Thursday, April 18, 2019

Caveman Triathlon - Sprint Race 4.7.19


Yesterday I competed in my first race of 2019 at the Caveman Triathlon in the sprint distance.  Boy has it been a long and crazy journey to get to the starting line of this race.  I would love to say I was well prepared and was going to kill it on the course but that is far from the truth for this race.  I had signed up for this race in November after completing in the Best of the Best race so I was on cloud nine and ready for 2019 to be an epic year.  That was the case until I had to go and get an eye produce done which I thought was going to be a rather quick recovery to find out that it took me 4 weeks for my eye to actually heal and to be able to train, that really set me back and only put me 3 1/2 weeks to my race day.  I had to start my training at a much slower pace as my eye was still healing, I had to be careful being outside with the wind and all the stuff blooming to make sure it didn’t get in my eyes along with running and then wearing goggles in the pool.  I did what I could to get myself ready, I even went back on Whole30 for an extra round to get my nutrition spot on to get me through my training.

Once I hit my 4 weeks of healing with my eye I started to really put into my training, even doing double workouts to try and get me ready as much as possible.  I had my heart and eyes set on getting onto that podium like I do for every race so that meant doing everything I could to get myself ready.  My last week of training also know as taper week was a little rough for me as I wasn’t feeling as confident as I normally did in previous weeks leading up to the race but I kept telling myself that I made it this far and yes could I complete a sprint triathlon even if I had to crawl to the finish line.  After picking up my bag of goodies I started to get excited but also felt the nerves and the anxiety of my lack of training which got in my head a little.  Saturday rolled around and even though we had a busy weekend with soccer games it was a nice distraction for me to not think about my race, that afternoon I laid all my stuff out and go my bike and Tri bag ready for Sunday.  The weather at this point was looking iffy however the race was going to happy rain or shine that’s how they roll out here in Texas as you can never predict how the weather is going to be here.  I was prepared for a cool and wet race which is nothing new to me, I ended up packing extra things just in case I needed them.  I would rather be over prepared then under prepared especially for events like these.  I ended up going to bed around 10pm once everything was set up by the door so it was ready for me in the morning.

My alarm went off around 4:50am, hit snooze once then woke up by 5am to get myself ready.  I got myself ready and headed out the door around 5:35am to head to the Flower Mound Community Center which is where the race was being held.  I figured arriving early about when transition opened I would be good on parking...well that was not the case at all.  Me and 600 other people thought of the same thing and all showed up around the same time with no where to park but in the neighborhoods close by.  Once I found a spot I realized how far I really was and had to walk what felt like a mile with my bike and all my gear it was the perfect warm up before the race...hahaha.  I got to transition started my set up before my stomach went crazy and I had to use the bathroom I’m sure part of it was nerves but with also doing Whole30 I had to change up this races nutrition which was rather difficult for me.  After racing for the past few years I know what works and what doesn’t for me so having to change it up really threw me off.  For breakfast I usually do a banana and water first thing on the way and then a GU right before I get into the water well I couldn’t do that as GU has sugar which I’m not allowed to have.  So on the way to the race I had raw almonds and water and saved my banana for about 30 minutes before the race as my carbs and sugar.

