The Journey...

The internal compass.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 00:22:00 +0000

I post ed a blogpost over on my Ironman blog about how I am changing it up a bit this year.

In it I describe my desire to stop defining myself by my physical accomplishments and to start defining myself by my passion for life and my ambition. There is some similarity in being an Ironman triathlete and being a driven, focused person. It is hard to accomplish the Ironman without purpose, drive and desire to work hard for it. Some manage, but not many. And some attempt it but do not accomplish it.

I realize that this same passion and drive is what makes life enjoyable. It also serves as a reminder that if I am not feeling something, it is best to just move on and not push myself through an unhappy time just for the sake of saying that I did it.

I think that this applies to many things in our lives. We put ourselves through events without passion or even real desire to work for it, only to say that we did it.

There is no fun in that and honestly no one cares what we do or what we do not do.

In living an authenticlife, we must follow our internal compass. If it makes us happy and we feel a light inside us when we think about the activity then it is a good thing and the right choice. If we feel sick, obligated, or tight in our stomachs when we think about the activity or putting time into getting ready for it , then it is not the right thing for us at that moment.

Good things can turn into bad things and vice versa.

When we stop checking in on our internal compass, that is when we find ourselves down a path of unhappy.

So what are you doing today in your life to get on a path to happy?

USAT Long Course National Championship Race

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 19:55:00 +0000

On June 8th I participated in the USAT Long Course National Championship race at the Grand Rapids Triathlon.

I almost did not even do the race due to life and motivation issues leading up to the final month of training - but I am glad that I did. Mentally I executed a strong race even with the bike issues that I had.

I ended up 1st in my division (Athena 39&Under) which makes me the 2014 USAT National Champion for that division. I also placed high enough in my AG (F35-39) that I am on the roll down list (fist position!) to be on Team USA for the 2015 Long Course World Championships being held in Motala Sweden June 25-27th.

Some days it does pay to show up and execute the race you need to in light of any issues that arise. This goes to show that it is not always about what happens to you - rather it is about HOW you react.

National Women's Health Week - Spotlight on Mesothelioma

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Tue, 13 May 2014 19:36:00 +0000

For more information on Mesothelioma and women's health, please visit http://www.mesothelioma.com/, or click here to learn about all of the products that contain asbestos..

Digging a hole instead of reaching for the stars

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 20:42:00 +0000

On the heels of being accepted into the graduate program at UWS, I realized as I was walking my pups the other morning that holy cow... I am going back to school. For real, paying a lot of money for it, school.

Immediately popping into my head is the following:

Ahhh... the infamous planner: color coded goodness!

This is how I have made it this far in my educational life. My planner system has served me well through two degrees already and I honestly do not think that I would have been as on top of things if I did not schedule my time down to nearly a 'T' with the colors to help me see at a glance what is where. NERD!

So while that worked great in undergrad when school was my J-O-B, and even when I was in my MBA when I had a full-time J-O-B in addition to full time schoolwork. The only difference now is that I have an awesome full time J-O-B, travel to two states monthly, have two pups that require my attention morning and night and all spare minutes in between, as well as run a home solo while I am in training for an Ironman.

Pretty much my life is nothing like it was in undergrad or MBA school. I also came to realize that for some odd reason there are still only 24 hours in a day and 7 days per week... so I am not allowed any bonus of time which is quite the bummer.

If I add this program on top of all of that up there ^^^^^^ I am going to lose it. As my sensei CBW told me - "there is no reason to dig a hole instead of reaching for the stars". I am one person with a lot of goals. I can accomplish them all, just not all at once.

This year I am going to give my all in my training for Ironman #2, and then afterwards, go down to Tennessee and volunteer at Ironman Chattanooga as planned and leave on Monday morning having not signed up to race in 2015.

I am already taking 11 credits this fall and plan on keeping up around that level for the duration of the program. I know what will happen to me if I allow myself to be in the negative place where I am studying but feeling guilty for not training, or where I am training and feeling guilty for not studying. I will dig that hole and not be able to come out. What is the saying? Good Grades, social life, enough sleep... choose 2.

I am choosing school, shorter races, and more social time while I finish this education. I may even do a fall marathon in 2015 so that I am still active and have my "me' time, my down time from studying. So much easier training in one sport than three. :-)

I will do a few sprint series races, and maybe even go for an Olympic race or two. However my focus needs to be on the real commitments in my life, and Ironman/ will always be there for me. When I return.. it better watch out!

Reach for the stars, my friends!

The XYZ and Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 16:05:00 +0000

After my interview on Tuesday I heard back pretty quickly from my admissions counselor.

ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will need to complete an Anatomy and Physiology class along with my core Fundamentals of Functional Medicine class this Fall as part of my admissions approval, and I am A-OK with that! I learned that starting in Spring 2015 you will have to hold a professional / medical degree already in order to even be considered for acceptance into this program, so I am very happy that I made it in.

I have been learning a lot about synchronicity and lately I have been feeling it resonate through different aspects of my life. My friend Lainey told me last year when I was really struggling with some changes in my life that my body will tell me if I am on the right path because the Universe always answers our call. Boy was she right! Ever since I have laid my intentions out and spoke them aloud, things have been lining up for me left and right. The biggest lesson in all of this is that it is not enough to just pine over dreams in secret. We must tell them to people and share our goals with the Universe.

In my Teaching the Hormone Cure course through Dr. Sara Gottfried, she has asked us to write our XYZ. My name is X, I help Y by doing Z. This got me thinking. Hmmmm... What exactly is my drive and desire for doing all of this?

My first run XYZ looks something like this:

Hello my name is Jenniferlyn Kryvicky and I am a Certified Holistic Health Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and nutritionist who through a functional lens dives deep into the root causes of my clients chronic and systemic problems with fatigue, hormone imbalance, and digestive issues to create balance, health and wellness that allows them to not only thrive, but to SHINE. Warning: Side effects may include restored energy, weight loss, life balance, and a general sense of awesome.

During writing my XYZ I had some other thoughts that came out more like a manifesto or statement of purpose. In taking the XYZ approach further, I decided to keep a running statement of purpose that is my foundation for doing the work that I seek to do. And this is what it looks like today.

There is a great need for Functional Medicine.

According to the Institute for Functional Medicine, chronic disease is quickly becoming a large share of the total spending for both government and individuals. I see firsthand through exposure to different communities that there needs to be a new approach in both the prevention and the management of chronic disease. The current focus on end-point treatment and symptomatic relief is not working as proven by the rise in health costs over the years. I believe that the foundation of changing this paradigm will come from a solid understanding of functional medicine and integrative nutrition. We need to spend more time respecting bioindividualty and look for the root cause of the patient’s chronic health issues allowing for better long-term management and better quality of life.

As Buddha said "If you light a lamp for someone else it will also brighten your path." My purpose is to light the lamps of others. I light lamps by educating and mentoring clients through my wellness company, Shine Total Health and Wellness. I see a white spot in the health field where patients do not fully understand how integrated their lifestyle and health is, even going beyond nutrition. This gets worsened by a one size fits all approach to treatment. My goal is to fill in the white spot.

I aim to achieve this goal by growing the foundation of my company through continued education and gained competency to better help clients with more complex health concerns get to the true underlying causes of their chronic health issues in order to find the solution that will work for them, as an individual. Additionally this will allow me to be best prepared to efficiently educate a wider population of people on the prevention of illnesses. Functional medicine is preventative medicine.

I started a Wellness Blog for Shine over here, as well as a Facebook page. Feel free to follow and like these pages! I will be launching my formal website in June/July of this year.

I am working hard on my goals and a large part of my success t is applying my practice to myself. I have taken myself on as my first client, which is actually quite exciting. I am removing my preconceived notions and seeing where I can take this.

