The Only Thing Harder Than Ironman...

I've decided the only thing harder than training for an Ironman is moving. Since signing my new lease on April 1, life has been incredibly hectic and I'm more tired than when I was dragging myself out of bed at 4:30am for a workout. But interestingly, right around the time I decided to take this year off and focus on my non-sport life, my training volume edged up ever so slightly.

While 400 minutes a week is nothing compared to where I'd be in an Ironman year, it was more than the 200 and change I was able to squeeze out the week my decisions were made. What you'll notice about my graph is the lack of swimming. I haven't been in a pool since President's Day and don't plan to return anytime soon. I'm hoping a very long break will make me enjoy the sport again, or at least not detest it.

I start the moving process tomorrow and it continues into Monday. It's going to be exhausting and stressful, but at least it will be over. I'm still attempting to do Gran Fondo NY on May 20, but my performance will be far from my finest. After that, I can do whatever I feel like, which should be a refreshing change from the rigor of the past 4 years. But you never know where life will take you, and I haven't officially dropped out of any races yet...

Time

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of time. The significance of time varies so much from situation to situation and we're left either wanting less or wanting more. In sport, less time is almost always better. We set out to run faster, bike further, finish with a PR. We go to great lengths to shave precious seconds, or minutes, off our finish times.

But in life, more time is almost always what we yearn for. There is a Dutch bike shop in my neighborhood with a quote on the window, "If you love life, why are you rushing through it?" I pause each time I pass and ponder what this means. We're all busy. I spend every day juggling tasks and rarely truly focus on any. Time speeds by and I'm often saddened when I realize how quickly it has gone.

Today, however, time slowed down. We're in the midst of a tragic family medical crisis and a span of two hours felt like two days. It was a rare moment where we may have wished for time to pass quickly, only it slowed instead. Then I realized in life, with the people we love and cherish, we will always wish for more time. If we lived forever, it would never be enough.

So I leave you with this. Life is short, and that's not just a saying. We really don't know how much time we have and I believe it's a gift. As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, one of my favorite quotes is: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." Live life well, and if you love someone, tell them. And next time you want to do something faster, think about how rewarding it might be to just take your time and enjoy every last moment.

From Zero to Hero

Every season I swear I'm going to stop going into races ill-prepared, but every season life gets in the way and I find myself cramming in order to make it to the finish line. My already small season recently got smaller due to another hurdle on the personal front. We're going through a difficult emotional time that forced me to cancel my trip to DC this past weekend and miss the Parkway Classic 10 Miler.

But the weekend at home allowed me to get out for my first real ride of the season and the first of a series of rides I'm calling the "hope I survive Gran Fondo NY" rides. In four weeks I'm allegedly competing in GFNY, a 104-mile course with 8,500 feet of climbing. Just your average day on a bike. I've ridden countless 100+ mile rides, but the issue is I haven't ridden one since September 11 at IMWI. Since then I don't think I've cracked 30 miles and I certainly haven't climbed any hills. So after essentially not riding for 10 days, I headed out for 50 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing. I started out feeling fantastic, but that faded around mile 30 and I was dragging from miles 40-50. The good news is I was able to do it. The not so good news is that I was so slow it may take all day to cover twice the distance.

My training will continue to be spotty and take a backseat to the bigger life issues I have to tackle, but since this season is an offseason in general, I will just take it day by day and try to enjoy every moment I can fit in.

2012: The Year of 0.0

You know those people with the 140.6 or 26.2 stickers on their cars? Maybe some of us are those people because we're proud of the distances we work so tirelessly to complete. But I find myself in a unique position this season, covering a new distance. As it turns out, 2012 will be the year of 0.0.

Racing long course this year was always a lofty goal at best. I tried to suppress the idea that I'd be in London working 24/7 at the Olympics for three weeks prior to my Ironman race day. Then a series of unfortunate events in my personal life left me buried with obligations and the one thing I do because I truly love it had become a source of guilt. This sport is overwhelming and if you're not careful you can burn out so badly that there is no coming back. I was fried at the end of the 2011 season after completing four Ironmans in 24 months. I thought I was good after an extended break but when life threw me a curveball, I realized I wasn't as good as I thought.

