Category: Blogs

How to Take Minutes Off Your Triathlon Transition Time Instantly

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Race Specific, Run

It’s all about the socks

Socks or no socks???
I don’t recommend wearing socks for short course racing or training (sprints and Olympic distance triathlons) because it slows you down.

Not wearing socks can  save you tons of time in your transitions.  Putting dry socks on wet feet while balancing on one leg is no easy task, especially when your heart rate is at 160 or higher. So, why not learn to race with no socks. It’s simple really!

Powder and JellyMy trick to not wearing socks is using baby powder and some kind of non- petroleum type lubricant.

Put your run shoes on and walk/run for just five minutes.

Notice areas on your feet where you feel any chaffing or rubbing around your heel or anywhere on your foot.  That is the place you want to take your foot out of your shoe and add a little dollop of lubricant.  Then continue running for just five more minutes, then put socks on if you are running longer.

Watch How to Video Here

Next time you go running do the same as above but run for 10 minutes. Continue adding five minutes duration onto each run with no socks.  The baby powder helps absorb moisture in your shoe from the swim and or sweat. Using a squirt of baby powder in each shoe with a little lube on all the rubbing points will help you stay blister free and allow for a super quick transition. Of course make sure you are using Riplaces to make your transition even faster. Riplaces are elastic, no tie laces that allow you to slip your running shoe on like a slipper, no tying needed. Use fullcircle to receive a 10% discount on a great pair of laces.

Happy Transitioning!

Remember to comment if you liked this blog and or have any questions you’d like me to answer regarding triathlon training, racing or heath and wellness.

Wishing you Well,
Coach Erinne

 

Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming!

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Erinne, Race Specific

Erinne Guthrie

Pinch me, I must be dreaming – It’s official! I’ve started my training for the ITU (International Triathlon Union) World Championships for Sprint Draft Legal Race in Cozumel Mexico, September 15, 2016

This level of competition is all new for me, as I’ve never competed at Worlds’ or even Nationals’ (even though I’ve qualified many times). For whatever reason, it wasn’t important to me to travel and compete at this level until now. I’m not sure why at the age of 45, but I am choosing to go for it! This race is totally different as it is a draft legal race on the bike, which makes it a completely different type of triathlon than the way I have been competing for 20 years. I’ve only done 1 draft legal race which is when I qualified by the skin of my teeth. I started in first out of the water and ended up 9th across the finish line. With almost zero training going into that race, my friends talked me into competing because all I had to do was get top 10 in my age group. I said I think I can do that even though it was only a few weeks after my retinal re-attachment surgery (read that story here).

So, this is real, I am going to Cozumel in a few weeks (EEK!) and I have been training pretty seriously. I have also never talked about my own personal racing as I am always focused on helping my athletes. So this is new for me as well. I decided I’m going to share my journey with whoever is interested in reading along. So, if that’s you, I will be sharing a personal blog every week or so about how my training is going and all the ups and downs of managing life, my daughter, the training and all the stuff in between!

In my first post about my journey, I wanted to specifically thank my sponsors without whom this journey would be much more challenging. Triathlon may seem like an individual sport but that is far from the truth on many levels.

So, thanks to Body Health and my favorite product of theirs called  Perfect Amino, which I cannot live without my daily 10- they completely allow me to recover and hang on to the muscle that I seem to burn so easily when training hard. I’ll explain more about how I use them in a nutrition post coming up soon (use our promo code for a 10% discount when purchasing if you want to try them, FULLCIRCLE).

Thanks to TEAM Footworks, where I have been shopping for running shoes and accessories for the last 20 years. If they don’t have it they will get it. I love Laurie, JP, Ralph and the team there, they are knowledgeable and very helpful (mention Full Circle for the best pricing).

Thanks to my amazing client Audrey Ross who I admire greatly as a successful business woman,  entrepreneur, athlete and friend who owns Miami Real Estate for supporting me on this journey.

