Fartlek Workout

The other day, I tweeted how every time I see that word on my training schedule I chuckle like a 12 year old. I still remember the time I first heard it.

Just so you know I am going to take you now back to my "glory days" (well not quite but they were really fun times...)

I started the girls' HS track team. I don't know if it was my entrepreneurship attitude, the fact that I liked to run or just my strong hate for softball (God did not bless me in the depth perception department at least in sports where the ball soars through the air...). The first year, I ran on the boys team, but then I found out I just needed 4 girls to start the team, I recruited the other "haters" of softball and voila we had a TEAM!! I didn't run cross-country, I played field hockey. So I would never consider myself a "runner" just more of someone who enjoyed the sport. I mean when all you do is race boys, you get lapped A LOT but it also allowed me to get faster!!! Anyway, I think I just really enjoyed the training (as I do now) aspect and I remember Miss Aveny (she was the coach) says one day "Okay, boys and girls, I am handing out today's fartlek track workout." Being a sophmore in high school, I pretty much lost my shit...as did the others that were new to the sport of running. Which brings me to the actual point of this post....

So a fartlek workout is a Swedish term that means "speed play." As far as the definition on wickipedia - it is for the most part an interval training technique that puts stress on the aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. It is really great to incorporate in your workouts, especially if you are training for a longer event. I found this really helps with my long runs.

So, I am going to post my favorite fartlek workout. It is actual a circa 1991 track workout (yes, I was a sophomore in high school that year...). For some reason, the workout was burned in my brain, and every time I needed a pick me up, this is my go-to workout. It makes me feel happy and nostalgic. In fact, sometimes I don't even need a Walkman (just kidding, an iPod) to get through it. Although my earlier ole' school mix would probably fit well with this workout...

Here it goes:

• Warm up: 1 mile easy run
• 1 mile moderately hard run (maybe a 7 out of 10)
• 1/2 mile easy jog
• 100meters stride, 100meters jog (jog the curves, stride the straights) - do this 6 times which is 3 laps (.75 mile)
• 1 lap jog (.25 mile)
• Progressive run for 100 meters (means start out jog, stride, full out sprint), jog 100 meters, Repeat this (.5 mile)
  
• 1 lap jog (.25 mile)
• 4-6 100's sprints (I usually just stay on the straight and take a minute break in between).
• If you are at the track do the stadium stairs (I do one at one step at a time, and then the next two at a time).
• Cool down is jog 1 mile and DONE!
  

And I leave you with this beauty: the GHS Track team picture....

The Ten-FIDY Pot Roast

Last week, I completed week 3 of my half-ironman training. As of right now I am following last year's plan and have found it easier than last year. Could be because I am "less green" in the triathlon area, or maybe because I just finished a half-marathon in February, meaning I had less "off" time in running. Last year, if I remember correctly, I did not complete my third swim a week (for many weeks) whereas, I am really making sure it is incorporated and followed as planned.

I do need to do a couple things....sleep better and eat better. I had a great week with the detox but quickly fell off during the second week. Week 2 was very difficult. We lost a really good friend so it was a hard week to get through training/eating/sleeping. You don't realize how much emotional stress can play on your body, how tired you can be. I got about 3/4 of the workouts in but was just going through the motions and almost felt I should have taken a week off. On the plus side, it really helped relieve some stress. The silver lining was spending an incredible amount of time with my friends, especially my girlfriends.

This Monday was a crappy day, it was rainy and blah. The night before I took out a seasoned pot roast I bought at Whole Foods. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was a beautiful piece of meat. Anyway, I wanted to cook it with beer instead of wine. I had a meeting on Monday so I wanted to put it in early so that meant what was in the house by way of beer? Ummm, for those that don't know Mike and I, you can be damn sure there will be a selection....So on tap we had Scaldis (not a good choice), Victory Headwater Pale Ale (nah, too light) and Oskar Blues Ten-FIDY (an Imperial stout). I really wanted to use a smoked porter but we didn't have a bottle in the house just a random assortment of beers that we would probably rather drink than use for cooking purposes. So I went with the Imperial Stout. If you haven't already had Ten-FIDY, you really should try it. It has a nice chocolate caramel flavor, which I thought would go nice with the roast. It has a slight bitterness but smooth at the end.


Ten-FIDY Pot Roast
3.5 lb roast (already seasoned with parsely, lots of black peppercorns)
1 large shallot
8 garlic cloves
A couple swirls of vegetable oil

Heat oil over med-high heat, add garlic, shallot and simmer for 5 min. Add beef using tongs, sear on each side about 1 min per side.

