Hair evolution!  Embarrassing but here is a timeline of my hair starting with college to now (and I have selectively NOT included a few of the worst!):

Journey from senior year in college in 1989 (remember the perm?) thru ~1997:  And I had never worn lipstick/makeup until around 1997 when I got into ballroom dancing

then from 2001 to 2010…

And finally this most recent decade from 2013 to 2018… had to include the pic of teaching the kid how to shave 🙂

You can see how I always had kind of short hair since college and until this last year, always had bangs.  Not much you could do with it if you were working out, it just got wet.  Now I have to keep it out of my face while doing things like burpees or running in the wind.

Last summer I was at my brothers house and my 16 yr old niece showed me how to use the latest curling irons and I got one – as it grew out it was very frizzy and I just wanted it straighter.  Every time I was in London, it was a mess. She showed me the kind that you wrap your hair around and I gave myself a few scarring burns doing it – quit — complained to her and she enlightened me explaining that I need to use the glove that came with it!  So I’m good with that now and can curl or straighten my hair.

I just realized yesterday what those elastic larger bands are for (see blog main pic) …to keep the smaller pieces of hair out of your face.  I was in crossfit Friday night using two bobby pins to keep my hair out of my face and little and big hunks kept falling into my face while doing burpees.  I also just started to be able to put most of my hair up in a high, very small ponytail in back.

Now that I use some minimal makeup (can’t be bothered with it) and am coming up to speed at the age of 52 on hair, I am almost like a real girl!

I still haven’t figured out bra sizing….

Better late than never!

Laura

I slid down my driveway thinking about being back in the hospital if I rip my shoulder up during a fall… After about two miles, a salt truck pulled into my neighborhood.  I raised my arms in victory and immediately ran behind it!  Conditions improved dramatically for the rest of the run.  Pic above are the ice chunks in my hair at the end.

I know I have a Masters Degree in Engineering from MIT but finally figured out why the headlamps tilt down (I always thought they were just kind of defective)!  I can get a good view of the street in front with them tilted down.  Love the headlamp and have no need for a hand torch anymore…

Around 5 miles I realized my legs and feet were going numb.  I ran back and forth on one side of the side of my neighborhood hoping to have my husband drive by and admire my toughness 🙂  He did not.

Bring it on!

Laura

I went to Fit Werx in Peabody, MA – my old stomping grounds!  Met Dean Phillips (who has the Men’s 40-44 3000m Pursuit Best Performance World Record), Marty Miserandino (multi-time Ironman), and my personal fitter Mike Meuse! The guys were all awesome and informative and just great folks to add to my personal support crew 🙂

Many things were measured:  inseam, feet length/width, arm length, and angles of all my appendages measured while taking a movie of me pedaling on my bike.  After reviewing my “as is,”  Mike made adjustments to my seat height and handlebar position (moved it further away from me). I also got my FIRST PAIR of clip-on shoes and pedals and triathlon shorts.  It is like I am ALMOST a real bicyclist!!

When I got home, I rode my Kickr Core Smart trainer but with so many new factors (pedals and position) it was hard to really know the full result.  I have immediately seen about 1kw/kg improvement in power – wowza!

And Goggins came up….he is everywhere and still gets me all worked up.

Done with scuba class, back at it with a better back, honest reporting and en route to middle age badassery,

Laura

My worst week to-date.

Felt beat up – hurt knee from Sunday (because I just had to try the sprint in Zwift and hurt it cycling so hard), hurt quad from the week before (during interval sprints) and lower back pain making me hate to wake up and put my socks on in the morning.

Fantasized about food – eating questo dip and chips (my favorite), broke down and stress ate chocolate at work, was starving all the time (it was the VORTEX and freezing…) and totally sick of all my planned food I’ve been eating for over a year now.

Scuba class M and W had me leaving work early and not getting home until 10pm and having to study in advance a few hours a class.  I did pass though in advance of my diving vacation in Bonaire end of Feb.

Work is work – an unending stream of craziness day to day and I’m three people down so we are all just trying to cover and spend some time screening/interviewing folks.

I needed a break or something to shake it up a little bit.

For weeks before, I was singing at the top of my lungs on the bicycle all alone in the basement, happily doing 2-3 hr workouts at night going late when I needed to, and happy all day at work.  Last week I was so tired I could barely get out of bed.  I missed two workouts (a run and a bike and my weight workouts) during the week but went back to getting in the crossfit workouts at the gym (it wasn’t all bad!).  I had the queso and chips and enchilades verdes Friday night and Saturday (which might be the reason along with all the water I’m trying to drink, to my 3 lb weight gain over the weekend).

