XTERRA Wetsuits are the BOMB!

Quick run I took at lunch along the cliffs in La Jolla

Just a few days after I touched down in Phoenix, after racing in Dallas, I packed up and left for San Diego.  This time, no racing involved, just smiling... :)

XTERRA Wetsuits had a two day photo shoot, in their hometown of beautiful San Diego.
Their goal was to gather images for use on their website and other media purposes.  We all had the pleasure of working with Tim Tadder, who aside from being a kick ass photographer is a very entertaining person!!  The first day of shooting was on location, meaning at the beach!! This provided all of us that were taking part in the photo shoot the opportunity to actually test the wetsuits in action!  Usually having a wetsuit on for 5-6 hours at a time would be a nightmare, but I honestly forgot I was wearing one--the swim cap got uncomfortable before the suit ever did!

Not only were the suits and photographer awesome, but all of the people involved in making the shoot happen were amazing.  Both Tim's and XTERRA's teams were extremely organized which actually allowed us to get out early from the shoot the second day and allowed me to get back home to Phoenix before midnight :)  Thank you all again for a wonderful experience!

The Group from Day 1! 

Now that you know how awesome these people are...let's focus on the suits...

The first suit I got to test was the Vendetta, which is XTERRA's newest suit; extremely light weight, thin and buoyant. How can it be thin and buoyant? It has air pockets built into the suit so the material is flexible and keeps your body in an ideal position on top of the water.  I was blown away! I'm not usually a fan of wetsuits at all, but this made swimming in a wetsuit very comfortable and the mobility in this suit was unmatched by any I had ever swam in before.  This is the suit I will be racing in from now on (that is until XTERRA decides to come out with an even more genius suit)!

Me, Sarah, Jenny || Day 1

The other two styles of suits I got to test were the Velocity, which is XTERRA's speed suit and the Vortex which is XTERRA's best-selling suit.  I was very impressed with both.  The speed suit fits just like a fast suit meant for swimming only--it has a nice light weight build with hydrophobic properties on the outside of the suit.  The zipper in the back makes for an easy exit out of the suit in T1.  The Vortex was more comfortable than any of the wetsuits I had tried prior to this photo shoot.  It was flexible and buoyant and although it was heavier than the Vendetta, I was still able to wear it for >5 hours without noticing any discomfort!

Wearing the Vector Pro!

Another exciting piece that made an appearance at the photo shoot were the all-new Lava Pants... I  won't give too much away as they are not yet available, but after picking Glynn's (Turquand, co-owner) brain about this new training tool, I am very excited for it to become available!!  Check out xterrawetsuits.com and facebook.com/xterra.wetsuits for updates on the pants' upcoming debut!!

Jenny, Me, Kelly || Day 2

And now you get how awesome these products are...I have an important announcement to make!!

I have teamed up with XTERRA wetsuits for the 2013 season!  As I mentioned above they provide the most flexible wetsuits on the market and they really know how to hire great people, so their customer service is absolutely top notch.  Click their logo to the right and use the code SA-TRUXES to get a huge discount, and take advantage of their 30-day return policy (take it for a spin, see if it fits, if not exchange it for your best fit!) !!  Feel free to contact me with questions about my experience in the suits!

Until next time :)

Location Day 1

@nicoletruxes

Racing in the Lone Star State

It seems like it has been about a month since I race in Dallas on June 1, but in reality it has only been a day more than a week!

The Thursday before the race, Lucas and I stepped off a plane into muggy Dallas, TX to get set for the Pan American Cup taking place on Saturday.

The venue for this race was definitely one of the nicest I have been to!  The logistics were amazing--the airport is an easy 20 minute freeway drive away from the hotel and the race itself takes place at the hotel--virtually no travel once you're there!!

Convenient Swim Venue!

Leading up to the race I knew weather was certainly going to be a factor, the forecast kept changing from no rain and super hot, to a higher and higher chance of thunderstorms every day.  The day before it looked as though the women would finish just in time for the storms to start, but the men would not be so lucky.  In actuality, it was just windy and threatening to storm while the women were racing (thank goodness for clouds), and then the sun decided to come out right in time for the men's race.

