great weather for the great outdoors

If you live in the Boston area then I hope you have taken advantage of the fact that there has finally been multiple days in a row of fantastic weather! Even all of my fellow college students studying for exams should take an hour out of studying to get some vitamin D and exercise or just walk around in the sunshine! I wanted to make this post about triathlon training updates, so here it goes!

As I had predicted my swimming will need the most work! Its not the most natural of the sports to me since I don't have a strong background int it, so even when I get in the pool it takes me a few minutes to warm up and get my breath control correct. I was never on a swim team and doing swimming drills self-motivated is also a bit of a challenge - I may get a coach or mentor of some kind just for the swim, probably one who has done triathlons before since the open water swim will be much different than the nice and warm indoor pool.

As for the bike, my spin classes have made my legs really strong on the bike! In my strength training I am making sure to incorporate a lot of core work so my balance can be really strong too. I haven't had my bike in Boston so I only rode it when I was home a couple of weekends ago but I felt good on it and I think the spin classes have done a great job and that my core and balance work will compensate for the differences between a spin bike and my road bike.

For the first time since I got shin splints over a year ago I ran more than five miles yesterday! I made it really fun by running on some trails (which additionally strengthens ankles) and picked a scenic route. I have really focused on stretching and foam rolling after my runs whether long runs or shorter interval or hill runs so that I can prevent injuries. I am also making sure not to overtrain and did a short swim and short bike today and avoided running so that I could better recover. Most of my runs have been between 3-5 miles since the first triathlon only has a 5k run, but longer runs will make sure that I have the endurance to run the 5k after swimming half a mile and biking 16! Another thing I have ordered and will post about I'm sure after I try them out are "recovery socks" just so I can make sure I don't get anymore shin splints!

Speaking of recovery, my recovery nutrition maybe starting to piss off my housemates with the blender running so early in the morning, but I feel a difference in how much energy I can have for the rest of the day! I am pretty much vegan during the week unless I eat out for dinner (which is usually reserved for weekends anyway) and I feel great! I made a variation of these superfood vegan lemon bars for a quick breakfast/snack http://www.navitasnaturals.com/recipes/coconut/Lemon-Coconut-Breakfast-Bars.html with great success (they kind of taste like Heart Thrives vegan energy bars if anyone has ever had those.)
I also got some wonderfully fresh corn yesterday and made a kind of salsa medley with boiled sweet corn, avocado, roasted jalepeños, lemon juice, chopped fresh mint and tomatoes. The pictures are below