Fitness

Postpartum Triathlete: Getting Your Bike Back

February 19, 2019 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

This is my second article in a series of five articles for triathletes who are just getting back into training.

Whether you were injured, sick, off-season, took a break, or had a baby like me, it takes some time to get back to the shape you were in before you stopped training.

My goal for these articles is to share what has worked for me to give you some ideas to try for yourself. If you missed the first article on getting your swim back, here is the link…

http://www.foodfitnessfinancefun.com/fitness/postpartum-triathlete-getting-your-swim-back/

In my opinion, the bike was the easiest for me to get back on, but the hardest to get back to where I was, especially since I was training for an Ironman when I got pregnant and it is now winter here in Colorado.

My baby is almost 7 months old, and I have only been on my bike outside one time in over a year. It’s a lot easier for me mentally, physically, and schedule wise, to do my training either at the gym where there’s childcare and bikes with feedback, or on my trainer in my basement where I don’t have to leave the house, and can do it anytime.

For those reasons, I probably will stay primarily indoors for another few months.

My first race back is in May, which will be 11 months after Coura was born. I plan on biking indoors until March, which will give me two months to transfer my indoor skills to outside riding.

After my six-week check-up and I got the OK to start working out again, my first workout was on the bike. The first week I did 30 minutes, with no resistance, just spinning my legs and getting my butt back in saddle shape! I did most of the sessions at home, I wasn’t ready yet to leave the house and get to the gym or to take Coura to childcare.

My intention was to start a bike streak and bike 30 minutes a day minimum, but with my new mommy life, that didn’t always work. I still kept it as my intention, which usually got me on the bike five days a week. Some days it took me an hour to bike for 15 minutes because I was also taking care of a baby, but it was always my goal to get 30 minutes in!

For the first eight weeks, each week I just tried to add a little more time during one of my rides. For example, if I got on the bike five times, one time would be 40 minutes, and the next week that ride would be 50 minutes, and following week an hour.

I typically didn’t have time to go more than an hour so I would start adding time to a second ride of the week, working up to another ride of an hour.

By the end of the eight weeks, I was doing 2 to 3 60-minute rides and 2 to 3 30-minute rides, still at very little or no resistance.

After 8 weeks, I decided to start adding intensity to one of my weekly rides. I really like a challenge and working on improving, so I decided to do a weekly time trial on the bike at the gym.

The first week I started at level 1 and every 5 minutes went up a level. I ended up 12.0 miles in the hour. Each week I started at the next level (week 2=level 2, week 3=level 3, etc) so that I was progressively working harder each week and going longer in the hour.

I just did my week 13 time trial and have increased about 5 miles in the hour!!! I had a couple weeks where I was sick that went down, but in general I am getting better each week.

After about 8 weeks of one hard workout a week, I started adding one moderate intensity hour ride a week.
And that’s it for now! So in general I am doing my hour time trial, an hour moderate effort ride, and 3-5 30-minute easy rides.

My plan in another 4 weeks is to start increasing my moderate level ride by 30 minutes each week to train for the St George 70.3 I have coming up on May 4th.

I am finally feeling good on the bike! It will be interesting to see how my indoor fitness translates to riding outside. My goal is to get outside once a month!

Let me know if you have any questions about getting back into training after taking time off!

If you want to follow my training…

www.instagram.com/fitnessdivakir

For a weekly workout…

www.FoodFitnessFinanceFun.com/newsletter

And if you or anyone you know is looking for a coach for this upcoming triathlon season, I have room for 3 more clients this year!!

Call or text me to set up an appointment to see if we are the right fit for each other!!!

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: triathalon, triathlete

Postpartum Triathlete: Getting Your Swim Back

January 8, 2019 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

Five months after having my baby, I’m finally feeling like I can swim again! I wanted to share what I did to get back into swimming after taking some time off.

Whether it is intentional (off-season, break, hate swimming) or unintentional (injury, illness, surgery, life change), it’s tough to get back in the pool when you’ve been out for a while.

I wanted to share the steps I took in hopes that it may help somebody else who is struggling to get back in swimming shape after being out of the pool for a while.

