I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but I do believe that many things come in three’s. After 106F weather in Coeur d’Alene in June 2021, then Ironman California being completely canceled due to the atmospheric river and cyclone bomb that hit on October 24, 2021, then the stomach flu the day before Ironman Arizona that left me with IV fluids and zofran to stop the vomiting in November 2021, I was CERTAIN that everything would be fine at the Ironman World Championship in Utah. Plus my training partner who I was absolutely certain was bringing the bad weather to all our races wasn’t going to be in Utah (but I'm not superstitious 😜).

Bad news.

Either things come in fours…or I’m the bearer of the bad weather. Technically, the Ironman World Championship weather wasn’t as bad a Cd’A or California, but it certainly didn’t make things easy layered on top of arguably one of the hardest courses on the Ironman circuit. According to my Garmin, the heat peaked at 97F on the run, partnered with 33 mph wind gusts that made the descents on the bike very tense. Most Ironman races have a 5-7% DNF (“did not finish”) rate, and this race ended with a 21.9% DNF rate. By the time I hit the run course, it was complete carnage out there.

There are SO MANY stories being posted online of a challenging day filled with successes, mistakes, high highs and low lows. My day certainly was no exception to all of that. So here is a little bit of my day (and the lead up). What went right. What I’d love a “do-over” on. And of course, my nutrition plan which I feel like after 10 full Ironmans, I’m finally starting to get figured out. :)

Nothing just comes together or falls apart on race day without a TON of preparation (or lack there of). I was one of those athletes who was registered for Ironman St. George before it turned into a World Championship, so I had plenty of time to prepare. Despite some unusually high stress at Sean’s work which (despite his best efforts) affected some of my training (more missed workouts than I would have liked), I feel like I had a pretty good build into this race. Living in a very hilly portion of northern California with lots of cold water mountain lakes, I had plenty of long swims, rides and runs OUTSIDE before race day. There were plenty of opportunities to test the body in nature where I could practice my pacing and eating plan in the wild.

I also got my natural dose of COVID in early January, so I got that out of the way well before the big bulk of training happened. I quarantined for 10 days but was able to maintain L2 workouts on the KICKR and treadmill. My symptoms only last 24 hours and I honestly felt back to 100% after 10 days.

The main two elements we didn’t have in Nor Cal leading into the event were heat and wind, which I knew could be a factor on race day. I'm so thankful for the info in the Endure ID LDT 103 course, which gave me a solid plan for heat acclimation training in the weeks leading up. There were many hours spent in the sauna each week (in 20-30 minute segments) which I do believe was incredibly helpful on race day. The wind…well…that was all mental preparation. Mostly my professor brain spent lots of time explaining to my chimp brain how much better the day would be with wind because it would help us feel cooler. I actually think all that self talk worked. My chimp is usually a pretty big @ss hole about wind and he was pretty quiet about it all on race day. I’ll take that as a huge win.

I arrived in Utah on Tuesday (the race was Saturday). I spent 2 nights in the transit van which was GLORIOUS. I sleep like a baby in there. I spent those 4 days prior to the race checking out all the portions of the course I hadn’t yet seen (I had raced the 70.3 in May 2021 and the 70.3 World Championship in September 2021 on portions of the same course) which was SUPER helpful in calming the nerves. I did a few open water swims, which to me, felt great. The water temperature was between 58-60F which was much warmer than what I’d been swimming in at home. Those pre-race COLD open water swims in combo with daily COOOOOOOOLD showers had me fully acclimated to the temps at Sand Hollow Reservoir.

Logistics for this event were what they were. All athletes were assigned a shuttle bus time to take them from the T2/finish-line area up to the lake. My shuttle time was assigned MUCH MUCH earlier than I would’ve normally planned to arrive in T1, but that timing was out of my hands on race day. So wake up time was earlier than I would’ve liked (3:15am) for a 7:47am start time.

My original plan was to start the race fastest (coffee only) because that is how I start all my long training sessions. However, I don’t wake up, drink coffee, then sit around for 4 1/2 hours before I actual start my training at home either. With that longer than anticipated wait before my swim start, I packed a gluten free almond butter and jam sandwich in my morning clothes bag just in case I started to get hungry while waiting for my swim start. As it were, I ate 1/2 of it about 90 minutes before my start. Additionally, about 1 hour before my swim start, I sipped on 2 servings of SFuels Primed with 1 serving of SFuels Race formula.

Transition set up was smooth, and the line up for swim start was polite and calm (one great thing about age group starts and being a woman…I hear we’re nicer than men😉). The girls all chatted about estimated swim times and adjusted where they were in corral accordingly.

I had set my mind to take it easy in the swim. My motto: ‘BURN NO MATCHES.’ I knew the day was going to be SOOOOOOO long and it just didn’t make sense to me to waste any energy in the swim when I feel like it’s my strongest discipline. So I didn’t. I didn’t go out too hard. I kept my breathing every 3rd, 4th or 5th stroke depending on the sun, athletes around me and the waves. And I honestly enjoyed every minute of it. I found really great feet to draft off of for a good 2/3 of the swim and I don’t really remember thinking anything while I was out there. The professor brain and the chimp brain might’ve still been asleep and the computer brain was running on autopilot. It was EXACTLY how I wanted it to be.

My goal time was 1:12 and I came out of the water in 1:12.39 (23rd fastest time in my age group).

Perfect.

AND…I managed to pee twice during the swim (plus a thousand times while standing in the swim corral waiting for my swim start), so I knew I was well hydrated headed into the main event for the day.

Just like my motto for the swim, I decided not to rush either transition. I certainly wasn’t trying to win any awards and I just wanted to have a really good day. And honestly, that bike course scared me so I wasn’t in a hurry to get out there. LOL. I had a wonderful volunteer in T1 who was calm and just helped when I asked her for it. So far…the race was off to a great start.

I remember being pretty scared when I did my first Ironman back in 2014. But I don’t remember being this scare. For real. This bike course scared me more than any other course I’ve ever done. I had ridden plenty of hills in the lead up (two 112+ mile rides with 8k+ elevation all in the second 1/2 of the ride…very similar to this course), so I knew I would finish it. However, I knew timing would be tight if I had any problems (mechanical, physical OR mental) and I also just couldn’t anticipate how I would feel after finishing that beast for the marathon afterward.

For the first time ever in a race, I memorized the final time cut off and actually changed my Garmin to show me the time of day so I could be mindful just in case something went wrong. After making that change to my Garmin days before the event, the time cut offs and marathon left my mind for the ride. In all 6 hours, 51 minutes and 48 seconds of that bike ride, I was solely focused on all the things that were in my control. Mainly, my hydration and nutrition.

I knew with the heat and wind that I wouldn’t be able to drink to thirst (I knew it wouldn’t be enough). So before the day got started, I wrote all the aid stations in sharpie on my aero bottle so I would ensure at least 1 bottle of pure water down before each aid station. I have run out of water before in really hot conditions and it’s AWFUL. Ever since then, I notice I conserve water in fear of running out. By writing the aid stations on my bottle, I could more comfortably drink down my bottle knowing exactly when I’d be able to get more water. I also didn’t want to carry any more weight than I actually needed to, so I only carried 1 bottle on my down tube (which was full of 3 servings of SFuels race formula) and left 1 bottle cage open for extra bottles of water ONLY when I needed them. I stored an extra bottle only twice during the ride: one time right before bike special needs because I knew I’d want cold water to fill by nutrition bottle and one time before the final climb up snow canyon because it was HOT and I thought I might want to cool myself off with it at some point.

In the lead up to this event, after seeing the profile of this course, I also made a few changes to my TT bike. I swapped out both my rear cassette and my front crank (I used a Zipp 808 with an 11-34 on the rear and a Zipp 404 with a 53-39 on the front). My goal was to SPIN up as many of those climbs as possible. And that set up was PERFECT for me!!! I am SOOOOOOOO glad I swapped things out to make those climbs a little easier to manage. I never once remember feeling like I was maxed out during the ride. Tired of sitting on my saddle, yes. But I was able conserve matches for the marathon for sure.

My goals for the ride were to:

1. be conservative
2. spin as much as I could (my cadence goal was above 85 rpm)
3. keep my power within 20% of my estimated average ride power (I was estimating 140w so I aimed to keep my power between 110-170w for most of the ride
4. EAT and DRINK often!
5. Stay calm. Don’t let the chimp freak out. Which really meant stay cool, eat and drink often.
6. Finish around 7 hours.

My final time was 6:51.48 and 33rd fastest bike in my age group. And the best part was I got off the bike and didn’t feel trashed at all.

I NAILED my nutrition plan on the bike. My plan was 60g of carbohydrate each hour eaten in 20g CHO sections every 20 minutes. Everything I had on my bike was already portioned into 20g CHO sections, so I just grabbed what sounded good and ate. The ONLY time I skipped an eating window was down the descent from Veyo (around mile 85) because the winds were ferocious (33mph gusts) and blowing across the highway. So for me, it just wasn’t worth taking my hands off the bars at that time.

I carried with me: 3 servings (concentrated) of SFuels Race formula in my down tube bike bottle + Spring Gels (both Long Haul and SpeedNut flavors) + Skratch Chews (5 chews = 18g CHO) + my homemade endurance bites (rice cereal, vegan marshmallows, macadamia nuts, raisins and butter). I also managed to get down an estimated 180 ounce of water (9x most of a 25 ounce bottle of pure water) which ends up being about 26 ounces per hour. I also took Salt Stick Capsule every 30 minutes during the entire ride (that’s 2,800 mg of sodium over the bike course, or 400 mg per hour). I managed to pee 2x on the bike (once at mile 42 and again at mile 84), so I knew I was hydrating as best I could (my goal is to pee 2x on the bike).