Based on my AAR last week, here’s what went well and what I wanted to different and how it went:

Went well:

• Super happy to get back to crossfit classes (my car was in the shop week before so a few days got screwed up when it spent more time then planned there)
• Am doing 5 pullups in a row – best in 15+ years
• Cleaned 75#
• Started drinking more water
• Spent a bunch of time on yoga and extra stretching Sunday – felt pretty good after the 6.7 mile run and 20 mile bike
• Finished scuba class

What I planned to do differently and how it went

• I have to get 7 hours sleep – I am not rested when I wake up.  In bed by 9:30 – no playing on phone if I wake up except to put on music.  BETTER
• Move aerobic workouts during the week to the morning – instead of wasting time watching stupid videos, do the workout and get it out of the way.  Wake up at 5am to do this. – NOT DONE YET BUT WILL follow plan with 3 long workouts in evening and see how it goes this week
• Add 5 min meditation in am and consistent daily 10 min stretching – STRETCHING YES, DAILY MEDITATION NOT YET
• If back doesn’t improve, need to make appt with Dr. Caddoo – IN PROCESS
• Create Good ab routine – added planks to mobility workout
• Drink 2 glasses of water when I wake up – adding more in at night

Don’t count me out yet!  Just found a few new friends to talk to about things and remembering the very late evening 2 weeks ago I ran my best 5k all alone in the cold night when I did not want to go, which made me prouder of anything else I’d done to date 🙂

Gotta get back to clean eating (limoncello is giving me hot flashes at night), and honest reporting,

Laura

Rode the assault bike for a 20 min buy-in to a crossfit workout this week so started out pretty hard and after 10 calories, I could feel the life drain out of me.  Love it as I suck at it.  Just have to get through it to find a foothold to do more.  Just like the hills…especially the one in my neighborhood when at night I think the lights I see in the distance are the end and they turn out to be just halfway to the top!  I try to say positive things to myself like “this isn’t so bad” or “I got this.”

I am up to 80 min runs with a few sprints mixed in while in Z2 (ie. slow mode) which I absolutely love now (even in the cold and with some snow – see above pic).  If it wasn’t for this !!&&*%%^ back, I could go on for a long time and will need to.  Lately I’ve been running back and forth and back and forth and thru the cul-de-sacs in my neighborhood.  As long as Kenny leaves the light on in our living room so I THINK he is awake, I know I am not alone out there.  I don’t like music so much when I run – seem to be busy enough watching my heart rate or working in intervals and thinking.

Had a fail yesterday with the Ghirardelli chocolates (caramel filled, raspberry filled squares).  Can’t eat just one.  Ate all the ones in the lawyers’ office at work so bought them to refill it.  Will be a meager offering…. It’s been a week of needing to not eat the same thing every day – have to shake things up once in a while but find a few healthier options!!

Week 6 almost over – heading down to do 80″ on the bike and then will be rooting for the Patriots in the Superbowl!

Chocolate eating, scuba class passing, and honest reporting,

Laura

p.s.  And as I missed the most points in my scuba class despite studying all the quizlet cards, maybe I’m just the hardest working and not that smart after all 🙂

Title pic is from my makeup run in Boston on Saturday.

Finished Don’t Hurt Me by David Goggins.  I alternated between being mad at him for being so arrogant, at being afraid I couldn’t be as hardcore as he is, and thinking how much I agree with a lot of what he says.  I’m going to start using two of his tools, an after activity report to analyze last week and I’m going to make a list of my own cookie jar – things I can be proud of that I’ve done throughout my life to use when things get tough.

Week 6 AAR

Good things

• Beat my 5k by 1:30 with new record of 28:08 with 08:46 pace, avg HR 158/max 169.
• I can comfortably run in zone 2 now and keep my HR under 118.  In fact, I’m having to work at keeping my HR up in Z3 when I need to now
• I conquered my fear of scuba and have done well in class – only 2 more to go.  Did all the homework over the weekends and spent 6 hours in class after work
• I got a note from my CEO Friday night saying what I great job I did talking to our new, largest customer as we opened the new Operations Center I run.  This is a pic of me giving a tour of it
• Did more than I ever have with bench press since surgery pressing 3@105lb
• Did the most pullups in 18 yrs with 4 in a row (building up 1 more a week with shoulder coming back)
• Went to see my skeletal cleaner to help me with my lower back and overall issues
• Hit new low weight of 138.4 lbs and consistently stayed under 140 lb

Not so good

• Missed two days of workouts because I was tired and worked late and chose sleep – although ultimately I didn’t do a good job with that either.  Made up aerobics on weekend but missed two crossfit classes and a strength day – which are important to me.
• Am not doing a good job meditating daily
• Did not do max squat because of fears for my rickety lower back
• Although I have been doing a lot of mobility, I have to do it every day
• Missed my PT appointment
• Cheated on eating and had some limoncello and a few stress eating chocolates at work

What to do differently

• I have to get 7 hours sleep – I am not rested when I wake up.  In bed by 9:30 – no playing on phone if I wake up except to put on music.
• Move aerobic workouts during the week to the morning – instead of wasting time watching stupid videos, do the workout and get it out of the way.  Wake up at 5am to do this.
• Add 5 min meditation in am and consistent daily 10 min stretching
• If back doesn’t improve, need to make appt with Dr. Caddoo
• Create Good ab routine
• Drink 2 glasses of water when I wake up

What I need help with

• Am I not eating enough anymore?  Am not losing that much weight so was keeping at RP base level even if doing 2 hour + workouts a day
• Mobility routine – not sure mine is right.  I have to improve this this year a lot.  I don’t accept my times have to be slower with age when my mobility is such an issue.
• Good ab routine

Mostly clean eating, honest reporting and feeling a little down but definitely not out!!!

