Head Games

BY LEANNE SALANDRO

“It’s mind over matter.”

How many times have you heard that and thought, oh phooey, it still takes some doing to get things done? Well, it’s entirely true that if everything we wanted to accomplish simply stayed in our brains, nothing would happen. I think that’s called “daydreaming”?

However, sometimes tasks present some rough going and, without fierce mental resolve, we would quit and some big challenges in life would go unanswered.

For myself, I never consideredmyself to be an athlete and I certainly didn’t consider an endurance event like triathlon or marathon within the realm of even trying. For most of my adult life, I considered myself a rather neutral sports figure, someone who was more of a hiker or walker; definitely not a runner or swimmer.

This identity probably had seeds in my childhood. Raised to be “a girl”, it was rare in my day to have female athletes in the media in anything other than a handful of sports. The world of sorts was still pretty much a man’s world.

This attitude continued into my early 20’s but things started happening. I got a little bored and curiosity got the best of me.

I received a class schedule in the mail from the local community college and, as I was flipping though it, a karate class caught my eye. Karate was something that always held a bit of mystique for me and piqued my curiosity. I had never been in any kind of physical altercation and knew I would be so pathetic if I ever had to physically protect or defend myself. It had allure, this karate class. I talked myself into signing up. I could always cancel, right? Besides, I didn’t know many people in town and it was something to get me out of the house.

I showed up the first night of class and no one was there. I was utterly confused. Where was everyone? Was I the only one who signed up? I waited around for about 5 minutes and then went home. Whew. I had been a bit nervous about taking that class, a physical class no less, all by myself amidst strangers. It was a sign. I dodged that bullet. Well, dodged it until I got home…

My phone rang and it was a very nice man, Dave Lamb, from Southeast Community College. He was the instructor and there had been a scheduling mix-up. Some people, like myself, had come at the right time but to the wrong room and he wanted to make sure I made it to class. To be polite, I talked with him and told him maybe I would come some other time, some other semester. He kindly urged me to come, heck, come any of the two nights the class was offered, that was fine with him. After some persuading, I agreed to come. That decision changed my life.

I practiced karate with Dave for 2 years and it gave me much more than I ever imagined it could. I expected to learn some deadly moves and get a workout but it gave me both body awareness and physical confidence. I got to know my body, a real feeling physicality, and this knowledge opened up a whole other world and way of thinking. This mental workout had been completely unexpected.

What else could I do? Now, any sport or activity was an option. I started to set some personal challenges for myself. Some goals were simply can-I-do-this tests. Running. I tried in earnest at the ripe old age of 30… I could to it! So, I maybe I could do a race? A 10K perhaps? At the time, I could only run 3 miles but why not? I could train. Wow, I could! I kept running. I used to swim as a kid so I wondered if I could do a triathlon? An olympic distance triathlon? I wanted to scare myself into something significant. I signed up, trained my butt off and, after fearing the ocean swim, the swim turned out to be the fastest piece of my race time. I was giddy! What next? I decided I would register for a full marathon, something I would’ve never dreamed of attempting.

The funny thing about the marathon was my fear of attempting so many miles. Up to that point in time, I had never run more than 8 miles in one stretch. I was curious as to how I would physically manage, how I would feel, if my body would do such a thing.

I talked to a friend of a friend who had run a marathon or two. He said something that helped break my mental block, “After running about 6 miles, they all feel about the same after that.” Surely he was kidding? How could running for hours feel the same as running a 10K? I mentally prepared to find out.

Training for a triathlon was an endeavor of scheduling, work outs, eating right and, of course, mental preparation but the marathon loomed larger for me. The idea of all of those much longer runs scared me. I had a binder with all my notes and training miles mapped out by week. Turns out, I both dreaded and loved my training runs. Training runs gave me hours every week of mental solitude and peace. Feet hitting pavement, alone with my thoughts for hours at a time was a wonderful thing. It was my mobile meditation. As the day grew closer, I felt like I really could be ready on race day.

