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Showing posts from June 30, 2013

My top ways to recover after a long/hard workout

I don't think I know of any athlete or fitness enthusiast who doesn't like to recover quickly. I know in some weird way we love the post-workout "hurt" but if it lingers on to a point that form suffers, motivation declines and fatigue ensues, it's likely that you are wishing that a) you didn't overdo it with your workout or b) when will I feel "normal" again.  So for those who have tried to tweak their recovery routine, I thought I'd share some of my favorite ways (aside from nutrition) that I use for recovery.  Now I must preface this and say that training or working out "hard" is only one component of making performance gains and often times it doesn't lead to successful performances or reaching goals. Training smart, on the other hand, is where the magic is made. When designing a training plan, it is important to factor in time for pre and post workout nutrition (sorry - I had to put in one nutrition suggestion in th...

Endurnace sports. What's stopping you?

      Before every endurance event I do, I like to read my old race reports. I was recently reading my IMWI  and IMKY  race reports and I just laughed while reading them because I guess two and three years down the road, my mind still wants Ironman racing to be "easy".  I always think about a past race and somehow, my mind tells me it was "easy" back then and now I am really going to hurt. But it's funny that when I read my race reports, it was not easy and it was never easy. I guess the saying is true...  I guess when it comes to thinking logically, the body and mind do not like to suffer. Not a good combination when it comes to endurance racing. Not sure how many times you look for that "easy" button but if you find it while training for an endurance event or while racing, I am not sure you will want to use it because if "it" was easy, everyone would be doing it. You see, the great thing about endurance sports is that you g...

Nutrient-dense event-day creations

Salads don't have to be boring unless this is your idea of a salad. And certainly, you don't have to be the party-pooper if you bring a plant-strong meal to a holiday event. Certainly, there will be plenty of options to enjoy a little of everything and of course, I want you to enjoy your options and feel great about whatever you put into your body. But, perhaps, as you happily indulge in some occasional treats/eats, you may inspire others by your delicious, nutrient-dense creation. Growing up as a competitive swimmer, I was never a salad eater and didn't really focus on eating a lot of veggies..... unless they were drenched in ranch dressing and covered with croutons and cheese.  And even though I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian at the age 10ish, my definition of plant-strong was "I don't eat meat"....so that meant, bring on the cheese and anything that doesn't have meat or fish in it! Oh how times have changed. Still a competitive athlete but I have...

The best tip for "healthy" eating - because you've tried everything else

Every person in this world has his/her own definition of "healthy" eating. For some, it's as simple as making sure there is food on the table so that no goes hungry or starved throughout the day. For others, it is much more complicated, often involving words like organic, raw, macrobiotics, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, whole, clean, super-foods, natural, all-natural, probiotic and energy-boosting. For others, it's just a way of living life to the fullest.  According to  Medical News Today .com,  "Healthy eating means consuming the right quantities of foods from all food groups in order to lead a healthy life. Diet is often referred to as some dietary regimen for losing weight. However, diet simply means what food we eat in the course of a 24-hour, one week, or one month, etc. period. A good diet is a nutritional lifestyle that promotes good health. A good diet must include several food groups because one single group cannot provide everything a human ne...

Weekend training recap and my cycling tips

As human beings, we all make mistakes. But there is a big difference in making mistakes but knowing better, making the same mistake over and over and making mistakes to learn.  I think we could all put ourselves in one of those categories at various times in our life from training/racing with injuries, saying something you regretted/didn't mean, making choices regarding food, etc. But the best thing about making mistakes is knowing that you are trying and that you can make yourself better in the long run.  I remember a few weeks ago when Karel and I were doing a long brick and after our intervals, we joined our normal Saturday morning ride (which is around 50-70 minutes total depending on when we meet up with the fast group) and Karel was feeling the need for speed so him and a few other cyclists broke away and as the pack chased Karel, he was just ripping the pack apart...he was untouchable and seeing him in the distance, I knew my cyclist of a hubby was loving t...