Author name: Kyra

Athlete, Personal Growth, Running, Triathlon

A rockstar 70.3 race until I ran into the Inferno. 

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IMG_4644I’ve been at this awhile. Been working my tail off really. To get faster. I wanted to see some numbers that show I’m on the right path in regards to training. Having had a health crisis last year, I wanted to see that old athlete that I know back at it. Heck, I did a dream board and tossed my dreams out to the public. Add in I have this voice that is a whiney beeeacht. And for that matter, being a coach….I wanted that darn PR!

I’m one of those slower athletes.

I’ve had to work my tail off in the pool. I am not all that strong on the bike. I am good on the run.  I’m injury prone. My legs bitch all the time.

I’m mostly a hot mess.

In fact, 5 years ago I weighed more than I should. And I couldn’t run around the big block of our house without stopping three times. So this PR thing, it means more than just the numbers. It’s an indication to me that I’m on the path to that next better version of myself. In general. For sure in the athletic sense.

Then add in the considerations that are always in my mind in regards to my heart health, having recovered from a-tach/a-fib last year.

Truth time: I have been in denial that I’m a different athlete now as compared to pre-heart crisis. I wanted to prove to myself that…I was a whiner, instead of me having a big aspect (limitation) to work with.

So I wanted that darn PR. BAD!

Pre-race: So in Kansas did a good amount of heat training. Knew that the run would be harm. Trained and nailed down the salt pills. Etc etc. We traveled to Boulder two days before the race. Felt good. Drank a ton of h2o.

SWIM

Did a swim warmup. Felt awesome. Ready to roll.

However….

…the first 500 yrds where pretty difficult in that I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. I was pretty irritated with that because I felt the body was great, but had to breast stroke a couple times to get things under control.

There was zero way that I was going to get that get to me. I knew that the breath would eventually chill if I could find a strong rythym that connected my breathe with my stroke. I had to change my mental chant to….

“You Are F’in Awesome”

So that did the trick. Got my pace together and got to work. Was racing down the homestretch chasing down color capped rabbits when some inspired swimmer decided she was going to grab my legs, almost pull my chip off and continue to flounder around all around me. So the next time she got on me she got a soccer elbow. That did the trick. 😉

Goal on the swim was 45. Got 49 something. I see masters swim in my future this winter.

BIKE

Traveled through transition. Maybe a bit slower…I like to reset my mind and get myself ready for some biking. At altitude. Uphill for the first 11 miles.

The bike was actually going really well. After a difficult-breathing swim I usually need some caffeine to hedge off exercise asthma. So I was chomping on some juicy chomps. Yum.

Funny thing about endurance races, the good (and bad times) ebb and flow.

So I drank on the bike well. I took salt like clockwork. But I couldn’t get enough calories down. I could barely get my drink mix down. Altitude? :-/

So in the back of my head I was thinking about the run and thinking “oh crap”, but I just couldn’t get anything solid down.

Managed to maintain my goal pace until about 45-50. Started to not feel all that great. Missed a turn briefly…And frankly, my back was pissed. I hadn’t had back issues for a long time and during this race my back was mad the entire ride. I was thinking “holy crap how am I going to run after this…”

RUN

Back to transition, did my normal reset, rinse my hair with a lot of water, and got myself ready for the run. Actually, I didn’t feel all that terrible. Ready to roll out.

They had changed the course. No, I didn’t really read the athlete guide. Or listen much at the briefing. I was making friends. 🙂 So I joined the run with all its going-ons really hoping my brain was functioning well and that I was in fact doing things right.

I’m notorious for my wrong turns.

So the first mile felt decent. On pace. I had a pretty aggressive plan, but hell, go big or go home right?!

Though I did have a plan b.

Well, pretty much immediately after mile 1 the heat hit me. The sun. A solar flare maybe…

The run felt like an INFERNO.

