Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine once again! I don’t know about you, but for me, waking up to sunshine makes a very big difference on how my day starts. There is something about the feeling of warmth and light streaming through the windows that makes me wake up with a smile.  This is the best time of year for morning sunshine, at least in our part of the world.

How many of you find it hard to wake up early in the morning in the dead of winter, when you know the sun won’t be rising for several more hours? I remember when I had to train through the winter for Ironman Arizona in 2007-2008 – I would wake up to train before 6 am during the week and complete one workout before the sun came up.  Then I would often go for a run outside just as the sun was rising about 2 hours later. It was tough to get up and train when it felt like the middle of the night.  I’m sure some of you might not even see the light of day during the winter, depending on the hours you work.

I used to think that S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) was just a myth, but what I realized is that supplementing with vitamin D (year round) actually made a difference for me in how I felt during the winter months. We really do need that daily dose of vitamin D! Does anyone else know what I mean?

As I start today with a smile, I am reminded that spring is just around the corner and that the winter that was not to be (at least in Southwestern Ontario) might have actually passed us by. I am eager to head outside for a walk in the sunshine and get my daily dose of vitamin D.

What is your favorite activity to do in the spring? Let us know in the comments! Have a wonderful day everyone and I hope your day started out with sunshine and smile too.

This was supposed to be the update from week #4 of our lifestyle changes.  There has been a bit of a wrinkle in my plans. First, Dan is doing really well, he is now down 10 lb in just over 4 weeks of simple changes! For me, things aren’t going quite as planned.  As I mentioned in my post about Ironman, I have been dealing with a stubborn metatarsal injury of my big toe on the right foot for over two years.  On Monday of last week, I visited yet another health practitioner, this time a Sports Medicine MD at the Levy-Elliot Sports Medicine Clinic here in Burlington. I told him my story and he made an excellent suggestion.  Why not try an AirCast for 6 weeks?  Even though there isn’t necessarily evidence of a stress fracture on the x-rays, there are abnormalities showing.  We could do a bone scan, but the treatment would be the same.

I hesitated at first.  It seemed like the next logical step in the treatment plan, but I thought of all of the things I have coming up in the next six weeks and how the cast would affect them. The week, I am going to San Francisco for an amazing training called Go Diamond (more about this later this week) and I am arriving a day early to enjoy the city.  Second, I have many different speaking engagements and a seminar that I will be doing on March 4th.  Plus the fact that I teach 4 days a week as well (and we have a 2 week March Break starting March 15th). Then I realized that the sooner I began the treatment, the sooner we would see if it will work.

Now, when people ask me what happened (with that “oh no” expression) on their face, I tell them that this is a GOOD thing! First, my toe joint doesn’t hurt.  AT ALL for the first time in almost 2 years.  Yes, I just lived with it.  Been there, done that with my knees for 10 years – see Why Ironman post. I am so happy that I am not in pain, that the inconvenience of wearing the cast doesn’t bother me. Happily, I can take it off for driving, showering, sitting for long periods of time and sleeping (as long as I am not weight bearing).

A wrinkle in my workout plan, that’s for sure.  Right now, I have been biking at the gym and still working on push-ups and other ab exercises like WMM.  I am also allowed to swim, but haven’t been to the pool yet.  No volleyball or walking, although I can walk, it’s difficult to get up to a fast enough speed to work up a sweat.  I will continue to work on my goals for a healthier lifestyle, but right now, focus #1 is getting the toe BETTER.

My question of the day for you is have you ever broken a bone or had to wear a cast? Include your ideas and suggestion for getting around with a cast and any other physical activities that may work too!

Happy Monday everyone!

Things are looking good after this week. It’s been just over 2 1/2 weeks since I committed to making a few lifestyle changes in order to loosen my pants and things are going much better. I am back to my starting weight of  2 weeks ago, but not only that, I am feeling stronger and much more fit than I did when I first started.  This is a schedule that I can handle right now, and it feels great to be on track, finally. Dan also doing very well, he is 4 lb closer to his goal. I am really proud of him, he has been making simple changes and sticking to them.