In the crockpot add the following:

4 potatoes (peeled or unpeeled) - chopped
1 onion chopped
4 carrots - chopped
1 box of beef broth
1 large pint of Ten-fidy

Take meat, and scraping of garlic/shallots and throw in crockpot - put on high until up to a boil and then turn to low and simmer all day (1-2 hours per pound - I had it in for about 8 hours total).

Ten-FIDY Gravy
Take 3 cups of the juice of final product in crockpot. Pour through a sieve and heat in a saucepan on medium. Add 3 tbspn of flour - slowly while whisking. Add 1 tspn of sugar and 1/4 cup of Ten-fidy, bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper and let simmer for 15-20 min till thick. You can add more flour depending on the level of thickness and you may want to taste to add more or less salt.

We served this over German egg noodles, my dad bought us from some little German store at Peddler's Village in PA.
I have to say - BEST ROAST EVER!!!!!

Working Hard While the Liver Takes a Break

So last Monday, I was a woman with a plan. I started my detox to kick off the tri-season and give the liver a little break. While I was "playing," enjoying off-season and taking it easy, the liver was getting quite the workout.

I have to say the detox that I use is great! I feel better, my skin gets better and definitely triggers losing a few of the 8-10 lbs I need to lose for the racing season. Here is A Much Overdue Detox for the guidelines.

It's funny, we sometimes act like we are in denial and say things like..."gee, I have no clue how I gained so much weight?" or "hmmm, I exercise and I STILL gained weight..." and then the logical part of our brain perks up and says things like "duh, let me get out the list...beer, beer, wine, bread, the night that you needed to eat wings with some fries, the going back for seconds of what was supposed to be a healthy meal of 400 calories probably turned into 800 when you include a second helping and some wine..."

Calories in and calories out - it doesn't take a genius here to figure out that. It is tough during the off-season because our brain is still telling us that we are as hungry as we were during training...So by doing a detox, it's me saying F-U to my brain. Kind of like when you need to erase the hard drive, get rid of the viruses and start fresh.

So, I had a pretty amazing week. I really thought when I looked at the schedule for the workouts and said "SHIT, can I do this?" "Am I ready?" And then I said if I can give up coffee and alcohol, wheat, meat and cheese for a week, I think I can do this too.

I used my new software www.trainingpeaks.com and got to play with the pretty graphs after loading my Garmin data in, it was fun. The end of the week, it calculated a total of 11hours and 15 min of training (about 2.5 hours of that was strength training and power yoga which brings it down to 9hours).

Monday

• Off
  

Tuesday

• AM - Swim 1600m with the core set of 6x100's at moderate pace
• PM - 4 Mile interval run with core set that included a few 1/4 mile speed drills and 1/2 mile recovery)

Wednesday

• Afternoon - Took "Aura" out for a spin with my friend, Bill- did 18 miles outside during an extremely windy day so I was working pretty hard.
• PM- Power Yoga - 1 hour

Thursday

• 4 mile easy steady run for 38 min
• Strength training - 45 min

Friday

• Swimming - 2300 m with a core set of 6x200 (50 build and 50 descend)
• Yoga - 30 min

Saturday

• Afternoon long run - 9miles - got a calf cramp on mile 8 and had to run walk the last mile at the canal.
• 3 hours later - Swim 1600m

Sunday

• 1 hour field hockey game (sub out for 10 min) - intense game - 13-13 definitely a major sprint agility workout.
• Afternoon bike on trainer while watching Exit Through the Gift Shop (incredible movie) for 90min.

My big learning of the week: Swim after the long run = good legs for the next day!

I knew I had this game on Sunday which made me worried that I would be too sore from Sunday's run. I never swam after a long run before, for no reason in particular; but I have to say it was amazing. I came home after the run, did the foam roller while watching some TiVo'd Smallville episodes (nerdville...) and elevated while I ate lunch. I cringed going back to the gym to swim. The strange part, to me at least, was that my legs felt really good even after I went out that night in heels! I had a good game, no soreness and it was tough. An indoor field hockey game means lots of repetitive sprinting over and over again with minimal break time. I mean I was a little pooped to have to go on my trainer after the game when all I wanted to do was lay around but I sucked it up and finished a full week.

My reward for all this hard work and eating good was a glass of Ten-Fidy last night.

Now as I gear up for week 2, I leave you with week in review of my yummy eats from detox week!

Kale, raddichio, endive, bean and roasted tomato and garlic salad with white balsamic garlic vinaigrette.

