primal eating

Inspired by the recent nutritional challenges of Elaine..... and my own history / shortcoming / obsession with nutrition issues and eating disorders..... accompanied by my health issues of 2008..... along with my break from Iron distance racing..... I decided that it has come time.

Nutrition can be tough, especially in our sport which demands that our bodies are fed properly and enough to perform at an optimal level. My history with an eating disorder plus some serious health issues this past season have really turned my attention to what I eat.

I am really fortunate to teach at a a yoga studio which also has a massive nutrition component. At Breathe I have been introduced to the concept of whole food nutrition, as Cyndi is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met in the Nutrition industry.

My biggest off-season project has been to revamp my nutrition and get myself to a leaner short course weight. My priority has been to reinstate my health and make sure I set the foundation to preserve my health. I have been through a few frightening health experiences this past season which is where this revamping business all came about.

I think nutrition is a lot like training..... you have to weed through a lot of bullshit.... you have to look at things as they fit you..... the individual person and then make changes from there.

By nature I am not a good vegetable and fruit eater. My palate was restricted to bananas, grapes, broccoli, cauliflower, all kinds of lettuce and sprinklings of other things. At Breathe I was introduced to Mango and now I make a really good, what I call Mango yogurt. It's really nothing more than pureed Mango. Love it. Throw a little cinnamon on it and call me happy.

I could eat very bland things and be really content with life. I could also gravitate towards anything sweet and be happy with that as well.

My two year multisport plan doesn't allow for that however. It turns out however that my two year multisport plan is also my two year Masters program. And yes, that is on purpose. How am I to survive this degree and come out of it intact and healthy and functioning? To be as healthy as I can possibly be.

And that brings us back to nutrition. October was about giving up the sweets. Not much of an issue there. November became about adding five fruits and vegetables per day.... and I am doing well. Thanks Elaine for these kick starts, because they have been awesome.

I am gravitating towards a completely primal eating lifestyle, and this will likely take some time. I am learning to cook (I married an amazing cook so I just..... never did). I am adding a new fruit and vegetable to my diet each weer, sometimes with success and sometimes without. And I am watching the scale. I am very happy with the results so far.

As I share my training with you for this season, I will also share my nutritional metamorphosis. To begin that here are a few great websites that detail some good nutrition habits. remember that nutrition, just like training, just like life, is highly individual.

Mark's Daily Apple

Modern Forager (this site is about repairing your metabolism after an eating disorder).

Home of the Glycemic Index

Paleolithic Diet

desire

If you are looking for the stability ball workout, please see the menu on the right….. we created a link and we will save them as we post a new one weekly. Next week by request we will be posting favorite dry land exercises for swimming! Thanks you for the feedback, I am so glad it was beneficial for you!

I am entering week 3 of running camp. I don't feel like it is this huge undertaking as it sounds…… 30 runs in 30 days….. Coach T had me run so much that 30 days of running in a row….. is just another week.

I'm feeling good. Feeling great. Feeling strange because some of us are coming into our on season, some going into the off-season and then some like one of my athletes Sarah….. still has an Ironman coming up.

It's a bit weird not checking in with a coach. Who looks at my daily log? Who keeps their eye on me? I do. I log in as an athlete and I log in again at the end of the day as my coach. A few hours away from the workouts and I give it a look over just like I do everyone else.

I have also opened up my training log to the Train-This Team. 35 pairs of eyes. Some are new, many have been with me a few years, they are going to keep an eye on me. My way of seeing what they have learned through the years. And my way of keeping myself in check. It's one thing to do something stupid when I am the only one who sees it. It's another thing when my athletes get to see it.

I'm looking forward to 2009, it's a calm feeling of drive and a quiet feeling of hunger. As I lay out my plan for the season and my goals for racing I feel that everything is an opportunity. I look back on 2008 and I can't believe what I have been through. None of the stuff I endured was on the plan. But I overcame it with a lot of fight and I hope a bit of grace.

I watched Clearwater online yesterday. I was at the inaugural race in 2006 and I could tell that the drafting wasn't quite as bad but it still existed. I've done a lot of races with drafters cheating their way to the top. Ironman Florida and my age group last year saw a few. But one in particular.

When you do something like cheat, be it in sport or in life….. it has a way of coming around. Life is circular like that. Like the female professional at 2008 Ironman Florida last week….. she treated the volunteers in T1 horridly. That kind of stuff comes back around. You let it go, and let it work itself out.

I'm not afraid of the drafting at Clearwater 2009. I don't care. All I need to know is that I will be riding clean, just like I always do. When I set my goal for a race like this I set it for time. I don't aim for a podium because I can not control who shows up. Chrissie Wellington could decide to be an age grouper next year, come and rock the field. I can't control that. Nor would I change my training to combat that. I have to train my way for my race. Not her way for her race.

