Training for everything, it seems

   I am trying to train for two sports that I now love to do (cycling and running). My first MTB race this year is coming up in May at Iola, the first in the WORS series. And my first big running race this year is the 1/2 Marathon in Kenosha (I will do a couple 5K's or 10K's for warm ups, Crazy legs in Madison maybe). Well I tried something different last week with my training schedule and I mixed my run days and cycle days together with fairly good results.

• Monday the 31st I ran 5.25 miles and only put in :40 on the trainer
• Thursday the 3rd I did a tempo 5K then :60 minutes on the trainer
• Saturday I did :60 on spin bike followed by :50 HIIT core/plyo workout
• Monday the 8th I ran 6.5 miles and for once it felt very easy

This allowed me to have an extra day off for last week and still put in my hours but what I really liked about it was the no rest between the run and ride. It pushed me to maintain a tempo for much longer then if I did each one separately . I am still working my base for cycling so for now it isn't too bad combining the two but I am sure once the intervals kick in it will much tougher. I can't wait for the weather to break and get outside to get my runs/rides in. I see lots of hill repeats and track workouts in my future. My rides will also ramp up to 3 times a week for 2.5 hrs in the saddle and a 4hr ride on weekend. I just can't stomach that right now on the trainer...

My running training is still early into my 13 week HM plan but my approach on my first half isn't to just "finish" the race but do it in a respectable time (2hrs or less). I joined the Dailymile website to help me track my progress and maybe get some pointers from fellow runners and cyclist. It has more then meet my expectations. Try it out....

My weight has plateaued again but this time it is @ 195 and it is getting frustrating, but I figured this would happen because I am getting pretty close to my goal weight and those pesky few pounds are the hardest. With all this training I have to ensure my diet is up to the task. I am still on a 400 calorie deficient cut and my energy levels are pretty good. My Macros were 50% carbs 30% Proteins and 20% fats but it seemed as my strength wasn't building fast as I had hoped so I changed to the 40-40-20 split and that has been noticeable so I am going to keep it there for a few weeks and see how that goes.