Cells can be jerks

Sometimes you have to realize that there are things going on in your life that you simply just cannot fix. I've known this for a while but this really became true after talking to Grandma tonight.  I'm still processing a lot of things, like how she sounds so different sometimes on the phone, how she is almost always out of breath anymore, and how she has ever increasing difficulty just doing simple things that never used to phase her.  The voice I'm used to hearing on the phone and the voice actually on the other end of the line don't match up anymore. There were more days than not that she would sound more like herself, but those days are becoming increasingly fewer.  

How do I deal with it? Well, apparently I'm a great impersonator for grandma.  I can say things just like her and it cracks up my mom.  I run a lot. I am in the middle of Ironman training which helps keep me sane.  I work with a lot of really good people who know what's going on and have already told me that regardless of short notice or anything they can help me cover whatever I need with my clients.  I don't have to worry about gaining and "occurrence" like I have at other jobs for family emergencies.  If something happens I just have to say I need to go and it's all taken care of.  That is a huge stress relief.  Outside of that I pretty much just realize there are few things that I can control, so I control them the best I can. I can't control much else from that.  When I get to see my grandma I just appreciate the time I have, reminisce with her, and make new memories.  She loves making over my Zoey puppy, and Zoey loves grandma, so that's fun to watch.  There are a lot of times that I juts take in that weekend, dinner, moment, whatever and enjoy it.  That's about all that you can do.  All because one cell decided to be a little pain in the ass and get his receptors all out of joint and not recognize cell growth inhibitors.  Then he squished other cells, multiplied with a vengeance, and decided to not be receptive to any of the treatments that should have killed him and his million and one friends dead.  Humph. Little jerk.  (I realize this is a gross over simplification of cancer, but it gets the point across)

And We're Off!

The 2014 Race season is about to officially begin!  Felix (my bike) has been spending more time in the living room, enjoying some good quality TV time, a little more sweat than he's used to, and A LOT of post-it-notes stuck to him.  I feel a lot better when I can organize my training and racing life, and post-its certainly help on that end.  I have colors for different training days, my races are signed up for and posted, and my rest days are left noticeably blank.  Yesterday I officially registered for my two Half Marathons coming up this spring, I have a Half Ironman figured out, and IRONMAN WISCONSIN training is a full go.   I realize it's only March, but seriously, I'm going to go 140.6 miles in September, non-stop, as fast as I can...training now sounds really good.

My Calendar for March:

Blues are swims, Pinks are speed/track work, greens are bikes, red numbers are runs.  Wednesdays are blank but there is an "optional" 1000m swim each Wednesday just to get another swim on the board, but nothing ridiculous since it's supposed to be an active recovery day.

Half Marathon Xenia - April 6th

Flying Pig Half Marathon - May 4th

Rev3 Knoxville 70.3 - May 18th

Ironman Muncie 70.3 - July 12

Ironman Wisconsin 140.6 - September 7th

I'm looking to add a couple of either sprint or olympic distances in here because they'll help with building speed, plus they're fun!

Ok, off to swim again! :D

Eating Disorders, Athletes, and Gyms

So I guess that I missed the boat a tiny bit as last week was "Eating Disorder Awareness Week."  It's still important, and some how eating disorders became the topic of the day with my clients, completely unprovoked, they just all had something to say.  Some people think that eating disorders are things that only affects those who are trying to lose weight, look a certain way, or have an incredible urge to be "skinny".  There is truth behind this thought process, but at the same time this is a strong misconception.  Someone who is very overweight can have an eating disorder, just like someone who is severely underweight.  Athletes can even have an eating disorder.