I guess the temp was…88 or something like that. HAWT!!! So we (me and all of my voices) momentarily paused plan a and moved to plan b, thinking we could get back to plan a (or plan a-ish). Well…

I was really “encouraging” myself to run station to station, which seemed to be every half mile. Kept thinking about that dream board and the goal I wanted. :-/

I liked the run course changes personally. More water the better. And not a lot “lonely” spots. The run was more like a trail run as the hard packed dirt had been recently TORE UP with an ATV or something. Anyway, it was very difficult to run station to station. Just didn’t feel like I was getting enough o2. I don’t run well in the heat. And here is where the “heart aspect” comes into play in a big way.

So plan a was out. Plan b…that’s what I was trying to get to when one of my voices said it would be a good idea to drink the red bull. Hahaha. Yes. I know. As a coach…Id say “heck no”. But I needed to do something different. I really wanted the second half of the run to be different. I said to myself “oh sh$t, how much worse can it get…” Hahahaha. A whole lot worse, I mean, who wants to finish with GI Distress all over you!

2nd loop did get better. Some Zach dude said to put the ice on the femoral arteries. Did that.

WHOOP!!

I got a bit faster. Kept drinking the naughty drink. Doing all the cooling strategies. Actually had to stop and use the facilities. Happy kidneys.

Sort of finished it on my terms. Not the PR that I wanted…

I did cross the finish line welcoming this new athlete that I am and saying goodbye to the old athlete.

Athlete, Diet, Eating

How diet pills can trash your health

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Energy/health ALERT: PHENTERMINE (very common prescribed diet pill) essentially chemically drives the fight or flight system, leading to adrenal depletion. The adrenals are responsible for kick starting your ENERGY systems and responding approximately to stress (or living, breathing, waking up, standing up, etc, not just when ur getting yelled at by ur boss. Kids. Spouse. 😉 ).

SPECIAL NOTE: if you are taking said pill and go in for an elective procedure, Anesthesia will cancel surgery for two weeks, so your body responds normally to stress/etc, so you don’t end up dead on the table. Katie Kramer Richardson have Brian “Amen” that, and Karla Wagner too, my local gas passers.

Adrenal depletion=low sex drive, stupid hormone issues, irritability, low energy, crappy sleep, depression, infertility, blood pressure issues, heart palpitations, EP heart issues leading to fun stuff like A-tach, A-fib, stroke, heart failure, untimely death.

Eat clean. Exercise. Be more healthy. Solution for a lifetime. Private message me if you have questions or are taking this and want to know how to repair the adrenals.

Education

Avoiding or reversing ENERGY (adrenal) Issues

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Fight, flight, cortisol, and your adrenals

The walnut-sized adrenal glands are above the kidneys. They are involved with producing and distributing 50 hormones. When kicked in by the sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” stimulus, the adrenal glands crank up the cortisol.

That comes in handy with real life acute dangers that come and go, but enduring suppressed stress chronically will deplete the adrenals, creating a hormonal imbalance.

Tiredness, mental fogginess, and mood swings are all common with adrenal fatigue. The immune system becomes compromised and allergies, infections, and even chronic autoimmune diseases can take over.

Sugar and caffeine are craved often for quick energy bursts and mental stability. Add white flour pastries to those misguided attempts at boosting energy and you’re compromising your immune system even further.

You may also have difficulty waking up and struggle groggily through the day, then when it’s time to sleep, you become energized. Adrenal fatigue also leads to other hormonal imbalances that affect sexuality, emotional moods, and thyroid secretions.

These symptoms are all too common and interchangeable with other ailments. Regardless, one’s overall health will only improve upon adopting natural remedies for adrenal fatigue that don’t involve pharmaceuticals.

