Becoming a triathlete

May 25, 2013 our group of dedicated athletes earned their title of triathlete.  

This group of newbie triathletes worked for 3 months to reach this goal (there is also two intermediates in the group).  

When they started, they didn't swim, bike or run.  They worked toward their goal, trusted the OnTrack Fitness trainers & in turn they are now triathletes.  To see a transformation like this is amazing.  

We couldn't be more proud of them!  Congratulations triathletes.  This is just the beginning for you!

 

Follow that dream

I really like this picture.  It reminds me of the triathletes we train.  

In fact, they aren't triathletes at all when we start training them.

They're people with a dream that are making it a goal to become a triathlete. Most of them start out not sure if they can accomplish this goal.  We know they can but they have to trust us when we say 'yes you can.'

The point is, they do it.  They take the dream, turn it into a set fitness goal & go for it. And I've gotta say it's pretty darn amazing to see.

What dream do you have?  Maybe it's fitness related, maybe not.  It doesn't matter.  Follow that dream!  It's worth it!  

Speed run

Last night I didn't want to go for a run but I did anyway.

Glad I did.  It was a short speed workout which was what was scheduled.  

I always learn something about myself, especially on the speed runs.  

Here are three things I learned this time.

• I listen to my body really well.  That makes me happy because I know I'm getting the most out of running with minimal risk of injury.  Yay!
  
• I get nervous right before my speed workouts but I really feel good during and after them.  Why can't I remember that!?
  
• I've mastered the art of start slow and finish strong & it's pretty awesome.  Building speed & that sprint finish - wow!  I felt like a track star coming into that home stretch.  It got me excited about running and excited for my next workout.  

Next time you don't feel like going for a run or whatever you choice of exercise is, take it from me.  Just go out there and do it.  Listen to your body and think about what you learned or what you're good at.  Then praise yourself a little bit for a job well done.

Stop the cycle

Why do so many of us allow guilt and irrational expectations about food & exercise rule our lives?  

I admit that I get really sick of this because it’s so very unhealthy physically, mentally and spiritually.

See if this sounds familiar…
Going from very little exercise to an intense workout EVERY day or going from little to no running straight into long distance training, fad dieting, taking supplements to lose weight, recommitting to the same old things that didn't work, etc etc...

Then failing, feeling guilty, stopping everything because of discouragement, repeat cycle over & over & over….

How about this instead:

1) Stop trying to be perfect.  

You aren't.  Deal with it.
What you’re doing when you commit to unrealistic goals is not making a TRUE change and setting yourself setting yourself up to fail.

 
2) Don’t go from nothing to all
aka having an all or nothing mentality.  Fail.

3) Stop the guilt.  

Just stop!  Eating a treat every day can be part of a healthy lifestyle.  100-400 calories of ‘treats’ into your daily calories is fine & PART of a healthy lifestyle.  It’s irrational to cut out treats altogether!  

4) Start moving more.  

EVERY time you move you’re doing something good for your body.

5) If you want to lose weight make a life long commitment to the changing of your lifestyle.  

Don’t put unrealistic expectations on yourself because if you do you WILL fail.  It's a life long commitment and there are NO shortcuts.  

You wouldn't expect your child to go from kindergarten to high school & succeed, right?  It's the same thing.  Start from the beginning & do one thing at a time.

Here are some guidelines:

-Move more every day being physically active.  This isn’t exercise, it’s just moving.  Housework, walking the dog, etc 

-Set SMART goals – Specific, Measureable, Realistic, Timely

-Calculate your daily carloric needs so you know how much to eat.
http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/healthy_living_tools_content.aspx?id=4

-It takes 3500 calories To lose 1lb.  Burn some & eat a few less.  1lb per week is perfect.  

-Eat a balanced diet.  If you don’t know what that means go here: choosemyplate.gov

-Set aside 100 – 400 of those calories for treats EVERY DAY & enjoy them.
Repeat from earlier because it's important.

-Work towards adding 3-5 days of moderate cardio exercise (walking, biking, Zumba) 20 – 60 minutes.

-Work towards adding 2 days of resistance training.  Examples are lifting weights, pilates or calesthenics (pushups, cruches, etc). 

-Take a couple of days off from exercise to physical & mental rest.  This means doing resistance on cardio days.

-Sleep more

-Drink water

-If you miss a day or eat more or whatever SO WHAT?  Were you expecting perfection again? – don’t start over, just keep moving forward. 

-By the way you do NOT have to do insane workouts, become a long distance runner or cut out food groups to be healthy.

So you can see that there's a lot to work toward over a lifetime.  It's not easy but it's a lot easier than the cylce of guilt!

An evening run

Last night I went for a run at a crowed park near my house.  I ran past a lot of people, most of whom I didn't notice.  I was concentrating only on myself & my run. But as I came up behind one man he caught my eye.  His walking was labored because of an injury or deformity.

When I turned around and headed back I went past this man again this time face to face.  He caught my eye again & for a split second we made eye contact. What I saw in him was glimmer of pain & loneliness and then we passed.

It took only a fleeting moment but I had time to feel compassion for him & make the decision to go about my way as if I’d never noticed. Once I passed I wondered to myself why I didn't just give him a smile. I wanted to. My heart told me to but I ignored it. Why? I was thinking so much about my day & my problems that I missed the opportunity to do a small little thing that would’ve cost nothing.

A smile takes the focus away from us & onto the other person. It opens hearts & it’s easy! It has power to turn someone’s bad day into a better day, & it’s the first step toward showing love to another person.

I practiced smiling the rest of my run. I’m going to keep practicing. Being friendly, showing a little glimmer of kindness to others is the start of having love toward others & it changes the smiler from the inside out.  I know I have to consciously make daily efforts to make it a lifestyle, just like with fitness.

Will you join me? Let’s take the focus off of ourselves & show others a little love by simply giving a smile.