Black bean, rice, quinoa, tempeh green enchiladas with hot sauce and avocados and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

"Pizza" on rice tortilla (w rice mozzarella)

Breakfast of champions - steel cut oats, almond butter, blueberries

Brown rice spaghetti, soy meatballs, artichokes, tomatoes and rice mozzarella

Stew made with kombucha squash, aduki beans and tofu (and other yumminess - key ingredient tamari and sirachi sauce).

Fresh Start to a New Season

As of today, I was number 51 on the Vineman 70.3 waiting list and 10 were notified bringing me to number 41! The list is moving fast!! I was told that they take the first 500-700 on the list through a friend of mine that is friends with the event manager; therefore, I think I have a spot! Last year, I did my first half-ironman in September thus starting my HIM training in April/May. This basically means that if I am doing Vineman - training starts ASAP!

Given that as of late, I have not really swam more than once a week or sometimes none, biked on my trainer at most 2 hours a week, and running at maybe 10-20 miles a week based on my feet and a sprained ankle, I needed to start picking up the hours if I wanted to start a 20 week plan which starts around 9 hours a week not counting yoga/strength training.

A few months ago my friend Bill received his certification to be a triathlon coach, so I am one of his first clients! He sent some tests so that I can do that over the next couple weeks to establish heart rates on the bike and run and for some swim times. We will be using Training Peaks which is a cool piece of software. I love data so this is right up my alley. Nicole, him and I met last week to go over the software, talk about race schedules and so that she could get her new aero-bars put on.
Since my swimming has been HORRIBLE , Germaine, the best swim coach around :), offered his assistance. He assessed a number of areas to work on and we had a great 1 hour session last week. I am quite confident that the only way to go is up from here.

My training week looked like this last week (2/21-2/27).

• Monday - Bike test (10 min warm up with 5x30 sec sprints and 1 min rest, 30 min all out - last 20 min average heart rate - and 10 min cool down) - HR was 144 on average and max of 152. We decided that I need to do a time trial for a more accurate picture.
• Tuesday - Swim (3x300 test with w/u 200m and c/d 300m - times were HORRIBLE (please don't laugh - I preface that I did not know how to swim besides doggy paddle about 3.5 years ago) at 6:29, 6:30, 6:26 - guess this is what I get for taking off of swimming for so long. I was feeling under the weather for a soon to be 3 day cold so I bagged running that night and did some back/chest/shoulder/arm weights.
• Wednesday - Off (Sick)
• Thursday - Off (Sick)
• Friday - Afternoon swim lesson with Germaine where we timed 4x100s 1:45, 1:55, 2:05 and 1:49. PM - bike for 1 hour on trainer
• Saturday - Run 6 miles at 57:56 (9:35min/mile pace)
• Sunday - Bike - 1 hour on trainer

Total approximately 6 hours.

I have a good race schedule for this year:

4/17 - CGI Rutger's 1/2 Marathon
6/5 - Black Bear Olympic Triathlon - (This is a super hilly course - very excited! This is also where the new Poconos 70.3 will be this year)
6/18 - Parvin Sprint Triathlon
7/17 - Vineman 70.3
9/3 - Marlton Lakes Sprint Tri
9/10 - Quakerman 1/2 Iron distance race

I am super-excited - it looks like good weather this week and I can take "Aura" away from the TV and on the open road.
I set some attainable goals for this year:
1. 1/2 marathon time should be under 2 hours and if possible crank out a 1:50.
2. Improve my swim time through 3 days a week training and coaching from Germaine.
3. 1/2 Iron time at Vineman under 6 hours.
4. Run pace in sprint distance race at 8min/mile and 8:30-8:45 for Olympic distance.

This week I have plans for 3 swims/bikes/runs and yoga/2 weight sessions which will total about 9 hrs swim/bike/run and 2 hours of yoga/strength. I meet with Bill this week for another bike fitting and to design the plan for this season.

I also am starting off with my healthy detox to start the week clean. I think my liver needs a break and I want to work hard to earn what is now going to be in my basement....Ten Fidy

NOLA's onioninvasion and Mardi Gras 1/2 Marathon Report

I am going to try to make this short and sweet...hehe...but as an "Onion" it is in our blood to ramble and tell you every little detail "just in case" you want to know.
NOTE: My maiden name is Cipolone which is Italian for the Big Onion (hence @bigonion75)

What started out as a 6 day race vacation turned into a 9 day trip with a mix of race/play/work...I love New Orleans, it is one place I could live besides Jersey. Yup, Jersey (I am fist pumping as I type). I have been there every year since I graduated college either for work or to see my brother who moved there during college and never came home...He thinks he did that all on his own accord but in reality, I was there for a convention the year before, visited some voodoo shop and made him do it. I mean what if I couldn't get down there for work, I needed some way to be able to have crawfish and Abita's right?