I've noticed that some athletes become almost obsessed with how much they eat between workouts, on the bike, before lifting, on off days, after swims, the list goes on and on.  I was able to study a little bit about eating disorders in school, but it didn't hit home until I get to encounter it every day.  The worst part is that some "fitness professionals" encourage this behavior thinking that the athlete is being diligent.  There is a fine line between being well informed and keeping track of your food to take the best care of your body possible, and then there's obsessive and being dangerous.  I have discovered that a lot of women, and a surprising amount of men, will count their calories to oblivion and still wonder why they aren't making progress.  Your body requires good calories.  Strong calories.  Being "vegan" and only eating lettuce and berries will not give you the look of:

Now, you most certainly can be "Vegan" and still obtain this image, but you're going to have to be creative with your protein sources, calorie dense foods, and getting enough calories in the day on top of your working out.  I fortunately? unfortunately? get to talk to a lot of people every day, and they all want to talk about food at one point or another.  I had a very sweet gal talk to me about getting in shape.  She wanted to know how much she would need to work out, eat, lift, run, etc.  Her goal was to lose another 5lbs so that she could "look like me", I weighed her in and she was 100lbs, 5' 2", 17% Body Fat.  She was tiny.

The big misconception here was that she thought the way to get the lean and defined look was to keep losing weight.  She was well on her way to looking like a short runway model with absolutely no body fat or muscle tone.  I asked how many calories she ate per day and how often she worked out and we both about fell over with each others responses.  She worked out, doing cardio of form, for a minimum of 2 hours per day, she only ate between 1000-1200 calories per day.  This is the reason she's so tiny and has no muscle.  Strength training isn't in her repertoire and she's not eating enough for her body to repair itself even if she was lifting weights.  She would end up injured.

The biggest problem with Eating Disorders is that there isn't a lot of reasoning you can do with them because they are a mental disorder of form.  In her head she still had a mental image of someone who was overweight and wanted to get smaller.  The body image that she wanted to obtain, mentally, meant that she was going to have to lose weight.  Athletes do the same thing, they want to look a certain way, perform a certain way, and have a certain body image.  There is some truth in getting to "Race weight", but it's still a healthy weight.

When you're talking about getting to race weight, you want to be as light as you can be while still being as strong as you can be, you want a good power to weight ratio.  It does no good to be stick thin and look like an Ethiopian as a triathlete because then you don't have the arms to swim, or the legs to bike, you just have the tiny body to run.  That won't work out too well with anything longer than a sprint distance.

Just think about this, if you're not fueling your body correctly, or with enough calories, then your body is going to suffer.  Your mental health is going to suffer.  Your friends/family/supporters are going to suffer because you'll be miserable to be around.  There isn't a magic number that we can slap on someone and say "yes, this is exactly how much of x, y, and z that you need to eat and you'll be perfect", it doesn't work that way.  Very few people believe that in early training right now, I'm eating about 2200 calories a day.  That may not sound like a lot, but  I'm also 4' 11" and 103# training about 10 hours a week (give or take a couple of hours).  When Ironman season is in full swing later this summer, I bet I'll double that number and still weigh the same just because of the demand I'll put on my body.  If you're training hard and getting injured, not healing, and feel like you hate the world.  Look at how much you're putting your body through and how you're feeding it.  If you're dropping weight like crazy and are miserable, then it's time to reevaluate your nutrition and get on track to a stronger, healthier body.

Why Running is the Best Feeling Ever

As a Personal Trainer I get asked daily why I love doing what I do.  Why do I love to work out?  Why do I love to run?  Why do I want to help other people do those same things?  All of these things make me feel better and keep me sane.  I absolutely love the feeling of running.  I'm typically away from people, or only around people I really truly like to be around because we can talk about the same things or they know when to just be quiet and run.  When Red and I first started dating he would bike next to me while I ran and we would go all over down town Cincinnati.  We had some of the best conversations during those runs.  I think running together was the perfect way to get to know each other better.  We could just enjoy each others company, talk about whatever we wanted, and get to know how the other would react if something went wrong.  Be it a twisted ankle, needing water, bonking, or just needing to vent.  Running provided a great escape from the rest of the world.  