BIKE SPECIAL NEEDS (at mile 55): I chose to stop here to refill everything (I also had 1/2 GF almond butter and jam sandwich, but didn’t feel like I needed it, so I left it).

It was here that I saw my good friend, Marla from Whistler, and they had lost her bike special needs bag. I had never thought about that and would have not had a back up plan if that had happened to me. A lesson learned (from her) that I plan to consider for at future races. My first thought was that I’d have to take what’s available at the aid stations, but at this race, they also ran out of Maurtin gels at the end of the bike course, so that plan would’ve failed to. I guess if this ever happens to me in the future, I’d take a few extra minutes at special needs and ask other athletes if they have any fuel they aren’t planning to use. I certainly had quite a few extra gels in my bag that I left. I'm open to other suggestions if you have any. :)

Easy peasy. I took my time and made sure I didn’t forget anything. I was in and out in 5:48. Certainly not my fastest transition, but again, I wasn’t willing to burn a match in that tent trying to find 1-2 minutes.

This part was tough. I left T2 feeling pretty good and within the first mile, started to feel like crap. It was like I stepped into a hot box and couldn’t get myself cooled off. My gut immediately started to feel unsettled and my legs got really heavy really fast. The most frustrating part was that I felt like my professor brain and chimp brain IMMEDIATELY were under negotiation. I expected this to happen at some point, but not right out of the gate.

“Just make it to the next aid station, then you can walk the aid station from beginning to end.”

“This hill is too steep, you’re going to burn too many matches if you try to run it. You should walk this hill.”

“Okay, but as soon you hit that street sign, you need to start running again.” At the street sign. “Let’s just go one more street sign, then start running.”

“You need to get some calories in. No, don’t eat anything, you’ll feel worse if you do.”

UGHHHHHH. This chatter is certainly the hardest part about the run leg of a triathlon for me. I’d LOVE to think that someday I’d be able to get my computer brain running on autopilot for the marathon, but I just don’t think that’s the nature of how this sport works. At the end of an Ironman, I think EVERYONE is in full negotiations with all sorts of things. Eat. No don’t eat, you might get sick. Walk. No don’t walk, you might not start running again. Pick up the pace. No don’t pick up the pace, you might bonk.

I actually managed to hold a fairly good pace (for me) for the first 6 miles (09:53, 09:54, 09:57, 09:40, 09:23 and 09:31). Miles 8 and 9 were definitely slower (11:11 and 10:36), then I managed to pick it back up slightly for mile 9 (09:58). Then I couldn’t get any food down anymore. Mile 10 included the biggest climb of the race (12:25) which I walked the entire climb, and miles 11 through 14 were back in town with tons of energy and spectators to get me moving again…kind of (09:37, 9:51, 11:15, and 11:10). From miles 15 through 20, the professor and chimp were still negotiating (aka- fighting) about whether running was really worth it/possible anymore (11:36, 12:21, 12:37, 10:55, 12:01 and 13:20). At mile 20, I saw my Mom and Steve which boosted my spirits for a brief second but by mile 21, my chimp won the fight. I was walking. And worse yet, my professor completely vanished. I was happy just walking from one aid station to the next. I knew I would get to the finish line, but my professor brain wasn’t even trying to negotiate to get me there any faster. He was gone.

The bright side is a I met a wonderful athlete from Long Island, New York who kept me company from mile 21 through mile 24 (14:11, 15:39, 15:58 and 16:32). At mile 24, we had crested the big hill and the sun was completely down which meant the temperatures started to drop. My professor came back from his afternoon siesta and convince the chimp “IF you run, this will be done.” Good call.

I picked up the pace (it was also downhill) and manage a very slow jog all the way to the finish line (10:56 and 9:47).

And then, it was done.

It was like I was just standing in the chute waiting for this whole thing to start...and then it was done.

How in the hell did I get here so fast? And by fast, I mean slow. But in that moment it was like the day had never happened. Like I had just started a few minutes ago and it was already over.

The finish line was SO bright and SO loud I couldn’t really hear or see anything. I knew all 16 of my supporters from home were there somewhere screaming their heads off with excitement that I had finally made it.

I would love to drop my finish line pictures here to prove that I actually made it, but they are SOOO AWEFUL because I was crying like a child. (Instead you get this blurry screen shot!)

Note to self: crying at the finish line makes really ugly pictures. LOL.

My goal for the marathon was to finish in 4:30. I finished in 5:05. I had the 43rd fastest run in my age group on the day.

There really isn’t much to speak about here. The plan was to consume 1-2 Skratch chews every mile and a Salt Stick Capsule every 30 minutes with water at every single aid station. If I needed it, I wasn’t opposed to taking a coke from time to time to help with a hit of sugar and caffeine. BUT…none of that really happened. My body was too hot to manage any of it. Everything sounds horrible…even water…and 90 minutes into the run/walk, I was sucking on ice only.

I’m still not totally sure how to remedy this for future events. In hind site, I just don’t think it was possible with the heat and wind to consume enough water and electrolytes to keep from overheating on the run. I did the best I could on the bike but it still wasn’t enough. Really what needed to happen was I needed to start earlier in the day (out of my control) and finish much faster (HAHAHA!).

The highest temp my Garmin recorded on the run was 97F. Much cooler than Cd’A in 2021, but for some reason, SOOOOO MUCH HARDER to manage. I guess the combo of the heat, wind and absolutely ZERO humidity made for a challenging combination. The solution is to pick a different race next time. HA!

My overall goal was to finish in the top 50% of my age group. 147 women were registered for the event in the 40-44 age group. 105 women started the swim and 86 women finished the entire event. The final results were 13:22 and 35th in my age group. I’m super proud of that.

The day after the event was the usual athlete award ceremony. I learned a long time ago that you never miss an award ceremony because crazy things can happen there with Ironman World Championship roll downs. And since my ultimate goal is to get to Kona, I never skip an awards ceremony.

Except I did.

I figured this was the 2021 World Championship and NO WAY IN HELL would a slot to Kona roll all the way down to 35th place.

Around 10:45am on Sunday, my phone rang and my friends from Whistler were urgently pleading that I get in the car and get to the awards ceremony immediately. There were 4 slots in my age group. Two had been taken early, but they were at 19th place and still had two slots to give out.

It was rolling.

Sean and I jumped in the van and about 2 blocks down the road from our condo, he called back. Both slots had been taken, but it rolled all the way to 30th place. WOW. How many times do I have to learn that lesson?!?! But the craziest thing about those few moments was how my feelings of utter happiness and complete satisfaction about my performance the day before completely vanished. I all of a sudden started wondering how I could’ve done better. What should I have done differently to secure a higher spot? It felt like I went from loving the sport, to hating it in one split second. All because of a goal to get to Kona. IT’S SOOOOOOO DUMB. And I honestly, hate that I want to get to Kona so badly. I hate that the desire to get there can take away the feeling of being proud in one split second.  I  know need to work on this.

For a few days I ran through my race in my head. “I should have never walked for so long. I bet if I just TRIED to run I could’ve done it. And what about your leisurely swim? Or your slow transitions? Could all of that time added up to a Kona qualification if I would’ve approached the race differently?!?”

Thankfully, I have an amazing training partner who kept reminding me that anything done faster on race day could’ve also ended in a DNF. And he is right. I raced to my plan, which I consider to have been a smart race. And now that we’re two weeks post race, I’m mostly back to feeling happy and proud of myself for my performance. I learned a few more lessons and can honestly say I don’t need to go back to race in St. George again.

But then again, I’ve said that before.

WHAT I'M MOST PROUD OF: My attitude throughout the day. I kept my focus on the things that were in my control (my attitude) and didn't worry AT ALL about the things I couldn't. This is a big win for me. And I can actually say with all honestly that a truly enjoyed this race from start to finish because of that.

WHAT I WISH I COULD DO OVER: Those moments the day after the race when I let myself get disappointed over something I shouldn't be disappointed over. I had a good race and I don't need a Kona roll down to create any regret.

WHAT  I LEARNED: I need a "back up" plan for two more scenarios: 1- if my special needs bag goes missing and 2- if I decide to rely on aid stations and they run out of something I need. Or I can just keep being self sufficient. 👍🏻

My Training Partner: I am SO THANKFUL to have had my friend Julie Anne racing this event with me. She is an amazing athlete and the best part about her is her relentless positive attitude. She made those LONNNNG training hours on the bike such a joy.

My Support Crew: Julie Anne and I had 16 supporters travel to Utah to ensure our day was everything it was suppose to be. They did an AMAZING job spreading themselves out on the race course to make sure we didn’t go far without a loud cheer. Many of them were part of our Gold Country Triathlon Club family…and life wouldn’t be the same without them. They are truly family.

The Volunteers: HOLY MOLY! Utah doesn’t disappoint with their volunteers! Not only did I have help in transitions and the finish line from folks all around the world who came to Utah to volunteer here, there were entire families out on the course thanking US, the athletes, for coming to to Utah. They were absolutely amazing. For sure the best volunteers of any race I’ve ever been to.