If you have only been to Bourbon St and ONLY had Gumbo and Hurricanes when you went to New Orleans you have been missing out!! We still hit those touristy things though....

In addition to the race (I'll get there...) here are just some of the highlights:

• Vacationed with my best friends and my sister so we could see my brother (#onioninvasion).
• Went to some favorite places on Decatur - Pravda (great drinks and homemade pierogies), Angeli's (best hummus and red pepper spread), Molly's (bar) and Coop's (great New Orleans food).
• I had my first "tweet-ups" where @big_onion introduced me to @Nola_Eats and @bugeyedguide - all of whom were awesome- on the #TourduPho! Yup New Orleans has the 3rd largest Vietnemese population in the country. We went to @Pho_Hoa on the West Bank (apparently we are the 1% of tourist that have been to the West Bank) which was our "pre-race" dinner and I even won a T-shirt! (other New Orleaners to follow - @juliapretus, @eatmenola and @nolamaven).
• Visited New Orleans Rum Distillery.
• Ate and drank on Magazine Street - Juan's Flying Burrito and the Bulldog. We also had some other good local beers besides the Abita Amber - LA31 Pale Ale and the Abita Andygator.
• Pre-race activity of doing yoga at the Lululemon who had fantastic employees and one of the best cheerleaders during the race as we ran down Canal St besides the kids dressed up in KISS make-up singing Motley Crue.

I have never been so unprepared for a race and yet it was one of the best races. After the mishaps with plantar fasciitis and then a sprained ankle. I calculated that I took a total of 7 weeks off of running since September, not to mention the ice/snow we have had in NJ. My longest run since early November was 9 miles about 2 weeks prior to the race on a treadmill. I decided that this was going to be vacation and while I was there I just HAPPEN to be doing a long run that Sunday.

I have never done a Rock-n-Roll series race but if this is what they are all like - it was amazing. From the expo...
to the race it was by far the most well-run races. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 50's, it was flat, no wind, sunny, couldn't be more perfect and I was running with my best friends. We didn't start on time since we were (cough, cough) running late as usual....we had to use the port-a-potties which had a 20 min wait so we missed our wave. We weaved in and out of the crowd during the first 6 miles pacing went from 9:10 during the first couple to a pretty stead 9:45. We slowed down a bit during the middle walked some water stations and jogged, and then finished with 10 minute miles during the last few. We finished at 2:11 and the Garmin read about a 9:51 moving pace.

We relaxed with some free beers at the park and then headed back where the other festivities would occur.

The post-race party was BBQ at my little brother's @big_onion and @kerath's home. It was a great time and I was also really excited that I was able to meet a favorite blogger - Heidi Austin - TriAngel. Definitely check out this FAST girl that PR'd during the race with a 1:34!

My brother - the chef - made his own sausage and many other goodies (check out his blog - mronionsneighborhood)...

Nicole got the piece of king cake with the baby...

Christine, John and I drank hot sauce...


Christine cryed...

and...we somehow had bottomless lemoncello...


Needless to say, the trip was fabulous but I was tired and couldn't wait to get home and see Mike and Axl and Ozzy :)

NEXT UP - I found out I am number 65 on the waiting list for Vineman 7o.3!!
This week starts training and nutrition crack down....I am actually really excited for this! Off-season is officially over...

And last but not least...I will be starting my new blog - "MissFancyPant's Closet" - which is NOT a triathlon blog, not that this really is....

How to Keep Sane During a Northeast Winter - Part 3 - Winter Beer List and "Travesty" CD Release

This is the last installment of my 3 part series - How to Keep Sane During a Northeast Winter. So we had swimming, eating and well we can't forget the last part - beer....Okay, I love good wine as well, but there is something about getting cozy with one of these babies during the winter.


1. Southern Tier Chocolat - this is a great stout, it is smooth and not too sweet. A nice dessert?









2. Scaldis Noel - okay this is also dessert... this was an expensive keg but it was so worth it. It is a higher percentage of alcohol so be careful while drinking, 12%...It is a fantastic sweet and a little spice added to it.













3. Weyerbacker Merry Monks - another great beer from this fine Pennsylvania brewery. It tasted like it may have some pear notes to it. It is delicious...enough said.







4. Lefthand Milk Stout - OMG - this is amazing. If beer could be like a chocolate milk shake - this would be it.











5. Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu - I have to say - Dogfish Head may be my favorite brewery. I got this one for Christmas and it was exactly as the label describes: Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers








6. Terrapin Hop Karma Brown IPA - this was a good beer, more of an everyday beer.











7. Trader Joe's Vintage Ale - this was a nice surprise when I walked into Trader Joe's....I bought it not having a big expectation. It was a great belgium style ale with some spices for the holidays.










