2012 USAT Female Overall Sprint Duathlon National Champion

Hi All,

Sorry for delay in keeping this blog updated more regularly.  During the school year, it’s very difficult for me to posts regularly.

The picture below explains my latest endeavour – the USAT Duathlon National Championships on April 29.  I’m very honored, happy, amazed and pleased to report that I am now the 2012 USAT Female Overall Sprint Duathlon NATIONAL CHAMPION!  Pinch me – I’m 55!!!    The moral of this victory is – “Age is just a number, not a limitation!”

Now, what are you going to do to help you get fit and healthy?  You are never too old, too happy, too fit and it’s never too late to get fit!

Patty breaking the tape as the first female finisher at the USAT Sprint Duathlon National Championships to be crowed the 1st Female Overall SPRINT DUATHLON NATIONAL CHAMPION!                               Photo:  Courtesy of “David Sanders/USA Triathlon”

Forever FIT = Forever YOUNG!

Patty

HEART HEALTHY

 Hi Everyone,

            When the month of February rolls around, peoples’ thoughts often turn to what to get their love ones for Valentine’s Day.  And when people think of Valentine’s Day, they often associate the day of love, with the symbol of love – the heart.    February has also been recognized as “American Heart Month,” for the past 50 years.  How healthy is your heart and what are you doing to keep your heart strong?

Did you know that heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women, with over 800,000 Americans dying from some form of heart disease in the United States yearly, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC).

The CDC website reports that “one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day.  These conditions are also leading causes of disability preventing people from working and enjoying family activities. Cardiovascular disease is also very expensive—together heart disease and stroke hospitalizations in 2010 cost the nation more than $444 billion in health care expenses and lost productivity.”

But there is good news, heart disease can be prevented.  Each one of us can play a role in helping to prevent heart disease and stroke among our family and close friends by educating ourselves with how heart disease occurs, what are the risks and implementing steps to prevent the disease.

Heart disease often occurs when arteries that supply blood to the heart or brain slowly build up with plague.  If this plague becomes a blood clot in a narrow artery and prevents blood flow to the heart or brain, the person could suffer a heart attack or stroke.

Know your ABCS when it comes to heart disease:

•  Ask your doctor if you are a candidate to take an Aspirin a day.
• Find out if you have high Blood pressure or Cholesterol.
• If you Smoke, put this at the top of your list of changes, and then find an organization to help you quit.

In addition, lack of regular exercise and being overweight or obese are contributing risk factorsfor developing heart disease.

Our bodies have hundreds of muscle fibers that need to be exercised in order to be their healthiest, including the heart muscle.  To develop one’s cardiorespiratory endurance, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends people exercise 20-60 minutes a day, 3-5 times a week, depending on the type and intensity of exercise.  As always, if you have been sedentary for a long time, and you have several of the above mentioned risk factors, check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

From my experience as a fitness educator and trainer, people are often overwhelmed when it comes to finding the time to exercise.  My response is, “It’s all about perception.”  Everything we do starts and ends with our thoughts in the brain.  If we tell ourselves that we don’t have time to exercise or we don’t like to exercise, then that’s exactly the outcome we will get.  It’s called “self fulfilling prophecy.”  We are what we think we are.  We become what we think we will become.  It’s about your attitude.

There are only two choices of attitude, positive or negative.  It’s the same as seeing the glass half full or half empty and even viewing the weather as partly cloudy or partly sunny.  You have a choice to either travel down the positive road, making healthy positive choices along the way, or looking at your road as doom, gloom and hopelessness.  The positive road is guaranteed to keep you healthier and happier in the long run.

No one said adopting a healthier lifestyle was going to be easy, but if you take the first step and commit to trying to make better choices in your life, you will get stronger and more confident with each positive choice you make and task you accomplish, like walking for 20 minutes during your one hour lunch break.

You must also give yourself the necessary time to make changes to your current behavioral habits.  It takes roughly 60 to 90 days to change a habit.  That may initially seem like a long time, but in the span of your lifetime, it’s a very short amount of time.  By staying focused on the goal of making these healthy positive changes in your life, you will lower your chances of becoming a candidate for heart disease or stroke.