We all gathered in the gym for a pre-race meeting to go over the weather conditions of the roads and start times for the swim, since we were doing an indoor swim with over 600 participants we had to go in small groups, I happen to be in the third group which was not bad considering a friend of my was in one of the last groups and almost started an hour after I did.  The pool area was crazy but nothing new, once I got into the pool it was like swimming for your life, there were so many people fast, slow and just complete craziness but I wanted to just get it done and get out.  I ended up passing a few people in the pool which is hilarious as I’m not a fast swimmer at all.  I got through my swim of 275 yards (10 laps of the pool) in 5:59 minutes not good but not as bad as it could have been.  Got into transition to get my bike stuff on and for some odd reason I was very slow and everything was wet.  My shoes, socks, sunglasses, bike, bib...everything so that was fun trying to get my long sleeve shirt on while being wet and it being wet.  My first T1 took me almost 3 minutes which was not good at all but I hooped on my bike with my family screaming and cheering for me and away I went for a 9.3 mile ride, it was slick and wet for sure but it was a pretty flat with some small hills so it was nice to ride.  I averaged almost 17 mph which is great for me again considering I didn’t have as much time to train as I wanted. My nutrition was off at this point I had a Lara Bar in my sack and took a few pieces to eat but it was so hard to chew it and breath with all the humidity that I didn’t even up finishing it before I was into my run which I thought could hurt me.  I made it through two loops in just over 30 minutes, got back to T2 again couldn’t get all my stuff off as it was wet and stuck to me.  I finally got out of T2 and headed out for my run, I went out strong in the beginning but then I hit the hills, I started running down a few knowing on the way back I would need to tackle these to get me to the finish.  I ran for the first 1.5 miles and then at the turn around point I started to slow down and had to walk a few times I just didn’t have it in me and I didn’t know why.  I kept hearing my husband in my head to keep pushing and walking wouldn’t get me on the podium, I did my best and keep pushing and then I turned the corner to see my first hill and walked again...now I was getting frustrated at myself as I never walked in any race..this was my lack of training right here and I knew it.  I didn’t give up I at this point did a run/walk to get myself through and within the last 1/2 mile I could hear the announcer at the finish line so I knew I was close, it was time to push myself even though all I wanted to do was rest and catch my breath but there was no time for that.  Once I turned the last corner I heard Rich screaming my name and I knew how close I was, that dang last up hill was a killer on both my knee and my legs.  I made it to the finish line even with a smile but I wasn’t sure if it was good enough to get on the podium.  Rich and my girls were there at the finish line screaming my name and cheering me on.  It was another great moment as I know what it took to get me here so I was proud to finish.

After I finished we stuck around to cheering on two of my friends who were competing for the first time so it was fun to watch them pass by and encourage them on their journey as they both completed the race.  I know this sport is hard but it’s amazing to see others join and push themselves to greatness.

Then it was results time, I waited in a long line of people to get to the computers to look up my time and overall placement.  Once I pulled up my name and saw 4th place I just wanted to fall to the ground and cry.  This was my first race that I didn’t actually get on the podium and I was devastated to say the least.  I knew I had a shot but I also knew it would have been hard with my lack of training too so seeing my time and knowing I was 2 minutes shy of that spot was very hard considering my T1 and T2 times were not very good.  After looking at their times the run is what killed me, they just had faster times on the run which is how they won and I know that from all my previous races.  I had a great bike split but my run killed me, lesson learned for me and this is giving me the fire to train harder and get faster on my bike and run for sure.  Overall it was an awesome event and I’m glad I finally did it as I have been wanting to do it since I moved to Flower Mound.  I finished the race with  a smile on my face and in 4th place that is a big victory for me and I’m very happy with how everything turned out but next time I will be on that podium as one of the top 3 finishers for sure.

The good news is the next day I got an email from the racing company that I did qualify for the Best of the Best Triathlon race in November which I killed last year so that is going to be on my list again to step up my game and slay it again this year.  Next race is coming up in a few weeks an Olympic Triathlon on May 5th at Lake Ray Roberts and then a 15K scheduled on May 11th for a Women’s Run in Keller so it’s time to continue my training and ramp it up for the next few weeks to get me ready and prepared for this upcoming races.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support me, for all the text messages, phone calls and Facebook messages, I’m very grateful for all the out pour and positive thoughts.  I’m one lucky girl to have an amazing family who supports me and comes to cheer me on during these long events.


Whole30 Round 4 - Results are in...




Whole30 Round 4 is completed!  I didn’t plan on doing another round for a while but after having visitors and wanting to get myself prepared for my up coming races I thought it was a good time to do another around to get me back on track and in the zone for training.  You would think with each round completed it would get easier but that is not the case.  I do have to say that the sugar detox was not bad at all this time around, which means I was not eating as bad as I thought I was before this round.  The best part is that I did step up my training and workouts which really helped with the cleansing and made this round to me much easier.  I did struggle with water intake again as I always do but I’m trying to get better at doing this even now after Whole30 as it is very important. 

