Back in the Race: Day 1 of 70.3 New York Training

I need to stop saying I am not going to race again because here we are, day 1 of 70.3 New York training.

If you were unsure if your marketing is working, I have news for you: it is. About a month ago, I received an email from Ironman letting me know that 70.3 NY was 80% full. I said to myself, "Good for them. Have fun. It doesn't matter to me, I'm not racing this year." I resolved that because the NYC Tri was canceled, I was not going to look for another race. I'm done, I said. A week later, I received another email saying the 70.3 NY was 90% full.

 I thought about it all day. I went to the website and put the race in my cart. I told The Husband, he said nothing. I told a few random clients, they were like, "What is that?" I told Wifey, and she aptly reminded me that I was not going to do another half Ironman. "Remember how you suffered last year? You said never again." Nothing like a good friend to remind you of everything you have ever said. "What's a little pain," I said.

I have been racing triathlons for 12 years now. It’s just not that easy to give up. I love swimming, biking, and running. I get envious of people in the gym when they are lifting, and I am working. I love to move and to push myself. I like to do hard things, and 70.3 is a hard thing.

The decision to race this year was almost spur of the moment. It's not like I'm not already in shape, but I forgot how much goes into the sport. I needed a training plan, fast. I reached out to the coach I have used for the last six years, and BOOM she had me all set up in two days' time.

We use a training platform called Training Peaks. My coach uploads my program, and I execute what is pushed out to me. I have the ability to move the workouts around based on the amount of time I have in a given day. My work schedule being what it is, this is invaluable to me. I sat and moved the workouts for the week around to fit my schedule, and last Friday, got my mind right to execute week one.

My work schedule is the most unpredictable thing. I thought I was all set for a short ride and some strength on day one. Surprise, surprise, I have a packed weekend and a not-so-packed Monday. Sliding things around, we wound up with a long ride on day one. So, I tore my racing numbers from last year off my bike, pumped my tires, and off I went. Day one in the books. Looking forward to the next 16 weeks.

Remember, every small step counts, and together, we can achieve our goals. Stay inspired, stay active, and most importantly, stay true to yourself.

Stay tuned for the trials and tribulations of triathlon training.

🌅 Breakfast Revelations: Ditching Big Cereal's Playbook 🌅

Hey FitFam, it's your wellness warrior Laura, and today we're diving deep into the world of breakfast – the unsung hero of our daily grind. 🍳🥑

Let's break free from the shackles of "big cereal" and those TV commercials that hypnotized us into thinking a sugar-loaded bowl was the breakfast of champions. ⚔️ It's time to challenge the status quo and redefine the most crucial meal of the day.

🥣 Why Breakfast Matters? First things first, breakfast is your body's wake-up call. It kickstarts your metabolism, sets the tone for the day, and fuels both your body and mind. 🚀 It's not just about filling the tank; it's about providing premium fuel for optimal performance.

🤨 Break Up with Big Cereal Enough with the sugary cereals claiming to be part of a balanced breakfast. Let's think beyond the box and redefine what breakfast should be – a blend of nutrients that sustains you, not a sugar rush that leaves you crashing by mid-morning. 🥄

🌿 Explore New Horizons Challenge accepted? Good. Now, let's embark on a breakfast adventure. Think outside the pancake stack, venture beyond the bagel – how about a power-packed smoothie bowl, avocado toast with a twist, or a protein-packed omelet loaded with veggies? 🥑🍓

💡 Fuel Up Smartly Your breakfast should be a mix of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. A breakfast that nourishes, satisfies, and powers you through the day. Think Greek yogurt with berries and granola, or a quinoa bowl with nuts and fruit – the possibilities are endless. 🥥🍇

🚫 The No-Breakfast Myth Now, let's talk about the myth of skipping breakfast altogether. Some might think it's a shortcut to weight loss, but in reality, it deprives your body of essential nutrients, slows down metabolism, and can lead to overeating later in the day. A well-balanced breakfast is your secret weapon, not an obstacle. 🍳💪

🍳 Morning Routine Reinvented Breaking the fast doesn't have to be boring. It can be a celebration of flavors, textures, and nutrition. Your body deserves more than a sugar bomb disguised as cereal – give it the breakfast it craves and deserves. 💪

So, FitFam, I challenge you – ditch the sugary cereals, bid farewell to breakfast monotony, and embrace a new morning ritual. Share your breakfast breakthroughs in the comments below! 🌞✨

Here's to breaking free and fuelling smarter! 🌱

Triathlon Chronicles: Reflecting on 12 Years of Racing

Here we are, back on the journey. If you're new to my blog, let me take you down memory lane. I started documenting my triathlon adventures in 2011, leading up to my very first triathlon race. I wish I could share some of those older posts with you, but they seem to have vanished into the digital ether. Too bad, because they were quite entertaining.

