Awe shucks!  I got myself a sore throat this weekend and had to back out of my plans to run 30 miles….Darn 

When I woke up at 2:00am with a sore throat on Saturday I knew that I could be in for trouble if I didn’t take it easy this weekend.  Drag!  I had plans to volunteer for the whole morning at Project Homeless Connect, then get a 2 hour bike ride in, then wake up early on Sunday and run 30 miles with my coach. 

Well, my best laid plans went out the window again… So what I opted for instead was…….a weekend long session of the last season of LOST!  You see, I’d DVRed this whole season and had not seen one episode yet.  I have always liked watching 2 or 3 episodes in a row, rather than one weekly.  Usually I”ll begin watching LOST over the summer when there is nothing else on TV. 

Boo hoo...the final season

Since this Sunday was the final episode of the whole series, and I had nothing to do but lay low and lay on the couch, plus I didn’t want to come into work on Monday and have the finale spoiled for me….I watched all 12 or so season 6 episodes in two days…just in time for the finale last night!

What a finale!  We’ve been talking about it non-stop at work today.  Mixed feelings about being satisfied with the ending.  Personally, I love it!  I thought they did a great job and did justice to the show and the fans.    How I will miss catching glimpses of Sawyers abs………

How we shall miss ye!

So there ya have it!  A full weekend of training from the couch (although I did get an hour spin on the trainer in on Sunday). 

LOST  you will be missed!

Here’s something I thought about this weekend as I was taking my dog for a walk around the neighborhood. 

Do you ever think about what life would be like to NOT be a triathlete?

I had that thought.  You see over the weekend I had two days off from training.  Yeap, two whole days!  It was incredible.  I slept in until 7:45 both mornings, had a leisurely breakfast and went about my day at a slow pace.  I parked my car in the garage Friday night and didn’t get back into it until Monday morning.  I didn’t have to go anywhere or meet anyone for two glorious days!

One of the things I’ve learned about my needs over the past two years of triathloning (is that a word?) is every once in a while I need one weekend day as a rest day.  This helps me get caught up on stuff around the house and I also end up feeling like I had a real day off. Usually my rest days are during the week when I’m working….so yes, they are rest days from training, but not a “day off”.

So as I lay around in my pj’s and watched some tv while I tended to chores I started to envy people who don’t do triathlons. 

Ahhh.....The Average Jane Athlete Life

“How Outrageous!” you might say to yourself.  But I did.  I actually started to miss the time when I was just an average “Jane”.  Where all I would do was go lift weights 2-3 times a week for an hour, and then do some type of cardio 3-4 days a week.   Life was sooo simple then.  I had plenty of free time, I had weekends to lay around, I had time to read a book……you get the picture.

When I put it in those terms, I have to ask myself – why in the world would I want to put myself through the paces and training of being a triathlete and an long distance triathlete at that?

As I sit here writing this the one phrase that keeps coming to mind is- because I get to push myself!   With pushing myself I get to expand myself.  I get to know myself better.  I get to face my insecurities.  I get to see just what I’m made of!

A friend came over and brought lunch on Saturday.  As we were talking she said that she didn’t think her body would be capable of doing  the mileage that I do in my training.  My response was, “you don’t know until you try.”  See, I had no idea I could run 30 miles or bike 100′s of miles.  But if I had not tried I would not have known.  If I had just accepted my fears and not pushed through my insecurities I would never have known that I am capable of running 30+ miles or of finishing an Ironman.

While I secretly may envy the average Joe and Jane athlete….in my heart I am an endurance junkie!  I want to continue to see “what I’m made of”.  I want to expand my idea of myself.  I want to continue to push through my insecurities.  I want to explore the land untraveled…..

And while it may sound inviting to be an average “Jane” athlete again the truth is, I really do like the millions of hours of training I do.  I love seeing what I’m made of.  I love (ok Like) facing my fears and self doubts….I continue to be committed to Going The Distance.

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?

I just completed my first Ironman at the inaugural Ironman Cozumel  (IMCZ).

I had an incredible experience both before, during and after the race.  I would like to share some of the things I did that I believe helped me have such a successful race…..

1. Plan to arrive in Cozumel no later than Wednesday before the Sunday race!     This is important for acclimatization!  I had no problems with the humidity and heat!  Also, I had no problems with my bike arriving with me.  Some people who flew on Thanksgiving day had their bikes come in on Friday due to all the people traveling with bikes that day…Those that arrived Friday had problems with the heat and humidity race day.

2.  Stay at the FIESTAMERICANA!  This hotel is right next to the swim start; it’s away from town; the service is excellent and the food is great (and safe). Also, request your room on the 6th floor.  Maria is the housekeeper for that floor and she is so sweet and does a wonderful job! 