Now that my round is done, today was weigh in, measurements and after pictures.  I was all excited to step on the scale to see how much weight I lost but I’m sad to say the number on the scale went up...what the heck.  Why did I gain 0.02 lbs, I was seeing a difference in my body and noticed my clothes were fitting differently again.  Then I was reminded by my husband that with all of my workouts I was gaining all my muscle back and the truth is that muscle weighs more than fat so I’m going with that.  I do feel my legs, back, arms, chest and shoulder’s are getting stronger so that does make sense but still frustrating to not see that number on the scale that I was looking for.  The great news is that I did my measurements right after and was pleasantly surprised at how many inches I lost overall.  I was very happy to see I lost sort of all over but my biggest loss was my hips which I’m down 2 1/2 inches that is the most I think out of all the rounds I have done.  Based on all my numbers I lost 5 1/2 inches total for this round which makes up for the non-weight loss on the scale.  Again this program is not just focused on the scale it’s so much more than that and I always seem to learn something new about myself each round.  Next I did my after pictures and then created a collage to see the difference in my before and after shots, the funny part is I didn’t notice too much of a difference like I thought I would but it’s much hard to lose the weight the smaller I get and I know that.  I see a little bit when looking at the pictures but was hoping to see a lot.  Again this is all a process which I’m constantly tweaking with every round.  After seeing my measurements I’m very happy with my results and that reminds me that it was worth it once again.  Yes did I miss my coconut palm sugar, honey, maple syrup, Paleo desserts, afternoon Paleo latte’s and eating out..why yes of course I did but it’s only 30 day’s.  Here are my before and after pictures and my measurements from this round.


I am happy to be done with another round and felt really good with my nutrition and even ramped up my workouts and training which really helped with my inches lost.  Signing up for races and training for Triathlons has helped me tremendously and I think that’s why this round seemed so much easier for me.  I still had my cravings for things but knowing I couldn’t have them was okay as I had a end goal in mind.  Now that I’m done with this round I will be transitioning right back into Paleo, I will not be reintroducing any non Paleo foods back into my diet as I love how I’m feeling.  I will bring back my old favorites like honey, maple syrup and coconut palm sugar as I do miss some old recipes and baking that have these staples in them but I won’t be eating gluten, dairy or legumes.  I do want to have some flexibility for when we go out and not feel so restricted so I will keep those “off the wall food items” for those times we are dining out.  This will be my last round for a while, I may do a few Whole30 day’s here and there if I go off course but I won’t be doing another around until the end of summer or early fall to get me back and ready for fall racing.  

Thank you to my amazing Facebook group “My Journey Worth Sharing” for all the support and encouragement along this journey.  If anyone has any questions please leave me a comment on my blog or you can join my Facebook group.  

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Whole30 Round 4 Days 29 and 30 and Back to Paleo Meal Plan - 4.15.19 to 4.21.19



Monday
Meal 1: Banana Bowl
Meal 2: Leftovers or Spinach Artichoke Turkey Meatballs
Meal 3: Taco and Cauliflower Rice Bowl
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Banana/Post workout - Berry Green Smoothie

Tuesday - LAST AND FINAL DAY OF WHOLE30
Meal 1: N’Oatmeal
Meal 2: Leftovers or Spinach Artichoke Turkey Meatballs
Meal 3: Chicken Fried Rice with Roasted Broccoli
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Banana/Post workout - Sunrise Smoothie

Wednesday
Meal 1: Breakfast Sausage with Eggs
Meal 2: Leftovers or Spinach Artichoke Turkey Meatballs
Meal 3: Crispy Chicken Tenders with Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Banana/Post workout - Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Thursday
Meal 1: Breakfast Sausage with Eggs
Meal 2: Leftovers or Spinach Artichoke Turkey Meatballs
Meal 3: Pineapple Pulled Chicken with Butter Head Lettuce
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Apple/Post workout - Banana Bread Mug Cake

Friday
Meal 1: Coconut Porridge
Meal 2: Leftovers or Spinach Artichoke Turkey Meatballs
Meal 3: Easy Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Apple/Post workout - Nut-Butter Cup Smoothie

Saturday
Meal 1: Coconut Porridge
Meal 2: Leftovers from the week or going out for lunch
Meal 3: Going out to Celebrate my birthday from last week with the family
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Apple/Post workout - Tropical Green Smoothie

