recovery

Food Allergies vs. Sensitivities

The common misconception is that people who chose to eliminate specific foods are picky eaters, inconvenient and just doing the latest fad.  The truth is that some people have become in tune with their bodies and notice adverse effects when certain foods are consumed.  Everyone’s reactions are different in how they manifest.

For example, while eating out I may ask if something is “gluten-free”. Almost every time the person will ask “Are you allergic or is it a preference?”.  This question erks me. Who cares if it is my preference! If I want something gluten-free I should have the confidence in knowing what I’m eating is just that! And to be honest, now when posed with that question, I tell them I am allergic.  I won’t die if I have it, but my body will tell me it is angry with me for consuming it.  It’s my choice that I don’t want to eat gluten, others shouldn’t sabotage it.

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Giving in to Supplements

My belief has always been that the food we consume can heal us. However, I was reminded that our food does not contain the same nutrient content as it once did as the soil our food is grown in is often nutrient deficient due to monoculture, pesticides, etc.  Although I’ve drastically overhauled how I eat, it is clear something is still fucked up – could be I’m not digesting my food properly and/or not absorbing nutrients. Honestly, I’m at my wits end over here, so I have finally caved on supplements.

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2017 Triathlon Season

Today was a wrap on the 2017 triathlon season!  Since my first one last year, I have fallen in love with this race.  I completed 3 Tris this year – one was suppose to be an ocean swim, but due to rough waters it was cancelled (Islandman Triathlon in Avalon); another in a pool which I’m not a fan of the serpentine style race (Lititz RecCenter Triathlon); and a lake which was awesome, even if my shoulder was acting up and I had to breast stroke the entire distance (Marshman Triathlon in Marsh Creek State Park).

Like all my half marathons, I really do need to start properly training for these events.  I do believe going to CrossFit a few times a week does help build strength and endurance, but CrossFit does not prepare you for sitting on a bike for extended period…Luckily you can swim however you want so there is always breast stroke. I would actually like to do better so I really need to start freestyling and conserving my energy for the other 2 legs.  Maybe next year I’ll properly plan and train for any Tris I decide to compete in….I do always say this for whatever race I sign up for…one day tho!

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Nutritional Challenge – Changes

Day 7 of no sugar, gluten, dairy, or alcohol.  Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t have delicious and tasty food!

Only 1 day of slip ups which for the most part were out of our hands…look I know we could’ve CHOSEN to not have alcohol or dessert, no one was MAKING us consume these things. But stressing out about our food choices will not benefit our bodies either. So yes, we had beer (Zach) and champagne (me) and ate desserts (shared mini desserts and didn’t Repeat the same one). The food at the wedding was amazing and I’m sure there was sugar and hydrogenated fats in there, but I didn’t stress about it. We did make the conscious effort to not eat bread at dinner and didn’t stuff ourselves. So I’ll take that as a win while dining out.

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Digestion: The basics to help fuel your daily grind

With all the stress I have in my life, the last thing I thought I was effecting was my digestion.  Hell, for the past few years I’ve completely shifted what I ate and how I thought about food.  I thought I was doing a pretty damn good job of eating the right foods to provide my body the fuel I needed to perform optimally. Enter NTA and a wrench in my daily grind…I have come to the realization that over at least the past 2 years I have been “thriving” off of cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline).

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Recovery Journey

Adrenal Fatigue – Part 3

I have been doing CrossFit for 4.5 years with varying degrees of dedication.  I would consider myself one of the “weaker” females in my gym.  My 1-rep max deadlift hovers around 155# (that is this year) and has seen little improvement.  The weak deadlifts have always been blamed on my running habits – quad dominant and weaker hamstrings; oh and my inability to activate my glutes.  Well in April this chick hit a 200# sumo deadlift. SAY WHAT?! My body felt great that day, there was no “knot” above my right glute and that damn bar went up when I lifted it.

