I'm Allergic to Swimming

Oh, I wish that were the case in order to justify my turtle-like crawl across the water.  More specifically, though, I'm referring to being allergic to the pool.

I've diagnosed myself (who needs doctors?) as being allergic to pool chemicals.  Whenever I leave the pool, without fail, my sinuses congest and I turn into a sneezing, dripping mess who goes through a box of tissues like a premenstrual woman watching "Titanic."  If you've ever encountered me at the end of the day and it sounded like I was getting a cold, it was probably a swim day.

I made a mental note to bring up my reaction to the pool to my doctor at my upcoming checkup.  Maybe something can be done to alleviate my symptoms.

Then I watched a very interesting documentary on Netflix (yes, while I was on a spin to nowhere).  It's called "Food Matters" and I would highly recommend it.  The basis of the documentary is a discussion about the importance of high-quality nutrition and its role in preventing and, in some cases, reversing chronic disease.  Although some of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt (I mentally tuned out during the portion where the raw food advocate goes on a rant about the importance of colon cleanses), there were some great nuggets from the movie.

Some points I took to heart:

1. Nutritional studies are normally not a main focus in medical science and schooling.
2. Most medications treat symptoms, not root causes.
3. Healthy eating is not important because the foods are so potent; it's because our "traditional Western diets" are so lacking in the nutrients we need to perform optimally.  Hence, the high rate of illness in our society.
4. The pharmaceutical industry has a paradoxical relationship with treating disease. (No diseases = no money.)
5. When the body is healthy, it will naturally fight off many toxic invaders.  One expert even went so far to say that much of the traditional Western diet is seen as toxic to the body, so our bodies are in constant immune-system overdrive.

I could go on and on, but these points got me thinking about my pool reaction.  What will happen when I go to the doctor?  He will probably prescribe me pills that I don't want to take, that may not even work, and may have worse side effects than just dealing with my sinus issues.

Let's go another layer deep.  Why is my body reacting to the pool?  Why am I thinking something is "wrong" with me?

Maybe I am healthy, and my body is viewing the pool chemicals as toxic invaders that need to be ejected -- pronto.  Maybe my sinus issues are the equivalent of my white blood cells unleashing nuclear warfare on the pool chemicals so that they can't wreak further havoc on my body.

Or maybe this is all speculation.  After all, I'm no biologist.  But it is very interesting to think about.

In the end, I've decided to just deal with the sinus crap and go about my business.  It's tolerable -- just annoying.  I prefer a box of tissues to a bottle of mystery pills any day.

Eating for Ironman

I hate the word "diet."  The word comes with such negative associations and is often seen as a temporary state.  As in, "I'm going on a diet to lose 10 pounds...and then I'll go back to eating chicken wings and put it back on."

Many people (myself included) treat endurance sports as an excuse to eat WHATEVER they want at times.

"I can afford it, I just ran six miles." 

"Give me an extra slice of cake.  I think that last 10 miles on the bike made some room for it."

The thing I am realizing the more I do these events is yes, you may be able to eat extra calories, but WHAT you eat is much more important than HOW MUCH.

Yes, I might be able to get away with a donut.  But I feel like I'm running with a dozen of them strapped to my gut on the run the next day.  The more active you are, the more you pay for the decadent choices you make.

There is also irony too.  The cleaner you eat, the more you want to continue eating that way because of how good you feel.  At first, as you're cleaning up your diet, you think of it as an impossibility.  This thought ran through my mind right after Christmas.  "How am I going to say no to cookies?  I'm going to want to pig out every now and then."

At first it is sheer willpower that drives you.  But after a few weeks, something "clicks" inside and you don't even want to eat that junk.  You look at it as something that will only gunk up the works and interfere with all the amazing progress you're having.  A few cookies are not worth tanking your run the next day.  You begin looking beyond the immediate gratification of it and see the big picture.  The highs of progress and accomplishment outweigh those from sugar and comfort foods.

So I'm finding that my whole outlook is changing -- rather than limiting what I'm eating, I am taking a good look at WHAT I'm eating.  Rather than looking at what I need to cut back on, I'm looking at where I need to add quality calories as my training increases.

For example, I lost two pounds last week....of muscle.  Not good.  I weigh myself weekly and do my body fat percentage so I can stay on top of where gains and losses are coming from.  By losing muscle, I know that I need to eat more quality calories (I know, pity me, I need more food). 

I am now becoming more aware of the need to track my energy levels, meal plan, and training volume.  Rather than being vigilant about NOT eating too much, I have to be vigilant about eating ENOUGH of the right stuff.  It's a strange, strange shift.

Remember Where You Came From

Over the past few days, I've been reminded during different and unrelated situations of how my journey in fitness began. Well, both journeys actually -- my personal journey to better health, as well as my journey of turning fitness into a career.  I think the universe is giving me the opportunity to think of my past and look at my progress.

Me + Cake = Lots of Me

In college, I put on the Freshman 15 (and then some) and knew I needed to make a change. But I had no clue what to do.

I became a cardio queen and lost SOME weight, but my progress stalled and I didn't feel I was getting anything out of all the time I was putting into working out.

After P90X...my journey begins!

So I saw the original P90X infomercial, ordered the program, and got hooked.  Not only did I look and feel better, but I became fascinated with the human body and our abilities as humans to create change and better ourselves.  I studied textbooks, obtained my certification, and began life as a fitness trainer.

My journey has not been perfect.  I've had ups and downs just like everyone else.  I've put weight back on, taken it off, put it on, etc.  But I've never given up, and always tried to increase my level of challenge each year (evolving from 5Ks to marathons to triathlons to, now, Ironman).