My new goal is to do something new after a full Ironman. After months of swimming, biking and running, a little break from the usual is always a good idea. For this race, we rented a sand dune buggy and explored the Utah desert...which was gorgeous and SUPER fun! I highly recommend it!

1.  Instant Pot Butter Chicken

2.  Whole30 Chilaquiles With Sweet Potatoes

3. Bacon and Kale Paleo Breakfast Casserole
​

7. Chicken Spinach Artichoke Soup
​

The first suggestion for eliminating sugar from your diet is to focus on the foods found in the perimeter of your supermarket.  That means fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy (if you can handle it).

The sad truth is, most of the sugar that leads to health issues can be found in packaged products found in the aisles of the store.  And often, people don’t even realize they are consuming sugar because it goes by so many names.

The American Diabetic Association recommends a daily sugar consumption below 20g for women, 36g for men, and less than 12g for children. The average American consumes 71.14g of sugar every day, well over the recommended amount. One of the simplest ways to reduce the intake of added sugar is by learning to read food labels.

Look for foods with 5g of sugar or less per serving!
Keep in mind that:

• As of July 2018, added sugars are listed separately on food labels in America, but not in all countries.
• Naturally occurring sugars from whole foods are not considered added sugars.
• Lactose is the naturally occurring sugar from dairy. The amount of sugar from dairy can vary from product to product. Generally speaking, there is approximately 5g of sugar per 100g of dairy with no added sweeteners.

​
Check the ingredient list for any added sugars!
There are currently 61 different names for added sugar in the US, which makes them challenging to identify. 

The main things to keep in mind are:

• Words ending in “-ose” are
  
• added sugars.
• Words ending in “-tol” are added sugars.
• Words such as “syrup,” “juice,” “concentrate,” and “crystals” are sugars.

​Just because the label lists “zero” sugar, does not mean that there are no added sugars in the ingredients. You must check both!

3. Breakfast Stuffed Delicata Squash. Need to up the veggies? This is great served with a breakfast salad (see #4).

4. Breakfast Salad with Everything Bagel Seasoning Dressing. Look for a sugar-free sausage, or make your own using ground turkey or pork!

6. Mashed Cauliflower Breakfast Bowl

9. Green Smoothie. Add your favorite clean protein powder to up the protein!

10. Creamy Zucchini Blueberry Smoothie. Add your favorite clean protein powder to up the protein!

After three races in a row with downright horrible weather (Ironman Ceour d'Alene at 106F; Ironman 70.3 Worlds with a monsoon; and Ironman California CANCELED because of a bomb cyclone), it was finally time to find out once and for all who's fault this was. Mine? Or my friend and training partner Matt's? We've been on the same race schedule this entire year until this race. He was going to watch the Ironman tracker from home while I toed the line at Ironman Arizona.

The days leading into the event made it look very obvious. This was all Matt's fault. The weather on race day was shaping up to be perfect. 80F, 5-7mph winds and 0% chance of showers. Perfect.

But then Matt showed up. SURPRISE! Not to race, but to spectate. And not to jump right to the conclusion, but we're right back where we started not really knowing if the gail force winds that unexpectedly showed up on race day are my fault or his. I'm still blaming him. ;)

This was the first year I was attempting 3 full Ironmans in the same year. Ironman Ceour d'Alene in June, Ironman California in October, and Ironman Arizona in November. Ironman California was always my "A" race and all my focus was ensuring I was as trained and ready as I could be for my first ever "hometown" Ironman. And I feel like I was. But we all know what happened on that day. Mother Nature decided that Sunday, October 24th was the perfect day to bring much needed rain (the "atmospheric river") to northern California along with A LOT of wind (the "bomb cyclone") and forced the race directors to make the right call to cancel the event. This forced me into an awkward 4 week re-build/recovery into Ironman Arizona hoping I could somehow manage to peak again. Although a second peak 4 weeks later was definitely not possible, I was feeling ready and capable of laying down a PR in Arizona.

Race week came and I safely made it to Tempe, Arizona. All things were looking positive to have a great race on Sunday until 12:30am Saturday morning. I woke up feeling a knot in my stomach and before long, I found myself moving from the cold tile on the hotel bathroom floor to the toilet with a trash can in my lap. Yup...food poisoning. Sweatshirt on. Shivering. FREEZING. To minutes later ripping the sweatshirt off. Sweating. SO HOT.

Damn it.

At 8am my husband and 'best sherpa of the year' ran over to Wholefoods to find anything he could that might help. My family kept reminding me that food poisoning is quick to come and quick to go which helped me feel like maybe there was a small chance I might be better by tomorrow. By around 9am I was able to start getting small amounts of liquids down which also meant I could get down some Ibuprofen and Tylenol. Once that kicked in, I started to feel like sitting up and maybe even standing was possible.

My bike drop off time was 11am and a 1/2 mile walk from the hotel. My husband gathered all my things and we slowly walked downtown to drop off all my gear. Fingers still crossed that I'd continue to improve by tomorrow.

At 1pm, I was given an IV bag of fluids which really helped me start to feel human again. But despite 1 can on ginger ale, 1000mL of IV fluids, lots of ice and 1 cup of chicken broth, by 8pm that evening, I still hadn't urinated. I knew I was SO dehydrated still. And calories....HA! No chance my body was ready to take on any solid nutrition yet. So I headed to bed and just hoped for a miracle.

The alarm went  off at 4:45am and I immediate grabbed my phone to look at my Oura data. Did the Oura gods think I was okay to race today?!?

Resting heart rate- up. Normal resting heart rate for me is around 48 bpm.

Average HRV- down. This marker changes regularly but that lack of variability in my HR wasn't encouraging.

Body temperature- still elevated. UGH!

The Oura gods advice for the day- "Make recovery your number one priority today."

Great. Now what? Do I race? Do I not race? Do I start and just see how it goes? AHHHH...I don't know what the right choice is!!! I feel better compared to yesterday, but that's not hard to do since death felt like a good solution to my agony yesterday.

I'm now checking in with my two most dependable and smartest advisors...Sean and Matt.

"Sean, feel my forehead. Do I really feel like I have a temperature?!?!"

"Matt. Look at my Oura data. What should I do?"

Start. I should just start with the swim and see how I feel after that. I am a strong swimmer and confidant that if I had a "crisis" in the water, I could get to safety or manage it appropriately. I don't typically panic in the water and of all the disciplines, I feel most confidant here.

Okay, so it's settled. I'm "racing." But I'm not. I'm NOT racing. I'm going through the motions of an Ironman and taking it easy and listening to my body. WHAT!?!?! Do I even know how to do that?!?! Competition is my middle name. I LIVE to compete. Ask anyone who knows me well and I can turn ANYTHING into a competition. I'm honestly not confidant AT ALL that I can listen to my body once I put a race number on and actually pull the plug if that's the smart thing to do. But I guess we're going to find out.

Do you know what the BEST THING is about having food poisoning the day before a race is?!? You don't have to wait in line for a port-a-potty on race morning. :) This made for a quick race prep in transition. I was in and out in a few minutes and headed to swim start.

The water temperature on race morning was 64.5F. PERFECT! Not too cold. And not too warm. Sean helped me get into my wetsuit and I got a few good luck kisses from Newman, Matt's pup and our loyal on deck swim motivator (he doesn't tolerate a lot of rest at the wall- HA!).

My goal swim time pre-food poisoning was sub 1 hour 10 minutes. I knew I would have to slow down  and just take it easy if I wanted to have a chance at finishing this long day. 'BURN NO MATCHES in the swim!!!' So I vowed to bilateral breath by the 3rd breath once I got settled and past the early chaos of the swim start. This would ensure my swim pace was slow enough that I wouldn't burn through a bunch of glycogen I knew I didn't have to burn.

So I pushed my way up to the 1-1 hour 10 minute swim group and waited for the cannon to go off.

6:45am. BOOM!!!! Here we go...

As usual, the first 2 turns of the swim were mayhem. Tons of swimmers who started WAAAAAAY earlier than they should have, flailing around and fighting for a position they didn't deserve. So annoying. Once I made my way around them, I was able to settle into a comfortable swim pace. There was very little contact and the cloud cover made for a swim course you could actually see once the sun came up (the course heads due east and is usually VERY blinding!).

Once I made it to the swim exit, I looked down at my watch and saw 1:09:34. WOW! That's awesome that I managed to beat my goal swim time despite not pushing the pace I would've normally pushed! But, wait. Is that awesome!?! Does this mean I should try to get after my bike goal and see what happens? Maybe I should actually try to race this and see if my body can do it?!

NO...no. Remember you're suppose to be taking it easy today and listening to your body. But...but...

This is what happens when you're transition run is 20 miles long from swim exit to transition (okay...not really 20 miles, but LONNNNNG). My mind had WAAAAAY too much time to start fighting about what is the right thing to do today. Race? Or don't race? I'll see see how I feel once I'm out there.

The final swim stats were 1:09:42 and 9th fastest in my age group out of 89 finishers. I'm happy with that and would've been happy with that even in my best state!

Transition 1 was uneventful. I did take my time and made sure I had everything I needed. Since Ironman Arizona was using "touch-less" personal needs stations on the bike this year, I decided to carry all of my nutrition on my body and try to avoid an unnecessary stop there if possible. So there was a lot of food being stuffed into pockets in transition. Wishful thinking on my part. LOL!

