Down with the Sickness

You know that song? It is a heavy metal song...pretty hard rock song- by a band called Disturbed. Yes, I listen to it sometimes. When I am running or cycling really hard- something I was not doing this week. Because, I was literally down- with a bad sickness. A head cold from you know where. I haven't been this sick in- I don't know when. It knocked me out after my race 2 weekends ago. I raced hard- then, trained hard the week after..started feeling bad last Friday...and then the beginning of this week was a blur. I had to get antibiotics on Tuesday morning. I have a Z-pack and now I am on my 5th day tomorrow. Today, I feel like a new woman. It is amazing just how much better you feel after you feel sooo bad. I don't ever remember feeling this good! When I woke up Thursday and felt like I wanted to walk to the bathroom rather than just stay in bed and pee my pants, I knew I was turning a corner. I single-handedly filled up the Recycling container outside my house with gatorade and water bottles from the week. I went through 2 over the counter day AND night cold pill boxes. And, my favorite- the Sudafed you get with your license behind the counter- that stuff makes you feel like super woman! In all honesty, you have to truly appreciate your health when you have it. I feel like it is easy to go too hard when you are a very good athlete because sometimes you don't know what it feels like to feel "fresh." Most times you are always recovering. Your legs are always a bit heavy. Your shoulders are a bit tight. Your feet are always a bit sore. I don't know that I have ever felt completely fresh- even when I am tapering for an Ironman, you still feel ways to feel a bit "off." But, when you are training and you might be feeling like you are getting a bit sick, some things to take notice of are: 1. Scratchy throat 2. Tough to finish workouts that you can normally do easily 3. Overheating 4. Increased thirst 5. If you are wearing a HR monitor, a higher HR 6. Hard to fall asleep 7. Decreased appetite I can go on...but these cues are the things that helped cue me in to my sickness- which was basically, acute bronchitis. I know that I got hit pretty hard with this, but it wouldn't have been as bad if I didn't train as hard when I felt these things above. I let it go for a few days, and then the cold came to a head. Some things you can do to prevent this are simple: eat well, get enough sleep, and recover when you feel like you need. Listen to your body. It is that easy. If you are training, want to train, or hoping that your training gets better, take care of yourself. Hydrate- fuel your body with good food, and make sure your rest is quality. Now go train hard!

Living Your Best Life

I had the opportunity the other day to train a new client who had walked into our gym about a week ago needing a trainer. You can tell he was "older," but definitely walked straight and had a youthful smile. I asked him if he had a preference for a male or female trainer and he said I "looked alright to him." We made an appointment to meet in a few days and we had our first workout Monday. We started with a physical questionnaire- and he answered questions about his 2 biggest issues: 1. The fact that he hadn't worked out in 2 years 2. He recently had a pacemaker put in 1.5 months ago, not because he needed it but because he has super low resting heart rate and his doctor advised it. I asked him his DOB- and his year read, 1929. Yes, he is 83 years old- or years young. I was floored. He is 6'1, Greek, has a tan that most people would die to have, and a sweet smile. He was asking me questions, like what I do for a workout and what kind of foods are ok for his diet. He knows he eats super healthy. He eats a "greek" diet and his Scottish wife cooks him only the best foods possible. He watches his heart health all of the time. He has drank 1/2 bottle of red wine a night. He asked if it was ok that he did that. I said, "why not?". It's amazing what you can learn from an experienced athlete. He asked me about the Ironman and he said he could finish 1- might take him 2 weeks, but he thought he could do it. He had quit working out at the SB Athletic Club because it was too hard to get the racquetball courts anymore- he played for over 50 years. His dream is to get back on the court. I knew it was his first workout with me that day in a while, and he hadn't been walking much, so I am thinking in my head how to get him to this goal. A 1 mile walk easy on the treadmill was the best start. After our warm up walk, he was ready to go and do some band work. We did some mobility assessment- I couldn't believe his squat. It was the absolute best squat anyone has ever done for me over the age of 80. His lunge needs some work- and his left side of his upper body is a bit weak, but he will definitely show some growth. The best part of my day, at the end of the workout- he said that was the best thing he had done for his body in 2 years. That made me super excited. I wish all of my clients felt that way. I will see him next week for sure! Have a great day- and a great workout! Coach E