Laura

I got home last Thurs Jan 17 around 8:30 after two previous late nights at scuba class and working out and just ate and went to bed.  What is the right call to make?  Missed my workout but got sleep.  Maybe it was to quit working so late and make myself the priority but not sure I can do that 100% of the time.  Thurs my boss came by my desk looking tired around 4:30 and several sales teams asking me for packaging of our new service offerings so I stayed to come up with the “We’ve Got Your Back” set of services… The night before I had scuba class from 6-9pm and went running after until around 11pm in the cold.

End of week 5 on Jan 20 and a few observations/changes to make:

• Need to get in the 5-20″ meditation daily.  This hasn’t been going so well.
• Need to do better with grip strength practice.  Cleaned up basement so can make the rounds down there with the plates when I have a bike workout.
• Need to ensure daily 20″ of mobility to fix this back – this has been going pretty well and my back definitely feels better than it was but is still pretty sore.  I haven’t had the searing pain in the two spots in my lower back I’ve had before but it still spasms and I’m afraid to wear high heals at work because of it.
• Has been really fun changing gears and going from a heart rate (HR) zone 2 to 4/5 in practice.  HR2 sure seems slow and my mile times are over 12 min when I am doing that but with a fast cadence, easier to practice the Pose running, which seems like it takes effort still but feels more natural than it did at first.
• Significant improvements in left shoulder.  I did 3 pullups last week with the briefest pause and no assists.  Slight pain after so I’ll stick with 3 this week until it goes away after.  Deadlifts, squats, push presses no pain at all anymore with increased weight almost weekly.  DL started at 150 and went to 3×10@185.  PP from a hard 45 to 60.  Squat from 65 to 105.  Bench from 65 to 3×10@85.
• Huge learnings on technology and its issues.  Realized I need my bike fitted so am on the schedule at FitWerx in Peabody.  See last post!
• My physical therapist couldn’t help but laugh when he saw how inflexible my hamstrings are – see pic at top where I am now staying totally square when stretching hams and can’t even bend over with straight back as I’m already stretching – putting the pipe behind me keeps me honest.  We’ll see where I’m at in a month or so.
• Pose running:  Still easiest to feel the foot plan and heel kiss while running against a pole but faster cadence and keeping ankles loose helps too.  Huge differences between left and right legs in difficulty of lifting my foot.
• I am doing really well at the crossfit WODS now with better aerobic capacity and the longer workouts.  Except for snatches, I’m doing the workouts and they are still so much easier than they used to be.

I think the answer for workouts vs. work may be the lunchtime workout.  I like my mornings – I will try to do some meditation and mobility in the morning.

I also just hit a new low weight of 138.8… I think those abs are in there somewhere !!

Finding the time but it’s not easy – loving the workouts, singing super loud in the basement during the bike workouts and loving the silence during running, trying to not the let the buttonwood hill take my soul!

A lot of talk and haven’t really done $%^& yet but putting in the work so far and trusting in my coach.

I also did great at the 2nd scuba class and didn’t feel uncomfortable at all in scuba gear.  I was facing my fear, walked in and told the instructors I was determined to work on my underwater breathing (my current hypothesis with the panics is that I am afraid I don’t have lung capacity) and their response was “good thing you don’t need to hold your breath!”

Failed at the Lindt vs. ence photo tonite as I ate two Lindt balls at Marguerys house before being thrown out due to politics…these were the Lindt balls I gave her as I couldn’t have them in my house without eating 10-15 at a time.

Not perfect but determined.

Laura

Treading water for what seemed like an hour, the diving instructor put us to a stress test to see how comfortable we were.  First, we had to test our buoyancy and hold our breath, stop kicking and just see if we were a floater or sinker.  Probably 10 secs of holding breath – terrified me although I can swim decently well when I am by myself.  Then we had to lie face down breathing to the side (which I know how to do well) to use least effort in case we were conserving energy – another terrifying exercise.  Then we had to use arms and bob up and then shoot down underwater a few times.  I secretly touched the bottom a few times to lesson the fear – feeling guilty.  I do not understand the panic in a group situation when I can do any of these things alone without issue.

Brings me back to the mini triathlon over 10 years ago where we had a very short swim in a pool and I choked – had to dog paddle my way through – couldn’t breathe.  That incident I may never understand.  I need to put myself in this type of situation and prove to myself I can swim with others around.  Kenny has me holding my breath to prove I can hold it (OK – 45 secs and 30 secs on 2nd try).  Then do the same with face under water and lastly doing it sitting on the bottom of the pool – a fun thing for the weekend….you can find me at the Nashua Y with my snorkel gear on Sunday.

