This morning as I was getting ready to go to work I thought about how much time and effort it takes just to get ready for the day.  See, this being a triathlete stuff can have it’s challenges outside of the actual workouts. 

Take for example today.  I got up at 5:30 so I could leave the house by 7:30.  Now you might be shaking your head thinking- “Shoot- this crazy triathlon chick must take forever to get dressed and put her makeup on!” …..WRONG!   That part takes me about 20 minutes…..Now you’re wondering- “So what the heck takes sooooo long???”  Well, let me explain-

I get up in the morning make some tea and start the process of packing ALL my food for the day.  Yeap- that’s what takes so long.  I first put together my lunch (today was a large salad, tuna fish, apple); a snack (celery, guac, turkey); breakfast (Paleo pancake, berries, spinach & canadian bacon)…….

Add to that- today following work I go straight to Peak to Peak Performance Center for a Computrainer class.  This adds some time due to packing Pre and Post workout food (banana and hard boiled egg Pre;  juice & protein powder Post). 

My food for the day

Alright- I’ve got ALL my food for the day- now to pack my gear!  Today this means putting my TT Bike in the car (dear Ol Black Betty!) and grabbing my cycling shoes and clothes.  Oh yeah- did I mention I’m going to lift weights at the gym during lunch??? I better pack those clothes too!!  And don’t forget to bring socks!!  (I don’t know how many times I’ve forgotten this little article of clothing).

So there you have it!  All that takes a good hour for me to get together!  And now you are probably thinking- “well why doesn’t she just get everything ready the night before?”.  And here’s the why….I workout at night or have bodywork done and get home about 8:00pm and need to eat and then like to be in on my way to sleep by 9:30…And let’s be honest-  I love my veg-out time with some tv-   plus, I’m much more of a morning person and my eyelids start shutting at 9:00 anyway!

Now, one thing I do for my meal pre that helps a TON is I prepare all my food for the week on Sunday evenings.  This week I baked  spaghetti squash, a pork loin, Jenni-O turkey breast, and some Paleo cookies.  Then I cooked about 3 lbs of asparagus, some brussel sprouts,  1 lb of zucchini and yummy spaghetti sauce with ground beef.  I then made 5 Paleo Pancakes for breakfast all through the week…..All of this took me about 2 hours total to prepare.  Can you imagine how much longer the mornings would take me if I didn’t do this on Sundays???!!!!

Nutrition plays a very important role in being a triathlete.  About this time last year I was eating whatever I wanted.  I was having muffins, eating out a lot, you name it.   As I got closer to my first Ironman I began to realized that eating “clean” made a difference with my big workouts I was doing.  If I ate muffins and ate out frequently- my performance while training suffered.  If I ate clean- I had much more power and endurance during my long hours training. 

Since last summer, I’m convinced that eating clean and preparing all my food to take with me, is key to maintaining the level of training that I strive for.  I use to fool myself into thinking it didn’t matter- but it does.  What I put in my mouth effects my workouts…..And even though it would be easier to stop by Starbuck to grab breakfast, and Chipolte for lunch- this just doesn’t work for me.  It may for some, but I would challenge that as I use to believe it worked for me too.  Today- not so much!

So- I’ll get off work today- train- get up early and pack my meals for the day-go to Masters-head to work- and continue daily with my morning routine……And by the way, just out of curiosity- What’s your morning routine?????

Yesterday I did my first big run since Ironman. On tap was to run 26 miles from downtown Littleton to downtown Golden. The reward was to be a yummy buffalo burger at Table Mountain Inn.

We had an alpine start at 10:00am. The sky was clear, the sun was out and the temps were forecasted for the 40’s. The first crew consisted of Coach Andrea, Delinda, Janette and yours truely. We took off heading south on the South Platte trail into Chatefield Resevior. We found some single track and ran the dirt as much as possible.

The Runnin Gals

About 5 miles after we started we were in Chatfield and it was time for Delinda and Janette to turn around and head back. That left just Andrea and I to carry on.
We headed onto the bike path along C-470 headed to Golden. We pulled the big hill out of the res and had a bit of a downhill as we started our gradual accent to Morrison.  It was nice to be running with Andrea since we hadn’t done anything together for ages.  That’s one of the nice things about a super long run….you can talk while your running!

I was feeling really good and strong.  I was suprised by how quickly we passed Wadsworth Blvd and got to Kipling.  It was around here that Andrea started to have IT band problems.   She told me to not wait for her and to continue with my run and we would meet up in a bit.