Avoiding or reversing ENERGY (adrenal) issues

  • Handling stress is the foundation for adrenal health. Whether it involves changing lifestyles, leaving jobs, abusive relationships, getting involved with a “fight club”, or practicing yoga.
  • Of course, meditating can be the ultimate stress reliever. It can be practiced in addition to your other choices. Now let’s get into what you shouldn’t and should put into your mouth.
  • Stay away from fast food restaurants and don’t grab processed foods when you grocery shop. Quit the donuts and other pastries while minimizing coffee intake. Excess caffeine directly stresses the adrenals physiologically.
  • Do some juicing and consume organic foods. A juice fast could jump start the nutritional dietary changes.  Here’s is an inflammation lecture that chats about this!
  • Make sure your vitamin D blood levels are above normal. Stress-caused excess cortisol negatively affects vitamin D absorption.
  • Mg!  Make sure your mineral intake is high, especially magnesium.  Mg Oxide.  More info here.
  • There are plant foods that you can combine to give you complete proteins if you’re a vegetarian. If not, at least avoid factory farm meat products.  If you’d like a WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENT, ask me about Juice Plus!!!
  • Adaptogenic herbs that holistic nutritional experts recommend include ashwaganda, Siberian ginseng, maca, rhodiola, licorice root, schisandra, and astragalus root. The first three are considered the most valuable for rebuilding a damaged adrenal gland system.  You can kick it up a notch by choosing the adrenal support supplement with adrenal animal grandulars.

Work on dealing with life in a more positive and productive way.
WANT TO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THIS WITH ME?
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Education

Do your goals and dreams scare you? Is FEAR kicking your A? Let’s RISE ABOVE that fear.

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boulder-703-dreamboard-2015And if they do ….. are you not setting them, working on them, due to that FEAR?

And what exactly are we FEARING?

For me, working on race-related goals is about working through the personal growth needed to achieve said goals.  I’ve been working on the goals in the pic for some time now.  The things getting in my way really aren’t physcial in nature.  Yes, my run form could stand improvement.  But for the run…I just need more mental toughness to stop STOPPING.  Another thing that gets in my way is not sleeping well, because, to be honest, some of my lifestyle habits are not optimal at this point.

SO.  This dream board is SHOUTING AT ME to get my stuff together. Do what I need to do and stick with it. BE CONSISTENT.

I posted the dream board on Facebook as a shout out to everyone. ACCOUNTABILITY. And to ask for some good JUJU sent my way. I will be super honest with you though. I was FEARFUL of putting it out there.

I have FEARS about what others think about my dreams, about maybe not meeting those goals and then what others will think of me…

Yes, as a health coach, I’m about…95% confident and really don’t give a hoot about what others think.  But when I get right down to it, when it’s my inner most desires…that FEAR comes up a bit.

I just it’s more about JUDGEMENT. My opinion is we live in a very “judgy” society. So…I’m a little slow, so my dreams of hitting 3:15 on the bike…might seem super easy for some. Me…not so much. So that liar voice says…”people are gonna think you are weak”.

And what about if I don’t meet those goals. Again, 95% of me really doesn’t care.  95% of me is COMPLETELY CONFIDENT IN MY BAD ASS SELF. But there is still that little liar voice that says, people are gonna judge your slow A goals (because your weak) and just think your a big fat wuss because you didn’t meet that slow A goal. hahahaha. Ok. So thats me being completely honest with myself. And with you.

Do you have that little liar voice that vomits BS into your being?

I’ve been working with a lot of athletes lately, as a WHOLEISTIC coach. And sometimes we start by working on things a little different. DREAM BOARD / VISION BOARD Time.

This stuff is MAGIC. It helps you to stay focused. It helps you to set goals and dreams that YOU want. That mean something to YOU. It gives power to the skill of holding true to the non-negotiables. Gives you strength when you want to quit.

DO THIS!

Connect in with YOU
Not the “mom-you”, “athlete-you”, “worker-you”, “spouse-you”. YOU YOU YOU. That inner part of you that is SUPER FREAKING ROCKSTAR AWESOME and is maybe covered a bit by BS and busy and stress and…Do this by FOCUSING on what really makes you happy. Write a list of 50 things that LIGHT YOU UP!
Set you a GOAL that aligns with YOU
With your 50 LIGHT ME UP things. Don’t let fears get in the way. Say “what the hell, I’m going for it!”. Think about what you would tell that person you really love about reaching for their own goals. And say that to yourself.
PENCIL it!
Get posterboard from Walmart or a sheet of paper. Or write it on your car window. Put it out there. BIG BOLD and BEAUTIFUL! If this seems fearful to you, remember, that little liar voice is less strong then the rest of you. It might appear to be louder, but thats a lie too!
SHARE IT!!!
Put it out there! Show people your goals and dreams. Hold yourself accountable. Let others SUPPORT YOU!

