Eat Like an Ironman

One of my biggest pitfalls has always been my diet.  I am the queen of "I'm going to start eating good tomorrow", only to eat every bad food around knowing it'll be my "last one".  I do well for about a week, and then I slowly trickle back down into bad habits.

I've always thought about eating as "eating to get thin" vs. "eating to get strong".  One thing I have learned about training for long distance events is that what you put into your body REALLY matters! In order for me to gain the strength I need to train, I really need to take a look at what is going in my body. I know that, I just don't do it. 

So this past week, I've been talking to my friend Deanna about make better choices and really eating to fuel my body so it can perform.  We spent Sunday Night meal prepping for the next week.  I know that sounds like a ton of work, but it really wasn't that bad.  It took us about 2 hours to create enough meals (lunches and dinners) for the entire week (I think-verdict is still out on that), all while our kid enjoyed a playdate together.  In fact, I'm eating my first "prepped lunch" and it's AMAZING! No kidding!  It's a veggie stir fry with chicken and a mixed blend of brown rice, quinoa and some other kind of grain.  I have also decided I need to avoid the teacher's lounge.  We celebrate birthdays with treats in the lounge and it has become a habit for me to walk by and hope there is food in there.  Then I wonder why I'm not having the energy to get through the day.  Today, I went to the lounge to heat up my stir fry and there were lots of treats!  I am proud to say I walked out.  Will I always do that? No.  Will I give up sweets forever? Unrealistic.  But, I am going to make a conscious effort to eat like an athlete. I'm back on Fitness Pal and knowing that Deanna is on this part of my journey with me helps.  We have even had friends ask if we'd consider doing a meal prep Sunday with them.  

This journey, even early on, is really telling me a lot about myself and my relationships with others.  From not giving in on my workouts with my trainer, who believes in me more than I believe in me sometimes, to friends offering to let me use their indoor bike trainer, to people coming out of the woodwork to train with me and offer support. And knowing that the memory of Bryce and those before him that left this earth way too soon are the forefront of this journey reaffirms that I can do this.  One step at a time. 

Bryce Heckendorf

I (Joe Krantz) met Bryce's mom (Jenna Kuenster) back in high school, Jenna from River Ridge and I went to Lancaster. She was dating one of my best friends and I was dating one of her best friends. Back when life was simple! Little did we know that years later our paths would cross again in a totally different way….. The day I heard about Bryce's diagnoses I was 20 feet up a tree in a stand hunting for deer. I immediately started crying, climbed down and left. Having my own child (1 at that time), I hurt so badly knowing how much Jenna must be hurting. I followed the Caring Bridge page dedicated to Bryce and when they posted about a benefit I told them I would help in anyway I could. That is where our paths crossed again. I saw Jenna holding Bryce and it was bitter sweet. He was as handsome in person as he was when he was born. I remembered seeing pictures on Facebook when he was born and thinking….no surprise he's cute, his mom was always a "looker." The benefit went exceptionally well with lots of money raised for the family. Before I left I gave Jenna a hug and got to hold Bryce's hand. I wished her the best and I headed for my truck. I cried the whole way home and when I came through the doors my son welcomed me at the door and my new born daughter was making baby noises from the living room. I was overwhelmed with emotions from the whole evening. I was inspired by Bryce and all of his family members to do something. I just didn't know what yet? I talked to my wife about doing the IM 70.3 in racine that past summer and said "why not do it for Bryce?" And that is when it all began for me. I talked to Jenna and she supported my decision and was very thankful. I told her I wanted to come see Bryce again and get a picture with him. Unfortunately God had different plans. Myself and my family were sick a lot and we couldn't visit him while we were sick and in that time Bryce's conditioned had worsened and he passed. The celebration of life for the little guy was very nice. Aunt Jamie had a great speech, Jenna and Kyle spoke (which I admire their courage a lot) and they released balloons outside. I watched the balloons go off into the "Blue Sky" for miles. I hugged Kyle and Jenna and while driving home I said to myself "I will finish this race if I have to crawl."

I shared my story to Facebook and Missy contacted me about joining. I told her that would be great! We are now in the early stages of this blog, training, promoting Bryce's life, and raising awareness about Krabbe disease. Missy is the brains behind most of this and I'll help where I can. If this post works it will be nothing short of amazing from my part as I hardly know what a "blog" is!

I'm currently having a rough time in my training as I have a bum left foot. I have seen 5 different specialists. I feel as if we have things under control now, but not healed. I may need surgery and if that happens it will clearly back things up. I'm optimistic that if I do I can heal quickly and ease into running!? At this point I feel like a race horse being held back and if you ask my wife I'm sure she'll agree!….I'm ready to run! And most importantly I'm ready to do this for Bryce!

5 Month Journey to 70.3- B.STRONG

Tomorrow marks the date 5 months out from my first half ironman.  While my "official" training program starts at four months out,  I have been starting to train on the bike the past couple of weeks and did my first training swim this past weekend.  Below is the beginning of my story. 

Why 70.3? The idea came to me actually from a new fitness friend, Joe Krantz. I had done several small gestures to help support the Heckendorf Family throughout the year since Bryce's diagnosis-from collecting money from my bootcamp class for minutes exercised, to donating a jersey to his fundraiser, to organizing a 5K in his honor/memory. When he told me he was going to compete in his first half-ironman as a way to B.Strong and honor this little angel, I really didn't think I had it in me to do something like this. I completed a marathon two years before in memory of Clint Sitzmann, a family friend, who lost his battle to Ewings Sarcoma at the age of 21. I signed up the day after he passed away. So naturally, when Joe mentioned this, a small part of me started to think if this was in any way possible. After lots of self-doubt and soul-searching, I decided to do it. I got kicked out of registration 3 times because it took so long to register due to my hesitation and fear. On the fourth time, I turned to my husband, Shane, and said, "What's the worst that could happen?" You don't want to know what his answer was. And the rest, is history.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I'd be lying if I said I was confident I could do this. But I have several guardian angels that will be guiding me through this journey. When I want to quit, I'll use the strength from Kris Keene, Clint Sitzmann, MaKayla Hore, Doug Pink, and of course, Bryce Heckendorf, the smallest angel of all. I know I will have the support of some amazing friends and family and a great trainer who will push me until I don't think I can go anymore, just to prove to me that I can. I have a mentor, Jennifer Maguire, who completed a full Ironman this past September, which I witnessed in awe, that will help me along the way. I have a fitness family at SUPPZ Gym who will continue to encourage me, and many training partners along the way.

I can do this. I can B.Strong. This is no doubt going to be one of the greatest physical accomplishments of my life.