The finish line!

After a painful 3-hour drive through a bad rainstorm, we made it to our hotel in Jamestown and settled in for the night. In less than 12 hours we'd be completing our first Olympic distance triathlon! Pablo was of course a lot less nervous than I was. I wasn't just going to complete a new distance, I was also going to swim in a river! In case I haven't mentioned it yet, I have...or had...a massive fear of dark water. Growing up in the Caribbean I am used to swimming in clear blue, always see your toes water and while I've gotten into darker water, I've always stayed very close to the shore and before White Lake in April (which was a clear lake), I had never actually swam in a lake. Jamestown was going to be an achievement both physically and mentally.

To calm my nerves I focused on double-checking my gear bag: goggles, bike shoes, helmet, running shoes, gels...I went down the list and after checking it twice got ready for bed. I got a few good hours of sleep and before I knew it, the alarm was going off and it was time to go. We drove to the race, picked up our packets, set-up the bikes and headed to the swim start. THE SWIM START. The James River is already murky on good days, so imagine the brown water that awaited us after a day of storms. I let the fear take over for a brief minute and then I decided it was the perfect day to get over my fears.

Pablo went off on his warm-up swim and I did a pretend warm-up near the shore. I wasn't quite ready to overcome my fear. Then it was go time. Pablo's wave went first and I watched them as they aimed for the first buoy. I chatted with some of my fellow females and finally decided it was time to get a few minutes of swimming. Then it was our turn.

1500 meters, here we go. Yikes, I'm swimming in a dark river...no, no, you don't have time for that, focus! Swim, swim, breathe, swim, swim, breathe, sight, ok there's the bouy, keep swimming. I fell into a rhythm and before I knew it 35 minutes had passed and I was coming out of the water.

I DID IT! That's really all I could think of in T1. That and don't forget to put on your helmet.

The bike went pretty flawless. I was staying above 16mph, which was my goal and I enjoyed the perfect weather and beautiful scenery. There were a few riders with flats along the way and I did a little prayer to the triathlon gods to spare me, because I don't know how to change a flat. Before I knew it I had finished the bike in 1:29:05 (under 1:30, score!)

T2 was quick, because all I had to do was re-rack my bike, take off my helmet and switch my shoes.
The first finishers were coming in and I wondered where Pablo was on the run. The run was partly on trails and partly on a running path. I ran strong and got an extra boost when I saw Pablo as he was on the last mile or so of his run.

I was definitely getting tired during the last 2 miles and my mind starting messing with me, but the accomplishment of swimming in dark water and my self-motivating mantra gave me the boost I needed to finish strong. You got this, I kept telling myself. When I saw the finish line I picked up the pace and sprinted across - 3:13:44. Take that 3:15 goal!

Just last week I had had a disastrous training ride/run and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish at Jamestown and here I was finishing faster than I thought I could. 

The lesson I learned?

Whether it's an Olympic Distance Triathlon, overcoming a fear or simply starting a new journey. Our mind will quickly send us into doubt. I don't blame it. It's not easy and your brain knows it will be hard. It knows it will take strength, perseverance and willpower. Sitting on the couch, making excuses, saying tomorrow, those options are much much easier....but they are not as satisfying as the success you feel when you cross that finish line!

Today I conquered both my mental fear of dark water and the physical feat of an Olympic distance triathlon. Let me tell you, I have never felt so proud, accomplished or happy in my life. I have also never felt so strong both physically and mentally. I didn't come in first, I didn't break any records and I still have a long way to go, but today I accomplished a milestone and I am exhausted and elated!

Eat more to lose weight?

Best news of the week: Starting weight 167.5, current weight 157.8!!

Almost 10 pounds lighter and definitely much fitter. Perseverance and hard work it turns out pays off! That, and good nutrition planning.

A few months ago I posted that I was sticking to 1200-1400 calories on days off and 1600-1800 calories on workout days. Now I actually eat at least 1600 calories on off days and closer to 2000+ calories on workout days. As I've increased my calories I've actually also increased my rate of weight loss. Not to mention that I am eating a pretty decent amount of carbs.

Doesn't really make sense right?

Well, Matt Fitzgerald explains it beautifully in his book Racing Weight. In this book he focuses on endurance athletes, but personally I think the information he provides is useful for everyone who is trying to lose weight and has gotten stuck.

Traditional diets, he explains, count on decreasing your calorie intake, whether it is through low-carb or some other limitation on the types of foods you can eat. These diets can be very useful for people who are extremely overweight and/or consume a high and unhealthy amount of calories, think sodas, pizza, fast food, chips and other junk foods. For these people, simply restricting caloric intake by making changes like cutting out sodas and limiting junk food may lead to significant weight loss. If these dietary changes are permanent and also include the addition of some exercise, you can probably keep a lot of the weight off. At some point however you will either reach a plateau or add certain foods back and regain some weight.

So how do you get past the plateau to lose those last few pounds and keep the weight off?

The secret is making sure you don't restrict your calories too much and making dietary changes that can be maintained long-term. This means that instead of eliminating all bad food, you work on limiting your intake of bad food and overall modifying your diet to a diet you are comfortable keeping long term. In a sense, it's no longer a diet, it's a lifestyle change. It also means making sure you don't starve yourself. Not only is that not feasible as a long-term plan, it might actually be detrimental to your health and your ability to exercise and lose weight.

Your body is a machine. Feed it with the right nutrients and it functions properly. Feed it inappropriately and it might work for a while, but it won't be at its best and it definitely won't run as long and strong as a well-fed machine.

This is actually what happened to me. When I stopped working out, I kept eating the same amount of calories I had been before, so I gained weight. Then I decided the way to lose weight would be to exercise and restrict my calories. For almost a year I limited myself to 1100-1300 calories and my weight dropped a little, but I could not keep it off or get lower than 162.

Turns out my resting metabolic rate (what I burn when I just sit around and do nothing) is 1525 calories and by keeping my calories far below that, I led my body to believe that it was starving and as a result my metabolism most likely slowed down to a crawl. The inefficient fueling of my body was blocking my weight loss and it was also leading me to be exhausted and less able to effectively exercise, making weight loss even harder.

When I started running half marathons and signing up for triathlons, it became clear that something had to change. I slowly started increasing my caloric intake, obsessively tracking how this would effect my weight loss. The first month I went up to 1900 calories and I lost 1.5 lbs! I dropped to 1850 and lost 2 lbs. Since then I've stayed around an average of 1850 calories (1600-2000 depending on how much I work out) and I have lost about 2.5 pounds each month.

This is much slower than other diet programs, but this is also meant to be a long-term plan. The weight has stayed off, even when I take a 5-day workout break, and I'm following a diet I am happy with. I can still eat a gigantic brunch with mimosas or the occasional cupcake without guilt and without weight gain. More importantly overall I feel healthy and my athletic performance has improved significantly.

So what do I eat?

I am focused on nutrient dense foods; healthy carbohydrates like oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, lean meats like fish, chicken and less than 15% fat meat and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables. For workout recovery I love chocolate milk and I am a big fan of coconut water (Zico is my personal favorite). When I do eat something unhealthy it is a conscious, guilt-free decision and as much as possible I try to stick to natural, unprocessed, locally made or homemade items, where I can control the ingredients.

I love food, so eating is still a pleasure, but food is now also a fuel source, so I always think about what my body needs before deciding what I will eat.