Which brings me to Spring Cleaning! Since it is officially spring, I decided to do some cleaning of my own mainly inside my head and inside my body.

I am lucky in that my house is actually fairly clean year round thanks to a tad bit of OCD and living alone. My big internal spring clean item will be my floors - all the hardwood and the carpets in the bedrooms and living room. Thanks to Otis the potty pug never really being trained well, I have had some accidents to deal with and am working with him on fixing that habit. Slowly but surely it will be done.

The major overhaul is with my diet. Ironman training is kicking into full swing and with that comes the return of my Triathlon Tapeworm Jose. I decided to give whole real foods a try instead of fake sports nutrition and wrote a post on my goals over at The IronSeashell, my training specific blog.

I also have outsourced my grocery shopping and now even my food prep! Sounds lazy but lets look at my life. I work full time 40-50+ hours a week, plus Ironman training 10-16 hours a week, plus schooling 5-10 hours a week plus home time and travel for work and splitting my time between FL and MI. I have very little time for much else without coming at a great personal stress. I get my lunches and dinners made for me and delivered courtesy of Thrive Foods Direct - 100% organic, gluten-free and vegan, and I supplement with fruit and veg from Door to Door Organics or even Amazon for anything esoteric like Nutritional Yeast or the Vitamin Shoppe for my supplements/vitamins. I rarely need to go to the store now and honestly I am spending LESS money outsourcing than if I was to go shopping and meal prep myself.

I was spending upwards of 5-8 hours a weekend in food prep/shopping and while it was nice when I could afford the time, I honestly just am at my limit.

Like I say in my Sports "Nutrition" post - crap in is crap out in performance, mental acuity and overall wellness. I have felt huge differences in my mental clarity and motivation as I eat different things. My thinking is sharper and my overall happiness is better when I consume good clean foods all day long. I am excited to see how I can perform without the last crutch of sports nutrition.

Shine on!

Interview day!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:18:00 +0000

Today I have my interview with the Dean of Functional Medicine at The University of Western States.

I am feeling nervous but very excited! At this point all that stands between me and acceptance into the MSHNFM program is this interview! I am feeling pretty confident in my application package. Well really - that application package is ME.

All the independent studies, degrees, certifications, and continual learning about the human body, nutrition, and functional medicine is culminating into this next step. My new company, Shine Total Health and Wellness, is the first pixel in a much bigger picture. And all of this is the continuation of the journey to the best possible me, so that I can help others achieve the best possible them.

2014 is going to be such an amazing year! My 2nd Ironman, returning to graduate school, launching my own business and wellness brand, growing further with my amazing husband, and of course continuing to grow in my position at Continental Corporation.

Investing in myself.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Sun, 30 Mar 2014 04:17:00 +0000

Over the past few months I have been traveling back and forth between FL and MI as per my new normal life.

With the worst winter to hit Metro-Detroit in about 35 years upon us, I have welcomed the break every few weeks as it gives me the chance to recharge my batteries and soak up the sunshine and inhale the sea salt infused air.

With that much travel, I have spent a lot of reflection time on myself and my health goals. Lots of air time and sunshine-fuelled happy tends to lead to self reflection and realization I guess!

I am an eternal student of life, always reading up on the different parts of overall health and wellness. I have been feeling a pull to learn more and in a more holistic sense, no longer in parts. I have been called into a new direction as it pertains to how I look at all that I put my body through be it food, exercise, stress, self care, or sleep.

Through the past few years I have picked up bits and pieces of ideas from the academic and clinical worlds on so many health topics that it had left me hungry for much more.

I am an engineer through and through, and by taking a Functional Nutrition lecture series through the Holistic Nutrition Lab in Portland, OR, I have learned about our body's physiological processes as they were put in focus under a lens of science that makes So. Much. Sense. Combined with my health coaching training program a solid foundation is being formed.

Ultimately, I do see a need in our health system to provide a safe place for clients to understand lifestyle choices and the resulting impacts on their health in ways they may not even realize are connected and in ways that doctors just do not have the time to outline and explain to their patients.

Even more directly and immediately, I see a need for myself. Ever since I have been learning about the physiology of our bodies, my lifestyle changes have taken a deeper and more meaningful root. To hear "eat this not that", or "do this exercise not that" is one thing; To see clearly how those actions impact my body on cellular level makes it more real for me than just generic health advice.

I have an underlying eating disorder that has plagued me for much of my life. For the first time I am feeling my disordered eating habits breaking up and with that clarity, I am inherently being drawn to a more stable and normal food relationship. The impacts of our lifestyle choices on our bodies are outstanding!

After much research and careful consideration, I have decided to gain an even better understanding of the human body, the human mind, and the all too often ignored connection between. I am returning to school!

I am working on some prerequisites and foundational certifications (CPT, CHHC), and will be working on a Master's→ Ph.D program over the next few years as a passion project of sorts - as an investment in my health and my ability to help others make sense of theirs.

I found out last week that I have been accepted into a Doctorate of Science program and a Masters of Science in Holistic Nutrition - this is my Plan B. My Plan A is the Master of Science program in Nutrition and Functional Medicine with the progression in to a Ph.D in Natural Medicine following. I should find out by the end of April, early May if I am accepted!

While this will be my 2nd Master's degree (and obviously my first and only Ph.D. *wink*), this will be the first degree that I go into for pure desire of learning and educating - not for a job requirement/advancement purpose.

I am so excited to grow this part of my life, one which has been calling to me over the past few years!

A funny thing happened on the way to the weekend...

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 21:53:00 +0000

A funny thing happened on the way to this past weekend. I realized that I miss running. Not run training, but good old fashion running for the love of lacing up the shoes and getting out of breath out on a trail somewhere.

Heck, I love running.

I LURVE IT!

I am a RUNNER not a triathlete, I told myself in the beginning. I figured that I would always be a runner who just does triathlons. Not soon after I started in on my tri adventures, I ditched running and fell in love with swimming and cycling. AH! Freedom! So much to do! I will never get bored!

Yeah. Until burn out happens.

I had not run (for teh sake of running) in so long I forgot that I liked it. I paced a half marathon, ran a marathon, the Goofy Challenge and an Ironman in 2011-2012 and hated running. At the end of my bike leg at Ironman Florida I asked if I could go back out and do it again. I wasn't really kidding.

I am not a runner, I am a TRIATHLETE. I must run to finish line, or be an aquacyclist. And I would be just fine with that honestly.

Only now, after a good break from the act of running with purpose, I have grown to love it again. I realize that now I am running from a happy place, a place of contentment, not one of obligation. It is no longer the bane of my existance. Whew. The next few years would SUCK if I did not find my run mojo again.

So now I am going to be focusing on my running for the next few months, to really break myself of my preconcieved notions of running and build a stronger me.

I mean afterall at one time I was RunnerGirl.

RunnerGirl - Same great triathlete taste, now with 300% more run, and 50% less complaining!

I found the word.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:59:00 +0000

Ok, well no. True, bird is the word, but while surfing bird was a great song it is not what I found.

I have been stuck with making some goals for my 2014 season. I had no problems making them, but I sit back and look at what I have put into my head and think... OMG... can I do that? Partly because goals are scary, but partly because I know who I am. Or rather, I have a pre-conceived notion of who I am.

Who is the girl I think I am? A slow runner. A slow swimmer. A powerful cyclist. Overall a weak racer on long distances.

And while it may be true today, why do I think that is going to be true tomorrow? Or in 6 months? Or in a year? Why do I think that I can so easily discredit the training that I have ahead of me? I mean, certainly if I put in the work as intended I will see the results I desire. But no, not this girl.