With that- I was off.  I had the bestest, bestest run ever!  I was feeling strong and just rockin to my own rythym.  I tried to remember to stay in “proper” form- something I constantly work on seeing as I was never a runner in a past life. 

Something that has helped my running is an article I read in Triathlon Mag about this guy who ran a 10K with his dog tied around his waist.  He wrote this helped put him on his forefoot better and he PRed by 5 minutes.  When my puppy was young (he’s approaching 15 yrs) and I ran with him I would tie his leash around my waist.  As I ran yesterday- I remembered what that felt like and found I ran much better and faster!  I was leaning forward from my core and not my chest…..I just love it when some “que” helps me with my form…..

There I was, running and running and next thing I know I’m about to drop down into Bear Creak Lake Park.  I called Sharon and told her I was about 30 minutes from the Conoco Station in Morrison (we ALL know that landmark!).  I ran through the park, crossed the street, and there was Sharon waiting to join me for my last 8 miles!  My garmin read 18.8 miles and I figured I had at least 8 more to go until Golden.

I filled my water bottles, ate, and hit the road with Sharon at my side.  Now this is where it got HARD!  That 20 minute break did me IN!  See once you leave the Conoco station there’s this lovely, long (did I mention long?) hill to climb….and needless to say- I was having a tough time getting my groove back.  I tried and I tried….and I tried….the hill was tough.   We finally made it to the top and we were able to enjoy some downhill.

Running with Sharon was such a treat.  She talked and kept me occupied while we ran towards Golden.  I know if she had not joined me for this last push- I would have been miserable.  She kept me entertained and we had some nice conversations when I wasn’t sucking air! 

Sharon helped me a great bit.  One thing she pointed out twice to me as we were about half way to Golden was that I was running “tight”.  I realized because things (my legs) were starting to hurt (after 20 miles on concrete), I was shortening my stride and not moving freely any longer.  This was a great help!!!  Not that I did much about it at the time, but now- looking back- I can see that I will be able to move more freely when I’m starting to hurt!  Running “tight” serves no purpose and actually hurts more!

We meandered the bike path and then…..there we were!   At “The Taj” (Jefferson County Court House).  Yippeeeee!!!  I was so excited.  Just a few more miles and we would be in downtown Golden!!  Only thing between us and Golden was a few long rollers on the bike path….WE COULD DO IT!  I looked at my Garmin and my mileage read 26.6 miles.  I had already hit my planned mileage…but with Golden just a few more miles away…I had to do it!

Why did I have to do it???  For the Buffalo Burgers of course.  We were planning on meeting Andrea and Steve at Table Mountain Inn which serves the best Buffalo Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries you could ever eat…seriously!  So, we ran the rest of the way into Golden walking down Washington St for the cool down, and then through the blue doors to our much anticipated reward for a day well spent.

We chowed down on our burgers and then made our way home….all in all it was a fabulous day- spent with wonderful, supportive friends.   And yes- running 28 miles for a buffalo burger is definitely worth it!!!!!

The Buffalo Burger!!!

Well, I’m officially in my third week of  “weighting”!  I’ve made it for two weeks….Through Christmas and everything without getting off track!

BreakRoom Treats

All those delicious cookies and cakes sitting in our breakroom at work…Didn’t even tempt me!  How cool is that!  Although today I walked in there and thought I’d walked into a bakery/candy shop.  It was a virtual smorgesboard of delectable, mouth watering treats.  My gaze fondly caressed the Blondie Brownies and I had to say to myself  “Nope-Ain’t worth it”.  I got my butt out of there QUICK like!

Not the dreaded scale

I got on the scale yesterday morning and found I had lost only .8 lbs….I was kinda discouraged.  I called my Medifast Coachand we discussed the upcoming week.  I had been hungry all the time last week, and as she expected I had not been consuming enough calories…and therefore didn’t lose much weight this week.  We adjusted my meal plan for more calories and took into consideration the fact that I would begin increasing my training. 

Although I was a bit disappointed- I didn’t get too bummed out.  I have noticed in the past week that my body compositon has changed.  Places on my body (like the back of my arms and legs) have much less “fat’ on them!  I am close to two notches smaller on my belts….and my jeans are looser out of the wash!  I know I am making progess to getting leaner and that really is my main goal in all this….leaner and lighter!

So, dispite the dreaded scale not telling me I’d lost close to 3 lbs again…I’m ok with the fact that my body is changing and getting leaner.  I am going to continue to follow the meal plan outlined by Terry.  I trust that this will give me the results I want….if I do the work.  Hummmm…funny that theme seems to come up a lot in an Ironman’s life 

I hope to report more positive results next Monday when I weigh in again…..I’m feeling good physically and mentally.  I’m not missing all the holiday foods and am actually glad I decided to do this during this time.  One thing for sure is I’m not gaining the dreaded 5-10 lbs from the holidays….

