so be sure to check back frequently! Once the 10 finalists are announced (and I hope YOU’RE ONE OF THEM!), you can visit www.Progresso.com/SouperYou from March 29 through April 12 to vote for your favorite.

In addition, throughout the duration of the contest you can visit www.Progresso.com/SouperYou to download a coupon for $1 off any three varieties of Progresso Soup!

[Sperly takin' back over] OK, a free trip to NYC? Who wouldn’t want that? Awesome! But just in case you don’t end up winning that prize, Progresso and BlogSpark still wanna hook you up. You have the chance to win some awesome Progresso soups of your own. FREE! Though I can’t promise I’ll be there to help carry the box up your stairs, I can promise you that soup is GOOD, and Progresso is no exception.

To enter this GIVEAWAY (different than the souper you contest), all you need to do is:

• Leave a comment telling me your Progresso soup! If you’re new to this tasty brand of convenient goodness, you  can check out their WEBSITE and tell me the flavor you’d most like to try!

Easy peasy, right? Because we want to waste no time getting started on a healthy 2010, I’m keeping this giveaway open only through this weekend, aka midnight on Sunday (CENTRAL time). But why wait? All it takes is a click of a button, and you’re ticket’s in the hat!

-E

As promised – I’m back on Sunday, my favorite day of the week! And I have a lot to give you, so I’ll get right to it!

Sunday Long “Run”

Poppin (Remix) – Christ Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana

Today, being a Sunday, would mean it’s a long run day. We haven’t discussed my running status much as of late, because well, there really isn’t a status. It’s been constantly changing! For the month of December, running was super minimal. (read: like 30 miles for the entire MONTH maybe?) No – its most def. not because I can’t handle the Minnesota winters – we all know I’ve got that covered. Unfortunately.. it would be the hip. Again. My next “big” Dr. appointment is February 8th. Maybe I’ll know more after that, but at this point, this is what I do know: (words of my lovely sports med doc:) “It’s not going to just break through while you’re out there – if you want to be running, and it isn’t excruciatingly painful, you might as well.”

High Definition – Lupe Fiasco ft. Snoop Dog & Pooh Bear

So since January, I’ve taken that and run with it, literally. My milage is still NOTHING like “normal”, but at least I’m running a few days a week. However, no weekend long run for me. So today’s “long run” is brought to you by my Octane Q47 (or what I refer to typically as my “xRunner”) machine… lookin a little like this:

Dirt Off Your Shoulder – Jay Z

And since I have two hours scheduled with this bad boy, I figured what a better time to give you my ellipti/run/music rundown. What you see in BOLD and PURPLE are the songs that are playing currently while I am typing. Yes. Blogging while working out is pretty much the only way I have time for this right now. And since right now I have, oh… an hour and 44 minutes left, you get lots of songs.  My iTunes is on Shuffle btw, but I’m skipping around a bit if I hit a song I don’t like.

Beggin – Madcon

As you can also see, I’m not writing a ton in between what are anywhere between 4-5 minute songs. That’s because blogging, as I’m sure all of you who have your own site know, takes mucho tiempo.

Track 7 – Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack

(Don’t know the actual name… really not a fan of this song… but it gives you an idea of the eclectness of my iTunes.) Which brings me to the next item on my agenda…

Future Updating Schedule:

Guarantees – Atmosphere

It’s no joke that I am super busy this semester. But this blog is really important to me, and I actually really LIKE doing it! My iCal last week looked a little like this, and this is even just a four day week, with school just having started, so not a ton of homework yet. This also doesn’t show the 6 credits of online classes I have currently going on! Ayyy. Contemplating dropping Physics this semester, but that doesn’t seem like a good plan because I still need to take it at some point. All the classes I’m taking right now are ones I need to eventually take! Thank you God for inventing iCal…

This Is What It’s Made For – Usher

Because of this insanity, my posting schedule will most likely be once or twice a week. It will also probably be a bit more to the point and content driven than all this extra curricular stuff. Actually.. no, it probably wont. That’s just how I roll. If you’ve seen some of my tweets lately though, you know I got a lot going on:

• 20 credits
• 2 labs
• 2 jobs
• boyfriend
• family/friends
• the Tri team
• Dr. TriRunner
• the Tri team’s website – I just took this one on, but I’m excited about it!

