Florida day 7

It's been a fantastic few days. Today being the highlight of the week by far.
http://youtu.be/i0VGcLpMXcM
The hurdle workout video.

Day 5, December 24th was easy tempo.. 10x 100 ' s with 45 seconds rest on the grass.

Day 6, December 25th was a MUCH needed rest day.  That was a hard day in which I struggled to be 100% sugar free. Not even an apple!!! I was quite grumpy when we were having our team Christmas dinner at Golden Corral until to continuously pass the dessert buffet.. The golden fountain of warming chocolate wafting through the air.

Can I have some fruit?
No.

What about?
No.

Kind of pathetic now that I think back on it. I need to internalize the ability to not eat sugar. Everything else is so easy to cut out, it's amazing. Sugar is the baaaaad addiction.

Today is day 7. Today was dun dun dunnnn HURDLE DAY!! I was super ready to go this morning and food energy levels were perfect.  I had my fast pants on. Lululemon wunder under pants in Beachscape, but of course. My focus levels were pretty high, could've used some work, but was acceptable for me today.

We started with some quality speed. I ran these in spikes, first time since June/July in spikes.
10m
20m
30m
30m
A few minutes rest between. It felt good to drive. I proceeded with hurdle drills. Still have that hip tightness, but we have worked out a lot through massage this week. Not to mention the warmth makes a big difference.

Although the weather hasn't been optimal.. No sun. It's still a lovely 17c today.

Off to do endurance hurdles!
6 x 100m hurdles at 110m spacings. So each hurdle will be alternating legs. They were pretty good. I skimmed a few when I started to get tired, but they all turned out pretty nice. On the 6th one I stopped just over half way. Why? Sometimes something doesn't feel right while you are driving.  It's a pretty big brain explosion trying to hurdle and make sure you keep your speed AND push off powerful. If you don't run fast enough and push off hard when you touch down after the hurdle,  you won't make it to the next hurdle.. It's fun also trying to put new hurdling skills in to this. Ha, work in progress! Hard to get rid of the old dog's bad habits!

Hurdle time = brain switch.

The focus comes on and nothing else matters except that hurdle.

Very happy with today, and the weight seems to be just melting off here. I'm doing things right :)  I'm very happy here, and life is fantastic. Always look up, be positive, and achieve your dreams.

I'm currently in the pool for my thermo therapy. Have a good night world.

M

Florida day 4

Training camp really shines your talents. It shows you what you were put on this earth to produce on the track. I work 7 days a week. Although my job is not taxing to me in any manner, I'm sitting for a good portion of 7 hours in a truck. How bad is that? VERY BAD. Probably off of 6-7 hours sleep. I come to practice yawning and tired, slightly un motivated to do the lovely base work of training. Base work is quite integral to your year, it just can be hard when you go straight from work to training. Home to eat, and then take care of the dog. By this time it's 9pm. Then I have to prep for work the next day. Do you see this horrible time reoccurrence?

It's taxing.

I come to camp and it's a light switch. I can sleep. I owe nothing to any one. I am here to produce results for myself only. No one yelling down your throat in the manner of work environments or relationships. The only stress here is the stress of the workouts, which I live for. I cringe at one of the workouts I have to accomplish this week. Yet it excites me so much. I know exactly what that workout will do for me, and how it is going to improve me. I get excited thinking of the pain it will cause me, and how I get to fight through that pain. How I get to drive through the pain. Turn the switch on and focus everything I have to get to that finish line with proper mechanics, setting my time goals. The discipline is on. All day is track, track, and more track. Everything you do here is for your ultimate goal. It's 11 days of quality sharpening. Recharging if you will.  It's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have to work. Every single day has been productive here. A lot gets done. We live like athletes and our down time is filled with recovery, usually with therapy of some sort. The brain is filled with track, there are no other distractions, and the warmth is a gently reminder that you are on one heck of an amazing vacation.

The vacation being TRAINING CAMP. I'd rather be here than Mexico. That's why you and me are different. I want to go to Worlds, and I know what it takes to get there.. and you.. well.. what do you want to do with your life?

It's so hard explaining things to people sometimes. They don't understand why I devote everything to track, and they think I'm insane at the mere mention of me trying to drop 10lbs. People don't get it.  They don't understand why you train. They don't understand why you keep running through injuries.
Why do I run through injuries? I struggle with being able to tell the difference between acceptable pain. I have a high pain tolerance. The only reason I slow down is because I know it is detrimental on me. In grade 11 I had a fractured toe. It hurt. I taped it. I went on to PB in the 1500m S/C with a 4:58. That record still stands, and I was undefeated by 10seconds in every 1500 steeplechase race. The question lies within to what you want to accomplish. Pain is temporary, but glory is forever. That being said, I'm LEARNING to take it easy, especially at this age. I have learned to say "no" and I am learning that injuries mean DAYS OFF.