I want to start by saying when I found out I was pregnant, I was in really good shape. As in Kona Ironman shape. I took a break from swimming after the Ironman because I got 3 new tattoos. Before I had a chance to get back in the water, I found out I was pregnant. I always heard that swimming was the best thing to do while you’re pregnant.

When I was a personal trainer my clients who were pregnant loved being in the water. They said it took the weight off their joints and their back and they loved to feel light, cool, etc.

I swam a little at the beginning of my pregnancy, but by the time my belly started getting bigger, it was actually really uncomfortable for me to swim. I continued to swimming just to keep swimming, but it was typically 1 to 2 times a week 15 to 30 minutes at a time, at a very leisurely pace, and using all the equipment I could find!!

After Coura was born, I was antsy to get back into the pool, but had to wait 6 weeks for everything to heal. Once I was cleared to get into the pool, I jumped right in, only to discover that even 100 yards at a moderate pace got my heart rate up and my arms and legs felt uncoordinated and weak. I was also having a lot of shoulder pain from the way I was holding my baby when I breastfed her, so that flared up almost immediately after trying to swim freestyle.

Here is how I progressed…

Month 1: I swam 1-2 times a week for about 20 minutes using ALL my equipment (other than paddles). A typical swim looked like this:

200 streamline kick on back w fins
100 backstroke w fins
200 kick on side with fins
200 breastroke kick w board
4×50 scull/swim w buoy and snorkel
100 breastroke

Month 2: I swam 1-2 times a week for about 40 minutes still using lots of equipment, still not using paddles, only because my shoulder was still super sore after a swim. A typical swim looked like this:

400 swim with fins, kick on back every 4th 25
8×50 kick w board free/breast
4×100 w buoy and snorkel 25 scull/75 swim
3×75 kick/drill/swim IM order
200 dolphin kick on back w fins
200 breastroke

Month 3: I swam 2-3 times a week and tried to get an hour in for one of the swims. I started doing part of my set on an interval, and added back paddles. A typical swim looked like this:

4×100 swim/kick w fins
4×100 kick/drill w fins IM order
8×50 kick w board free/breast on 1:10
3×100 pull right paddle/left paddle/both paddles
200 breast
4×100 free on 1:45
4×50 IM/free on 1:00
200 breast
300 dolphin kick w fins on back

Month 4: Sometimes I get in 3 swims a week, but usually still only 2. Swam my longest swim of the year this month at 3,600 yards. Here is what it looked like:

8×100 w fins swim/kick by 100
8×50 kick w board on 1:10
8×50 swim w paddles on :50
4×75 k/d/s IM order
200 breast
6×100 free on 1:40
100 breast
6×50 fast free/easy breast on 1:00
200 IM easy
300 back w fins
100 breast

Over the weeks I am slowly adding a little distance (usually only 200 to my longest swim every 2 weeks) and a little speed (timing one more set each month). If something isn’t fun or hurts, I stop. There is no reason to hurt myself or get sick of swimming this early in my season.

If you are newer to swimming, I would also focus the majority of your workout on drills!

If you want a list of great drills (and lots of already written out workouts), join our facebook group here…

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IHeartSwimming

If you want a swim workout a day emailed to you for 30 days, click here…

www.FoodFitnessFinanceFun.com/dailyswim

If you want 10 great workouts for endurance training, go here…

https://www.etsy.com/listing/281141398/10-awesome-swim-workouts-for-long

And remember…Just Keep Swimming!

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: swimming

My 46th Birthday Workout

December 19, 2018 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

Every year for my birthday, I do a birthday workout. I do this because I love my birthday and I want to celebrate me. I try to think of all the things I love to do and cram them all into one day! Working out is one of my favorite things to do, and I love to challenge myself, so I always make my birthday workout a pretty big challenge.

This year was a little different. I don’t have as much time and freedom as I’ve had in the past, I was already teaching two classes at the gym, and of course I have Coura now. I still wanted to do something challenging, but doable, and like everything else in my life right now, I need it to be a little more flexible than in the past. I decided on a 46 minute swim, 46 minute bike, and a 46 minute run. Not all at once, not necessarily in that order, spread out throughout the day.