There’s no blame or fingers to be pointed (other than at myself )… this is what I get myself into. Welcome to the life of a Type A (+) overscheduler. Moving on…

Real As It Gets – Jay Z ft. Young Jeezy

On Friday I promised you a gear review, and that’s what I have for you now!

Cycling & Winter Running Socks: Review

You – Atmosphere

First up, my loves of all time: SMARTWOOL. More specifically, their Ultra Light Cushion Women’s Cycling socks:

These were a gift from the boy, and damn, does he know how to pick em’! I love the way these hug my arches in just the right spot, and I don’t have to fold them over because they’re so effing big or have the “heel” be sitting at my ankle! I wear these in spin right now and they are PERFECT! They come up just high enough so my shimano shoes don’t cut into my leg, but they’re still “ankle socks.” Final Grade: A

Dirt Off Your Shoulders Vs. Bittersweet Symphony Remix – Jay Z & The Verve

Next: CRAFT Pro Warm Quarter Running Sock

Alright.. when I told you everything  you’d ever want to know about WINTER RUNNING… I told you how much my feet/hands circulation sucks. Well that post needs a revision: my feet/hand circulation SUCKS when I’m not properly prepared!!

Jesus Walks – Kanye West

This was also included in a x-mas gift from the boy (he’s winning in all corners here!) and DAYYYNG. I. Love. Keep in mind that these were not sent to me by the company – this review is solely based on my usage of said socks and happy warm toes. These. Are. FANTASTIC. On a run where my fingers were frozen solid through… think permafrost frozen… my feet were SO toasty, but not sweaty! Just happy, happy toes. Thankkk you to novio and thank you to Craft! Final Grade: A+

Real World – Match Box Twenty

(Haha! I told you it was on shuffle!)  While were on the subject of SOCKS, I will say that I am yet to wear my supafly Kayano Left and Right specific running socks that my mom gave me for Christmas. I feel like these need to be reserved for races or special occasion / monumental runs only. Q: Do you have any clothes like that? I definitely have a racing only sports bra!

Push It Remix – Camron ft. Jim Jones, Juelz, and Lil Wayne

Annnd that’s one hour down! Love it! What I don’t love is this weekend is “Open House” weekend at my gym. Read: Way super overcrowded!! Un momentitio chicos… bathroom break.

OK! Hour two.. start it off with an all time favorite:

I’ll Be Missing You – P. Diddy ft. Faith Evans

This is also where I switch to going backwards and up the resistance a bit! Annnd make sure I’m continuing to hydrate:

Baby It’s Cold Outside – James Taylor ft. Natalie Cole

(Hahaha!! Don’t judge!) Ok so I’m starting to really enjoy this live blogging thing. Pictured above (excuse the blurriness.. I took it one handed and moving) is the new LEMON LIME Powerade Zero! But not only Powerade kids.. that would be Lemon Lime PowerDew. If you haven’t done the PowerDew yet.. hop on it. And make sure to tell me what you think!!! And because we’re talking about beverages and hydrating….

Nilla’ Mint Coffee Recovery Shake:

Hotel California – The Eagles

I also told you last Friday that I had a recipe coming! I fell in love the second this cool, creamy shake of shining glory touched my lips. Not exaggerating.

Always Coming Back Home to You – Atmosphere

Thankfully that was not a 4:26 am photo! Here’s what we got goin’ on:

• Chocolate Mint Coffee, (.5 – 1 cup, depending on preference of taste and texture) cooled (a la Ghiradelli – sent to my by my absolute fave SwimBuddy Lizzy)
• 2 scoops Vanilla protein powder
• Xanthan gum
• Ice ( I use about 6 regular sized cubes)

If you tragically are not able to find this miraculous mint coffee, as I no longer am because I ran out and apparently this is a seasonal delicacy, I have moved on to using regular coffee (or espresso to be more accurate), dark coco powder, and mint extract. Place all ingredients in blender of choice, and get to town.

Say Shhh – Atmosphere

(If you’re from MN.. GET that song. Has been a favorite of mine for a lonnnng time!) Depending on the type of protein powder you choose to use, you can get upwards of 20g of protein here! Other variations: you could use chocolate flavored protein powder and nix the cocoa powder. You could do half coffee/half milk (or milk alternative). If you’re lucky enough to have any leftover Girlscout Thinmint cookies stashed in your  freezer… send them all to me one or two blended up in the drink would lead to nilla/choco/mint ecstacy. Caution.

When’s the Last Time – Clipse ft. Pharell

As you can see, I did this in my Magic Bullet and it barely fit. I’m still praying that the folks from VitaMix HQ over in Cleveland, Ohio will find this lil runner/triathlete/future doctor and realize:

Dang – this girl really needs a Vita Mix in her life. Her future depends on it. How can we help?

I have an extra kidney if any of your employees need it. We could work out a deal. KIDDING!!! Kinda…

Bout It – Yung Joc ft. 3LW (Step Up Soundtrack)

Alright – decision time: I have half an hour of this “run” left… and there are still about a billion things I have on my “to post” list. I wanna give you a GU2:10 (or Goal Update for those who haven’t mastered the Dr.TriRunner terminology…) but I think I will wait till January is over and  give you a complete one month perspective.

Maria Maria – Carlos Santana ft. Wyclef Jean

(Yes, I really did only type that much in the time it took to play all of Bout It. Not a short song.. but I’m sweating more liquid than my shower gives on a good water pressure day. Haha what an attractive mental picture..) What I think needs to happen right now, since I neglected it on Friday, is a little guilt relief. That’s right kids – sounds like a…

Sunday Friday Confessional:

What We Talkin’ Bout – Jay Z ft. Luke Steele

You know the rules of the game: there are none. Nothing is off limits. You fess up, I fess up. We all feel better. This is a practice I have very much loved ever since my very first ever Friday Confessional back in November of 2008. One year ago I was fessing up to this:

1. I’ve become rather spiteful without running. I’ve seen other people running outside or hearing them talk about running and wished they couldn’t run too. It’s like if I can’t run, no one else should. 
2. I stole my roommates pack of Cinnamon Spice gum off her desk. Sorry Laur – I owe you.
3. I ODed on Cinnamon Toast Crunch one night in the beginning of the week. I literally had FIVE bowls. Just dry. Back to back.  And I felt sick as hell afterwards/the next morning. It was completely emotional and very delicious. But I don’t need to do that again.
4. I paid $55 for unlimited group fitness at the Marino. And I’m yet to take ONE class. I signed up for abs tonight and spinning tomorrow morning.
5. I accidentally brought home a pool belt from the Y. And it is sitting under my bed. And it’s mine.

Ever The Same – Rob Thomas

Have I changed? Let’s see…
#1 – I am currently running, but nothing like “I used to.” But my thoughts on that one are much more stemming from frustration.. not “spite.” Or at least I’d like to think so.
#2 – No stealing gum. I have a plentiful stock of my Stride favorites.
#3 – No more CTC sadly – I no longer have “the caf,” and therefore no longer have open access to crack this goodness. Probably a good thing.

Nothing Ever Hurt Like You – James Morrison

#4 – $55 seems like a steal when you’re paying $68/month for a gym membership. Nuff said.
#5 – That pool belt fits me perfectly

This week I’m going to confess only one thing to you in the blog word, because a) I only have 7 minutes left and I want time to make a song wrap-up, and b) I’ve been pretty darn good this week if I do say so myself. Here we go:

Move If You Wanna – Mims

1. I have become increasingly reliant on sleep aids. Tylenol PM, Simply Sleep.. the melatonin ain’t doin jack isht. It’s at the point where if I don’t take anything, I just don’t get tired. No matter what. Friday night – took nothing. Fell “asleep” around 4 am. Was already awake when my alarm went off at 8am. I’m fessing up to this one because it’s actually a problem. I plan on talking to my doc about it at my next appointment. Which I am yet to schedule. :/

That’s all I have time for kids! This was a GOOD POST if you ask me! Sorry if I overwhelmed you with all of  this at once though. Here is the…

Long “Run” Song Wrap-up:

Encore – Jay Z (good song to end on!)
Poppin (Remix) – Christ Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Juelz Santana
High Definition – Lupe Fiasco ft. Snoop Dog & Pooh Bear
Dirt Off Your Shoulder – Jay Z
Beggin – Madcon
Track 7 – Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack
Guarantees – Atmosphere
This Is What It’s Made For – Usher
Real As It Gets – Jay Z ft. Young Jeezy
You – Atmosphere
Dirt Off Your Shoulders Vs. Bittersweet Symphony Remix – Jay Z & The Verve
Jesus Walks – Kanye West
Real World – Match Box Twenty
Push It Remix – Camron ft. Jim Jones, Juelz, and Lil Wayne
I’ll Be Missing You – P. Diddy ft. Faith Evans
Baby It’s Cold Outside – James Taylor ft. Natalie Cole
Hotel California – The Eagles
Always Coming Back Home to You – Atmosphere
Say Shhh – Atmosphere
When’s the Last Time – Clipse ft. Pharell
Bout It – Yung Joc ft. 3LW (Step Up Soundtrack)
Maria Maria – Carlos Santana ft. Wyclef Jean
What We Talkin’ Bout – Jay Z ft. Luke Steele
Ever The Same – Rob Thomas
Nothing Ever Hurt Like You – James Morrison
Move If You Wanna – Mims

[Change of location - the workout went wonderfully! No pain, sweated my a$$ off, and feel good. At home now.] Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did! I have two pages that should be up and running soon: music, and the return of my blogroll (finally)! There are more layout/style changes to come too. For now, if you’re looking for music (like the Reader’s Choice Ultimate Mix) just click on the “music” tag in the right column! Gotta go for now peeps – my VIKES are playing tonight!

-E

Why yes, I have fallen off the face of the planet. I expect to return this weekend with a whole host of things to share, but in the mean time, I want to share this:

But just in case you can’t get your hands on a can of PowerThirst, you can try out my mix, PowerDew!

And I actually can’t say “my”, because my cousin told me about this one at Thanksgiving. 50% blue powerade, 50% mountain dew, 100% caffeinatedly delicious.

Stuffed in the bag of goodies I have to share with you upon my return:

• A gear review (running AND cycling!)
• A recovery drink recipe
• A food review
• A giveaway!

Work them turbo puns ladies and gents! I am most definitely giving birth to a Kenyan!

-E

Knock and you shall receive, eh? I asked you all to contribute your favorite workout songs, and you did just that! To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of like half of these songs, but that definitely gave me some new music to download! And I felt much better hearing that I’m not the only one who rocks out to Sexy 8itch! I got that guy’s voice down – you couldn’t even tell the difference

To derail for a quick sec – would you guys like if I kept an updated list of workout music? I was thinking of making a new page with either playlists or just a continually updated list of new music to rock out to. Let me know!

Aright – here are the songs you gave me both in the comments section and on my facebook wall. It’s your…

READER’S CHOICE PLAYLIST

• Sexy 8itch – David Guetta
• Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
• Dropkick Murpheys
• My Life Would Suck Without You – Kelly Clarckson
• Halo / Walking on Sunshine – Glee versions
• Telephone – Lady Gaga / Beyonce
• United States of Pop – DJ Earworm
• Lovers in Japan – Coldplay
• Fire Starter – Prodigy
• Military cadences
• Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – The Beatles
• Don’t Back Down – Tom Petty
• Till I Collapse – Eminem
• Even Flow – Pearl Jam
• Gold Digger – Kanye West
• Get Psycho – Disturbed
• The Riddle – Karl Lux

Since this whole post is about music… I guess I can throw a little more in here while I’m at it!

My absolute favorite new song of the moment is CRAWL by CHRIS BROWN. I wouldn’t necessarily put it on my tempo run playlist, but with the stuff that I’ve been going through recently with my hip and xyz… I mean c’mon – listen to these lyrics:

So we’ll crawl
Till we can walk again
And we’ll run
Until we’re strong enough to jump
Then we’ll fly
Until there is no end
So let’s crawl….crawl….crawl
Back to love
Yeah
Back to love
Yeah

I also wanna give you one of my hill workouts for SPIN!!

I recently updated this one in possible-prep if I start teaching again! This is for a 60 minute class, with a good warmup and cool down, and five rolling hills. There is a “recovery” song between each hill, but “recovery” only in the sense that you get your but down on the saddle, flush out some of the lactic acid, and pick up the speed. It is not an excuse for you to let your HR drop way down – you’re still supposed to be working! I also have one “check out” song.. you’ll see details below. This one’s for you chica!

I used to be super protective of “my music”… for whatever reason, and I guess putting this online for anyone to use makes me realize I still am! If you want to use this for a class or something, that’s great (and let me know! I’d love to hear how people liked it!) but I guess I would ask please just give credit! Okk, no more dinkin’ around (haha.. my coaches favorite words!)…

SPERLY:SPIN:HILLS:3

warmup
Will You Be There – Michael Jackson (3:41)
hill1 – put on that resistance!
A Star Is Born – Jay Z ft. J Cole (3:48)
Already Home – Jay Z ft Kid Kudi (4:30)
resistance off, alternate between seated surges and running in 2
Always Coming Back Home To You – Atmosphere (4:00)
hill2 – resistance back on, short hill so make it worth it!
Say Shh – Atmosphere (5:10)
quick recovery – surges
Diamonds – Kanye West (3:53)
hill3 – also short, I do isolation during this one
Stronger – Kanye West (5:12)
resistance off – team sprints!
Guajira – Yerba Buena (4:12)
hill4 – crank it up!
99 Problems – Jay Z (3:54)
Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake ft Timberland (4:03)
my “check-out” song – lights off, spinners focus in and challenge themselves at whatever level/resistance/position they think is going to help them achieve their goals.
Black & Gold – Sam Sparro (4:33)
hill5 – last one! Make it count!
Kick, Push – Lupe Fiasco (4:14)
Flashing Lights Remix – Lil Wayne ft Kanye West & Jay Z (5:23)
cool down – I don’t stop the legs till the end of the song. Stretch out the UB. Smile knowing you worked hard!
Nothing Ever Hurt Like You – James Morrison (3:54)

I love closin’ on James… he’s my man.

And speaking of my man, that’s who I need to go see for this epic Vikings game that is starting right now! If I’m lucky I’ll get there by halftime. Yes, I am elliptiposting right now, so something tells me if there is going to be alcohol involved I should also go find some food to put in my stomach first!

Have a lovely Saturday everyone! And let me know if you want a separate page for music/playlists! I’m out!
-E

The week is going by SO FAST! There is no way that I only have FOUR days of break left?! ¡Ay Dios mío! Truth hurts.

WELL. Seeing as how life goes back to “normal” in four days, I figured I better get my rear in gear and get ready for practice to go back to normal too. Collegiate Nationals are on April 17th, and without time to count the actual number of days between now and then, I’ll just say it’s gonna come up sooner than we think!