Thanks to All 4 Cycling  and all the team at their 2 stores. I needed a new road bike to be able to compete at this race and I am ecstatic about the TREK I got. Simply put, it is the Rolls Royce of bikes for me; Look for a great post about the details of this bike coming up (mention Full Circle for the best pricing when shopping at All 4 Cycling).

Thanks to Riplaces my favorite elastic laces on the market today! I use them in my running shoes and Vibrams (use our promo code Fullcircle for 10% off your purchases).

I am filled with gratitude by all the people and companies supporting me on this journey; MOM, thanks for the plane ticket.  Marc Pro – I use this thing everyday (use our promo code FULLCIRCLE for 5% off).  doTerra Essential Oils a large part of my daily health and wellness routine.

Also, a big thanks to my Full Circle Team, my coaches, In Balance Physical Therapy, The Stretching Company, Partners in Health and the multitude of fellow athletes, friends, family and colleagues wishing me well and supporting me along the way.

On top of it all, I feel super excited for this to be happening during an Olympic year and with the USA women’s triathlon team having a chance to win GOLD at the Olympics; It’s both inspiring and motivating.

Thanks for reading and wishing you well,

Erinne

Coach Erinne Guthrie Bio

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Erinne

Erinne out of water Circle

Coaching Philosophy
I have been coaching triathletes and working in the fitness industry for nearly 20 years and with each athlete, I work with I learn how individual every person is.  There is no textbook method to coaching if you look at each person as an individual. They each have different strengths and different weaknesses.  What works for one may or may not work for another.  My goal when I work with an athlete is to improve their limiters and strengthen their skills to help them achieve their athletic goals.

Each athlete I work with adds to my knowledge base of coaching, a give and take relationship is naturally developed.  I work with the most basic beginner to the most advanced athletes taking them to their next level of fitness and triathlon goals.  I cover every detail that needs attention.  I require each athlete to give as much feedback as possible throughout their journey.  I have seen hundreds of athletes achieve their goals successfully and I look forward to working with you too.  I advocate a balanced approach to training that helps endurance athletes reach optimal performance through the perfect combination of training, recovery and nutrition. 

My Personal Story:

I’m a mom, I’m a coach, I’m an athlete and I’ve spent time on both sides of the race as well as, the business and academic side of the industry.  This gives me a pretty unique perspective on training and all the possibilities.

The feeling I got from swimming through the waves in the crystal clear blue ocean, riding my bike with the wind in my hair and running hard using my body to cross the finish line was so exhilarating.  I fell in love.  I was hooked.  In 1999, I started training and joining every race I could find, this led me to become one of Miami’s first USA Triathlon certified coaches. I quit my corporate fitness job to start my own triathlon coaching company determined to coach others to success.  Triathlon is more difficult than other sports; there are three disciplines to manage and I wanted to learn for myself and my athletes how to do it best.

Burn out:

Wake up at 4:30am to train clients and myself, hand off the baby to the sitter; work on the computer; take a nap if I was lucky; get the baby; take care of the family and in bed by 10:30pm. It was a lot but worth it; I was a triathlete!! (being facetious).  That’s when it all came crashing down-it happened, my body just quit.  I was all set to win my favorite race and instead of waking up to compete and win I woke up with a fever of 105 degrees and sicker than I had ever been.  I missed the race and battled sickness for the next 18 months.  I was depressed. I could not do what I loved or even have the energy to play with my daughter or live life normally.

The doctors said I had Adrenal Fatigue- a disease of over stressing the body where your adrenal glands, which release cortisol (the fight or flight hormone) are out of sync with your body’s needs and don’t produce enough cortisol in the morning, but produce too much near the end of the day. They wanted to put me on prescription drugs but I knew there had to be a better way; so I started educating myself on natural healing methods and hired a holistic lifestyle coach.  Everything I learned was simple, easy to implement and I regained the energy and vitality I had lost. It was simple and it worked!