A decision had to be made and I decided to take this season off. I need to focus on the changes in my life, my work at the Olympics, and rediscovering the passion that drives me to do this. I love this sport. I love the people I've met, the challenges I have overcome, the feeling that I can literally do anything. But in order to keep loving it, I have to love how it fits into my life and it seems 2012 is not an ideal fit.

So I won't be toeing the line at Ironman Mont Tremblant on August 19 and I'm definitely sad about this. But I'm also looking forward to having a different focus this year, and hopefully coming back next year better than ever. I'm looking forward to new adventures and challenges. As Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." And nothing is never going to be good enough for me.

Where Has the 5am Love Gone?

I've never been a morning person. In fact I used to sleep in the backseat of the car during little league softball practice much to my mom's dismay. But I somehow adapted to early morning training and felt satisfied knowing I made time for me before the day was for someone else. But lately I despise getting up in the morning. I'm not sure if I've become too accustomed to the 7-8 hours of sleep I was getting in the offseason, or if I'm just lazier than ever, but it's a struggle.

The alarm went off at 5am yesterday and instead of getting up, I hit snooze and slept another 9 minutes. On the second alarm I put one leg out of the blankets thinking if I got cold I'd be forced to wake up. It took the third alarm to drag myself out of bed and another 30 minutes - involving a nice almond milk cappuccino that I took the time to froth - before heading out for my run.

Regardless, it was the first step in getting back on track after the setback. I'm still not used to daylight savings, it's dark straight through a morning workout. But I love the extra light at night and the warm weather is icing on the cake. Hopefully by next week I'll be back into a rhythm and cursing the 5am wake-up a lot less.

Ups and Downs

This has been a challenging year. My schedule was rough and stress was high, but it was wiped by a much-needed vacation. Italy was beyond amazing. I literally felt like a different person when I came back, plus learning to ski reminded me that I can still try and conquer new things. But I arrived home to a situation more difficult than I could ever have imagined and the resulting setback was overwhelming. I went from being about as happy as I could have imagined to feeling utterly devastated. Add jet lag and an emergency vet situation with Otis into the mix and I pretty much hit rock bottom.

The most surprising thing was that for the first time during distress, I couldn't turn to training as an escape. I tried. But each time I tried I had so little energy that I could barely push through. I was achy, tired, slow. Most days I lacked the energy to get off the couch. So I had to let it go and focus on helping Otis recover (he's doing much better), work, sleep and dealing with police and insurance issues.

But after a week I am feeling much better and am ready to ease back in. I can't imagine what I've lost fitness-wise, but I honestly don't care. Life is full of ups and downs and you can't always be up. Hopefully I'm on my way back and won't be down again for awhile.

Perfect Day

Almost any vacation day is wonderful, but some are simply better than others. I'm in Italy again and have never felt more charmed to spend so much time in this incredible country. I'm way up north this time, in the Italian Alps in the region called Lombardia. When in the Alps, one must ski, so today I put on my first pair of skis ever and braved the slopes as a slightly uncoordinated 36-year old. It was hard, it was exciting, and then it got easier. But most of all it was fun. Silly, child-like, beautiful fun. I need more of this in life.




Then the day advanced to another level of perfection with a full afternoon at Bagni Vecchi, the ancient Roman baths and thermal springs spa nestled in the mountains. We floated in Roman baths dating from 1BC, enjoyed a panoramic view from a naturally warm outdoor pool with snowflakes drifting around us, enjoyed various thermal pools and waterfalls, aromatherapy saunas and relaxation rooms, icy cold plunge pools, a Turkish mud soak and a swim through a natural cave.




