Don't wait until January 1st

January 1st. A new year; a new start. Right? Wrong. Why is it that come January 1 everyone makes all these promises to themselves, and then immediately say, "What I mean is I'll start the Monday after January 1." That Monday turns into the next one and then it's March and you still haven't made any gains.

I say, DON'T WAIT! Start now. Start implementing one or two of your healthier desires now. That way by the time January 1 comes around it's already a part of your routine, and if you've tried really hard you may have already formed a habit! Wouldn't that be the best way to start the new year? Perfecting what you've already started rather than starting what you've only been talking about?

Healthier starts don't need to be drastic. Start simple. Try starting every morning with a glass of water before you drink your coffee, milk, or juice. Maybe you'll realize you don't need as much of the others because the water actually satisfied your thirst, and now you can enjoy your drink rather than chug it. I drink a big glass of water first thing every morning before I even start making my breakfast/pre-workout snack.

It's simple really, the more you make healthy, conscious decisions early in the day, the more likely you are to continue that behavior throughout the day. If you start your day with a simple 20-30 minute workout you may decide to forgo the fast food and stop at the salad/food bar at the local grocery store because it's fresh in you head how hard you worked to burn those calories and make you body move.

I use to be one of those athletes that when my season ended I thought that from that day until January 1 I could eat anything I wanted, and as much of it that I wanted. I mean everyone waits until January 1 to start their "diets" right? Why should I care how I look and feel from October thru December? I'm suppose to feel bloated, lethargic, and have difficulty buttoning my pants aren't I?

NOT THIS YEAR!!

I have BIG goals and dreams for 2014. Instead of waiting until January to start implementing the road to success I've started NOW. While I will still be focusing on recovery for the next few weeks that doesn't mean that I should eat whatever gets passed by my eyes, nose, and mouth in the meantime. Nor does it mean that I only perform my scheduled workouts and forget about stretching, and all the physical therapy work I put into my hip flexor during this last training cycle. I sat down today and figured out a plan to meet my goals and how I'm going to incorporate that plan into my day. I'm human, so I don't expect this to go smoothly. I will likely make mistakes, but the idea is by January 1, these new routines of stretching and PT as well as my journey toward a healthier kitchen will be HABITS and my new year will already be on the path I want it to be rather than just starting to steer it in that direction!

Do yourself a favor, DON'T WAIT! Act now. Start small, and build on it. You'll thank yourself later, and so will your body!

Diet Changes: A few small steps can snowball in success

After Ironman Lake Placid I decided to make some major changes to my daily diet. I gave myself a week to enjoy some of the foods I had been waiting until after the race to enjoy and then it was a total food overhaul.

Initially, I cut out all artifical sweetners and limited my processed foods and indulgence meals. Where I work everyone gets a cake for their birthday. I use to be that girl that ate it because I thought I deserved it due to all my training. Now I was the athlete saying "I don't eat that." rather than "I can't eat that." It was so much easier than I had dreamed it would. Apparently, my goal for a Boston Qualifying marathon time in November was driving me more than I had ever imagined it would.

The more I continued to make better choices throughout the day, the more I realized how wonderful I felt and how amazing my workouts were going. I was nailing paces and distances that use to be difficult and some that were even too fast to even be a possibility.

My new found tummy and training success had me wanting more. I have been really into blogs and following fellow runners/triathletes on Instagram and realized how amazing these athletes were and how little meat they ate. I started experimenting and the less chicken, pork, steak, etc. that I ate the lighter, and heathier I felt. There it was again, the HR and pace on my Garmin decreasing as my mileage and speed workouts were increasing. I contacted Marni Sumbal of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition. {www.trimarnicoach.com} and together we came up with a game plan to continue to fuel my success. (To date, it has been about 5-6 weeks since I last ate meat. I really don't remember the exact day)

Instead of chicken, pork, ground beef, turkey...etc. I now find my protein sources from nuts, seeds, nut butters, eggs, cottage cheese, tofu, tempeh, fish (averaging 1x/week at most) I've also been more aware to how much protien is in other sources of food. It's incredible. I don't remember the last time I cooked anything using canned "cream of" soups or any package that has more than 3 ingredients! (Usually that's mixed veggies)

Instead of granola bars and cereal, I have oats or plain greek yogurt with fruit, cinnamon, and seeds. I also eat more fruits and vegetables than I use to. Which instantly plays a huge part in a cleaner diet. On days when I train in the morning I'll put together some oats with almond milk, protein powder, chia and sunflower seeds, craisins, and unsweetened coconut flakes. Then in the morning I'll add a chopped apple and either heat for 45seconds-1min or eat it cold. On days when my training is extra long I might add in a few dark chocolate chips for fun!

Here are a few examples of my recent creations.

Lettuce, rice (cooked in pineapple juice), carrots, roasted peppers and onions, avacado and pineapple.

Sides: Cottage cheese and fresh artisan bread.

Salmon with sauteed apple and onion on a bed of brown rice and a side of broccoli

Taco Night:

Lean ground beef for Jason and Boca Veggie "Meat" crumbles for me.

Toppings: Corn, black beans, lettuse, guacamole, salsa, carrots, cheese

Taco Salad

 

Left over quinoa, frozen mixed veggies and broccoli with sauteed tempeh.

**I am not a dietian or nutritionist. I solely base my decisions off of experimentation and reading/researching for myself.

Past, Present, and Future

Since I decided that my first post was going to be my race report, I thought I should make a post about what I did to get to the starting line and how I felt along my journey there, as well as where I am now, and what is coming up next!

