Diet, Eating, Education, Prevention

What is detox?

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Detoxification is the process of removing toxic substances from a person’s body. It’s an everyday process.  Minute by minute, hour by hour.  When our body is working well, this process goes on without a hitch.

These toxins we need to get rid of aren’t just the bad crap from our processed food, etc.  It’s also from the natural side product of metabolism.  Detox shouldn’t be a mysterious word.  Toxins shouldn’t be either.  It’s just what it is.

Now you can put in LESS toxins.  You can help your body do better with daily detox.

THE LIVER.  I like to call it the aquarium filter.  It does a big job.  More on that later.  Here’s the deal.  You’re body can deal with a lot of abuse.  You treat it well, you can push it more.  You eat more fruits and veggies, you can deal more with the less than optimal food, or lifestyle habits, extensive exercise, etc.

But if you don’t make some educated choices, that filter gets REAL SMELLY and the fish start floating.  Or you get sick.  Or you don’t sleep well.  Or you are always tired.  Or your performance is lower.  Or  you get a disease of some sort.

I’ll be putting together a class on detox.  How to make some changes so this becomes a way of life for you, without you really even thinking about it much.  (it’s all about the poohs!)  I can’t wait to show this to you.  But lets start HERE!

WATER WATER WATER.  Clean water.  Just plain water.  You can add lemon, lime, raspberries, etc.  First step in this lifestyle change is to ensure that you are drinking 8 glasses of water a day.

If you have that down … more fiber.  Next week I’ll send out fiber help.

Check out the smoothie recipes if you wanting to go a step further now.  The super green one is GREAT.

CLICK HERE FOR POWER SMOOTHIE

Til later.  Rock out!

Athlete, Running, Triathlon

Running Basics for Beginners

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With cooler temperatures now is a popular season for running. Whether you’re an experienced runner returning from a season off, or you’re ready to start your very first running routine, these helpful tips will get you started on the right (and left) foot!

Wear the right shoes
Carefully choosing your sneakers will prevent injuries and frustrations, thereby boosting your running confidence right from the start! Your local running store can custom fit you for a pair of shoes based on your gait analysis, characteristics of your feet, and the shape of your arch.
Find a running buddy
Running with a friend makes things more fun and holds you accountable, so you’ll stay motivated in your new running routine. Partners can range from an experienced runner acting as a coach, to another beginner looking for encouragement. A quick search on Google also reveals that most cities have local running groups, if you prefer a social run!

Start slow and steady
There’s no need for speed in the beginning (or ever!) of a running program. Responsibly build up your distance to avoid injury or burnout. Remember that it’s okay to take walking breaks – use the tried and true “run-walk” method, “popularized by distance coach Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 Olympic team.” (NY Times)
Set realistic goals
To keep exercise enjoyable, find practical ways to fit workouts into your schedule, setting you up for success rather than frustration or disappointment. Just because you start a running program doesn’t mean you have to run long distances or sign up for a race. Avoid comparing yourself to other runners. Do what’s best for your body and your schedule!
Diet, Eating, Prevention