Happy Healthy Heart month!

Patty Peoples – your online Fitness Coach

“SEE it/BELIEVE it/ACHIEVE it!”

Indoor Exercise Can Be Fun In Your Own Home

From my January 26 “All Things Fitness” Column

Fun Indoor Exercise for All Ages

By:  Patty Peoples

             Winter is here, which means cooler temperatures, increased rainfall, shorter daylight hours and possibly looking for an alternative to your regular outdoor exercise routine.  True, you won’t melt in the rain and thus, can still run, walk, and even cycle in rain with the proper clothing.  However, if you just don’t feel like getting wet, you may want to consider an alternative to exercising in the great outdoors.

            You can move indoors and work out in a gym or you can work out in the comfort of your home using one of two popular technological pieces of equipment- Wii or Xbox.  Both offer programs that involve simulated sports and exercises.  Since I have never used an Xbox, I can only share with you my limited experience with Wii, which Santa dropped off at our house this past Christmas.

For several years, our daughter, Holly, and even some of my Chaffey College students have been talking about Wii and the dancing programs in particular.  After seeing some Wii dance commercials over the holidays, I thought to myself, “That does look like fun.”  And guess what?  It is!

We have only two programs, Just Dance 3 and Wii Sports, which consists of tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing.  Up to four people can play, but you can also play by yourself.  Each player needs their own remote to play.

The dance program lets you select a song from a variety of genres and then each player tries their best to follow the dancer’s (avatars) moves.  This is such a hoot!   I think I’m a fairly good dancer, but after watching a video my husband took of Holly and I while Wii dancing, now I know why I didn’t score better.  I need dance lessons or at least I need to practice dancing with the Wii avatars.  However, regardless of how silly or spastic I looked; I can honestly say I had a lot of fun trying to follow the avatars’ dancing.  Remember, it’s not how good you look dancing, but rather, how good you feel while dancing.  And I felt great and I bet you will also!

Patty dancing to California Girls song/routine on Wii

In the Wii sports, you choose a sport and then play against each other or if you are playing by yourself, you play against one of the program’s avatars.  You also have the option of choosing different degrees of difficulty for each sport.  This enables people of all ages and abilities to have fun playing, regardless of their real life experience with a particular sport.  I enjoyed all the sports for different reasons.  What I liked about baseball was you were either batting or pitching.  Trying to get the timing down to even hit the ball was also challenging and rewarding when I actually hit the ball.  Bowling seemed to simulate real bowling, including the twisting of the wrist.  I enjoyed the volley back in forth in tennis, which was longer than my real tennis playing.  Golf was challenging and fun, especially not having to find the ball.  If you hit a ball in the water, you automatically get another.  And finally, the only sport left is boxing.

I’m not a fan of boxing, but I am a fan of training like a boxer.  Boxers have amazing stamina, full body conditioning and timing.  The Wii boxing was the most physically taxing of all the sports and one of my favorites to play by myself.  All the other sports and the dancing were fun to play as a family.

So if you don’t already have a Wii or an Xbox, you may want to put in on your wish gift list for next year or possibly your next birthday.

HAVE FUN whatever form of exercise  you choose!!

Holiday Fitness Tips – All Things Fitness Column for 11/3/11

Hi All!

Below is the EARLY version of my “All things fitness” column.   This is the COMPLETE article – unedited.  Hope these tips help you, your family and your friends make it through the holidays without gaining a pound!  Good Luck and let the Holiday Season begin!

Forever FIT= Forever YOUNG!

Patty Peoples

“All Things Fitness” Column
for November 3, 2011

Holiday Fitness Tips

By:  Patty Peoples

     With Halloween behind us, can you say the same about the Halloween treats? Did you know that the majority of people gain the most body fat between Halloween and New Year’s Day?  Well, I’m going to give you three tips to help you not become part of that national statistic.  Are you ready?  Okay, let’s get down to business.

Tip # 1 – Throw out the leftover treats.