Today running is my therapy.  I can clear my head, empty my heart of my problems, and just run.  It helps to have great running buddies because they can help talk you through your problems, cheer you up, or just let you cry.  I enjoy working out, I really do, and I love swimming.  But there is something about running that makes me feel better.  After work I sometimes feel drained and just want to go away and not deal with anyone, sometimes you just need to be left alone.  Today during my run I was able to have company, but be alone at the same time.  I was able to vent, cry, laugh, and talk out a lot of things that bug me or just needed to be talked out and now I feel 100 times better.  I feel better now after running 6 miles than I did when I first woke up this morning.  I'm not a morning person, so that isn't saying much but you get my point.  After running you start to appreciate things a little bit more too.  Water tastes AMAZING.  After sprints you realize how much better air feels when you get to the end.  Running is freeing and refreshing.  If you say you hate running then you're clearly doing it for the wrong reasons.  For me running is one of the single best feelings in the world and I am positive that this winter is going to cause me to lose my mind if I can't get outside and run more often.  Do you hear that Winter?!  I need you to go away!!  We would all like it if you could go away, you've more than filled your quota for this year, please bugger off!

Let's brag about Red for a second :P

This story begins about 5 years ago, Red and I were just dating and he was already getting tired of doing all of the cooking.  As many people can attest to, I used to REALLY suck at cooking.  How my sister survived some of my attempts at "food", we will never know.  I was so bad that I screwed up Easy Mac on a regular basis, to the point where my roommates would just give up and make it for me. (Thank you!).  I either wound up with a strange soup, or a baked on gelatonous mess that had adhered to the sides of whatever bowl I was using.  With this kind of background I was not keen on attempting to cook for someone I actually wanted to keep around.

Enter Red, he has always been able to cook and was more than happy to cook...for a little while.  Then he started insisting that I make attempts to cook something other than plain chicken and spaghetti.  I kept telling Red that I wouldn't cook for him because he would always hover and "critique" anything that I was doing.  It made me nervous and even if I was doing something right I knew he would come behind me and fix something.  After many attempts at sharing the kitchen I just let him deal with it.  Finally he realized that I wasn't going to cook ever again if this kept up, so he devised a plan.  He promised to at least try anything that I made.

This plan worked out for quite a while because it turned out that real food was easier to cook than whatever is in Easy Mac.  There were still horrific moments, and he would quietly watch me eat, and as long as I kept eating whatever I had messed up then he would keep eating.  After we were through he would say that he was glad I tried something new, but let's keep our options open.  That or "that was good, but we don't need to try it ever again".  Yep.  He made the deal to try ANYTHING I cooked or made, and he has held to his promise to this day.  Well now he is starting to sorely regret that promise as I have gained more confidence in the kitchen and am branching out into the crazy healthy world where gluten free is everywhere, beets are a key ingredient, and protein powder is a fully acceptable substitute to flour.  Ok, maybe not that bad, ok yes it is.  Cue this week's newest "attempts".  For Sunday breakfast we always eat French toast, eggs, and bacon.  I decided that I wanted to try something a little bit different and was a bit healthier.  I attempted "cookie dough cereal".

1 scoop protein powder
1/2 C quick oats
1-2T nut butter
2 tsp vanilla
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp sweetener of choice (we just used sugar)
Enjoy with almond milk.

Red kept his promise, ate half of the bowl that I gave him then looked at me and asked if I was serious.  I continued to eat mine because I thought it was actually good, I also didn't put as much cinnamon in mine which apparently ruined his.  Ok, fine, that was a flop in his book.  I have since had it 3 times and still think it's delicious.

Attempt two:  a juicing/smoothie/drink/thing.  Basically I was bored and thought something would work out.  The jury is still out.  I have been hearing rave reviews about beets and their benefits to athletes, cancer fighting awesomeness, and their ability to balance your checkbook (I made the last one up).  So I figured it must be good!!   While at William Sonoma the other day they had samples of juice.  Instant creativity boost!  During my grocery shopping on Monday I decided to pick up some beets, carrots, grapefruits, and apples for my newest juicing epiphany.  Buoyed by the inspiration provided by William Sonoma I now had a plan.  Today I put my plan into action, and Red again regretted his 5 year promise :)

Juice from 1 Red Grapefruit
1/4 of a beet
1 carrot
2 apples
8 oz of water
I put everything in my Ninja blender and let her go.  When everything was blended I strained my juice, added some sugar, and enjoyed.  As I took my newest concoction to the living room I told Red to try it.  He immediately said no, but I just gave him "the look" and he gave up and tried it.  See, he's such a good sport.  Red has honestly never turned down anything that I have made without at first trying it.  He also is good enough to eat more of it if he knows it's something I really wanted to turn out and something I tried really hard, but yet still screwed up.  Now I'm not going to say that this drink was a fantastic idea, but I've certainly had worse, and this one I can at least get down.