The water temperature of the lake was perfect, practically pool water, which I was super excited for--no shivering; off to a good start!! The method of start for the swim was a dive off the side of the lake, which was also much to my advantage with my swimming background.  The only unfortunate thing about the swim is that it ended up being a couple minutes short, and I really wish I would have kicked it up a notch a little earlier before exiting the water.  Regardless of the length and late acceleration, I came out of the water 3rd!  I haven't been in the front pack of a swim yet in an ITU race, and this has been a point of frustration for me coming from a swimming background; definitely a highlight of the race!

Transition was kind of crazy and an obvious point of improvement for me in the future; it's not my skills that are lacking anymore, it's my intensity.  The other girls had such ferocity running into and out of transition, whereas I look like a little girl running through a daisy field...  Building this aggression in transition will help me to get a better position earlier in the game and not have to fight for the spot I want!

The bike was a good experience.  In the previous two draft legal races this season I have been in small packs of 3-5 where it is very easy to organize and work together (as long as everyone is willing).  This pack was 10 right out of transition and 11 by the end of the bike.  The benefit to this large pack was the amount of energy I saved in the draft, however, the downside was the lack of organization.  It was tough to make any moves to get further away from the packs behind us.

Finally the run... I started out a little behind because I made a silly move on the last lap of the bike.  I was near the front most of the final lap and the final turn was very close to transition.  Right before this turn, everyone rushed to the front to get into T2 first. If I would have been smart, I would have maintained my position, instead I watched everyone go by me--don't know what I was thinking! I didn't think twice about it while in the race and moved on--I had a plan for the run, I was ready to have a good run off the bike for the first time this season.  I started out strong and made up some of the distance that I lost out of T2.  The first couple of laps were good, I could feel my energy building and I

On the run, probably before I bonked :)

was slowly getting closer to the girls in front of me.  The fourth lap came around and I was starting to get that fog where you know you're racing, but you just can't think anymore (aka brain running out of glucose!) and next thing I know volunteers are yelling at me because I'm running on the wrong side of the road! Ran into a little bit of a bonk... I tried my best to snap out of it; grabbing cold sponges and water at every station.  The girls from the pack behind me were starting to get dangerously close. I told myself to hold them off as long as possible... sure enough, lap 5 started and I was passed by the first girl of the second bike pack and I knew there were others behind her that could very well run me down.  I told myself, "2500 meters left, no one else passes you!" I tried to stick with the girl that passed me, but she was going WAY faster than me and instead I settled into the best pace I had left and held my position to the finish.  I've never felt so unstable crossing a finish line, and realized it was a lack of nutrition that really restricted my performance.  I was still extremely excited because I went 4 minutes faster than in Sarasota (I didn't know the swim was short at the time) and I still felt I raced the best I could.  I ended up 11th, which is the highest finish I've had in an ITU race so far this season :)

Lessons:
-Even when it's hot and you don't feel like taking in nutrition, you still need it!
-Transitions are part of the race, obviously when you're trying to catch a pack, but for optimal positioning as well!!
-I am finally becoming a swimmer again! :)

Lucas, best support crew ever :) <3

Thank you to my wonderful boyfriend, Lucas for coming with and making this trip essentially stress free!  Thank you to my coach, Brian Grasky for continuing to make me faster, and thank you to Trisports.com for your support this season!
No race is ever perfect, and this one was certainly far from it, but I came away from the experience excited for my next opportunity to race this format and it certainly solidified my desire to race the ITU circuit!

Until next time :)

@nicoletruxes

It's All in the Details

May has been a great month (so far!)--another race, another birthday, always lessons :)

The Tempe International is a local race here in, you guessed it, Tempe!  It took place Sunday, May 19th.  It also served as the Arizona Club Championships.  I was really

Pre-Race, lots of people ready to race :)

excited about this race for many reasons. 1- racing when you can sleep in your own bed is amazing! 2- having your family there to support you is also absolutely amazing!! 3- this race has a reputation of being HOT (temperature wise of course ;) ) and this is perfect prep for upcoming races this Summer.  Needless to say I was excited going in!

Race morning started and it was much cooler than I expected...around 75* when I was leaving my car! The race start got pushed back by about 45 minutes so things warmed up really fast.  Water temperature was mid-70s so according to USAT rules it was wetsuit legal, however, I opted to swim without the wetsuit.