So, because of this I’ve b,een doubting if I am mentally tough or not.  How can someone be tough yet panic in a pretty inocuous situation?  My conclusion – also after listening again to David Goggins’ audiobook – is that mental toughness is continuing to try even if you fail.  It doesn’t mean you are never afraid of anything.  It means you go back.  It is grit.  And that I know I have.  So I’ll be back in the pool tonite for class #2 of 6, practicing slow breathing and relaxation techniques, as I sit on the bottom of the pool in my scuba gear for the first time (and then doing an hour run in prep for the Ultra afterwards around 10pm!).

Also, I was in the top few of my crossfit box yesterday for the WOD which included 100 box jumps and the same # of reps for abs.  I started out one of the last (due to a weakness with the assault bike) but am good for the long haul and finished first in the class.  For the first time I was hopping up and down off the box fairly easily.  I also hit under 140 lbs two days in a row which is significant.  Leaning down and toughening up!

Laura

I know I’m always a little late to the party and just found out about this guy David Goggins – ex Navy Seal and Army Ranger etc.  I was listening to him on a podcast and then heard a few things that blew me away and now I’m a big fan.  One is that he did 4030 pullups in 17 hours – that is one of the things that made my jaw drop – never thought anyone could do this.  It, like the Iron Cowboy who did 50 ironmans in 50 days, makes me want to think bigger.

Watch the video below….. This guy Jesse Itzler had Goggins live/train him for one month and it is about the things he had him do.  The motto is basically you have to do things that suck every day.  One of things that made an impression is that there are long races with several folks on a team doing relays over very long distances and Jesse met him because he saw Goggins doing it alone 🙂  Message is real – we hold ourselves back mentally.  I remember when I thought 150 wallballs was a crazy amount and now I do it all the time.

So I’ve organized our company to see how long it will take all of us to do 4000 pullups.  A guy is bringing a pullup bar tomorrow.  My preference was to have one in the main doorway to cubeland and you’d have to do one to enter but I think we’ll put it on a conference door adjacent.  Strict form only, hands under or over but no kipping allowed.  Whiteboard to track folks….

I did 80 last night with blue band and 80 pushups last night as I have to get back to doing regular pullups!  This will also selfishly help me get to that goal if I can train during work also 🙂

Also, got Kenny motivated last night – he is working on getting jacked and back in shape also.  Look at this back!

Ride on (you Zwifters know what I’m talking about!)

Laura

End of Training Week 3 Jan 6. 250 days left to train for the Ultra.  Watching Youtube videos of people finishing the Killington Beast got me out of bed during my last trip to Phoenix and down to the gym out of fear.… people saying that they couldn’t imagine having to do double what they just did…I say there is no hard race, just bad training 🙂 and I remind myself that I do best in the long, grueling type of events.  My old friends didn’t call me S.A.D. “Self Abuse Director” for nothing!  Below is a “memo” I found from high school from my buddy Dave who would find me running alongside the road in sleet storms during High School…

Went back to work Wed Jan 2 and immediately had to organize logistics to fly to JFK and commission our part of a microgrid system Thurs and Friday.  I’ve got customers calling our CEO about impact to the larger project.  The cover picture shows two of our battery systems on top of the future TWA hotel at Terminal 5, JFK airport. Nowhere else I’d rather be on a cold night at midnight than testing and looking at oscilloscopes!  (this is really true – it is fun and I love my job)

Last time I was down there on the Turner construction site, I got in trouble for not having my OSHA 10 so I spent 6 hours on Jan 1 doing the training, 5 hours Jan 2 and another 2 Jan 3 before passing my test 30 minutes before getting on the airplane!  Admittedly, I could have done a better job doing that over the holiday break.  I had a fantastic break through – just back from 3 weeks on the road and loving every minute of being at home with Kenny and his family.

So, I missed 3 days of my training because of this.  I also had brought all my lunch meals for the two days and got screwed up leaving them in the construction trailer and while on the job site roof, they bought food around 10pm for everyone and I ate a chicken parm sub – definitely NOT in my nutrition plan.  TOTAL FAIL.

The truth is I could not have worked harder though and work was the right call this time.

I am determined to breakthrough this maintenance phase I’ve been in since June and make some real progress in getting leaner and stronger.  Here are my STARTING Pics from this morning.  If I don’t start losing fat, I am dropping macros next week:

Comparison from over a month ago below – I have gotten way stronger arms (as viewed from the front anyway) since I’ve been able to lift more but not much different.

For now, I’m back on track with workout done today, food prepped for the week and a plan to help with my back issues.  I HAVE TO FIX MY LOWER BACK SORENESS!  I made a posterior chain workout routine and had my physical therapist take a look/comment on it.  I’m working it and hoping to make some progress…It’s still hard to put on my socks every morning!

