Mary Eggers

As life is settling back to normal…. well my version of it, we’ve begun to look forward as you know. By the way if you’d like to read some terrific race reports, hop on over to Train-This and become our fan on FaceBook, we’ve got em all linked there. Then get out the tissues. And yes we are taking athletes right now for our Ironman Lake Placid 2011 Team, and for our entire 2011 team for that matter. Just shoot us an email at mary “dot” eggers ”at” gmail ”dot” com. The best way to contact me is through email, often times I am in places where I can’t pick up the phone.

Stay tuned as this week we will go through some of the power files from my athletes at Ironman Lake Placid. Those who used power did so extremely well. I will use their files to show you how a good Ironman bike ride is executed and why power can be so helpful.

As I have stated before I take an extremely hard stance on nutrition, especially as it relates to training and life. I am this way because my body has been through some serious things and the true way to repair it is from the inside out. The human body has an amazing ability to heal with two things: nutrition and patience.

Questions this week ave revolved around nutrition (and as always keep the questions coming!). Nutrition and a busy life to be exact. When you eat well you save three things: time, money and energy. Since I have been eating in the core my grocery bill has dropped by about $40.

So what is the Core all about? Well of course I would recommend going straight to the horse’s mouth: The Core Diet Website. The Core was developed by my coach, Jesse Korpelnicki, founder of QT2 whom I refer to as The Wizard.

If I had to break it down to simple terms, as if I am the cliff notes version of the Core, I would break it down into these nuggets:

1. Eat four fruits per day: This is easy. One of my favorite ways to get em all in at once is to throw mango and strawberries into the Magic Bullet with some water. Blend for 10 seconds and then go. Don’t have a Magic Bullet? You need one. It will change your life.

2. Eat four vegetables per day: Believe it or not this is easier than it sounds. I blend a serving of baby spinach into my whey protein drink every morning (another Magic Bullet specialty). You don’t even taste it. 2 cups of lettuce = 2 servings. 1 serving of broccoli in the evening…. done!

3. Get your carbohydrate sources from the good sources: This sounds hard, but isn’t. I have been a swimmer all my life which means that I grew up on bagels and pasta. Those are great sources of carbohydrates, but try placing them in a workout window instead so that you can use them.  Eating a  big hank of carbohydrates outside a workout window is going to raise your blood sugar, prepping for a workout almost….. and then kabam. Crash. Carbohydrates are necessary and important, did you know you can get them from fruits and veggies also? and did you know that when you place carbohydrates within the workout windows you can actually use them for what they were intended for? FUEL!

4. Protein ain’t just for body builders. I often have to laugh. In locker rooms I often hear chatter of women afraid to lift weights because they don’t want to look like steroid girl, and don’t want to eat protein for the same reason. Especially as an athlete protein becomes extremely important in the rebuilding of the muscle fibers we constantly break down. Protein doesn’t mean shakes and bars either. Tuna, chicken, beans, fish, they are all good sources. Ever see those Tuna packets in the tuna isle? Often times mixed with mustard or something? easy to carry around and eat whenever. To look like a bodybuilder you have to eat and train like a bodybuilder. You won’t look that way by eating protein and lifting weights.

5. Use coffee wisely: The vice of Mary Eggers. Let me be honest, I am a work in progress when it comes to coffee. When the Wizard asks me how I am doing with the coffee… my interpretation of this is have you had enough? The Wizard’s interpretation of this is … have you cut down? When I answer good…… my interpretation of that answer is…. I have almost had enough coach. I am almost at full throttle. He’s right, and the true time to cut it down is the week before a race. I will paraphrase the Wizard here…..  when we show up to an Ironman, we’ve had a big cup of coffee, Mike Riley is screaming in the microphone, and we are nervous. Our heart rate is high. The cannon goes off, the swim is exciting, we exit the water and we are still jacked up. Then we hit hour four, five and six of the Ironman, where it gets lonely… and then we start to shut down…. so by clearing the system of caffeine the week before a race we set ourselves up to use caffeine wisely. When we need it. When our peripheral system begins to shut down. So we build into caffeine during 70.3 / Ironman races through the use of 1 X and 2 X caffeinated gels and such. Use it to help you when you need it. We can also use it before key workout sessions but want to be careful as to now allow it to block our perceived exertion. So think about when you take that cup of java, and I will be cutting down and posting my progress.

Along with these points are the good old standards: lots of water every day, a multivitamin and  fish oil.

I take some time each week to get everything I need ready for the week. Many days I have 30 seconds to spare. It would be easier to skip it all and just drive through Tim Horton’s three times a day. I have said it before and I will say it again, when your body has been through what mine has….. you take the time to do this. If I have time, you have time.