I spent the next 6 years studying to become a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Level III. These holistic guidelines are incorporated into the Full Circle Coaching method to promote performance and balance.

It is with great passion that I share my knowledge and expertise with each of my athletes.  Together we develop a balance between working in and working out, avoiding injury and burn out.

Are you ready to join Full Circle Coaching and receive the best and most complete triathlon coaching package there is? I look forward to working with you and motivating you to achieve your “TRIATH-LIFE” dreams!

 

Can I help you with Climbing on the Bike?

by fullcircle, posted in Bike, Blogs

Can I help you with Climbing on the Bike?

Climbing hills on the bike is definitely a skill that many cyclists don’t have if they live in a flat area and only ride flat rides. Here are my top tips on how to climb better with more efficiency and use different methods of climbing to get stronger. Safety is always first!

Mental Attitude: Your mental attitude toward the climb can affect everything. The best thing is not be in a hurry to get to the top unless you are in epic fitness and have been doing hill climbs for 4-6 weeks at all out intensity. I always say, let the hill or climb come to you. Tackle it one pedal stroke at a time, stay relaxed, and use even intensity/power and breathing. If you have a full day of climbing ahead of you, you need to pace yourself and give your legs a chance to survive the day, get stronger and not have to get off and walk!

Seated vs. Standing Climbs – you want to stay seated as much as possible because your heart rate stays in control and you can keep your momentum going. There are times however when you just have to stand up to get your cadence or RPMS going a little faster, or your butt hurts, or you are almost to the top and just need to eek it out. When you stand up, stay relaxed and use your upper body and the bike to help you rock back and forth and apply pressure with your whole body on the down stroke and then again on the next pedal stroke. Doing standing repeats is a great way to just get stronger climbing on the bike as well.

Too Steep– when it’s just too steep there is a last resort to getting off and walking up the hill. Try slaloming up. What that means is don’t take a straight path up. Ride on a diagonal to the incline for 5-6 feet and then switch back in the other direction to help reduce the steepness and allow you to get your pedals turning over. This works like a charm on the biggest climb we have in Florida, Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Gearing – It can be very helpful to have a bigger cassette or set of chain rings on the back wheel if you are going to be climbing a lot (a 12/28). Also knowing when to shift is important. If you do not have a ton of fitness on climbs and want to survive a long weekend of training, I suggest riding mostly in the small ring up front and keeping your cadence 90 or above, even on the climbs if you can. Climbing in the big ring up front definitely fatigues the legs faster but you definitely want to use the big ring on your descents to power over the top and take advantage of your downhill and recovery.

Downhill – riding down- hill is fun and can provide a much needed break from the uphill climbing. Please ride downhill with caution as your bike can get a little wobbly with speed. Hold you line, communicate with other cyclists you are passing. If you want to descend fast, go in the big ring pedal hard over the top and coast with feet parallel, and tuck at the waist and squeeze the top tube with your knees. IF you are being more cautious, stay upright in the saddle to catch more wind, keep one foot down with weight on it as if standing on it, keep your butt in the saddle and feather the brakes until you get to the bottom. If you get good at descending you can take advantage of getting momentum to climb the entire next hill

without much effort. AS you get toward the bottom of the hill, grab harder gears and start pedaling. As is starts to get harder, drop 1 gear at a time and keep pedaling with a high cadence and see how far your momentum can carry you.

Position in the saddle – Be sure when you are climbing to push back in the saddle and keep your heels down. This is so you can access all the muscled in your legs.

Drafting – getting close behind another rider who is of similar ability to you up a climb can actually help you pace yourself and stay consistent in your pedal stroke all the way up. But, if they are going to fast and you can’t keep up you can blow up. SO decide early if you are sticking with the pull up the hill or ask the rider in front to slow down just a bit to keep you together. Definitely worth the draft if you can keep it.

Eating and Drinking – plan these for the flats or the gentle downhills or breaks in the ride. Being able to ride with 1 hand to drink is very important so you don’t get dehydrated during the ride.