I bring you!  Whatever the crap you want to call this:

What's your ideal????

It has been brought to my attention that people are waging war against each other for some of the dumbest things on the planet.  After I realized that people were being very passive aggressive about different ideals I started to noticed that there was a lot of hypocrisy going on with these wars.  Here are some of the topics that I've noticed have social acceptability to go one way but not the other:

Skinny v. "Curvy"

Degrees v. no degrees (or even multiple degrees v. 1 degree or less)

Working out v. not working out

Partying v. staying at home (I'm noticing this a lot between some of my friends who are all parents, I have friends on both sides of this argument)

Having kids v. not having kids

With a lot of these it seems that it is socially acceptable to pick on one side of the argument but not the other and that the arguments can be taken so far that relationships are ruined.  Let's look briefly at some of these and see if you can relate at all.

Skinny v. Curvy:

A fat person can defend themselves by calling themselves curvy, or blame it on "genetics".  These same people can tell someone else that they're too skinny, work out too much, have too much muscle, should eat a sandwich, or any other number of things.  BUT if the skinny person were to say the opposite things to the fat person then the skinny person clearly hates fat people and is a jerk.  The big person can say "you're a bag of bones, go eat something" and that's cool, but if you say "you're a fat ass, step away from the sandwich", you're an asshole.

Degrees v. no degrees:

Apparently you can rag on someone for getting a degree and trying to better themselves, but trust me, you are not allowed to tell the same person who lacks a degree that they are stupid for not going on in education.  I realize that some people are drawn to school and others have no desire to sit in a classroom, but unless you're wanting to be a doctor without going to school, why does it bother you who went to school and who didn't?  Congrats, you are picking on someone who has a degree to say they're smarter than you in "X" subject.  This one really irritates me.

Working out v. Not working out:

I find this one hilarious.  It's a personal favorite of mine when someone sits in front of me and says that that they want to lose 30+ pounds but they don't want to workout.  I also love it when people tell me that working out is bad for you.  Clearly.  I am a huge fan of the saying that 80% of the key to success in weight loss starts in the kitchen, but you're still missing 20%.  Also, if you're not willing to take care of that first 80% AND not do the other 20%, then you're probably screwed.

Partying v. staying in:

I get to watch this war on Facebook all the time, I feel like it's a little soap opera that I get to read every day.  I have zero stance on this, I'm just watching.  My two cents are that if you choose to have children and still go out to party that you take care of your kids first.  You can choose to not go out and party but still spend your money on other things and be a crappy parent.  I get to watch people talk about not affording clothes for their kids, but yet they can afford alcohol on the weekend.  OR they talk about not affording heat for their house, scream religion at those who drink and label them as bad parents, but yet their closet rivals that of an major department store.  

Finally, this one made a big splash just a couple weeks ago and it was 100% unintentional: *Disclaimer, this is my blog and unless you can behave don't comment*

Kids v. No Kids:

Holy Fancy Moses!  I had absolutely no idea that there was such a divide between these two camps!  Some people simply don't like kids (me and a lot of my friends), some people love being around kids (my sister teaches 3 year olds, some of my friends have multiple children, clearly for them).  I don't think there is something inherently wrong with either of these ideas.  I also realize that some people may end up with kids and still hate everyone else's kids.  It works the same way with animals.  I love my animals more than most people, but if your dog wants to hump my leg, pee on everything, or be smaller than my cat, then no.  I will not like your dog.  Does this make me anti-dog?  Heck no!  But yeesh!  I was sent messages telling me I would be a terrible parent and I should never have kids simply because I was complaining about getting on a plane to Orlando (Disney) with screaming children.  This is not my cup of tea.  I didn't say anything to the kids or their parents, but I guess I should keep my thoughts to myself about not liking little Johnny who is screaming at the top of his lungs because he can't see Goofy yet.  My bad.  (sarcasm)  