But let me assure you, I don't need those old posts to relive the memories. I can still vividly recall the heart-pounding moments of my first terrifying plunge into the Hudson River. I was so scared and nervous that I ended up peeling off half my wetsuit because I thought I was choking. Then there was that year when it rained all night and well into the morning. My socks were utterly soaked. By the time I hit the run, I made the impulsive decision to go sockless. Here's a piece of advice: never do that! The blisters that followed took two weeks to heal. And who can forget the year I got a splinter the size of my fingertip right before the race? We couldn't locate tweezers at the swim start, so I took the plunge. But as I pedaled away on the bike, that stubborn splinter burrowed in deeper. By the time I crossed the finish line, it took both the Husband and my mother to excavate it.

In 2019, the Husband (my trusted sherpa) and I tackled a 70.3 (half ironman distance). The training was bundled within the preparation for two other races - Escape from Alcatraz and NYC Tri. Surprisingly, the training didn't seem as daunting as it sounds.

Then, 2020 brought Covid-19, and suddenly there were no races. It seemed like there was nothing at all. We all remember those times.

To keep spirits high, everyone tried their hand at virtual races, and for that, we're grateful. But let's be honest – it's just not the same.

In 2021, I had my concerns. I decided to defer all my races to 2022.

But wait, there's more – I decided to add one more race, a return to Escape from Alcatraz for the second time. And you know what? 2022 turned out to be an amazing year for racing.

Just recently, I celebrated a whopping 12 years of triathlon racing. Whoa! Even I never anticipated that milestone when I first dipped my toes into the triathlon waters. You see, I didn't dive into triathlons because I had an overwhelming desire to. I did it because they were hard, and, let's be honest, they gave me some serious street cred (though the level of which is yet to be determined).

The journey has been full of lessons, too numerous to list here today, which brings me to my current state of mind: Am I done?

I can't answer that question right now. What I can tell you is that, as I write this post, I'm thinking about all the memories and excitement that racing brings. I'm reminded of the unique kind of fitness you can only gain from that level of training. And then, I checked my email - I've been accepted back onto Team Infinit Performance for my fourth year. Triathlon has seeped into my identity; it's become a part of who I am. Also, I have a yearning for a love affair with my SUP and maybe even improving my golf game (it would make the Husband so happy).

So, while I mull over where my journey might lead me in the coming months, I'll keep this blog alive with all things health, fitness, and, of course, my oh-so-humble opinions. Stay tuned!

Part I: Make it less complicated

When did eating become so complicated?

I  have a few childhood memories, mostly good, of food. 

I was never forced to sit at the table an eat my vegetables or clean my plate.  The only rule I remember from my mom was to you don't like something if you had never tried it before.  Much to my mother's surprise, both my brother and I wound up liking foods she never really expected (or wanted)  us to like, steamers & mussels come to mind. Although I had a very predictive response to brussel sprouts. I gagged the first time I ever put one in my mouth. A totally different story now.

I know this is not the case for every family.  I have heard horror stories about children being forced to sit at the table until they ate all their vegetables or cleaned their plates. I have even heard about children being served their dinner for breakfast because it was not eaten the night before. I understand we want our children to eat properly but we do not want to create disordered eating or create other food issues in the process.

Home is not the only place were we learn to have an unhealthy relationship with food:  teasing in the lunch room over what we brought to eat or didn't bring, magazines of the 80's & 90"s with their heroine chic models, weight watchers with their horrible slogan "nothing taste better than thin feels' or even my own my mother's " you have to be a little hungry to be a little thin"  I say BULL. Who said we had to be thin to feel good.

Food is fuel.  Food is life. without food we die and with food ...

Somewhere along the way, food became the enemy and a very complicated issue for a lot of people. We label food "good" and " bad" and punish ourselves for indulging. We need to stop giving ourselves such a hard time. Just like you don't want to be labeled as a person neither does your food want to be labeled. There is no such thing as good food or bad food. There is just food we eat more or less of.

As a fitness professional & health coach, clients come to me wanting to lose weight and with a little discovery, I find most of them do not eat enough overall food.  The second scenario there is they eat fabulous Monday through Friday lunch and then over-indulge through Sunday night.

Let's not even get into the crazy diets and the diet myths, people come to me with.   People, for the most part, think they are doing the right thing by restricting calories and working out. Ideally, our goal is never to gain in the first place. That not being realistic. Taking in the proper amount of nutritionally dense food should be the goal.  But how much food is that?

Let's start with basal metabolic rate ( BMR). Your BMR is an estimate of the number of calories you need to keep your body functioning normally.   If you were to do nothing but lay in bed all day.