Scopin' a buoy, so much easier sans wetsuit!

This was the first detail of the day I was very glad about!  Swimming without a wetsuit, for me, is SO much better--so much more freedom and control.  If you are a former swimmer and you feel like you never quite settle into proper body position when wearing a wetsuit, give a non-wetsuit swim a try--it's been my fastest swim yet this season!

The bike was good, the course was very similar to Marquee, which I raced a month ago.  The familiarity with the course allowed me to take a little bit riskier turns because I knew where all of the bumps and loose gravel were. I still haven't quite figured out how to go "balls to the

Never realized there was so much Flora in Tempe :)

walls" on the bike portion yet, but I'm making progress.

Finally, the run was bittersweet...I brought a cooler to leave in transition with two baggies of ice--one for the bike and one for the run.  I forgot the first bag when leaving for the bike, but didn't really miss it as the temperature hadn't risen over 90* yet.  So on my way out of T2, I grabbed a bag to later stuff in my suit.  The thought of shoving it down the front of my suit sounded shockingly cold so I opted to tuck it in the back of my suit like you would a shirt on a long run, this was a bad idea.  The bag started bouncing out of my suit and while I managed to grab it, not two seconds later, it slipped out of my hands and exploded open on the ground--bye bye ice pack! I didn't let my mind linger on it long and redirected my focus (to other things I needed to deal with like clipping my race belt on).  The whole first mile was dedicated to getting "situated" and after that I must have been on some kind of endorphin high because everything felt easy and I was honestly having a great time.  I rounded the corner to run up the bridge (over the bridge is the end of lap 1 and it's a short bridge!) after just seeing Lucas and my Dad...I smiled at them, happy as can be, and then I realized, I've never done that in a race..? What is so

Really happy to see Lucas and my Dad!

different? I also realized that I hadn't really checked my watch up until that point...I glanced down and realized why I was so happy--I was no where NEAR the pace I should have been at! Oops! I don't know what I was thinking--heat brain, blonde moment--whatever it was I started booking it over the bridge!  My second lap was only ~10-15 sec per mile faster than my first because I just couldn't get my wheels going any faster. So my run split left much to be desired, but at least I learned a valuable lesson that it is much easier to slow down than to speed up!

One last little detail... I won! I've never won a triathlon before, so even though it was a local race, I was super excited!  As always...I'm very excited to see that my hard work is translating into results, but I am definitely not satisfied and look forward to the next opportunity to improve!

About to cross the finish line, for my first triathlon win :)

THANK YOU to my coach Brian Grasky and Trisports.com for the continued support!!!



Last bit of news... I turned twenty-three last week!  It was a very low key, but awesome birthday.  I made it through the whole day without crying about being one year closer to thirty (I have a track record of doing that ;) ) mostly thank you to my wonderful Lucas :)

Watching the sunset with my love :)

Music Recommendations!

Lucas is working on a new project that I'm VERY excited 

for him to release, so coming soon... but for now, he added
a couple of old tunes he's been holding onto since last
Summer when we were living with James (Crimson) in
Brentwood
Check it out: www.soundcloud.com/valeasmusic

Also recently released, Daft Punk put out their first album 

since 2005--Random Access Memories.

Instant Crush by Daft Punk 

^This is my favorite song off the album!

Until next time :)

 @nicoletruxes

Lucas took me to Macayo's for Dinner <3

Spontaneity

The Line-Up

Normally everything I do is planned in advance... at least a week, month, maybe more.  Last weekend I threw planning out the window and took the most spontaneous trip I've ever taken!  Lucas and a couple of his buddies have been planning to go to Coachella pretty much since it ended last year.  A few hours before he was set to leave, we found out there was a ticket for me AND his friend was going to give it to me for free... I decided that if I was ever going to make a last minute decision, this was the time!!