It doesn’t matter if this is race related. Or not. Whatever is in front of you, that you are ready to chew on!  DREAM BOARD IT!

Adrenal Health, Personal Growth, Self Care

What you THINK and Your ADRENAL HEALTH (energy, hormones, sleep)

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Last night I had a minor life “episode”. I call them that, just a thing that gets me to thinking, nothing serious. You know, those little life “episodes” with family members, neighbors, co-workers, friends, etc. (life is messy, if you aren’t having these …. are you breathing?)

Lately I’ve been spending a bit of time thinking and asking myself “why”. Why did I react that way or think that thought. Not in judgement, more in curiosity.

If you’re like me and life hasn’t always been a bed of roses, some times we get emotional torrets. Habitual emotional responses. Like a computer, we get wired up into patterns. Like a computer, we can rewire it. Code it different. To do different. Thus the asking.

And let’s be honest, figuring out what’s your stuff and what’s not can be super fun. NOT. It can drive you bat shit crazy.

Thus the need to meditate – have the ability to think/feel/know clearly when you ask yourself an inner question.

So in last nights “episode”, I was asking myself questions. And this morning my inner rockstar said these things to me. The pink stickies.

journal-stickieI love stickies. I talk to myself all the time through the stickies. They help me stay focused on what’s TRUTH.

One last thought…I worked with a coach once that said…you have two wolves in ya. They battle each other. The white (pure one – the one that’s WHOLE AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND IS NOW) wolf is being devoured by the dark one. The lies that we believe. Such as we aren’t enough. Let’s face it, say if you were abused when you were a child…the lie of being “not good enough” would be a strong dark wolf, that over powers the white one.

So in asking the questions. Seeing that this internal battle is there. For one. Gives us power. Because the endless battle is GREATLY STRESSFUL. And leads to other battles. More stress.

And this tires us out. And runs us down. This inner stress causes the adrenal glands to work overtime. They get RUN DOWN! They don’t work well. They get “fatigued”. They get “exhausted”. They “SHRINK”. For good. Side thought: so imagine, if you are that child…starting out with this “stuff” going on. You get to 40 or whatever and you’ve been living with adrenal gland deficiency ALL YOUR LIFE…

You saw the list on adrenal gland stresses. A lot of… emotional stuff.

Be curious about your thoughts.
Know that they don’t have to control you.
Know that they are incredibly powerful.

Ask why why why until you know “oh, that’s it.” Write it down in your journal. On a stickie.

Athlete, Running, Triathlon, Yoga

Athlete yoga 101: normal but undesirable: one hamstring is tighter than the other

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Hamstring imbalances, one side compared to the other, is very common and can be a source of a lot of issues for the athlete.

hamstring-2So lets be super general here. This is a BIG FAT TOPIC.

Let’s go with the imbalance as a matter of anatomy and habit. A lot of the times, one leg is dominate. One quad is dominant. Stronger. So the other leg, a bit weaker, etc. This creates imbalances that have affects with both hips/ball and socket joints. They come habit, how the hips function. This concept is generally why one hip hurts more than the other. One is “less centered” in the joint than the other.

For me personally, my right leg is dominant. As a soccer player for years, you can imagine the fascial patterns and muscle development. Not to mention the wear and tear…It wasn’t until I started seriously practicing yoga that I really became aware, aware of why and aware of what to do about it. Pretty soon found myself pain free. So off I go learning more. Now I know that I pronate more on one foot more than the other, which has affects along the kinetic chain.

Little things like driving in a car a lot. Sometimes your putting more pressure on one hamstring than the other. Due to how the seat is built. Or you’re sitting in the seat with bad posture.  Pressing the gas pedal with the same foot all the time has affects. Sitting on one leg habitually at work has an affect. You get the point.

Your physical habits have a big impact on our training.  Sometimes it isn’t the training, it’s the lazy habits, and the training brings up the affects in a BIG FAT WAY.  So is it your run form, or your desk form.  🙂

lateral-pelvic-tiltLet’s chat a second about the pelvis. Think of it as a bowl. It can tilt in four directions. It’s not a stable as everyone thinks. And can get “stuck” fascialy  speaking due to this and that. Moms, you know what I’m talking about. The heavy baby on one hip is classic. Heavy purses on one shoulder. So it’s not as “stable” as what we think.