This entire rant brings me to my point.  Why is your view better than mine?  Why is my view better than yours?  Why does there have to only be one thing that's right?  And why are there so many socially acceptable one way streets on views?  There are a lot of big things that I think most people agree on, but these other issues really don't impact anyone else.  You think someone is too skinny?  Unless they're unhealthy or asking you how to gain weight then leave them alone.  What about too fat?  I'm a personal trainer and I'm still not going to bug you if I think you're too fat.  Now if you come up and directly ask me questions then I will give you brutal honest answers.  If you're 45% body fat and need to lose 50 pounds, I'm not going to think it's cute when you call yourself "fluffy".  Kids v. no kids?  I don't care how many kids you have so long as you don't expect me to take care of them.  Just don't turn around and tell me that I'm a terrible person because I don't like your kid.  There are so many other issues; guns v. no guns, abortion, drugs, trucks v. prius, mac v. pc, rich v. poor, the list is endless!

I'm not trying to tick anyone off, I have just been noticing a lot of these arguments springing up more frequently.  I find a lot of these things entertaining to hear the arguments, but then at the same time I get to see a lot of people get their feelings hurt or feel put down and there is no "socially acceptable" retaliation.  Knock it off.   

Getting ready for a New Year and Gear

What are you doing for New Years?!  I'm doing something that I haven't been able to do in quite a while...NOTHING.  I've been running non-stop for holidays, family shenanigans, working like a crazy woman, and making a sad attempt to make the house look orderly.  So my treat for tonight is to do nothing, I'm sitting in my sweats watching Bowl Games and pestering Red.

I'm also figuring out how to better organize my life, organize my house, and trying a few new ways to make fun workouts more visible. :)  As promised in my last post, here are a few things that I am either recently obsessed with, or have been for a while.  

Clothing:

Betty Designs pretty much everything :)  I have a pair of her bike shorts and they're probably the best cycle shorts I've owned.  I just received the Mosaic Tri Kit for Christmas, being January it hasn't been tested but I'm certain it'll hold up just as well.

Zoot tri tops have served me well.  I'm a tiny person and for some reason a lot of people make tri tops that flare out at the bottom.  I don't want to swim with a cape, and Zoot fits me well.  They tri shorts are ok, but I have found the most comfort in K-Swiss tri shorts.

I've only ever been able to find K-Swiss shorts that I like at the Ironman Muncie expo.  I bought my first pair the night before my first race there in 2011, wore them brand new (typically a big race day no-no) but they worked perfectly.  I loved them!  Then, after 2 years of training and racing it was time to replace my K-Swiss shorts.  I found another pair at my 2013 Ironman Muncie expo and loved them just as much.

Training Fuel:

After a lot of experiments (some good, some bad, some just meh), I've found what works for me.

Bonk Break bars sit very well while on the bike and last through the run.  I like to actually chew my food while I bike and train, but not everything sits well.  These all taste good, are easy to handle on the bike, and don't cause issues.  Plus, you're not a sticky mess after eating them.

Clif shots (gels) have been my go to for easy fast fuel on the bike and run.  I like them most on the run because I can just suck on them and keep moving.  I started using them in running when I first did any endurance racing, and they've worked beautifully.  I started using too many during races, which caused problems, but now I know how many I need depending on my distance.

Skratch Labs is my hydration favorite.  Tastes great, sits well, and even after being in a bottle all day it doesn't taste chalky or settle out.

Those are a lot of my go to things for most of my training and such.  I love Yurbuds for my music, I got a new ipod for Christmas (my last one died after 5 years of abuse, I mean use), and I fly through shoes.  I love Mizuno and Asics.  I also love my Oakley sunglasses, but I seem to lose them every other year or so :(

Back to organizing or attempting to be a slug :)  

Until next year!