I got up early on November 6 to have enough time to pump after feeding Coura, as I’m not supposed to wear a sports bra unless my breasts are completely empty. I was planning on getting to the gym 15 minutes before my first class to drop Coura off at childcare and get started on my run. As with all my other plans over the past four months, I was running behind. I got to the gym five minutes before my class started, dropped Coura off, and went and taught class. I did however jump on a treadmill for 15 minutes after class to get the party started!

I visited childcare to feed myself and Coura, changed her, and played with her until it was time to teach my second class. After that class, I jumped on the treadmill for nine more minutes, before heading out to meet my mom at a different gym for part of my bike and leave Coura with her so I can finish my workout.

I biked 33 minutes with my mom, fed and changed Coura, and sent her to spend the afternoon with Grandma! Thank you Mom!

I then got back on the bike for another 13 minutes, jumped on the treadmill for my final 22 minutes, and then headed in to the pool for my 46 minutes swim!!

So yay! I got my entire birthday workout done! My total workout was a little over two hours and 15 minutes, which is my longest work out since I had Coura in June! So although it wasn’t a challenge like in the past (last year’s workout took 6 ½ hours), it was a challenge for me in my new life!

It felt amazing, and I had a blast! It was also the first time in a year that I actually felt like a triathlete! It got me super excited about my upcoming season, and I started thinking about what I want to do for training and racing this year.

After my birthday work out, Matt took me to eat at my favorite restaurant, Native Foods Café, and luckily they were fully stocked with oatmeal cream pies! The perfect end to my birthday workout!

How do you spend your birthday? What do you do to celebrate you?

And thanks for all the birthday messages, posts, and texts!

MY FRIENDS ROCK!

See you next year!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: happy birthday, workout

Plant Powered for Life: Coco Hydrate

June 12, 2018 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

Of all the facets in my crazy unfocused “squirrel” life, the subject that I get asked the most questions about is being vegan. I am often asked specifically WHAT products (foods) I eat, drink, supplement, train, race, etc with. Instead of constantly running down my list of “the usuals”, I decided to start a list of my faves and write a quick summary of benefits and why I love the product for you to read and decide if it’s a product that will work for you in your life.

The first product I am highlighting is one of my newest additions for my health/pseudo-training/can-take-while-pregnant drinks I have during my workouts.

I have been wanting to like coconut water since it first became “mainstream” about 6 years ago. I tried every brand, flavor, even the real thing fresh in Kona, but hadn’t found one I could stomach. I didn’t like the flavor or the consistency of it. Now I’m all for health benefits, but I won’t stick with anything long term (or short term) that I don’t like the taste of!

I had been drinking a product called “Can’t Beet This” (beet powder) for health and training and LOVED it, but when I found out I was pregnant, I had to stop because it has caffeine and too many herbs in it that my doc said to stop until after I have my baby. So I was on the lookout for something else.

The same company that made the beet powder, Purium, had just come out with a coconut water
powder. I ordered some and crossed my fingers. I already believed in the benefits of the ingredients, just needed to make sure I liked the taste. And I did! PHEW!!

This product is called Coco Hydrate. It’s described as: Organic ecologically responsible Coco Hydrate!

Coconut water is amazing but most brands are not organic and are bad for the planet. Our coconut water is dehydrated on-site after harvesting to reduce our carbon footprint. Hydrate and reenergize with our blend of coconut water, mineral salts and rooibos. The concentration of balanced electrolytes can help promote hydration after a workout, elevation shift or just an afternoon thirst quencher.

It’s made by a company called Purium which is a company that goes back to the original purity standards. No artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, binders, fillers, hormones, pesticides, irradiated or genetically-modified ingredients. Just real food. Super food. For super results. Purium offers a solution that benefits our bodies, as well as the Earth.

I like and support the company because the majority of their products are plant-based and they promote a plant-based lifestyle.