The Italians have perfected the art of fine living and I'm enjoying every moment of it. La Vita e
bella.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Banana Almond Pancakes (aka Paleo Pancakes)

I may be eating more cleanly, but I still miss the small luxuries, especially on the weekend when the usual egg scramble or protein smoothie just isn't going to cut it. If you Google "Paleo pancakes" you'll find a host of recipes claiming to transform clean, flour-free, dairy-free ingredients into something that resembles a pancake. Someone told me to try it with almond meal, but since I didn't have any I decided to give an almond butter version a try.

You simply mash up a banana with egg, almond butter and any other add-in you desire, I used vanilla extract and a dash of really good cinnamon.


I was able to mix it relatively well with just a fork, but put it through the Vitamix for an extra smooth consistency.


I prepared them just as you would a regular pancake and the result looked surprisingly appetizing.


And the taste? They taste amazing, if you like bananas and almonds. Thankfully I love both. The texture is nothing like a traditional pancake because of the lack of flour. They are relatively dense, but not in an unpleasant way, and they are super clean and super healthy. I'm going to continue to experiment with recipe variations, including almond meal vs. butter. But for now, if you have a pancake craving and want to be healthy, give these a try.

Banana Almond Butter Pancakes for One

1 ripe banana, mashed
1 egg
1.5 tbsp almond butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and mash with a fork or pastry cutter until smooth. You can also mix it in a food processor or powerful blender.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat with a spritz of cooking spray (if you're eating butter you could alternately use a dab). Pour the batter into heated skillet in desired pancake size. Allow about 2-3 minutes per side, or until the pancake has turned golden brown.

Drizzle with honey, top with fruit or other desired topping.

Makes 2-3 small pancakes, depending on size.

Not That Special and Egg How-To

Many people have the luxury of driving to their morning workouts, or doing them right out the door, but I live in New York City so mine often involve a long subway ride before Starbucks is even open. I occasionally whine about having to wake up so early, even if only to myself. But the other morning when I boarded an already packed train at 5:45am, it hit me that waking up pre-dawn is really not that special. A lot of people do it for various reasons - to care for their children, to work an early shift, to exercise, to study. My mom wakes up at 5am every morning for her job and she works really hard.

So there will be no more whining from me about the early mornings. Waking up at 5am is a choice, and it's to pursue a passion that is really fulfilling. I've been trying to get to bed much earlier to compensate and on good days, it works.

And now for the egg and avocado how-to since it turns out I'm not alone in my love of the egg. Here is how it's done (original source):

• Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add sizzling agent of your choice (butter, oil, cooking spray). I opted for a dab of olive oil in my quest to be heart-healthy.



• Slice an avocado lengthwise with skin on to create a thick slice in the middle; reserve the sides for other delicious eating.



• Pop out the pit and create a larger hole in the center. This is where I may have gone wrong, not creating a large enough hole as I had massive egg spillover.



• Place the avocado slice in the pan and crack an egg into the center. Add a teaspoon or two of water to the pan, cover and cook two minutes or until the egg is done to your liking.

Enjoy!

Latest Obsessions

I tend to get on a kick with something I love and can't get enough. Here's what I'm adoring lately.

Eggs

They say eggs are nature's perfect food, but they're also incredibly delicious and can be made so many ways. Eggs are actually a long-term obsession of mine, but since I consumed more than a dozen this week and have tried a few new preparations, they are at the top of my list.

Soft-boiled (left), Inside avocado slice (middle & right)

Mangoes

Even when slightly under ripe, there are few things better than a mango. Living in New York City I'm a bit spoiled since sliced mango can be found at just about any deli or fruit market throughout the summer. But winter is another story. So when my local market suddenly had a surplus of mangoes I bought one and braved the process of cutting it up myself. Thanks to Alton Brown's simple method, I've been enjoying freshly cut mango all week.

Avocados

(See egg photo above) Avocados are simply amazing. Mashed, sliced with a little sea salt and hot sauce, on salad, in smoothies, cubed up on top of just about anything, I could eat avocados every day. They are incredibly nutrient dense and contain a good dose of healthy fat. I do moderate the amount I eat for overall calorie control, but absolutely love them for all of the goodness they contain.

