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February 26, 2010

The Club

On my way home from work today I stopped at Sam's Club to pick up a few items - grapes, oranges, raspberries and large quantities of my new favorite post workout recovery food:

14 grams of protein in but 6 oz of yogurt! This is why Greek yogurt is the bomb. I've tried various brands with little to no success. For some reason I really like Chobani though. And although Greek yogurt is usually quite a bit more expensive than regular yogurt, you can buy it in mass quanities at Sam's for a much reduced rate. :)

Fruit and vegetables at Sam's are also very good (and much cheaper than the grocery store), plus you are forced to buy so much you are ENSURED of eating your 5-10 servings of fruit and veggies/day in order to eat it all before it goes bad!

I call this the Leaning Tower of Citrus. We already had some grapefruits so the added oranges (that are as big as grapefruits) filled up the bowl quickly!

In other news I'm starting to feel much better in the pool. Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely THRILLED to be swimming pain free again but last week I felt sort of...awkward. And like I never swam before. And like I might drown! (5 weeks of no swimming will apparently do this to you :) But I guess I just needed some time to get a feel for the water again. I'm obviously still lacking in fitness but on Thursday I felt MUCH improved and like my old stroke was back in action. Which was comforting because I know the fitness will eventually return. OH! And I get to go back to masters on Monday! I am SOOOO excited for this. Coach gave me the go ahead because I've done several sessions now pain free and feel ready to swim with others again. I might not be quite as excited about this prospect on Monday mid-way through the main set, but I really have been looking forward to getting back to masters since I first got injured!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:58 PM | Comments (11)

February 24, 2010

Food As Fuel

Last night I attended a webinar (LOVE that word) that was held by my two coaches (Mark Allen and Luis Vargas) for some of the members of the MAO Amatuer Triathlon Team. The purpose of the conference call was just to familiarize us with the training program and some of the reasons why we train like we do. I've been on the team and doing the training for the past 4 years so I've heard the how and why several times now (and I definitely don't need any convincing) but I always like attending these calls because I still learn something new each time. Plus, Mark's voice is really soothing and comforting. Okay yes, that sounds sort of dirty, but really there is something very zen about that man and just listening to him lowers your heart rate by about 10 beats/minute. :)

Either way, Mark and Luis discussed some of the basics - why we use HR to train vs power (power can be a great TOOL, which I've certainly learned with my new trainer, but not the whole basis for the training plan), why it's so important to train below the aerobic zone when we are supposed to, how stress and sleep and diet play such an important role in the development as an athlete, etc...

And then they opened up the table to questions and one by one (there were only about 10 of us) we went through and asked what we've always wondered about.

Interestingly enough, it seemed as if many of the questions where regarding nutrition/diet which obviously peaked my interest! (I guess it's that time of year :).

I've always appreciated Mark's take on diet. He's obviously very knowledeable about the topic and just takes a very natural, treat your body well type of approach (read his book, it's good). It's all about the healthy fats, the fruits and vegetables, the lean proteins and the whole grains - consistenly day in and day out eating well. There are no secrets and there are no gimics. Despite the fact that I know many people know this, many people still hold onto the hope that there is something more. Some sort of special formula. When really there isn't.

Anyway, the discussion on diet and Mark's comments got me to thinking about how much I've really learned over the past couple years working one on one with athletes. Of course I knew my nutrition. Afterall, I went to school for a long time to learn all about it. And I READ quite a bit to keep myself updated as nutrition is an always changing, ever growing field (but in the end, we always come back to the same conclusions :).

But I know how you really learn is through experience and I've gained quite a bit of that these past 2 years as I started my business and got down to work with athletes of all types. (and I'm sure there is still a lot of learning/experience to be had)

What I can tell you is this - the body is complex and there are A LOT of factors to consider when trying to optimize training and diet. And for sure, everyone is different. One person's race nutrition doesn't usually work for someone else. And one person's meal before their hard track workout isn't the same as their training partners. And the biggest of them all - one person's method of weight loss is NOT going to work for the next person.