Regrouping after a climb– it’s always polite to wait for the cyclists that got dropped on the climb and pedaling slowly at the end of a series of hills can allow the group to get back together and finish strong together. Nothing worse than seeing the group you are riding with just 200 yards ahead and not being able to bridge the gap. Always look back for dropped athletes and get the group back together.

Curious about Full Circle’s Triathlon Transformation program?
You too can become the triathlete you always dreamed of! Use this link to schedule your FREE Triathlon Breakthrough Session Now! WWW.SCHEDULEYOU.IN/5ZISVAU

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. Creator of Triathlon Transformation. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997. She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom, Mermaid and much much more.

Aquabike – What is it and Why you should try it

by fullcircle, posted in Bike, Blogs, Race Specific, Swim

What’s up Triathletes?
Multirace is now offering an AQUABIKE at many of their races in 2016. This is an added bonus for those athletes who are unable to run. An Aquabike is the swim/bike portion of the triathlon. So, you can choose to do the sprint, international or Half Ironman distance race minus the run. This can be a great way to stay involved in the sport of triathlon even if you have an injury and are unable to run, or simply just don’t like to run. I will recommend an Aquabike to athletes who want to learn how to push hard in the swim and bike and not have to worry about suffering on the run because your race is over after the bike. This is a great way to stay competitive and learn to pace yourself at a higher intensities just simply because you don’t have to worry about running off the bike. When triathlete’s have an injury that doesn’t allow them to run, racing an Aquabike can keep your swim and bike competitive and ready for when your injury heals and you can race a complete triathlon again.

I spent a whole year unable to run 10 years ago and I was able to stay in shape and still keep racing by competing in Aquabikes. Not many races offer them in Florida so this is a great added feature to racing with Multirace this year. If you are competitive, there is good news too! MiamiMan is the Long Course Aquabike Qualifier for World Championships this year. So if you do well you can qualify for World Championships in the Aquabike and travel to compete on an international level to represent the United States!

If this is something you are interested in sign up today.
Any questions please reach out to me for professional triathlon coaching.

 

Erinne Guthrie is a USAT Level 2 Coach since 1999 and Owner of Full Circle Coaching. Our triathlon programs offer the most effective way for triathletes to break through the obstacles holding them back from their ultimate triathlon performance. Erinne has over 20 years of experience motivating triathletes across hundreds of finish lines worldwide using techniques that focus on ways to increase their individual strength, speed and conditioning using holistic methods, expert coaching and accountability to out perform the competition. Email Info@fullcirclecoaching.co.

Peppermint Essential Oil

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Doterra Essential Oils

Peppermint-Oil-Uses

This is one of my favorite oils that I use daily. I keep a bottle in my bag and by my computer. I put 2-3 drops in hands and take deep breaths and rub around my neck to help regain focus. I also do this before a workout and add it to my coffee as an alternative to cinnamon as well as refreshing in my water.

Here is Dr. Axe explaining more about it. I am ordering oils this Friday! Let me know if you want anything.

See video at this LINK!

Recipe: doTERRA Energy Bites

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Doterra Essential Oils, Nutrition, Recipes

Recipe: doTERRA Energy Bites

 

Try Doterra Power Bites!

Use the links below as a guide for what I use;

1 cup Organic Raw almond Butter

1 cup Organic Dried Cranberries

2 TBSP Organic Chia Seeds

1 cup  Organic Coconut finely shredded, divided

½ cup Organic Raw Honey

1-2  TBSP Great Lakes Collagen

½ TSP  Sea Salt

3 Drops of doTerra Orange Essential Oils

http://doterrablog.com/diy-power-bites/

Health Highlights:

What better choice for a mid-day snack than a delicious power bite! The energizing ingredients in this recipe are tasty and full of health promoting benefits.