Because I label myself as slow and weak, I never give my all to something like training. I was never sure why I have not seen improvements in all of my years of doing sports, until last night. Last night, while I was at the gym getting ready for my 5k TT run test (which was OK by the way- 1 point higher than expected woot woot!) I had the extreme pleasure of running "into" my friend, Fraser teammate, and fellow ENer Trish. After my run I stretched out a lot and then hit the locker room, where I ran into her again.

Through our talking and going over the amazing year she had in 2013, it became very clear what was "wrong" with me. It is not ability. It is not will. It is not determination or that I am lazy. It is not a lack of speed, or a lack of race execution. It was due to lack of something much greater, more powerful than any of that.

Confidence.

Confidence is what I have been lacking in all these years. If you read through my blogs leading up to Ironman Florida in 2012, over on my IMFL blog, it wreaks of lacking confidence. Only after completion of the race do my blogs turn to words of strength and celebration. Almost a verbal sigh of relief that I actually, against all odds, succeeded.

Ugh.

So yes I have some steep goals this year, but honestly the biggest of all of them is to have confidence in my ability to execute my training, and to make my training a priority this year. As Trish said, to live with no regrets.

I am tired of the sufferfests that I put myself through, but those sufferfests will always be there until I change myself and the way I look at training. Firstly - I need it. If I am a slow runner it is because quite honestly I do not respect my run training. It is hard for me and uncomfortable so I give up and wimp out.

My new goal for 2014 is to gain confidence in all that I do, from public speaking to racing an Ironman. I need to start each day with intent and to STOP labelling myself as slow and weak. This is the year that this girl becomes fierce and confident! This is my year of awesome.

As a final run down on my 2013 year, I realized that I did more than I thought that I did.

I also decided that I really enjoyed have a blog dedicated to my Iron and endurance goals, but also really like having this blog to catalog the greater journey. After much thought I closed the IMFL blog and started an off-shoot blog called The Iron Seashell where I will track all of my training and races in more detail, while this blog will serve as the chronicle of my overall lifestyle change to being the healthiest person that I can be.

Head on over and follow The Iron Seashell if you are interested in following my journey to being the best endruance athlete that I can forge. Click the logo and you will go right there.

So how do you handle self esteem and confidence? Have you overcome a lack thereof or have you always been confident in yourself and your actions? Do you have any labels that you impose on yourself that you want to remove this year?

TRAINING UPDATE: Test Week

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 16:03:00 +0000

As part of my goals to be more accountable to myself and to give a balanced 100% to my training, I am going to actually be blogging about my training once again. This is why I started this blog more than 7 years ago, time to get back to my roots.

This week is Week 1 of my Out Season: get more powerful and faster plan. I will be doing this for 14 weeks and then transition into Half Ironman training to be ready for Welland Half Ironman in mid-June. After that I switch gears to Ironman training for Rev3 Full Rev this September.

But before all that I must put in the work. The sweat and wanna puke work. The OMG I am back in the game work. The WORK WORKS work.

1 test down, 1 more to go! I also want to start getting back into the pool - not for workouts but just so when the time comes I am not afraid to get back in. The OS work is hard enough without adding crazy other volumes, but for me swimming is no longer optional. I tend to skip swims, wimp out on the runs, and bag the bikes when I am not feeling it.

I see the pattern and have lived it for 2 solid years. Time to make some change in that!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! What is going in your book this year?

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 14:45:00 +0000

Ahhhhhh... smell that? New year smell! I love this time of year because it gets people motivated to do things, hopefully some things out of their comfort zone.

I saw the neatest thing on New Years Day on Facebook and it really resonated in me.

That is such a great way to look at New Years time. Nothing has been written for us - it is all a story that we are in the prices of writing every single day.

How great is that?! If we look at each year as a book in the series of our lives, we are building the great story of who we are. Building upon the years past, setting us up for a story that WE write, not someone else. After all - we are each in charge of ourselves and how we react and create in our lives.

What will you write down in your book this year? Will it be an epic story of weight loss? The tale of going back to school to finish a degree or learning a new skill? Will it be the training log for an event?

My book will be a tale on how I took charge of my happiness and continued on the path of creating those sustainable changes which allow me to live my best life possible. There will be some adventure along the way with epic reports of battling the triathlon beast scoring and some PR's at the 140.6 and 70.3 distance thrown in there for good measure. There will be a romance story woven in as well, working together with my husband as we reshape our bodies though weight loss and better choices in eating. And it will be a comedy because, well it is me.

RESOLUTIONS - WHY NOT TO SET THEM

The blank book analogy got me thinking about how resolutions are made and why we really should not make them. While it is great to have goals, and the start of the new year is the perfect opportunity to make some changes, very few people succeed because they either set unrealistic goals, are not willing to make the changes necessary to achieve the goals, or just simply do not know how to go about it and become frustrated when they do not see the progress they had hoped for.

Statistically, according to the University of Scranton's Journal of Clinical Psychology (as of January 1, 2014 data collected), of the 45% of Americans who make resolutions less than 10% succeed.

Less than 10% of us will succeed in achieving our goals this year. When you look at what goals we are setting, that makes the numbers even more sad as our goals are all to live what we perceive will be a better life.

Type of Resolutions (Percent above 100% because of multiple resolutions)	Data
Self Improvement or education related resolutions	47%
Weight related resolutions	38%
Money related resolutions	34%
Relationship related resolutions	31%

Everyone has heard the old cliché of the definition of insanity being to do the same thing expecting a different result. In order to achieve a different outcome to 2014 than from 2013, then you must change what is put into 2014. This also means that we can change how we approach the upcoming year.

Resolutions fail because we look at things so black and white. My goal is to quit smoking, so the first time I light up in the new year, I think - gee I have already failed! That is it. I cannot quit.
We need to stop looking at step backs as failures.

No road is ever a straight path. There will be stop signs, bumps, distractions, obstacles. But ato point should any of these be a dead end.

MY PERSONAL CHANGES

GOING TO BED AND WAKING UP EARLIER - NO MORE EXHAUSTED DAYS!

I started my change back in October by waking up earlier to get in my workouts and by meal planning and meal prepping. I will continue to do so in 2014 as this makes me happy and I found that I lose weight and save money in the process. Win win!

PREPARING IN ADVANCE FOR MY WEEK - NO MORE WINGING IT!

I have learned through many set backs that I need to to look ahead a week at a time to be prepared to juggle all that I have going on, and that I cannot just wing it anymore. The days of waking up and looking at the schedule or events for the day to see what I have to accomplish are done for me. I just have too much to balance to leave it up to chance that I will make it all fit.

Also, I am going to give my training my balanced all this year, and not settle for hitting 70% effort like I have in years past. I say balanced all because I do have a full time job with a full time family and full time friends outside of triathlon :-)

CASH BASED SPENDING - SAYING NO TO CREDIT!

I have gone to a cash-based spending system (not even debit card, but actual green cash) and while I have had a budget for as long as I can remember, I am actually going to adhere to it. Novel idea, right? I find that this has helped me two fold: 1, I am more conscious of my money and what I am purchasing, and 2 - I am more conscious on spending the money on needless calories! Do I really want that ?

LEARNING FROM FAILURE - NO LONGER FEARING IT!

I no longer see the goals ahead of me as daunting simply because I have failed before and lived to give it another shot. Sure I could look at it as re-losing the weight I lost 2 years ago. Failing has given me permission to just go for it. I failed and lived. What more do I have to lose? Nothing at all!

I have closed the book on 2013 and on some lingering emotional topics from 2012. They now sit atop a shelf, not gone and not forgotten; just as prior volumes in the series that is my crazy and wonderful life.

Here is to the best edition yet! 2014: The Year of AWESOME!