As you can imagine, many people come to me wanting to lose weight. Some don't really need to but being thinner always seems like a good idea right? :) (note the sarcasm, this isn't really true). And of course, some people really could benefit from being leaner and weighing less because, well, in some ways, our performance depends on it. Oh, and guess what, our lives depend on it too.

And although the equation for weight loss is simple - burn more calories than you take in, in actuality, it's usually quite a complex process. There are a lucky few that simply need to stop drinking so much beer or eating 3 bowls of ice cream after dinner and the pounds simply melt off (these are usually young people by the way :). But there are many that struggle despite doing all the right things. And why? Well again, the body is complex and guess what, it's smart too. Enter the enigma of metabolism. I could write 20 whole blog posts on that topic alone!

But what I have established is, that while everyone is different and sometimes it's quite tricky to figure it all out, one thing EVERYONE (including those not even trying to lose weight) can benefit from is a shift in attitude when it comes to eating.

Finally, I've gotten to the whole topic of this blog (it only took me 11 paragraphs :). FOOD AS FUEL.

One thing that I can identify in almost all the people I work with AND with many of those that I don't is that their attitude regarding food and what it's designed for is "off". I should include myself in this group because I have to admit, I've fallen victim to this same thought process.

The problem? Many people use food as a reward. They view it as something "special" they get when they've done all their training (which makes me wonder - if they didn't train - what then?). They eat "just because" and not really for hunger. And they have feelings of entitlement (this wording, thanks to my friend Barb :) and justification that simply have no role in good diet and nutrition.

Come on - you all know what I'm talking about. And we've ALL done this at one time or another (myself included). It's the "hey, I just trained for 4 hours so I'm going to have a whole pizza AND a bowl of ice cream after - I deserve it!" When in reality, if you've fueled yourself well DURING training, you really have no need for an additional 1500 calories after your training is complete. Or it's the "hey, I got up early this morning and swam so I'm going to treat myself with a huge cheese danish and 1,021,232 cups of coffee." Well yes, you do need something to eat after your swim but was the cheese danish and 234,532,043 mg of caffeine the best choice? It might have been better NOT to swim and just eat a well balanced breakfast if that was the other option! And furthermore, it's great that you got up to swim and got your training in, but how and why is food the reward?

Now I'm not pointing fingers here and like I said, I do this sometimes myself. And I'm also not trying to be the mean, grumpy dietitian who takes all the fun out of food. I know - food is good! And it's a very social thing. And it is fun.

But what I AM trying to suggest here is that you would really benefit from seeing food simply for what it is - fuel for our bodies. Nothing more, nothing less. And even if you didn't train 20 hours a week, you'd still need it. Food provides the calories (energy) that keeps our hearts pumping and our lungs expanding and our neurons firing. It provides the vitamins and minerals that keep our bones strong and our eyes healthy and our mitochondria moving. It provides the phytochemicals and the fiber that keep cancer at bay. It's not a reward. And it's not something we have to "earn". It's the FUEL that makes us tick.

And so my question to you is - how do you want to FUEL your efforts?

I find when I'm really thinking "fuel" instead of just "food", I make better choices. I think vitamins and minerals and fats and carbs and proteins, not "yum - I want that brownie now!!!!!!". And I challenge you to do the same. Just for a few days, or a week. Think how best can I fuel my body today? When I go to the grocery store, what foods are going to give me the most bang for my buck? And what happens is, after that swim that you got up to do in the morning, you aren't thinking REWARD TIME, you are instead thinking, "I need some protein and some carbs to recover - my better option might be some Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup granola and a banana. Imagine the difference it could make?

Socrates had it right a long time ago when he said "Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat."

Try to remember what food really is. I bet it will make a difference.

