Goals

I met with Catherine last week to talk about nutrition for IMTX training. I had a couple of options on who to get to do my nutrition. On the one hand, my coach, Gaye, is a registered dietitian and extremely knowledgeable about sports nutrition, especially for endurance athletes. This one-stop shop for coaching and nutrition might be a little more convenient but for me, there's really not another option besides Catherine. She's my friend. She has taught me so much about weight loss. To the point, Jan and I love her.

So, my coach, Gaye, wanted to know from Catherine what our plan was. Gaye wanted me to talk to Catherine about my nutrition periodization plan. See, Gaye is (as I am) interested in my performance for IMTX. She wants me to finish the race. And that's a great thing. I would expect nothing more from my coach. But Catherine asked me an interesting question. She asked, "Vic, what's more important? Finishing an Ironman, or living a long, healthy life at a healthy weight?" I thought about this for a few days before meeting with Catherine. I really struggled with why those two things would be mutually exclusive. Can't I live a long, healthy life at a healthy weight AND finish an Ironman? When Cat and I finally sat down, we just said, yes, the two things can be done but getting to my final goal weight is #1. I'm so on board with that.

It's funny 'cause when you talk about losing weight, that obviously involves eating less calories than you burn. And much of IM training is about fueling the "machine", replacing calories, keeping the tank full and fueling for the next workout. Really, IM training and weight loss are opposing forces. I talked to Gaye about my really wanting to lose weight and she said from her perspective, it would be a shame to go through all this training and not be able to finish because I'm not getting enough calories. I was like, "Yeah, that sounds right." Then Catherine dropped the bomb. She said, "What would be a shame would be to FINISH an Ironman and still weigh 260 pounds." And I've gotta hand it to her. That a REAL perspective and something I've gotta think about. See, I've accomplished a lot as an athlete this past year. But I've stayed relatively flat on the weight loss. So, another year has gone by and I'm still not at my goal weight, my ideal weight. Yes, I'm down 115 pounds from my highest weight but I'm NOT FINISHED. Just think, had I finished and gotten down to 210-215 by now how much easier my IM training would have been. And Cat is right. The real tragedy would be to go another 6 months, finish and Ironman, accomplish so much but still be over 250.

So, instead of talking about meal plans and our nutrition plan for the IM, Cat and I talked about my goals. Most importantly, we talked about my #1 goal.

#1, LOSE WEIGHT. My goal is to get to 210-215. The best opportunity to do that is during the first 12-16 weeks of training when my volume is high and intensity is low. So, we're looking at 2-3 pounds a week to get us most of the way to my goal before the higher intensity workouts start and I need to take in lots more carbs.

#2. Finish the training. My big goal is to finish this training and get to the start line. If I do that. If I get to the line healthy and ready and start the race, I will consider that a success.

#3 Finish the IM.

So, that's where I'm at. I'm logging everything that passes between my lips. Every calorie, every apple, every piece of chicken, everything. Counting calories. Carbing up with more fruits and vegetables and less grains and pastas.

Keeping the main thing the main thing.