DAY 1 TO AWESOME

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 04:41:00 +0000

Today I decided to get back into the gym even after I did not feel terribly motivated to do so. Hence why I was at the gym at 9pm at night. :-)

I started out by doing my "Stretch to Win" lower body stretches. I figured that my biggest issue is that I spend too much time breaking DOWN my body and not allowing it to relax, rebuild, recover. I am incorporating some yoga into my plan next year as well as mandatory daily stretching.

After stretching I got on the good old treadmill and ran for 20 minutes. That sucked. Big time. BIG TIME SUCK. But, what do I expect? It was my first ANYTHING since Miami Man in November. 1.5 months without exercise results in BIG TIME SUCK. Remember this kids.

After the run suck fest I decided to give a new workout app a try. It is called BodeeFit and it gives you a daily workout. Not only does it give you a Daly workout, it provides the time and all videos on how to perform the workouts autoplaying while you are working out.

WHOA.

This is a game changer for me.

So I log in, super easy, and boom - there is my workout. The Cyclist.

Oh! How appropriate! I am a cyclist! So I look over it. 15 minute AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) of the following:

15 air squats
30 second push up holds
15 bicycle sit UPS
Oh many easy peasy I say, so I head on over to the stretching area and hit start. 15 air squats? Not a thing. 30 second push up hold? Yeah I modified it. 15 bicycle sit ups? Hmmm... that was a little tougher than I remember.

After 3 rounds of the above I was dying. OMG... WHY am I doing this? To get stronger. To give it my all and not quit. To show myself that I can, in fact, push through the suck and embrace the awesome on the other side. I am out of shape. It sucks. But one day in the future, as long as I continue to work at it and for it, it will suck less. And then it will suck even less. Until one day the suck is so small I forgot that it ever sucked at all.

I have pushed through the suck at many a triathlon. I am employing the push through the suck mantra in overall fitness as well.

So after it was done, I hit finished with 1:45 left on the clock as I would not have time to do another round. Imaged 6 rounds in 15 minutes, Not great, but it is my baseline. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

I was so impressed with this app that I decided to give another app I downloaded recently a try. It is a stretching routine app and again, one that did not disappoint. It shows you the stretching routine in live time while you are doing it, with a count down for each hold as well as showing you the full routine at the bottom so you see what is coming up next. The app is by Fitness Reloaded, and is called Stretching Exercises. They have a whole slew of apps with different workouts such as lower body, AB, arms, etc. If they re anything like the stretching one, they are really well put together. I do believe that this one is a pay app for ~ $1.99 if I recall correctly.

Also important to note is that I downloaded these on my Windows device (Surface) so I am not sure if there are Apple or Android versions on the market as well.

So day 1 of awesome is in the books. Stretching, running, WOD, stretching. What a nice workout!

So how are you working on beige awesome today?

Looking Ahead to the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 16:56:00 +0000

Christmas is upon us and soon we will be gathering to toast the past year and usher in a new one.

I am so excited to really put myself out there. 2013 for me was a wash in some ways, but at the end of the year I realize that I needed a reset year to solidify who I am in my own head. I have no doubts now as to what I want and why I want it.

Sure I went through so set backs, weight gang AGAIN, depression, juggling a new career and a new home life. But I realized that there is nothing special or remarkable in that. It is life.

In 2014 I am putting my nose back to the grindstone and working on myself. So here are some of the things that I am working on in the new year:

No more being so competitive - life is not a contest.
Try to live the best possible life I can each day.
Shine more shade less.
Give myself the gift of giving my all, no more half-assed excuses and half-assed attempts.
Be content in what I have, but work harder for what I want.

My goal is that in one year I will be looking back and smile on all the hard work I put in during the year.

Shine on!

Making Dreams a Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 21:04:00 +0000

There comes a time when all the dreaming in the world, while a nice distraction from reality, no longer comforts. I am at that point. I have been there a while really, but finally made an effort to turn those dreams of mine into reality this past November.

It goes back to the desire to work for something as opposed to the desire for something. I am ready to work for it and to go get it done!

While in Florida in November I ordered a study kit from the American Council on Exercise. After much research and years of thinking about it, I decided that this is the time. The time is now. I am starting on the next leg of my journey. I am studying for my ACE Personal Training certification, and am building hors towards my coaching dreams in order to sit for my USAT Level 1 coaching credential in 2015.

I have taken on two clients in coaching already and am really excited that I have taken some substantial steps towards a new life! With this I have also started a new company! Welcome to

SHINE

Fitness. Personal. Training.

This is the home for my new path in life! I will be keeping up the journey blog more consistently again now that I have a renewed spark in my own personal journey, as well I have started a business specific blog which will have the purpose as being the outlet for my clients and my personal develpoment in fitness.

Expect some great things in the new year!

Shine on my friends!

Jenniferlyn

Plant Strong Recipe Friday: Jennifer's Plantastic BBQ Beans and Quinoa Pilaf

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:32:00 +0000

Jennifer's Plantastic BBQ Beans and Quinoa Pilaf

Ingredients

1 can of rinsed and drained pinto beans (Great Northern or other white beans would work just as well. )
1 bag of shredded cabbage slaw mix
1 small white onion
1/2 C of frozen kale
1 Jar of Bone Suckin' Sauce
1 Jalapeno (optional)
1 C uncooked red Quinoa
2 C water

Method:

Bring to boil 2 C of water in another pot. Add the 1C of quinoa when ready and cook per directions. I added in the last 5 minutes 1C of frozen kale and 1 chopped white onion.
While the Quinoa cooks, Add the drained/rinsed beans in a pot with diced jalapeno (if desired), 1 - 1 1/2 Cups of shredded slaw mix and 1/4 - 1/2 C Bone Suckin' Sauce. I started with 1/4C and added another 2 Tbs only, but use per your preference. Heat over medium heat until completely combined and the slaw mix is soft. Should take about the same time as the Quinoa to cook.

To Serve:
I scooped out some quinoa pilaf and topped with a healthy serving of beans. I then topped with additional raw cabbage mix, a few sliced of avocado, some hot sauce and some nutritional yeast.
This dish reminds me of all of the best parts of BBQ with none of the guilt.. you get your BBQ, baked beans and cole-slaw all a top a clean pilaf of quinoa.

Finding the way.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 16:56:00 +0000

To summarize quickly how October ended up for me: well, it is official. I am now a 5am waker-uper! I like morning workouts as I can get them out of the way and have the night to spend hanging with Moosie and Otie.

In addition to that I have cut out sugars and went completely, no excuses plant based the Engine 2 way. Real whole foods. No fakey sugars, no oils. Heart healthy. Doing such, I have lost over 10 lbs already and am feeling amazing!

I am currently in South Florida visiting my husband and my in-laws as well as raced in the MiamiMan Half Iron triathlon - which was one of my bucketlist of races. Two down, many more to go!

My time in Florida this trip, much as most of my time in Florida, has been spent really looking internally at my life and the choices Mike and I are making. He is making some major headway at his work here in Miami, and I am doing very well with my job in Michigan. While we will have a long and winding road ahead of us to make these two lifes one again, in the meantime I realized that it is time to make my dreams a reality.

I have always wanted to help people and over the course of this past year I realize that I can do that in the capacity of a mentor of sorts. I am working on my ACE Personal Training certification, as well as am starting to coach friends in triathlon in order to apply for and sit for my USAT Level 1 coaching certification. My hobby of fitness and sports has taken a turn for me and I feel more passionate about this all as a lifestyle than ever before.

While I love my day job, I want to expland the horizons on my knowledge in health and fitness, and who knows where that will lead me one day. I know that I am on the right path... my gut is telling me so.