Halloween is over, so take any leftover treats (candy, cupcakes, caramel apple, etc.) and throw them away!  Out of sight, out of mind!  You have already enjoyed your Halloween treat, so now it’s time to say good-bye to Halloween and its many sweet
temptations.  If you keep leftover treats around, you will be tempted to eat them, when you really don’t need the extra calories and especially the saturated fats. Also, most candies do not have any micronutrient (vitamins/minerals) benefits.  For instance one small Almond Joy candy bar (.6 ounces) has 90 calories, 4.5 grams of fat (3g saturated), 10 grams of carbohydrates (< 1g dietary fiber, 8g sugars), < 1 gram of protein and 0% of Vitamin A, C, Iron or Calcium.  In other words, this piece of candy has zero  healthful benefits in the way of vitamins and minerals and primarily unhealthy refined sugar and saturated fats.  So what is the benefit of eating this?  None, unless you call flavor a benefit.  But when it comes to trying to keep unwanted body fat from making a home on your frame, you must learn not to make food choices based primarily upon flavor.  There are plenty of more healthy food choices that also taste good, like apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon.

Throughout the holiday season, if you have any non-nutritional leftovers after a party, throw them out as you are cleaning up.  It is best to keep these foods out of the house.  If they are not around, you won’t think about eating them. Once again – out of sight, out of mind!

Tip # 2 – Food as fuel.

 

If you are not doing this already, now is a good time to start – think of food as fuel for the body.  Your food selection should be based upon both its nutritional benefits and the amount of calories your body needs to maintain a caloric balance (calorie intake =  calories expended).  If you are trying to lose body fat, you will need a negative caloric balance (calorie intake < calories expended).  If you are trying to gain some body fat, you will need a positive caloric balance (calorie intake > calories expended).

When making food choices divide them into two primary categories:  calories (macronutrients) and vitamins/minerals (micronutrients).  Calories play a significant role in fat gain, loss or maintenance, while vitamins/minerals, along with water, primarily affect health and performance.  Before you put a piece of food in your mouth, ask yourself the following question, “What purpose will this serve my body?”  Are you eating the food for its micronutrients or its macronutrients (calories in the form of protein, carbohydrates or fat) or both?  If you don’t need this particular fuel, then don’t ingest it.  Excess fuel in the body only leads to excess fat on the body.  Notice I’m not referring to weight, but rather fat.  There is a huge difference.  All day long, the body goes up and down in terms of weight, due to fluid intake and food volume.  Thus, weight fluctuates on a regular basis.  However, once you consume an excess of 3,500 calories, you will gain one pound of fat.  It doesn’t happen overnight, but it will eventually happen, one pound at a time.

Tip # 3 – Don’t neglect your exercise and physical activity.

Did you know there is a difference between exercise and physical activity?  The difference is exercise is a planned, structured and repetitive physical activity for the purpose of achieving a higher level of physical fitness.  Some examples are continuous cycling, running, power walking, yoga, a fitness class and swimming laps.  Whereas, physical activity doesn’t necessarily have to be exercise, but must include bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles and providing progressive health benefits.  Some examples, besides exercise, are washing your car by hand, performing household chores and using the stairs verses the elevator.  Both exercise and physical activity utilize calories and will help keep your body fat under control.

I have a philosophy that has worked for over 25 years and I know it can also work for you – Workout before you go out!   With the temptation of more social events and parties in November and December, you must not succumb to both peer pressure and the temptation to forgo exercising or physical activity for a social gathering.   Instead, stay committed to your program and plan to join your friends later at the event.  You will feel much better and enjoy the event more after your workout.  Otherwise, if you skip your workout, you may feel guilty at the event and try to lessen the guilt by comforting yourself with food and usually the wrong kind of food.  Remember, tip number two?  This is extremely important when attending social functions.

Another method to help beat food temptation at holiday functions is to first eat a healthy meal before you attend the event.  You won’t be hungry at the event and therefore, you will spend more time socializing verses overeating.  By following these three simple tips during the next two months, you will keep your body fat from increasing while also building confidence and self-esteem by proving to yourself you have the willpower to control your eating behavior.   Good luck!