Pinterest

Before you think my brain is only on food, I am so in love with Pinterest. I spent hours this weekend looking at beautiful photos of beautiful things, mostly food of course.


Last week's training was a struggle. It was one of those weeks where I had to scramble to fit it all in and went from feeling amazing in one workout to miserable in the next. I skipped a swim, but we all know I'm not too torn up about it. I'm supposed to rest on Sundays but haven't yet this month so today I followed the schedule and rested. I already feel more balanced.

Half-Assed Race Schedule and January in the Books

I'm really happy with how January wrapped up on the training, fitness and lifestyle front. I spent the entire month battling the nagging voice telling me, "go ahead, sleep in and find another day to do that workout," and as a result had only two days off the entire month. One was scheduled, one was murdered by a 12+ hour day at work. Not bad. My numbers are still quite low because I'm creeping back from zero, but I'm thrilled with how I feel, the fitness I've gained and most of all, I'm running again!!!!

But as pleased as I am with the start I've gotten off to, I can't seem to pull the trigger on races this season and as a result, my schedule is looking pretty sad. There are three things holding me back:

1. My foot. I'm terrified I'll re-injure it so I'm being uber conservative and avoiding running events longer than a half marathon, and pretty much only doing a couple events for fun. I want arrive at IMMT un-injured this year, it's my number one goal.


2. The Olympics. Many of you know I worked at the Vancouver Games and will also be on the ground the entire duration of London. That work really heats up in April and will consume my life until I return August 13. And let's not forget that IMMT is August 19 (this falls into the "what the hell was I thinking" camp).


3. My fear of commitment. I'm normally all for putting a stake in the ground and committing to events, even a year or more out as is the case with Ironman. But given the insane travel and nonstop activity at the end of last year, I am going through a serious homebody phase and want nothing to do with road trips, airplanes or weekends away. For now. That may subside after another month in my PJs watching Netflix.

Given all of this, here is my light race schedule for the season so far:

• Hollywood Half Marathon, April 7 (just for fun, with a friend, mostly an excuse to visit her in LA)


• Parkway Classic 10-Miler, April 22 (also for fun, with my sister)


• Gran Fondo New York, May 20


• Ironman Mont Tremblant, August 19

I may add a half Ironman in June, or perhaps Horribly Hilly Hundreds, but for now this is it. I'm looking forward to ending my season early and focusing more on general fitness and recovery, and also taking time for myself. I'm planning a huge trip to Egypt and Jordan in September. The only thing I love more than triathlon is travel. And food, of course.

Panic Attacks

I printed an article from the Washington Post back in November, titled "Death in triathlons may not be so mysterious; panic attacks may be to blame," and have been carrying it around since, but just finally read it today (my inability to get things done is a whole other post...). Most of you likely read it, but it struck a cord so deeply within me that I still wanted to talk about it.

When I started this sport in 2008, I had never swam a lap or taken a swim lesson in my 33 years of life. And it terrified me. I wasn't afraid of water, and in fact loved playing in the ocean and being in pools. But that's a far cry from donning a wetsuit and swimming in the Hudson River with a few hundred friends, which is what I was signed up to do about two months from my first swim lesson. I worked so hard to be prepared and felt I had nailed it, but at my first race, a small local sprint I signed up for last-minute as a practice, I panicked on the swim and ended up backstroking the entire thing. I was ok in the warm-up, and ok treading at the start, but when the gun went off I couldn't breathe, I felt like the air had been pulled from my lungs. I spent the entire .25 miles swim flipping back-and-forth onto my back. I was never more relieved to see land.

I know I was not alone in that reaction and this article shows the issue is perhaps bigger than we thought, particularly as the sport gains popularity. It's a reminder that we compete in a sport with risks that require a real dedication to preparation.