For example, my BMR is 1223. Which means if I did absolutely nothing all day and ate 1223 calories, I would neither lose or gain weight and my body would function normally, meaning my heart would beat, my lungs would breathe and my body would not look for another source of energy.   Now you need to add an activity factor and decide if you are maintaining or losing weight. again me as an example working out 6-7 days/ week I could consume 2100 calories to maintain my weight.  click here to calculate your own

A healthy diet incorporates all food groups: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. each macronutrient has a specific function in the body and any diet that restricts any one of them may need a second look. 

Your body needs carbohydrates, they are the primary fuel source, proteins build lean muscles and fat helps absorb vitamins into your system.

 Part II coming soon... How Hard do I need to work?

You May Be a Secret Couch Potato

You have finally done it!

  

After months and years of trying, you have a workout routine that works for you. After trying this class and that workout routine, the downloaded workouts from YouTube, or the copied workouts from your Shape magazine (“Women's Health”, “Men's Health”, “Fitness”, etc.), once-and-for-all you have the workouts that fits you.

You are now getting up early, you are skipping the occasional happy hour, or skipping dinners with friends. You signed up for a road race.  You seem to be doing everything right. You have it all figured out.

I have some bad news for you.  It’s probably not enough.

What?! WAIT!  not enough??

No, probably not. Being a human being is tough. That body you are living in requires a lot of maintenance. As amazing a machine as your body is, and all the adaptations it can make, it’s still needs more than 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.

Have heard that sitting is the new smoking? Probably. Doesn't make much sense, does it?  How can you be doing almost everything right and still have it wrong? 

Even if you are meeting the exercise requirements, if you sit at a desk all day, you are still considered sedentary.   Another term for it: active couch potato.

High amounts of sitting during the day is associated with a higher waist circumference, and elevated blood pressure.  Sitting also affects your cholesterol, can cause muscular skeletal problems and lead to premature death. (worst case scenario is always death.) 

Five hour plus of sitting time also slows your metabolism, affects bone mineral content and vascular health. There are a few other more clinical terms I could insert here but I think you have the idea.

Fortunately, there is an easy fix for this and no special equipment is required.  Add activity to break up your sitting time:

• Drink water
• You hate to drink water because it makes you need to use the restroom. That is my point.  Get up & go.  Find the furthest bathroom from your desk and drink often.
• Stand up
• I know you talk on the phone during the day or sit in on conference calls. During the call stay on your feet.  You don't have to stay up for the duration of the call, just some of it. Another good one is to stand for all calls. When the phone rings, personal or otherwise, stand up to answer. If it’s a short call stay up through its entirety.
• Set a timer
• If you have a Fitbit or an Apple Watch or something of the like, they have built in reminders to get you up throughout the course of the day. When it reminds you to stand, stand and move a little bit. If you don't have a wearable device, set a timer on your phone to move every hour you sit at your desk.
• Walk
• Park your car at the back of the parking lot if you drive to work. Take the stairs (be reasonable, you don't have to walk to the 22nd floor) maybe just two flights then jump on the elevator.
• Take public transportation. Studies have found if you do, you tend to sit less. plus, you must walk to the bus/train station. 

Off work time counts too.  Your most sedentary time maybe in the evening or the weekend. If you find yourself in front of the television over the weekend or in the evening binge watching Netflix. Take the 20 seconds needed rollover into the next episode to stand.  If you are DVR-ing, stand up to fast forward or (god forbid) you let the commercial run and stand through them. Hell, you could even move around a bit. 

And always before you sit, sit twice. Before the end of the day you may have just added 3 set of 10 squats to your daily routine.  A hint here, don't flop onto the chair or the sofa. Use some muscle to get there. 

These small activities during the day add up and improve cognitive function.  If you are not quite getting all your steps in during the day, you may see a marked improvement.

Congratulations on coming up with the exercise routine. You put a lot of work into finding exactly what is right for you so you can be consistent.  Don't let a little thing like television or work get in the way of overall great health. Just take that one more step.

Why the Abs?

If you didn't know already, I am a personal trainer.  I am also a group fitness instructor, running coach as well as a black belt in mixed martial arts.  

Every time I take on a new client, I do an assessment of their physical fitness. I ask them thing like; “how much time do you have to commit to daily exercise?”, “Are there exercises you absolutely hate to do?”, “What does your current routine look like?”, and of course, “What are your goals?”I also ask my group fitness class every month if there is something would like to focus on over the next few weeks.

Inevitably, the answer is: “core”. “We want core work.” “I want better abs.” “I want a flat stomach.”