I drink this every day at the gym when I am working out. I have also mixed it in my smoothies if I am feeling a little dehydrated or fatigued, which is a common occurrence in my third trimester of pregnancy!

Retail cost of Coco Hydrate is $29.95. I have a $50 gift card you can use for any orders over $75.

To order go to…

www.iShopPurium.com
Use code: vegandivakir for $50 off your order

Join our plant-powered community…
www.facebook.com/groups/plantpoweredforlife

Check out my other fave products…
http://www.FoodFitnessFinanceFun.com

Stay connected here…
www.FoodFitnessFinanceFun.com/newsletter

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: beet powder, purium

Race Report: Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI 2017

February 20, 2018 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

I was just going through my 2017 posts to put together my annual “top posts” post and I realized I never posted my race report from the biggest race of my life! WHAT??? I must have gotten distracted with the 900 changes that were going on in my life when I returned from Hawaii at the end of October.

I just wanted to send an extra shout out to my bf, Matt, who miraculously got me a hotel room near the race start the night before and after the race to make my life easier, my gf, Ashley, who turned her Hawaiian vaca into helping me have a successful pre-race week.

All the insanely generous peeps who contributed to my www.gofundme.com/kirtokona campaign, and everyone who took time out of their own busy lives to track me, text me, send me good vibes, and share their love and support with me through social media.

Anyhoo…here it is…

Without the never-ending love and support I get from those around me, I would have never had the amazing race and experience I did in Kona.

I am forever grateful!

Thanks for being part of my life!

To watch any of my other race reports…

www.youtube.com/fitnessdivakir

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: ironman, kona, triathalon

Winter Fun For Triathletes

December 27, 2017 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

As an triathlete, it’s important to have an “off-season”.

This is a time where you forgo your structured training for a period of time, get caught up on all the work, family, household, business, vacations, chores you half-assed during your season, and restore a little balance in your life.

Most triathletes can do this very well…for about a week! And then we want to go back to the scheduled, rigorous training we did all season. Which is NOT a good idea. Without taking time off, most athletes can get burned out, over train, or worse, injured.

In Colorado we can’t compete year round in triathlon without traveling to warmer, drier climates, so for most Coloradans, our off-season is the Winter months.

But don’t let Winter get you down! There are a ton of fun things we can do to give our minds and bodies a break while still challenging ourselves in our sport.

Cyclocross:

Cyclocross is sport that is a cross between mountain biking, obstacle course racing, and cross-country running. The bike courses combine riding on pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills with obstacles that require the rider to dismount, carry the bike, and remount often.

Cyclocross is very hard and will help with sprinting, bike handling, and maxing out your heart rate. They do make cyclocross specific bikes, but as a beginner, you could use a mountain bike. I am actually trying this out for the first time this year and have my first race THIS weekend! YIKES!

Swim Meets:

Masters Swim Meets are a fun way to challenge yourself while becoming a better swimmer. Since you already swim as a triathlete, you don’t need to get any new equipment. Learning all 4 strokes will help your technique and feel for the water. Swimming in a Masters meet is low key and anyone can join.

You’ll find all levels from past Olympians to those who need to rest for a breath at each turn. And as an adult you can swim as short as a 50 yard race! It’s harder than it sounds!

Road Running Races:

In Colorado, there is a 5K pretty much every weekend throughout the year. You can also find several 10Ks and half marathons each month, as well as at least one marathon each month.

This is a great time to work on speed since your legs won’t be as tired from your bike miles you put on while triathlon training. If you want to move up to the next distance in triathlon, incorporating longer runs is a great off-season goal.

Strength Training, Core Work, Yoga, Meditation:

All the important components that make up a well-rounded athlete that we tend to minimize or skip all together during our season because let’s face it, we all only have 24 hours in a day!

Get back to the basics. Make these activities a habit now so that when you start adding back in your swim, bike, and run next season, you can continue to practice them. You may not be able to spend the same amount of time on them as you do during your off-season, but you can find ways to incorporate them in smaller increments throughout your training week. I am actually doing a yoga streak this month!