I was reminded by my best friend Lee-Anne about the power of words when it comes to my weight. I love this, “You want to release it, not lose it, because you do not want to find it!” Of course! And by keeping the focus on reaching and maintaining a healthy weight and making solid lifestyle changes, I will reach my goal with ease.

Let’s take a look at how I did last week:

• Exercise schedule:
  • Monday and Friday, whittle my middle and 1 legged push-ups. I have been working my way up from 2 sets of 5 push-ups. I am up to 2 sets of 12. Still keeping this up, now up to 2 x 14 push-ups (ouch!)
  • Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – morning workout (walk, gym, bike trainer or maybe even swimming) plus wmm and push-ups. I walked on  Tues and Thursday, missed the workout Wed.
  • Saturday hiking or gym with Dan, and wmm & push-ups Gym with Dan, wmm & push-ups
  • Sunday volleyball (2 hours) Yup and an extra wmm & push-ups
• Eating habit changes:
  • smaller portions and more mindful eating (taking my time and chewing more slowly) More mindful eating this week!
  • more variety in my cooking (i.e. stop being lazy in the kitchen) – Found time to make dinner every night.
  • increase water intake – average is now 2 bottles (1.5 L), work my way up to 4 bottles a day – 5 of 7 days I drank 4 bottles
  • reduce diet coke intake – average 1 can/day, reduce to 0 -Just one can per day
  • reduce alcohol intake – only drink on the weekends, no more than 2 servings at a time – 1 on Thurs, 2 on Friday, 3 on  Sat. None any other time this week.

The biggest challenges this week will be that I am out every night, so I will have to plan ahead with a prepared lunch and dinner.  Also, Friday’s my birthday!  We’re having a party at Paradiso (where Dan and I got married) with friends and family.  I’ll be saving up my alcohol intake for the week for that night !

Looks like we’re on the right track! For those who are also making lifestyle changes this month, please feel free to share with us your successes in the comments.  Also, a big congrats to everyone who’s made it past the 21 of January with their New Year’s Resolutions. It’s been said that most people quit after 21 days, so if you’re still going at this point, then you are on the right track.

Here’s the link to the other posts on this topic, in case you missed them:

Weight Loss, Weight Gain and Ironman Racing
After the First Week of Goal #1

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Earlier this week, I posted the story of Ironman #3, IM Arizona, which I completed on April 13, 2008.  One of the questions people often ask me when they find out I’ve completed not one, but three Ironman distance triathlons is WHY? Completing one seems to be self-explanatory – one of those lifelong goals, something on the bucket-list, being only one of a handful of people in the world who have done it – something along those lines. For me, the story is a little bit different.

When I was younger, I was competitive gymnast until I was 12.  I developed some fairly challenging knee injuries and was forced to stop.  My doctor at the time told me I had the knees of a 35 year old and that I would never run again.  I had been fairly active until that point, outside of gymnastics, including track & field, cross-country and baseball. I believe that doctor and gave up running.  I took up swimming and that was my form of exercise for many years.

Years later, when I was about 17 or 18, I saw the Ironman on tv.  It was one of those highlight reels – where they show Julie Moss crawling over the finish line.  For some unknown reason, I said to my mom, “I’d like to do that one day”.  Keep in mind that I hadn’t run in over 5 years at this point.

My undergraduate degree is in Kinesiology, from McMaster.  Back in those days we had to do activity practicums in order to graduate. I was able to get a doctor’s note (because of my knees) and be exempt from these activities.  Truth is, my knees did hurt – all of the time.  In fact, for many years I couldn’t remember a day where I hadn’t woken up with knee pain. I had tried many different treatments over the years, but to no avail. It was definitely frustrating for me – I had grown up so active and enjoyed so many sports – and now, I was exempt from even participating.  One of the lowest points for me was when I worked at the McMaster sports camp, and wasn’t able to participate in the daily runs. Some of the staff found this to be quite hilarious and made fun of me, which I didn’t handle very well. I started to realize that there had to be some way for this to change.

