Triathlon for the Every Woman

Triathlon for the every woman Meredith Atwood

Tonight’s reading – three quarters of the way through Triathlon for the Every Woman by (Swim Bike Mom) Meredith Atwood. She says it, and I’ll say it – YOU can be a triathlete. Yes. You.

Two years I bought my first bike in over a decade and a half, and signed up for a triathlon on a whim. The race itself wasn’t too pretty, but I spent the entire time smiling. I was hooked. Since then I’ve completed a few more sprints, taken a triathlon course at the YMCA, ran a whole lot of running races, and am gearing up for my first 70.3 this spring. Not only do I get to learn about one sport, but I get to learn new things about three, and consistently push myself to places I’ve not been before.

A few small (okay, sort of major things I need to work on this winter)

  • bike maintenance (I still can’t adequately change a tire – even though I used to know how to do this)
  • new tires – I currently have knobby tires on my cross bike (Bianchi Volpe), which I plan on racing with because it’s generally light enough – but 56 miles means that I really need to get a pair of smooth tires on her!
  • nutrition – 6-8 hours of physical activity requires smart fueling. I’d like to focus on real food sources as best that I can, but I know I’ll likely need some liquid nutrition. More research (and recipe testing!) to come
  • clipless pedals – no excuses, I’ve just been lazy about this.

This list is only going to get longer as I start thinking more about it.

Healthy Balance

ShakeShackSweetGreen

For the past few months I’ve been hopping on the #FitFluential Twitter chats, looking to meet like-minded folks passionate about health and fitness.

Tonight one of the questions was about nutrition trends, a topic that always piques my interest. One person quipped “Now we say “clean eating” is a trend. When I was young, it was called, “eating at home.” And I’m not that old.” And isn’t it so true? Growing up, eating well meant eating wholesome, home cooked foods, free of junk additives. Treats were few and far between, but when we got them, they were savored.

I like to say that I’m not training for any particular race, I’m training for life. And to do that, I think about what I eat often – my goal in life is to eat sanely, well, and with delight. Sometimes it falls in line with trends, and sometimes it doesn’t. My eating is largely seasonal, heavier in the winter, lighter in the summer. At home I cook a lot of mediterranean inspired meals, and many of my home cooked meals fall squarely into the “paleo” or “primal” camp, which I was doing well before things became trendy. I just call it “eating”, and it’s something that I’m excited to do every day.

There’s always room for well-selected treats – tonight was no exception. I couldn’t help a trip to Shake Shack to celebrate National Burger Day. To balance it out, I crossed the street to the brand new sweetgreen in Chestnut Hill to pick up a “guacamole greens” salad to accompany it. Now that’s a good meal!

March Motivation

118 For Boston

My motivation to eat never wanes, exercise on the other hand, takes a little bit of coaxing. Here’s how I’m taking on March!

+ I have two goals with RunKeeper this yearrun 500 miles, and walk 1000. I’m a little behind on both right now because of the weather, but looking forward to knocking out the miles in the next few months. I’ll just pretend that I didn’t look at the weather report for the week right now. I’m feeling extra motivated because of our current push at RunKeeper (my day job) – running 118 million collective miles from March 1st through April 21st to celebrate the 118th Boston Marathon, the people of Boston, and the incredible fitness community that we’re so lucky to be a part of. I’ll be hash-tagging (yep, I said it) #118forBoston with my trips on RunKeeper, and cheering as the miles go up at 118forBoston.com

+ I’m also participating in FitFluential’s #FFMarchMiles100 Miles in March challenge – walking, running, or hiking 100 miles by the end of the month. There’s a very useful little calendar to help plan out the 100 miles – it averages out to about 3.2 miles a day – which I’ve printed and put up on the wall.

+ I don’t have ready access to a pool, but if you do, you might consider this fitness challenge – Healthy Tipping Point’s Ironman March” – swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles – instead of a day, you have a month to do it. On that note, pool access, I’d like to have it! I’d love to do a sprint tri this year, but am working my way up to a bike and a swim, neither of which I’ve done in ages.

+ And! For the next five weeks I’m participating in the CrossFit Opens! Five weeks of challenging workouts, pushing myself to the very edge of my ability, and beyond. We’ve already made it through week one, and I’ve conquered one of my longest elusive exercises – the “double under”, ie: two passes with the jump rope per jump instead of one.

Onwards!!