Plan Next Season:

This is my favorite off-season activities. Set goals, choose your races and prioritize them. Register for as many as you can and for the ones that aren’t open yet or you don’t have money for, put them on a list in order of importance with the registration opening date and price and put the list where you can see it daily. Post your goals and tell a trusted friend or two to keep you motivated throughout the winter.

Hope your Winter is super duper fun and you come back next season refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to ROCK!!!

Stay in touch!
www.FoodFitnessFinanceFun.com

If you want help planning your season, reach out! I LOVE PLANNING!

See you soon!
Brrrrrr!!!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: training, triathlete

Just. Do. It.

October 10, 2017 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

I hear people talk about how hard they work to get to a certain place in their life, whether it’s business, financial, relationships, fitness, health, spiritual, etc.

I always feel bad when I hear this because I really don’t feel like I work that hard to make my goals. Today as I was doing intervals on the treadmill, I was thinking about this because, for once, I actually was working pretty hard!!

Since I was working really hard on my intervals, it got me thinking how often do I work hard in my life? And I came up with an answer that kind of surprised me. I don’t think I work hard very often, but what I do is no matter what, I do SOMETHING! No matter how I am feeling that week or day or moment, I just do it!

I know that sounds cheesy like a Nike slogan or something but it’s the truth.

For example, today I had no interest (or motivation) to run at all, but I wanted to get in a short interval run before my massage because I’m racing this weekend and I want to be slightly recovered. PLUS (let’s be honest here) I am trying to stay under myfitnesspal calorie goal and it’s been tough lately…like impossible, so I made myself get on the treadmill. I ran at a super easy pace for a few minutes which got my heart rate up, got the blood flowing through my body and brain, and the endorphins kicked in and I started feeling good! So I actually finished my interval run and here I am!

So I don’t feel like I necessarily work hard for the things that I want, for the things I accomplish in my life, and for my successes, but I do feel like I always do what needs to be done.

Now that I think about it, this is actually in alignment with how I do everything in my life, baby steps. I talk about baby steps all the time, how I take small incremental teeny tiny little steps toward what I want in my life, but I do them over and over and over again and it ends up looking like a success, that I’ve accomplished a goal, that I’ve done something big!!

And what I did today with my intervals is no different.

Last weekend I had a race. On the way there I had told a friend that I didn’t feel like I was ready for this race, that I didn’t feel like I’ve been training enough and that I hadn’t put in the hard work. When all was said and done, I did extremely well on the race. Looking back, I didn’t work hard to train for the race, I just did something every single day toward my goal of doing well in the race.

I have a big race coming up next week and people keep asking me if I am ready for the race. When I think about it, I think no, I’m not ready, I haven’t done hard enough workouts, I haven’t done many long rides or long runs, so no, I don’t feel like I’m ready.

BUT! In reality, I’m ready! I’ve put in the hours. I’ve put in time for the past 19 seasons that I’ve been a triathlete and for the past two years that I’ve been working toward this goal of qualifying and racing at the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

So yes! YES I am ready, whether I feel like it or not, I know I am ready!!

So I guess what I’m saying is that you don’t necessarily have to work hard all the time. Working hard is exhausting, it’s time-consuming, it’s mentally draining, and it’s often frustrating. So don’t do it, don’t work hard ALL the time, just do something, do something every single day. Do something every single day that moves you toward your goal. Do something every single day that move you toward your ideal life.

You will get there before you know it! Trust me!

Check out my updates on my journey to Kona…
www.GoFundMe.com/KirToKona

And follow my journey when I’m there right here…
www.facebook.com/FoodFitnessFinanceFun

And please please please whether you feel like it or not, do something every single day to create your ideal life.

Just. Do. It.

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: goals, mindset, training

How I Became A Faster Runner

August 29, 2017 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

I wanted to share this for those of you who are new to running or struggle with it. It gets easier and you will get faster!!! I started running in 1999 when I decided to try a triathlon. I hated it, it was hard, and I was slow. The worst part was that I was an aerobics instructor so I was actually in good shape, at a normal weight, and in my late 20s. Running should have been easy for me, or so I thought.