Clean eating, honest reporting and en route to badass and an ultra finish,

Laura

The following is a summary of the gear necessary (so far) for my ultra training and for managing nutrition:

Clothes – Running, Cycling, Crossfit, Scuba

• Really reflective vests:  Illuminite.com, Oiselle.com firecracker jacket
• Bike shorts – I am biking in week 3 and my bottom still hurts!  My athletic girlfriend says use triathlon shorts and do not wear underwear….My friend recommended buying tri shorts vs. bike shorts
• Compression tights – I am a fan of Athleta and having tights with an easily accessible pocket to pull your phone in and out of during runs (NOT the zippers). BEST TIGHTS EVER = ALL IN TIGHT (Sculptek material) by Athleta.  Side pockets for phone, zip pockets, great compression, lasts forever.
  • If you get tights going just below knee, make sure the lowest band is 2″ wide or it can cut into your leg/back of your knee.
  • If under 25F, I’ll wear my pair with fleece inside else these are good for normal winter days in New England.
  • The Athleta Salutation tight with stash pocket made from Powervita material is similar with good side open phone pocket but not as thick material and not as compressive.
  • Thermal Ronhill Tech Winter Tights (medium cocoa color) are awesome with one biggish side pocket
  • My favorite tight/hiking pant is Athleta Headlands Hybrid Cargo II Tight which has zippered pockets but are like leggings with a more rugged front material.  The best travel clothes and can go to work.
• A good sports bra –
  • nothing moves in this thing!  PrimaDonna sport “Sweater” bra Size (size UK34F for me, cosmic grey) which clasps in back with no underwire WHICH WILL CHAFE AND HURT YOU! at Copley Mall at a store called Rigby and Peller.  If you have underwire, use body butter or something between the girls or you will get a burn eventually.
  • DONT LIKE EXCEPT FOR LIGHTEST SUPPORT USED FOR CYCLING: Just started using SHEFIT which seems supportive but need to see how it performs on hot days and if it wicks water/sweat away or becomes a wet mess.  SHEFIT bras zip in front and are very supportive but heavier and more restrictive under arms than PrimaDonna.
• I’ll wear cotton shirts for crossfit workouts but if running or hiking, I’ll wear wicking shirts.  I’ve found that one long sleeved shirt plus one medium weight fleece is all you need down to 10F with hat and gloves
• XOSKIN short sleeve shirts – no seams/no chafing
• I’m in love with smartwool shirts although they have to be the lightest weight to wear to crossfit and you don’t want to get too hot running.
  • Found brand MONTANE in London and got Primino 140 shirt mix of smartwool and polyester – very lightweight like the old Athleta tops I can’t find anymore
• I don’t wear gloves unless its below 32F.
• Good socks –
  •  Thorlos have the most cushion so are good for walking around the house and seem to be the least tight as well.
  • Becoming fan of Darn tough, used these in Hamsterwheel
  • Balega -were these Ragnar- My lucky socks end of year 2019
  • Smartwool
• Shoes – I like minimalist, zero drop shoes and use inov8 (I am now smarter and have a separate blog on just trail shoes) and Altra trail shoes such as Lone Peaks (my favorite – great in mud, rocks, etc) for trails and were Altra Superiors for road (but these lack structure and I pronate inwards). All Altras have a wide toe box and zero drop.
  • 2023:  Moving from Altra Lone Peak for trails to Topo Pursuit, both zero drop with wide toe boxes.  Topos have a little more support on inner arch.
  • Altra Superiors no longer road favorites due to lack of inner arch support.  Recently got a pair of HOKA One
  • 2022:  Trying inserts in Lone peak for added cushion and arch support
• Colder weather gear:
  • Windproof overlayer pant:  Arcteryx Trino SL Tight (awesome to also wear around house but doesn’t come in petite size), narrower at ankle. great over compressive tights but for cold day <32F
  • Trailrun/Hike Jacket:  Arcteryx Gaea jacket – awesome, not waterproof, perhaps perfect over light or medium smartwool base layer.  Jacket is warm even if -11F with windchill – use with very light base layer (short sleeved smartwool tshirt, not long sleeved midweight)
  • Running skort:  Lululemon Pace Rival Skirt (tall) which has two great pockets in the shorts and waistband storage also.  On longer runs have had some chafing.
  • Wind/waterproof insulated overlayer:  Arcteryx Norvan SL Insulated hoody:  superlight, wind/rainproof and so warm for being so thin.  Need a good cold day for this though or over a very light underlayer.
  • Wind/waterproof summer layer:  Arcteryx Norvan LT jacket
  • Windproof layer:  Must have very very light jacket, I use one from Patagonia – good at all times, a must carry anytime
  • Note:  Arcteryx clothing seems to be smaller sized so I always get a Large

Running Gear

• Night visibility equipment:  hand torch (don’t like anymore) with front and rear lights, clip on lights (my favorite are the smiley faces), a high vis vest I also wear in the daytime on every run, a light “harness” ( Noxgear- see pic below) which blinks and changes colors, headlamp (Petzl Arctic Core)
• Aftershkoz wireless bone conduction headphones by AEROPEX – purchased DURING Hamsterwheel where you can’t play phone out loud with number of people on course.
• Gymboss Charge interval timer for the run/walk method.  This one vibrates or beeps and has rechargeable batteries.  Only 99 cycles though so you need to restart the count every few hours – it vibrates a ton when it runs out so easy to know.  Vibrations could be stronger as hard to feel on cold leg!  Used this for first time in Hamsterwheel – ended up carrying it in my hand whole race.  Batteries still fine after 15 hours
• I now own Trekking poles – got Leki macro varie that break down
• Microspikes for snow/ice during hiking – Just got kahtoola
• Dion racing snowshoes
• Hydration Vest with ~5L of water (3L bladder in back and 2 18 oz bottles in front) with zipped pockets and open pockets for food and electrolytes and first aid, etc.  Love my inov8 2:1 vest as you can attach an additional “bag” to it for longer mountainous hikes where you want extra clothes, etc.  This vest is great in all weather and is used for Ultra races.