I had heard and read about this thing that supposedly happens to triathletes after they finish an Ironman called Post IronMan Depression or PIMD.

There is suppose to be this big let down afterwards. I mean you’ve trained you’re butt off for close to one year, foregoing all relationships and forgetting about sleeping in until 7:00 on the weekends.

You’re constantly on the go either working or training. You’re life becomes defined by the last big workout you did and competing in an Ironman.

The let down can be huge, leading to depression. Next can come lethargy and the inability to motivate for any type of workout. And heck, while you’re at it, all those delicious foods you abstained from while training, you might as well start enjoying again.

And so the cycle begins…depression, no exercise, bad food choices…and then more depression.

PIMD - Say it ain't so!

So what’s a (newly) ordained Ironman to do?

I don’t know about anybody else but I can tell you what I’ve done to stave off  PIMD.  I gave myself some goals…..

1.  Sign up for next seasons Ironman.  About 3 months before Ironman Cozumel, I signed up for my second IM.  Not knowing if I would actually like this Ironman stuff, but pretty sure I was going to….

2.  Lose some FAT.  After training for a year, and never having the opportunity to restrict calories to reduce my weight in fat…Two weeks post IM I have begun a “diet” to drop fat during this down time.  After consulting with my sports nutritionist and coach, it was unannomous that this would be my only opportunity to do this.

3.  Embrace and Enjoy a month of no serious/planned training.  Since I had decided to restrict calories and now was the best time to relax on my training plan- I have opted to enjoy my friends, movies, sleeping in until 7:00 on the weekends, no 5:00 am Masters swims….you get the picture.  I just wake up and do a half to full hour of  WHATEVER I WANT!  How fun is that!  And the key here…is 6 days a week I do some type of exercise.

4.  Plan an early season Race. Get your first race of the season on the calendar.  I am kicking off 2010 with Rage Long Course Triathlon.  They will have two qualifiying spots per age group for the Worlds Long Course Team.  Now this is movitating me tremendously!  I am motivated to stay motivate!  I am motivated to lose fat!  I am motivated to kick butt when I get back to serious training in January…..You get the picture.

5. Try a New Sport- or get back to an Old Favorite.  I was an avid rock climber for 15 years, many years ago.  I say that climbing is my first love yet I haven’t taken time to climb in about 7 years.  So, in this down time I have dusted off my climbing harness and shoes and gotten out to the climbing gym.  It’s great cross training and I’m hoping to keep it in my training plan once January rolls around.

I have been able to stave off PIMD.  I’m over 3 weeks post Ironman and have not felt depressed nor unmotivate.  Actually, I am really looking forward to January 1st and getting back into serious training.  I have embraced this month off and looked for ways to use this time to my advantage…plus having the goal of qualifiying for Worlds is really, really motivating me!!!!

Don’t know if this will help anyone, but I hope it can….I know this game plan has kept me positive and hopefully lighter at the end of it all!

I made it through week one of weighting and it paid off….2.8 lbs lost in the first week!  Thank goodness for that….

Jumped on the scale this morning scared $hitle$$ that I when I looked down I would see the same numbers staring back at me.  The numbers never seemed to change over the past year, no matter how many miles I ran, biked, swam….But today I struck gold…..The numbers changed and they changed to smaller numbers! 

I’ve been following the Medifast Plan  and it seems to be working for me.  I have never found something so easy and healthy to do.  I don’t have to think about 5-6 meals and how many calories vs carbs vs protien….just grab the meals and go…..Plus I get one huge meal with 7oz protien and veggies. 

The first three days were tough, with the headaches and such, but by the fourth day I was feeling good again. 

One of the things about reducing calories is I have reduced my amount of training.  Ok, I shouldn’t call it training because I’m basically doing 30 minutes of whatever I want every day.  How cool is that?  I get to do what ever I feel like doing for exercise and I need to keep it to 30 minutes for the first two weeks. 

So far, I’m enjoying the food, enjoying the reduced exercize load and loving the results……….I’ll let you know how it goes next Monday!

I don’t know about the rest of you athletes….but I have this problem with self image.  I recently got my pictures from Ironman Cozumel and when I looked at them all I could see is where I was “fat”. 

Granted I also focus on the fact that my body has carried me through 100’s of miles swimming, biking and running.  For that I thank my body tremendously.  But I still end up feeling betrayed.  Why can’t I have one of those ripped, lean athletic type bodies? 