Nutritional Benefits of the Avocado

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Basics
The avocado is a fruit (not a vegetable) originally found in the Central Mexico region, which ripens after it is picked. There are more than 500 of varieties of avocado and it has been cultivated for more than 10,000 years. It is also known as the alligator pear because of its scaly skin. The outside skin and the pit are inedible, despite millennia of efforts (I mean, they are edible, sort of like gravel is technically edible). Avocados were first introduced to the United States in 1871, when Judge R.B. Ord planted three trees in Santa Barbara, California.
Creamy Deliciousness & Nutritious!
While avocados have a high caloric count (one avocado is 320 calories), the various nutrients and “healthy” fats make it a must-eat. Some call the avocado the alphabet fruit because of all the vitamins it contains. One avocado provides your body with vitamins A, C, E, K and B6, along with an enormous amount of potassium and “healthy” fat. Perhaps the biggest health benefit of avocados is that by adding avocado to certain foods, you can improve your absorption of nutrients. This means that when you combine other fat burning foods with avocado, you can improve your nutrient absorption up to 400%! Avocados can also reduce the signs of aging, regulate blood sugar and improve eye health.
Good for the Heart
The fat content of an avocado provides protection against heart diseases. Studies have shown that oleic acid improves cardiovascular health. Oleic acid is the primary fatty acid in avocados. Many people now take supplements in order to consume more omega-3 fatty acids to lower their risk of heart disease. Avocados are rich in omega-3, delivering 160 milligrams per cup of alpha-linolenic acid.
Vegetarians and Vegans Rejoice – Protein!
Avocados provide all 18 essential amino acids necessary for the body to form a complete protein. Unlike the protein in steak, which is difficult for most people to digest, avocado protein is readily absorbed by the body because avocados also contain fiber. If you are trying to cut down on animal sources of protein in your diet, or if you are a vegetarian or vegan seeking more protein, avocados are a great nutritional ally to include not merely as an occasional treat, but as a regular part of your diet.
Logistics of your Avocado
Here a couple of choice items to chew over. Once an avocado is picked, it takes between 7 and 10 days to ripen. Keeping it in the refrigerator will slow down the ripening process, while putting it in a paper bag with a ripe apple will speed up the process. Avocados have the highest protein content of any fruit. The first Haas avocado tree is still alive and producing fruit. Brazilians add avocados to their ice cream and Indonesians make avocado shakes (see below).

Bet You Didn’t Know:

On average, 53.5 million pounds of guacamole are eaten every Super Bowl Sunday, enough to cover a football field more than 20 feet thick.

To-do:

It’s time to start thinking of avocados as a regular diet supplement rather than a frisky Saturday treat. Get them into your daily diet in salads, on sandwiches or just plain. Start changing the way people view them and you will see more of them around.

Recipes:

Avocado_Kiley_DumasSimple is Best!   No fancy additions. No cilantro or tomatoes (or salsa!) or any of that nonsense – no Sir! – just plain avocado mashed up and eaten with some lovely blue corn chips. And that’s one of my recipes for you today.

 
 

Indonesian-style avocado shake

You Haven’t Done This Before:

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:21]

Athlete, Education, Triathlon, Yoga

The Athlete Meets Yoga

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The Athlete is about passion.  Drive.  The Zone.  Whether you run, bike, swim, do gymnastics, play ball …. we are all the same.  We work hard.  We play hard.  As good as our sports are for us, there are drawbacks.   A lot of our activities are repetitive and tend to exercise one muscle group more than another, creating imbalances in the body.  Another drawback is when you do have less than optimal bio-mechanics leading to bad form, the repetitive nature of our activities can lead to lower performance or even injury.

In walks Yoga.  Yoga is about balance.  Balance within a movement.  Balance within the joints.  Balance within the mind.
Yoga is a fun compliment to any activity that can improve performance and prevent or address injuries.   In simple terms, yoga is a bucketful of poses done in different sequences that exercise the entire body, cultivating balance within the skeleton structure.

Through the consistent practice of yoga, the joints become SUPPORTED and ALIGNED as a result of appropriate strength and length within muscle groups.  A runner’s knee pain may be the result of imbalances within the quads and hamstrings or as a result of weak hip stabilizers.  Get on your yoga mat often enough, working towards a nice balanced Warrior III and you find that the hips get stronger, the quads and hamstrings reach equilibrium.  The knee becomes quiet.

As you practice triangle pose you’ll learn to respect the limitations of your inner thighs and hamstrings, while using your quads to help the hamstrings loosen.  You’ll find the back stretch coupled with the upper body strength to create a wonderful expression of strength and space.  Each yoga pose has its challenges.

The fun comes in with the challenge of each pose, the music, the others in class with you.  It’s an awesome way to do the work needed to keep the body working well and in balance.  This happier body then plays ball better, runs faster, swims more efficiently, sleeps better, recovers faster and experiences less injury.

Play Hard.  Do Yoga.