Past: During 2013 I ran a The Glass City Marathon (3:36) in April prior to officially kicking off Triathlon season! Tri season started in May with an Olympic distance race. June had an half-ironman (5:52) and very busy and long weekends of training for Ironman Lake Placid (12:16) at the end of July. I was on such a high after IMLP that I decided to do 2 local triathlons that I had missed the previous year since my IM was in August. I raced Stonewall Jackson Tri taking 3rd overall female and surprising myself by qualifying for Best of the US. The following weekend I raced my first sprint distance triathlon and took 1st overall female.

Tri season was over but I wasn't done. I wanted to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon after surprising myself and coming so close in April. I dedicated the 3 months after IMLP to the Huntington Marathon. I haven't talked about it much to others, but I almost completely cut out meat from my diet. Other than eating fish/tuna a handful of times since August I have not had any red meat, poultry, pork, etc. I have switched to a plant-strong diet and it feels AMAZING! I feel lighter and leaner. Although, maybe by a few lbs or a smidgen of a percent. Those things don't matter, because I FEEL like I am in the best shape of my life! I incorporated more stretching and a stronger respect for recovery days into my plan. My coach and I were in constant communication over how I felt and I even {asked} for extra recovery one of the weeks leading up to the race. I no longer indulged in cake, cookies, or comfort foods based on "I train a lot so I can eat what I want". While at the same time, working with Marni Sumbal, RD I no longer have "off-limit" foods or times of feeling guilty. (I struggled with bulimia in college) I now view food as the fuel for my training and the last 3 months I was crossing off goals, and nailing {almost} all of my weekly workouts. It was an incredible journey to the Marshall Marathon...it just didn't have the ending I had hoped for.

Present: Right now is all about recovery. Allowing myself to heal mentally and physically from the last 11 months of training. Most of the focus of my off season will be toward swimming and biking. My swim efficiency and form need some work, and biking is no where close to where it needs to be. {No surprise since I didn't learn to ride a bike until I started triathlon, even though my parents attempted to teach me} I look forward to the off season. I'm ready to gain strength and power and watch myself improve.

Future: At the moment, I do not know if a marathon will happen next year. I like to think it will, but I still need to discuss it with my coach and decided if/where it fits into my race schedule. I will be racing an Olympic Distance tri in May, Raleigh 70.3 in June and IMLP in July. Other than those races, the rest is yet to be set!

I have had an amazing journey through 2013. Overall I had a spectacular season. Many ups and downs along the way, but it's my lifestyle and I enjoy every day of it. I think if I always had great races, then I would never appreciate the accomplishment. Sometimes it takes tough training/race days to make the great ones feel amazing! After all, it's the high I feel that keeps me going!

Marshall Marathon Race Report

My idea of a race report is to write it as soon after the even as I can as to remember as many details as possible. I then later reflect on that race report periodically and learn more things about the race as the days and weeks go by. It has been no secret that my goal for November 10, 2013 was to qualify for the Boston Marathon by racing in under 3:35:00. This race was not my day, and while many have asked when the next one is, I do not have an answer. My body is ready for a break. I have not discussed with my coach another marathon at this time. I do not know if one will fit into next years race calendar or when during the year I feel is my best shot at qualifying. 

So here it is, my raw report. The same one that gets sent to my coach the day after the event when emotions are still running high, and many details are still fresh in my head. 

This was definitely the most inconsistent I've ran (mile to mile) during this training block. My morning was typical routine. Nothing different. There weren't as many runners as I had thought and not many pace groups so it was pretty easy to just line up at the 3:35 spot without many runners in front of me.

As soon as the gun went off everything seemed like total chaos. At first I felt too slow, then I felt too fast. I couldn't get into a rhythm and that's how the remainder of the day would go. There were more rollers during the race than I had anticipated. Even when trying to slow down my HR stayed through the roof. My legs felt like they weren't doing any work. The pace felt comfortable. I tried to force myself to hold back a few times but nothing was helping so I just went with the pace bc my legs felt OK and holding back wasn't helping.

Through the first half I felt great. Passed the half clock and saw 1:47:50. It felt perfect. From 13 to 14 I felt great I knew all I had to do was hold the same pace and I was golden. Somewhere shortly before mile 14 we turned a corner and I felt like I was running in place. I'd try to surge through, but end up dropping back bc I could barely keep my head up. I fought from 14-18 trying to calculate if I held back a little now that I could still make it up at the end. But the longer I went into the wind the worse I felt. Eventually my right hip flexor would start to hurt and I had stopped to stretch it a few times.

There was a point where I calculated how long I had left and knew I could run 8 miles in enough time if I really pushed it...unfortunately I then realized I had 9 miles left not 8. Heart broken!! Between 18-19 I had a mental battle that left my body with something to be desired. I was mentally quitting. At mile 19 I knew I had to suck it up. Quitting wasn't an option, and at that point (physically) suffering was not something I wanted to do since I was mentally beating myself up. I didn't want to risk tweaking any of the nagging pains I had so I decided to finish strong but not all out. It was rough. My body still didn't feel great, but I was able to semi-enjoy the last 10K and kind of look around.

I know I didn't race smart. I should have held back and tried to keep get my HR under control, and I also should have pushed harder during the second half and I still may have been able to pull something out toward the end. But I broke mentally and let the physical pains get to me.

I don't really have much good to say, even though I know I should. It wasn't my day. The weather was unexpected but I feel like I still should have been able to hold it together longer.