COACH CYNDEE

I can't believe in my 20+ years of racing I had never done a relay.  I haven't been training for a triathlon for over a year. I've been doing some running, swimming and teaching spin classes to stay fit. We decided to do the a vacation/relay race.  We thought it would be good to get away and race but not be too serious about it.  I like swimming and running so I decided to do that portion and my boyfriend said he would do the bike.  We got there a few days early and booked a fun day at Flora Farms.  They grow their own food, have a few shops, you can tour the farm and they also have a spa.  Being mostly vegan is hard when you travel to certain areas and the two times I've traveled to Mexico it's hard to find good places for me to eat.  This place however was fantastic! The food was super fresh and great!  The specialty cocktails were amazing!  This is the good thing about doing a relay is you don't have to be really serious and can have fun a few days before the

I haven't been doing many races in the past year but I recently did the St. George Marathon.  I have not ran a lot of marathons in my racing career in fact I think I've done more Ironman triathlons (15) than marathons over the years.  I have been very busy but thought I'd like to challenge myself and run a marathon.  St. George was a good choice because I've heard it's a great course and really well organized and it's close to Vegas. A lot of the course is downhill which was good for me because I am usually a good downhill runner. I ran the Revel Mt. Charleston race several years ago and had one of my best races and qualified for Boston. My finishing time there was 3hrs 39 min. I wanted to run some long downhills training for this race but I didn't have the opportunity to do that more than once when I ran 16 miles down from Red Rock (mostly downhill).  My second to last long week of training went great and I felt good. I knew I wouldn't be fast but felt

When I speak to clients about their diet I always ask what percentages of  protein, fat and carbohydrates they're eating.  Most don't have a clue they just tell me they eat good.  I will ask them to start tracking their food intake and while most do not want to do this, the ones that do find it very eye opening.  People often think they are eating healthy but when you break it down to them it becomes clear that they are not eating good enough to achieve their goals.  Sure maybe they are eating better than the average person but a lot of times that won't get you to where you want to be.   I do all the shopping in our house and although I'm vegan I do have to buy meat for my boyfriend and my dogs.  My boyfriend likes turkey burgers and my dogs get raw ground beef and raw ground turkey.  I always look for lean choices for both of those.  The label on the ground turkey and turkey burgers I was buying said 93% lean and 7% fat.  Which at a glance you would think that is very

Most people have a fitness watch of some sort that will track their activity and workouts.  Many jobs today require a lot of sitting at not much activity.  Having an activity tracker will give you daily goals to get moving.  Maybe it will inspire you to take a walk on your lunch break because even a short walk is something. If you have a goal (number of steps) each day then you can make small modifications to your daily habits to achieve these goals.  This adds up and if you make positive changes like this overtime you will see a difference.   If you start tracking your steps and immediately set a goal of 10,000 steps you may find it is hard to achieve.  That is usually equal to about 5-6 miles a day.  If you have a desk job and are currently not very active then possibly start with 5,000.  If you don't have a fitness watch but have a smart phone then you can still track your activity with your phone.  You just need to make sure you carry it with you at all times.  You can use apps

Let's face it when you're dedicated to your training you want to have things that you really like!  From gadgets to clothing and shoes we all have our favorite things.  Here are some products I  really like to use when I train and some things I use in between training.   Wahoo Kicker Bike and Element Computer I do a lot of my riding inside so I decided to invest in a good bike that I could adjust to fit me like my tri bike does. I have had the settings professionally measured by the person who fit my tri bike and I have the same saddle and peddles on the kicker bike and on my tri bike.  I also put tri bars on the kicker bike so I can ride indoors on this bike and have a set up very close to my tri bike.  I get all my metrics on the bike and by using the element computer I can download just about any route outdoors that I want to ride.  You could also choose to use any of the apps like Zwift.   Goodr Sunglasses I purchases a pair of these glasses because I saw they had a version

 It's that time of year when people are very busy with work, family, shopping, entertaining, attending parties and probably getting less sleep.  It's also that time of year when people get sick more frequently because it's cold outside and people are indoors more this time of year.  Here are some things you can do to stay healthy during the holiday season.   Eat healthy foods that are high in antioxidants like fruits and vegetables.  Use these foods to get much needed antioxidants to boost your immune system.   Limit your intake of alcoholic beverages.  Drinking alcoholic beverages can decrease your immune system and make you more susceptible to getting sick.  If you do have a few drinks it might be a good idea to take an extra b-complex vitamin and drink a little more water than you normally would. You could also try a product called Emergen-C that contains minerals and vitamin C.  Take immune boosting supplements.  I like to take Source Naturals Wellness Formula this time