Yesterday was a smokin’ 36C/96F and beach was packed! We went to Kelso beach once again to practice our open-water swim.
Thankfully it was flooded with lifeguards! There were even lifeguards farther out where we did our practicing.
I admit, I had butterflies in my stomach. I always have butterflies before open-water swims!!! The swims do get easier though, I will admit. All in all, I am much more comfortable in the lake now…I don’t even get frazzled by seaweed on my face now, which is a victory in itself. We were in the middle of our swim and Eric was near me and he started cracking up because apparently I had seaweed ALL OVER MY FACE and HEAD…and I had no idea it was even there! How hardcore am I?! :lol:
As I mentioned previously, if you swim along the buoys (near arrows), there and back = 350 metres which makes it a great place to train for a try-a-tri (375 metres)!
Oh it was COLD getting into that water yesterday because the air was sooo warm it made the water feel like ice. Totally the opposite of our try-a-tri when the air was freezing and the water felt like bath water.
During our last open-water swim, we made the mistake of trying to swim the entire 350 metres right from the start and we felt a bit overwhelmed. Today, we made sure to warm up first by doing small ‘laps’ of about 25 metres or so until we got comfortable. After the warm-up we swam about 50 metres at a time, there and back and overall we felt like this swim went better than the last. We swam for around 30-40 minutes, but I honestly have no idea as we didn’t have a watch on hand!
Our Belwood try-a-tri is quickly approaching and we are both feeling a bit nervous because we haven’t had much time to practice lately. We are really going to have to amp up our training over the next couple weeks if we are going to be ready.
POST-SWIM HUNGER!
Eric fired up the grill as soon as we got home!!! Bless his kind soul.
He made me an Amy’s Texas burger and I topped it with spinach, tomato, tomato paste, sea salt, and red pepper hummus. WOWIE!!!! This was awesome. On Ezekiel toast of course.
He also grilled zucchini…it was SO juicy it squirted me in the eye!
drizzled with EVOO, S + P
and corn on the cob slathered in earth balance…
I almost burned my mouth on this because it was just so good and I couldn’t wait patiently!
Incredible post-swim dinner, it was.
Then we ran some errands and we were pretty much zonked after that so we decided to have a movie night, watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, while eating some Cherry, Banana, and Coconut Butter bread!
I proceeded to eat two huge slices the size of my arm (how is that for portion control!!) and then pass out on the couch at 9pm! I don’t think I have been to bed earlier than 11pm in a dog’s age.
I stumbled into my bed around 11pm and slept until about 6am when I naturally woke up. I felt sooooo much better this morning. I really needed that break yesterday, especially now that I am working on Saturdays I don’t get much time away from work. I didn’t so much as touch the computer yesterday morning after I posted. It was awesome and much needed disconnect.
Today is another scorcher outside, however unlike yesterday today is humid, humid, humid! YUK! I knew I had to get in my run asap this morning, so I headed out around 6:30am. Before my run I snacked on a new raw + GF Glo Bar flavour I am working on. Any guesses as to what flavour this is??
I walked outside this morning expecting to find a crisp and cool morning, but I was met with humid air so thick I could have sliced a piece and had it for lunch. Thank goodness for Camelbaks!
My goal for this run was to challenge myself to stay under 9 minute miles. My Camelbak was full and I was ready to go!
The Run:
- Distance: 3 miles
- Time: 26:15 mins
- Avg Pace: 8:45 min/mile
Mile splits:
- Mile 1: 8:59
- Mile 2: 8:51
- Mile 3: 8:24
What a beautiful negative split this run was!!! After almost a year and a half of running, I finally feel like I am getting a handle on running negative splits. It makes runs a lot more challenging and I highly recommend them if you need to add some interest into your routine runs.
I came home and sweat poured out of my pores as fast as I could replenish my body with water. No joke. This humidity is sickening! I need some nice dry heat….
Or a Green Monster will have to do!
Green monsters are pretty much the perfect post-run snack!
In this bad boy was: 1 cup almond milk, 3 kale leaves, spinach, 1 frozen banana, 4 pitted cherries, 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass wheatgrass powder, 1 tbsp chia seeds.
Today’s question- Do you have to modify the time you workout in the summer? Do you have to switch to evening workouts or get up earlier before it gets hot? What are your summer workout strategies?
This was one of my first early morning workouts in a long time. With myself being so time-crunched in the mornings to get my orders out, it is difficult for me to squeeze in workouts before 6:30am, but I really enjoyed being done my workout by 7am this morning! I might see if I can work it so that I switch to a few early morning workouts each week. It is so nice not to have it hovering over me the whole day!