Things just got stoopid.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:31:00 +0000

That is the one word that I will use to summarize my ~~October~~ Rock-It-Ober thus far. My prior posts have been about rocking this month by starting to create and reinforce the healthy habits that cumulate to make a healthy lifestyle ultimately adding another focus each month as time progresses.

The clif notes version of my long term goals were to focus more on preparation and being proactive, rather than reactive and pushing things off until later. Because why? Later never comes for me. I am better off saying that I will do this never rather than saying I will do this later.

I have to take those silly stupid steps that I spoke about last week in order to find success. I have to get down right stoopid.

My goal for October is to focus on preparation the night before hand so that I save some time in the mornings, eventually working up to being a morning person by 2nd nature.   Somehow I jumped right into the whole morning workout thing and combined those goals in execution. My goals for this past week were to go to the gym 2 mornings and to make it to masters swimming on Saturday morning. I went to the gym 3 mornings in a row and made it to masters swimming on Saturday!

I find that the night is key for morning success. You can wake up at any time well rested and ready to go, as long as you plan ahead and go to bed at a reasonable time to allow for sleep, as well as provide yourself with the proper shut down before shut eye.

I am doing much better with getting to sleep at a reasonable hour (typically between 8:30 and 10pm) however there is still improvement here.   I would like to consistently be in bed by 9:30 at the latest, up at 5:00am to feed the pups, out the door at 5:30am to walk them and on the way to the gym no later than 6am.   This will give me 1.5 hours for a workout in the morning and still be to work in time.

I am doing really good with the 5am wake-ups but I notice if I am overstimulated before going to bed such as watching TV or playing games on my phone I have a harder time falling asleep. If I turn off the TV an hour before bed and make sure that my alarms are already set, I can flip my phone over and lay in bed typically falling asleep in under 15 minutes.

I struggled at the start last week because I kept finding myself running back inside my house for things that I had forgotten. I realized that while I did a better job at prepping, I in no way made it as easy as it needed to be. That is exactly why I am taking steps each day. I am not looking for perfection but rather I am trying to find what will work for me to be successful in my goals. I have learned that I need to wake up, go into routine, and find myself at the gym in the pool or on the treadmill before I realize what I am doing. Hesitation can lead to procrastination.

One thing that I spend time doing is picking out clothes for work and working out. What do I need for work?  What about training? Run shoes? Bike shorts? Goggles? Where are my x, y, z?

All of these things cluttered up my mind and slowed me down breaking my mojo a bit. This weekend while doing laundry it hit me. As I started to hang up my clothes and re-organize my shoes I decided to help things out by hanging up my clothes in ready-to-grab outfits right down to jewelry and accessories. I was hanging up clothes anyhow so it just made sense to me to pair up all the clothes so I have one less thing to do all week. I spent a good 30 minutes putting together all outfits with jewelry, undergarments, hosiery, shoes, etc. so that I don't have to spend time each night or morning trying to find something that fits me in body and mood. I now have a good two weeks of outfits that all work well together, each one making me feel really good wearing them.   I just grab one out of my closet and hang it by the side door before I go to bed. Done and done.

As for workout clothing that is a little trickier.  I have tons of it, possibly even more than work clothes. I used to have all of my workout gear in a huge pile. Talk about a time suck. It was like diving into the rabbit's hole; I never knew when I would return!

I have made strides in improving this already as I now have a set of drawers solely for workout clothes. There are 4 drawers: The top has all of my athletic / sport electronic accessories (HRM's, Garmins, blinky lights, chargers for the Garmins, etc.) as well as all of my swim gear (caps, goggles, suits). The 2nd drawer has all of my sports bras and socks/headbands. The 3rd drawer has all of my running tops and capris/pants/shorts/shirts as well as winter running hats and gloves. The 4th drawer has all of my biking jerseys, shorts, capris, pants, and winter commuting gear in it.

With this newer system I have cut down time spent sorting through clothes for workouts.  I still have to spend some time thinking about outfits - do I have a sports bra, the CORRECT one for the workout? What about my socks? The next step for me is that I am going to start setting out my workout clothes on each Sunday for the entire week ahead of me. Just gotta make my week days stoopidly simple.

This week I am learning that a little time invested up front makes for much larger gains in time later on in the week. Now that is an ROI that cannot be beat!

How are you progressing in your habits? Finding anything that is not working for you? Things that make a world of difference? Feel free to share your experiences too, as the journey is not just about what works for one person but rather how we can learn from each other, arming ourselves with many tools in the tool box.

Bow Chicka Wow Wow! Silly Stupid Simple Steps to Success.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:40:00 +0000

In an effort to keep Rock-It-Ober going full steam ahead, I have decided to keep posting this month on the theme of momentum and providing tools we can use to keep ourselves on track or tools that we can use to get ourselves back on track. Ultimately tools for setting ourselves up for success.

I am very proud to report that I went to bed early last night (after getting everything I needed around and packed) so that I could get up early today to feed/walk the dogs and get ready to go run at the gym before work. Not only did I get up to go run at the gym before work, I actually ran at the gym before work.

Bow chicka wow wow!

Now that felt good. Baby steps. Or rather Silly Stupid Simple Steps.

Huh? What?

While on my way to run a quick errand the other night, I turned on my SiriusXM radio and tuned to COSMO Radio to catch a few minutes of the Love and Sex Show with Dr. Jenn Berman. This is a nightly radio show dealing with everything and anything. All the things. Not just love and sex. It is COSMO, so you know, they gotta represent.

Anyhow, in the 3 minutes or so I was able to catch the show, a caller had phoned in about failing in her goals. She wanted to lose weight but could not get the motivation to get on the gym like she wanted to. Dr. Jenn's response was brilliant and totally hit home, echoing my points about setting ourselves up for SUCCESS, not FAILURE.

So here is another tool to put into your tool box for success: Silly Stupid Simple Steps

I realized that I already do this when it comes to my to-do lists. I will literally add something to the list that I am just about to do, if only so that I can cross it off when I am done. I feel so good about crossing something off from the list that I work on crossing another thing off of the list until I have so much momentum that I am working on the harder things to cross off the list. I use the easy to-do's as kindling to light the fire so that I can tackle the more daunting tasks. Boom.

While Dr. Jenn did not phrase it exactly as Silly Stupid Simple Steps - she is way more educated than I and I just happen to like alliteration - her general response was that if we beat ourselves up for failing at our goals, over time we feel not good enough; as if we are not dependable to ourselves. We start to feel as if we will never achieve our goals because we cannot trust ourselves to accomplish them. "I always fail." "I never can do this." "I will just quit anyhow." We set "perfection" goals that do nothing but set us up for failure. We are too black and white, all or nothing.

She said that instead of setting the goal of let's say going to the gym 6 days a week for 60 minutes a day, that we should start off with a simple cannot fail goal. Her example was the goal of "one day this week I will go for a 15 minute walk."

Silly Stupid Simple Steps. Not silly as in funny, or stupid as in dumb but rather silly-stupid as in super super easy to reach goals. The lowest of low hanging fruit possible. Simple as in not complicated, and steps as in there will be a lot of them ahead of us; we just take them one at a time.

You know you get a lot of pleasure from crossing off something from the list, or clicking the check mark on a completed task. This is the same thing! We want to build up those check marks. We want to prime the pump. Once we set up a series of no-fail steps and achieve them it alters our internal thought process. We go from thinking doubt and fear to feeling motivated and accomplished. This rebuilds our egos and renews our self confidence. Also, it builds momentum. Momentum is a very good thing. Momentum is what keeps us going.