8. La Chouffe Golden Ale - A belgium pale ale that deserves the 99 points it received from Beer Advocate.











9. Delirium Nocturnam - Belgium dark ale. This was very tasty and surprisingly not that strong.










10. And last but not least...












JUST KIDDING!

Nah, seriously, last night we had an amazing beer. I think I stated earlier that Dogfish Head does not disappoint - My Antonia actually started out as a collaboration beer with Birra del Borga - now they brew it in Delaware. This was very tasty, smooth, pilsner that's a bit hoppy.












So my husband, Mike Lock, as you know is the drummer in an awesome metal band - Beyond Dishonor (you may hear me talk about it from time to time).
They just released their second album - Travesty - I placed a little sampler below.




If you have some time, "like" them on Facebook or check out them out on Reverbnation.





And I will leave you with a short video of Mike drumming to "Otis" from the new album...

How to Keep Sane During a Northeast Winter - Part 2 - Clean Eating

Cooking Clean and Healthy Recipes
Cooking healthy especially during the winter we have had is important. It helps keep the body/mind in balance in my opinion. I recently purchased a few cookbooks - Barefoot Contessa "How Easy is This", Clean Food by Terry Walters and The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. Let me preface this, I am not vegan, but I do like to eat clean and like the way my body feels when I take a break - as you have seen on my detoxes I do here and there.

I think that everyone is entitled to their own views and that we should all respect each other on that. I have worked in the agricultural and animal health industry for years and have learned a lot about the industry that caused me to have my own opinions on what gets shown in the media, what is the reality and what is not, but I won't get into that here.

So you might say, for not being a pro-PETA girl, it's kind of funny that I bought Alicia Silverstone's book....maybe it was because Clueless was one of my favorite chick flick or maybe the recipes, I am not sure but let's just say my thoughts went from "intrigued" when I opened the book to "bored" by the first half of the book that consisted of her viewpoints and then "interested" in her recipes.

I highly suggest all three books. They were worth it for the recipes - I have already made a bunch of them!

Here are recipes of some of my favorite meals I've made during my winter season...


Blood Orange Balsamic Salad

There were two key elements to this salad:

1. Goat cheese and blood oranges to spring mix, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes.
2. AGED balsamic and a good extra virgin olive oil.
   

Baked Sundried Tomato Chicken Breasts with Whole Grain Spaghetti.

Ingredients
Chicken breasts
Sun dried tomato panko crusts at Whole Foods
Egg whites
Pesto (prepared unless you want to make homemade)
Sundried tomatoes
fresh mozzarello (mini balls)
Whole-grain spaghetti
1/4 cup of ricotta cheese (part skim)
A few swirls of olive oil
Red pepper, parsely seasoning
8 garlic cloves
Pecorino Romano cheese

Pre-heat the oven to 370 degrees. Bread the chicken breasts using egg whites and then the panko crusts. Place in a casserole dish and bake for 20 min.
Take out of the oven and add a dollop of pesto on each piece, sundried tomato and some mozzarella. Bake for an additional 15 min.


In the meantime boil salted water and make pasta al dente. Saute seasoning, garlic and olive oil. Save 1 cup of pasta water, add ricotta cheese and sauteed garlic and olive oil. Add pecorino romano cheese. This isn't calorie free but has lots of good stuff....
Halibut Veggie Tacos

1 Halibut steak
1 zucchini chopped
5 chopped portabellos
Taco seasoning
Tomato paste
5 cloves of garlic
1 onion chopped
Cilantro (if not recalled..)
Goat Cheese

Brush olive oil, salt and pepper on halibut steak. Bake halibut to flakes apart. I usually bake at 375 for about 20 min.
Sautee Veggies.
Use a low-carb whole wheat tortillas (I use Trader Joe's) and sprinkle hot sauce, cilantro and goat cheese.

Kale and Aduki Beans

Steam kale to a bright green. Saute garlic, onions, diced tomatoes and aduki beans. Add Kale and cook for 5 more minutes.
Serve with tilapia.

Pecan Cranberry Coconut Balls

1.5 cups of chopped pecans
1 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of almond butter (Trader Joe's with flax seed - no sugar added)
1/2 cup of maple syrup (I happened to have rum-infused maple syrup)
Unsweetened chopped coconut

Place in a food processor until it is somewhat smooth.

Make into teaspoon size balls and roll in unsweetened coconut. Makes about 18.

See you all later for Part 3 - the long awaited MissFancyPants' Winter Beer List - until then

Rock on!