My first REAL job after university was working at a physiotherapy clinic in Oakville.  I was leading easy exercise classes for women ages 60 – 80 who had osteoporosis. The clinic had two floors, so there were lots of stairs everyday. It got to the point where I was being treated daily in order to work.  After 3 months, I quit.  One of the most important relationships of my life came out of that experience though.  I met Wendy, who was a therapist there at the time, and she treated me for the pain. She also helped me to start on a very easy exercise program to help correct some of the muscle imbalances I had. I started walking on the treadmill, then I would walk for 10 min and run for 1 min.  I was so ecstatic! Although I was still in pain, it was manageable and I figured as long as it didn’t get worse, I’d rather be running. I slowly made my way up to running longer and completed my first 5 k race.  I was hooked. And as soon as I realized I could run, I knew that I would compete in triathlon and eventually, do my first Ironman.

That summer, 1999, I competed in my first triathlon.  It was awesome and I competed in several other races. It took me 5 seasons of training and racing to make it to the start line of Ironman Canada in 2003.  My best friend Lee-Anne Chase did the race as well, and we ended up crossing the finish line together. What an incredible journey it was – from not being able to run for 10 years, to an Ironman 5 years later.

Next time, I’ll share with you the lessons I learned on the way to becoming an Ironman. And if you know someone who, like me, struggled with a physical challenge (or still struggles), you are welcome to pass on this story.  If I can do it – anyone can!

Julie oxox

Yesterday I wrote about my new challenge which is to lose the few pounds I have gained since my last Ironman race in April 2008.  I also have the goal of finding a solution to my toe pain and being able to race in Ironman Canada in 2013, 10 years after doing my first race there with Lee-Anne Chase in 2003. Yesterday’s post brought back some amazing memories for me, not only was it my best race yet, but I had the support of Dan, my parents, my sister Sophie and my best friend Lee-Anne.  It made a very challenging day so much nicer!  Here’s how the day unfolded, back on April 13, 2008.

Greetings from Arizona!

Another day, another Ironman success! I am pleased to report that despite 30 mph winds, 98F heat and an 18% attrition rate, I completed Ironman Arizona in 14 hr 8 min, only 5 min off my personal best in Ironman Canada 2003 (my first).   The bottom line is I finished 1020 out of over 2000 who started the race, my best overall placing in an Ironman.  I was 36 of out 87 in my age group, by far my best placing ever in an Ironman for my age group.  My swim was great – 1 hr 3 min, which was good enough for 7^th in my age group and 295^th overall.  I was thrilled to be crossing the finish line in just over 5 min from my PB, having raised $4000 for Team Diabetes Canada as well.

The full story is below, keep going if you like.  I just wanted to say thank-you to everyone who supported me, thank-you for all of your good wishes during race week and on race day. I REALLY appreciated it.  And a BIG THANK-YOU to my Iron Team, my parents, sister, best friend and boyfriend. It was such a pleasure to have so many people I love with me on race weekend.

Ironman Arizona

The day started with a warning, with the extreme heat and wind, it’s best to just focus on one goal – get to the finish line safely.  I quickly decided to just focus on hydration and keeping myself from ending up in the medical tent.  Many of you know how much I suffer in the heat and how I generally end up with major GI distress when racing, so these were pretty decent goals for me.  My goal of going under 14 hours evaporated (very quickly in the dry heat, I might add) and it became a game of survival.