In my head, the response is always; “You know you have other body parts, right?” And usually during the assessment for an individual, I discover areas other than core that are needed to improve ADLs (activities of daily living). 

Most younger people don't think bout ADL's because they function just fine (note: the activities of daily living are considered: eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring [walking] and continence.) Even if they have some weakness, their youth and strength is enough to muscle through or compensate in some way. No one should use the compensation approach but they do.

Unless you had a sudden debilitating health incident, it is hard to understand the importance of having a full functioning body.  I broke my wrist many years ago and relatively recently had an ACL/meniscus surgery. I understand being disabled. Walking is kind of important. Try brushing your teeth with your other hand!

So why to you all want the Abs?!  Most of you are not going to walk around with exposed bellies even if they were rock hard.  I get it. Most of us are vain to a degree, but we’re not likely going to wear a bikini to the pool or beach. I know I personally would be judging your fashion choices more than admiring your oiled midriffs. 

Nobody wants to walk around with a big stomach regardless if it is due to a medical condition or lifestyle choices. Focusing on core alone won’t produce 6-pack abs and it won’t improve your overall quality of life.

Yes, you need a strong core to support your spine. But you also need a strong back and shoulders too.  To really achieve less back pain, you need those things in addition to a daily dose of cardio to burn calories preferably HIIT (High intensity interval training).  HIIT taps the easy stored abdominal energy to fuel the workout and afterward keeps your metabolism elevated through EPOC (exercise post oxygen consumption).  

A combination of steady state cardio, HIIT and strength should give you a rocking core (I am not promising a 6-pack). To get the abs of your dreams, it is a full-time commitment to diet and exercise. Your dinner could be steamed broccoli with skinless chicken with dessert of a Listerine strip. Yum!

Flat abs start in the kitchen.  I am not a dietician and cannot recommend your daily diet but you know darn well why your belly bulges out from under your clothes.  Exercise is needed, genetics play a big part but diet is what will make the most difference.

The big concern regarding the abs is the fat that is hanging around your middle. It is killing you. This visceral fat increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Keep an eye on your abs for the right reasons, your health. 

The F.I.T.T. Principle

I was watching a man in the gym for several months (not in a stalking kind of way).  I nicknamed him, quietly in my head, Mr. Magoo. He looks a lot like the cartoon character but is not nearly as endearing. He bit my head off one morning for some infraction I now cannot remember. I may have taken up too much space on the stretching mat. 

This not-so-adorable gentleman appears at the gym every morning. I found the cartoon Magoo irksome. This doppelganger is no different. in the beginning, I tried to be friendly. I smiled and said hello but he just pushed past me and went about his daily routine (and routine it is).

This brings me to the subject at hand.

Some routines are great! Some routines are bad.  The routine that gets you up and gets you to the gym every day is good. The routine that has you doing the exact same thing every time you go to the gym is bad.

Mr. Magoo shows up every day at 8:00 AM and does the exact same thing every single day.  The same exercise, the same weights, and the same cardio.  Not only is this BORING, he is making no progress, and doing little to maintain his current fitness level.

I admire the fact the he shows up every day. It also drives me crazy that he does the same thing and does it wrong.

To help overcome the grind of doing the same thing repeatedly, you can apply the F.I.T.T. principle.

F- Frequency.

ACSM guidelines for cardio respiratory exercise is 30-60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise 5 days per week or 20- 60 minutes of vigorous exercise 3 days per week.

Strength training should be done 2-3 days per week with 48 hours rest in between strength sessions. Two to four sets of each exercise, 8-12 repetitions to improve strength and 15- 20 repetitions to increase endurance.

Flexibility should be done 3-4 days per week. Each stretch should be held 10-60 seconds.

muscles are best stretch when they are warm. NEVER stretch a cold muscle.

I-Intensity

You cannot go hard every day.  Some days need to be easy, and some days need to be intense with high intensity intervals.  Use your RPE (rate of perceived exertion). Some days you will be at a 4 or 5. On higher intensity days, you will be at 9 or 10. Schedule the different intensity days into your regular routine.

T-Type

Unless you are training for a marathon or other road race, running everyday can get monotonous. Try adding cycling or swimming to break up your routine.  Add a group fitness class a great trainer (hint).

T-Time 

Can you run every day for an hour? Of course you can. I don’t know why you would want to but you could.  Vary your time. Shorter and more intense, longer and easier.

Here is some tips to maximize your workout time. Vary the amount workout times to alter your routine even more. Set aside time on the weekend for a long ride with friends. Have NO time in the morning before work for an hour workout? Then add a 30-min high intensity interval training session to get your metabolism jump started.

Use the fit FITT principle to keep your workouts interesting  & fun. Most of all to make sure you are doing something every day. Keep moving your results the direction want to see.