• Workout tracking:  now use Garmin F935 because I needed the GPS tracking and battery life to last >12 hours.  Anything based on iphone won’t work when its cold as iphone will die within a few minutes left in cold.  For tracking of heart rate, running foot cadence (pace in foot strikes/minute) I am using a Wahoo TICKR chest heart rate monitor that feeds data to my Garmin or the Wahoo Runfit App on iphone  (I like this app because it reads out your mile splits).  Results for Runt app in first pic and results for fitbit in next three.  RUNFIT is better because fitbit heart rate doesn’t seem accurate once it is high.  The results below are for the same run –

HR issue:  RUNFIT says avg HR 127 with max 154, FITBIT says avg 145 with max 164.

RUNFIT also gives you minutes/mile by mile, cadence and a map of your run. I LOVE that RUNFIT will talk to me and tell me every time I hit a mile and my HR and last mile time in additional to overall time.

FITBIT has a better map showing each mile point.

The problem with using your phone GPS (either with Fitbit or Runfit) is that it runs the battery down fast – I have an iphone and before a 70 min run today, it was at 60% and barely lasted the run.  This will be what forces me to switch over to a Garmin device with longer battery life when workouts get longer!

Cycling Gear

• You don’t need this specific trainer but I got a KICKR Core Smart trainer that I bought with the appropriate cassette (rear gears) for my bike.
• My Specialized Ruby bike (without rear tire)
• Quadlock system to attach phone to bicycle handle bars EASILY.  You can get extra components and also sandwich a large battery in between as phone, in airplane, using screen and gps will only last an hour.  THIS IS CRITICAL!!  I haven’t had much luck with battery cases and this is just awesome
  

  
• Bontrager Ion 200RT/flare RT Bike Light Set.  White/Red small lights
• Got some sleeves to be able to wear short sleeves and then remove the arm sleeves if hot.
• Application I use to do runs and be with other humans vs. alone in my basement is Zwift.
• Using the Zwift application on my phone, I mirror results to the tv through Apple tv.
• The Zwift phone app (or on your computer) will find any sensors you are using and your smart trainer.
• Wahoo TICKR heart rate monitor- if it isn’t picking up your heart rate, move the sensor down on your body.  My bra was blocking it for awhile before I figured this out.
• Wahoo cadence sensor (for pedal turns/minute).  The RPM shown in the application without this sensor is not your pedal turns.
• Sweat Towel
• Extension Cord to charge your phone and a phone holder to put onto the bicycle handlebars

Overall Setup (we also have a Concept2 Rower):

From the left, a Wahoo cadence sensor (this is one piece only, no mating piece needed to determine cadence), iphone charger and handlebar holder (one below is horrible – get a Quadlock system), appletv, wahoo TICKR heart rate monitor.

Hiking gear

• Started hiking again end of 2019 doing some elevation gains/distance on weekends but really started hiking again in 2020…am trying now to Peakbag the NH48
• A running hydration pack is great for summer hiking – and my Inov8 2:1 pack has an extra 10L “pocket” you can attach to carry an extra jacket in fall
• 2021 got a Thermarest NeoAir Topo Luxe sleeping pad (3 season R value=3.7), size wide, 1 lb 12 oz, 25″x72″x4″.  Needed it as I camped for Kilkenney ridge race trying to use our queen air mattresses which were too big for tent and leaked!  Can fill this using lungs only in <5 min.
• 2022:  Now have a Zenbivy sleep system.  sleeping bag that can also be more like a blanket used with the sleeping pad above.  Used it at ~30F and was comfortable at Ragnar Zion.
• For wet/colder fall days where you need microspikes, more backup layers, etc, I just got a new Osprey 20L pack the “Tempest 20” which has attachments for treking poles, some great pockets, storage in hip belt, room for bladder or Nalgene bottles, etc.  Tried for first time 10/24/20 and may need adjustment as had a little soreness in my back (which actually occurs to me almost anytime on long run/hike).  I got this vs. a 30-35L pack because I have lighter/easy to pack gear and for day hikes, this is more than enough room.
• A note on hiking shoes:  Some people want ankle high “boots” for ankle support, especially with the rocks here in New England.  Other experienced hiker friends say basic trail running shoes are fine – good practice for ankle stability, etc.  For winter, perhaps a slightly warmer shoe would help but I’m sticking with trail shoes for now also as they drain to support water crossings, etc.

