good to the body

Saturday mornings ..... as a kid I remember a few hours of cartoons. I offer our son the same. The one morning of the week where at least during the school year you can be pretty much brainless. Curt heads out for his long run, I get Saturday afternoons to do my thing.

It's a definite balance between us. Because right now with school out I am stay home Mom + wife extraordinaire + Peds ER nurse + triathlon coach + yoga teacher + athlete + student..... I am putting a lot of hours into the day and Saturday afternoons are some time to myself. Typically I am up and at it by 4-5am. Having worked until midnight Friday I get a few hours of zzzz's, I get to teach my yoga class as 10:30 and then some Mom time. I used to feel guilty about taking time during a Saturday for me but my husband has otherwise convinced me. We do a lot as a family and this evening we will hang out as a family. We each need our time, including Luc.

It's likely going to rain but I don't care. It's still a warm rain. It's still silence around me. It's still just my bike and I. I love the simplicity of that.

Friday morning I completed my workouts and was very relived to see no more weight training on the schedule for the season. I know... I know..... we all have differing opinions on weight training. I just do what I am told. I have my athletes cycle through weight training, albeit differently than the Wizard creates ours. I am open to learning anything because it makes me a better athlete and it makes me a better coach.

I was relieved because I could not seem to locate my legs. First time this whole season that has happened. I don't know why but I am never sore, I never feel like death, I never feel like I have lead in my legs. As I finally have that feeling I am smiling. It means "something is about to crack" as the Wizard would say.

Next week brings back intensity, hope my legs come around for it.

As we are learning ......the piece that nutrition plays into our recovery is gigantic. I linked this article by The Wizard yesterday but I think it's worth a second and third look. Another article worth a look is this one. I am far from the end point on my nutrition journey but as I am coming into my own here I feel like nutritionally I am an entirely different person.

I have to say again and again that this "core diet" is based on health first. It isn't Atkins, low carb or anything like that. For me it is lifestyle. For me it has brought me into better health. As a coach it has caused me to pay better attention and educate myself about the importance of nutrition and how we can bring it into our daily lives. I have to say that recently I learned that there are some coaches out there who have gone to Jesse for a nutritional analysis and then turn it around and sell it to their athletes as if it is their own. I don't know why that bothers me. This isn't something he invented. I just know that he really does his homework, his research and puts a lot of thought and work into all of this. To rip it off and market it as yours is not giving credit where credit is due. But that's besides the point.......

Our body needs nutrients and minerals and all that good stuff to repair itself and ultimately recover from the big weeks and the hard days. This is not to say that the Reese's Cups don't have a place, they do. If you understand where that place lies.... then they become even sweeter.

We track the miles we log, we track our power pace heart rate. It only makes sense to bring in the most important piece of this puzzle, which is nutrition. I am ashamed that I went for so long not thinking about it at all. What am I putting in my body, what am I using to fuel my body, what am I using to nourish my body?

Moving forward into the big weeks I have on tap nutrition keeps it's place in the limelight. I think my improved nutrition has helped more than the compression socks and ice baths have (and those are important)...... but healing my body from the inside out from the daily stress of training working and doing everything that I do in 24 hours is really a big key for me.

It is worth a look, worth an analysis, worth a thought. My legs thank me, maybe yours will too!