Let’s put the “back” into this conversation. If you have one hamstring tighter than the other, generally speaking, the opposite side of your back will be tighter. And since I can resist, the opposite shoulder/neck of that (generally speaking) will be a troubled spot as well. BECAUSE ITS ALL CONNECTED. The back is trying to straighten things out.  As the picture above shows you, the pelvis can tilt laterally. The back will try and straighten it out. Which causes the shoulder/neck to go the opposite way.

So things get tight, and tighter and tighter. BOOM.

Disc issues. Spine issues. Inflammation. Herniations. Pain meds.

Loss of quality of life.

MOST FROM SOFT TISSUE IMBALANCES

Easy thing is ….
YOGA has the means to help you identify the issue.
Yoga has the means to help you address it in a smart way.

HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT!

Try this video out!

Education, Running, Triathlon, Yoga

Athlete and the Hamstring –> Yin Yoga gives you Relief

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Yin yoga can GREATLY benefit the athlete and tight hamstrings.

What’s YIN YOGA you might ask. Think of it like the really SLOW yoga. And then you say…”OH GOSH, yoga is boring enough as it is…”. Well, those that tend to run faster say that. But seriously, keep reading…

So YIN YOGA, you can nutshell it to, is holding poses longer. A lot longer. Yin Yoga is very COOLING yoga. Everything that the triathlete, runner, busy person does is very heating. “Do this.” “Do that.” “Check that off.” “Must get that done.” “Hit that pace.” “Do that hill workout.” All of this is very heating. Yes, for that workout moment, but also just in general, energetically, for the body, long term. And especially if you are the personality that has the tendencies to be the “Get it done.” mode more than not.

Yin Yoga is relaxing, calming and cooling. And it’s a great place to stretch parts that get chronically tight. Think about this…how many minutes or hours is the hamstring asked to work. Or whatever…to cause it to be tight. A LOT. So, just be mindful that you might need to invest a bit of time to help them stay longer. And consider this, due to the nature of the anatomy, slowness/caution/gentleness is a benefit. You really don’t want micro tears at the knee attachment points or the butt bones. Those stink!

So quick anatomy lesson. Surrounding and supporting the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments is FASCIA. It holds you in place. So it must be stronger and hold things more. As a result, it stretches slower. So you must hold the stretch a bit longer (more gently). NO BOUNCING in stretching. Also, your brain sends muscles signals to help the muscles relax. Holding stretches longer helps enough signal get to the muscle, so it finally decides to relax and let go. If you are being too aggressive with stretching, thinking you need to “fix something”, then it really doesn’t work well. And you end up with micro tears in places. BE GENTLE. BE PATIENT. (I know, right!)

Here are the things to keep in mind when doing YIN YOGA.

Connect in with YOU
 
Help the position out, use props (pillows, blocks, etc)
This means, if you are doing the first video below, you can use a pillow to prop up your torso, relax of it.  The intent is to focus on the legs, not stress the back out.
Do not put up with pain
 
Try not to give up on the pose if you’ve done #1-3
 
Good time to practice the breathe
So if you get “bored”, focus on your breathing.  Count the inhales and exhales.
Be mindful of what the stretch feels like
“Watch” it move around as things loosen up
Athlete, Eating, Education, Personal Growth, Self Care

Are you tired of…being tired, PMS, restless sleep, not having enough energy to do what you want?

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Read no more if you…

  • Have all the energy in the world
  • Don’t struggle with hormones and PMS
  • You don’t know what a “busy mind” is
  • Wake up feeling like a FRESH DAISY
  • You don’t know what it’s like to live feeling OVERWHELMED (all the time)
  • Don’t crave carbs

If you are still reading, lets get right down to it.

We live in a society of GO GO GO.  Do MORE.  Have MORE.

Being BUSY is the norm.  If it’s not working, then work harder.

And if you are reading this…you are probably a lot like me.

Athlete. Looking for PRs. Parent. Striving to provide better. As a person, always looking to see what you can take on, looking to see JUST HOW AWESOME YOU CAN BE!