Diet, Eating, Education

What is Weight Loss?

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A balanced approach

I’ve been thinking a bit on why there are so many different kinds of diets.  And why so many of them don’t work.  One reason is because we look at weight loss as a separate event.  Like painting the house.  Instead of a part of our lives that is influenced by many aspects of our lives.  There are MANY factors that contribute to weight gain.  Not all of them are immediately under our control.  Granted our habits might have gotten us to a point where weight loss is hard but after cleaning things up, you just might have residue affects that you aren’t obviously aware of that are slowing you down.  Example.  Clogged up liver.  Eating a food you have no idea you are sensitive to.  Missing a couple of nutrients.

Another thought to throw your weigh.  Maybe there are so many weight loss programs because we just aren’t getting to the heart of the matter and these programs are a brute force way of losing weight.  Which in the end, doesn’t stick.  Doesn’t translate into lifestyle changes.  WHY?  Because they are sustainable.  So … should you lose weight in a manner that isn’t a healthy lifestyle change?  Short term gain for …. what?  Closet full of clothes of many sizes.

wellness-playbookSo what to do.  Well, we are all individuals.  Gloriously unique.  So our approach to weight loss will be unique.  Now, that’s not to say that their won’t have a similar foundation, but everyone will have different needs.  That sounds complicated, but actually, it’s not that hard.  Takes some patience.  Some investigation.  Some experimentation.

My Wellness Coaching Playbook, which can be tailored for your goal, is an awesome way to find your individualize plan.  You’ll learn the skills to find your own solution –> lifestyle changes.

Healthier Living

In the end, if you do your homework, you’ll find your lifestyle change.  If you just want a pill …. are you prepared to buy that pill, and others later, for the rest of your life?

Where’s the Playbook?  Let’s set up a chat.

Event

Adventure Race – Raid the Rock 2012

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Put your seat belts on folks. This was a fun one!!!

These races are kind of interesting in that you really don’t know what you’re going to be doing. You have this LONG list of items that you need in your backpack. Matches. Knife. Repelling gear. Rain gear. Warm clothes. Food for the day. Bike shoes.  Hiking Shoes. Compass…You have team gear, and gear that each individual needs to have. The folks that set up the race can be creative and give you the coordinates and map early. Or at race start. Or add more later. Fun stuff. This race started out in Little Rock right along with river.

Race start was at 6:00am.  In the dark.

100_0006It was sort of cold but not too bad. You layer up. At 6 we started out with a short run over a pedestrian bridge to get our map, coordinate and directions. Then a short run back to our transition area to map out the race. Mark showed me how to do the coordinates. I liked that part a lot. Though…you know me…directionally challenged.  Come to find out, I’m good at navigating to landmarks and what not. Need to be careful here, could end up with a bad day if you got some coordinates wrong.

At each of the checkpoints, you punch your passport. Basically just a piece of paper with squares for each check point. And each checkpoint has a different punch. These punches hang from a foot long piece of 3″ pvc so hopefully easier to see. Most weren’t too bad to locate. There were a couple that proved to be challenging.

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100_0008After we got the coordinates all mapped. And double checked. We got ready to take off. The first part of the race was biking, on our mountain bikes, through beautiful neighborhoods of Little Rock. The city is a bit hilly so there was an element of work. We traveled a bit in town, getting to checkpoints and what not. At about checkpoint four, we were lucky enough to catch the first checkpoint at the entrance of a nice park. Very beautiful. And the beginning of our single track adventures. It was pretty easy to lose your way in this park as the leaves made the paths hard to see. The below video was a bit of an example of the type of terrain found in the park.

After the first park we road on some streets again and came to the second park.  This checkpoint was HARD to find. Here’s a bit of what it looked like.  Notice.  Just a super fabulous beautiful day!

100_0012They had a person there giving hints. Good thing too. At one checkpoint we had to climb down a pretty steep ravine to look for the check point. If you got lucky and the team in front of you wasn’t lost, you could get clues as to where the check point was. Or if they were totally lost, you could spend a lot of time looking in an area for NOTHING. So back to the ravine. And back out. Back on the roads and heading to the dam checkpoint by checkpoint. Here’s Heidi in some really cool bamboo.