I can't control who shows up. I can control my pace and how I race these events. I can't control people who cheat by drafting. I can control how I react to it. I can allow my energy get sucked into their race. Or I can let that go, let karma take care of it, and focus on myself and my race.

Each race I do I race with integrity. I can't force someone else to do the same but at the end of the day I can feel good about what I have chosen whether or not I stand on a podium or not.

When I die no one is going to give a rats ass how many podiums I have stood on or how many medals I have won. But someone somewhere might have been touched in a positive way because I thanked them for handing me a water bottle. Someone might have been less inclined to snap at a volunteer because they heard me say thank you.

Does that mean I will stop aiming for the top?

Absolutely not.

Especially in 2009 I will aim for the top. I firmly believe, I always will, that one of these days the good guys will win. The drafters will all get DQ'd or maybe the race director will finally create a wave system on a hillier course that makes a difference. Maybe someday cheating will lose its appeal.

So I shall move forward with this hunger, with this drive, with this desire to tackle, to reach, to be the best that I can possibly be. To bury myself, to bury the pain, to unlock the passion, to meet my potential.

That's what I am taking aim for.

stability

With everything we have at our disposal in terms of balls, bands, straps, etc, it's almost a crime to pay money to belong to a gym these days. For the 15 minutes you drive there and then drive home you could get 30 minutes of strength training done right at home.

We know about the debate on whether strength training is a hindrance, helpful or makes no difference at all in Multisport training programs. Create your own viewpoint and move along please. You aren't going to change my mind. To swim bike and run faster you need to swim bike and run. No one is saying that strength training trumps specificity. But strength training is a valuable tool to have in the tool box.

I believe a stronger muscle is a healthier muscle, which means it can sustain more. And as you age you lose muscle mass.

Plus…. I think it is fun.

Here is a great stability ball workout thanks to the folks at PhysicalFitnet for introducing me to this great site and for the ability to post videos. Starting this week we will feature a different set of exercises with different equipment. So stay tuned. You just might enjoy this!

wrecked

"Yes.... you are the man." I confessed for the trillionth time this morning over the phone to Mister 9:55. I sighed. That beat my time by over an hour. Suddenly my little 10:58 seems to suck big time.

He believes I can go sub 10 at Florida. Funny thing.... I bet I could too. But there is work to be done between now and then.

And first things first., Which means my return to Masters this morning and getting my intestines handed to me.

Ahhhh.... I love the first week of on again. You know when you have taken the proper offseason.... three days in on season everything feels good. Until you show up at masters where you've been missing for a week. When they made the transition from drills to pace and you were swimming with the girls in the ocean.

I really love the lane I swim in. It's a good group of people. I have heard of teams where there are lane wars. We line up how we line up, we frequently fight for the last spot in the lane..... and we are good to each other. We mix hard work and laughing. None of us can count, or add. Or remember the set. We've even got a new girl and she's a criminal psychiatrist.... or something insane like that. She fits right in.

This morning when we had 12 X 150 on hard-o-clock I thought.... this is an interval I can make easily.

Not so much girlfriend.

I swam about a 1200 straight. There were a few times I got to do an open turn which I count for rest. What screwed me up the most is that we had to breathe to the other side. Give me a pen and tell me to write with my left hand while you are at it. I couldn't remember what I was doing.

I thought my coach was on the other side of the pool.... but she wasn't. Caught me breathing to the right.

Shucks.

After 4600 yards my shoulders were grateful it was over and my head knew it would get better. This is what happens when you have taken proper rest. You get a little out of shape. When you come back you come back even stronger.

I was so wrecked this am that during my run I wasn't sure if I'd make 30 minutes. But I did.

And that's how things go in the beginning. This is the fire you have to travel through for the bigger gains on the other side. When times got tough today I labeled each wall opportunity. I pushed off of opportunity a gazillion times today.

2009 has nothing but that. Opportunity. Today I saw it, and tomorrow I will as well. There are goingto be days that are great, and then days that I feel like a wrecking ball has taken me down.

And each one of them holds promise.

some photos from florida.......

The face of a 9:55!

What do you do when your Dad is doing the Ironman? Watch him go by and go swim some laps in Barb's pool of course..... silly!

Every man in America's dream......... and we don't need to wonder what the seven year old was thinking...... this is what Ironman athletes do honey...... now don't tell anyone!

Two future triathletes hang out at the awards ceremony...... Luc told her he would carry her over the sand to the water.....

Our family. This picture describes me to a T...... she looks like she's got it together..... but there's one thing a little bit off.......

the finish line!