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The Crash

Adrenal Fatigue – Part 2

Adrenal fatigue does not appear overnight.  There are subtle things that can fester over the years.  There can also be one event that will throw your adrenals over that threshold into fatigue.

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No Training Plan

Adrenal Fatigue – Part 1

I’m 1 week out from the Island Man Triathlon today.  Last night I had planned to do a bike and run today, since it would be only my 2nd time this training cycle to test that out.  I know, I am probably screwed next week. Oh and obviously I haven’t swam in 2 weeks, AHHHHHHHH.

Anyway, I went out with the intention of biking for an hour.  I got back just under that and covered 15.1 miles.  The bike ride was a relatively easy-paced, I didn’t kill myself knowing that I needed to be in top-notch shape next Saturday.  Got back to my car and got ready for the run – there is absolutely no urgency in my transitions, which will probably put me dead last with all my friends next week.  9:30 minutes passed and I headed back on the trail for a 2-mile run.  Now this is what DOES NOT MAKE SENSE to me – 1st mile was 7:57 (WHAT?!) & 2nd mile was 8:05!  How is it possible that my miles after a bike ride are faster than if I had just gone out for a 2-mile run?! Okay, I know I don’t push myself on most runs, but I felt like I was a 200# person running today – my legs felt so heavy and my quads were screaming!  Other than making myself run, I was not pushing myself to hit a certain mile-pace.  So what the hell is going on?!

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Overtraining

CRAP! The Islandman Triathlon is officially less than 3 weeks away.  I am starting to freak out a little about the race.  Since signing up (February?) I haven’t had a game plan – real surprise there, right?  Even though this is nothing new (I have never truly stuck to any sort of training program), I thought this time would be different.  I do want to do really well, not trying to win awards here, but I do want to crush it to my own ability.  Either way, I know I will be able to cross that finish line.  The only possible disappointment I’ll have is when I don’t beat the three others that I’m doing it with.  But to my defense, they do have more experience with triathlons, access to a pool for training whenever they want, and are taller than me = longer running strides.

Last week was a short work week due to Memorial Day, so I thought I would have more time to do things I wanted to do.  It was 4 weeks to go until the triathlon.  Again, no real training plan so I didn’t think much of what I was doing every day.  Well I was totally wrong, I definitely over did it.  My body is SCREAMING at me this past weekend and still is today.  My quads and hip flexors are extremely tight.

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PR 5K and Training

I have a LOVE  H A T E relationship with running.  But this year, this “training” cycle, something is working.  I’m training way less than I used to, but over a two week period I PR’d my 5K time TWICE.  The latest was AFTER a 17 mile bike ride – HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!

On April 30th, I ran a 5K at the Philly Zoo.  This was not easy as the paths throughout the zoo are narrow and we started at the back of the pack.  Obviously, we had to make a bathroom stop before the run!  The first mile was super slow as I was trying to weave my way around the walkers and strollers – 10:37. This was the first time EVER (training or race) that I had negative splits! Mile 2 – 8:28. Mile 3 – 8:11!  That race I would have considered my ideal time at 27:21.40.

Two weeks later I decided to finally get on my bike, the triathlon was 5 weeks away and I had yet to try out the new bike or even get a ride in.  No expectations for the day, I told myself I would bike 30 minutes out and come back.  As I changed shoes I ate a Phat Fudge packet and had a few sips of water.  Again, I set out with no expectations, I just wanted to run 3 miles without stopping.  Honestly thought this was a struggle.  As I ran up the hill to my car I looked down at my phone and saw that I was CRUSHING IT.  How was that possible, I felt like I was running so slow and my form was awkward as hell (at least that’s how it felt after the bike).  So I decided I was going to see what my 5K time would be and ran around the parking lot until my phone hit 3.1.  To my surprise I killed that run – 25:31. HOW?!?!

I have been in complete shock with how I was able to run my best 5K time EVER after an hour bike ride. Over the past week I’ve done a lot of reflection trying to figure out what I did to get here and realized this time around I have completely changed the way I train, especially when there is a race in my future.

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