Once I mounted the bike and maneuvered my way out onto Rio Salido Boulevard, it was time to settle into a pace. I was pushing 280 watts which is far from sustainable for me for 112 miles on a good day. So I went to shift into an easier gear and nothing. Push the button again and nothin'. DAMN IT! Di2 isn't working. So now I'm troubleshooting. The front derailleur is shifting but not the back. So I know it's not the battery. May I can do this whole ride in 2 gears? Ugh, I doubt it. I need to stop and fix this.

Every 'race support' motercycle that passed I asked if they had bike tech? "No, sorry."

Okay, just make it to the first aid station at mile 10. They'll have a bike tech there. Oh, but they didn't. So at the end of the aid station, I stopped and asked if I could please use one of the volunteers cell phones. My plan was to call Sean and see if he could flag down a bike tech to have available at the aid station at the turn around. Then I could ride the first loop (37.3 miles) in 2 gears and hopefully get this fixed for the second and third loop. The volunteer happened to be the aid station captain and he called in to have bike tech come to us ASAP.

Meanwhile, I racked my bike and waited. Not one time in that moment did it dawn on me that I should actually look at my bike and see if I could figure out what was wrong. NOT ONCE! WTH!?!?! Instead, I thought, 'My Di2 isn't working. I need a mechanic. And this the universe telling me YOU'RE NOT RACING TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Okay, I get it. I'll stand here and drink water and try to eat some food and be patient and I won't race. The aid station captain was stressed out that it was taking the mechanic so long to arrive. Meanwhile, I was like...I'll take this GIANT sign that I need to chill the f*ck out today. 

After about 10 minutes, the mechanic arrived and just started unplugging and plugging back in Di2 cables. Eventually it started working. 🙄 OMG. Really?!? Why didn't I think about that. Seriously?!? The solution to all electrical problems has always been unplug it and plug it back it. I certainly could've done that 10 minutes ago. But I didn't. And I blame it on the lack of glucose to the brain. HA! But I'm SERIOUSLY grateful for that mechanical glitch that hit me in the face with a baseball bat and set in stone that my race was over and I was seriously just using this as a fantastic, supported training day.

The rest of the bike was a pretty typical Ironman Arizona bike. Long. Uncomfortable. And SOOOOOOOO windy (so much for that 5-7mph wind report).

I was determined to follow my nutrition plan to keep my energy up as much as possible. I entered this race not having eaten for 48 hours and I knew if I couldn't get calories in, it was going to be a long day. Unfortunately solid foods were a no go. Every time I put a Skratch chew, or a 1/2 gluten free Skratch waffle, or a 1/6th of a Skratch rice crispy in my mouth, within 5 minutes it was back in my mouth 🤢(sorry...TMI). So at mile 18, I switched to liquids instead. Over the next 94 miles, I managed to get down 60g CHO of Skratch SuperFuel, plus water and 4 salt tablets. That's it. It wasn't fun. I felt SUPER low in energy and for the first time ever in a race, I felt like I was having a hard time staying awake on the bike. At one point I rode under an underpass with lots of shade and I wondered 'if I just pulled over and laid down for a few minutes would I get pulled if a race official rode by?' Better not chance it.

It took FOREVER, but I finally made it to 112 miles. My original goal time for this event was sub 5 hours and 30 minutes. Even on a great day at 100% wellness, with the winds on race day, this would've been very unlikely. However, I know my time would've been a lot better than what it was had I been well and capable of executing my nutrition plan!

My final bike stats: 6:36:50 and 37th out of 89 finishers. Not my finest ride.

I'm a data geek. I spent 12 years teaching myself how to listen to my body (with a lot of help from a few coaches) which is an invaluable tool to know. But eventually, I started to question all the "feeling." I mean, we have all this data for a reason, right?!? So I've spent the last 3 years teaching myself what certain "zones" generally means by the numbers on my watch too. It's not always perfect, but sometimes it is. And the marathon at this years race is a perfect example of why knowing your data is super important. 

My fat oxidation rate was tested on a metabolic cart earlier this year and now I generally know how much fat and glucose I burn at different heart rates. That, in combination with my CGM (continuous blood glucose monitor), has REALLLLLY helped me fine tune my "fat burning zone" (lame term, but you get the picture). I feel SUPER confidant that my heart rate for an Ironman marathon should be somewhere around 155 bpm. However, that's assuming I'm replacing burned glycogen with exogenous glucose (Spring gels, Skratch chews and coke!). And since I wasn't able to do that for this marathon, I knew I needed to drop my HR down into my "all day pace" so I could burn more fat and less glycogen. So I started this marathon with a goal HR of 149 bpm (this is the top of my "L2"). Whatever the pace was, it was.

I was SO EXCITED to finally be on the run. First, because I was off the bike! But second because I could finally get my hands on a coke. I know. Gross. And normally I would agree. But I was SOOOOO tired and so low in energy. I knew if I could get down something liquid with calories and caffeine I would feel better.

At the first 3 aid stations I did it. A 1/2 cup of coke at each. But after the 3rd cup, I realized I was taking it on faster than my gut was ready to accept it. So I switched to every other aid station for the first loop (8.73 miles), then to every 3rd aid station for the final 2 loops (17.4 miles). On the third loop I started to question my stomach and made a few stops at the port-a-potty to make sure I had a 'clean' finish. I swear that little girl holding the poster that read "never trust a fart" had written that just for me. LOL!

It took longer than I'd hoped, but I finally made it to the finish line! The goal run time was sub 4 hours. I ended up finishing the marathon in 4:24:46. A far cry from my goal, but this was a sweet finish despite my time.

Run stats- 4:24:46 and 11th fastest run out of 89 finishers in my age group. Not too shabby all things considered.

Overall finish- 12:28:19 and 15th out of 89 finishers in my age group.

I think it goes without saying that this was NOT what I had trainer or hoped for. But as I stood on the side of the Beeline Highway in the early hours of the race I really did successfully shift my focus away from competing and to an attitude of gratitude. Cheesy, I know. But it's true. I know there were tons of athletes who wanted to be racing IMAZ this year (many of them my good friends) who were unable to transfer from the Ironman California cancellation. I was one of the lucky few who got to race. So despite the day being so far from what I had imagined, I WAS there. I got to pin a race number to my kit and test myself. The test conditions were just changing. And after some fighting it, and one bout of tears on Saturday when I thought I might not be able to race, I accepted the shift.

I've been working for years to learn my body and what it's truly capable to doing. Thanks to YEARS and YEARS of eating a clean, plant focused, higher fat, lower carb diet, now I know I can finish an Ironman on mostly water and salt alone. And the best part is I NEVER HAVE TO TEST THAT AGAIN!!!!

But let's be crystal clear, in the future, I want to RACE. I want to BE COMPETITIVE. And I can't be super fast on no food. I need sugar in the right amounts at the right times to fuel the power and paces I want to hold!!! So here's to hoping I NEVER have to do that again! HA!

As you may already know, I wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Not because I'm diabetic, but because I'm 1. curious and 2. want to be proactive about my health and longevity. I believe this device helps me fulfill these desires. I could talk about my CGM forever, but I'll spare you the lengthy novel and cut to the chase.

If you don't already know, a CGM is a little device that is stuck to the back of my arm in which a thin wire is injected into my skin. It constantly takes measurements of the levels of sugar in my blood. (That's a highly oversimplified description.) It doesn't hurt and most of the time, I don't even remember it's there. I scan this little device with my cell phone and get live data of my blood sugar levels. I hope it goes without saying that it's incredibly helpful with dialing in your diet. It's helped me learn which carbs are best for my body, at what levels I can enjoy them, and what times of day are best for me. But beyond the obvious dietary benefits of knowing your blood sugar levels, I also use it for my training. 

In a nutshell, if I push my body outside of my "L2" zone (that infamous "fat burning zone"), my blood sugar spikes. This happens WITHOUT food. Why? Because my brain suddenly thinks I'm in danger, it releases cortisol (the stress hormone) into my blood, which releases sugar from my liver into the blood so my muscles can FLEE. This release of sugar is captured in the data from my CGM. So when I go out to run an "L2 Endurance Run" and my blood sugar spikes, I know I wasn't being honest with my paces. I ran too hard.

Since my little food poisoning episode the day before the race changed my race goals, I knew I'd needed to keep my pace, power and HR low enough that I didn't spike my blood sugar. That would've resulted in a blood sugar crash which I was worried I wouldn't be able to rectify with exogenous sugar.

The image below is of my blood sugar levels from race day. I dropped in blocks from my swim, bike and run respectively.

There are a few things I found most interesting seeing this data:

• I was successful at keep my blood sugar from spiking which means I kept my HR, pace and power around my L2. This is why I never really had any big crashes during day. I did get super sleepy on the bike and you can see that my blood sugar did get pretty low by the end. I'm not totally sure if this is why, but I'm sure it was a contributor. When we're tired we crave sugar to help lift/wake us up. And coke. LOL! Which explains that craving too.
• That massive drop in blood sugar right when I finished the race. That did kind of surprise me and I still need to explore this more.
• That last big bump after the race finished was me drinking a sprite. It spiked my blood glucose up to around 110mg before it started to drop back down. Normally, something that is liquid sugar (39g) would create a BIG spike in my blood sugar, but not typically AFTER a big workout, in which I would categorize this as. 😉 Ideally you don't have any BIG spikes or BIG drops in your glucose (think baby roller coaster). But more importantly is that your blood sugar stays within a narrow range all day. I aim to keep mine between 70 mg/dL and 110 mg/dL (and you should too!).