For those of you that don't know, Coachella is a three-day music festival held in Coachella Valley, CA.  It started in 1999 and has been turning heads ever since.  Over the years, this festival has become so big

Sunset on the first day :)

that they had to make two weekends to accommodate all of the festival goers.  Along with the amazing performances at this festival, there was rarely a dull moment of people watching :)

I've been a long time fan of the Postal Service even though they have only ever put out one full length album. I absolutely love their song Nothing Better...so I think this takes the cake as my favorite performance--great stage chemistry, excellent live vocals, and this song is a valuable piece of nostalgia to me :).




Another highlight was Sigur Rós, who I've also been a fan of for a little over 7 years now!! They are an Icelandic band with some absolutely beautiful music. I have never seen them live before and seeing this made me want to go see them a million more times!


(ps both of those videos are stolen from youtube...I did not capture any excellent video footage of any of the performances!)

What I took away from the weekend (other than a deep desire to play music again) is that sometimes it pays to play it by ear: no plans, no expectations, just living :)  I never would have thought I would

One of many cool pieces of art showcased over the weekend;it slowly moved around the whole  venue!

enjoy something so unplanned. I tend to be a control freak in the worst kind of way... normally I need to have an idea of how everything is going to play out before I even think about doing something and with this I had about 30 minutes to decide to go, and a few hours until we were actually there and it was SO MUCH FUN! Plus, spending three days out of my normal training schedule, doing different workouts in a different environment, made me anxious and excited to get back to the normal training regimen :)  Thank you again to Angel for the ticket and Lucas for bringing me along :)

Day 2 Lucas, Angel and I on our way to catch the evening shows :)

On another, more tri-related note...earlier this month I raced in the Lifetime Fitness Marquee triathlon.  This race was on the heels of Collegiate Nationals at the same venue and almost the same exact course. I happen to live just outside of Tempe so this was a really fun weekend for me!  On Friday and Saturday I got to go and support my former team, the University of Arizona Tricats who are also coached my by coach, Brian Grasky!  Friday was a draft legal race and Saturday had a non-draft race in the morning and a draft legal relay in the afternoon. The Tricats did SO well as a team with the highest women's team ranking in Tricat history; I'm so proud to say that once upon a time I was a Tricat too!!

Sunday was a big day of racing all its own--not only was there a Sprint and Olympic distance for Marquee, but there was also the Leadman 125 that went off an hour before my race start.  Leadman had a pretty large pro field and seemed like a pretty tough course!

Feel silly with a watermarked pic but it's all I have! Crossing the finish :)

Marquee was a really neat race for me because although I am from Tempe, I have NEVER raced there!! It was so much fun to have my parents (and Lucas of course!) come and watch and to run into different families that I knew back in my swimming days!
The race itself was a toughie, the bike course was designed to have 3 extra miles and it doesn't seem like much on paper, but when the rubber meets the road it makes a pretty big difference!  My focus going into the race was to give the hardest effort I could on the swim and bike, perfect transitions and
hold on for as long as possible on the run.  I rarely ever go into a race with this mentality...usually I am conservative to start and save something for the run.  It was very interesting throwing caution to the wind and I learned that I can really go a lot harder than I ever thought possible!  I was first female out of the water and ended up 2nd overall to an Australian olympian, Maxine Seer!  Like always, tons to improve upon; each race is a little lesson in my pursuit to be the best I can be!!

                                             ^Lucas caught the last part of my run on film :)



Naturally while at Coachella I came across some new sounds that I enjoy so I thought I'd share my discoveries with you!!

All of Me by Tanlines
^fun, "dancey" sound, makes me want Summer time to come faster!!

What You Know by Two Door Cinema Club
^was really impressed with their performance and I actually really like their Pandora station!


Until Next Time :) @nicoletruxes

A Whole Lotta Racin'

Sooner than expected, the 2013 season is in full swing.  In the past four weeks, I have completed three races; the most racing I have ever done in that span of time!  With every race comes a plethora of lessons, but I feel the learning curve this year was particularly steep.

Transition setup for Tritonman!

 My last month’s racing journey began on the sunny shores of San Diego in the first ever “Collegiate” draft legal race.  The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Triathlon team hosted this event with a non-draft race the following day.  The idea was to preview what Collegiate Nationals will be like with the addition of the draft-legal race.  I was very impressed that this team put together not one, but TWO triathlons all by themselves.  It is not an easy task to organize college students especially for such a logistically difficult event! 

