Can You Do It?

Fear comes in many forms. It could be an interview for a better job, a move to a new city or a big, scary athletic endeavor. Regardless, fear, and the act of facing it, keeps us alive.

My two fears of choice at the moment are the Men's Health Urbanathlon I am doing with Nike Field Reporter and the Great Floridian, an Ironman-distance triathlon. Both events push me to conquer obstacles and distances I've never attempted before.

Making it across concrete balance beams without falling off, getting over giant tire obstacles, crawling under nets, leaping over Marine hurdles?

Swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles... and then finishing it off with a full marathon? Ummmm.

These things have kept me up at night. I've had negative self-talk telling myself that there are so many others who can swim/bike/run faster and better than me. I'm unprepared. What workouts I need to do, for how long and how often have stressed me out until I came to a specific realization in the middle of a long run.

I train. I'm dedicated. I believe in myself. So what's the hold up?

It all boiled down to one question: At the end of the day, do I believe I can do this?

Even if my training is less than it can be, even if I miss a run or forget to cover an obstacle, do I believe I have what it takes to finish and conquer the fear?

After long, hard thinking I realized, yes- I know I will finish both events and do my absolute best from start to finish.

Realizing this truth gave me the confidence I needed to relax and embrace my training. I'm going on crazy long runs and bike rides and planning a few parkour classes because it is the territory that comes with such events, but even if I don't do it perfectly, and even if I come in last on race day, deep down I know I will conquer.

What fears are you facing? Have you put complete trust in your ability to conquer them?

Oh yeah, the Ironman!

I know, I know. All Over Yoga has kind of taken over my time and this blog. But I have a little thing called an Ironman coming up in 2.5 months and I don’t have a training plan. Umm, yeah. Oh, and there’s a 50-mile race five weeks after that!

So, I’m going to get my butt down from down dog and talk about my other training, too!

I’ve been maintaining my training with long runs on the weekend and several swims and bike rides throughout the week. Honestly I’ve been so focused on yoga that I’ve let my triathlon workouts slide. Ooops! You can see all my workouts here.

To fuel my workouts I’ve been eating at great restaurants with even better friends. I love plenty of non-vegan restaurants, but it’s hard to go to a “regular” restaurant when we have so many great vegetarian places here in Orlando! Ryan and I recently visited Dandelion Commnitea Cafe for their iced tea and Native Mama Mix- a budget-friendly mix of quinoa with toppings and dressing of your choice.

I chose corn, broccoli and garbanzo beans as my toppings and green goddess as my dressing. This would be so easy to make at home!

Of course I’ve been eating plenty of Ethos Vegan Kitchen!

Ethos is by far the most indulgent vegan food in Orlando. It’s the best place to take the biggest vegan skeptics! I enjoyed some shortbread cookies… and my old favorite, the “What’s the Dilly Philly"?” sandwich! Can’t beat the best ;)

I’ll leave you with a shot of the beautiful Lake Eola. The 1-mile loop around the lake and I have a date in the morning. Ten miles is on the agenda!

Do you have any tips for an Ironman training plan? :)

Just Didn’t Tri

Saturday was a lazy day in preparation for today’s triathlon. I spent the morning with a bag of kettle corn browsing the Winter Park farmer’s market and people watching on a bench on Park Ave.

In the afternoon I attended a three hour heart opening workshop at Guruv Yoga. It was a mixture of practice, learning, trying and laughing. I was able to get into many poses that I never thought possible (thanks to their direction and encouragement). What I took from that workshop will definitely encourage me in all future practices.

After yoga my mom, brother Harrison and sister Kendall came to visit me! All my family lives over two hours away and this was the first time they came to se where I love. It was great! First stop was Dechoes where my mom and I sorted through some crazy things to find a few gems.

I have two favorite vegan restaurants in Orlando: Infusion Tea and Ethos Vegan Kitchen. They had already tried Infusion Tea, so yesterday it was time for Ethos- the greasiest, yummiest vegan food around!

This was my family’s first time at an all-vegan restaurant like this, so it was really fun ordering our food. I made sure Mom got my favorite, the “What’s the Dilly, Philly?” and the kids ordered pizza with sausage, pepperoni and tomatoes as their toppings. We also got a salad to share around the table.