·         Coconut- This fruit contains protein which can help the body rebuild cells and fortify body tissues and muscles. It also contains good amounts of fiber that can aid in a healthy digestive system.[1]

·         Dried Cranberries- This berry can help to regulate blood sugar levels in individuals with type two diabetes. Dried Cranberries also have antioxidants that can help decrease risks of inflammation, heart disease, and cancer.[2]

·         Raw Honey-This delicious food has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties like hydrogen peroxide and antiseptic. Certain types of raw honey have been used to fight even the toughest of bacterial infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).[3]

·         Chia Seeds- These seeds are packed with both soluble and insoluble fibers which can promote a healthy digestive system.[4]

Directions:

1.  Place all ingredients into mixer except for half cup shredded coconut.

– See more at: http://doterrablog.com/diy-power-bites/#sthash.YtV1Lvhn.dpuf

Annual Training Plan – What is it and why is it important?

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Mindset

An annual training plan is a tool we use with all our athletes to provide a road map for the individual athlete’s training season.  It doesn’t have to start in January and it can be 3, 6, 8, 12 or 24 months long depending on your short term and long term goals.

It is a visible overview of your year or 2 years and it is not set in stone. It is meant to be flexible as unexpected events occur like family or work trips, illness etc.

The ATP is the next step after we have created our DUMB goals – (read about that HERE!)

Having the goal is one thing but creating the methods and routines to be able to achieve that goal is imperative. You can’t just write out the goal and hope it happens!  Especially in a physical sport like triathlon.  We must take action.

SO to set up your ATP  we pick A, B and C races to fill in with dates on the calendar.

A race = the BIG KAHUNA! the race you want to be in your best shape ever, the dream race where everything comes together and you have a PR- Personal Record. You can pick 1-3 A races but I don’t recommend more than that because its hard to peak more than 3 times in a year. Experienced athletes can peak more often.  Sometimes athletes race just to cross the finish line and others have a goal time or to get on the podium, qualify for a national or world championships.

Depending on the length of the race and your current fitness level you need a certain amount of time to achieve the physical fitness to achieve the goal of an A race.

Sprint and 5k, 10k races obviously require less time to get fit, and Ironman more time.

B races = 3-8 races you still want to do well in. These are races you can test your progress and see what you need to work on.

C races = unlimited- but be careful, you can over do it. These are training races or single sport events like super sprint triathlons, Swim Miami, 40K time trials, 5k’s and 10k’s running races. Entering 5k ,10k and 13.1mi running races is a great way to test your fitness and perform fresh (without running off the bike) leading up to your goal triathlon. Similarly, swim events and bike time trials or century rides can all improve fitness while still getting you used to the feeling of race day competition without the pressure to have your BEST performance. So peppering several B and C training events is really important. It helps you pinpoint where you need to work based on the performance during the B or C race. Sometimes I will have athletes even do a race with no tapering or recovery leading up to the race just to over reach and see how the body responds. Other times it will be a true test race doing everything we will do on the A race day and see where the fitness level is and if the athlete is ready or needs more skill, strength, experience etc for the BIG A RACE.

DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE…….

Be sure to also include regular testing in Swim, Bike and Run to see where you are starting from and then every 6-8 weeks to see if the training you are doing is working well and you are in fact improving. Learn about the tests I use in the webinar link at the bottom. To measure is to know, if you are not assessing you are guessing!- video and performance tests, lab work or field testing all need to be included in the ATP.

Include strength training – prevent injury build strength, move in different directions other than just forward.

Next:

Periodize the ATP – as you get closer to the race the more similar your training will be to race day, but this is where the art and science of coaching come in.  There are lots of different ways to do this. These are terms that I use, but others do exist.Base

Build
Speed
Peak

Taper/ Rejuvinate
Race

The coach you work with will create a system they believe works best, but a general rule is to have some sort of base before you go out and do speed work so you don’t get injured, but after that there has been tons of research that a linear or stair step progression is not the only way to achieve success.  I don’t subscribe to volume in the speed phase and base and build phases will include speed and anaerobic capacity.  I also wait to build volume until much later in the season to keep athletes strong, fast and injury free as opposed to burnt out from too much volume, overuse and over training.