I carry a Timbuktu bag and in it you will always find: a packet of tuna, raisins (a nice high alkaline food that is excellent in the post workout window), and a protein bar of some sort. That way if I get hungry I don’t hit the drive thru, I hit the bag.

I carry around a Nalgeine water bottle. I refill it 3 times per day.

Wegmans has started to make these really neato little travel sized bags of salad toppings. Garbanzo beans, onions, everything you need to top your salad. I buy a bunch of those and grab and go. I also have my sweet baby lettuce divided into containers so I can grab and go. Top that salad with some perdu pre cooked grilled chicken and bam!

Sometimes I buy packets of apples already sliced. A banana goes anywhere.

I teach yoga at a studio where fresh organic food is readily available. Now that Breathe packs their fresh food in containers I can grab a Buddha Bowl and go. Grilled tofu… never thought I’d eat but Santino has it ready to go at all times.

Nutrition is one of the four pillars of things that matter on race day. Nutrition also matters in life. Eat every 2-3 hours. Eat often, eat well. Keep your blood sugar stable and you will not only notice a difference in the quality of your life, but of your performance!

Lastly, I was asked why I think athletes who claim to not pay attention to nutrition are attention seekers. Good question. It’s like the people who post their weight on FaceBook. They want the reaction. “Wow, you are so small.” Or “Wow, you do so well and don’t even pay attention.”  Or how about the athlete who claims to never train then pops off a 34 minute 10K.  Don’t go looking for it from others. Look for it in yourself. Have a leap of faith. Trust you. Don’t rely on the outward reaction of other people to bump your self-worth. You will find that the same knife will cut you too. Oh, I have been around the block a few too many times! And I am a jerk. But I am honest.

Tomorrow: training and racing fuel !

I am home. I am exhausted, exhilirated, inspired, emotional. Ironman does that to me. Coaching 12 athletes through an Ironman is harder than doing one, at least on the day. I cried. I smiled. I felt so much emotion. I am not one of those coaches who watches the start and then leaves. I am there at 5am collecting special needs bags and I am there to see the last one finish. The last one was Mark, and I don’t think he ever saw me screaming at him. He was in the freaking ZONE!

I have so much more to say about Ironman Lake Placid. I jammed that trip full. I love this feeling of tired. Like I played and played hard. Thanks to Kim, T Bone, White Hot and Ultra Adam for being my support crew through the day, and to the QT2 folks as well.

When Luc got home from summer school he wanted to ride. I keep getting asked by others if it ever gets old. NO. Three weeks later, four days of hard training and no sleep. When Luc asks me to ride it makes me drool in excitement.

5 miles today. We took off the balance bar. As we were riding through the apartments by our house I got out the video. And yes I do work hard on this Blair Witch Project videography skill I have.

Thanks to all 10 of you who stated you’d run with mme at 5am this morning! Why did Glenn and Jeremy drive by me at 0506 running alone? Oh! Becasue none of you panzies SHOWED UP!!!! Boys. Something about needing your beauty sleep. Especially the QT2 boys. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!

It was a great run. Thanks for asking.

Next was the QT2 breakfast. I might have shown up with a full sized venti tall cup of Pike Place in fear that there would be no coffee tall cup of decaf coffee, in a Venti sized cup so it’d fit in the bottle cage of my water bottle holder on my mountain bike because I drink that small of a volume.

For the record….. when the Wizard asks me how I am doing with the coffee, my definition of the question is: have you had enough? While his might be…. are you off it yet? My answer then is: I am doing great, which to him means… off of it… and to me means….. I am almost at full throttle coach.

Okay… for the record again: I have significantly cut down and after this weekend (I am pulling long hours WORKING HERE: training, Kan jam, and maybe even an UBU!) I shall cut down again.

Moving on.

I was ready for white hot. Carbon fiber bike. Bontrager race wheels. 11/26 cassette. Tubulars. Ready was my middle name. When he showed up with his $400 road bike I was not afraid. When he said he’d ride my pace I made the sign of the cross and hoped for the best. Determined to show him what I had on the bike, we set off for a loop of the ride.

45 minutes in… I flatted. By then we had caught up to Dan, Chuck and my new FaceBook friend Al.

Al whipped out his 4G iPhone video camera stating that he was going to video my tubular change.

I happen to be able to change a tubular and change a tubular well. The 7 minutes that was added on to the experience was the 3 C02 cartridges I blew through with the holder I found. Yeah. Who is cool. White Hot was impressed. I may have gotten a little nervous on camera. I may have dropped a few F Bombs (sorry Sister Rosemary!!!!!)