We arrived at the race site at 5 am, just as the athletes were allowed to enter the transition area. I was in my Zone, listening to my favourite tunes on my Ipod and just focusing on my day ahead.  I took some time to drop off my special needs bags (for later in the race) and to get body marked (marker with your number on your arms and calfs).  The time seemed to pass very quickly and before I knew it was squeezing into my new 2XU wetsuit, complete with pink stripes.  We made our way to the swim start, a jump off a dock at 6:35 am.  As there was a separate pro start at 6:45, we didn’t actually get to warm up for the swim, which is not great for me, as I usually like to warm up for at least 15 min.  I did what I could and ended up treading water for about 15 min, right at the front of the pack. The gun went off at 7 am and we were off, directly into the sun.  As the course was not straight, this ended up being quite a challenge.  It was rough for a while, being punched, kicked and grabbed, as no one could even see their hand in front of their face.  I thought it would get better as we turned to come back (out of the sun) but it was still rough.  I never really found another to draft off, so that swim was more tiring than I thought.  I was pleased with my time, and even more pleased when I realized how fast it was overall – everyone had a rough swim.

It was a long walk to the change tent (who runs??) and I took my time to get ready, apply sunscreen and make sure I had all of the food I thought I needed.  I got out on the bike (the racks were still full) and off I went on lap one.  The first thing I noticed was that it was already hot at 8:15 am. The second thing I noticed was that it was already windy!  The first lap out was very tough. There is only one hill, which was into the very strong wind (I could see sand twisters in the desert on the bike).  I almost cried when I got to the turnaround and was extremely happy to be going downhill, with the wind.  I was being very diligent with my food and my hydration.  I slowed at every aid station, poured water on my helmet and took a bottle of water and a bottle of Gatorade.  It was tough to eat anything solid except oranges, shot blocks and sport beans.  The way back was great, except for the wind gusts which nearly knocked me off my bike.

Lap two was extremely challenging and the lowest point of the race for me.  I was really struggling up the hill, although I was still passing people who were struggling even more.  I considered not going on to the run.  There was a hot wind blowing and I literally felt like I was cooking. Luckily, my Iron Team was waiting at the bottom of the hill so their cheers and support really helped me, both on the way up and the way down.  I made it, turned around and went back for another lap.  The wind had died down a bit, and as I had been diligent with hydration, I still felt pretty good and was still eating and drinking.  As I finished the third lap, I saw people heading out for their third lap, knowing that there was no way they could possibly make the cut off time.  I was truly grateful to be getting off the bike.  As I stumbled into transition (you should see the video!), I took my time, got my stuff and made sure I was prepared for the run.  I took off my watch, knowing that I was about 30 min behind my time if I wanted to break 14 hours, so I just didn’t want to think about my pace anymore and just go with how I was feeling.

As I walked out of the tent into the scorching sun, I actually didn’t feel too bad. It was hot, but I still had something left, so I started running.  And I was able to run from aid station to aid station. At every station I stopped and took my time, again making sure I had ice, sponges, extra water and Gatorade in my fuel belt and maybe a piece of orange. I was still well hydrated (no GI distress at all) so I just decided to keep running until I couldn’t.  I took my time to cheer people on as I went by them, as the majority of the athletes were walking.  I thought that if I could focus on them instead of my own pain, it would be easier. Most of the marathon was on concrete (why???) which was very tough on the knees.  The best part of this 3 loop course is that it allows you to see your Iron Team several times each lap – that just made my marathon so much better. I know that I wouldn’t have been as strong had it not been for their cheers and smiles.

Lap two came and went and as I got to the end of that lap, the sun started to set.  It was like a new world.  Although it was still about 29C, it was so nice to no longer be baking. I asked for the time and realized that I was still within good reach of my 14 hour goal.  I decided to just stick to the plan, run to each aid station, take my time through the station and make sure I stayed healthy. I did start to feel sick and had trouble taking in anything but water, but I kept running.  The blisters were getting bigger (thanks for the dry socks Sophie) and it was still painful, but it’s an Ironman, it’s supposed to hurt.  I figured if it didn’t hurt then everyone would do it. By then, everyone else was pretty much walking.  I just kept plugging along, at my pace, smiling as much as possible.  As I came around for the last few kms, I just couldn’t believe that I was still running. Lee-Anne was waiting for me about 500 m from the finish line with my Team Diabetes shirt and the Canadian Flag for me to wave as I came through the finishing shoot.  It was an awesome finish! Everyone was cheering, GO Canada and yeah Team Diabetes! I was smiling and really felt awesome. When I saw the clock, I was thrilled!! 14 hr 8 min, only 5 min off my best time – and not only that, I really didn’t feel that awful.  I crossed the line with a big smile and walked off.  I didn’t need the medical tent and I was even able to eat something (never happens). My family was there for me with big smiles and kisses and I have never felt more proud of any race in my life.