By the way.  The first section of the race had 26 checkpoints.

Checkpoint 12 was REALLY hard to find. (and would come to haunt us) Took us a long time. I think it took most people a lot of time. It was WAY off the bike path. We had left our bikes and started trampling around in the woods. We got split up here so…

After this checkpoint we continue our adventure into a different part of this big park area. Up a fairly big hill. And we ended up traveling up said hill a couple of times, much to my legs’ dismay, due to not finding exactly where we needed to be. We did have a super exciting event happen! A siting of…check it out…

BIG FOOT…

We finally!!!!!! get ourselves to this place we are calling the “bike drop off”. The plan is to get off the bike and hike a bit to find 4 or 5 checkpoints. I’m sort of glad that I didn’t have the map because I would have been more aware of how much up and down we’d be doing. So at this point, ignorance is bliss. The a big problem!!!! Mark has lost one shoe. You bikers know that hiking in bike shoes isn’t the most fun thing to do so…some guy says he saw a red shoe at checkpoint 12. O M G!  Seriously. So on the bikes we go. (at this point is when I duck tape the video on my backpack) BACK TO CHECKPOINT 12. Which is about 2 checkpoints behind us. (anyone remember that hill in the middle? my legs did!)

We looked for that darn shoe for awhile. We even recruited St. Anthony, patron saint of lost things. Heidi found a ceramic kitty and I found a key. But no shoe. So back to checkpoint 14 we went.

At this point we did A LOT of hiking around looking for the checkpoints. Mark’s navigating was generally spot on. Checkpoint 14, remember, was the bike drop, so for those of us that had hiking shoes, on they went. Thank goodness. Took about an hour or so of moderate work to find all the check points. I got to tell you, at this time…my legs were hurting. Especially going DOWN the hills. Something in my right knee was barking to me. I assume that Heidi and Mark were just peachy! Heidi was super smart girl and walking pretty close to Mark, in his foot steps. With the amount of leaves on the ground, it was hard to navigate all the rocks.

We get back to the bikes. And there are SPECIFIC instructions to follow the orange flags. Which led us along some single track that was “FUN” to Heidi and Mark. And really hard to me. At the point I’m really paying the price of having a very heavy, generic bike. I won’t bore you with the video of me falling behind, them stopping at a checkpoint, me catching up. WASH RINSE REPEAT. On one of these I fell pretty good. Right on my right hip on a big rock. About three tears came out. I lay there looking up thinking “you are all by yourself, in the middle of no where, what are you going to do” “suck it up princess” “wonder how long they will wait until they come back for me”. But I get up and make it out. Which at this time I’m VERY tired and not sure I can do much more. Then to get to the next checkpoint to find out (remember that ignorance thing, I’d have just stayed laying there if I had known how hard the next part was going to be). Or not.  🙂

We make it to the top. It was awesome!

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Going down was pretty fun. This is a long video, you can get an idea of the bits and pieces of the race. Mark took a tiny spill here on one of the turns. And Heidi went “Ass over tea kettle” doing down.

After the big down we ride a bit of straight away back to town. Heidi was a super awesome person and pulled me back a bit, let my legs recover from that craziness. We get to the bridge that we are crossing the river at, and having carry our bikes up some flights of stairs. That was awesome. NOT. We actually fit four bikes and four people into an elevator that we ride up. COOL. At this point we are back in town and heading toward repelling.

Once done with the rebelling we make our way back to the transition area. To get more check points. Where we discover that we are not done. And there is a significant amount of checkpoints left. We figure out that we won’t be able to get them all, so we strategize on what we are going to do. You get awarded on how many checkpoints you get in a certain time. With the cut off time of 6pm. 12 hours. So we plan. And off we go.

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We had a great time.  We even got Mark to sing.  Twice.

And more lovely sites on our way to done.