More and more professional athletes are starting to wear CGM's, so I know we'll have more great data coming out in the future about the best ways to use them.

There are about a million things that I love about my job as an endurance coach and nutritionist. BUT...my favorite of all is getting to celebrate my athletes successes with them. I'm a tiny part of the giant puzzle they put together to find their own success. But when they get on the success train, DAMN IT FEELS GOOD!!!

Julie-anne Lay has done that this year. And she just plopped the cherry on top of her GIANT cake of success this year with a second place finish in her age group and a ticket to the Ironman World Championship in St. George, Utah in May! Matt and Sean were giving me updates on her all day and when she moved herself from 4th off the bike into 2nd in the run, I cried. It made me SOOO happy. It also made a little harder to breath. LOL.

And more than ever at this race, the race supporters were SOOOOO essential to my finish. Thanks to all the support out on the course (Sean, Mom, Leahe, Dottie, Scott, Matt, Julie, Michele, Steve, Emily and Taylor) and to everyone on the trackers at home. It truly kept me moving forward. I'm especially thankful to Matt and Julie for the surprise visit. Now I can keep blaming Matt for everything that went wrong on race weekend. 🤣 JK. I'm pretty sure the Universe wasn't on my side this year, but there's always next year to prove that I can actually be fast!

Chances are, you’ve spent the entire season running on the road so why not switch things up a bit and hit the trails!

One of the reasons I enjoy the trails after a long season of training is for the break it gives my brain.  Although it’s a new environment and my body needs to get used to running over rocks, twigs, and branches, it gives my brain something new to think about which allows me to focus on my body rather than being overly concerned about pace or anything else that typically fills my mind during training.

Besides a brain break, trail running has so many benefits.  First off, it can help lower your chances of injury (which may come as a surprise to some!).  This is mainly due to the decrease in stress placed on the lower leg during running.  It’s also contributed to the fact that your body is required to increase its stability so you can run over “obstacles” on the trail, which leads to a stronger core and knees.

Similarly, as a result of increases in balance on the trail, you can also expect to experience an increase in endurance.  Pretty sweet deal for triathletes!
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And of course there is the mental health aspect of it.  Most of you know my appreciation for the great outdoors.  Getting fresh air and being surrounded by nature can contribute to a decrease in anxiety and depression, something not often seen in those who stick strictly to road running.

Before diving into sodium for training and race day, let’s go back to the beginning so we can cover what it means to be truly hydrated.

With water being the largest component of the human body, you can imagine how important its role is in obtaining optimal health. Water creates our bodily fluids which aid in digestion, blood circulation, circulation of nutrients, absorption, and regulation of body temperature. When our body fluid levels become depleted, we run the risk of dehydration.

Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions.  

Dehydration will: 

• reduce the rate at which fluids are absorbed from the intestines which can lead to bloating and/or nausea
• reduce our physical and mental performance
• increases our heart rate and body temperature
• increases the rate of our perceived effort during exercise
• in extreme cases, can create a loss of coordination and impair our ability to make decisions. 

Typically, for athletes, the cause for so much fluid loss is sweating.
When we sweat, we not only lose water but we lose electrolytes as well and that includes sodium.  While we may think that more water is what we need, an overabundance of water during training and racing can lead to hyponatremia.  

Hyponatremia is a condition that occurs when the level of sodium in your blood becomes abnormally low. The over consumption of water causes a dilution of blood sodium levels. Symptoms of hyponatremia include:

• Headache
• Disorientation
• Fatigue
• Coma
• death (in rare cases) 

If these symptoms sound familiar, you’ve likely experienced some level of hyponatremia.  

At the end of the day, to be truly hydrated you have to make sure you’re taking in an appropriate amount of fluid AND sodium!

​Sodium is considered an essential electrolyte mineral (essential meaning you must get it from your diet rather than relying on your body to produce it).  Along with other electrolytes, sodium helps regulate the body’s fluid balance (which also contributes to your blood pressure levels, another important marker athletes need to pay attention to).

Sodium promotes carbohydrate and water uptake in the intestines and reduces the volume of urine post exercise. Both sweat and blood contain high concentrations of sodium. Therefore, if you under-consume sodium, your body has no choice but to shrink your circulating blood volume to compensate. 

​Same is true if you are a heavy sweater. You will lose higher amounts of sodium, and run the risk of your blood volume decreasing if it is not replaced. This will result in lightheadedness, sluggishness, and potentially unconsciousness.

While your plan may be different from mine, I thought sharing my approach would help you understand how to approach your own training and race day.

No matter how cold it is, I always take 1 Salt Stick Cap at the top of every hour during training or racing that is longer than 90 minutes. I have an alert set up on my watch to help me remember. 
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As the temperature and/or humidity rise, I consider more Salt Stick Caps. At Ironman Arizona in 2014, I took on 1 Salt Stick Cap every 15 minutes on the bike and every mile on the run. This resulted in 24 Salt Stick Caps on the bike and 25 Salt Stick Caps on the run, totaling 49 salt caps on race day (that’s 10,535 mg of sodium from the Salt Caps alone). 

​In hind-sight, this was a lot. I have done more testing since then and have found less sodium still does the trick and I chafe a lot less! But I never felt bad and finishing in 11:37 and in 17th place for my first ever Ironman wasn’t too shabby either. 
The bottom line is I tested this amount over and over in training and I knew it worked for me.

This race was generally awesome. Mostly because, as usual, the support we all received was top notch. Not just from the town of Coeur d'Alene itself which is exceptional, but from all the support that came from my hometown! 3 athletes (Matt, Todd and I) came with 13 additional support crew. Honestly, the yelling, water squirting, cow belling, high fiving and just non-stop support from them is what keeps me going on race day and beyond. They can never be replace. It really does take a village!

Overall, I feel really happy with my swim and especially happy with my mental toughness on the run. I made a few mistakes on the bike in addition to not being in as good of bike shape as I should've been heading into this event. All things that are 100% in my control to fix for next time (Ironman California in October).

Due to COVID (I hate hearing that saying!!!), there were 200 (yes, you read that right...TWO HUNDRED) slots to Kona for the 2021 World Championship. I personally had 12 slots in my age group and I felt confidant that if I could string together a good day, my chances would be high to earn one of those slots. Unfortunately, my final time of 12:25.59 was only enough to put me in 16th place and the Kona slots rolled to 14th in my age group. Close, but not quite enough. I know there are things that are within my control to change for the next race, but I'm also really sad that despite some pretty great improvements both swimming and running, it feels like Kona is getting further and further out of reach. That won't stop my from continuing to try to improve in all areas of the sport and keep pushing on to better myself and those around me in the process. If I'm meant to go to Kona, I know someday it will happen.

One of the reason I race triathlon is to see new places. After this race, Sean and I took the van into Yellowstone for a few days of camping. Without wifi or cell coverage for 3 days, I was forces to chill out and was left without a way to agonize over my times and results in Cd'A. I highly recommend it! ;)

I've already got myself registered for Cd'A 70.3 in 2022. This venue just never disappoints. The neighborhoods, the scenery and the course are some things that will never get old!

See you again in 2022 Cd'A!

Transition 1 from swim to bike was a little slow, but I wasn’t in a hurry at all. I knew what was coming (the hills and the heat) and I wasn’t about to forget anything. I ran from where my bike was racked to the mount line with my shoes in hand. Once I hit the mount line, I stepped off to the side, leaned my bike against the fence and threw my shoes on. A group of spectators standing there cheered me on, gave me lots of compliments on my swim, transition and bike set up, then I was off. Spectators are the best.

The bike course was AMAZING. The roads were SO SMOOTH (until the very end) and the scenery was gorgeous. My riding plan was to ride mostly off RPE (rate of perceived effort) and not worry too much about HR and power. My garmin power pedals have been off lately (something I need to fix ASAP) and I feel very confident using RPE for a 56 mile ride like this. My goal was to have a strong ride, but not burn too many matches as my REAL goal was to run the entire run and not fall apart. The hills on the bike course didn’t worry me coming from a hilly area, but I certainly underestimated them. By the time I got to Snow Canyon around mile 44, I was really feeling my legs A LOT. I gained a little confidence as I passed male rider after male rider (most of them with full disc wheels) either standing on the side of the road trying to catch their breath, or walking their bikes up the hill. But let’s not be fooled, I had been passed by TONS and TONS of riders from the very beginning of this ride and it was hard to ignore that I knew I was losing time on the ride when others were excelling. In hindsight, I would’ve trained differently into this course. I would’ve added much more low cadence work on my bike and kept up with strength training until much closer to race day. Something I plan to add in for my lead up to Coeur d’Alene since that course is very similar.

BIKE COURSE NUTRITION: I had 2 bottles on my bike. My aero bottle was for clean water, and my down tube bottle was full with a double serving of Skratch. I had 6 gluten-free Honey Stinger waffles (all cut in 1/2) in my bento box along with 1 Spring gel and 1 packet of Skratch chews in my kit pocket. The plan was 60g carbohydrate per hour in the form of 2 waffles and 1 serving of Skratch for the first 2 hours and a gel for the last hour. So I basically took 1/2 waffle at the 10 minute, 20 minute, 40 minute and 50 minute on my watch. I took a generous amount of Skratch at the 30 minute and 00 minute on my watch. I had planned for at least 2 salt caps per hour in addition to 1g BCAA capsule at the top of each hour. Unfortunately, my aero bottle top broke at mile 11 on the bike course and the entirety of my bento box was soaked. So I managed a few salt capsules, but by the middle of the ride, they were all mashed up in my bento box. Luckily, the cloud cover stuck around for most of the ride, so it wasn’t as critical as I expected (race day weather prediction was 96F!).