Other miscellaneous Gear

• Altitude sickness:  Diamox (per guy at cocoview)
• General hiking daypack:  For colder weather where the 20L of the Inov-8 2:1 pack isn’t enough or you need to carry Nalgene bottles because the soft bottles with narrow hoses may freeze, I researched and got a Osprey Tempest 20 day pack in fall of 2020. Key features include:
  • Easy to attach hiking poles
  • Storage on hip stracks for food (although I store mine in my hiking pants/tights)
  • Storage for 2 nalgene bottles and/or soft larger bladder
  • good separation of pockets to keep a few things at easier reach
  • Nice outer pocket to stuff in rainjacket, etc for easy access
• Reusable Stasher sandwich bags for the trail – can also pour boiling water into them, freeze, etc
• Scott Jureks chocolate/cashew/almond/coconut oil/fig bars rolled in coconut – amazing substitution for the gross GUs.  Also as they have some fats/proteins, better fuel
• A good journal is indispensable – there doesn’t seem to be one answer to recording all that you do…cycling is in wahoo app (which uploads to strava), crossfit is nowhere I like, running is runfit (which uploads to Strava).  I use a journal to document things I am learning and all I do day to day along with my wall calendar for high level.
• Jump rope for warmups
• Fitibit Charge to stay connected with my family – we have weekly step challenges I love plus I was using it for running when I just cared about distance and mile pace which it does a great job at.  Fitbit also give you cool, uplifting messages in the morning when you put it back on after a shower!  It is NOT waterproof
• A weight bench, 45 lb bar when I have to do a strength or crossfit type workout at home
• Pullup bars upstairs on a bedroom door
• Ring rows next to the weight bench

• Last but not least, a good bed!  We just spent a ridiculous amount on a Sleep Number bed with adjustable base so we can go into zero gravity position.  Got it yesterday and you can see us with cat below trying it out.  Sleep Number can have adjustable hardness by side.  We returned a Tempurpedic memory foam mattress we had just gotten.  A good night sleep is so important!

Meal planning stuff

• Food scale and for travel, a portable food scale and collapsible measuring cup
• Protein powder and shaker bottle with ball or something to help powder mix (i do it with just water)
• LEAK PROOF containers – I use Six Pack Fitness Containers shown above
• Good olive oil – I recommend my neighbors’ who imports it (and I know good olive oil from living in Italy) – Johnny Madge
• Bathroom scale

Hope this helps as I’ve been struggling to accumulate all this stuff over the last year!

and BTW unrelated to OCR, but this is the best camp chair ever that is foldable and super lightweight:

There are no excuses – no hurt shoulder – no lack of equipment – it is just me and the 250 days until the race…

Scuba Gear:

• Waterlust leggings to get your wetsuit up easily
• Special socks to get your booties on
• Stream2Sea leave-in conditioner
• bikini tops and bottoms
• rashguard shirts
• 2 flashlights

Laura

Dec 17, 2018 Official start of training for the Spartan Killington Ultra Sat Sept 14!!

Food: Following RP template base, this was a light day

Workout:  Run test (pic above after) per my coach

Completed 3.2 miles in the dark with my hand torch and smiley lights:

Gear:  Used new TICKRx heart rate monitor using Wahoo Runfit App.  I did an experiment of data from Fitbit vs. TICKRx and here’s how it compares. In summary Fitbit is about 10 BPM slower than TICKRx and does not provide cadence data:

I also have both uploading to Strava so wanted to see what happened.  Only the fitbit uploaded for now…..

AAARGH!  I was trying to see if I could break the 9:00 min mile barrier and did a mile in 9:00…..I did mile 2 and because the runfit app talks to me each mile with my pace (finally!  have been trying to have fitbit do that for months) and heard mile 2 was 9:21 so really tried to pick it up.  My fastest time before this for a mile was 8:54 and had 9:07 at the end of six miles around Sept.

I am always scared.  Was scared before I did this – don’t know why as worst that could happen is I go out too hard and die, which would be a lesson learned based on what pace I was at.  I’ve done this distance a ton of times.  Ben Bergeron classifies fear as being a fear for your life/safety (which despite being dark was not) or a fear of not belonging to the pack.  Since I am not really part of a running pack, not sure that these categories are accurate.  Maybe I’m just afraid of failure even if it is just me looking – and I firmly believe in the wise saying that Success (or courage) is moving from failure to failure with equal enthusiasm (quoted from Churchill, Lincoln?).  I liked Ben Bergerons statement about not worrying if you’re nervous before something as it just means your body is getting ready – that made me feel better last week when I had to speak at an energy conference!

I got my first indoor trainer a week ago, the KICKr CORE and have it and our rowing machine setup downstairs with TV so that I can use the Zwift racing app.  I have no idea what the parts of a bike are called how to change a tire, patch a tire and am still confused on the gearing.  I did a 20 mile Zwift ride through London and got stuck on a hill trying to figure out how to lower the gear….need a cheat sheet for left vs. right gears and top/bottom levers on each side.   Took us a few hours to get it assembled and setup with Zwift, and then more time to see how to upload to Strava.

My butt is killing me today.  I need something to hold my phone on my bicycle handlebars and need to try to sync the cadence tomorrow during the bike trial as I believe the TICKERx will get that data vs. buying a cadence sensor.