After my first tri (the run was 2 miles) I was hooked on triathlon, but still rarely ran because I didn’t enjoy it. In 2001 I decided to sign up for an ironman distance triathlon where I would have to run a marathon. I decided I better start running!!!

After 10 years of racing I still didn’t like running, but I was slowly (emphasis on slowly) getting faster. Some seasons I did a little speed work, some seasons I ran more miles per week, some seasons I did stepmill and hills, some seasons I ran mostly on the treadmill, but all seasons I kept running. Other than a 2 year break, I have been consistently running between 10-60 miles a week. My average I would say is 25 a week over the past 19 seasons of triathlon.

This year I have PRd my 5k, 10k, half marathon, and ironman marathon. And last night I just PRd the mile. Before last night my fastest mile was 6:04 in 2005. Last night, 12 years later at the same race, I ran. 5:52. I am 44 years old and am still getting faster. And I can finally say, after 19 years of running, that I finally like running.

The 4 things in my opinion that have helped me get faster this year are:

1. Last year I lost 10 pounds and this year I lost an additional 5.

2. 3 years ago I became 100% plant based so my body recovers more quickly so I can train longer and harder more consistently. This year I am eating more raw foods which are nutrient dense and low on inflammation.

3. I race as much as possible to learn how hard I can push my body before I crack.

4. I now have confidence as a runner so I can start a race a little harder and with a faster group pushing me to go faster to keep up.

So if you’re struggling, if it’s hard, if you hate it but want to like it, stick with it. Once it’s easier for you, you will enjoy it more. Once you enjoy it more, you will do it more often, and in return get faster!!!

One last thing…

You need a good reason to want to run or you won’t lace up or get out of bed at the crack of dawn or head outside after a long work day. Why do you run? Why do you want to be a runner? Figure it out and make sure it’s a compelling reason, like at least an 8 on a scale from 1-10.

I want to be able to compete at a high level in my age group in triathlon. On a scale from 1-10 that’s a 10 on importance to me. So I get up and get running so that I can accomplish that!!

What is your reason to run????

Hope this helps any of you struggling today!

Join our positive community…
www.facebook.com/foodfitnessfinancefun

Follow my running/triathlon career…
www.instagram.com/fitnessdivakir

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: fitness, running, triathlon

My Friends ROCK! – Sending Kir To Kona

July 25, 2017 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

A little over a month ago I qualified for the Ironman World Championships which take place in Kona, Hawaii on October 14th.

Although I had been training hard and had a 2 year goal to qualify, I went through several life changes in the 4 months leading up to the race, which resulted in me having to use all the money I had been saving toward my trip the past 2 years in hopes and preparation of qualifying, on other life expenses.

All went well on race day and I qualified!! I was ecstatic and grateful that all my hard work had paid off. The race was Sunday and if you want to secure your spot in Kona, you have to pay for the race Monday morning.

The entry fee alone was $999. I had $1,000 left in my savings. PERFECT! Entry was paid for and I had 4 months to figure out how I was going to pay for my trip.

My amazing friend, Tara, had the idea of a “go fund me” campaign which I reluctantly said I would consider with no intention of actually considering “begging” my friends and family for money to help me reach my goals. That seemed very self-indulgent to me.

But reality set in and honestly I didn’t know how I was going to save up an additional $5,000 over the next 4 months when I didn’t even know where I was going to be living 2 weeks after the qualifying race in Boulder.

So I gave in and thought “what the heck, I’ll see what happens”.

Tara wrote a heartfelt summary of my time leading up to the race from her perspective, and I posted it to my social media. What came next brought me to tears.

Within a day I had received about $1,500 of my $5,000 goal. People wrote me notes like “you have helped me so much, I’m happy to return the favor” and “go for your dreams”. And many of these were people I didn’t even know! This blew my mind. I couldn’t figure out why all these people would help me!

So I thought back to all the times I have helped people I did or didn’t know without any expectation of getting anything in return. It reminded me how amazing people are and how we all just want to feel connected to those around us. That our community is strong. That at the core of our being, we want to see each other thrive. That helping those who need our help is fulfilling. And that karma is beautiful and the more we live to serve others, the more others live to serve us.