Once I hit Snow Canyon (around mile 42ish), my nutrition plan fell apart a bit. This is also the time of day when the cloud cover had burned off. My Garmin shows temps around 88F in the canyon. When I finished off the bottle of Skratch around mile 44, I passed up my nutrition from that point on. Just water from that point to the finish of the ride. From a nutrition perspective, in hindsight, I would’ve taken my Spring gel at the top of Snow Canyon (mile 46) to “top off the gas tank” before the run. But once I started that descent, I wasn’t taking my hands off the bars! I topped off with a speed of 46.2 mph…so not really a time to be eating.

Once I hit Diagonal Street, the road conditions were awful…but it didn't last long. At the first round-a-bout downtown, I started to get out of my bike shoes. A little early for that. I should’ve waited until I got through the second round-a-bout then wiggled out of them on the last stretch of road into transition.

Since transition is more like the olden days of triathlon, we had no bike catchers and you rack your own bike. At your designated transition area, you also have all of your T2/run gear waiting for you from the night before. With bikes being so spread out and honestly, being a little rusty at transitions, I had a little bit of a hard time finding my rack location. Probably a 5 second loss of time which felt like 5 minutes in the moment.

BIKE TIME- 03:04.16
35th out of 115 athletes in the 40-44 age group

Sean and I packed up and headed home via the 395 route. We took a side trip to Mammoth Lakes where we relaxed at Wild Willy's and slept mostly. LOL! After moving houses the weeks before this race, we were running a little shy on our zzzz's.

Many other athletes spent time in Zion and Bryce National Parks which I HIGHLY recommend! Sean and I have done both of the those national parks multiple times and knowing they would be crowded, opted for a different experience on our way home. But it you haven't been, be sure to add Zion and Bryce Canyons to your travel plans!

In our family, we’re big on stockings...so I very much had that in mind as I compiled this list:

Chocolate- I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t appreciate a good bar of chocolate in their stocking around the holidays! When I look for chocolate, I personally look for organic, dark (over 70%) and soy free versions. If you happen to live in a town or city that has a local chocolatier, I highly recommend checking in with them to see if they have any quality chocolate bars for purchase. My personal favorites are:

• Black and Green 85% Dark Chocolate
  
• Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Sea Salt
• Beyond Good 92% Chocolate 

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee and Elixirs- Mushrooms have long been a powerful superfood loaded with tons of nutrients and we certainly don’t eat enough of them! This company has tastefully found a way to blend various beneficial mushrooms with other ingredients (like coffee) to provide you with high levels of antioxidants and other compounds.

Their coffees are ½ the caffeine with more of the focus and energy!

Depending on the blend you choose, they can enhance your focus and thinking capabilities, help you sleep and even lower your anxiety and support your adrenal glands. Perfect for any health focused friend of family member!

These come as bags or individual packets, which are great as stocking stuffers! You can get the mushroom elixir sample pack, latte and hot cocoa sampler, or a pack of lion's mane and chaga & cordyceps and chaga coffee blends (my personal favorites).
 
Clay Facial Masks- self care is a pretty important piece of living a healthy life. And for athletes, health care of the skin can be crucial. We sweat a lot. And most of us spend a lot of time outdoors training. That means we need to take care of our skin! For that, small packs of natural facial clay masks do the trick! This derma e Purifying 2-in-1 Charcoal Face Mask with Activated Charcoal all natural, 100% vegan and cruelty free, and does not contain parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, lanolin, gluten or GMOs.

Books- All health enthusiasts generally have 1 thing in common: they like to eat healthy food. These food-focused books are just a few of my favorites that can be used by anyone interested in being active and healthy (triathletes, runners, hikers, yogis, etc).

• Run Fast Eat Slow by Shalane Flanagan 
• Feed Zone Portables by Allen Lim- this is easily the book I’ve personally gifted most. I love it. 
• The Real Food Athlete by Steph Lowe

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Silicone Popsicle Molds- I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my silicone popsicle molds for any extra post workout smoothie that I might not be consuming in the moment. They can oftentimes get me through the last few minutes of a hard workout in the heat! For any of your active friends of family members that complete hot workouts, these popsicle molds will be much appreciated!!!

Biodegradable Natural Body Wipes- These no-rinse body wash wipes are a perfect gift for an athlete constantly on the go. Bonus that they are biodegradable, so they break down naturally. These wipes will leave an athlete feeling a full-body cleanse while also supporting the planet the planet. 

Coffee- If your loved one is a coffee drinker, specialty coffees make a great gift! Many sustainable coffee growers offer online ordering 

• Peak Performance High Altitude Coffee
• Larry’s Organic Fair Trade Coffee 3 Pack- Larry’s Coffee is an eco-friendly and sustainability-minded company that creates small-batch Fair Trade, Organic, Shade-Grown coffee.
• Ethical Bean Fair Trade Coffee

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Please note that some of the links are affiliate links.
​Meaning, if you buy someone a gift by using those links, you’re also giving us a gift (a small commission) in return – at no cost to you! I appreciate your support in this way!

​
Please note that some of the links are affiliate links.
Meaning, if you buy someone a gift by using those links, you’re also giving me a gift (a small commission) in return – at no cost to you! I appreciate your support in this way!
​

If your family traditionally eats turkey for your Thanksgiving meal, you're in luck because turkey is already low carb! However, turkey is not high fat! If you're wanting to keep your meal LCHF, I highly advise you reach for the darker cuts of meat and eat the skin, which will provide some added fat to this naturally low fat protein.

However, if you're interested in taking this low-fat protein and make it keto friendly, my advice is to add an herbed butter! This is a very simple thing to do ahead of time and bring to your Thanksgiving feast. You can add it to your turkey, but also to steamed green beans and many other lower fat dishes you might find at your table.

If you're the lucky one who gets to make the turkey this year, consider adding your herbed butter as a rub before you roast it! Maya Krampf of Wholesome Yum has a great blog on the whole process, including a great EASY GARLIC BUTTER HERBED BUTTER recipe that you can check out HERE.

Looking for a nutrient dense stuffing that isn't bread based but still tastes and feels like traditional stuffing?  Heather Dessinger of Mommypotamus has one of the best EASY GLUTEN FREE STUFFING recipes (pictured above) that I've ever tried! Seriously, I didn't think it was possible to make something taste like bread that doesn't actually have bread in it, but this recipe does it.

If you want to stick with a bread based stuffing but still want a low carb option, be prepared to make your own keto bread (unless you can find a quality keto bread in the stores). It can be more time consuming, but it's worth it! One of my favorite recipes for a bread based KETO STUFFING comes from blogger 'Howtodothisandthat.

There really is no way to make a potato low carb. So if mashed potatoes are a Thanksgiving favorite of yours, you might want to consider making yourself a side of cauliflower mash. Honestly, if you load up your cauliflower mash with good fats from olive oil and butter, and then add some of your favorite herbs, you won't miss the potatoes! Check out this MASHED CAULIFLOWER WITH GARLIC AND HERBS recipe from Downshiftology. It's a family favorite in my household!

Gravy was one of the last dishes our family converted from a package, to a nutrient dense and absolutely DELICIOUS thanksgiving dish. And I'm always wondering why the heck we waited so long to do it! It's really not hard to make a fantastic gravy from scratch...it just takes a little pre-planning.

Most gravy recipes call for broth. Yes, you can buy this in a can or cardboard box, but trust me, if you make it from scratch ahead of time, it will add a punch of flavor to your gracy that won't go unnoticed. 

I personally have broth on hand at all times which makes the step of the process a little quicker. You can find jars of it in my fridge and if I have extra, you better bet I'm freezing it for later. All week, I collect vegetable ends and bones from our meals. Once I have a pretty good amount of these bits, I'll throw them into my instant pot with a package of chicken paws and water to make a delicious broth! You can find a recipe for CHICKEN BONE BROTH similar to the one I follow (I just use scraps in mine) from Jennifer McGruther from The Nourished Kitchen. If you are going to make this recipe specifically for Thanksgiving, be sure to pull the giblets out of your turkey a few days ahead of time to use in the broth!

Once you have your broth, I really truly believe that the best tasting gravy's come from the turkey drippings. You can find a very easy, low carb and GLUTEN FREE GRAVY recipe from Regina at Leelalicious.

Despite all the talk of avoiding all fruit while eating keto, really what most people are trying to avoid is natural sugar from fruit. Luckily, cranberries are very low in natural sugar which actually makes them keto friendly. That's also why most traditional cranberry recipes call for massive amounts of sugar!

To avoid this traditional sugary side, you can easily swap the table sugar found in most traditional cranberry recipes for an alternative keto sugar like monk fruit or swerve. This CRANBERRY SAUCE recipe from Chad Campbell at That Low Carb Life blog is great and includes a little orange zest for an added kick of flavor.

When I ask clients about traditional thanksgiving vegetable side dishes, it never seems like I get the same answer twice. Each family seems to have their own favorites, and luckily, most of them tend to be pretty keto friendly.

Like the turkey, if your traditional vegetables sides are naturally low fat, consider adding a dollop of herbed butter on top to add both flavor and a good, healthy fat to the dish.

