They Call Me Seashell

I am in a Facebook group that is about getting ahead of our 2016 New Year Resolutions.  I am in the place now where I am looking ahead to the new year and seeing what I want to put my energy into.  So here are some of the goals I am putting my energy into achieving, as well as how I want to help others achieve their goals too! THE GOALS: 2016 edition GYM RAT I have such a weak upper body, but some strong legs.  I can muscle through a lot but this year I need to be real about gym goals because I need to balance out this body! A bonus to strength work is body composition change and more muscle = more ability to burn baby burn those calories. GOALS:  Strength at least 2 times per week - core included - and workout at the gym on average 3 times per week over the course of the year. RUN A RUN A DO RUN RUN, RUN A DO RUN Since I am not planning on a solo long distance event this year, but rather relays events with my husband and some shorte...

For those who have followed my journey, you know that I have at times had a struggle with self acceptance and achievement in the sport of triathlon.  I never really considered myself an athlete, however I have always felt that I could be one if I tried.   I think now at this point in my life, I can stand behind my voice when I say that yes, I am an athlete.  I swim, I bike, I run, I paddle board, I enjoy the sport of it all and encouraging people, especially women, to give it a try and find their love of sport for themselves. I am an athlete and an ambassador for people. Along the way, my husband Mike has grown to be there cheering me on and supporting me in my training endeavors.  It was not always this way.  At the start, even though we were both runners when we met, I had continued on running while he was having more and more back issues and this was starting to become an issue for us. I just could not stop being who I was because he had to change ...

That number holds a bit of heft.  When I see 100, I think immediately a short list of words: Accomplishment Perfection All Whole Complete Maybe this reveals a bit about me and my tendency to be results driven and very FIRE aspect dominant.  :-)   One word that typically does not come to mind however is HAPPY .  That is until recently.  There is a challenge called 100 Happy Days and being that we just passed 100 days remaining in the year I thought that it would be the perfect way to end 2015. I find this challenge very engaging since it enforces that happiness is a choice and that every day we have something to be happy about... you just have to look. Since today is Day 3, I had some catching up to do but here are the first 3 days of my 100 Happy Days experiment: Day 1 - I am happy to be starting over in my training.  Again. And not for the last time. ;-) Day 2 - I am happy for my husband and his sense of humor...

Recently I have been thinking about heart and courage.   Does winning a race or placing on the podium or setting a PR take heart and courage?  Absolutely - but not for the reasons why you may think.  Courage and Heart do not exist in a result.  Courage is born with a decision and dedication to follow a dream, and heart is earned in the darkest hours.    I was once asked what the hardest part of Ironman was.  I responded "Signing up." I realize how blessed I am to belong to some amazing communities and the one thing that really ties them all together is that their purpose is the same - lift up women and encourage them to go after their goals. As a member of the endurance triathlon community for some time now I have seen many friends and teammates make valiant attempts and fall short of achieving their goals.  The amazing thing is that in the community to which we belong no one ever criticized, made fun of or ri...

Wow. I started in on the training plan this week and getting back into running is much harder than I remember!  That goes to show you what total inactivity can do to the body.  I went from peak form to barely being able to run a mile non-stop in not very much time. First day of 10k training is in the books and I ended it with a  nice visit to the Dry Sauna to sweat it out. I realized this week, after an emergency with a family member that our future is not guaranteed.  I am not even speaking about our mortality - I am speaking about quality of life.  How quickly things have changed in my family over the course of not even 3 years. I realized that my joking about "out running my genetics" is not so much a joke and there may be a genetic possibility that I could succumb to the same autoimmune diseases that plague my mother.  I now realize that I need to eat as if my life depends on it - because even though I may be healthy now, I may not always be. ...

I am signed up to run the Detroit Marathon Relay with a team of awesome co-workers for my company this coming October.  I decided to take the longest leg which is 6.4 miles.  I decided this weekend to actually load up a training plan since the whole "by the seat of my pants" training has not been going so well. As luck would have we we are exactly 2 months out from the race, so I am just in time with my plan!  I decided to pull a Hal Higdon plan for a 10k distance and start in on that.  I am not too proud of a person to admit that I will be starting at the Novice level once again because that is where I am at right now.  It has been too long to jump into anything more mileage intensive and I am motivated to  hit the pavement in the morning! Goals for this week: Tuesday 2.5 mile run, Cardio Blast class at LTF Wednesday 30 minutes cross training Thursday 2 mile run plus strength Saturday 5k walk with my #LT90DayChallenge team Sunday 3 mile run ...

As part of my personal 90 Day Challenge journey, I decided to start a D.Tox program for the first few weeks in order to help my wrangle in my appetite and reduce my sugar and carbohydrate cravings. This past week I was in prep phase, reducing my caffeine intake and getting ready for the next 2 weeks of D.Tox, before reintroduction of certain foods. I appreciate that Lifetime Fitness has gone to Thorne Research for it's supplements as I work with Thorne myself in my nutrition practice.  The D.Tox is not caloric restrictive, it is toxin/toxicant and allergen restrictive. I am day week 2, day 3 now and feeling pretty good.  The biggest change is that I no longer crave sugars, which is nice.  I have removed gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, soy, and all added sugars. Here is to some success and the kick off to the start of my next Seashell journey!

Looking forward to graduation in 2016, I decided to go ahead and sign my name back on the dotted line come November, and toe the line at Ironman Florida, 2016. I mean come on, look at all of this awesome!   I will be approaching my training a little differently this time around, more whimsy, more play and more intuition.  I am also going to be more forgiving of myself.   I love the sport, I love the Ironman journey and I love the person I have become during my time away from it over the past few years.  It is time to marry the two together in the way that only I could.  :-) To kick off the journey to this Ironman, I signed up for the #LT90daychallenge where I am pledging my pounds for the sake of a healthier life. My goal is to drop about 12% of my body weight before I sign up for IM, and then to just keep on making and sustaining the lifestyle choices that support me in my quest to better health.  I am going to pick back up here an...