At mile 23 of that marathon, it became very clear that it was a mental race from that point on. My mobile meditation became a valued asset. I was tired, I had to pee, I kind of wanted to walk but knew that would mean finishing later, prolonging my discomfort. My brain ran those last few miles. I’d invested all of that training so no way was I giving up but, when I was lagging, it was will power alone that got me through. (And yes, after mile 6, they do all pretty much feel the same.)

So, go ahead, daydream often. Exercise your brain, ponder the possibities and discover a myriad of amazing things you can accomplish. The process will give you gifts you may have never imaged. Had I not followed my heart and my head, I would’ve robbed myself of some peak life experiences.

What can you put your mind to?

(Showing) Less Is More

BY LEANNE SALANDRO

When people ask me what I do for a living, they are often surprised to hear that I design and market clothing, specifically active wear providing a wide range of coverage for women. For the most part, we are in the market to offer more coverage versus less. You could say we sort of specialize in modesty.

First of all, people are surprised that I’m an everyday kind of person who designs clothes. It’s more of a high-dollar, fashion runway, Paris, Milan, big label occupation in most imaginations. For me, it’s not quite that glamorous. Enjoyable, but not glamorous.

After that, the surprise lingers around the fact that I would work hard on something involving the word “modesty” especially where the word “fashion” is concerned. People are often operating under the usually false misconception that confident women who are proud of their bodies want to show it off and wear revealing “sexy” outfits.

That may be true for some but, when you are engaged in a truly active endeavor like triathlon, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, kayaking, etc. the last thing on your mind in the heat of the moment is, “do these shorts make my butt look too big”?

Sure, most of us like to look our best as much as possible but most female athletes are primarily concerned about actively enjoying or competing in their chosen sport comfortably. Performance is the priority, not the “hey, check me out” factor. Let’s face it, a little extra coverage actually keeps things nicely covered during rigorous activity and prevents impromptu peep shows of any, um, feminine assets. Furthermore, even the most gorgeously toned back and shoulders will suffer a scorching burn if unprotected all day in the sun kitesurfing. Not fun. Not pretty. Sun protection is serious stuff and even more so for female athletes who spend a lot of time outdoors. Extra coverage also gives the welcome bonus of skin protection.

The caveat here is we really do still want to look good and all this talk of modesty, serious sun protection and coverage engineered to fight physics starts conjuring up images of boring, utilitarian, “un-fun” fashion. Luckily, being too exposed was the “a-ha” moment for a fashion-loving person like myself.

After a particularly chilly surf session with my business partner Kim, we were changing out of our wetsuits and trying to preserve some modesty as we simultaneously wrangled neoprene and large towels with our stiff, cold fingers. We noticed some perv’ on a bicycle who kept riding back and forth past our vehicle… we’re talking five, maybe six, times obviously trying to catch a glimpse of something should a towel slip. I felt an emotional combo of anger and great amusement. How desperate do you have to be to catch a glimpse of the female form so that you’re compelled to ride your bike repeatedly past two, drenched, rumpled, middle-aged chicks struggling out of wetsuits? I can assure you that we were no visions of sexual loveliness as we were trying to get out of neoprene and into some warm, dry clothes. But I digress…

I decided that bottoms designed to coordinate with rashguards would be so great. That way, I could strip off my wetsuit and be covered. No need to fuss with towels! Just unzip and go about my business. Let’s go one step further and make such an ensemble fun and interesting.

In a nutshell, showing a little less really is more and it’s what we aim to deliver at Girls4Sport. Less revealing garments that provide more for the women wearing them. You get the benefits of sun protection and coverage, and (much to the chagrin of peep-tom cyclists everywhere) you also get the added allure of leaving a little something to the imagination.