Track is a lifestyle.

Training camp is a wake up call. It really tells you how much better you'd be if you did't have to work. Unfortunately, such is life that the working man needs to go to work and make money to pay for fantastic therapy and trips to Europe for the 2015 season. I WISH that I could be a full time professional athlete, BUT I know that I will push through it and succeed with what I have. Age is no barrier and I will step up the game to work around my work schedule. I am going to work less now.

OKAY, let's talk about this great day.

Today was big circuit Charlie Francis style on the grass. Went well. I think I went a bit fast, but I'm not sure exactly what "slow" is. Can someone explain to me? We followed that up with an hour in the pool. Ps I dropped 5 lbs.

The protein shake first thing in the morning is fantastic, and I read an article last night about how whey is important in controlling cortisol levels.  Get on that game sir. Tomorrow is a track day. Not sure how bust from today I'll be. I think the others are on the grass, but let's see what we can accomplish.

mmmm I'm excited for some fascial abrasion tonight.

You think i'm sick, I know. ;)

M DAWG

Florida day 3

I was like a kid in a candy store when we hit the track. Nothing makes me sparkle more than being on an out of town track. The way the heat feels on my legs. The smell of the rubber as the sun beats off the track. The light breeze whisping through my hair. Feeling the track on my skin as I sit on the track, changing in to my racing flats. Seeing the whole oval, the 400m, my event, and visualizing over and over running through that finish line. My eyes immediately spot the hurdles on the inside of the track and I am overjoyed!

This post will be a highlight of improper English skills. I am SO BUST today.  It's not that we had a high volume workout, it's that it was a long day with some good quality work.. Of course we had to do a bunch of registration to get on the track today, so by the time we got on the track, we were a little hungry.

Today's diet has been pretty good, with just a minor bit if sugar (16g) that I unfortunately had to have in a shake at the NTC.  We tried something new today. First thing in the mornjng 16 oz of ice cold water, followed by 2 scoops of protein powder in 8 oz of water. 30 minutes later I ate breakfast. Today it was an omelette and my oatmeal mix.

It was lovely to get out in the heat today and I was a happy girl to have warm and loose legs.  The calf was feeling super good today, not even a tweak or soreness.

2x 80m, 1x 70m, 2x 60m, 1x 50m, 1x 120m with about 5 minutes break.  Felt good, between 80-90% nothing crazy, and no explosiveness.

Because everything was feeling good, I did hip mobility over the hurdles with hurdle drills. Then I just stepped up a little and did 1 legged hurdle run overs (trail leg only.) Felt good to get back to things.

I'm setting up good things for my hurdle endurance workout (10 hurdles over 100m.)

Immediately after I ingested 2 sc of protein. We went straight in to the weight room and like I said, I was pretty bust. I did quality planks and some light stretching.

The second highlight of the day was finding a scale in the gym. Before I left for Florida on Friday I was 158.2 lbs. Well, in 3 days I've managed to lose 4 lbs and drop down to 153.9lbs.
Giddy girl claps.

Xoxo

M

Florida day 2

It's day two in the state of oranges. As I speak I've got my post workout 2 fried eggs in hand... Ice water in the other. You ask how I am typing? That will be a mystery my friends. We have a "hen share" here in Florida. The state doesn't look too kindly on buying eggs from farmers. This is a minor bypass on it, and we were even instructed we could visit our hens at any time!

We bought 6 dozen.

Let's see how long that will last. I myself have all ready polished off 6 eggs alone today. We will be buying more free run, organic eggs soon. Does it make a difference you ask? YES, YES IT DOES. I have learned that very quickly on this trip, some of the differences in your health by choosing poor quality products. Plus, even if it says it is organic, the title can be loosely used. Especially in the USA. I'll have to find a quality farm back home in Vancouver.

Fried eggs like they are going out of styyyylllleeee baby!!! Whole organic butter = amazing.

fat = AMAZING

I can't believe I'm allowed butter. Copious amounts make the fact I can't intake sugar okay.

So, the premise eating this trip:

NO: SUGAR, WHEAT, DAIRY.