So my Silly Stupid Simple Step towards success for this week was getting my butt to the gym this morning. There. Nailed it. I am building upon it tomorrow with the stretch goal of going to swimming in the morning with my masters team. Stretch goals are those goals that are nice if we accomplish them, but they are stretched past the goals we hope to achieve, the mandatory goals. I need to do this (goal) but would be ecstatic and over the moon happy if I could do this little extra (stretch goal). Stretch goals are the 200% achievement in the world.

So what are some of your Silly Stupid Simple Steps that you need to take to get on track? Your baby steps? If you are already on track, did you do something similar to taking easy goals to build momentum?

What are some other tools you have for motivation and building momentum in your life?

October? More like Rock-It-Ober!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 18:52:00 +0000

Well here we are, October. It is officially Fall and with it all the Fall things are back. Pumpkin spiced and salted caramel everything, rich and warm colors, crisp cool breezes, trips to the cider mill, my favorite booties and leggings, and of course shorter and shorter days.

With the increase in shorter days and cooler temps motivation can start to decrease as well. One more pumpkin spice latte and an apple fritter, please! I will run/bike/lift/Zumba/kumbaya tomorrow.

Hmmm. What have we learned here on the journey if nothing else? Tomorrow never really comes. I promise that.

In the Fall I love lounging and cuddling an indulging. I always have made the Fall my off season, off on everything that is.  Then I re-focus in January. I don't know about you, but I am growing tired of letting myself go, only to get back at it in January. I feel that my resolutions and goals are recycled each year much like the much loathed fruit cake in a tin. THIS is the year I lose the weight! The same weight I have been loosing and gaining every year for my entire adult life. THIS is the year I stick with a training program! You know, the one that I started and don't stick with. Ever. EVER. THIS is the year that I xyz... when we all know I will pqr.

Enough already. I say this not out of anger, but more out of exhaustion. I am just over it all. Enough.

I realize that delaying things to tomorrow is typically due to poor planning on my part for today.   I also realize that I tend to think of goals as one and done - lose the weight, go back to old habits, shocked weight is back on, lather-rinse-repeat.

I have decided to let the coming of a new season, my favorite season at that, plus the start of a new month set me on my way to good habits once again. This time not all at once. and not set on specific number goals such as weight / measurements or speed / power. Those goals are short term. I want to focus on the habits that lead to those other things. Habits are lifetime! Habits evolve! Goals are definitive and once accomplished... then what?

Ironman blues. Post-wedding letdown. These things are real because we set our eyes on one specific thing, and lose sight of processes and daily happenings that add up to result in those things.

When I am in my zone I am doing great! My weight stabilizes and my workouts are consistent. My power and speed increase. I am on top of the world! I see improvements on all fronts. When I get out of my zone, like I have been this entire year, I can easily get out of control on some fronts. Ugh. In the case of 2013, it happened on nearly all fronts. Speed, power, weight loss? All gone.   Why? Because I fell out of habit. I lost sight of the big picture.

Ironically, just as I have been fighting with motivation this year due to life's curve balls I have recently been receiving messages on my email, Google+ account and on Facebook about motivation and how I do it all.

Good question, my friends. Good question indeed. I wonder that myself sometimes.

This has inspired me to make October a re-focus month for myself. How can I do it all? One day at a time.   Every month I am going to focus on one thing that I do and try to tweak it or really reinforce the habit. No more off seasons, from now on just life.

To kick this all off I am proclaiming October to be Rock-It-Ober!

The Deal:

I am making a goal of getting back into my healthy lifestyle habits one month at a time: prepping and cooking meals for the week, establishing my nightly routine of getting everything ready for the next day, logging my food intake, spending time on Yoga and getting back into morning workouts. This may be a lot to focus on at once, so my goal is to focus on one habit each month. Not that I cannot do the others, but to really FOCUS on one habit.

1. Nightly Routine - setting myself up for success by making sure of everything I have going on the next day, packing all workout and work bags so that they are ready to go, having food for the day prepped and ready to go, house picked up and run a load of dishes and clothes.

2. Morning workouts - Swims and run in the morning. I need to get back into this habit as it made for a much happier day not having these workouts hanging over my head all day long. Work and life intrudes during the day, so getting the workouts done first thing assures that I can accommodate life as it happens.

3. Meal planning and prep. Success for me is being able to have "grab and go" meals ready for me in my fridge or freezer to hit the road for work. I eat 2/3 of my meals at work, so I like having things readily available that I know ahead of time the nutritional values. Keeps the guesswork low.

4. Logging my food. Piggy back onto #3, keeping track of my nutrition so that I know if I am eating too much or too little. Got to get back on point!

5. Yoga and massage. I realize that I need to keep this as part of my recovery tool and so moving forward I want yoga and massage to be a monthly part of my routine.

This month I am going to focus on #1 - nightly routine. I feel that this is the backbone of which all other habits stem for me. Success today started yesterday.

Here we go!

Are there any habits that you feel really good when you are in, and really bad when you are out of? Do you find yourself setting the same goals each year? Are there any goals you have looming, or any frustrations that you have about your current lifestyle? Try breaking them down into habits and work on forming foundation habits each month. If one is too tough, don't give up just keep trying and roll with it until it is a habit, even if it takes half of the year. Every day moving forward is... well you know the rest. It is progress.

Are you ready to rock it?

Learning to Push Through.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 16:19:00 +0000

The past few weeks I have been travelling for some workshops with my work teams. A week in Mexico, a day in our North facility. Flights and drives along with late nights / long days. The workshops have been all in all very well executed, with some of the biggest take-a-ways for me being those that I can incorporate into my personal life, not just professional life. They also showed me that I am able to push through and get it done. This was not always the case.

We spoke a lot about value of a team, values of self as well as the core values that make up our team and company. Sometimes taking the time to put words down on paper helps identify the path we wish to take. We may think we are on the right track, or that we know what we hold dearest, however if you reflect on the words that you envision shaping yourself and your values you may see a different picture.

For instance, I used to sit on the couch and watch workout videos. Yes. You read that correctly. I would sit on my couch and watch workout videos in hopes of getting the motivation to actually do the workout. I would occasionally start with the warm up, but then I would be so out of breath or so sweaty that I would just give up.

It is too hard!

I would say to myself as I slumped on the couch watching those über fit people on the screen breeze through the routines with ease.

They are fit, I am so out of shape - I cannot do this!

I would say to myself as I grabbed the bag of cheesy-poofs or a candy bar and unwrapped it admiring the workout clothing and choreography of the exercisers on screen wishing that I had that body.

They are so lucky to have been born that fit!

I would think while munching away like a couch potato.

However, everyday I would put in that DVD and watch the video. In my head I thought that I wanted to get fit, I thought that I was just easing into the workouts and was watching to gleam what was coming before me. In reality I was just lazy.

If I had written down the words that made up my values, then I would have seen that what I wanted and what I was doing to myself were two totally different things. The workouts were not too hard and the instructors were not too fit. I was getting out of my comfort zone and the second that happened I freaked out.

Some values that I hold dear to myself both professionally and personally:

Fidelity

Strength

Determination

Empathy

Support

Recognition

Achievement

Perseverance

Back then I was not working towards or possessing any of these values; I was fostering a false me.   I am going to take some time in teh next few weeks and realy sculpt out the core values that have the most meaning to me in my life and set upon a path of working on supporting them in everything that I do. I think that this is a good exercise to get back on track or to use as a sanity check - am I really on the right path for me?

I have come a long way since the days of cheesecake induced food comas and nightly viewing of exercise videos. I now know that I can push through the discomfort. That by pushing through means that there is a point on the other side where I will emerge, and while not easy the discomfort becomes tolerable again.