NOTE:  This column can not be reproduced or copied without the permission of its author, Patty Peoples.  Column is copyrighted.

Patty Peoples is an accomplished fitness professional with 30 years of experience.  She is the current ITU Sprint Duathlon AG
WORLD CHAMPION and posted the FASTEST overall female bike split.  She is the current USAT AG Duathlon NATIONAL
CHAMPION,  3-time USAT All-American Duathlete and 3-time USAT #1 Nationally Ranked AG Duathlete.  Patty is also a motivational speaker, fitness educator, multi-sport specialist, community activist/volunteer, wife and mother.  Patty can be reached at p2peakperformance@hotmail.com

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NEW – All Things Fitness Column

Hi,

I have been writing a Fitness Column in the Redlands Daily Facts as a Community Service since February, 2011.   I will now be posting the columns here as well.  You can also stay connected by “liking” my “All Things Fitness” Facebook page.

“All Things Fitness” Column

Balancing Act

By:  Patty Peoples

            We’ve all been told it’s important to have balance in life.  This is particularly true when it comes to developing one’s ability to have good postural balance.  Having good balance is important for several reasons, including fall prevention, maintaining a strong torso, preventing undue stress on joints and back and improved performance in most sports.  Postural balance is a common problem for a lot of people but even a bigger problem for older individuals who may have age-related complications; such as, medical problems, complications from medication reactions and general decline in muscle tone and decreased physical activity.  Poor balance is a major contributing factor to most falls among the elderly.  Falling is also the leading cause of injury death for people over the age of 65.

My 84 year-old father recently lost his balance while experiencing some dizziness in the bathroom.  He fell, hit his head on the floor and was rushed to the local hospital, nearly 30 miles away.  Upon arrival in the emergency room, he was admitted to the intensive care unit and given 24 hours to live.  He had bleeding on the brain and stroke-like symptoms.  Fortunately, he survived and after numerous tests during his five days in the hospital, he was released to a nearby care facility.  His overall condition is still not good, but at least he’s alive and slowly making progress with his occupational therapy.

While visiting him in the hospital, I wondered to myself, “If Dad had stayed committed to his exercise program, including balance exercises, could his fall have been prevented?”   We’ll never know for certain, but I do know that if he had developed his core and stabilizing muscles more, he would have been physically better conditioned to help maintain his balance.  He still may have fallen, but maybe not as hard.

So to help others become better equipped to maintain a good postural balance and hopefully, even prevent them from a life changing fall like my father’s, I am dedicating this column to my dad by prescribing a simple, but very effective balance exercise – it’s called the “one-footed diagonal pull/extend.”

Muscle groups engaged during this exercise will primarily be your core stabilizing muscles (abdominals/obliques/back), gluteus maximus, hip flexors, quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior and deltoids.  In other words, almost your entire body will benefit from this exercise, especially your overall balance ability.

Start Position:

*  Stand tall with your shoulders back, spine aligned and knees slightly bent.

Simultaneously:

* Lift your right foot and extend it slightly off the ground behind you with the foot pointed.

* Lift your right arm up in a diagonal position beside your right ear with the palm facing inward.

* Extend your left arm slightly back in a diagonal position

* Hold pose until you get your balance.

Finish Position:

Simultaneously – Without moving your torso or standing leg:

* Fist you right hand while pulling your right arm back, bending your elbow 90 degrees and stop when  your  right fist is beside your torso.

* Pull your right leg up while bending your knee, past your torso and stopping when your right quadriceps is close to being parallel to the ground.

* Fist your left hand while pulling your left arm forward, bending your elbow 90 degrees, past your torso and stopping when your forearm is slightly above parallel to the ground.

Hold this pose for 1 sec, then extend everything back to the start position WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GROUND , hold for 1 second and repeat the pull/extend movement for 10 repetitions and then switch legs and repeat for 10 repetitions.  If you have very poor balance to begin with, you may modify by touching your back leg toe on the ground to help maintain your balance as you work toward improving your balance.   If you have excellent balance and master this exercise easily the first time, you can add hand and/or ankle weights while performing this exercise.

