Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August 1, 2013

Ironman Lake Placid RR: 26.2 mile run

( source ) I wish there was a way to make the Ironman Lake Placid run course come to life as it was not easy and this profile does not do this course any justice. When a race director tells you that if this was a standard marathon, no one would sign up, you know you are in for a fun day if you signed up for a challenge. Oh - I have an idea. Take a hammer, start banging it on your quads and then when you can't take the pain anymore, keep doing it until you see a finish line in front of you with permission to stop the torture. Now you can feel what this course is like. Only kidding....well, not really.  There are great runners and then there are great triathletes. To be a great triathlete, you must be able to execute with your swim-bike-run body and have the mental strength to quite the voices in your head that make you think a million things besides the feeling of "easy" on race day. Regardless of your prior fitness as a triathlete, when you plan to compl

Simple tips for an uncomplicated life

A few tips for a more balanced day:  -Aim for 60 minutes of movement today (any way you like it, split up or at once) -Snack on fruits and veggies  -Surround yourself with people who give you energy, not take it away from you -Be motivated by your personal goals that are meaningful and realistic, not by what others are doing and what you feel others expect you to do. -Eat to be satisfied, fueled and nourished. Focus on a plant strong meal that is balanced with whole grains (1/2 - 1 cup) or high fiber starch (~30-50g carbs) +  20-30g of protein + enough healthy fat to make the meal taste great and hold you over (~7-15g).  -Work on a good, better, best system. Don't try to be your best right now if you are just making good choices. Accept the patience that is needed to make small changes that will last a lifetime.  -Learn to love new things in life. Not much is easy the first time you do it, especially if you want it to change you.  -Snack with a pu

The patient and mentally strong athlete - revisited

Do you want the perfect life?  Life is not perfect. Healthy individuals get cancer, cyclists are an annoyance to drivers, employees who work less get paid more than you and when everything seems to be running smoothly, life happens and you feel unbalanced.  So what you can desire in life, is the ability to want the most out of your life. You can define your own definition of the perfect life by one that is consistent and involves a lot of hard work, growth and reflection.  Today I officially registered for the 2013 Ironman World Championship  in Kona Hawaii. This will be my 3rd experience on the big island, racing amongst the best (and most inspiring) age group and professional triathletes in the world. I will be arriving October 7th and departing October 15th. All the logistics of traveling are settled and all I have left to do is prepare my body and mind for my 7th Ironman. Nine weeks of another Ironman journey. Thank you body. One of my favorite parts of sharing my j

Ironman Lake Placid RR: 112 mile bike

There's really no way to know what to expect during the bike portion of a race, until you are actually on the course...on race day. Karel and I always do our homework before races so we watched lots of Youtube videos and read other links describing the Lake Placid course to better understand how to properly train and race in Lake Placid. Of course, every individual has their own opinion of a course as those of us from Florida will describe the mountains much differently than a local. Many people have asked me how we train for hilly courses since we live in flat Florida and my first response is always that we love to climb. If you don't love climbing, there is no need to seek out challenging, hilly courses for the mind is not going to be on the bodies side during the race when the legs are burning and the mind says "why are you doing this?" But what we do have is wind...lots of it. For every ride that we do, our legs never stop unless we stop the bike and put our

Fruity pancakes

Is it really true that my body did an Ironman just 7 days ago? I am continuing with my no-sick/illness streak which started around 2007 (or earlier), my mind is fresh and the body is not experiencing any residual fatigue. Now this wasn't the case after my first two Ironman's when it took me a good 3 weeks to feel normal again but for the past few years, my quality approach to training is a combination of going into my endurance races hungry to race but also not overtrained so that I can bounce back quickly in order to function well in life soon after a race. Also, a good daily diet and sport nutrition regime assists in optimal training, racing and recovery. This week has been easy in terms of taking it easy because I feel no pressure to rush back into training. The only thing that is a little off is still my sleeping which I am going to bed about 60-90 minutes later than normal at night (but then again, my life is super busy all day so if I am not training, my mind is ofte

Ironman Lake Placid RR: 2.4 mile swim

2.4 mile swim Back in Feb 2013, I traveled to Utah with Oakley Women  for a product testing trip on the beautiful snowy mountains at Snowbird resort.  As a swimmer all my life, I would consider myself more of a fish than a snow bunny but I am all about trying new things. I have had the opportunity to snowboard several times in my life and I always love the challenge of strapping in my feet and gliding down a mountain. But if I were to race in snowboarding, I wouldn't do very well and probably would be too scared to start. I could probably improve my skills if I snowboarded more often, worked with an experienced instructor and developed a passion for snow more than water, but I will be honest and say that I am not a great snowboarder and I am just happy with my ability to have fun and get down a mountain in one piece (although sometimes with a sore butt afterwards).  In life, we have many opportunities to step outside of our comfort zone but like most people,