Sugar is limited to very little amounts of fruit, usually in our green shake and Mel's killer oatmeal. Yeah ya'll love my recipe, I know. It's been an interesting adventure on this diet, but so far I love it. There is research to back the no wheat diet, this also includes no damn gluten free bread, cut that crap.  Wheat means inflammation. Inflammation = not what a sprinter athlete needs at all.

Sugar= Just bad on all accounts.  I learned that even stevia and sucralose (we all know how I feel about that devil item called "sucralose") aren't good items because it still tastes like sugar, so you will get cravings for sugar. JUST CUT OUT ALL THE CRAP!! You will survive much better without sugar. This will be a long haul, and I may have to slap a few people, but I am doing this. It's another sacrifice I can add on to the list.

If you want to be world class, every day, every single thing you put in your body is affecting you. Time to smarten up.

I guess it's a good thing I'm not home for Christmas dinner? har har.

This morning was a lovely pool tempo workout. My calf is very happy that it had no impact today.  essentially it was 3x 45s pool running with 15s rest. Before hand we did mobility work and I did 10 min of cool down at the end. We just finished intense core and working on pelvic neutrality, that is... Working on proper neutral placement of the hips where as to get the best form out of your sprinting. Bad mechanics = slower sprinter. Will be great to carry these things on to the track.

I'm getting excited about hitting the track tomorrow. The National Training center (NTC) woo! I received workouts from my coach back home, it looks like there are some pretty tough times in there, and i'm not exactly sure how I get some of the times done with 3-4 minutes rest running pyramids at 95% ack. We'll save that near the end of the week. Same with the endurance hurdles.

TOMORROW WE ROLL OUT.

M Dawg

Florida training

It's that lovely time of year where the work load increases. In all manners of the expression: work, training, and of course Christmas "errands." With the hustle and bustle of the daily life, and Christmas being added to this, the anxiety can be over consuming. Saying no to the treats being brought to work is a hard concept to swallow. HA.

The last two months have had a lot of anxiety.  I've switched teams, started working seven days a week, and have brought a lot of new things in to my life. It's not just having one thing, it's having all of them be  cumulative.  With my need for control it makes things a tad bit interesting.

I struggle with anxiety. Okay I said it. I think a little bit differently than your average person. I work constantly at doing my best to control it. Sometimes it slips through.  You need the right people in your life who know how to handle you and this minor issue for it to flow easily.  More work to be done, always of course. 

My point that I was sliding in to.. I am currently in Florida for a training camp with Tyrone's group. I was getting burnt out with the busy schedule I was keeping. I have faith that January will be less stressful, especially coming in to it from this camp.  It's going to be a great trip to learn some new things, and having all the time in the world to do it. 

This camp will encompass great biomechanics, healthy eating, the perfect warm weather for sprint training, and hopefully a safe return from a level 1 calf strain from almost three weeks ago.

The strain put a big hamper in my training, but It's better it happened now and not in March. The last thing I need is to be plagued by another injury. Speaking of which, the achilles have held up tough.. Gerry Ramogida is the best physical therapist! I can't say enough about him and the rest of the Fortius Institute. 

I flew in yesterday, and today was a shake out day with warm up and drills. We are heading into tomorrow with likely some light tempo RAWR.

I'm very happy to be here, and I am slowly unwinding from a very busy December.  This is super good for me.

M out

Little pb here and there .. ;)

Things are pretty good for me. I keep my expectations high, and I always set to improve myself. I am never content with the current, and always want progress. Rewards to me are noticeable facts of improvement. Only then am I happy, because I see my labour shining through.

Personal bests and weight loss have to be my top rewards. It's like chocolate to me. Nothing gets me off like a Sexy personal best in a loop or time trial. That means everything is working.

Yesterday we did 2 sets of 3 x 600m hills..
2 min rest. 5 min between sets.. pretty baller times... first 2 were 1 sec slower than 2 weeks ago, so I sought for cut downs.  (Keep in mind every other one is the downhill of that 600m hill)
2:22, 2:13, 2:21.

2:12,  2:17,  2:02

Now, the last set was dh, up, dh... but wow..

Okay, so I had an obstacle in front of me.. Although I blitzed Raquel on 2/3 uphills. That girl had me on 2/3 downhills. She's got the speed, I've got the endurance. The last downhill I picked up increasingly.. The last part is flat 150m so I hauled. She heard me, well, who wouldn't hear a dying horse panting behind you? So she picked up, but I caught her.

Yes, yes 10 seconds is a little bit much for a cut down, but I wanted to win.

That's right.. I wanted to win.

The mantra each and every one of you need to have to becoming better athletes and healthy people.