The race itself was a blast with lots of surprises!  I had my first-ever run-in with marine life—a bloom, or swarm of jellyfish floated into the bay where the swim took place and many people (myself included) touched the tops of the jellyfish without knowing what it was until after the race!  I was glad to know later that it was not just mushy mud, but the top of a particularly squishy lifeform that my hand brushed mid-swim.  The next surprise came in T1…let me set the stage…air temp ~50* F, water temp somewhere in the 60*F region (with much colder pockets mid-swim)…I wore earplugs to help combat the dizziness that comes with frigid waters, but it turns out the earplugs were almost as disorienting to me!  I ran up to the transition area, promptly slid on my butt softball style through the grassy transition and then struggled to yank my wetsuit off for almost a minute until I gave in and sat down to pull it off my legs!  The embarrassment doesn’t stop there…I then ran my bike out of transition to the mount line in nothing resembling a straight line attempted to mount my bike while it is still tilted 45* in the opposite direction from my body…probably very entertaining for spectators.  Luckily, this was the end of the major surprises (and embarrassments J ) in the race and I was able to take a deep breath, catch the pack, and get my game face back on! I ended up 3^rd overall with lots of lessons and excitement to take with me to the next couple of races!

Tricats! Thanks again for letting me tag along, so fun!

Two weeks of training and anticipation went by before I boarded a plane for Orlando, FL.  En route to both my first professional and ITU race, it was almost unreal when I heard the gun go off in Clermont. First of all I couldn’t believe the strength of the women around me and second I couldn’t believe the speed!  The swimming in a professional ITU race is a whole different level and takes entirely different tactics than any swim I have ever completed before.  The swim at Clermont was unique in that the start was very shallow, but the depth varied enough that you had to switch between running, dolphin diving, and swimming.  It also funneled very quickly (because it was a sprint distance) so there were a lot of bodies trying to share the same space.  I got a hand to the mouth, tasted some blood (my own and very little!) and realized I was in for an intense swim! I was lucky enough to spread into my own spot and find a rhythm to finish out the swim.  The rest of the race seems like a blur…riding in my first pack of professional women, not really knowing what I was doing at all and furiously racing through the transitions.  I finished and couldn’t believe my first pro race was already over!  I ended up 18^th in a field with 6 Olympians (and a 10 minute PR from last year’s course)…both in awe of the talent and strength of these women and determination to finish closer to them in future races.

Finishing at Clermont!

After the race, I was fortunate to spend a few extra days in Clermont with a bunch of my teammates in the Collegiate Recruitment Program.  We stayed at the AAA tri camp honing in on our cycling skills and introducing ourselves to the unique wildlife of Florida :) I learned so much in those couple of days both about triathlon and about my fellow teammates—it was a blast! (Thank you so much to John and Jodie for being wonderful hosts to us while we were there; such a cool venue for a camp!!)

Real Lilly Pads!

Alligator friend...I believe someone named him Brevan? :)

To complete my trip, I traveled to Sarasota.  The Scott Family was so generous to take me under their wing for a long weekend.  Mr. Scott introduced me to all of his cycling buddies, “The Village Idiots” and took me on a few great rides around the area (if you're from Sarasota check out Village Bikes, great people!).  I felt like I was at a home away from home, and I’d like to say THANK YOU again!! 

Somewhere in the middle of the Bike!

The race in Sarasota took place on Saturday and had a 2:30pm start time.  Not only was this my first Olympic distance draft legal race, but definitely my first afternoon start time!  I was very antsy leading up to the race…is my stomach going to cooperate? Am I going to overheat? Is it going to be extremely windy? Lots of questions, but only one way to answer them!  Race day came and I was surprisingly calm, and mostly excited.  The weather was beautiful; cool breeze, warm sun, and clear skies.  Though the wind did pick up during the cycling portion of the race, I was lucky enough to be in a smart pack of girls and thanks to their helpful guidance, we were able to combat the wind to the best of our abilities.  Overall, I felt really solid in the race and am very hungry for the next opportunity.  Having double the distance and a diving start made for a very different feeling race and I really liked it!!  I ended up 15^th overall with almost a 10 minute Olympic distance PR.