On a day where people were dropping on the side of the road on the bike, lying on the grass with oxygen masks and being sick on the race course, making it across the line in close to a PB without ending up in the medical tent was an amazing accomplishment.  Thank-you to everyone who was there for me not only at the race, but during the long winter training sessions, training camp in South Carolina (especially after the bike crash) and all of those who supported my cause. Although Ironman is an individual event, I know that it takes a team of people to get you to the finish line.  I am very grateful to have such wonderful support from so many different sources.

For those who are local, I look forward to seeing you when I return.  I am off for a few days of RnR in the Grand Canyon and fly back late Friday. See you soon!

Julie oxox

Nothing like a New Year’s resolution to lose weight!  How many people had that resolution this year? This is not something I have usually added to my list, but you may have noticed that I included reaching my ideal weight of 135 lb in my 2010 goals.  My story is simple, from age 18 -30, I was a size 10 and a medium.  That’s it, that was my size.  It didn’t matter how much I exercised (I had already completed 2 Ironman triathlons) my weight pretty much stayed the same. Then in the autumn of 2006, I made some pretty serious dietary changes, learned about healthy low glycemic eating and started to take nutritional supplements. It took me just over a year, but I slowly made my way down to a size 6, small.

When I competed in my third Ironman in 2008, I weighed 134 lb and was close to a size 4.  A little small for my liking and I settled back into being a size 6 a few months after the race.  And I was very happy with my size and shape – I seemed to be staying the same even with a reduced exercise level after the race.

Unfortunately, while training for IM #3, I developed an overuse injury to my right toe joint (metatarsal joint of the big toe) that stubbornly refuses to heal. I kept running for about 6 months after the last race but the pain only got worse, so I finally had to stop running, cycling/spinning and even swimming was painful. I have worked with a chiropractor, osteopath, physiotherapist, acupuncturist and have even gone the medical route.  The only solution I have now is reduced exercise, pain killers (which I choose not to take) and possibly surgery (not really my idea of a great solution).

So, over the past year and a bit, I have slowly gained weight.  Hardly noticeable really, about 1/2 a lb a month. My exercise has been more and more limited over the past year.  And my eating habits, healthy as they are, still reflect portion sizes for someone who is exercising much more than I am.  Dan and I both committed to making changes to lose weight, and we started last week.  I weighed myself for the first time in months, and found the scale read 140.4 lb – not a huge amount of weight gain, but enough that some of my clothing is snug.  For the sake of not having to buy new clothing, here are the changes I am making:

• Exercise schedule:
  • Monday and Friday, whittle my middle and 1 legged push-ups. I have been working my way up from 2 sets of 5 push-ups. I am up to 2 sets of 12.
  • Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – morning workout (walk, gym, bike trainer or maybe even swimming) plus wmm and push-ups.
  • Saturday hiking or gym with Dan, and wmm & push-ups
  • Sunday volleyball (2 hours)
• Eating habit changes:
  • smaller portions and more mindful eating (taking my time and chewing more slowly)
  • more variety in my cooking (i.e. stop being lazy in the kitchen) – Anyone know an easy and tasty vegan cookbook?
  • increase water intake – average is now 2 bottles (1.5 L), work my way up to 4 bottles a day
  • reduce diet coke intake – average 1 can/day, reduce to 0
  • reduce alcohol intake – only drink on the weekends, no more than 2 servings at a time

That’s enough for now.  I have already implemented quite a few of these which will make it easier. My goals are simple and doable within the next 6-12 weeks.  I want to give myself the time to make the changes happen without stressing about it.  Creating new habits is the key!