Sunday - HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
Meal 1: Coconut Porridge
Meal 2: Leftovers from the week
Meal 3: Going out for Easter Dinner
Snacks: Pre-workout - Almond Butter and Banana/Post workout - Almond Butter Bars

Well I’m in the final 2 days of this rounds Whole30 journey, days 29 and 30 are left and then I will be done with my round on Tuesday which means I will be transitioning back to Paleo as of Wednesday.  I’m excited to finally finish another round and ready to move forward with a Paleo lifestyle again especially with my training increasing.  This week I decided to use one of my new cookbooks that I got for my birthday called Paleo in 28, it has 4 weeks of meal plans, 5 Ingredients and 130 recipes, I cant’t wait to try a whole bunch of new yummy recipes.  The best part is that most of them are still Whole30 so I will still feel right at home with cooking.  I did add more snacks and smoothies this week due to my training schedule but I’m okay with that.  Hope everyone has a happy and healthy week.

Monday, April 8, 2019

Whole30 Round 4 Week 4 - Meal Plan 4.8.19 to 4.14.19

Monday
Meal 1: Southwestern Breakfast with Eggs and Avocado 
Meal 2: Leftovers from the weekend or Buffalo Chicken Dip with Veggies
Meal 3: Turkey Taco’s on Butter head lettuce with guacamole and salsa

Tuesday
Meal 1: Southwestern Breakfast with Eggs and Avocado
Meal 2: Leftovers or Buffalo Chicken Dip with Veggies
Meal 3: Classic Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
Snacks: Almond Butter and Banana (pre-workout) and Island Breeze (post-workout

Wednesday
Meal 1: Southwestern Breakfast with Eggs and Avocado
Meal 2: Leftovers or Buffalo Chicken Dip with Veggies
Meal 3: Ginger Chicken and Broccoli with Cauliflower Rice and White Rice for the kids
Snacks: Almond Butter and Apple (pre-workout) and Banana Choco-malt (post-workout)

Thursday
Meal 1: Southwestern Breakfast with Eggs and Avocado
Meal 2: Leftovers or Buffalo Chicken Dip with Veggies
Meal 3: Italian Chicken and Fennel
Snacks: Almond Butter and Apple (pre-workout) and “Green” Smoothie (post-workout)

Friday
Meal 1: Chocolate Chili...yes for breakfast!
Meal 2: Leftovers or Buffalo Chicken Dip with Veggies
Meal 3: Turkey Stroganoff
Snacks: Almond Butter and Banana (pre-workout) and Island Breeze (post-workout)

Saturday
Meal 1: Chocolate Chili
Meal 2: Leftovers or going out after soccer game
Meal 3: Italian Sausage Soup in the Crockpot
Snack: Almond Butter with Apple (pre-workout) and Banana Chocolate-malt (post-workout)

Sunday
Meal 1: Chocolate Chili
Meal 2: Leftovers from the week 
Meal 3: Going out to celebrate my birthday, the girls soccer and getting through first round of state testing at school. 

Last and final week of this round for me, but I do have two more day’s after this to finish my full 30 days.  This round has really gone by so fast and I can’t wait to see how my measurements came out and to see if I lost any weight.  Whatever the outcome is I had a good round and I just need to be happy with that.  My food and nutrition have been good and I have loved trying new recipes.  I won’t lie I am ready to get back to my Paleo lifestyle and focus on my upcoming training and races.  I love to stay focus on my nutrition but I also want to refocus myself on my training as I have lots of work to do to get me ready.  All of this weeks recipes are from my Whole30 cookbooks, Against All Grains Cookbook and Well Fed  Paleo Cookbook.  Hope everyone has a happy and healthy week ahead!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Whole30 Round 4 Week 3 - Meal Plan 4.1.19 to 4.7.19



Monday
Meal 1: Leftover dinner or Fried Eggs with Ghee and Turkey Bacon with Avocado
Meal 2: Leftover Sweet and Sour Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
Meal 3: Eggplant Casserole with Turkey Meat

Tuesday
Meal 1: Easy Apple Cinnamon Paleo Hot Cereal
Meal 2: Guacamole Chicken Salad with leftover Eggplant Casserole
Meal 3: Crockpot Italian Sloppy Joes with Regular Baked Potato