Dessert is where keto can get tricky if you don't plan ahead. Luckily, there are many different alternative sugar options to pick from now-a-days that can help you create a dessert that both tastes amazing and won't spike your blood sugar!

Three of my favorite low carb sweeteners are monk fruit, stevia and swerve. 

Monk fruit is a natural source of sweetness that has been around for centuries (despite many of us only learning about it recently). The name was given to this fruit after the monks who harvested it.  The fruit itself has a very short shelf life which is why it is dried.  The dried fruit is what is then processed into the sweetener we use today. The sweetness of monk fruit comes from mogrosides which are actually antioxidants!  It is about 200-300x sweeter than regular table sugar however, it contains none of the calories and does not impact our blood sugar in the same was as table sugar.   It can be found as liquid, powder, or granules. 


Stevia, another natural sweetener that has been around for a long time, is derived from the plant Stevia rebaudiana ( I grew it in my garden this year!).  Like monk fruit, the compounds that make Stevia sweet are about approximately 200 times sweeter than typical table sugar but without attack on your blood sugar.  In its pure form, stevia has zero carbohydrates, and zero calories. However, most stevia products combine stevia leaf extract with other ingredients such as dextrose, maltodextrin, erythritol or other fillers to help reduce the sweetness and mimic the taste of traditional table sugar. So be sure to choose a brand that doesn't contain these fillers if you're sensitive to sugar alcohols.


Swerve is a blend of three ingredients. Erythritol is the first and most prominent ingredient, and is naturally made by fermenting glucose. Prebiotic fibers called oligosaccharides are added, and then the blend is enhanced with some natural flavor from citrus. Swerve provides a similar level of sweetness to sugar and has the ability to caramelize, which makes it great for many holiday recipes!


Some of my favorite recipes include this CLASSIC PUMPKIN PIE (with crust recipe) from the Paleo Running Momma, this KETO PECAN PIE from Taryn at Joy Filled Eats, and our families personal favorite KETO APPLE CRISP from Vered DeLeeuw at the Healthy Recipes blog.

My hope is that these recipes help you enjoy a Thanksgiving feast while still honoring your health goals this year and beyond! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sleep is one of four biological needs (the others being: eating, drinking and mating). Sleep has been shown to have a direct impact on overall health, lifespan, productivity, safety and ability to learn. Sleep is one of the top five reasons that patients visit a clinic for care every year and lack of sleep has been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. 

A study performed at the Leiden University Medical Center took 9 healthy individuals, with healthy blood sugar response, and restricted sleep for one night (subjects were allowed to sleep from 1am to 5am). The result was insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in all subjects. 

Additionally, data from large published studies, including: Sleep Heart Health Study; Finnish Type 2 Diabetes Study; Quebec Family study; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; National Health Interview Study; and Isfahan Healthy Heart Program, have all demonstrated that middle-aged to elderly subjects with self- reported short sleep duration are approximately twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and are at higher risk for impaired glucose tolerance.

Most adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Not 7-9 hours in bed with the lights out laying awake. 7-9 hours of actual sleep. If this isn’t your situation, here are the first steps to dial in:

1) Follow a sleep schedule.

2) Eat a diet that promotes quality sleep at the right times:

• Eat a dinner full of melatonin rich foods.
• Avoid caffeine, including chocolate after 12pm.
• Avoid alcohol before bed.
• Avoid large meals and beverages 2 hours before bedtime.

3) Exercise at the time that best suits your chronotype. Avoid intense exercise 2-3 hours before bedtime. If AM blood sugar is higher than ideal, choose 20-30 minutes of a relaxing activity before bed, like gentle walking.

4) Get your daily dose of natural sunlight for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. If you can not get out into the natural sun, consider morning exposure to artificial light for at least 1 hour.

5) Only nap before 3pm.

6) Schedule time for relaxation for at least 20 minutes before bed. Espom salt baths, foot soaks, reading and meditation are all great options.

7) Create a bedroom that is most conducive for proper sleep.

• avoid electronics in the bedroom
• create complete darkness
• The general suggested temperature for an ideal night's sleep is between 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit.
• invest in comfortable and non-toxic clothing, pillow, mattress and linens.

​8) Avoid medications that cause stimulation before bed. Some examples of these medications are hypertension, allergy, and thyroid medications. Consult with your doctor about options for taking these medications at earlier times of day in order to optimize your ability to sleep.
​
9) Don’t stay in bed if you haven’t fallen asleep after 30 minutes.

One book I absolutely love that talks about sleep is called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. If your blood sugar is still high and sleep is an issue, you definitely want to dive down this rabbit hole more deeply!

​If you are consistently following the 9 sleep foundations above, and are still experiencing constant fatigue and irritability during the day after getting 7-9 hours of sleep, waking up several times during the night, staying awake for more than an hour without being capable of falling back to sleep, or taking longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep, and/or higher than normal fasting blood sugar levels,  it might be time to seek out a sleep specialist for help.​

REFERENCES:
1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30272-2/fulltext
2. ​https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/217011

For many people, the amount of carbohydrates and sugars that have been consumed over the course of their lifetime is excessive. The excess consumption of these carbohydrates has led to irregular blood sugar which can lead to lethargy, excess body fat retention, fatigue, poor sleep, and less than optimal health. If after testing,  you’ve established that your blood sugar is normal, you can complete a carbohydrate tolerance test to learn what life can be like when you consume healthy forms of carbohydrates in the appropriate amounts for your body. (In other words, what it is like to eat balanced.)
                       
In Robb Wolf’s book, Wired To Eat, he details a process he calls ‘the 7 Day Carb Test.’ Your blood glucose levels rise and fall when you eat a meal containing carbohydrates.  How high it rises and how long it stays high depends on: the quality of the carbohydrates; the quantity of carbohydrate; and your own bio-individuality.  In order to learn how your own body responds to the quality and quantity of carbohydrate, you should consider a carbohydrate tolerance test. 

During this test, you use a blood sugar meter to test your body’s personal tolerance to 50g of effective net carbs to a specific food. The point of completing this type of test is to learn more about how your body can properly handle (or not handle) different types of carbohydrates. It might surprise you that some people can tolerate sugary pastries better than a banana, but it is true. This is bio-individuality at its finest. As Robb says in his book, “finding the ‘right’ carbohydrate(s) for your body allows you to dial in your specific carbohydrate tolerance and therefore keep our hormonal profile in a state that is favorable for fat loss while repairing our metabolism.’

How to test

1. Choose a test carb to test. (for example: sweet potato, black beans, or rice).
2. Choose the amount of carbohydrate to test. Aim to consume a reasonable amount of the specific carbohydrate. If you are unsure of a good amount, start with 50g of effective net carbs. Effective net carbs are TOTAL CARBS - FIBER = NET CARBS
3. Prepare your carbohydrate the night before you choose to test.
4. First thing the following morning, take your fasting blood sugar. Then, eat your test carb. You will eat no other food at this time. Allowable beverages are black coffee and water. If you do have a beverage make sure to have that same beverage each morning you are testing.
5. Write down which carbohydrate you are testing and the time you ate it.
6. Set a timer for 2 hours from the time you take your first bite of carbohydrate. Aim to consume your test carbohydrate within 5- 10 minutes.
7. Test your blood glucose and record your blood glucose reading at the 2 hour mark.
   
   

What you are looking for
The most important things to look for (that would indicate that the carb is not the best carb for your body) are:

1. symptoms (foggy head, inability to focus, anger, depression, anxiety, shaky, etc)
2. a large fluctuation in your blood sugar: 

At the 2 hour blood glucose reading, your ideal blood glucose should be ~115 mg/dL.

If your blood sugar goes much above 120 mg/dL at the 2 hour mark of the test, this can be a sign that your blood sugar has “spiked” and this is not an ideal carb for you. It would be expected that your blood sugar would then drop rapidly, causing you to feel poorly.

The opposite is also true. If your blood glucose reading at the 2 hour mark is below your fasting reading, this is just another sign of the wrong carb for your body.

Ideally, you want to find a carb that doesn’t make you feel badly, and that brings your blood glucose level up (no higher than ~115 mg/dL), and has a slow decline over the next 4 hours.

GIVE THE CARB TOLERANCE TEST A TRY!

Using a blood glucose monitor is by far the easiest way to get insight on how your body is handling the sugar that you eat.  And running a carb tolerance test allows you to get even clearer on what specific carbohydrates work for you (and vice versa).

Next week, we’ll dive even deeper into knowing how to use the carbohydrates that are best for your body at the right times of day so you keep stable energy and not store them as fat!

Stay tuned...

We have all heard that eating too much sugar could eventually result in a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. However, just because you have not been diagnosed with diabetes, does not mean your body is tolerating the amount of sugar in your diet.

In 2017, Outside Magazine published an article titled Are Endurance Athletes More Susceptible to Diabetes? In it, the author introduced an endurance runner who also happened to be an intern at the University of Canterbury Center for Bioengineering, which was researching the clinical potential of continuous glucose monitors (CGM).

After a hard bonk in her last ultra endurance event, she wondered if she could use a CGM to help her better understand her blood sugar levels during a long run, see when her levels started to drop and prevent the bonk all together by using exogenous glucose (aka- a gel). After some self experimentation and seeing some potential for future research, she soon found herself in a PhD program studying the potential uses of glucose monitoring in athletes.

​In 2016 her first initial pilot study on ten runners and cyclists was published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology and the findings were quite a shock. 