Everything was incredible! The family couldn’t believe there were no animal products in any of the dishes. The pizza was creamy, crust was perfect and sausage so flavorful. I had most of my sandwich… plus some salad and pizza :)

I love eating at regular restaurants as a vegan, but sometimes it is fun to show others all the possibilities within a vegan diet. I’m glad they loved everything so much :)

Of course I had to fit in some restaurant yoga! My mom said I need to stop posting photos of my butt in the air so I did a simple standing pose. ;)

And crow! Can’t resist.

Dinner got even more interesting when Kendall lost a tooth! I hope the tooth fairy was good to you, Kendall!

It was an awesome evening with my family :) After dinner I grabbed some Jeremiah’s with a new friend. Jeremiah himself was actually there serving the guests. It felt like I was meeting a celebrity! He tried to open me up to new flavors but I stuck with my favorite: a small mango/coconut.

Just Didn’t Tri

This morning I was registered to compete in the Moss Park Olympic Triathlon. I always dream about oversleeping and missing a race, and this morning (even with two alarms) the nightmare came true. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. when the race started at 7:00 a.m. and is 45 minutes away.

I’ve been preparing for this and visualizing myself competing (and doing very well) for about two months now. I studied the course and who else was competing. I ate a ton for extra energy. All my bags and bike were packed. Heck- I even paid $90 for it!

I can’t explain how disappointed I felt when waking up and realizing what had happened. I cursed (and I never curse). Then I moped and went through every emotion out there. Then I realized that even in the toughest moments happiness is a choice. Moping will do nothing for the tri situation except make it worse.

I am going to use this experience as the one time I oversleep and miss a race. Honestly, I’m glad it was a shorter-distance tri and not an Ironman or marathon!

Today I plan on completing all three legs on my own. The day goes on!

Have you ever overslept and missed a race? Do you have any trouble sleeping before a race?

Playing Hookie

Last night I decided to blow my to-do list off, throw the girls in the car and head over to my friend Janna’s house. I haven’t seen Janna in a looooong time and I couldn’t wait any longer!

The girls had a great time playing with their boyfriend Charlie while Janna made me “vean food.” We munched on yummy strawberries, bananas, hummus, pita and pepper while sipping on homemade sweet tea.

We may have sat on her couch and watched a DVR-ed marathon of 16 and Pregnant. Yes, we are just that cool! This morning I was excited to try the Ezekiel sprouted whole grain English muffins. Ryan suggested I try them when Whole Foods was sold out of my standard ww muffins. They’re good! They are definitely very hearty. I had mine with some Smart Balance, jam and a side of strawberries.

Lunch today was improvised from an almost-bare kitchen! I’m leaving for New Jersey early Friday morning, so I’ve been rationing my produce and letting certain perishables run dry.

I love my spring roll wrappers because they stay fresh for so long. I topped five with a smear of lentil-based hummus, spinach, bean sprouts, tomatoes and a few hunks of avocado. They were delicious!

 

Trying to Tri

I can’t end this post without telling you about my at-home-tri workout I did yesterday morning. With a little bit of pre-planning, here’s what went down:

- 3 mi. bike to the gym

- 500 m. swim

- 7 mi. bike home

-4 mi. run

It was so much fun! I was happy when my legs were fresh for my run instead of tired from the other sports. Not only was this workout fun, but it gave me confidence for my half Ironman coming up next month!

 

What You Eat Why

When I started out to eat healthier (or I guess better), I was already not eating red meat. I had stop eating red meat as a dare in high school during my freshmen year. I won, however it made me nausea every time I smelled red meat or tried to eat it. 

Now lets come to present day. About a year ago I stumbled upon a magazine called Oxygen that preached about the CLEAN EATING DIET...you basically are staying away from process foods. I worked as hard as I could to follow this way of life and literally lost 51lb.s of fat all while gaining muscle. I believe that this has truly helped me and will continue to live this way.

-Shevanne

Expo-ing It

I am in St. Petersburg, Fl. for today and tomorrow to work the Bondi Band booth at the St. Anthony's Triathlon expo. I used to live very close to this area so it is nice to come back and visit. I made the 2 hour plus drive this morning.
I started the morning with an extra big breakfast since I wasn't sure what/when I'd be able to eat during the expo. I had a ww English muffin with smart balance and an extra large cherry/banana/spinach smoothie with flax and brown rice protein powder.
The expo was outdoors right near the Peir. I was thrilled to get so much fresh air, but that excitement faded a bit when I realized I'd be spending allllll day in the humid heat. It was hot today!!
Can you see the booths in the photo above?