Daily, weekly, monthly volume needs to be added into the plan based on available training hours, age and experience and how fast you recover; everyone is different and you need to discover for yourself what works best. Most of my athletes have families and jobs that are a priority.

Alternating stress and recovery to avoid over training, the higher your goals the more this is important.  The more experienced you are, the more you can train at race specific intensity, the less experienced, the more we focus on skill and strength.

We also want to include real life commitments and by having them on the ATP ahead of time we can maintain fitness despite travel and family events. By planning easy recovery days around these everyone stays happy.

Along the same line, scheduling regular rest days or weeks, months and even years- can help prevent injury and sickness rather than just training and training until the body forces you to rest by getting sick.

Here are 3 great resources to learn  more about creating an  ATP. I use www.TrainingPeaks.com with all my athletes and here is a video on how to create one: HERE

And this is Joe Friel himself talking about the ways he creates and ATP: HERE.

And lastly, this link ATP Webinar is my Full Circle Coaching Webinar on how to create an ATP. Enjoy!

Wishing you well!

Coach Erinne

 

Go Be D.U.M.B Today!

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Mindset

What an amazing year 2015 was. I like to take this time during the holidays when I actually have some down time and sleep in, spend quality time with my family and also make some alone time to really think about all that happened this year. The good the bad and the ugly.

I, like many others had struggles. Some couldn’t train or race due to injury, some had great comeback years after being injured or sick, some had other priorities that led them away from themselves. Others had great successes and personal records in sport as well as business or family. I hope each one of you takes the time over the next few days to do a recap and review of the last year.

Did you achieve the goals you set out to accomplish? Did you miss on a few? Maybe look at the hardships you had to face to see if there was some lesson to be learned on how you handled it or what was brought to light because of that struggle. Or, really acknowledge all the hard work that went into your big successes and how you can repeat them this coming year and make even bigger and better wins for next year.

I have a constant quest for learning new things to see where I can improve my relationships, health, life, coaching, and business so I am always listening and reading up about new ways to improve and pass on good stuff I learn to my athletes. During this time of year everyone is talking about resolutions and setting goals for the New Year. I have written about and used S.M.A.R.T. goals in the past and I’m sure most of you are familiar with them:

I know many of you have heard of SMART Goals:
SPECIFIC
MEASURABLE
ATTAINABLE
RELEVANT
TIME-BOUND

This year, I would love to you to set some D.U.M.B goals! I love these as a precursor to the S.M.A.R.T. goals and I learned about them from Brendan Bruchard check out his video about them at this LINK. 

D.U.M.B Goals
D – Dream/Destiny Driven goals – I love this because it is asking you to think way outside the box and truly get excited about something BIG for yourself. Something that may not seem attainable at first thought but that you really want to achieve but are maybe too scared to even fathom. Brendan talks about the vision of landing on the moon or curing a disease. How did those people ever achieve those amazing things without dreaming about them 1st!

My business coach Sean Greely always says if your dream doesn’t scare you, it isn’t big enough. And my mentor Paul CHEK says your dream has to be bigger than your distraction. So, start with the dream and the how will come later! Think about something that would make your life magical and make you feel alive. Have fun with it.

U. Uplifting – Choose something that you want to GAIN not lose. Instead of I want to lose weight, how about I want to be a sexy beast and have an amazingly successful body that is strong and capable to carry me across the finish line of a triathlon, Ironman, 5k, ultra- endurance, feel alive, you fill in the blank __________________.