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Patty Peoples is an accomplished fitness professional with 30 years of experience, including:
2011 AG Sprint Duathlon World Champion and Fastest Overall Female Cyclist, 2011 USAT AG Duathlon National Champion, 3-time USAT All-American Duathlete, 3-time USAT #1 Nationally Ranked AG Duathlete, College Fitness Educator since 1992, 2-time Sports Emmy Recipient for Olympic Production work with NBC 2002/04, Former US National Women’s Cycling Team, Former East Coast Triathlon Champion, Hawaii Ironman top 25 women finisher and Motivational Speaker.  Patty can be reached at p2peakperformance@hotmail.com

More World Championship News

Hi All,

Sorry for my delay in posting.  I had a family emergency back East and had to jump on a plane.  To help catch you up, the Inland Valley Newspaper – The Daily Bulletin just printed the following article about my World Title.  Check it out http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_19103936?IADID=Search-www.dailybulletin.com-www.dailybulletin.com

GOLD Medal & WORLD CHAMPION Title!

Hi All,

Sorry I haven’t posted much but I currently have limited access to the internet  But as you can see by the title of this post, I achieved my goal!!!

I’ll post more when I get home, but I wanted to let you know that DREAMS do come true when you never give up on them!!  Below are a few photos from the 2011 ITU Duathlon World Championships.  I’ll post more when I get home, rested and recovered!

SEE/BELIEVE/ACHIEVE!  It works!

Patty

Start of the Women's Race - All Ages in the Sprint Duathlon World Championships in Gijon, Asturias, Spain on Sept. 25, 2011. I'm in the middle front and center.

Coming down the home stretch and knowing I was going to be a World Champion was quite emotional for me. Hearing the crowd yell USA and my name was emotional and made me tear up with both joy and pride.

Me getting my bike out of transition several hours after the race. I also was told that I posted the FASTEST FEMALE BIKE SPLIT out of ALL the women in the Sprint Race. SEE/BELIEVE/ACHIEVE!

On the podium at the Awards Ceremony with my Gold Medal - THANK-YOU Arrowhead Orthopaedics for helping to keep my body in World-Class Shape!

Pneu training getting faster and helps produce WINNING results!

Hi All,

Time seems to keep getting away from me.  So this blog will have my last Pneu training and my final tune-up race report before the ITU Duathlon World Championship.

Pneu Treadmill Training:

In my last training at Arrowhead Orthopaedics SCOR facility I decided to see if my hamstring and legs were ready to up the speed.  I’m VERY happy to report – they were!

After warming up with a 8.0 mph pace (7:30 mile pace), I started my 1/2 mile repeats.  Below is the schedule along with mile pace and average heart-rate during the intervals:

*  .5 mile at 8.5 mph (7:03 mile pace), 138 HR

*  .5 mile at 9.5 mph (6:19 mile pace), 154 HR

*  .5 mile at 9 mph (6:40 mile pace), 152 HR

*  .5 mile at 10 mph (6:00 mile pace),  164 HR

*  .5 mile at 9 mph (6:40 mile pace), 151 HR

*  .5 mile at 10.4 mph (5:46 mile pace), 168 HR

*  .5 mile at 9 mph (6:40 mile pace), 159 HR

*  .25 mile at 10.8 mph (5:33 mile pace), 178 HR

Total distance was 4 miles, ave HR was 151, Peak HR was 178, ave mile pace was 6:32.

When I was done – I felt GREAT!  The only better endorphin rush than doing speed intervals is doing battle back and forth in a race with another competitor.

In my next Pneu training session this Friday, September 9, I plan on hitting 5 or sub 5 mile pace for at least .25 mile.  With only 2 weeks before Worlds, I only have a small window of speed training left, before I’ll have to taper and rest up for the battle of my duathlon career at the 2011 ITU Duathlon World Championships.  My goal:  Podium!  My dream goal:  GOLD and title of WORLD CHAMPION.   Only time will tell, but I’m feeling very good about my final weeks of training and believe I will be peaking at just the right time.