How Are You Doing? Really? I had a great discussion with a friend the other day about “knowing yourself” and truly understanding what you want and need out of life- and how those can be vastly different, yet close to the same. I started making an easy list of what the things are I want and need- objective and subjective. I came up with this…(I’m ok sharing…) WANT: 1. New Tri bike 2. World Peace 3. My Family to be safe always 4. My Friends to be safe always 5. Where my job is going to take me in 30 years 6. To Fall in Love 7. Sunshine everyday 8. More free time to spend at the grocery store 9. A bigger kitchen so I can cook and get fat ☺ 10. A Vitamix 11. A killer coffee maker NEED: 1. Air to breath 2. Food 3. Coffee everyday…not really picky where That’s about it right now. In the 10 minutes I gave myself to make these lists. I really don’t need much more and it feels good to say that. I am sure I need a few more things…shelter, perhaps a boyfriend ?!?, a new wetsuit…but, I feel grossly content in my life. I told my friend that spoke a lot about what “he wanted”, but when I asked him what he NEEDED, he honestly couldn’t tell me that. We are still talking and conversing about it and it makes for some really good topics at times during our talks. I always feel like I want to explore this more for myself and see if I can even get my NEED list smaller (maybe change the coffee to water! :☺ In the meantime, as the Rolling Stones say, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want, You Get What You Need.”

You Gotta Start Somewhere...

Ok, so I started Yoga this year for the first time, ever- in my 34 years...Yoga on a regular (2-3 times a week basis). I never thought I would a. have time for it b. like it enough to do it more than once c. see the benefits of it d. (most importantly) have the patience to stick with it for an entire hour. I have noticed all of these benefits in fact and have enjoyed it immensely. I love getting my friends to come with me and TRY it out and see their potential in the movements. It is a wonderful practice and I like to think that everyone can benefit from it. I like to think of Yoga as a challenge to myself to have started SOMEWHERE. We all have to start somewhere. We wake up and start the day not necessarily knowing where it will take us. It is exciting and sometimes can be scary for some. Even I (who is super positive most of the time) have had THOSE DAYS. The best way to get excited about something you don't want to face is to just do it. Just get it moving. Put your shoes on. Brush your teeth. Fake it until you have to. It will come...and perhaps, even bigger and better than you thought. So, this picture- this was the USA triathlon age group national race at Hagg Lake outside Portland Oregon. My uncle took this photo upon my race start that day. Every tri starts with this peaceful entry into water- one of the most abundant, graceful, friendly element you can ever think of throwing your body while you anxiously start a physically demanding day. I always smile at the irony of it. You are about to get your heart rate up to 90% of your max for the next hour or two and you are going to start it with a nice, easy dive into this fresh water. I love it! That is what life is about. So, go submerge yourself into something peaceful and do so with a recklessly fun abandon. We all have to start somewhere!

To Do It List

I was trying to get to sleep last night- and, mind you, I never have to "try": I hit the pillow and I'm out. I never remember falling asleep. But, I had a lot on my mind last night. It was all good- the things I was thinking about. My thoughts included: 1. What I was going to do for my volleyball athletes in the morning for the 2 sessions I had planned from 9-12pm 2. When I was going to fit in my 3 hour triathlon brick workout and whether or not I was going to do it indoors 3. What I was going to eat for breakfast and what I was going to have for recovery 4. When I was going to set this blog up 5. When I was going to do laundry 6. When I was going to call my mom 7. When I was going to send out the emails about my summer volleyball camps 8. When I was going to look at the course map for the race this coming weekend 9. When I was going to swim 10. What I was going to do for dinner.... The list goes on. For some reason, this list was what I had in my head IN BED last night. Weird! But, I did solve most of these "thoughts" by tonight, by 9pm- almost 24 hours after having them all. And, I feel much better. My list for tomorrow, about half as long, and some of the same #s as above, but I was most productive. I tell all of my athletes that in order to be successful at getting proper recovery time, you need to get the most out of the time spent doing your "work"- and for most of my athletes, this work is training, school, homework, social life, and family life. I have athletes that go to school all day, go to volleyball for 3 hours at night, go home and do homework, and get to bed by 12 or 1 am. This cycle is repeated EVERY DAY during the week and then on the weekend, I think they have a little bit more free time, but not much. The 'down time' can be maximized if a person is organized with their time and at least- INKS IT TO THINK IT. I added in a picture of one of my Ironmans that I remembered the most. It was the UK Ironman in 2008 when it was in Sherbourne. It has now since moved around the country, Sherbourne being WAY HARDER than the course now. I was 4th in my Age Group at the time and put in a 11:45 effort I believe. Looking back, the conditions that day were very tough- cold, drizzly, muddy, chain slippage on the bike, bathroom issues on the run...I had it all. However, the most difficult part of this race was the planning and the logistics and I had to be diligent in making sure I made my flight connections, my train connections, and that my host family existed. Doing an International Ironman (by yourself) can be an interesting event in itself- especially when you are wheeling around a huge bike case through the Heathrow airport and the train station in London! It was a great time, and I thank myself for being such a good planner and having enough time to recover. So, whether you are about to interview for a new job tomorrow that might change your life forever, or going to the grocery store to get toothpaste-detergent-milk- and 5 other things you didn't write down, don't sweat the small stuff. We are all doing our best and you will get as much done as you need to. Enjoy the journey in between. Have a great weekend .