Triathlon Training: How to Balance it All

BY BROOKE TVERMOES

Girls4Sport triathlete Brooke Tvermoes

In today’s world of overbooked schedules and instant communication, how can we find the time to escape it all for a few hours each day? This has been the very question that I have been struggling to answer for the past few years. My name is Brooke Tvermoes, and I am a post doc at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), as well as a professional triathlete. This year is my first as a professional triathlete and finding the time to get in the training I need, while still pursuing my research interests in molecular toxicology, and finding time for my family and friends has been a continual struggle. I have to admit, I end up most days wishing there were just a few more hours in the day, and often times I find myself barely able to juggle all the balls I have in the air. But at the end of the day, when I lay to sleep, and I can finally take a deep breath and reflect on my day and my life – I know I am happy and not just a little happy, but that deep down content happy. I love every aspect of my life, and wouldn’t want to give up any part of it, no matter how crazy it may get at times.

So, by no means do I have it all figured out – how to balance family, work, and my love for triathlons – but I have found a few tricks that help me keep some balance in my life. Here are a few things that work for me:

1. Be organized. Have a schedule and stick to it! The most important thing for me is a schedule – I have a routine and I stick with it. If I have a morning swim scheduled before work and a ride after work then that’s what I do. You can not miss a practice and make it up later – it just doesn’t work that way and I have unfortunately had to learn that lesson more than once. Also, having a schedule allows you to go into autopilot and you know exactly what you are going to do each day. It takes too much time to figure out your day that morning once you’ve already gotten to work.

2. Be creative with your workouts and your time. I try not to waste any time during the day – it’s too valuable. There’s nothing wrong with trying to squeeze in a quick one hour swim before work, as long as you can get to bed at a reasonable time the night before. Frequently, I’ll sneak in a run during my lunch break and then just have lunch at my desk afterward. Girls4Sport sportswear is perfect for this because their workout clothes are so cute I feel comfortable wearing them at work, and the fabric is so absorbent I can workout and not get too nasty. In the evenings when most people are watching TV after work, I am out riding my bike. When you start your day, know what time you want to end your day and when that time comes, you just have to walk away from your computer, put the iphone down, and get out there. There is always something else that can be done at work – it’s never ending, especially if you have a research job like mine. But science, like most jobs, will be there tomorrow. My evening workouts have by far become my favorite part of the day. It’s a great time for me to think about the day (if I want to) or just ride and run as hard as I can so I can forget about the day; either way this is my time.

3. Try to plan workouts with friends. I always try to have a couple of workouts during the week that I am doing with friends. I find this to be beneficial for several reasons. First, it’s much harder to back out of a work out when you have committed to meeting up with someone else. Also, it’s fun to be with friends – they can make you smile and laugh when you least expect it. In addition, nothing strengthens a friendship more than bonding over a tough workout together. Friends also provide the extra motivation to push yourself on days you lack motivation. Last but not least, working out with your friends is a great way to hang out with your friends!!

4. Don’t over commit yourself. This is something that I continually struggle with. Just because there are 24 hours in a day does not mean that you can nor should book every one of those 24 hours. Recovery and sleep are a very important part of training. You need to prioritize and keeping a balance in your priorities can be tricky at times. In the off season, family and friends absolutely get priority, in the building phase of my season my priorities shift some, but the last few months before a big race my priority is racing and training – dinner with friends are an absolute must but late nights on the weekends are out, at least for a little while.

5. Have a good support group. I don’t think any of this would be possible without the love and support of my husband and family. Training for an Ironman takes a lot of time and there is no way around that, but having the support and understanding of the time commitment from my family and friends is invaluable. Riding bikes with my husband is one of my absolute favorite things to do – this has become our time together and I love it.

I am also very thankful for the support from my sponsors like Girls4Sport. Girls4Sport provides me with some fantastic workout clothes that are both cute and comfortable! Their support and belief in me, allows me to pursue my dream of being a professional triathlete and I am eternally grateful for that.

If you’re thinking about doing your first triathlon, I say go for it!! Figure out what’s important to you and then make time to do it. I think Dr. Seus said it best: “Life is a great balancing act … And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed).”

Brooke Tvermoes is a professional triathlete sponsored by Girls4Sport and a post doc at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina.