You blink and it's May

I can hardly believe that I wrote the previous post 4 weeks ago!! How's that even possible? I suppose this is what happens when your life changes drastically and you try to keep up with the new rhythm. But more about this later... The first race of the season is less than 2 months away and I am NOT freaking out. Nope. I'm good. I am also a terrible liar.

Here's something that doesn't lie. Strava.

As you can see, I only averaged 2-3 workouts a week, but when you think about it, my work as an arborist IS a daily workout. They call us something like... industrial athletes, I kid you not. (Check this out - "Caring for your body as a production arborist"). The ISA even mentions something about a sawdust triathlon. Wait, what?? I suppose it counts as training after all.

This must be the core workout

Now, back to the other kind of triathlon. Alas, I only managed to train in 2 of the 3 sports. And let's not debate whether triathlon is one sport or three, or more, mmmkay?

I ran 5km three times and biked 7 times, with the longest bike workout being 2h. I still have a long way to 3h on the trainer, but it should be doable before June comes around. I may even bump my FTP by 5 points or so. As to running, the goal is to get to 10km before the end of the month.

Just for fun, here are the Trainer Road bike workouts I did, in order of progression:

• Ericsson 1h
• Bays 1h
• Carson 1h
• Glassy-1 1.5h
• Baird-1 1h
• Boarstone 2h
• Phoenix 1.5h

Last but not least - 8fit: I completely forgot about it. Seriously. I kept ignoring its reminders and eventually it left me alone. Yesterday, however, I was in mood for Yoga and I did a quick Neck and Shoulders routine which felt amazeballs.

I also found some wonderful breakfast ideas and I already tried one today:

Chocolate Banana Pudding

• 1 serving of instant Maple and Brown Sugar Steel Cut Oats (PC blue menu)
• 120ml soy milk
• 1/2 tsp raw cocoa
• 15 almonds
• 1 banana

Directions: microwave the milk and oats for 2.5min, mix in cocoa, almonds and banana slices. (Optional add in 1tsp sesame seeds and a pinch of salt)

Ready in 5 minutes and absolutely delish!

I'll try to blog more often, as I settle into a routine. Easier said than done, I'm aware. But at least I'll tell you this. I am not going anywhere. ;-)

Getting ready to climb, cut, tri all the things and rescue dummies

It's been a tough week for squeezing workouts in, but I finished better than I started, I guess. The first 3 days were busy with exams and outdoor school fun, but at the end of Wednesday I was finally done! I chose to study rather than do workouts because I really wanted to finish strong, and I did not regret my decision. Over the course of the week I found out that I won a bursary for being top student in the Plant Healthcare class, and an award for being the toughest female climber this year. To be honest, I was surprised by both (I didn't even know about the bursary until last week!) and I wanted to bask a little in my pride for making it to the top at the ripe age of 42. Maybe going through enough shit in life does make you more determined and combative after all.

We are the Arborist Nerds

So much Hi-Viz! (all the teachers and students from this year)

If you want to see more pictures from our "Humber Games" fun day, go here.

So the first day that I could really work out was Thursday. Sometime in the afternoon between Uber Eats deliveries, I jumped on the trainer and completed Mount Field in Trainer Road. It was pretty surreal to watch the big snowflakes falling outside the window, a day after the beautiful blue sky and spring like temperatures that you can see above.

The next day I went to the graduation ceremony in the morning, followed by a drive to Guelph to help a friend go to a job interview (3h round trip), followed by a drive downtown Toronto for celebratory drinks with my schoolmates. Needless to say, I only worked my clutch leg that day. 

Come Saturday though, the weather turned back to spring mode and I went outside for a run, in crops, tshirt and a light hoodie. Did another 4km loop, thankfully without pain, which gives me hope for my running season. I hope not to jinx it by talking about it here.

Then back home, the 8Fit app was bugging me to do a workout, so I fit that in before bed. Alas it had a lot of jumping/running on the spot and my feet reminded me the next day that I should have done these exercises in running shoes, not barefoot. I should have also put a bra on. Oh well.

And finally, on Sunday, tadaaa..... first 90m workout on the bike (Baxter) and 1500m of swimming in the pool. The biggest challenge of the day was to find a swimsuit that I could fit in, and after a few minutes of wrestling with one, I found reassurance that it won't burst at the seams while doing a flip turn (I didn't do any of those, just in case). Of course I forgot my Garmin at home and I cannot share any data, but you have to believe me that I spent enough time in the water to get goggle eyes, dry skin and everything. 

How`s this for proof

I have no idea what hubbs has in store for me next, but I know that on my rest day I should probably get rid of the 4 baskets of clothes that are waiting for me in the middle of the bedroom and before the end of the week, attempt to run a 5k. With another pool session or two, and maybe a ride outside too... Tuesday and Wednesday I will be in classroom again, renewing my First Aid Certification once again (because I let it expire and it`s kind of a big deal in this industry). Let`s see how much of a workout they put us through. I see a lot of chest compressions and breathing into rubber dummies in my future. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand... breathe! 

And then she blogged

I may be blogging every 6 months only, but any pulse is better than no pulse. In other words, I'm not dead yet! Or I may be coming back from the dead, you never know. Mmmm, brrraaaains!

The reason that I'm blogging again is because there are 90 days left before Ironman Mt. Tremblant 70.3, and since I signed up for it last year in a drunken stupor, and I am not planning on dropping out, I have to get my ass in gear and actually train for it.

Training... a strange word for sure. I don't quite remember what it means to train with a big goal in mind since I spent last year in sherpa mode while hubby was getting his full Ironman on. Little races sprinkled across the season are rather stress free, but this is year is going to be different, because I am not only signed up for one half Ironman, but two!! Last time I did one of those was in 2014... let's see if I remember what 10h of weekly workouts means.

I am starting slow though, because I AM slow and sluggish and I packed on too many pounds over the last 12 months. Let's not go there. Fact is, my fitness has taken a dive into the abyss while I concentrated on reaching the top of the trees. Speaking of which, I will be graduating with an Urban Arboriculture diploma from Humber College in 5 days. Who wants to hire me??

I also stopped going to Taekwondo at the end of last year because my working schedule at Swiss Chalet, combined with school, stress to find an arborist job and exhaustion from climbing trees did not make it possible to keep up with it, not in a manner that justified the monthly fee, especially on a student budget. So, while I am missing it like crazy, I felt that I had to make a choice and look at this year's priorities. When life settles down, I may be able to get back to it. Remind me to work on my patterns regularly, mmmmkay?

And that's it for the "life" updates. Let's get back to training, shall we? I asked my hubby to coach me this year because I trust his approach and he knows better than anyone what state of mind and physical shape I am in on a daily basis. He started me with a few bike rides and short runs and I am happy to report that I completed them all. The "official" start was a week ago and in this time I did the following:

Sunday: Trainer Road "Pettit -1" - 1h

Couples who sweat together are happy together

Monday: rest
Tuesday: Trainer Road "Goddard" - 1h (single leg drills and MVO2 and endurance spins, oh my!)
Wednesday: 4km run/walk (after a tough trial day in a tree) - 29min
Thursday: school practice day and meeting with old friends for beers
Friday: pruning job and single rope technique training

I think my butt is too big for this tree

Saturday: Training Road "Shasta" - 1h

Bruce and I spending quality time in the bat cave

Sunday : 4km run - 27min

Last but not least, I am also doing a few workouts here and there thanks to 8Fit. It's an iPhone app that made a fitness program based on my goals and I really love it. It gives me high intensity (HIIT) workouts less than 15 minutes as often as I feel like during the week plus Yoga and meal plans. For 80 bucks a year, it's packed with features and what I love the most about it is how it reminds me every day to get off the couch and move my butt.

I hope to be able to find time to blog again... the fact that I cancelled my Swiss Chalet shifts for this week must have helped for sure. Let's keep in touch and happy training!!