Posted by beth at 6:46 AM | Comments (14)

February 20, 2010

When O's Away...

This morning Oscar left bright and early for a track meet (indoors obviously) in Ohio. That was about 12.5 hours ago. As you might imagine, high school track meets are loooooooong. But he's on his way now and he did call to update me that one of the distance runners ran the 11th fastest 3K in the nation thus far this season. I would call that a successful day. :) (and by the way, this runner is JUST coming off an injury - I tell you, injuries are GOOD! :)

Anyway, while he was gone, this is what I did.

I got up. I fed Roxy. I fed myself. I did core work. I packed up my stuff.

I went to a local "cycling" gym and did a lecture about pre and post workout nutrition. No questions about alcohol this time but I did field a few questions about Monster Energy drinks. I really wish stuff like that didn't exist.

I drove straight to the pool. And swam! 2500 PAIN FREE yards! And I even did flip turns!

I drove home and fed myself again. I did some work while I let my food digest.

I considered riding outside. The sun was out! The roads were (somewhat) dry! I looked up the weather on weather.com. I pressed "refresh" about 43 times. Each time the website still told me the windchills were in the 20s.

I decided to ride inside.

I rode my bike for 3.5 hours while watching a movie on Lifetime and then the Olympics. I marveled at the cross country skiers. I think they are awesome!

I got off my bike. I changed into my running clothes. I considered wearing shorts. The windchills were still in the 20s. I pulled tights onto my sweaty body.

I ran for 30 minutes. I thanked God for a pain free day of training.

I fed myself again. I fed Roxy again. After everyone was fed I took one of these:

My teeth were chattering by the end. It was a coooooold one.

Roxy always tries to steal my ice. Today I was encouraging this behavior as I wanted LESS ice and more WARMTH!

Next I showered, stretched, rolled.

And then I put these on. My new green socks!

And now I'm doing more work. Blogging is considered work right?

O isn't home yet. I think he might be sleeping at the track tonight. :)

Hope everyone's day was as great as mine!

PS Sorry for the blurry pictures. They were taken with my phone and my unsteady hand.

Posted by beth at 8:14 PM | Comments (14)

February 16, 2010

Boring As Boring Can Be!

I was thinking I wouldn't write another blog until something blog-worthy or exciting happened. But now it's been a week since my last entry and...nothing. And we might be waiting a while for that blog-worthy event to occur. So I thought "what the heck, I'll just write about my boring life like always!" :) (But remember, boring is good. I like boring :)

ANYWAY - something *somewhat* exciting did happen today, at least for me! (I'm sure it's not exciting at all for you) I swam 1500 PAIN FREE yards this morning! WOO-HOO! This was quite an event. I was smiling from ear to ear as I left the YMCA for sure and although I was slow, slow, slow, right now I'm at the point in this injury where I don't care about slow, I'm just so happy to be training again! The next stage of injury is the "oh crap, I'm REALLY out of shape" stage but I won't worry about that just yet. :)

If there is one huge benefit of injury it's that it REALLY brings back that attitude of graditude and thankfulness for each workout. I work very hard ALL THE TIME to remember what a blessing training and racing is, and to really be thankful for each opportunity I have to do it. And in general my motivation is always quite high. BUT, being injured and not being able to swim/bike/run like I'd like to - well, that deepens the thankfulness and graditude and motivation all the more. This little rib strain has especially affected my motivation and love for running. I just can't even tell you how happy I am to be get out, even for just a 30 minute easy jog and even if it's 6 degrees (as it was on Monday morning) and 4:30 AM! :)

Anyway, I have been allowing myself to get a little excited for the season (dangerous I know, but still, hard not to do!). I'm certainly in some horrid shape (in terms of running and swimming) but I also know in the back of my mind that I do have plenty of time. Plus I'm armed with the experience of being injured (many times before) and knowing that although injuries STINK with a capital "S", I have had some of my very best racing seasons/years following injury. I take very little down time in the grand scheme of things and have been going hard since I've started triathlon, each year going to more and bigger races, making the season longer and longer and training harder and harder. So it only stands that my body was going to force some rest! This will be good for me. Right? ;)

But that's enough about my boring rib!