Regardless, I will do my best and hope for no mechanicals.  In a sprint distance race, there isn’t any room for error, especially a flat!  A mechanical would automatically take me out of podium contention, which would be VERY disappointing.  That’s why I always pray for a mechanical free race for all.  I want everyone to have a fair shot at reaching their goals and I want to be challenged by the best in the field.

Final Tune-up Race:

On Sunday, September 4, my family and our small group of training partners travelled to Camarillo to compete in the Camarillo Duathlon Series Championship race.  Since Tom (my husband) and I are signed up for the Sprint race at Worlds, we decided to enter the Sprint race here.  This race consisted of a 1.5 mile run, 11.5 mile bike and 1.5 mile run.   I hadn’t done an individual race since June when I was the first women overall at San Bernardino Tinman Triathlon, so I was ready to test my speed at the Sprint Du distance.

The gun went off and so did we.  Two females darted out in front of me, but I didn’t panic.  Instead, I analyzed their running form, shoes and race kit before I made my move and quickly surged past them to take the lead.  I like to lead and then if someone challenges me, I’m ready to battle.  I like it best when the lead changes back and forth several times throughout the race, with me, hopefully, taking the final pass and the victory.  It doesn’t always turn out that way though.  But I still enjoy a good battle.  Actually, I prefer to battle a bit verses racing without being challenged.

Anyway, once I took the lead about quarter of a mile into the first run, I continued to increase my lead on the bike and the final run, winning with a time of 52:04.  I was very pleased with my time and it felt great to raise my arms in victory as the first place female overall!  That feeling never gets old!

People often ask me what’s my secret to still being able to win the overall at my age (54).  There’s no secret.  I just haven’t told my body its age.  LOL   Actually, the keys are quite simple but one has to be willing to follow them, for life!  They are:  being consistent, honest quality training, good training partners, living a FITstyle way of life, having a healthy positive attitude and setting SMART Goals!  My consistency started over 30 years ago.   It’s never too late to start or make changes in your life, but once you make the changes or start a fitness or athletic program, you have to STICK with it!!!  Most people start and stop and then start and stop again.  As one ages, this starting and stopping gets harder and harder.  However, if one starts and keeps going, it’s not so hard to maintain or even improve.  A good analogy is a car that does a lot of highway driving and one that does city driving.  The highway car will maintain its fitness better than a city car that has a lot of stopping and going.  So, get on your “fitness highway” and keep going.

Back to the race.  As a whole, our group took three first places overall and one second place overall!!   Best part:  three of us are over 50 and one of us is over 40!   I was specially happy for my husband who took 1st overall in the Sprint Du and Gill who claimed her first duathlon victory by winning the Olympic Duathlon.  She hopes to qualify for Team UK in 2012 and compete in the 2012 ITU Duathlon World Championships.  I think she has a good shot!

Stay tuned for more,

Patty

Patty Peoples is the first women to cross the finish line

at the Camarillo Sprint Duathlon Championship race on Sept 4, 2011

Championship bikes in the both the Men's and Women's Camarillo Sprint Duathlon Championship Race over Labor Day Weekend, 2011

 

Redlands based training partners clean up at both the Camarillo Sprint and Olympic Duathlon Championship Race. Gill (1st Female Overall in Olympic), Margot (2nd Female Overall in Sprint), Myself and hubby, Tom (1st Female and Male Overall in Sprint)

It’s Been Too Long

Hi All – Sorry for the LONNNGGG delay in posting.  This year has been crazy with work, training, being a mom, wife, on several Community Boards and life in general.  I’m in the process of hopefully getting this blog back up and running on a regular basis to help inspire, educate, motivate and guide you down your “Road to Fitness!”  We all have our roads we are travelling and sometimes get detoured, but hopefully, through this blog, you will always find your way back to the road that will help you attain and sustain a higher quality of life for life – a “Fitstyle way of Living!”  Patty

Thank you for your interest – stay tuned, yes – again,

Patty

2011 USAT AG Duathlon National Champion

New Year – New and Exciting Ventures Posted Soon – Stay Tuned

The title says it all.  So….stay tuned for good news!

Forever FIT = Forever YOUNG,

Patty

“SEE it, BELIEVE it, ACHIEVE it”