Eat It Up - FEATURED WRITER JENNICA HIRRLINGER

I once bonked so hard after a 50 mile ride that even with a glucose recovery drink in my hand, I was unable to consume it. Honestly, I could hear my brain screaming commands, but I could not get my arm to transport the fluids to my mouth, even though I knew it would save me. It was like my body was so heavy with dehydration and energy loss that it weighed down the synapses, and all processes were delayed. Man, was I out of it. I never wanted to feel that way again.

For awhile, like 6 months, I let this experience convince me that I was not cut out for rides over 30 miles or so. I figured that some people were cyclists, and that I was someone who just had to tolerate the bike long enough to get me from the swim to the run. I was ok with that . . . no one looks good in bike shorts anyway, right?

But then, I learned something that changed it all for me. I learned how to fuel. Don't get me wrong—I'm not one of those girls who'll eat celery for lunch or only eat one cookie. I know how to eat! But I hadn't realized that, for me, calories are the key. I had to figure out what my individual caloric needs were. It turns out, my body needs to have consumed somewhere around four hundred calories before I even climb onto the saddle, and then I need to keep eating and sipping. Usually, about 230 calories per hour of riding and sometimes, that includes leftover homemade pizza, chocolate chip pancakes, or whatever else floats my banana boat that day. I just need to be consistent about pounding the fuel and the fluids if I want to ride farther.

Meanwhile, I'm still not ready to call myself a cyclist, but I'm getting there. I completed my first 1/2 ironman triathlon last summer and thoroughly enjoyed my 56 miles of road biking bliss, enough so, that I’m considering a century. But I'm positive that, even more than decent training, good fueling is the vehicle that will help you cross that finish line.

Eat up, girls. And ride hard!

Jennica

Esteem - How do you rate?

Think for a brief moment about how you feel about life.  Are you happy and positive?  Now, think for a moment about how you feel about yourself.  Do you love what you see in the early morning mirror?  Well, if you are struggling a little bit with some feel good power you're not alone.

When the alarm buzzed at 5:15am this morning, and told me to get out of bed I thought to myself for a moment about how troubling it was just rolling out of bed.  My joints were a little achy as I stretched toward the sky.  I zipped to the bathroom to turn on the light and just about scared myself to death when I saw the image in the mirror.  Baggy eyes, new face lines, and yeah I felt like this...although I was not wearing my pocka dot bikini. 

As I headed out the door to spin class I struggled with the fact that I was not fast enough, strong enough, good enough to be teaching this class.  Why is it that we feel this way?  We are powerful women!  We are truly amazing!  So what in the world gets in our heads to make us think that we are powerless?  Well, I challenge all of you to start thinking in a higher light.  Wheather it's in your daily training or just living life.  Be proud of who you are.  Be greatful for those lines and achy joints.  So ask yourself....how do you rate? 

Resolutions

So how many of you have made your new year's resolution and kept them?  Wow, impressive!  I was reading the other day and came across this great article by Marie Tomas on Helium.com.  It was so great that I thought I would share it with you.  She makes you look at a resolution in a whole new light. 

ARTICLE:
The latest statistics are in: 30% of all resolutions are broken within the first week. The rest of the lot, fold like cheap cameras in less than a month. Not very encouraging. Problem is, we don't really intend keeping them. We only say we are, to impress impressionable people. Like the preposterous notion that we'll actually eliminate all fats from our diet. HAH! Who are we kidding? Give up cheese cake and pizza? Forever? That's like giving up blinking. It can't be done.

They say that only simple resolutions work. Therefore, I've come up with a list of easy resolutions. They are as follows:
FOR WOMEN:

• Give up exercising. FOREVER! All it does it make you sweat like a hog and work up an enormous appetite.
• Burn toast. Rye, wheat, oat bran, raisin.
• Lose your keys, remote and cell phone, on fairly regular basis.
• Stick your fingernail through your pantie hose. The expensive kind. Curse your brains out afterwards.
• Gain ten pounds all in your hips, tummy and thighs.
• Let hair grow on legs and underarms.
•  Eat 100% pure fat ice cream. All flavors.
• Over water or under water plants. Make them turn a pathetic shade of yellow.
• Sprout a few more gray hairs. (This requires little or no effort)
• Develop two new wrinkles. (this generally goes with getting gray)
• Lie about your age. Subtract at least eight years.

So there you have it.  Pretty easy to make your resolution live throughout the whole year.  Hope you are one of the 30%!  Way to go.

LOOKING FOR STORIES

Hey girls, we are looking for a few good women to do a write ups for the blog. We want to hear your stories. We want to learn about you and your passions. So, please don't hesitate! Hope to hear from you soon.