Fast forward many years,and you will see me sitting on a plane to Mexico a few weeks out from a half iron race. On this plane I am eating healthy snacks that I brought for myself - a protein bar, a dried fruit "roll-up"- reading magazines and planning out my week's training while on the road. In the airports you see me gravitate towards the customizable food stations - the Chipotle, Q-Doba, etc. varieties - ordering brown rice with pinto beans, covered in a mountain of grilled peppers, onions and lettuce, topped off with some yummy hot salsa.   You see me at the hotel going to bed, setting my alarm for a 5am wake up even after travelling for over 12 hours. You see me waking up at the right time, putting on my workout clothes and trudging around trying to break free from my sleepy haze. You see me struggling in the first moments of being awake and thinking to myself - am I really doing this? The bed is right there. I am tired and sleepy... but I can push through. I know myself too well by now. If I don't do it now, there is no later. Later never comes.

You see me in long hours of workshops, followed by long nights at group dinners. You see me having an adult beverage or two, but also drinking lots of fresh bottled water and eating vegetables and salsas.  You see me skip dessert which is unheard of for me - but then snack away during the workshop which is much more par for the course. You see me wake up morning after morning, running mile after mile all while maintaining a happy attitude and enjoying the trip to Mexico.

While those are the details, what you are actually seeing is me pushing through discomfort and attitude, and emerging on the other side better for it.

The biggest take away from the workshops is that we (I) do not give as much as we (I) can professionally and in personal interests. There is always another degree, another inch that we can go in some facet of our life. Not every facet nor all at once/all the time; in one facet we can dig a little deeper and push through when needed.

I am not the picture of perfection in health and fitness. I am learning much like we all are. There are deep ingrained habits and reactions that I am working to overcome and to change and pushing through mental barriers is the first step.   If you find yourself quitting just because you are uncomfortable with the effort - be it anxiety, fear, increased heart rate, the general feeling of discomfort - do not quit. Do not rob yourself of the potential to feel something great. Push through the haze and see what is on the other side.

I promise you that once you push through it gets a little less scary each time. While the haze of getting out of the comfort zone never goes away you can make it smaller so that each time you face it you are more confident in survival and reward. That leads to motivation and momentum.

Are you willing to push through something today to see what is on the other side?

I know that I am, and while I am starting over on some things I am ready to push through the tough few months of getting back into a groove.

And with that, a quick update on how my training has been going. I have been hitting the bike on either my trainer or out on the trails the past few weeks when I am at home and then making good use of the treadmills when I am not at home. I have been getting in the time, but really struggling to hit my prescribed paces and or power targets. This is starting to bother me, but I know that in time it will come as long as I push through it every day.   This week I have been good about getting in my bike and runs, however the pool remains as an area of improvement. I know what I need to do and that is my goal for next week.

I will push through the anxiety of being bored in the pool and get in all of my swim workouts next week.   Time to channel my inner goldfish.

Looking ahead for the rest of this week I have my long run tonight (2 hours!) and then my Race Rehearsal swim, bike, and 1 hour race-paced run. Sunday is an off day.

Week 12 of 20, enter the final push to MiamiMan

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:51:00 +0000

I cannot believe that I am already 8 weeks out from MiamiMan half iron. Hm, I am not so sure if I should say final "push" into MiamiMan since there was really no lead up to this point. Ha ha! I guess the push is me pushing to train for 2 months to get ready for a 70.3 mile race.

I am ready to have some fun out there. After all, if it isn't fun why do it? I remember the days of being so afraid of these distances, now I look at them as fun events. I like that. I really like that.

I am excited about the 70.3 and 140.6 distances now as opposed to fearing them. I still have a healthy respect for the distances and unknown variables that come with, but after doing 4 half distanced multi-sport events and an Ironman I am more confident in my abilities and have learned so much about how to train, how to trust, and how to execute. I am no longer the variable I worry about.

I know that I will do everything in my power to be as well prepared as possible for the undertaking. I like training for and racing these events as it has become just a part of me. I really look forward to learning all about myself and the time I spend in training has become my "Jenn time", the time that I am putting myself first.

This week is bike and swim focused since next week I am in Mexico for work and will only be able to run. I have been reconnecting with my trainer a little bit during the week to assure that I get the rides in. I have grown to like my 'me" time in the pain cave peddling away the stresses of the day.

Also, this weekend Masters swimming starts back up at Schoolcraft, so I know that I have an option to get in a good swim on Saturday if I miss one during the week. I can swim for the 1.5 hours and still have time left in my day to get in my 3 hour bike and a little run!

Feeling the love.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 14:36:00 +0000

I realized that I am truly blessed. I think that we all are, we just need to take the time to look around be see the good in what we have, versus the things that we see as trying to block us from success and happiness.

I just spent an amazing week with my husband in South Florida. We spent a few days for our 1st Wedding Anniversary down in Delray beach at the Sundy House Inn. Lounging, reading, eating, and going to the ocean. It was just like old times.

While in Florida, I made sure to just be. To take a real vacation and not worry about workouts. Since I will not see Mike again until mid-November, I really wanted this time to be just us re-connecting. I think that it did the trick.

I came back refreshed for the first time in years, and I feel a light in my heart again. Depression is tough, just when you think you are free from its grasp, you realize that you were wrong. I am still trying to come out of it, but I am happy to say that every day I am making progress. That every day I am finding joy again. That every day I am getting closer.

And that makes me smile. I am feeling the love!

{Fake} Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:39:00 +0000

I am feeling down right geeked today as it is my {fake} Friday!

After work tonight I need to grab a few things for boarding my pups, namely food!, and then do a double check to make sure that I have everything that I will need for the weekend ahead. I am hitting the road to Madison Wisconsin tomorrow in order to partake in an epic training weekend on the Ironman Wisconsin course.

I am even further convinced that everything happens for a reason. Well, more clearly put I believe that we draw to us the things that we need in that moment. This weekend is the jumping off point for my season and a total reset on me. The short version is that I have done some soul searching to see where I am mentally now that I kow where I am physically. This year has been a total rollercoaster for me with so many ups and downs that I was not sure where exactly I stood now now that I got off of the ride. It turns out that I am in harmony once again!

My body, my mind and my heart are all pointing me in the direction of returning to long course triathlon this year. I feel so... ready.

My training plan is loaded up and I am looking forward to my official start back next week. I overlaid my travel onto my training plan and am using this weekend as the launching point, the jumping off point, for this training cycle.

Miami Man.. here I come!

Getting back up to speed: The 4 corners of my new life.

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 16:18:00 +0000

What a wild crazy journey the past few months have been.   But such is the roller coaster of life, right?

I went through a whole depression/ mourning period the past bit and now I am finally feeling myself. Not my old self, but rather a new self.  Mike and I have been defining our "new normal" and in this journey I finally feel like it is life again.  Our life again. My life again.

So in the midst of trying to figure out how to be happily married given the 1500 miles that lie between us, I became injured at the end of April which threw me another curve ball as it meant that I had to stand down from the one thing keeping me moving forward consistently. Without physical activity I lost focus and started to spin a bit out of control with depression and all the things that come along with that. Anger. Sadness. Pain.   Lack of motivation.

I have since found a solid recovery plan for myself.

Eat Clean, Train Mean, Recover and Do It All Again Tomorrow.

This mantra, the 4 corners of the base for my new lifestyle, has become the new road map for me to get back on track mentally and physically.   I have been living this way for a month or so now and I can say that it has all become such an inherent part of me a complete health habit.

It was not easy at first, but after putting in the time day in and day out it now is really second nature. The longer you do something, the easier it is to just do it. I find fewer excuses now and way more success. In my first month of eating clean, training mean, recovering and doing it all over again each day I lost 11 pounds without trying. My lifestyle and my goals were, are, finally aligned.