And it’s such an upward spiral of positivity. The more donations I got from my peeps, the more I wanted to give. And the more I give, the more others want to give. Pretty soon we are all giving and receiving and loving and connecting and all is well in our world.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to my dream! What you have done has not been taken lightly at all! I have a plan to make a banner before I leave to Kona on October 5th and put every single name of every person who has made my race possible, and take it with me to remind me I am loved. To remind me I am doing the race for all of you who believe in me. To remind me that what I do every single day in my life makes a difference. And to remind me that we are all just walking each other home.

I love you!

Thank you!

If you want to watch my journey, join our community…
www.facebook.com/FoodFitnessFinanceFun

If you want to donate to my campaign…
www.gofundme.com/KirToKona

See you soon!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: ironman, kona

TOTALLY AWESOME Transformation: Dawn Ashcraft

July 4, 2017 by Kirsten Leave a Comment

I have worked with so many incredible women over the years, I wanted to show them off and share their experiences since they are all so different than mine. I am hoping I can help and inspire and motivate more and more people by shining the spotlight on these amazing women.

This month’s shining star is Dawn Ashcraft. I met Dawn after the bulk of her weight loss/health journey. She came to me to up her game and run the Bolder Boulder 10K race in Boulder, CO in May. I am so proud to announce she made her goal and finished the race! And now she’s ready to do another one even faster! AWESOME!

Here is Dawn’s story…

In 2012 I lost my 24 year old son to an accidental prescription drug overdose. I spiraled into a deep depression I didn’t know if I would ever come out of. In the process I stopped taking care of myself and used food for emotional support and comfort. I didn’t exercise or even leave the house most days. At my heaviest I weighed about 310 pounds.

In 2015 I was tired of being sad and tired all the time and I was sick of hating who I saw in the mirror. I knew I had to change. I realized my son would have been disappointed in me if I kept on the way I was and he wouldn’t want me to be in this dark place forever.

I met a guy who was a boxer and I started boxing with him. I started boxing 90 minutes a day, 4 days a week and lost 15 pounds in the first month. That kept me motivated to keep going. Not only did I start losing weight, I had more energy, my complexion was clearing up, and I actually wanted to eat better. All the hard work was paying off and I could tell immediately this was a path I wanted to continue.

In changing my eating habits, the first thing I cut out was fast food. Next was soda and cutting down on my alcohol consumption.

Once I was down to pounds in May of 2016, I decided to run my first 5K. It took me 43 minutes. I wanted to challenge myself to get faster and better so I did another in 38 minutes and then another in 35 minutes. I love running because it’s something I can do alone. It’s just me out there with my thoughts. I can reflect on my life and my transformation. Plus my son loved to run and I know he would love that I am a runner now!

When I got down to 190 pounds, I started getting really excited. I could see my muscles and I felt confident in my new clothes I had to buy to fit my new body. I continued boxing at home 3-4 days a week and run 3-4 days a week. My ultimate goal is to get down to 155 pounds.

My advice for the person who feels helpless and hopeless in her weight loss journey: Sit somewhere quiet and talk to yourself. Tell yourself that you love yourself every single day and promise yourself no matter what, you will always want to take care of yourself, because you love yourself.

Unconditionally!

If you have a bad day, let it go. Start over tomorrow, it’s one day out of your whole life!

Keep a journal. Ask yourself why did I eat this, what am I feeling, talk about your journey, tell your story.

Move. Even if it’s walking 2 blocks, just move! And do more than you did yesterday!

What would I tell my old self? You’re worth it. You’re worth it. Fight through it, you’re worth it!! You’re going to get through it and you’re going to be an amazing!!!

What is my favorite part of this journey? I smile more. I have a great smile and I didn’t smile before. I like who I am becoming and I’m not done yet!

THANK YOU DAWN! And you are right…you are NO WHERE NEAR being done! I am grateful to be a part of your life! Keep shining!

See you next time!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: 5K, boxing, running