3. Get some Hammer  LIQUID ENDURANCE.    It is designed to help when racing in the heat.  I drank this for 3 days before the race, and believe this also helped me to not have problems with the heat on race day.

4.  Swim in a SPEED SUIT.   There are small jelly fish which can bite you in the water.  They don’t hurt, just annoying afterwards.  I swam in my sports bra, swim suit and speed suit.  After the swim I then changed into my race outfit for the rest of the race and did not have any problems with bites.

5.  START THE SWIM in front of the dock.  The best place to start the swim is in front of the dock on some netting that is there.  You can hang on the netting and not have to tread water.  Plus you are in the front.  I started in the front and had a great swim!

5.  Ride in the WIND.  I know we don’t like to do it…but ride your 100 milers in the wind as much as possible.  I did 5 self supported centuries in a windy valley….and found that come race day the wind on the east side of the island did not bother me at all!

6. Race in your RACE WHEELS.  I raced in my 404′s and they were perfect.  I ended up passing a lot of people who used their regular wheels and 808′s are probably too big….but a wheel the same size as Zipp 404′s are just right!

7.  Use BUG SPRAY for the RUN.  If you are like me and will be running at dusk, make sure you put on plenty of mosquito repellent before you head out on the run.  The mosquitoes are out only at dusk and once it’s dark they’re gone

8.  POUR WATER on your head and legs at every  run aide station.  There are aide stations on the run every 1 km.  At every aide station I grabbed a water- took a sip; poured some on each leg; poured some on my head; then took another sip.  This worked perfect for hydration and for keeping my body cool!

9.  Run in NEWTON RUNNING SHOES.  I ran in my Newton Universal Distance Racers.  My legs never fatigued and these shoes helped propel me forward to my first Ironman finish!

10.  Use  SPORTS QUEST PRODUCTS!  I swear by Sports Quest’s products. I have been using them for over 1 year and always notice a difference in my energy increasing and fatique decreasing.  I religiously take their Recover, Vantage and Thermolytes EVERY hour when training long hours and on this IRONMAN.  I know these products made the difference in me not being fatiqued and not having any problems with electrolyte/sodium levels!

11.  ENJOY THE DAY.  Make sure you enjoy your day.  The crowds and the beauty of the island are amazing. 

12.  Brush up on your SPANISH.  If you speak some Spanish, brush up on it so you can enjoy chatting with all athletes and locals. It make for an added bonus to the day and to your stay.

13.  Stay and RECOVER IN COZUMEL.  Stay for at least 3 days after the race.  There is NO better way to recover than sitting on the beach and swimming in the ocean.  You can also finally enjoy the wonderful cuisine and beverages!

I heard from athletes who have done other Ironmans that this was one of the best venues they’ve raced.  I heard from spectators it was one of the best venues for spectating.

I have no other Ironman to compare this to…but all I can say- is I can never imagine a better location to do an Ironman…especially for the whole family!  If you are even thinking about doing an Ironman I HIGHLY recommend Cozumel!!!!

Last Sunday I was scheduled to do my first bike ride in the mountains of the season. Not a super challenging ride, but a good one to start off with…..

I woke up that morning and the thing I really wanted to do was to crawl back in bed. But I got my stuff together and met my friend for the ride…..Still wanting to go back home and crawl into bed.

I thought how sometimes I feel this way but once I get going I start to come around and get moving just fine….Well this Sunday that was not the case.

I started off the easy- I mean easy “climb” up Deer Creek to the turnoff for High Grade. A few miles into the ride I was in my “granny gear”, I’m talkin “granny gear” with a triple front ring….and I was still struggling with that! I had absolutely NOTHING in me. When I got to High Grade I decided I should cut my losses and turn around and call it a day……Which is exactly what I did.

I got home and crawled into bed for a 1 hour nap….and woke up feeling a bit under the weather.
I talked to Coach Andrea and we decided I should take Monday off and play it day by day.

Well, with the way I felt Monday I made the executive decision to take 3 full days off….and to NOT feel guilty about it. I have slept in, not trained, eaten well, slept extra hours, enjoyed doing nothing and did I mention, slept?

Today is Wednsday, and I also took today off work. I slept 12 hours straight! It was wonderful to not have to wake up at any particular time…..I have relaxed and the most I did today was write this blog. Now that’s what I call a rest day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am somewhat feeling like I’m ready to get back to training, but I’m going to listen to my body. I have been going at it hard for over a year now, and have never taken 3 days off in a row…..and I may take another day off if that’s what my body is telling me tomorrow.

Learning to listen to your body is part of training. We work on our bodies, our nutrition and we have to work on our recovery too. My body spoke loud and clear on Sunday and I am glad I listened. I have a long season a head….all the way through November. 3 or more days off right now may be just what I need…actually- I know it is.

So here’s to taking a time out and being ok with that decision