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Showing posts from February 14, 2016

Enjoy the view!

After almost two years of living in Greenville, SC., I've learned that there are no "easy" days for cycling when you ride near the mountains. After another strong week of swim, bike, run and strength training, my legs felt a bit trashed this morning. Well, we all know that you can't get much done if you only work on the days that you feel good. With our new Alto cycling race wheels arriving last week, we couldn't wait to take them for a test ride. With legs that were not interested in pushing hard, I found myself with a few different conversations in my head... "I feel so slow." "I wish I could ride stronger." "This is so  hard." "This is not fun." "I should be faster." Every time a negative thought came inside my head, I looked at the mountains and stopped my negative thinking. With 4 hours of riding and over 5000 feet of climbing, I had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the views with Karel as my cycling gu...

Stewed vegetables with barley

                                  Wouldn't it be nice if you always had a meal ready for you immediately after your workouts? Think about it. No more processed food because you are too hungry to cook. No more fast food/take-out because you can't find time to cook. No more incomplete meals because your food options are limitless. No more snacking your way to a meal because you are too starving to wait for a meal. No more sabotaging workouts from not eating the right foods at the right time to repair and recover.  Sadly, athletes are busy and ironically, food is an afterthought. Well, not so much food being the afterthought (as athletes do eat) but food prep isn't always a priority. With every minute of the day planned and occupied, many athletes don't put meal prep on the hierarchy of "things to do" each day. This often backfires as athletes will find themselves not meeting energy needs, not r...

Changing negative thinking

                                    Life is hard. We have our good days and our bad days.  Consider a change from negative thinking to help you function/perform better in your awesome life.   1. Accept where you are now and be happy about it. It's easy to spend much of your life thinking that you would be happier if or when...... Despite life moving forward, it can seem that no matter what you receive, earn or achieve in life, you have a way of postponing happiness because whatever you have now, could be better and could make you happier. Or so you think.   Life is filled with challenges and life is hard. You can either be frustrated, angry, anxious or overwhelmed by this fact or you can be happy anyway.  If you are constantly comparing yourself to an old you or to someone else, consider what you would need to sacrifice, give up, change or restrict in order to achieve ...

Fuel for performance adaptations

Every morning, no matter the workout volume or intensity, I eat a pre-workout snack of carbohydrates with a little protein/fat. Sometimes it is a rice cake w/ nut butter, syrup and banana slices. Sometimes it is a banana w/ nut butter. Sometimes it is a waffle w/ nut butter, banana slices, honey and a scoop of Greek yogurt. Sometimes it is oatmeal with raisins, berries and chia seeds. I am well educated in the field of sport nutrition and exercise physiology. I am a Board Certified Sport Dietitian with a master of science in Exercise Physiology. I understand the benefits of manipulating the diet and training regime in an effort to metabolize different fuels for energy.  With many different well-researched fueling strategies marketed toward endurance athletes, it's important to understand that the best fueling strategy in the lab or for another athlete may not be the best strategy for you to function and perform well in training and in your life.  When it comes to p...

Brrrrr - weekend training

It's always fun for us to have a friend in town. We absolutely love Greenville and it's special to be able to show off our beautiful area to an out-of-towner. But when a friend has a similar love for endurance training, it makes for a jam-packed few days, filled with lots of miles, laughs and food. Not complaining.  After our friend Lauren and her doggy Jordan arrived from Jacksonville, FL, I made a delicious dinner of lentil soup, roasted potatoes, mixed greens with tzatziki sauce, corn on the cob and protein (tempeh for me, chicken for Karel and Lauren). Dinner was amazing. Then it was off to watch the documentary  Bikes vs Cars  at the movie theater, hosted by  Bike Walk Greenville After moving from Jacksonville, FL to Greenville, SC, I can honestly say that I love where we live now....in a very bike friendly community.  However, after watching the Bikes vs Cars documentary, although it is evident that we are lucky to have so many cycling options as ...