I joke a lot about not training for my Ironman swims, but I'm referring to my lack of commitment to improving my times. I don't log enough volume to improve, but I do enough training to be able to safely and comfortably complete the swim. I may be in the lower tier of my age group but I'm fine with that. But I would never advocate doing a triathlon with inadequate swim training. My sister competed in her first triathlon last season and I was right there with her. I remember looking over at the start as I was nearing the end of my swim and seeing her wave start. Suddenly I was worried and I spent the entire bike scanning the sea of women on bikes looking for her. Turns out she rocked the swim because she worked hard and prepared, but my irrational worry goes to show just how important it is to be ready.

Sometimes I don't feel like that same person who got into the pool on a rainy day that May and started this journey. But I'm so glad I did it, and I'm saddened for the families of last year's victims. As advocates of this sport, we can help new athletes prepare and hopefully make it safer for everyone.

Another Reason to Stay Active

If you're reading this you're most likely active in some way or hoping to be. There are many different things that compel us to be active, but something most of us have in common is that we love it. Sure, we also love to complain about it at times and certainly don't always feel like doing it, but something keeps us going.

As if we don't already have enough reasons to stay active, my coach shared this incredible study showing the difference between the quadriceps of a 70-year old triathlete and a 74-year old sedentary man.

Source and Full Text

Which leg do you want to have at 70?

Apps for Goals

I recently posted my 2012 goals, most of which rely on my own accountability for progress, but I've also found a couple iPhone apps to be incredibly helpful and wanted to share.

My "Less Sugar Better Eating" Goal + My "Drink More Water Goal"

I've been using the Livestrong app for about a year now to learn portion sizes, understand the calories I take in vs. expend through training, and make better choices. The database is extensive so it's easy to find most of the foods you eat. A recent update added the ability to track water consumed as well, so it's now supporting two of my goals.


An added bonus is a progress tracker that charts weight gain and loss. This is what January has looked like for me so far, a 7.2 pound overall loss.


My "Sleep More" Goal

I love sleep, possibly more than anything else in life. When I'm not getting it I feel horrible overall, so the push to sleep more consistently has been a good one, albeit challenging. I started using the Sleep Cycle app this week, which is a unique alarm app that wakes you when you're most prepared to wake up vs. at a specific time. You sleep with the phone in your bed and it detects movement, thus knowing when you are in a deep sleep cycle. It will wake you in a 30-minute window of your set time, so if you set the alarm for 7am, but have been stirring a bit at 6:30, it may start waking you gradually earlier. It also charts your sleep and shows an average over time. I'm a data geek so I just love this.


Now if only I could find an app that makes me love trainer rides and swimming. I'll have to call Apple and request that.

Do you have tricks or tools to help keep you on track?
What are your favorite training and fitness apps?

Starting From Nothing

Even though I'm no stranger to injuries and setbacks I remain amazed by the feeling of starting over and fighting your way back to the fitness you once had. My last significant athletic achievement was covering 140.6 miles at Ironman Wisconsin, yet four months later I can't compete in a 5K. Despite the frustration that comes with injury, the little victories in the comeback become incredibly rewarding milestones. Tonight I managed to run 4.02 miles in 40 minutes and was nearly reduced to tears of joy. A run like this was a warm-up a few months ago, but today it was a huge accomplishment. I would prefer to do without the pain, disappointment and frustration of injuries but I'm also thankful for the fresh perspective. I think in the end it will make me more forgiving of my body, my limitations and my potential.

Week two wrapped up on Sunday and I'm pleased with the progress. I had two minor issues - a very late night at work forcing a missed bike test and a strange, sharp bicep pain forcing a short swimming hiatus (oh darn...). Here are the numbers:

• Swim - 3,500 yards, 1:30:00 (2 workouts)
• Bike - 50.08 miles, 3:15:00 (3 workouts)
• Run - 9.97 miles, 1:40:00 (3 workouts)
• Strength - 30:00 (1 workout)

This week has its own challenges, but to quote Jordan Rapp,"Adversity is one of those things that truly implants a memory in our brain... You do an Ironman because you want to reach the stars. And you want to do it the hard way. Because that is what makes it special."