IM Kona: 4 week countdown

It's with excitement that I can announce I am running!! Pain free, minimal niggles and no discomfort. After not being able to run for 9 weeks (which did include running a marathon at the end of Ironman Canada) and then 3 weeks of reintroducing running to my body of 10-15 minutes a few times per week, this was the first week when I was able to actually run and feel normal running. Oh what a great feeling! It's been quite the journey (not my first time dealing with this) with 12 weeks of wondering if I would ever be able to run normally again but I'm so thankful that my body was able to finally heal itself with just 4 weeks to go before IM Kona. I've dealt with all types of emotions over the past three months but throughout it all, I remained hopeful and somewhat optimistic - even though there was a lot of self-doubt. Now my focus is keeping myself healthy/injury free and staying consistent with running to somewhat prepare myself for the IM Kona marathon.

Here's a recap of this week's training:

Swim: 19600 yards (4:45 hours)
Bike: 12:30 hours
Run: 3:11 hours
Strength: 1 hour
Total: 21 hours

I have been doing all of my running on the treadmill and although I am confident that I can run outside, I am gaining a lot of confidence of being in my controlled environment while running indoors. There's no camber of the road, cars, distractions, up and down hills and heat to induce excessive fatigue so running indoors makes for a better training stimulus for me at this time. Rather than trying to bump up my running volume, I am incorporating more intensity through intervals with my running as this provides a safer stimulus for my body.

After a few weeks of just reintroducing my nervous, muscular and cardio system to running with short but frequent runs (10-15 minutes), I felt ready to increase the duration and intensity of my runs. I am not running with expectations or a goal pace or intensity in mind. Right now I am running grateful and thankful. Because I am running indoors, my watch doesn't record my pace accurately so it also allows me to run completely by feel without worrying about chasing a pace or feeling like I need to prove something with each run. I know I will be going into Kona undertrained on the run but there is still a lot within my control like being smart with my swim/bike training, focusing on good nutrition and knowing how to manage the heat.

Because I was able to keep up with swim/bike/walk/strength and included a lot of PT and manual work from professionals over the past 12 weeks, the transition back to running felt very natural - once I got over the fear of "will I get injured again, is this a normal feeling, etc." Now I am running with joy and hopefully this will keep up so that I can start the IM Kona marathon feeling healthy and strong. I am still dealing with some non-concerning niggles so it's a daily process of listening to my body and focusing on making good decisions with my training - especially with running.

My swimming has felt incredible but I am not swimming "fast" by my standards. It's a weird feeling to feel so good in the pool but to not see times that reflect how I feel. Carrying around fatigue can be mentally tough as the mind can take you in a million different directions with your thoughts.

My long ride on Friday went great and I felt amazing throughout all 5.5 hours. I finished off the workout with a 30 minute brick run on the treadmill. Karel and I rode together but Karel was feeling empty around 2.5 hours during the ride so he had to cut his 5.5 hour ride short at 4:40. He barely made it home as he was totally spent from his previous training. This is one of those uncontrollable situations where you never know how the body will feel/perform and making smart decisions without an ego, fear or guilt is important. Karel took Sat very EZ with just a 2000 yard swim and on Sunday, he also had an EZ day of a spin and swim. These micro-adjustments of training are part of being an endurance athlete. It doesn't mean one is failing but just the normal process of trying to move the needle despite carrying around a lot of endurance fatigue.

I also had to cut a few workouts short (and modified the workout to fit in what I could) due to my work load. Instead of going into workouts all or nothing, I go in with the mindset of something is better than nothing.

We have two more weeks of hard training before we begin to taper/sharpen up and I'm crossing my fingers all goes well for us over the next few weeks. Arriving to the IM Kona start line healthy is our number one goal!

#NEDAwareness - athletes, evalute your relationship with food

Before a race, after a workout, at work, around your training buddies, in the bathroom, with your family/kids, when trying on clothes.....

How often do you criticize your body?

Before a race, after a workout, at work, around your training buddies, in the bathroom, with your family/kids, when trying on clothes.....

How often do you feel guilty or hate what/how you are eating? 

There are millions of people affected with an eating disorder at sometime in their lifetime however, eating disorders are often termed a silent epidemic. Some individuals never get the help they truly and live decades feeling overwhelmed or anxious around food or feel uncomfortable in their own skin. Others choose to remain quite in treatment and eventually gain the strength, tools and support they need to recover and to live a quality filled life with a healthy body and mind. 

