You are an athlete. Let Age be Irrelevant!

Do you Think Aging and therefore a Decline in Performance is Inevitable?  Think Again!

The saying goes, “As you age, you just don’t recover as fast as when you are younger.”  It’s well known, if you don’t recover as fast, you just can’t train as hard, as before.  And therefore, usually performance falls off. 

Do you want to be the exception??? 

Are you ready for this???  Performance doesn’t fall off because of your age.  It falls off because of increased inflammation and oxidative stress, which result in the decline of so MANY functions in your body.  And YOU my friend, have both.

Why?  Because of common choices you make daily.  And because you have been stock piling toxins in your body from a cumulative exposure to our toxic environment.

I have massively reduced my inflammation, my oxidative stress, and my toxic load.  The result?  I am recovering and racing as well, or better, than TWO decades ago. 

Let me share My Story of HOW, and how I can help YOU do the same: 

I’m into my 4th decade of training and racing as an endurance athlete.  I have always meticulously planned my training.   I have also made sure to avoid the pitfall of many athletes, by making sure my easy days are truly easy, thereby allowing my hard days to be truly hard.  I have tried to eat a nutritious diet and 8-9 hours of sleep has always been non-negotiable.  I have put extra focus into recovery, utilizing every tool at my fingertips.  I have refined my techniques and methods for the past 3 decades plus. 

But here I am in my mid 40’s and I am getting faster and racing stronger than ever.  How?  Over the past several years I have applied my functional medicine knowledge to my own personal case.  I had the science down for training, racing, and recovery, as many athletes do.  But I didn’t have the knowledge to heal my body on a deep level, following years of testing my physical limits.  Even worse, I didn’t know I needed to or even could! 

In summary, I didn’t know I HAD a problem.  And the first step is knowing that you actually HAVE a problem, right?  I didn’t and most people don’t either.  Traditional medicine simply isn’t looking to optimize health. Instead, it is focused on treating disease. 

What did I do?  Over the past several years I have slowly worked through testing my adrenals, I’ve ordered a FULL thyroid panel (rarely if EVER tested with traditional medicine), a metabolic panel, a stool test, hormone testing, food sensitivity testing, and toxicity testing. 

Armed with data and coupled with my seemingly benign and common symptoms, I created a personal plan to further clean up my diet and to personalize it for MY genetic and lifestyle needs.  I worked to balance my adrenals and hormones through lifestyle changes and supplementation.  I supported my thyroid through simple dietary changes to address subclinical hypothyroid.  I made changes to rebalance my metabolic panel, and yes, that included a very targeted, but brief, cleanse.  I cut foods from my diet that my body is sensitive (not allergic) to.  I have eliminated a lot of toxin exposure, from foods, air, water, and topicals on my skin.  I boosted my detox pathways.  I supported my pathways that reduce oxidative stress and increase mitochondria.  I have methodically worked on healing my gut.  And, I wear an Oura ring to measure my biometrics on a constant basis.  All of this has radically reduced my overall inflammation. 

I didn’t do all of this at once.  And much of it is a continual work in progress.  I will never have ARRIVED.  Rather, Optimal Health is something I will continually strive for. 

I didn’t do any of this to race better.  You see, I have been in pursuit of Optimal Health my entire life.  I do want to live a long life.  But more than that, I was to live a life full of VITALITY.  I ask a lot of my body, and I want it to be able to perform.  I want to squeeze every little drop of goodness from this precious life that I possibly can. 

I still eat ice cream.  I still enjoy alcoholic beverages with friends.  I sometimes stay up too late.  I sometimes push my body too hard.  There is no such thing as perfection.  And these things bring me joy.  We all have our non-negotiables, things we won’t give up.  But when we know better…we can do better. 

All these things have allowed my body to heal to a level I haven’t experienced in YEARS.  Each little change has brought increased health.  I didn’t set out to do it all, and certainly not all at once.  As I learned more about myself, I just chipped away bit by bit. 

You can move towards better health by implementing one little change at a time.  You can choose to prioritize and implement the changes that will have the biggest impact on YOU and for your personal journey and goals.  I can help. 

Guiding others on their own personal journey towards Optimal Health is my passion!  It gets my juices flowing.  Watching other “aging” athletes excel and perform better than ever is so INSPIRING!  It gets me fired up!  Let me help YOU on YOUR journey! 

YOU are an ATHLETE!  Let AGE be IRRELEVANT!

P.S. Above podium shots are from 2022.