Basically for the 4 months leading up to Ironman I ditched my scale.  No matter how much I trained the scale always read 130 lbs.  “So, that’s not bad”,  you might say-but you see, I’m only 5′2″.  I would get depressed any time I stood on a scale and end up feeling like a fat cow.  Therefore I ditched my scale for many months.  This was helpful as I could feel my body composition change, but I knew I was not losing weight.

And then there was the taper to  Ironman….and then the recovery after Ironman.  Well, you read about watching your food intake during the taper- and I did that….But then you find yourself  lying on the beach in Mexico for a few days post Ironman, finally enjoying the local cuisine….and BLAMO….the weight starts creeping up on ya.  Plus- you’re taking it easy on training and enjoying a month of leisure and “down time”.   So what’s a girl (athlete) to do?????

Go on a one month weightloss program!  Yeap, that’s what I decided to do.  I am currently 2 days into the Medifast Program.   

I have been wanting to lose 5-8 lbs for one year now and never had any luck.  There is that whole thing of making sure you are giving your body what it needs to complete the next workout. So, after talking with my coach and a nutritionist who helped me with dialing in my Ironman nutrition- both of them gave me the green light to go ahead and take the next month to focus on losing some weight (fat).  And I couldn’t agree more!

After training for almost 2 years straight with out any real “down time” I am gamed for taking 1 month of some lighter training and focusing on cutting back on calories.  I have not been very successful at limiting my calories on my own…plus doing it in a way that I don’t lose muscle.  After hearing from a few friends who have done Medifast and how successful they were with it, I decided to give Terry  from Medifast  a call.  After a discussion of goals and how this program would work given my athletic endeavours we decided that Medifast would be a fit for me.  Especially because this program focuses on losing fat and keeping your muscle!

So far I’m liking the program….OK…kinda liking it.  I mean who really wants to limit their caloric intake and types of food  :)   Terry warned me the first 3 days would be tough and I may not feel great, but by the 4th day when my body switches to burning fat, I will feel good again!  As you can imagine day 2 was all about the headache….today- day 3 is better but not great yet.

I’m in this for the month.  No cheating, slacking or quiting.  I really want to go into next season lighter as I am hoping to place in some events for qualifying positions in 2010.  From what I’ve heard being 5 lbs lighter can make a big difference.  I’ve taken some before pictures and if all goes well I might actually post them with the after pictures…..

Weighting and Recovery…..that what’s my recovery period post Ironman is going to be…weighting!  Any one else gamed?

The end of February found me “celebrating” a little too much. I just had a birthday and there where a few parties at work during lunch hour….hence a lot of sweets and food….
So what does this have to do with eating to train???

Looking back on the last two weeks for Feb. I see that I was Training To Eat. What that means is I was eating everything and anything…because I deserved it for training “so” hard. I was eating muffins, cakes, cookies, mochas, chips….you name it. All those foods that I normally stay far away from (ok-maybe not tortilla chips as much-they’re my fav!). I had this mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted because I was burning so many calories. Especially following my second 25 milers- as I knew my training workload dropped a bit…..

Well, by the end of those two weeks I found myself 4 pounds heavier and going into my Saturday Brick Workout sluggish as all heck. That was the morning of 27 degree bike ride and run.

I was DRAGGING beyond anything I could have imagined! I was riding slowly- but it felt HARD! My heart rate was way up and my perceived effort was high even though I was barely moving 14 MPH….. As I watched the group pull far ahead of me- I reflected on what was going on with me that day…

What became clear to me as I struggled through the ride- was that I had been Training To Eat rather than EATING TO TRAIN!

I could absolutely tell the difference between when I eat healthy so I can fuel my next workout- and when I just eat whatever because I have trained so hard! It’s BS to think I can eat whatever- I can’t! I’m an athlete and whatever I put into my mouth will affect my next workout or worse yet- workouts!

After that lovely brick workout I got back on the “wagon”. I spent some time thinking about the difference between Training to Eat and Eating to Train. It’s been a week now- I already feel slimmer; my tummy’s not bloated; my energy is better; my training is better; I just feel better overall!

Eating To Train needs to be my lifestyle for the next year. I can’t indulge in sweets and over the top foods- I have a goal- and to take my eye off that goal, for even a full day- really affects how I will be able to train!

Not only do I have to complete all the workouts my coach has for me- but I HAVE to EAT TO TRAIN. I know I use the words “have to”, but this is really a choice- I choose to train and eat properly….because I love it! And because the only way I will get to the start of IRONMAN is if I am consistent over the next 8 months! Caz- I’m in it for the long haul baby!