On the run! Thanks again for the cheers and photos Mr. Scott!

After a month of racing…my lips are wet for the rest of the season, I am hungry to challenge myself on a whole new level and I’m so excited to grow in the sport of triathlon even more in the next couple of months!   

Thank you for the support from my coach, family, friends and sponsors…2013 has started off wonderfully, I can’t wait to see where the season is going!!

Onwards and upwards :)

Music recommendations:

Without getting too mushy…being gone in Florida for 10 days was amazing, but I really was missing one thing…Lucas <3 …I heard this in the airport before I was going to board the plane on my way home and it made my heart smile :) (The link below is a live version)

1234 by Plain White T’s

Some solid riding music...

Fortune Days by Glitch Mob

And finally a little bit of bragging on behalf of Lucas...some of his music was featured on a pretty big EDM blog recently :) 

TopHouseMusicBlog.com

The Magical Mystery Tour..better known as The Pursuit of a Quality Nutrition Program

So we're a month into 2013 and everyone vaguely remembers the strong resolutions they [drunkenly] toasted roughly 35 days ago.  Some resolutions were to work out more, some were to be a "better person" and some were to eat healthier...  While I'd love to preach about being a better person =P I'm here to talk about the last...NUTRITION.

The problem with creating and following a "healthy" diet is that in the field of nutrition these days there is such a broad spectrum of what is considered "healthy".  There are extremists on all ends of every nutritional argument and there are more articles online about nutrition than seemingly anything else health-related.  Why is this? Everyone has to eat! Everyone has done their own anecdotal study on what works best and everyone has been eating their whole life--true story!  How are you supposed to sift through this shit pile of information? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one must get their hands dirty when dealing with a pile of shit (or call upon their inner ninja powers and somehow magically remove the shit).  The point of this post is to help you sift through this ominous pile of fecal matter that is "nutrition articles" on the internet and maybe you'll start to see something beautiful (or at least sensible) out of this mountain of "nutrient-less" waste.

For starters...who am I to talk?  Well, I'm by no means the most qualified of all experts, but I do have a background in Nutrition (from the University of Arizona) and I have been a competitive athlete for a solid 14 years.  Now, all of those years were not dedicated to nutritional study, but I have been reading and researching, attending seminars, webinars, etc. pretty extensively these past 5 years.  This post is NOT going to be a "10 best secrets to a diet for your greatest season ever" or "Perfect Race Day Meal Plan" or anything of the sort...what I'm hoping for is to inspire YOU to research for YOURSELF and find what combination of recommendations work for YOU and your gut.

To address the first problem--the endless piles of shit that exist about nutrition on the internet.  
My guidelines for a successful search on solving your nutritional mystery:

1. Efficacy- Is this article I'm reading true?
Start by investigating what the article is saying...is it saying that there is a magical supplement that will make you faster, stronger, more energetic, etc.?  It's probably not entirely true, and if it is, it may be selling something illegal and I don't think you want to be the next Lance Armstrong, so investigate further and determine which portions, if any, of the article are actually true.
Things to watch out for:
Gimmicks (Ex: "you'll lose 10lb per week", "Gain muscle faster than ever", "Better results with less training"), Unwanted additives (Supplements are NOT regulated by the FDA, therefore, they don't have to include their entire ingredients list like normal foods do...be sure that you trust the company you are buying from and be sure they don't add any mystery ingredients that could be harmful).
Where to start:
Pub Med!  this is an EXCELLENT source if you want to find REAL information.  The information from these articles is all peer-reviewed--meaning, there has been a group of scientists that are well qualified to determine whether this fits in the general shit pile or not and they deemed this piece of research worthy of their scientific journal.  I will talk later about how to determine which of these articles is more reliable and more helpful than others when dealing with nutritional research, just be patient :)

2. Everyone is Different (just like Everyone needs to eat...and poop)- Some people have an ironclad stomach--they can eat oreos all day or right before a race and not have a problem, some people are not quite so lucky.
Read articles that are scientifically relevant that speak on all sides of an argument.  For example, a popular argument in the endurance community: to veg or not to veg? Read articles that are both for and against plant-based diets.  Go into this quest with an open mind and maybe even take notes if you're really hard core.  Write down the information from both sides of an argument and determine which side is relevant to you.  Determine if you're the kind of person that "feels better" with less meat or if you're the type of person that absolutely needs your 'Merican dose of good old beef.