In other news, we're starting to collect a serious amount of trash. The garbage collectors are 8 days late now (due to snow I assume and to the fact that about 5 of the past 8 days our back alley, where the garbage is put out, has been impassable). It's amazing how quickly it adds up! And the recyclables! Oh the recyclables!

And in other, other news, there are some serious car-eating potholes developing on our roads! I drove over (around? through? in?) one today on my way downtown that I thought for sure I was not going to survive. Can't wait to ride my bike outside! (hehehe :)

And in other, other, other news I have an avocado in my fridge and I'm not sure what I want to do with it! It stares at me each day when I open up the refridgerator. It was expensive so I'm certainly not going to let it go to waste. I think I might slice it up and put it on sandwiches. What do we think of this idea? (guacamole is out)

And finally, in other, other, other, other news, I do love the Olympics! Winter Olympics aren't my favorite just because I don't know much about all those wintery/snowy sports nearly as much as I do about the summer sports. HOWEVER, how can you not get caught up in the Olympic spirit? Especially when they are being hosted just a hop, skip and a jump away by our lovely Canadian friends? :)

Bed-time. Have a lovely evening everyone! :)

Posted by beth at 8:43 PM | Comments (15)

February 11, 2010

Cabin Fever

Well, it's official. Oscar has cabin fever. As does Roxy. And I think I may have caught a touch of it too!

Here's what happens when your husband has been cooped up inside the house, off work for 4 days in a row, and has done the taxes, shoveled the driveway (x25), and has completed every single task on the to-do list...

He's starts taking video of Roxy's barking mailman routine!

HAHA! And yes, that is my bike in the living room. It pretty much lives there all winter long. :)

Anyway, we have been getting out and about some! Yesterday everything was CLOSED - even the mall! Did you know the mall actually closes?! This was in response to another half foot or so of snow that we got Tuesday night/Wednesday morning on top of our already 2 feet of snow. They've literally run out of places to put it!

But we did get out yesterday for a long walk with Roxy is some seriously snowy conditions. Our YMCA was closed so I was on my bike again. And I got a lot of work done so all was not lost!

This morning I peaked out the window when I got up and it looked like the road we live on was somewhat clear! YEAH! Perhaps a run! And then I checked into our YMCA situation and it was open! DOUBLE YEAH!

So O and I did a little recon mission with Roxy (during her morning walk) and the roads, while very slushy and kind of yucky, were certainly run-able! Woo-hoo! We were able to run 45 minutes! And my rib didn't hurt! And then we went to the YMCA were I did some water running! And then in a fit of absolute craziness I did some kicking AND SWAM a few 25s! NICE! And no pain! And then I lifted! And still no pain! Exclamation point city!! :)

It felt so, soo, sooo good to swim, even just for 5 minutes (which is about all I did and no flip turns). I can't wait to get back to it. I miss swimming big-time.

So yes, a big day for my rib. :) Now, if some of this snow would care to melt, all would be well with the world. ;) Actually, this morning O and I took bets as to when all this snow would be gone. My guess was March 12th. We shall see!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Posted by beth at 2:56 PM | Comments (8)

February 9, 2010

More On The Way...

Well the storm of the decade/century did really come on Friday night/Saturday morning. All in all we got about 2 feet of snow!

Luckily O did most (all) of the shoveling while I happily rode away on my trainer on Saturday morning. 4 hours total. Come to think of it, I don't think I even left the house on Saturday!

On Sunday we did venture out for church. And then for a run followed by some water running and lifting at the YMCA. And then we watched the Super Bowl. I was rooting for the Colts but wasn't too closely tied to either team so the fact that it was an exciting game was good enough!