“Even if I don’t reach any of my goals, I’ve gone higher than I would have if I hadn’t set any”
-Danielle Fotopoulos, soccer player
Good job swimming through that crowd!!! and eating two slices the size of your arm is portion control..eating them the size of you LEG however, would be a little much ;)
Angela, as crazy as this might sound, I LOVE exercising in super hot, humid weather. I used to always do yoga outside when I could while I was at home, in Ottawa. Now I live in dry, dry Calgary and though the city is beautiful and I get out to the mountains every weekend, I just feel like my hair, skin and body are so much happier in the humidity. I used to play in this field hockey tournament every year and it would get so hot and humid that the water would just evaporate/steam off the turf (we water the turf before playing) and those were the only times when I would think.. hmm, maybe this humidity is a bit out of hand. But now I miss it like crazy!
I work out any time of day and since I just do walks and gentle stuff, sometimes I get out twice a day, just to soak in as much beautiful fresh air as possible.
Since I have the summer off (I am a teacher) … I workout a lot more in the summer. I usually workout in the morning.
Ugh I know what you mean about the weather, it’s roasting here too! I’m trying not to complain though because I usually spend all winter whining about how it’s freezing!
I usually don’t modify my summer workouts as I always tend to work out in the early mornings anyways, but I actually find it easier in the summer to get up early – I’m thinking this is because the sun is up sooner so I don’t feel like the rest of the world is still asleep!
I’m guessing sunflower seeds and possibly pumpkin for the Glo Bar as well, although the orange-y-ness is making me wonder if it might be a little more fruity than that…. I’ll be interested to find out! :)
Lucky for me, the weather here (southern cal) never really gets too hot to do my cardio outside… As long as it’s under 90*’s I can handle it… Just have to make sure I hydrate properly. Today’s high is supposed to be 68 ?! I do prefer working about before teh hottest part of the day though… tends to zap my energy.
Wow, that’s some hot weather you’ve been having-36C!! Glad you’re getting more confident doing the open-water swimming, you’ll ace the tri! As per your food and photos look stunning!
I am guessing it’s pumpkin pie flavor :)
You’re amazing! Open water swims make me nervous.
I usually try to do a workout outside in the morning. In the evening I swim, so I don’t feel sweat, yay!
hmmm? poppyseeds in there perhaps or is it chia? goji berries? what ever it is it looks delish.
very humid here very often so yes have had to start the run much earlier than i like to as it takes me so long to wake up i am a danger to myself out there!!!
so re: green monster… i haven’t tried one yet but i was wondering if you could use swiss chard instead of spinach or would it taste to strong???
hahah I am not a chard fan so Im probably the wrong person to ask!
Since we’re warm year round in FL, I don’t change my routine much for summer. In other words, I do my running inside on the treadmill. If I run the one mile to the gym, I do it no later than 7:30-7:45, I do try to get my biking and rollerblading in earlier — no later than 8:00 a.m. Only if it’s overcast will I go later and later in the day the bugs are bad. I’m pretty much an early morning exerciser anyway; I like to have it over with.
I love that lake! And I love the idea of swimming near the buoys. I am sure that it helped ‘mentally’ to know that there was something to grab on to if you needed to!
I absolutely love the hot weather, so I actually try to push myself harder in the summertime. I do, however, find myself drinking MUCH more water to quench my body. I’ll even pour water down my back on really hot bike rides. Such a good feeling.
~Amanda
Sounded like you had a great workout. :)
I workout indoors more often when it gets too hot.
Oh my gosh, has it ever been hot out these past few days! I ran outside yesterday morning and I know exactly what you mean about sweat pouring out of your pores! I felt like a fountain!!
I usually work out at the gym though, so the heat isn’t normally an issue.
We haven’t even gone above 75 yet, so I’m still trying to figure out how to exercise when it’s cold out and I don’t have a gym anywhere close to me.
Ohh my gosh, that grill meal looks INCREDIBLE!! It’s very similar to the one I had yesterday, too. :)
http://cleanteenkelsey.com/2010/07/05/happy-4th-of-july-peach-pickin/ :)
I much prefer working out in the mornings, I like working out in the cold, I hate the heat, all I think about is how hot I am, the flies annoy me and I really whinge hahahaha. I do 3 mornings a week training and 1 night training. Thankfully at the moment in Australia it is Winter, although it was 1.5C this morning, it was icy cold. My brother is my PT and he loves training in the heat, he tells me it is good for me to sweat it out, I don’t know what he is trying to sweat out of me though :-)
Is it sticky or what!? I actually got out of hot yoga today and felt cool! Bracing for tm morning’s a.m. run. But you’re right, while it doesn’t always feel that way when I’m melted in my bed, getting a run in at the top of the morning has got to be one of the best ways to start your day.
That new Glo bar looks very yummy! Sunflower seeds are great. Pumpkin flavour would be delish!
wow that beach looks packed!
I live In Mississippi and its been in the upper 90’s everyday and high high humidity, so I HAVE to lower my mileage and raise my times to not pass out!