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LIST OF INJURIES

Bonnie:

1.  bruise inside of left knee – bike fall
2.  Left 2nd toenail ouchie – trekking in bike shoes
3.  Bruise on left arch – rock climbing in bike shoes
4.  Contusion inside/outside right shin, right hip – Bike fall

Heidi:

1. Diaphragm. Breathing
2. Ass over tea kettle – left shin bruise, left quad bruise, left neck, contusion on l shoulder blade, left ring fingernail (which survived)
3. Face plant when running. Left palm heel abrasion, right knee cap
4. Rock climbing in bike shoes – jammed right big toe

Mark

1. Blister on right heel – doing entire race in bike shoes

Things we lost.

A shoe. Bike light. Portion of cliff bar. Latte.

Gained.

Ceramic kitty, golf ball, key

Over all.  It was A LOT of fun.  Serious fun.  Can’t wait for the next one!!!  Thanks Mark!  Go GCAR!

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Personal Growth

Your Rainbow

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If you paint with only a couple of colors all the time you miss your rainbow.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Mainly due to all the posts and pictures on facebook that talk about…if this person or that thing doesn’t make you feel good, service you…get rid of it. Throw that banana peel out!!!!

I disagree to that blanket statement. Seems so…black and white. It really doesn’t acknowledge that you might be the pain in the arse in the situation. Or that the relationship is “meant to be”. That you are both there to grow and learn. Maybe the relationship should change or evolve, but to just throw it out…You get uncomfortable, you don’t feel good, you’re the pain, they are the pain, you bale, they bale, you take your un-evolving baggage with you and shade your next relationship with the same color.

Not to say that some times IT IS time to move on, let things go. That discernment, to know the difference, is hard. The courage to stay or go is hard too.

Life is shaded with a PLETHRA of experiences to make life VIBRANT.

The last month: my person challenge; to live fully, gain the gifts, let go of whats not meant to stay.

Running a race that I WORKED hard for and rocked out. My dog getting cancer, putting her down, burying her. The family experience of that. Years of hard work paying off and finally having my family reunited. Asking for something and receiving it, on my time table interestingly enough. Sadness of my wonderful mentor moving, acknowledging that it‘s time for me to be more of a big girl. Letting go of a relationship that wasn‘t nurturing my heart, wanting to make sure that I wasn‘t baling, that I didn‘t needed to stick longer. Having a relationship with mentor and friend, where one has discord and the other not. Accepting that my mother is who she is, not baling and not being too attached, but living the relationship fully non–the–less, on some terms that I don‘t quite understand yet, but that‘s ok. Working through a shoulder injury, the pain, frustration and blah blah blah. Having a ton of fun with my kids. Really loving life, being SUPER DUPER EXCITED! Putting my biz hat back on and building some momentum.

I really didn’t back down from fully living any of these experiences. I tried to not get so attached to one experience, one color, letting that shade the rest. It was tough, but once through it…WHOOOO RAW!

It’s healthy to have relationships of all different kinds. Happy. Business. Strictly formal. Have agreed to disagree. Not getting along. Loving. Discord. We learn from them all. I want to be careful of “oh I don’t align with that person so out they go”.

Perhaps with a bit of patience and understanding. We shine with our strongest colors, but diminish the others. So more of a blue rainbow. Or a pink one.

The world/life/relationship are always changing. This is our playing ground to learn, find ourselves, change ourselves, find things…If we bale, work so hard to make live comfortable…we miss out. We get stagnate. Stale. Gray.

Don’t miss your rainbow. (keep the banana peel, maybe the squirrel will eat it)

Swimming, Triathlon

Honey Badger does Triathlon

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Life kind of wrapped itself up on September 22nd.  In Oklahoma City, in a red mud puddle.  AKA ….

REDMAN TRIATHLON OKC

Training for a 1/2 Ironman was a big challenge this year. Lots of challenges to get through. Swim anxiety. Strained/slight torn left inner thing and hamstring, knee issues. Mainly a solo ring leader for the Kissinger 3 Ring Circus.