Over break, there has been a much more slacker relaxed attitude with the practice schedule. Yeah, I still get my time in, but I’ve also gotten to change up the cardio a bit and do things like the stair mountain. (Which I really grew to like actually! Might have to sneak that in on the weekends… )

My view from the top!

Here’s an early “Friday Confessional” for ya – I’m pretty sure I have been in the pool all of ONCE over this entire break. Part of practice going back to “normal” would involve me in a pool and 4000+ yards three times a week. I’m not saying I’ve entirely forgotten how to swim, but this is a pretty clutch time for me to be honing in on stroke technique and intervals. To pour on a lil’ more lame-sauce, I even got the ONE thing I really wanted for Christmas to make my swimming “more enjoyable” :

That would be the NU Dolphin UNDERWATER mp3 player. Haha one kid on the team called it “spoiled”. Since that was my one big gift and it was just over $100, I wouldn’t go that far.. NTM the word “spoiled” leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I would like to call it “dedicated” since the intention was that it would help get me in the pool more often and help keep me focused. Haha, well I guess I ALSO can’t go that far because I clearly haven’t gotten in the pool more. YET! For fairness sake, the first time I was headed to the pool with this lil guy, I had music all loaded and everything, decided to check it at home just to figure out the controls and everything, and nothing played! Turns out it plays only mp3 files (just like basically every single non-i-ANYTHING….), and so I had to convert a whole bunch of songs to transfer.

Here is ME, holding ME accountable. I am leaving to the pool the second I hit publish. I have my mp3 player loaded with a bunch of songs that better motivate my a$$ to swim hard. I will be crazy sore because muscle memory can only last so long, and baby, it’s been a lonnnng time. (TWSS. Bahaha. Sorry.) ”Base building” stops today tomorrow (I can promise today won’t be “fast”). Lubbock, Texas.. watch your back!

I will report back, complete with workout, playlist, and plenty of DOMS. If you find yourself in the same situation as this lil red head, I encourage you to wander over to the Train On Top tab at the top of the page, and explore your various training modalities that you may or may not be neglecting. As I just did with SWIMMING: VOLUME 1.

Going. NOW.
-E

Hahah lied. Had to do this first – Shelly’s having her first giveaway, and Katie’s having a giveaway too!

[EDIT-EDIT-EDIT-EDIT-EDIT]

Success!! I was really surprised at how easily I jumped right back in. I was expecting a not-feelin-it kind of workout, but the whole swim I felt like I was pulling strongly and efficiently. I LOVE IT! Annnnd, the mp3 player was a BIG HIT. Aside from kinda hurting my ears, because I pull the swim cap over the ear buds to stay in tight, I was really impressed with the sound quality and volume in the water! Expect a complete product review to come!

WORKOUT:

(I like to split my workouts into 1000’s – for some reason it just feels like it goes faster!)

SET ONE: warm-up
1000 yards free, straight. minus two stops to dump out goggua (goggle agua. oh so clever.)

SET TWO: kick intervals
200 kick flutter
200 free
200 kick dolphin
200 free
200 kick flutter

SET THREE: IM distance mixup
100 free
100 back
100 breast
100 free
200 free
200 back
200 breast

SET FOUR: SKIPS COOLDOWN
200 swim (free)
200 kick (alternating btwn flutter on back and sides)
200 IM
200 pull/hypoxic drills
200 swim (free/breast/free/breast)

I gotta get out the door NOW for spin with the boy, and make it home by 8:00 for Grey’s! Talk about a perfect Thursday! If you really do want the playlist from today, lemme know and I’ll throw it up there!

NEXT UP:

1. Reader’s choice playlist! Don’t miss your chance to get your song on there!
2. a GIVEAWAY!! make sure you keep checkin’ back!
3. NU Dolphin Underwater mp3 player

Ciao!
-E