“Instead of bonk-inducing blood sugar lows, the more common problem in her subjects, who typically averaged at least six hours of training a week, was high blood sugar throughout the day—an outcome that pointed to an elevated risk of Type 2 Diabetes in these seemingly super-fit athletes. ‘I was incredibly surprised to see the results,’ Thomas says. ‘It seemed contrary to almost everything else in the field.’”

Her initial findings were that 3 out of 10 athletes in the study had fasting blood glucose levels that were by the ADA definition, in the pre-diabetes range. Although the current numbers don’t support the claim that endurance athletes are more susceptible to diabetes, there is certainly a very large range of pre-diabetes that many of us sit in. ​

The body prioritizes blood sugar regulation over other bodily functions to ensure that the brain and other organs have the necessary energy to operate. Our body was designed to use a variety of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fat) for energy sources.

Each human body has its own specific formula for how much of each of these macronutrients it needs to maintain optimal health and wellness. If the specific formula is off, you become susceptible to disease. There are many factors that play a role in your own specific nutrition formula, such as genetics, stress and activity levels.

Carbohydrates are the fastest burning of the 3 macronutrients. When properly digested, all carbohydrates turn into sugar in the body. Once these sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream, a healthy body will release insulin (a hormone) into the blood to help store these sugars away in the liver and muscles.

The liver and muscles have limited storage for these sugars. If the consumption of carbohydrate (or sugar) is higher than our body’s storage in the liver and muscles, the body will convert the excess sugar into fat and store it in fat cells, in which we have an unlimited storage.  

Since carbohydrates burn faster than fat and protein, a diet that is high in carbohydrates will require frequent consumption of carbohydrate to keep energy levels up. If this cycle of frequent consumption of carbohydrates is repeated day after day, month after month, year after year, the body can become less effective at producing and/or using insulin to store away digested carbohydrates.

Once this process begins, we see levels of sugar in the blood begin to rise. This is the very early stages of Type 2 Diabetes (pre-diabetes) and typically there are little to no symptoms associated with the early stages of pre-diabetes and the rise in blood sugar levels. 

For athletes, we obtain most of our energy from sugar (either exogenously from the foods we eat during training or endogenously from our stored sugar in the muscles and liver). We can obtain some energy from fat, but this can be a slow conversion and is a system that needs to be trained.

The major benefit to undergoing this adaptation process is that it is well known the body can only absorb so much energy per hour. Most endurance athletes are burning much more than they can comfortably consume in the gut and will inevitably hit the notorious “wall” and bonk at some point.

​If you train your body to be able to obtain energy from your own stored body fat in a more efficient way, you can conserve your limited glucose supply for later in your training or race or when you really need it. 

If you’ve never gone through the process of training your body to burn more fat for energy, it’s something to consider. I have a 6 week program specifically for this called the Keto Reset and you can learn more about it by clicking HERE. ​

​Types of sweeteners (from best to worst…):

• NATURAL SUGARS such as unrefined raw honey, raw cane sugar, and fruit, that when unprocessed, maintain some nutrient value to the body.
  
• NATURAL SWEETENERS such as stevia. Usually an herb. It tastes sweet but is not sugar. The more they are processed, the less healthy they are.
  
• REFINED SUGARS such as white cane sugar, processed honey, agave and corn syrup. Natural in origin, but the refining process generally makes them unhealthy.
  
• SUGAR ALCOHOLS such as xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol and mannitol. Real food but highly processed. These sugar alcohols are incompletely structured and are likely to cause digestive upset.
  
• ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS such as splenda and aspartame. These are man made chemicals that are made to taste sweet. Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, Nutrisweet and Equal, which carry no caloric value,  have been shown to increase your risk of a metabolic syndrome by more than 34%. Additionally, there is a 43% increase of a vascular event (such as stroke and heart attacks) in those that consume artificial sweeteners regularly.

Since athletes need to consume carbohydrates to fuel longer workouts, finding the right sugars in the right balance is key! Stay with me as we explore exactly how to do this over the next few weeks.​

Understanding blood sugar and learning how to balance it takes a bit of time.  That is why, rather than inundating you with information, I have decided to dedicate the entire month of September to teaching you the ins and outs of blood sugar and how balancing it can be crucial to your athletic performance and overall health.

Coming up next, we continue to talk about blood sugar, with a stronger focus on how to find a better balance between carbs, fats and proteins so you can fuel your workouts appropriately and not put yourself at risk for developing disease.

If you have any questions about blood sugar, you can email me!  And, if you’re ready to take the next step by becoming a fat burning machine rather than an exhausted sugar burner, then sign up for the Keto RESET Program waitlist!  This 6 week course is dedicated to teaching you how to transition your body so that it can efficiently burn fat for fuel allowing you to experience vitality and great health.

​

The steroid hormones are one classification of hormones that are secreted by the steroid glands: the adrenals, the testes, the ovaries, and the placenta during pregnancy.

Steroid hormones can be grouped into two classes: corticosteroids (typically made in the adrenal cortex) and sex steroids (typically made in the gonads or placenta). Within those two categories, there are five main steroid hormones secreted by these glands:

• Androgens including testosterone and androstenedione
• Estrogens including estrone, estradiol and estriol
• Progestogens including progesterone
• Mineralocorticoids including aldosterone
• Glucocorticoids including cortisol

Steroid hormones are classified as fat-soluble and can pass through cell membranes, where they bind to their receptor site inside the cell wall (as opposed to water soluble hormones which bind to receptors on the cell wall). Being fat-soluble, it is no surprise that the building block required to create all steroid hormones is also a fat, which is cholesterol.

Approximately 75% of all cholesterol in the body is made within the body (mainly in the liver). The other 25% comes from diet.

When there is a growing demand for higher amounts of the steroid hormones, our liver can respond by producing more cholesterol. If the liver cannot keep up with the demand of cholesterol required to meet the need of all the steroid hormones, the body will be forced to choose which steroid hormones are more important than others.

Typically, this results in a phenomenon known as the “pregnenolone steal”.​

REFERENCES:
1. Lowman, Amy Ancient Stress Response vs Modern Life October 23, 2016. 
2. 5 Key Strategies and Best Supplements for Adrenal Support. 

A full night of sleep is important because the stages are not divided equally throughout the night. In the early hours of sleep, the majority of our sleep is made up of non-REM sleep and very little REM sleep. In the second half of a night's sleep, our cycle shifts to be mostly REM sleep and less non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep is deeper and more restorative than lighter, dream-infused REM sleep. Additionally, the major period of human growth hormone release occurs during the first period of stage 3 non-REM sleep during the night, about an hour after you first fall asleep.

 These are just some of the reasons that Dr. Matthew Walker, head of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, and other sleep experts say that sleeping from midnight until 8am is not the same thing as sleeping from 10pm-6am because the shift from non-REM to REM sleep happens at certain times of the night regardless of when you go to bed. If improved memory and tissue growth/repair isn’t enough of a reason to get to bed early, maybe learning more about the consequences of poor sleep will be.​

To optimize your performance, health, productivity, lifespan, safety and ability to learn, not only do you need to get regular sleep, but that sleep needs to be quality sleep. 

To ensure the right quantity and quality of sleep, there are some sleep foundations you should follow:

Follow a sleep schedule. Every single night at the same time, you should start a series of actions that should stay the same from night to night. The sun setting can be a good trigger to start this routine in the winter, however, in the summer when days are long, setting a standing alarm can help remind you that it’s time to finish eating, put on your blue light blocking glasses, turn off all screens and start winding down.

Eat a diet that promotes quality sleep at the right times.

• Eat a dinner full of melatonin rich foods, such as: tart black cherries, almonds, walnuts, corn, rice and ginger root.
• Avoid caffeine, including chocolate after 12pm
• Avoid alcohol before bed
• Avoid large meals and beverages 2 hours before bedtime

​
Avoid intense exercise 2-3 hours before bedtime. If your fasted morning blood sugar is higher than ideal, choose 20-30 minutes of a relaxing activity before bed, like gentle walking.

Get your daily dose of natural sunlight for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. If you work in front of a computer all day and wear blue light blocking glasses, make sure you take them off periodically throughout the day and allow your eyeballs to see the natural sunlight. If you can not get out into the natural sun, consider morning exposure to artificial light for at least 1 hour.

Only nap before 3pm.

Schedule time for relaxation for at least 20 minutes before bed. Espom salt baths, foot soaks, reading and meditation are all great options.

Create a bedroom that is most conducive for proper sleep.

• Avoid electronics in the bedroom
• Create complete darkness
• The general suggested temperature for an ideal night's sleep is between 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Invest in comfortable and non-toxic clothing, pillow, mattress and linens.

Avoid medications that cause stimulation before bed. Some examples of these medications are hypertension, allergy, and thyroid medications. Consult with your doctor about options for taking these medications at earlier times of day in order to optimize your ability to sleep.

Don’t stay in bed if you haven’t fallen asleep after 30 minutes. Instead, move to another room and do something relaxing, like read a paperback book. Avoid jumping onto your phone to check social media, emails or play games. Once you start to feel tired again, move back into bed.

​If you are consistently following the 9 sleep foundations above, and are still experiencing constant fatigue and irritability during the day after getting 7-9 hours of sleep, waking up several times during the night, staying awake for more than an hour without being capable of falling back to sleep, or taking longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep, it might be time to seek out a sleep specialist for help.