3. Be Your Very Own Lab Rat--Start A Case Study- That's right, start performing lab experiments on yourself.  Not as scary as it sounds, I promise.  You are the only person that experiences every "feeling" that food gives you.  If you're really ambitious-- start a food log...write down things about your energy level, how you felt (did you bonk really hard after an hour? are your finger nails starting to fall out? did you have explosive, uncontrollable farts for your whole run? you don't necessarily need to be that explicit :) ).  Consider all aspects of food--energy level, digestion, performance--document what you eat, when you eat it.  Be a scientist!  Find out what is going to work for YOU on race day and during training.  Try different recommendations for set amount of times (2 week vegan trial, 2 week meat eating trial, etc) to see what works best for your body.  This may get really shitty at times (pun-intended) but when your stomach, muscles, brain, and heart are happy and working as a well-oiled machine on race day all the "failed tests" will be worth it.

My Personal Research--Good books I've found along the way that helped kick-start me my very own Magical Mystery Tour:


A couple years back I sat and listened to a nutrition talk given by nutrition guru and Fluid Recovery founder David Brown.  He had some AWESOME information about the timing of nutrition and recommended this read:

 This was the first of lots of research for endurance training!
Book on Amazon

I continued to struggle with nutrition and had an awful time at Wildflower in the Long Course race in 2012 so I was recommended Bob Seebohar's book: Nutrition Periodization for Athletes

This book has been a life saver for me! And I recently found out there is a version specific to Endurance Athletes!
Book on Amazon


Personally, nutrition has been a topic of research since I was about twelve years old.  My coach told us we could swim faster if we ate healthier and gave an example of one of the older girls on the team that had amazing ten second time drops after changing her diet.

I have done most every diet (except Atkins) under the sun.  I was allergic to wheat in high school and followed a mostly gluten-free diet; I never swam as fast in my best events on that diet as I did when I was younger--while diet may not have had a lot to do with it, I always wonder!

When in college I expanded my personal nutrition experimentation even further while studying it at a university level.  I was vegan the Summer leading into and most of my Senior year of college--I was convinced this was what was the best diet for me because I really did not like or crave meat and it always gave me a stomach ache. I had already abstained from red meat for three years so it was very easy to cut out all other meats as well.  After about 10 months my nails and hair stopped growing (I usually have very fast growing hair and nails!) and I'm sure there were other actual signs of malnutrition but I never went in for a blood test!

I have calorie counted, protein counted, charted my daily diets, etc. BUT  I have never been happier, felt better, or been leaner than recently when I stopped counting calories, and followed the Fuel Targets from Bob Seebohar's book^  This happens to be a comfortable resting place for me on my Mystery Tour, but the point of this whole blog is that YOU are an entirely different person and YOU should search for the key to your nutritional success :)

 So go out there, read, eat and be merry!!




Music Recs!!

Space-Time Thrombosis by Valeas 
I'm absolutely obsessed with this song right now, I refer to it as STT for short! Give the guy some new hardware and WOW!  

Starry Eyed Driver Mash-Up by Isosine 
I was totally diggin' this song during my trail run today so I thought I'd share it :)

Enjoy!! :)

@nicoletruxes 


  

An Explanation, A List [of sorts], and a 10m Platform

Greetings! I know it's been soooo long since my last post ;) but this time of year I feel is all about communication, fresh starts, and fresh ideas!  After reflecting on my year, I reflected on this blog (naturally).  I realized I'm missing something pretty major--the explanation of why it's called "Hug it Out"...it has nothing [well something, but you'll see] to do with triathlon and is pretty ambiguous. 