Nothing wrong with any of that!

Here is where we get into trouble:

Most of us are driven people. Type A. The movers and shakers.

out-of-order-tiredSo our person type leads us to run harder, faster and not give up. The price to pay for that, for a life time of living like that, is issues within adrenal health. Those babies are glands on the kidneys that are crazy important. Yes, everything is important. But these gems aren’t getting any publicity.

If you go into the docs office and complain about PMS they certainly aren’t going to educate you on how the adrenal produce progesterone, which levels out estrogen, which helps that week of PMS not be a FLIPPIN’ CATASTROPHE. Hey guys, HORMONES ARE FOR YOU TOO! The adrenal glads produce testosterone. And you can be deficient too. So maybe low energy. The adrenal glands work hand in hand with the thyroid. You really can’t help one without looking at the other.

There are varying degrees of adrenal issues. And various things to do for them. A lot of them are super awesome in that nurturing the adrenals is fairly easy and little negative side affects. The catch.

YES THERE IS A CATCH. Depending on where you are at with your adrenals, it might take quite a while to build them back. It’s not a quite fix. 6 months to a year if you’re lucky. But you want to go down that road, because here’s the SCARY PART, the little issues…they pile up. PMS, Infertility. Female issues. Hysterectomy. Depression. Chronic Anxiety. Heart palpitations and other BIG BAD issues with the heart, like A FIB. The list will go on and on. Because these adrenal glands affect important hormones that affect everything. So…

Here are some classic symptoms:

  • You’re not eating breakfast because you chow down on carbs in the pm
  • You’re intake of carbs and quick energy in the am is OFF THE CHARTS
  • You feel awesome at night, have lots of energy (aka you aren’t winding down)
  • You can’t shut off the mind, you don’t stay asleep, you are taking sleep aides
  • You wake up feeling NOT RESTED
  • You have PMS (no, ladies, this isn’t normal)
  • You’re libido is in the tank
  • You struggle with low blood sugar or low blood pressure
  • Allergies, asthma, frequent illness, unexplained heart pains/palpitations

Ok. Thats the IN YOUR FACE, do you need to address this chat. Be on the look out for the following…

  • PART 2 on this topic
  • Information the the 30 Day KICKSTART to A NEW BEGINNING program. This is going to be a group activity that I will be hosting. Three levels to join…FREE, Level 1, and Level 2. We get started soon. This is going to be a very private thing. So if you are serious and wanting to commit, contact me. I’m going to be here throwing a lot of stuff at you, so you can use this next 30 days to develop and GET YOUR OWN PLAN in place. Email me if you want to join.
Athlete, Triathlon, Yoga

Easy Yoga Pose to help with Plantar Fasciitis and hamstring tightness

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Yoga is a great tool for preventing injuries.

As a sports lover, you know that injuries come with the territory. You know that injuries, whether caused by repetitive motion, imbalances in your biomechanics or both, can be painful, frustrating, and limiting.

Through a combination of active and passive stretching, yoga can be helpful to keep you injury-free.

One of the most common injuries for athletes is plantar fasciitis.To prevent plantar fasciitis, practice this yoga pose on days you train or workout. Perhaps at night before bed.

reclined-leg-pose-manReclined Leg Stretch

What it Does: Reclined Leg Stretch provides a safe stretch for the hamstrings and the tissue that runs along the back of the hip, thigh and calf, which tugs on the sole of the foot when it gets tight.

How to Practice: Lie on your back, legs together. Strongly extend through the heels.

Keep the left leg pressed on the ground as you bend the right knee to the chest. Place a strap around the arch of the right foot and hold the strap loosely in both hands.

Exhale and extend the right leg straight up. Walk your hands up the strap until the elbows are fully extended. Keep your neck relaxed and make sure you are not throwing your head back.

Lengthen the back of the leg between the buttock bone and heel. Try not to be overly enthusiastic about pulling your leg toward your chest. Instead, emphasize the grounding of your left leg as you draw your arms back into their sockets and lift your collarbones.

Hold for 30 seconds to one minute. Breathe evenly and then slowly release. Repeat on the left side.

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