On that note... Today was the first fun strength training, hurdle hopping, frog squats, lunges galore today. I guarantee sore calves tomorrow...

This calls for a 12pm run at work tomorrow!

Pics - new shoes.. so sexy. My new trainers for track only. Supa light!! Flawless sprinting.  New thermal outfit.. can't hype up how warm those sugar tights are!!! On the track to injury free!!

SMOOCHES.

The Hard Ass - Melissa

Quick post

Mile time trial pouring rain cement around park/track 6:27

2x 1 km loops with 4x60m hill sprints in between. .

3:39 edged out Raquel
3:47 few sec behind her

3x1km loops 5 min rest between
3:45
3:45
3:41
Beat my training partner on all 3 :)

Weight : 155lbs

Abstaining from alcohol until December sometime. Preferably Christmas.
Limiting wheat and dairy, but I suppose I've always done that..

Increasing water intake.

SICK DAY!! WOOOO!!

So thursday I trained trails. the last few days I wasn't feeling the best, so took out the weights. SURE ENOUGH, I am sick today. Joyous, I am sooo thankful. Oh yeah, right.

Diet has been sub par the last few days. I mean, in my books sub par... Healthy eating for a good portion of the day until dinner time.. and the wine has made a few appearances the last few days... Damn long weekend..

I'm sick. im tired..

On a side note I got a new pb on the 600m loop through the trails... 2:13 not bad..

That was saturday morning. The sets were good. 2:24, 2:28, 2:25, 2:22, 2:13

I KNOW, I KNOW, don't hate on the last one. I got a little too competitive haha.

Sorry my lack of engrish skills today, I really just am not happy with this nose running all over the place.. Of course my first track day with the new team is on wednesday HAHA,

Can we say, more oil of Oregano please? Any other recommendations?

I hammered out a 450lb leg press today.. this was after doing many at 300+ something. I know, doing one looks kinda fail,  but my legs had all ready done squats and many heavy leg presses!!!

-Sickly M out

Tuesday drainage.

Ack.  I can definately feel the drainage and lack of performance today.  I need to change some things. Going hard for 2 weeks straight was a bit overwhelming ;)

BUT, still happy with my gains.

Nutrition needs to be fixed slightly. Won't be making those healthy cookies again, unless I freeze them. Eating 2-3 at one time does not fly. Especially before running.

7am - oatmeal
9:30 - apple and almonds
11:45 - black bean spaghetti
2:30 - more spaghetti
3 pm - 2 delectable goodies.

4:30 training... 6 runs. (2 loops) 2:30-3 min break between each rep and 4:30 between the 2 loops.

Second set was a bit slower except for last rep (of course) was feeling drained, quads were killing, and my stomach was hating cookies.

5:30; chocolate milk

HOME TIME!! This meant TV relaxation time. Gasp, I know.. no gym. I needed the rest.

6:30 protein green PB smoothie.
This tied me over for dinner hmmm.
What can I use to make a meal shake??

Epsom salt bath recovery time for this lady.

-M Dawg 

Monday Rawr.

----MONDAY----

My legs are absolutely trashed from the last 2 leg workouts. No running today! Just 2   30 minute walks.

Gym was back, tris, and military press.  Did some abs but was limited on time.

Going to incorporate olympic lifting in my workouts soon. Will be working on that plan..

Nutrition was ideal except for scarfing 4 pumpkin protein cookies at night.. ha will freeze them next time.

7am- oatmeal
9:30 apple and almonds
12:30 black spaghetti
2:30 more spaghetti
4:30 protein cookies
7:00 uber protein shake

M out.

Sunday Funday

So today has been a long fun exciting day. There was a lot of confusion this morning when my workout was.. But it got done.

At the gym today I hammered out a leg workout. The linear leg press didn't feel so good today , so I just reduced my reps. Because 2 days ago was the first time I had done real squats in a long time, my legs are very sore today. I decided to opt out of doing squats today and did lunges instead. No weight 1st set.. 2nd and 3rd sets I added to 15 pound dumbbells. Feel the burn baby! Of course I included some ab work and a good roll out session on my legs.

Nutrition wasnt optimal but:

11 am oat concoction
2pm sushi fest
5pm snacks
7pm black been spaghetti with veggies
9pm 3 breakfast cookies

So as you can see some things need to be adjusted because I am NOT getting adequate  vegetable intake..

No run today because the leg workout was enough.

Also did a real hardcore meal prep session. Check out this sexy food prep porn.

M

SATURDAY FUN DAY!!