Yesterday morning we got up and ran again (yipppeee for running!). The roads around our house weren't too bad (the snow was pretty packed down which makes it easier to run on) so I was thinking our drive into work wasn't going to be too bad.

WRONG-O!

O had school cancelled so he drove me into work at the hospital. We were doing good until we actually got into Pittsburgh/Oakland. 40th Street was parked. What is usually a 35 minute drive became a 2 hour drive! YIKES! But I got there, did my work, and the drive home was better.

Needless to say though, I'm glad to be working from home today.

And guess what? WE HAVE MORE SNOW COMING!

Another 6-12 inches are forecasted for this afternoon through tomorrow morning. I'm thinking O is going to have the whole week off school... :)

Anyway, snow aside, the training is coming along pretty well! Biking is as usual - no pain and I can get all my hard/long/easy/moderate workouts in without issue. Lifting is also not a problem. This week our focus is on getting me back to running normally - frequency and distance wise (with water running to fill the gap as I slowly build). Intensity is another issue - everything thus far (and for a while yet) has been at an easy pace. Tomorrow (snow aside) I'm going to attempt 45 minutes of running which will be my longest run since injury! Woo-hoo! And so far so good in terms of pain. Slow and steady progress - YEAH!

Swimming of course is another issue. I haven't swam for 4 weeks and we've decided to hold off another week until I can get the running up to par. One thing at a time! At this point though I've officially withdrawn from Oceanside so I'm in no rush. My next "A" type race would be Eagleman which is in June so there is no need to push, push, push and risk more injury!

Now, back to work! Have a great day everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:41 AM | Comments (11)

February 5, 2010

An Update!

Well, well, well! Seems as if I haven't had a blog entry for the past couple days. How does this happen? How do the days go by so fast? How is it February already? (all questions, I'm sure nobody can answer)

ANYWAY - my big news is that I ran on Wednesday AND this morning (relatively) pain free! Can I get a big WOO-HOO for that one? On Wednesday I ran a whopping 16 minutes (on the track). Don't overdo it right? :) And then this morning I ran 30 minutes (31 actually - oops!) on the roads. Other than a bit of tenderness after today's jaunt, I felt very little to no pain and wasn't sore after the fact. Yeah for progress! I don't think I'll be doing long runs any time soon but it does feel VERY good to run again. And it's also nice to have something to do other than ride my bike! :) (although I did get stretch cords to work my swim stroke some and WOW, those things are hard!)

In other news, tonight and into tomorrow we are supposed to get 10,342,543,543 inches of snow. Or at least that's what the weather people make it sound like. Despite the fact that we live in a place where it snows all the time, year in and year out, the news of snow still seems to get people in quite a tizzy. Buy your bread! Stock up on toilet paper! Don't forget the milk! :) Nevertheless, on our way home from work today (Oscar should be picking me up soon) we have agreed to stop for some of our favorite cookies as we are currently out of stock. And I can obviously not live without my favorite cookies.

So tomorrow we will likely be staying inside which was my plan anyway. Four hour trainer ride on tap and I have my Netflix movie, some DVRed tv shows (and possibly a Law and Order or two) ready and waiting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 4:22 PM | Comments (10)

February 2, 2010

More Lists

(What can I say? I like lists!)

Some thoughts:

1) I've never once watched Lost so it's hard for me to understand why people are so darn excited for this final season and the show tonight! But wow! I guess I missed the boat on this one. Could potentially be trainer entertainment in winters to come. :)

2) I never did like that groundhog Phil anyway. Did you see how fat he is? I mean what does he care if there are 6 more weeks of winter? He has all that fat and fur to keep him warm! He ALWAYS sees his shadow. Like every single year. So really I don't think Phil knows what's going on. :) Happy Groundhog Day!