It's no surprise that in a body and food obsessed society, it's not very easy to maintain healthy relationship with food and the body,,,,, and this needs to change.

Eating disorders are starting earlier in life. By the age of 6, girls are expressing concerns about their weight. 40-60% girls (ages 6-12) are concerned about their weight or becoming fat.  Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. And if not treated, an eating disorder can stay with an individual for a lifetime.

About 99% of my career is dedicated to athletes, specifically endurance triathletes and runners. I not only help athletes learn how to eat and fuel to boost performance but I also help athletes learn how to develop a healthier relationship with food and the body.  I work with all levels from age groupers to professionals, men and women, and the young and the inspiring older population too.

I spend my entire day around food and exercise.
 All my focus and attention is centered around a body in motion and how food and sport nutrition products enhance performance.

But when I am not being a sport RD, I am an athlete. And I love being an athlete.
As a life-long competitive swimmer turned runner turned triathlete, I have used my body in amazing ways and have learned so much through competitive sports. I have improved self-esteem, I've learned how to overcome obstacles, I have made great friendships, I love the endorphin rush when I train and race, I see how hard work pays off and most of all, the skills, dedication and commitment I have with my training also helps me in life.

But as athletes, the same traits that make us great at our sport can also trigger disordered eating patterns and struggles with the body image. Some athletes can spend a career or lifetime without even a negative thought about the body or food but for many, the strong messages in our society about diet and body composition can make it extremely difficult for many athletes to navigate their way to a healthy relationship with food and the body.

Even though athletes are more prone to eating disorders, sports do not cause eating disorders. There are triggers and traits that can predispose an athlete to disordered eating. An athlete who wants to tone-up, improve lean muscle mass, lose weight, get faster or improve health can certainly work with a sport RD and make changes in the body composition in a healthy way through correct training and an appropriate fueling and daily diet regime. But if "healthy" habits become an obsession, disordered eating can very quickly turn into an eating disorder. At this point, an athlete is at great risk for injury, undernourishment, hormonal disorders, burnout and a sporting career cut short.

Eating disorders and disordered eating are not limited to the leanest athletes or just to female athletes. As a goal oriented and driven athlete, you may naturally have a different idea of what your body should look in order to perform well and you are likely very in-tune with what you eat because food is your fuel. There may be nothing wrong with your diet or eating habits and this "ideal" weight that you want to achieve, may even be healthy and achievable. But there is a right, safe way to eating in order to perform well and a wrong, unhealthy and impractical way to chase a body image.

But in a society that waits patiently for the next exciting way to eliminate food from the diet, us athletes need to be extremely careful to separate main stream media "diet" fads with the obligation we have to fuel our bodies in motion. 

               The March issue of Triathlete Magazine is filled with a lot of great info on how to train and race smarter. In the issue, you will also see my recent article titled "Eat to Thrive".


Did you know that it is not easy to pitch an article about disordered eating habits in active individuals, let alone in athletes?  The topic is not hot, current or trendy so it's easy to be viewed as a 'possibility' and not as a 'necessity'.

Even though I specialize in an area that affects so many athletes, rarely do we read, hear or discuss the topic of an unhealthy relationship but there needs to be more information on this topic so that athletes do not miss out on reaching their full potential and risking serious setbacks from not fueling a body in motion properly.  

Although diet fads, food elimination and race weight seem to be normal topics for magazines, I am incredibly grateful to my editor friends at Triathlete magazine for accepting my topic pitch and for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the magazine on a topic that I am very passionate about. 

Have you ever considered that your current relationship with food can serve either as a limiter or enhancer to your training and racing performance and overall health?

If you want to eat to thrive, check out my article in the March issue of Triathlete Magazine on page 88-89 to discover three possible red flags with your current relationship with food and how you should address them to make improvements in your overall health and fitness. 

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Also - Thank you Ironman and Charisa Wernick for recently providing insight on a topic that is very personal to many and rarely discussed on main stream media, on sporting websites and in magazines. This is a topic that many can relate to and involves many issues that affect athletes of all sports and of all fitness levels, genders and ages.

"When I lost weight I got more compliments and sometimes improved in sports, which fueled my desire to lose even more. I also got injured more. I lived in a world where calories ruled my thoughts and I didn't have the time (or energy) to think about much else. It's a horrible escape, but somehow it went on for way too many years.

Rather than hating my body I started to appreciate it for the fun adventures it carried me through on a daily basis." - Charisa Wernick