Well crap, this weekend has sure tripped on by way too fast. Not doing as much as I would find pleasing on the social aspect, but enough to wet my fancy.

Nutrition was a bit tough today with all the outings but I think I did very well. Learnt how to cheat properly. We'll work it off tomorrow. Do you know what tomorrow is? Kick some ass day.


Finished my  regular natural BCAA's... Had to buy this today. ICK. I love sucralose just as much as I need a hole in my head. It's not too bad I suppose. No stimulants = excellence.

 

Bought this at Popeye's today. Less fat than real peanut butter. Less protein though :(

I dont know what happened to my awesome long post but it's not here?!! What gives.. well I'll fix it up a little bit I suppose

Mile time trial won and bettered: trails.... 6:27

Felt really good about the time trial.... Pace was set, and I even started going the wrong way, but thankfully near the beginning, and my team mates told me I was going the wrong way, so I had to recover a few seconds. Excited to try it again in the future to see how much I've improved. God I love time trials.

After trails I battered off a decent gym workout. Back and tri's... Did a few shoulder exercises. Med ball abs and some floor abs.

Nutrition was decent today. I went to the whitecaps game and ate some chili, it was the healthiest option. Went for dinner afterwards and had a super awesome kale quinoa tuna salad. 

Also half a bottle of wine, half a cheese cake, and a mocha with almond milk. FUEL FOR TOMORROW'S BEAST DAY RAWWWRRRR

M Out 

That Friday tho.

Holy balls, today was  rough leg day. Still feeling the effects of Wednesday's leg workout... not so hot.

Went to chiro, got my knee worked on and my ankle "adjusted," feels so delightful.

After was a trek to Aldergrove to do a modified leg workout with a friend. No abs done today.

2 hour walk in the park after.

Tonight - party with no booze. I'm a good girl.

Nutrition

9am - oatmeal concoction
11 am - "The shake" and 1 super healthy turkey taco.
2:30pm - 2 tacos
3pm -  half a lara bar

5:30 pm - red veggie soup, 10 yam multi grain crackers... going to make a tuna sandwich and half a bell pepper now...

Really need to work on eating better when I'm out all day.. really gotta use my 6 pack fitness lunch bag!!!

Check out these Tricep gains ;)

M

When the tired hits..

OH YEAH. Today was one of those days my body was begging me not to do anything.  It started out perfect,  but the energy levels were dwindling come training time..

Breakfast - oat mix
Snack - protein spinach banana shake
Lunch - half tuna hummus kale sandwich on silver hills multi grain bread. Half a bell pepper with tzatziki.
Snack- exactly same as lunch.
3:45- some Greek yoghurt.

4:30 training! A modified relay of a roughly 300m section.. we did 7× 300m sections with roughly 2.5-3 min break. Waaay too much recovery. The knee wasn't happy and Raquel was beating me by 2 meters on the last 3. The good news was she pushed me and each was progressively faster... but definately a tired day..

Greek yoghurt and 1 c berries after...

Gym time! Back and tri ' s.  They were not happy. Dropped 10 lb s off on lat pull downs. Decided to skip medicine ball trampoline work to give my upper body and chest some rest. . My nervous system would've killed me!!

Chocolate milk.. organic ;)

Dinner - 5pc salmon sashimi and I splurged a little and got a roll with some crunchy goodness on top.

Healthy snack later.

All and all, good day.

Recovery hot bath time soon!!

M out .

It's a start!

Well, here we go. Another adventure of training and fun filled adventures.

After a year of small minor injuries and a big one (both achilles tendinopathy) I've come back with a bang. Stayed off running and hiking for 6 weeks to let the tendinopathy calm down. Wise idea me thinks. I lifted heavy for a few weeks and took 2 weeks off. Started back running 3x a week and weights 2x a week.

Last week was 6 days of gym and 4 days of running. .

Upping gym time is a huge priority, of course adding a bit more cardio too. I want the strength, I know I need it for those 10 hurdles. What a spectacular event I choose eh?

Training is so far going well, easing in to it to make sure no achilles issues.

I've been hammering heel drops and isometric holds. Linear leg press is at 3 sets of 10 with 180 lb plates (380lbs overall) so the strength is coming a long. I've been "okayed" for calf raises, so I've added 50 lbs (145lbs overall)  to that and no problems.

Diet has been tweaked slightly. I've bulked enough, now it's time to put on that muscle and cut some fat.

Diet is 3 meals a day with snacks between that. Essentially every 2 hours.

The stats so far are 5"9 157lbs.

Back to work I go, stay posted for after training review!

M