Discovering Heidi and Jeff, The Wichita Triathlon Team. That’s a big fat righteous gift. I’d give up the next five Christmas’s if I had to. Good stuff. The friends. Good stuff. Finding people that really get me. Good stuff.

Lexi-getting-ready-for-raceWas reading a magazine. They say training for the long races changes you. In a big way. In so many positive ways, in different aspects of my life. You learn how to embrace all that you are, find a rhythm, find equilibrium and go. And keep going. Not so much just pushing and clawing your way through, but climbing up…because you still can climb, you still have more.

My dog got terminally sick right before the race. She’s my bestie, my boxer girl for 8 years. It broke my heart. It was incredibly hard to get in the van to trip to OKC. Only thing that made it tolerable was the friends. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have went. Physically I went into the race really questioning my left leg. I had been to see Jon, my AWESOME A.R.T guy,  to help unravel the left leg. Paula saw me twice before the race. It was strung tight. I was questioning the run in a big way. Because…

I had a goal. An hour faster than Kansas 70.3. I know you can’t compare the two. Flat at OKC vs. SO WAY NOT FLAT. But… I wanted to do a 1/2 Ironman under 7 hours. My left leg was telling me, “well, you’re not buying time on the run girlfriend!”.  So…

I wrote HONEY on the left forearm. BADGER on the right forearm.

I was going to do this race on my own terms despite everything. If you haven’t ever employed the spirit of the honey badger and really don’t know what that means…check out this video. Honey Badger.

The tattoo party was awesome the night before the race. My age was 83. Coach J having put that tattoo on upside down.

swim-startTo ensure nice steady breathing, I took a pre-race jog which was very nice and calming. The swim was wetsuit legal. So in the suit I went. Also part of my calm breathing routine was consuming some goo that had caffeine in it. Got some glide on, mostly around the neck and to race start I went with Jeff and Scott. I felt pretty calm. It was a real change of pace to get into the really MUDDY water. Most were doing warm up stuff in the water. ME…I was peeing. Though I got to asking myself…my wetsuit is so tight, why in the world did I walk out here to pee. You figure it out. So…ready to swim, got myself situated where I wanted to be. Mostly in the back of the pack. My routine is to start slow, get my breathing under control and then try and pick up the pace. Things were going really well. I felt in command of the swim when the next heat caught up to me. No biggie until someone hit the back of my head fairly hard and made my calves cramp up instantly.  redman-half-2012-swim-finishThat was hard to deal with. I had to stop, stretch out my leg, praying to the Saint of swimming that my calves wouldn’t stay cramped. It went away. I started swimming again. It happened again, the bang on the head/calf thing. So after that I started to elbow/kick the swimmer that would run into me over and over. (Honey badger coming alive). I did decide to swim wide. And amazingly enough, I was swimming straight. So I finished up the swim totally crazy happy and proud of myself.

I zipped up to transition. Giggled a bit when I saw Jen’s bike still there.  🙂  That’s terrible I know. Made me feel really good, I had worked so hard and it paid off. Plus the fact that she had been kicking my tail in all the practices. Then I worried just a sec for her but knew she’d be out here soon. Got on my bike. And away I went. And it was AWESOME. My new Cervelo. Treated me right. I had my banana and food and all was good. They had really hyped up that the road was rough. Yeah, you had to pay attention. When water bottles and even entire cages were on the road you knew it wasn’t smooth but I didn’t find the bike too bad. I knew that the running wasn’t going to be my greatest event, so I worked hard on the bike. It was cool to see our team mates out there racing. I thought that by Redman I would figure out how to manage the darn banana on the bike. This time I had it loosely velcro-ed to the top of my aero bars. Some time during the race I looked down and saw stuff dripping down on my bike. YUCK. My banana was oozing. So, I go to eat it (or suck it out of the peel if I need to) hit a damn dump and just about take out the biker behind me with a banana. bike-finishHAHAHAHA. I wonder if that would have been a penalty or disqualify. Anyway…my nutrition was pretty good. Beans. Some perpetuem. Some cliff bars. Some chomps. And a bit of banana. I was missing ONE thing though. A big thing.

