Journey to IRONMAN: That Quote

Well, its official, 6 more months until that IRONMAN start line.  I'm a day late this time.....I remembered last night when I was in bed.....nearly asleep.  I think I chose wisely. :)  The months are just ebbing away in a constant routine of Sleep, Train, Eat, Mother, Wife, Eat, Sleep.

This month I wanted to do a little follow up on everything that has been going on with my diet, Heart Rate training and IRONMAN prep.  For the past few weeks this quote has been ruminating in my mind......

I have changed my whole perspective on food, fueling and training.  I am quite literally doing things I have never done before and finding a happier, wholer, stronger me.  So.....how's it going?

4 weeks ago I made some big changes, 1.  I cut out 80% of my carbs, all of my grains (except Quinoa) and 95% of processed sugar (I still love me some super dark chocolate). 2. I dramatically increased the amount of good fat I eat (Ever had bulletproof coffee? You should!) with coconut oil, grass fed butter, avocados, eggs, nuts and nut butters and 3.  Taken all the intensity out of my workouts.  For the first 2 weeks I literally was running (if you can call it that) at about a 12 minute pace.  Riding a bike has been slow and steady.  It all has been slow and steady.

I won't lie, for the first 2 weeks I struggled a lot.  It has been very difficult to feel like I am "loosing" my speed and fitness.  I was frustrated and discouraged. I am so very thankful for my coach Dawn and my dear friend Bridgit.  Dawn has been the most incredible source of encouragement and belief.  I called her during those weeks and amidst my struggles and unease her resounding confidence in me was unwavering, "Bethany, calm down, you are going to have an amazing IRONMAN.  You are a strong athlete. I have no doubts in your ability.  This is only gonna make you stronger."  That confidence and Bridgit's nutrition advice and love of Costco has been the motivation and catalyst for digging in and doing this!

And its working......BIG TIME

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing I feel.  I now track my macros (ie proportion of carbs, fat and protein).  I work to cycle my carb intake between 50g and 175g daily.  I can easily finish a 3 hour bike ride on no fuel (body is learning how to burn fat....eeee!)  and everything about my body feels AMAZING. I never thought I would give up bread, grains, sugar, lattes, pasta and my belief that I "need carbs," and feel so so SO good! I don't have cravings and I am never Hangry (so hungry I'm angry) and I just feel lighter and brighter.  

I am getting stronger too.  I have really noticed it in the water.  I used to jump in the pool or the lake and my heart rate would jump up very quickly.  I used to have a hard time getting my breath and breathing organized and settled.  Now I am cool as a cucumber and absolutely LOVE my swimming.  I feel confident, competent and like I could go forever.  My cycling and running has also seen dramatic improvement.  No, I'm still not fast, but I'm steady, consistent and able to go and go and go. 

I am doing things I have never done in pursuit of a dream.

I can....and I will 

Journey to IRONMAN: Rocky Point Tri

Boy, its taken me a while to get this blog up and running!  Goodness, its been 2 weeks since the Rocky Point TRI.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun this event and vacation was.  I have firmly decided that as our girls grow up I want to see the world and race.  Running, swimming, biking, whatever.......we can do it all so now I just want to see the world while doing it.

We had a fantastic group of my TRI club buddies who headed down for the weekend.  I hitched a ride with Bridgit's family and we drove our way across the border.  Side note: I had no idea that children could ride in the vehicle for several hours without entertainment and no screaming.  Seriously....had no idea :)  The kids were fantastic and the conversation and laughs we had driving down were awesome.  I know cool people.

Exhibit A

Rocky Point is gorgeous.  I have to admit that I was amazed at how close a vacation destination is.  It even feels exotic when you leave the country.  You do drive through a pretty poor area of the border before hitting the beach, but the destination is fantastic.  Surf, sand and WIND. Well, it did not disappoint! The morning of the race we woke up to hellacious winds coming off the ocean.  They couldn't even put up the transition area balloon because it kept being blown over.

Out of all the elements, wind is my biggest fear and I thought it appropriate that I would have to deal with it on my first Olympic distance.....ever.  Funny thing though, it never once derailed me.  I kind of had this attitude like, "of COURSE its windy! IRONMAN won't come easy so why did I ever think the wind would be kind?  Big girl pants time!"  My attitude morphed into one of sheer resolve.  "Good luck with that wind........I got a race to do and you have nothing on me!"  Another empowering win for me.  The body can most certainly achieve what the mind can believe.

See that lovely yellow clad lady?  That's my amazing coach Dawn.

With the crazy wind, the swim was completely derailed and made into a beach run/ocean crawl.  They wouldn't let us out in the waves so we ran 300 yards down the beach, 20 yards out into the water and then 300 yards climbing through 3 feet of heavy surf and waves.  Then....we did it again.  The legs burned, but we all sure did look cute in our swim caps and goggles doing knee high lifts through the water as fast as we could.

Upon exiting the water the wind literally pushed us up the hill to transition.  The bike course was a 3 loop repeated course.  They set it up so that we had a tail wind going out and a headwind coming home......3 times.  All things considered it was the best possible set up given the wind, but every time the legs went from flying to a brick wind wall it was challenging.

The bike was a great event for me.  I really enjoyed it even in the wind.  My stomach was unsettled from waking up, a fact I attribute to diet change, travel and nerves, so when I got off the bike I knew my run was going to take a hit.

My transition was great, but the run did indeed become a miserable event for me due to stomach distress.  I had just forced too much change on my gut to quickly and then threw an intense race on top.  My own fault pure and simple.  I finished and flung myself over the finish line and onto the glorious slip and slide to be hosed off.  Margarita Time yet?

The party got rockin' right away with great music and the awards ceremony.  Even with the stomach issues that I had I still managed to place 2nd in my age group!

See that athlete to my left in that picture?  Yeah, she passed me at mile 4 on the run.  Next year.......Ill be back.  I can't tell you how awesome it was to place and get to be "on podium."  It really felt great and I have firmly decided that small races really are the best!

My girlfriend Bridgit rocked the podium too.  She's strong and fast......and an amazing triathlete.  This year she isn't in my age group.......next year she will be. #friendlycompetitiononlymakesyoustronger

We ate a snack, took a shower, took a nap and then headed out for dinner and drinks on the town.  Flavios had spectacular local fare and the long island iced teas were perfectly strong.  It was a good night :)

The next day we spent doing what we should be doing..........beach bumming it!  We woke up late, ate a fabulous breakfast, took our towels, sunglasses and drinks to the beach and enjoyed the sun.  Excuse the tan lines........

Rocky Point was so much fun and I nearly have Bob and I signed up for next year already.  Since finishing this race I have had my nose to the grindstone changing my diet and training my heart rate.  I am determined to solve all my stomach issues and come out of this IRONMAN experience a stronger, healthier, leaner, meaner fighting machine  Onto the next!