3) Vitamin D has been interesting me lately. It all started when my favorite doctor (who I saw again today) recommended that I supplement with vitamin D despite the fact that I take a multivitamin and get more than adequate calcium/vit D from my diet. (although getting out in the sun right now (so that my body can make some vit D) is a challenge because (a) the sun is rarely out and (b) when I am outside and there is actually sun, my skin is usually all covered up because it's COLD!). Anyway, again today he was on me about the vitamin D, wanting me to supplement with some pretty high doses. This time though, I was armed with questions. Well turns out we've BOTH been doing our research and he now has me convinced. I'm going to try it. Vitamin D, as you all likely know, plays a major role in calcium absorption (among other jobs) and has recently been in the news because pretty much everyone is being found to have low vit D levels (I'm exaggerating, but they are starting to consider that our RDI is too low). Anyway, pretty much EVERYONE (again exaggerating but the percentage is high) athlete wise that I work with does not take in adequate vit D. So drink your milk and eat your salmon. Okay? :) In case you want to learn a little more, an article from the New York Times yesterday about vit D, the new wonder-drug. :)

4) I went to a dark place this morning on my trainer. Ouch. I find it very, very difficult to ride really hard and to get my HR up high when riding OUTSIDE (in training that is...in racing I don't seem to have this problem :). There are just too many "outside" factors (haha!) when riding outside - traffic and road conditions and downhills that make my HR plummet. But inside on the trainer? Wow. There is complete and utter focus on the task at hand and no outside concerns. So you can push the pedals until your head, heart or legs explode. Or all three. Add to this the fact that I have no other outlet for my energy right now (not running/swimming yet) and I was HUMMING this morning during my hard trainer workout! (I only get one hard one a week, I have to make the most use of it I can!) And no rib pain! Yip yip!

5) And I am going to try some running tomorrow! 15 minutes on the track. (or less if it hurts before that) YEAH! But rest assured, although it appears as such, I AM NOT getting my hopes up. Must remain optimistic yet realistic. Will report back. :)

6) Yesterday I worked at the hospital and saw a patient that had attempted suicide by shooting themself in the face. Now this, in and of itself, isn't entirely surprising. I've worked on the trauma units for 7+ years and have seen multiple suicide attempts over the years (often shooting). HOWEVER, what still surprises me to this day is how someone could be so utterly and desperately hopeless to feel as if there was no other solution. Please don't take this as judgement on my part. I am making NO judgement on these patients as I very clearly haven't been in their shoes. I just really don't understand that type of desperation and honestly am glad I don't. I suppose I am truly blessed to have never in my life felt anything even remotely close to this type of hopelessness. And I know mental illness sometimes plays a part, as does severe depression, as does alcohol and drugs. Still, like I said, it always surprises me. And honestly the families are often very unaware how desperate of a situation it was. Scary.

7) Happier topic! I need to make an "addendum" to my last blog entry. Instead of just "10 things that make me happy", I need to add "in no particular order". This, because Oscar questioned why he was all the way down at #5 and Roxy was #1. Hehehehehe. :)

8) I'm a competitive person, as I would assume most athletes are. I mean that's what athletics is right? Competition? Anyway, over the years I've learned how to temper my competitiveness, how to turn it off at times and how to turn it inward (competitive against myself vs other people) so that I have at least one or two friends left by the time I'm old and gray. :) But still, my competitiveness shows up at odd times, when least expected. Like this morning. I was waiting at a stop light (first in line) and there was a Ford Taurus next to me. Our light was red (obviously) but I could see the Taurus slowly inching up as we waited. So I inched up. And the Taurus inched up. So I inched up some more. Then I got my car into first gear and was SERIOUSLY read to rumble when that light turned green. HAHA!! I caught myself and laughed. But still tried to out-run that darn Taurus once our light did change. I seriously need to get back into training and racing ASAP! :)

The end.

No more thoughts. :)

Have a great day everyone!

Posted by beth at 12:31 PM | Comments (11)