55 miles on the bike isn’t the shortest ride. Whenever I started to get a little whiny, I’d look down at my arms. “Honey Badge takes what it wants.” And I wanted it real bad. I was out there to prove to myself that I could stick. To whatever I wanted to stick to. No matter what. The ride for me was a good one. Nice average. Coming to the end of the ride… seeing Coach Jeff and the others out there cheering for me. It was a forkin’ fabulous.

Transitioning to the run. I do this thing that WORKS WONDERS. I have extra big water containers that I literally wash out my hair and face. Works like a charm to cool down and reset. Off I go. By this time… it’s hot. Just about 92 degrees if memory serves me. It was hot. Not shaded. And hot. And two loops of hot not shaded. Redman-finishI wasn’t doing too bad until about mile 2 and started to feel really bad. I’d drink more. And feel even worse. I’d try to eat and I’d feel even worse. OH NO. I was thinking to myself. 13 miles of this will kill me. I wasn’t until I got to an aide station when a (very) concerned volunteer said…”you need to hydrate”. And I’m thinking to myself as I stumble to a walking pace, “dude I am”. Then it dawned on me that I hadn’t taken ANY salt pills on the bike. AT ALL. Seriously, what a stupid (and harmful) mistake. More water was just making things worse. So I pop 4 pills right there. Well, actually it was one clump of mostly soggy pills from my fuel belt which thank goodness I didn’t choke on. After that…about 1/2 mile down the ride. All was right as rain. I found my rhythm and pace and the miles started to dwindle at a nice pace. I continued with the 4 salt pills at each aide station for awhile and I felt good. The songs that got stuck in my head. Black and Yellow. Wild Ones. Over and over and over for 13 miles. I tried repeatedly to get to Emimen ‘Till I Collapse but it was hot and my brain cells were dying off fast.

At the end, the last two miles finishing the race was emotionally real hard. I was running the race for my girl. Doing my best to honor her spirit. At the end thoughts of my dog would come into my mind. I just wanted to stop and cry. I would literally STUFF that (@)#$& back down and keep going. Crossing the finish line under 7 hours was…AWESOME!!! Let me tell you, to work so hard, for 6 months, and intensely for 7 hours. There’s no feeling like it except child birth. (In my experience anyway). Side note: Heidi clued me in to…hey, smart girl, you started the race after everyone else. So my time was better than what I though. HAHAHA. Even better.

I was really grateful that Heidi was there at the end. She’s a fabulous coach that gives her whole heart. I asked the lady at the end for an extra medal. She was hoe-humming around and honey badger was starting to get a bit irritated. With extra medal in hand, Heidi towing me to a quiet spot, I cried and let it all go. All the things I’d been working on, working through gone at that moment. Ready for more AWESOME with my new space.

Lets not forget to mention that my left hip was KILLING me. OMG can you say tight IT. Poor Jennifer had to lead me around like a lame horse. Love her.

The results: 6:39. Swim-55:05, Bike-3:05, Run-2:28. Not too bad for first season out. Finished thinking… 2014, lets get it under 6.

Check out this team.  Each and everyone of them are FREAKIN’ FABULOUS.
Liquid AWESOME is what runs in our veins.

USA-Triahtlon-champs1

…and of course the jump picture!

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Athlete, Personal Growth, Swimming, Yoga

Where do you work through your crap?

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Personal growth. Personal Space. (blah blah blah)

10 years ago I was super angry, with a HUGE CHINA sized wall around me. I sure couldn’t share my personal space. I’d beat you out of it in a heart beat. Literally.

Learning how to teach yoga, especially to men, was a HUGE HUGE (HUGE) challenge.

It’s really interesting how little life events intersect. To come together like a couple of chords to make a pleasant sound. Or musical instruments, to play together, to practice…leading to a fine piece of music. It’s like…time stops and…AHHHHH.