M –Method friendly – A goal that you can create a practice around. A map that makes it happen more easily. If the goal is to feel vibrant and passionate about your life, to get there you need a practice, map or method that will lead you to your success. For example, 3x a week you are going to fuel your body with healthy breakfast and then go to the gym or walk/run/swim/cycle for 20 minutes. Use a set of practices that you repeat on how you wake up, cook your food, meet with an accountability partner or whatever you choose. This is where I highly recommend that Miracle Morning book again, it has a blueprint for the method of your morning practice. The repetition of the practice makes it easier every time you do it. I also incorporate this in creating more successful athletes by implementing the dynamic warm up before every workout to help prevent injury, or having the athletes perform the skill driven drills for swim, bike and run to improve their performances at any level.

B- Behavior driven with triggers set up to help you be successful – Every time I do this than that. For example, every time my alarm goes off in the morning I say my mantra and start my morning routine, which includes all the SAVERS (silence, affirmations, visualizations, exercise, reading and scribing) from the Miracle Morning Book. And sets me up for success. Using these behavioral driven triggers helps motivate you to stay the course and go for the big DREAM!

The Scariest Thing That’s Ever Happened to Me

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Erinne, Mindset

By Coach Erinne Guthrie

I have had my share of life’s ups and downs Divorced parents Failed marriage Successful birth of my daughter Death of a soul mate My fathers suicide But none of those scared me the way waking up one morning seeing only black in my left eye did.

I don’t have good eye sight to begin with (-8.50!) but wearing contacts has always allowed me to see 20/20 and do everything I ever wanted to do.
But waking up seeing black was so scary for me because it really threatened the active lifestyle I live and love.

Interestingly enough the week before this happened I had been introduced to a book called Miracle Morning and had started adding helpful elements recommended in the book to my normal 20 min meditation at 4:20 am every morning. The 6 elements of the Miracle Morning are silence, affirmation, visualization exercise, reading and scribing or journaling.

Although I was already implementing 3 out of 6, it is amazing how implementing all 6 helped me get through this challenging period in my life. Even though I did allow for exactly 2, 24 hour pity parties,
that was really all I needed.

I got through retinal re-attachment surgery with a scleral buckle around my left eye with the best doc in the world Dr. Smiddy. Luckily, I have an awesome team and coaches and no sessions were canceled. My team of coaches stepped up I kept training as soon as doc gave me the green light. And although my vision is not back to 100%, I raced in my 1st ever draft legal sprint triathlon to try and qualify for world championships.

I was very tempted to skip the race for fear the warped vision in my left eye would cause issues in my performance. Would I get hit in the eye during the swim? Would I be able to draft safely? Did I Lose too much fitness in the weeks I had to take off leading up to the race?  I didn’t want to talk about it to too many people for disgrace of total failure, so with the encouragement of my FC TEAM and a few athletes and friends as well as the implementation of the 6 elements of the miracle morning book I decided to race. So even if I came in last I knew for me it was about being there and participating and how I decided to respond to my situation instead of react to it!

Guess what?
I qualified! This has always been a dream of mine and now I am headed to CanCun, Mexico with 2 other Full Circle athletes to race against the world! Wow, who would have thought this was possible given my situation. Although I did not have a great race by any definition, with 5 girls pacing me on the run, I did get 9th place and the top 10 in each age group qualified. It was a tough but really fun race and the draft legal element of the bike made it completely different. I highly recommend a draft legal race if you can enter one. Here are the race results and more info on the USAT Website.

So if you are still reading because this is a kind of long post The big things I wanted to share is that It’s not what happens to you in your life it’s how you respond. I can easily decide that after this happened I needed to quit triathlon and racing because it’s just too risky but what I realize is that is just not an option for me. I love swim bike run too much to say goodbye!

Also having a daily practice like the Miracle morning was definitely introduced to me just in time to help me keep my eye ( no pun intended) on the big picture of my life which is:

To motivate triathletes to break through the obstacles holding them back from their ultimate triathlon performance. On that note, please watch out how you can be involved in having your Ultimate Triathlon performance after attending our 6th Annual Ultimate Triathlon Camp in Clermont FLorida. Registration is opening up this week! And

Look for upcoming details in the next week!

Thanks for reading!
Namaste