About freaking time.

So here is what I learned along the way, with a shorter (much shorter) summary at the end.

Eating Clean
In my long transition to veganism I have relied on some crutches of sorts, namely processed vegan foods,  in order to get me through. I guess this is the path that one takes, right? You make baby steps towards your goals tweaking and refining yourself along the way.

I started out vegetarian - eating eggs, dairy, cheese and vegetables. I then swapped out the eggs, dairy and cheese for vegan alternatives and relied heavily on processed fake foods to replace the processed meat containing products I was trying to avoid. Processed food is processed junk no matter if it comes from nuts, animals or plants.   Fake is fake. Crap is crap. Junk is junk. No matter how you slice and dice it, whole foods are the best foods.

I have since done some research and through the help of Brendan Brazier's Thrive series, The Happy Herbivore, and Engine 2 I have learned more about fuelling my body without relying on processed foods. I am ditching the tofu and eating more raw fresh foods which has had a huge improvement in my day to day quality of life.

I have given up the white refined sugars and get my sweet on using fruits to keep me in check. I use mainly sprouted, non-GMO whole grains and pseudo grains, and tons of dark leafy greens to bulk out my meals. For protein, I simply eat a wide variety of foods all day long to keep the fire stoked and the body working and supplement with Vega Performance Protein in smoothies and recovery shakes from workouts to get a healthy dose of BCAA's to aid in recovery.

I try to use whole legumes firstly, with nuts and seeds (hemp, chia, flax) and tempeh. I am trying to avoid the overly processed and mainly nutritionally devoid tofu whenever possible.

I track my food intakes so that I keep on target. I am focusing on the nutrients I need, versus calories per se. I am active by nature and have realized that food is a fuel, a life source - but not something to live for.

If we are working out to make up for the poor food choices we make during the day - then we are wasting our energy and will never make progress. Real change must come from habit.

Train Mean
Before endurance triathlon I was a cross-fitter. I absolutely adored cross functional fitness and power lifting. I am a strong person, so I found an activity that I could do that tested and pushed me and that I could grow with long term.

Well, long term until I decided that every minute not swimming, biking, or running was a moment that I should be swimming, biking, and or running. Enter injury. I ignored my body and as a result it gave up on me. My injury is 100% due to my lack of recovery and balance in training.

This injury was the set-back that I needed to reset and refocus. I am now back in the gym 2x a week doing Alpha Training (Lifetime Fitness's version of Cross Fit) and have been finding my happy place again.

I realize now that after completing an Ironman that I can balance strength, power, and endurance. I just have to set the limits in each that allow for balance understanding that none of the three will be at 100% full potential, but rather at a level that will allow for diversity and balance. And each phase/month/week/day/hour/minute the balance may change.

Right now I am not following a plan per se, but I am getting close to pulling the trigger on a half Ironman in mid November. I guess that it will be a dry run to see how I refine the current balance of my life to include much longer efforts.

My Alpha coach knows that I am an Ironman triathlete and that I will not be giving that part of me up, so he is allowing for modifications to the workouts and weights so that I can get the benefit of weight training without over taxing my body.

Recover
I am now seeing a Fascia Stretch Therapist (FST) twice a month to help with my recovery, as well as I take rest days as needed and stretch after every workout. I am no longer taking recovery as a luxury that I cannot afford. Recovery is MANDATORY and I will not sacrifice that part of myself any longer.

If we spend days tearing our bodies down in order to rebuild how long can we sustain and grow without allowing some down time for our bodies to evolve and get ready to do it again? Maybe some can sustain longer than others but in the end it will catch up to each and every one of us. Recovery is just as important as nutrition and training.

Do It All Again Tomorrow
I have gotten into a routine now with managing my Michigan household solo. I am balancing work, travel, home responsibilities, doggy responsibilities, health, and overall wellness. It sounds like a lot, and honestly it is but that is where prioritization comes in.  If I want to focus on health and wellness - balanced health and wellness, then I have to live the part 24/7, 365.

I have started getting to bed earlier (9-10pm) and waking up earlier (5:15-6am). I find that with this I can squeeze in a morning long walk with the doggies, then a quick run or short bike around the hood - even just 20 minutes is enough to start my day off right. I can also ride my bike to work if the weather cooperates.

During the day at lunch I can swing by the gym (which is directly across from my office) to swim or stretch should my work day allow.   After work I am either at the gym for Alpha training or out at the parks for endurance training.   At night before I go to bed I take the doggies on their 2nd walk of the day.

Weekends I get in the long endurance stuff - which is really the only time my training volume will change depending on Ironman, Half Ironman or sprint/maintenance work. I start off my Saturdays (the ones that I am actually in Michigan)  with riding my bike to the local Farmer's Market to stock up on produce and the whole foods for the week. I then get on the road for my workouts and then when back at home I catch up on DVR'd television shows and hang with the pups taking in some me time to reflect on how things are going as well as to look over what I have going on in the next week. Sundays are food prep, endurance workout, house work, and a once a month a vegan dinner party with friends.

Having a routine is making life easier as it becomes more manageable for me. I know pretty regularly what my requirements are for the week, so I can make adjustments as I see fit. I am blessed with as busy as this life is for me it is pretty consistent.    I always make it work somehow, compromise being the key to that success.

Sometimes the day is just about survival to get to the next day, other times it is about fulfilling my dreams and working towards my goals in big ways. No matter how the day starts out or ends up, I am in control of my reactions to what comes my way.

I guess the Cliff Notes version is pretty simple:

* Eat clean, whole foods all day long
* Fuel your body, listening to what it needs
* Do something. Even 20 total minutes of something a day (be it in 1 20 minute walk or 5 4 minute bursts of random activity) is better than 0 minutes of nothing.
* Get good quality sleep and more of it.
* Get into a routine that works for you, not against you. If it isn't working tweak and compromise until it works. They key to routine is often COMPROMISE.
* You can have it all - you just cannot have it all at 100% all of the time.
* Recovery and rest are important
* Understand and accept that how the day starts is not indicative of how it will end.
* Know that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Tough it out for the first week and then see how much easier it becomes every time you hit the alarm to start your day.

Writing a unique blog post? Ain't nobody got time for that!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenniferlyn) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:01:00 +0000

I wrote a post over on my Ironman training specific blog, The Journey to IM Moo, and thought that I would repost it over here.

Ooooh no she didn't!

Yup. Pilfering my own blog posts. Shame, shame on me.

The post has to do with the relationship between our ability and our effort to increase it; how we need to bridge the gap between current effort and our max ability while also increasing our max ability. As with most things, the harder anything is to come by the more we value them. The same holds true for our own physical feats.

This has me reflecting on the changes that I have made. Not just eating, exercising, etc. I mean deep down to my core. I say in the post referenced above that my abilities have not changed, but rather it has been my approach that has changed. I had it in me all along to do what I do, I just never fostered it before.

So with that think of it this way: The person you want to become is already within you. You have to believe in yourself and make the choices each day that will bring you closer to that person.

How empowering. Your goals are RIGHT THERE! Ready to be realized!

For me, I realized my goals by finally starting to invest time into myself like I would others. I started to give myself gifts as I would others. For me those gifts were the gifts of health and wellness as well as arming myself with not only the tools and education needed to make a lifestyle change but also with the determination and the PERMISSION granted to myself to do so. Change be hard, yo. Give yourself permission to invest in yourself, to make the changes needed.

So I wonder... What revelations have you come to in your own life as it pertains to how you approach yourself and your situation? Be it financially, emotionally, or physically - have you changed your overall approach? And if so what was the outcome all around? If not, can you identify a change in approach or thinking that you want to make?

Please post here and share your journey!

~Jenniferlyn