That’s what happened to me in the swimming pool during 2012. Apparently, despite the fact that I almost drowned (seriously) when I was little, I am HOME in the water. HOME.

What does that mean. We are all made up of…different constitutes. Type A. MB. Wood/fire. There are a ton of ways to characterize people. They all come down to the same thing. I’ll lean towards the more holistic/yoga definitions. They are cool and interesting. Type A sounds so ANAL and negative. So…my strongest “elements” (Chinese nomenclature) is WATER and WOOD. Wood would be a lot of TYPE A. Water…more artistic. That part of me a lot of you haven’t seen. You can check out my art here…ARTIST.

What’s the point. When I swim…I’m in the environment to really get in touch with myself. Check this out…whether I like to or not. It sort of…does whatever the F it wants. It can be very frustrating. But useful too. Especially if you know whats going on and can work with it. Speeds you along the healing/integration process.

Why am I writing about it now. I’m dealing with something super duper (uber) deep. It’s just about finished and I’m swimming in the pool more.

So…the emotions come up to the surface. In the pool I’m working HARD to correct some of my weaknesses. (maybe that’s why it’s in the pool…I’m pretty comfortable everywhere else).

Lets all chuckle for a moment.

The point is…everyone has a different mix of these “constitute flavors”. So everyone is going to be different…where they find that space. In the Catholic Church. In a forest. On a park bench. Mountain top. Playing music. With family. Meditating. Doing yoga. Running. Praying. Sex.

For me, for right now…it’s swimming.

swimming-at-andover1All this STUFF got stored in my body, my mind, my spirit ( my _____ ).  Some of this stuff has been locked up for many longs years, now working its way to the surface and doggedly expressing the need for release.

So I swim with my goggles filled with tears. Do my best to scale back and relax. Find rhythm. Honor the process, get my body in sync with the water and let the water do its thing.

Here’s the KEY: know when the moment has passed and move on. Leave it in the water. Get out of the pool a little bit different. With new space.

I hope you find where your space it at. That space that rings true for you. Like a beautiful heart stopping chord.

Personal Growth

The plant needs water

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I have this plant. From this person that at one point in my life was a very bright part of my life. Now…not so much. One of those relationships that sort of crashed and burned. And to be honest about it, still got space in my heart for that person.  With a lot of other stuff too.

It’s interesting how relationships are long. Are short. Are painful. Are joy filled. We get attached to the “feel good” ones. The ones that nurture us in our comfort zones. That give us mainly loving acceptance and don’t push us. Those are just one type of relationship. Equally important. The flip side. The relationships with people that drive us crazy. Countless types of relationships. All equally important. All needed.

Blah blah blah. Life is constant change. We are just learning how to dance with the changes. Hopefully it becomes a graceful dance.

So this plant…I’ve had it for a couple years now. It hasn’t grown much because I haven’t taken care of it. It’s one of those plants that will grow like wildfire if you give it bare minimum. And…

I’M A PLANT PERSON. I hate it when plants die, it hurts my heart to throw a 1/2 dead plant away. Like there is a 1/2 alive animal (or person) in the trash. That’s how I role. Way sappy.

You know…within this plant is potential. Waiting to bloom and expand into something else. Waiting on me to donate some water. It really doesn’t care about all my garbage that I’m carrying around…it just wishes I’d stop withholding water.

So…it’s been hanging in there. Holding on, getting a bit taller despite my silliness.

IMG_3252For all these years, underneath it all, I have made the act of “watering” this plant about the relationship.  My feelings for how it went.  Again blah blah blah.

The act of “watering” this plant doesn’t mean that I was wrong, or that I was right. Or that I’m better or worse. That I’m giving in or up or whatever. Has absolutely nothing to do with that. In yoga we talk about non-attachment. This is what we are talking about. I’m attaching so much to this plant because it just happens that person x gave it to me. Big whoopie now. It’s a pretty plant. All by itself.

The plant is waiting on me. Wanting to grow. Brighten up my room a bit more.

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