Here’s to day 1 in the books and a little stretching/yoga to follow!

Clean eating, honest reporting and en route to badass,

Laura

Kenny Donahue has listened to me every morning for the past year as I weigh myself and make a few comments in the morning, as I put on my fitbit and read out loud the little motivational message it gives, as I catcall him every morning while he’s in the shower, as I tell him every day I am so happy I am back to normal and puts up with me coming home after 8pm because I’m working out after work and have a two hour round trip commute, eating a limited set of food (much of which he doesn’t eat so we are cooking separately a lot), having patience while I’ve done physical therapy every night rolling around in the living room, helping me weigh and cooking me food per my plan being supportive, and being so self confident while I surround myself with a set of jacked men as my support team 🙂

My handsome, sweet, funny, smart, gentle man – thanks babe!

fire and fuel

I made a presentation for a lunchtime learning at work called “Fire and Fuel” attached.  I didn’t geek out on details of macros in that but will here.

StrongerU philosophy is simple foods, follow your assigned macros (grams of carbs, fat, proteins per day eating whenever and whatever you want as long as you get within 5 g of the targets).  You have to log everything (I use myfitnesspal), report in weekly to your coach with your sleep, how you feel, what macros you ate every day, weight daily (used to calculate avg weekly weight and compare to week before), and bust/waist/hip measurements periodically.  Coach will adjust you or advise you based on your progress.  Lessons learned after doing this for a year:

RP templates – You put in data, pay ~$100 and download them.  Basic philosophy is also macros but broken up by meal and also with modified macros based on if you have a rest day, light /moderate/hard workout day (ie. more carbs for harder workout days).  Eye opener is that crossfit is considered a light day!

During the weight loss phase, I was at around 1515 calories.  Using the Inbody scan results I got last week, I need 1475 calories/day just to maintain my basic metabolic functions and I am at 24% body fat.  Test results shown below:

When I downloaded RP templates, comparison of assigned macros to my last StrongerU macros in grams attached… this explains why it feels I am losing weight again!

It took all last week to get used to the RP templates because of the following:

• Breaking up my carbs better by meal included changing my breakfast!  this is huge!  I have been an oatmeal, milk, berry, maple syrup breakfast person forever.  Now on light days I am eating egg white omelets with tomatoes/spinach and something I LOVE – wheat toast with butter and a little raspberry jam.
• Love two meals between breakfast and dinner as I had been scrapping by with an Rx bar – with my long commute, I often don’t eat until 8pm and it is a long time between noon and 8!
• Changed my pre/post workout so am now slugging a scoop of protein in coconut water instead of an Rx bar.
• Toast and protein before bread is new but fun as I love the toast.
• RP meals have a “handful of veggies” per meal excluding peas/corn/corn which count towards carbs – this is a change but easy to do.  My lunch used to be a frozen mix of veg and now I am more selective in what I’m including and adding vegetables to breakfast.

What I don’t like with RP:  lack of fidelity around total grams/day so it is harder to meet the exact numbers (which I know are always an approximation anyway) and tracking of different macros/day makes it harder to program into myfitnesspal.  It also requires knowledge of the following week and a commitment to do what you say every day so you eat all the meals appropriately.  Not a bad thing if you want to have good habits!

Clean eating, honest reporting and en route to badass,

Laura

A few words on the final weeks prior to what I hope is a final clearance to do all weight training/athletic events again 6 months post rotator cuff surgery (Dec 11 target date).  Nov 6, 2018 I got clearance to finally do banded pull-ups, ring rows with my body weight vs. just using bands, 50% scap pushups.  That night at crossfit I ended up doing around 140 green banded pullups and probably 54 ring rows – I have to say it was AWESOME and the pullups were so easy.  Last time I did those was probably 6-7 months ago pre injury and I also weighed 10-15 lbs more than.  Exciting to find out what I can do for strict pullups once I am totally free!  My record at this age is 1 strict pull up and my goal in a few months is >12 straight strict (to be better than when I was 30 yrs old).

Next PT appointment (still going weekly), I reported in and Jeremy told me “You don’t know what a little is so when I give you the OK, I know what you’re going to go out and do.”  Kenny’s immediate response to my text update was “Tell him you are married to me.  You understand quite well what “a little is.”  Funny guy 🙂

So this week I was cleared for very light weight deadlifts, cleans.  No overhead presses, no sandbag carries, no sled pushes and can increase weight if no pain slowly week by week.  Not sure if it was the 90 85 lb deadlifts (super easy weight) or the 33 box jumps but have a little nudge of ache in my shoulder this week….

Slow and steady wins the race during shoulder recovery.  It is super fun to see huge progress almost every day.  This week while I was doing bicycle abs (alternating one leg down with opposite arm overhead lying on back), I got my hurt hand all the way to the ground repeatedly.  That last 5% motion sure is slow to return but it is coming…

And I’m throwing it out there that my goal is to be as strong as Brook Ence (as so many other women want also – featured at top of this blog) but for now, I’m so very happy still with building up from where I am today.  Pic below is a total roll out of bed moment…