So were Dan and Chuck and my new video taping Al. So much that they disappeared after that.

Who is cool???? Mary freaking Eggers that’s who!!!!

The loop was fine, uneventful otherwise.

After a meeting at Starbucks we hit the lake. We rode our bikes into town and I forgot my bathing suit. So for the first time ever I had to go COMMANDO in my WETSUIT!

I defeated White Hot around the course by at least 2 minutes by the way.

After seeing stars after we finished we solved that problem by eating in the workout window…. a pop tart, some high glycemic carbohydrate replacement food.

We then joined up with Kim, Travis and Ultra Adam at the Brew Pub. Which was 8,000 degrees farenheit… Kim’s training for IM Kentucky and we are heat acclimation her. I might admit to drinking an UBU or 2. And confessing to some of my teammates. But it’s Placid for God’s sake and tomorrow is a long day.

Whew.

The team is ready. During all of this bad behavior the team is resting. They are ready. Now we need to rest. More to come!

Only in Lake Placid NY can I be running at 6 something in the evening. 3000 athletes are at an athlete dinner and meeting down the road. And who finds me? 

White Hot. 

White Hot? 

White Hot. 

No that’s not his real name. White Hot is Ryan. for the record I have defeated White Hot in an Ironman. 

White Hot!

Ironman Florida 2007: Me…. 10:58 White Hot….. 12:3X. 

Okay so he was throwing up. And sharting himself. To fully understand that day, and why he’s called White Hot…. you need to begin at the beginning. Click here for that. He came back in 2008, and my husband came out of Ironman retirement. Why? well because frankly my husband had been chicked and wifed. I beat his Ironman time. (yeah, Curt handedly smashed that with a 9:54 by the way). On that day in 2008 White Hot and Curt became “sub ten doodes.”  And another Ironman bromance was born. for the record his daughter and my son seemed a match made in heaven. AND his amazing wife (COMMANDER IN THE NAVY), is a nurse! It was like our families were made for each other! 

So I was running in Lake Placid around 6 something. White Hot finds me. Ironically he was driving a small white car. He will be staying at the House of fun (the house we rented) tomorrow night and was looking for a hotel (we are over full tonight). He’s promised me company on my 5am run, and company on my 11 am bike. He’s here to check out the course and sign up for 2011. 

White Hot will mean trouble. 

It was a great day here in Placid. I lost the swim challenge to the Wizard by 15 seconds (I think?). I may have rounded the corners of the course (aka: cut them), but I was happy with that. T Bone smashed us all by over 3 minutes. 

I hopped on the bike for a few hours and checked out the course. While  it was raining it was still gorgeous. I have ridden this course in everything but snow and it’s amazing each time. The road crews were out sweeping and patching up some rough spots in the road. 

There is only one thing to remember on Sunday: there is one word for this course: PATIENCE. 

And now last but not least, the final two  of the twelve Train-This Ironman Team. Chris and Don. 

Chris Leonardi 

I’ve been working with Chris for 3 years now, and each year of course… he’s seen improvement. A student of the sport I remember Chris telling me that after he hit the submit button for this race he threw up. Atta BOY! The deeper Chris got into this Ironman thing the more forgetful he became. He told us one day about bringing his transition bag to work rather than his briefcase. Another day he left the van in the driveway….. in drive and it rolled out. He’s the father of two daughters and husband to the equally as lovely Val. He told me that he has memorized the “Four Keys” and the “Our Father” for Ironman day! 

Don Ehinger 

Don and Chris are BFF. Luckily Don is the father of 2 daughters and the lovely Brenda, and these ladies put up with all of us down in Galveston. Even when I called Don’s phone when I was picking him up for the race…. and woke Brenda up…. she was kind as could be (while I melted in embarrassment). Don used to race cars. He’s an old school swimmer. He’s another amazing student of the sport. 

I save these two guys for last because they are like the Dad’s of the team. Not because of their age, they are under 45!  But because they take good care of the rest of us. They and their families invited us all into their Placid rental home and cooked us a feast of all feasts last night. They keep us focused yet they help bring laughter, on our google group they banter back and forth, and so many times those are the little laughs that we need in our day. 

They also carry around an Ironman doll. from the move Ironman. I got a voicemail of that doll screaming…. I AM IRONMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was tied to a pole at the party. 

Oh man that don’t sound right. 

Ahhhhh…. okay. There they are. All twelve Train-This athletes getting ready for the most exciting day of their lives. Are they ready….. hell yes they are.