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Family-style meals - pizza and tacos

                                             Growing up, my brother and I were on different schedules all the time. Whereas my brother had gymnastics practice for a few hours every day in the evening, I started my day super early with my dad driving me to swim practice at 4:30am most days during the week. After school, my day would finish with another swim practice, piano lessons and perhaps some after school activity squeezed somewhere in there. Oh, and then there was time for homework in the evening before it all started over again and again and again until I graduated High School. Then I re-created my similar lifestyle in college with swimming, school, studying, swimming and studying....with eating throughout the day with my swimming teammates.   Although eating was not scheduled with my family growing up, I always enjoyed the times when we could eat ...

Post-race indulgences - RD approved!

Indulging on cheese curds the day after IMWI after placing 6th female amateur/3rd AG (this was an appetizer to my juicy "veggie" burger and salty sweet potato fries). I was joined by Karel who also enjoyed indulging on a juicy burger with salty regular fries after qualifying for his first IM World Championship after his 3rd IM.  Racing in endurance racing, at any level, requires extreme attention to every detail. Triathletes and long distance runners are known to be a bit driven, obsessive and competitive and more often than not, a bit food-obsessed.   Because achieving perfect race-week and race day nutrition may make the difference between having a dominating race day performance and struggling to make it to the finish line (or get out of the port-o-potty), triathletes who have a healthy relationship with food and the body intuitively understand the best foods for their body that will ultimately support health and race day goals. But...

Athlete (not-in-training) - Off Season tips

Athletes are tough people.  They can push when the body says push no more.  They can accomplish a lot before 9am and know how to squeeze a lot into an already busy day. They have this amazing ability to seek out information to make improvements, always reflecting and analyzing as if there are no personal limits but instead, consistent constant improvements. Athletes are smart, hard working, passionate, dedicated individuals but sadly, many athletes do not know how to do the off-season properly.  For the first time in 8 years, I have intentionally taken 5 weeks off from any type of structured activity with minimal running (2 runs on the track, gadget free), a handful of short bike rides (gadget free) and a few times a week swimming (after waking up without an alarm, no more than 30-45 minutes of swimming). I say intentionally because I was not injured, sick or burnt out after IMWI so the rest was planned by me and not forced by a doctor. And I still have one ...

Ironman World Championship spectator tips!

Tomorrow IS the day!! For 7-17 hours, triathletes and fans will be glued to the internet all day long (or watching live on the big island) to watch 1500+ age group and professional endurance triathletes race for 140.6 miles on the biggest stage of endurance sports.  The waves, heat and wind will all be conquered as one female and male professional athlete become the Ironman World Champion and many athletes will follow to become Ironman World Championship finishers. The Ironman World Championship medals are very hard to earn but when one is around your neck, you know the commitment, refusal to give up and hard work was all worth it. Without a doubt, tomorrow is the Superbowl, Olympics, Wimbledon, Formula One, Final Four, World Series of the sport of triathlon. Tomorrow is the  2014 Ironman World Championship !!! Tomorrow is the day when fitness enthusiasts turn into athletes. The though of training for a 5K or sprint triathlon will quickly become an a...

Happy 7th B-day Campy!!!

Today we celebrate Campy's birthday!! Since Campy is a rescue dog, we aren't sure of his exact date of birth but we got him around the age of one. So every year, for the past 6 years, we have celebrated the day when Campy came into our life. Here are a few fun facts about Campy.  Campy loves to travel! We find pet-friendly hotels and he never stays in the room alone. What a lucky doggy! Campy loves the outdoors. He has endless energy.... Until he wears himself out.  Campy loves nature. Any new place is an exciting place. Any old place is also exciting too. He never seems to get bored from walking the same routes on our morning walks but in the case that there is a new smell, Campy is always the early bird to find it!  Campy is a Chihuahua Italian greyhound mix. He has a strong personality and he is really, really fast. He was 11 lbs when we got him and now he is 13 lbs. I'm pretty sure he gained two lbs of muscle. Campy is an athlete! Campy was found...