Wednesday
Meal 1: Easy Apple Cinnamon Paleo Hot Cereal
Meal 2: Guacamole Chicken Salad with leftover Italian Sloppy Joes
Meal 3: Instant pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

Thursday
Meal 1: Easy Apple Cinnamon Paleo Hot Cereal
Meal 2: Guacamole Chicken Salad with leftover
Meal 3: Slow Cooker Lemon Herb Chicken with Broccoli or Butternut Squash Rice

Friday
Meal 1: Easy Apple Cinnamon Paleo Hot Cereal
Meal 2: Dinner leftovers or Guacamole Chicken Salad on top of mixed greens
Meal 3: One-Skillet Teriyaki Meatballs with Cauliflower Rice and Steamed Veggies

Saturday
Meal 1: Down-Home Brussels Sprouts Hash
Meal 2: Dinner leftovers or Guacamole Chicken Salad on top of mixed greens
Meal 3: Grilled Chicken (Marinated with W30 Mustard BBQ Sauce) with baked sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli (Pre-race day dinner)

Sunday
Meal 1: Banana and almond butter with water pre-race meal
Meal 2: Leftovers or going out for a celebration lunch
Meal 3: Leftovers or going out for a celebration dinner

Here are a list of the websites I used for the following recipes listed above.
https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/apple-cinnamon-paleo-hot-cereal-whole30/
https://paleogrubs.com/brussels-sprout-hash-recipe
https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/guacamole-chicken-salad-paleo-keto/
https://paleogrubs.com/eggplant-beef-casserole-recipe
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-italian-sloppy-joe/
https://realsimplegood.com/instant-pot-spaghetti-and-meatballs/
https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/teriyaki-meatballs-paleo-whole30/

I can’t believe how fast this round of Whole30 is going, it’s pretty crazy.  I tried to make this weeks meal plan easy as it was going to be another very busy week for all of us.  I decided to go though my printed cookbooks to pull out these recipes so the nice part is that I have tried most of them so it was a rather easy week to throw this menu together.  Sorry it’s late posting on my blog, I have fallen behind a bit with some of my updates.  Hope y’all enjoy any or all of them.  If you happen to cook any of the recipes please drop a note on my blog and let me know which on you tried and how it came out.  Have a very happy and healthy rest of your week!!!

WEEK 3 IS UNDERWAY AND STAYING STRONG!!!

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Whole30 Round 4 Week 2 - Meal Plan 3.25.19 to 3.31.19


Monday
Meal 1: Thai Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Skillet
Meal 2: Leftovers from the weekend
Meal 3: Chicken Waldorf Salad on mixed greens

Tuesday
Meal 1: Thai Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Skillet
Meal 2: Roasted Beet and Bacon Salad
Meal 3: Fajita Turkey Skillet

Wednesday
Meal 1: Thai Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Skillet
Meal 2: Roasted Beet and Bacon Salad
Meal 3: Chicken and Rice Casserole

Thursday
Meal 1: Thai Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Skillet
Meal 2: Roasted Beet and Bacon Salad
Meal 3: Chicken Curry and Cauliflower Rice

Friday
Meal 1: Autum Breakfast Skillet
Meal 2: Roasted Beet and Bacon Salad
Meal 3: Crockpot White Chicken Chili

Saturday:
Meal 1: Autum Breakfast Skillet
Meal 2: Leftovers from the week either lunches or dinners
Meal 3: Cuben Turkey with Peppers and Onions

Sunday
Meal 1: Leftovers from the week
Meal 2: Leftovers from the week
Meal 3: BLT Salad or leftovers from the week

All these recipes are from my Whole30 cookbooks or from my newest cookbook called “Against All Grains”.  I wanted to make things easier on myself so I just looked up easy recipes.  I’m excited as this is a good mix of some new recipes whiles others I have made before and have really enjoyed them.  Hope everyone has a happy and healthy week.

Weekly Food Menu - 1.15.24 to 1.21.24 (Clean Eating)

Healthy Eating Weekly Food Menu Monday: 1/15/24 Meal 1: Chocolate Chip Banana Baked Oatmeal Recipe Link:  https://cleanfoodcrush.com/chocola...