I guess the key is sticking with it and working through the hard times.  And remembering where you came from!  Sometimes we forget, but every step we make is integral to shaping who we are as people.  I am thankful for all of my friends, training buddies, and family for helping me on my journey.  I am thankful for each day that I have to make myself better in all aspects -- physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.  I guess that's the definition of progression! 

Nature Hates Me

Okay, to be fair, lately nature has been hating ALL of us.  But this week in particular, it felt personal.  Today's workout seemed to be the cherry on top of an already crappy winter.

In light of the...ahem...abundant snowfall and poor road conditions on Thursday, I was forced to move my speed run (also called the let's-see-how-close-I-can-come-to-puking run) to Friday, the day before today's long spin and running brick workout.  So I already knew today's brick run would suffer.  The negativity begins.

I am officially over the indoor spin bike.  I told the poor bike repair guy so at great lengths yesterday (by the way, Victory Cycle Works in Burnt Hills is great -- totally recommended for your tune-ups and repair needs).  It was a disheartening experience to pick up my bike, all tuned up for the season, only to put it back in the garage for another two, three, ten weeks?  ARG!

Anyway, 2 hours and 15 minutes of spinning to nowhere later, I was ready to begin my 4.5-mile run.  The roads, thankfully, were relatively clear.  But the wind!  Holy crap, there were times I felt like I was running on an outdoor treadmill.  At one point, I audibly said, "Really, wind?  Really?"

Between the snow, the wind, and the general pessimism associated with this winter, I didn't think nature could make it any worse.  Enter the near-animal attack.

At about the two-mile mark, I heard this strange, persistent chirping.  I didn't know what it was until a red squirrel, who obviously was high on PCP, dove at me from a bush on the road shoulder.  If you want mental imagery, picture the scene from Christmas Vacation when the squirrel leaps out of the Christmas tree.  Luckily, he didn't make contact with me.  And I am trained in Israeli Special Forces Krav Maga, so naturally I ran away at top speed, arms flailing like a five-year-old, saying, "omigod-omigod-omigod-omigod."

I didn't break any speed records today (save for the squirrel attack), but I finished the workout.  All I can hope for is that this week brings better weather and better karma.

The Swim Workout from Hell

Wednesday was not a good training day.  I had not slept well the night before, had an overbooked day with a very tight window of opportunity for my workout, and I was just not feeling right.

It was strength day on the weights, and I found myself struggling to hit the weight and rep schemes from the previous week.  No gains this week.  And then, with a negative, defeatist attitude, it was off to the pool. 

70 laps were on the schedule today (3500 yards).  After 10 laps into the warmup set, I was already ready to stop and wondering how I would make it through the workout.  I only read my swim workouts one set at a time so that my head doesn't pop off at how much work has to be done in the pool.  So when I saw that today called for a straight set of 1500 yards (30 laps without stopping), I seriously wanted to pack it in and go home.

So I implemented a little trick that I use sometimes.  First, I broke up the set into 4 laps freestyle with 1 recovery kick set, which I would perform 6 times to equal the 30 laps (who cares what the workout says if I don't get through it).  I told myself if, after each set of 5 laps, I really truly wanted to quit, I could go home without any guilt.

An interesting thing happened -- after each set of 5, I thought, "well, I think I can do just one more."  This kept repeating over and over until, before I knew it, the whole workout was done and all I had to do was cool down for a few laps.

Did I set any speed records that day?  No.  But I trained my mental toughness and was very proud of myself.  This kind of thing could happen at the Ironman.  So I'll use this mental trick in the future and, if needed, on race day in order to power through the times when I just don't want to do it anymore.

Forced Selectivity...aka Sanity

I will admit it -- I am addicted to racing.  I usually forget how many races I've signed up for until I look at them in retrospect.  I think two years ago I did about 26 races that year, which averaged to a race every other weekend.  My name is Amanda, and I am a race-aholic.

This year, I have to be VERY careful about what races I do.  Each race has to have a purpose, otherwise it (1) sacrifices an opportunity to do a more important Ironman training workout, or (2) presents the opportunity for undue injury.  Example:  Tough Mudder is a no-go for this year, along with any other mud runs before Ironman.

That said, I'm finding it very challenging to sit on my hands and NOT submit every race registration that I find in the mailbox.  There are definitely benefits to racing, but they have to be at the right times and for the right reasons.  So casual 5Ks are gone in favor of training weekends and more sporadic tune-up races.

What is a tune-up race?  It's a race that helps you prepare for your BIG race by allowing you to test distances, pacing, nutrition, etc.  It's basically a run-through for your race.  This year, I'm using Ironman Syracuse 70.3 (a half-Iron distance race) in June as my tune-up race.  It's about a month before Ironman Lake Placid, so it will be a good opportunity to test my training and make any final tweaks before the big day.

So far, my race calendar looks like this:

• March - Shamrock Shuffle 5-miler (I allowed this for myself because it's 5 miles....so it's longer than a 5K).
• May - Charlton 5K, which is allowed because the next day is.....
• June - Tour de Cure 100-mile bike ride in the same weekend as the Charlton 5K.  (BTW, if you want to donate to my Tour de Cure effort, hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, you can do so at http://main.diabetes.org/goto/abarone).  And then later in the month, Ironman Syracuse 70.3.
• July - IRONMAN!

The other issue I'm facing is trying to NOT sign up for crazy difficult races right AFTER Ironman.  So I'm only allowing fun races that are shorter and won't wreck me if I'm not fully recovered.  Some of these are the Crystal Lake triathlon in August and the Lake George Olympic (NOT half-Iron) triathlon Labor Day weekend.

It is hard, but I am going to be smart this season and ask myself, "how does this help me for Ironman?" every time I consider an event.