Thanks Laura for the picture! Here's Curt myself and Luc at the finish line! Shark picture is on the way!

2009 Train-This Lake Placid Training Camp

June 19, 20 21 2009!

For 6 years now we've been gathering in Lake Placid on Memorial Day Weekend to swim bike and run. For four of those years we've done it as an official Ironman Lake Placid Camp for our stable of athletes. At first we focused on those doing Ironman Lake Placid, and then the rest of our team wanted to join along. This year we have changed the date to June 19,20 and 21st!

We coach about 30-40 athletes at any given time and while our Ironman team is the one we highlight the most; we have athletes of all different distance specialties. With the growing popularity of the 70.3 distances we began to focus the weekend on that as well. Then our intermediate distances and duathletes wanted to come along for the party….. so we incorporated everyone. Each year we bring a few tag alongs along. Friends of our team, people who write and ask to come along. So this year we would like to extend an open invitation to our Train-This Lake Placid Training Camp.

If you are training for an Ironman, 70.3, or any distance event….. and would just like to get away for the weekend with an incredibly fun group of people, then please consider joining us.

What will you get out of attending our camp? I'm not a professional triathlete, I am a Mom, wife, Triathlon Coach, Triathete, Yoga instructor and Pediatric ER nurse. I am also a student.

Why tell you that?

Because I know what it is like to balance work, school and family. I understand what it is like to train for 20 hours a week and how to put it all together so it enhances your life, doesn't take it over. I am a four time Ironman Finisher. I have had a horrible Ironman, I have nailed it twice, I have had a mediocre Ironman and I have even DNF'd an Ironman. So I know what it is like all across the board. In my 10 years of racing I have done about everything from winning to injury.

You do not have to be a Train-This athlete to attend our camp this year. We will provide you coaching on pacing for long and short course events, nutrition for long and short course events, how to piece together your Iornman race, your 70.3 race and your shorter races. We will give you tips and ideas on what to put on all of those Ironman bags, how to transition for all distances. With your coaches approval we will also take a look at your swim stroke.

My main goal in creating this camp so many years ago was affordability, with the rise in cost of entry fees, travel fees, costs to fly your bike; we wanted to keep some things simple.

Remember the day when triathlon was really simple?

That's the goal here.
The price of this camp will be less than $200, and here is how this will work:

1. I will be reserving a block of rooms at the Alpine Inn in Lake Placid. These rooms are traditionally $60-70 per night and can hold 3-4 athletes, or you can be solo if you'd like. All I ask is that you cover your hotel and between everyone, cover mine. That typically is $5-10 per person.

2. Cover your own meals. Now keep in mind that we hit the grocery store so really the only meals we eat on the town is Friday night, Saturday night and a Sunday morning breakfast.

3. If you would like to carpool, we have plenty of room in cars. If you are flying in, try to fly to Rochester and / or ship your bike to me and we will get you to Placid.

Now….. you are welcome to make reservations at any of the hotels in Lake Placid in your own. We have been doing business with the Alpine Inn for a while and we really enjoy staying there. It's old school, low key and has a great view.

What's our agenda? That's going to evolve as we go along! We will swim, bike and run every day. We will have group talks on all of the mentioned topics throughout these three days. As we get people signed up and get people funneled into their respective groups then we will be able to create more of an agenda.

For example, the Iornman Folks can expect something like this:

Friday night: One loop of bike course without the out and back (about 42 miles)
Swim in Mirror Lake

Saturday: 112 miles of the Ironman Course with a run off the bike.
Evening swim

Sunday: Am swim, long run and easy bike.

Friday night: course preview and nutrition seminar.

Saturday: Nutrition guidance Part II, thoughts on pacing an Ironman.

So you'd like to join a great group of people in a beautiful town for a weekend of fun and training? Good! Because we would love to have you along.

Like I said you can expect to pay less than $200 for this camp. If you are interested please send me an email at maryeggers "at" gmail "dot" com. I will send you an information file. The purpose of the information file is to gather info about you so that we can arrange housing, training groups and to give you exactly what you are seeking in a camp. This is not an application!

By June 1st I will send you an invoice for your share of the hotel + $5-10 to cover my room. Then we go to camp and have a blast!

Why am I offering this camp at such a low price?

It's my way of giving back to the sport that has given me so much. It's really that simple. In a world where I see prices do nothing but escalate, some things should be kept simple. Camp….. should be simple. And as Train-This is turning five, it's our way of celebrating with you!

So please, consider joining us for a weekend of play in the town where the Miracle on Ice happened!!!!! Join our awesome team, get away for a few days and meet some amazing people while learning something really fun.

See you at camp!