Hug it out.  What does that even mean? 
The first explanation that I hope comes to mind is to approach conflict with a "hugging" mentality.  I once had a coach that told me when her little boys were fighting they had to hug each other until they settled their little tiff and I thought that was really cute.  I thought about the idea of "hugging it out" as a way of working things out and it has really developed into a sort of mantra for me.  Hugging is a form of embrace.  A step to solving any problem or obstacle is looking it straight in the face and figuring out exactly what it is--in my mind I like to think of this as a sort of hug.  Hugging is also a form of affection.  So any good or positive that comes into life we want to embrace in a not so abrasive way [hug it!].  Hopefully you can kind of see where I'm going...
No matter what happens...no matter the hoops you have to jump through, or the walls you have to climb, you should always embrace them as part of your journey!  Same goes for all of the good things in life...enjoy and savor the moments that make you smile and laugh!!  Essentially to hug it out means to hug life and this is what I try [and sometimes don't succeed...no one is perfect!] to strive for :)

The List
Which actually is not going to be a list at all.  Most people will give you a list of their resolutions...kind of a reader's digest version of their goals for the year...I'm not really feeling that.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE lists...what type A personality doesn't?...I just felt that there was no good way to put "a list" of resolutions together this year.  
So, what's in store for this year? Well, my first professional season as a triathlete is at the forefront of my mind...there are so many unknowns to deal with because I really am swimming in uncharted territory!  So I decided I would focus on something that IS familiar to me to take my mind off of what I don't know (because as a human, what you don't know is automatically scary...right?).  I DO know that the community I choose to surround myself with matters.  When I say community, this is a very broad sense of the word because my community extends far beyond the city limits of Phoenix.  Community to me is really anyone that has an impact on my life.  Starting close to home of course there is my family, Lucas, and Lucas's family---huge impact, big supporters and I'm so thankful I have TWO families to love and receive support from.  Branching out to the greater Phoenix area...there are fantastic groups to ride with, lots of helpful hands and smiling faces at early hours of the morning...I'm SO thankful to live in a place where people are active and excited to be up and out on the road!!  In addition to this community of fellow athletes I also have a fantastic support system as far as coaching goes.  My coach, Brian Grasky (founder of Grasky Endurance Coaching), has shown tremendous support for me in the past year and I really look forward to working closely with him again this year!


^this is just a taste of the work they do at the Tucson Endurance Performance Center (TEPC) awesome computrainer rides...weekly group road rides, TRX, running and swimming lessons...lots of stuff and lots of knowledge :)

To apply for coaching, follow this link

I also have an exciting new form of support...a racing team!  I am officially part of Team Trisports for 2013.  This will be the first time I have linked up with a racing team in a sponsorship format.  I am excited to represent their company because I have been relying on Trisports.com for all kinds of gear and advice since I started triathlon.  I will never forget the first time I went to the store (there was only the Tucson store back then, but now they have a convenient location in Tempe just down the street from the Beach Park!!)... I needed cycling shoes, never even looked at them before, didn't know a thing about them, all I knew was I wanted the cheapest pair possible.  I asked one of the sales associates to show me where they were...he looked at me a little funny, but humored me and walked over to the cycling shoes with me...he asked if I knew which pair and I wanted and I said I knew nothing, but I wanted to spend the least money possible...an hour later I was leaving the store very well educated on cycling shoes, clips, how to clip in/out, etc AND I left spending the least amount of money possible (starving college students have no choice but to be cheap ;) )...needless to say I was pleased :)

To have your own amazing shopping experience visit one of their Retail Stores:
Tucson Location

Tempe Location

Or you can shop online: trisports.com



ANYWAY...that was quite the tangent, but you get the picture... COMMUNITY it is an extremely important part of anything you do and this year my goal is to not only recognize this, but give BACK to that community.  I feel a really important role of mine this year is to realize my place in this community and make sure that I give everything I have to those around me...the stronger each member of a community is, the stronger the community is as a whole.  If I can help drive my community forward I will have had a successful year :)

A 10m Platform?
Yep, I feel like I'm standing at the end of one...I'm excited, nervous, shaky, scared, and thrilled that I'm about to jump off into a fantastic year of unknowns :)

Until next time kids :)
@nicoletruxes

Music Recs!!

Two of my favorite songs in a Mash-up...never would of thought of this combo, but it works!!
Muse vs Chidlish Gambino "Bonfire Desires" Mash-up by Isosine 
  
 Kind of a chill vibe, but this artist has some really cool sounds up on his Sound Cloud...this one is a free download!!
Tender Love by Kill Paris