I had a banana right before the expo began (around 11:30 a.m.).
My fridge is running low, so packing food for this trip was a matter of grabbing anything and everything I might possibly eat! There was no planning ;)
Part of my "lunch" was a spinach salad with ginger dressing in a bag. Hey, it worked!
I had an apple and another banana for snacks throughout the expo.
The expo was slower today, so I really had time to chat with the triathletes that visited the booth. Man, triathletes are intense! The tri expo was so much different from a running expo.

- triathletes have more expensive toys (enough for three sports!)
- most of the triathletes were visibly in really good shape
- the triathletes seemed more serious about their training

Running races seemed to bring in people of all levels and with that comes a more relaxed, anyone-can-do-this atmosphere.

What are your thoughts on the difference between triathlons and running races?

It was cool to be surrounded by these triathletes as I'm getting ready for my first tri (the Florida Half Ironman) May 16th. I did hear a woman was kicked in the head during the swim leg and as a result drowned in this race a few years ago. They could have not told me that part.
I ended up purchasing a Chocolate Chip Clif Bar later in the afternoon. This was a sweet treat that filled me up!
I walked around downtown for a few minutes after the expo. St. Pete is such an interesting city!
After a long day in the sun I about jumped for joy when I saw the plush king-sized bed in my hotel room. Ahhh, I love hotels. I watched some Glee on hulu, blogged and am about to head to bed. I'm waking up super early to get my long run in before expo day 2!
I made dinner right when I got into the room. I improvised with 3/4 c. oats and a banana I had brought along. I used the cup from this morning and a microwave in the hallway to make my oats. The end result was delicious.
I couldn't help but post a few Operation Beautiful notes :)


What You Eat Why

Today's guest piece is from Ashley of (never home) maker!

When I was a baby, I'd spit out my Gerber meat. By the time I entered middle school, I was tossing that stack of circular turkey cuts in my Lunchables and the chicken salad my mom lovingly placed in my sandwiches. I never liked the taste or texture of the stuff, and I honestly have no idea why. I do remember thinking it's gross to eat dead animals. So, at age 12, I became a vegetarian, though I didn't really know much about what that word meant. And though my parents weren't surprised, they weren't exactly happy or supportive either.

It was at this point when I first realized that diet -- my own diet, in particular -- can be such a huge issue. I remember my mom actually CRYING about dinners. When we'd go out to eat, the servers would look at me strangely and ask questions like, "So you can eat chicken, right?" In my small hometown, the word "vegetarian" just wasn't part of the vocabulary. My mom didn't want to make me an entirely different meal from the rest of the family. To her, it was simple: I am her child. I should just eat what she and my dad provide for me. Not only that, she also had no idea that just eating veggies can provide enough nutrition -- and choosing to drastically change what I consume at such an important age (yeah, puberty) was not only silly, in her words, but also dangerous.

Regardless, night after night, I'd skip the meat. I'd scream. I'd refuse. I'd chew and spit out when no one was looking.

Fast forward almost fifteen years . . . to my diet now. I've been through various forms of vegetarianism (eating fish and not). I was vegan for two steady years in college. And now I consider myself a work-week vegan, though I try to stay away from labels because I'd really just prefer to eat what makes me feel healthiest. What works best for my body. For example, when I was totally vegan, I was only just getting into running. When I increased my long run distances beyond 10 miles, I found I was hungry and tired. I know there are vegan ways to eat to respond to this feeling, but adding some dairy and an occasional egg really helped me. So, I changed.

But I bet you're wondering "why work-week vegan?" Really, it just helps me make sure I'm eating my fruits and veggies. Otherwise, I tend to eat a ton of bread and cheese. I also enjoy crafting meals and utilizing alternatives so my foods are low in fact, full of nutrients, and easy on my stomach.

I could go on about food for days, but the overall theme is this: I keep my personal definition of diet fluid -- it changes as the demands in my life change. And here's the thing. For me, it's never been about eating a certain way for reasons outside of myself. After all, I am my body. My body is me. And despite if I agree or disagree with the moral, ethical, and environmental implications of my diet, I ultimately eat what makes me feel alive, full, and energized. And I respect the choices of my friends and family for this reason, too. Of course, a healthy, balanced diet is best -- in whatever form that may be -- but, I don't worry about what others think.

Be sure to check out Ashley's blog- love!