Cynthia’s Story: Health, Strength and Community

By Chris Newport, Head Coach & Nutritionist

It’s been pretty amazing to witness Cynthia’s transformation. Not only has she physically changed, but her attitude has transformed from being doubtful and uncertain to confident and energetic. She’s why we love to come to work every day. She not only does the work, but she asks tons of questions and pushes herself (and us) to learn and grow more. We can’t wait to see what next year will hold for her!

What made you look for The Endurance Edge services? What were you trying to accomplish from the start?

I saw the Endurance Edge Advertisement in Endurance Magazine at a Cary bike shop in April 2018 while getting my road bike serviced and thought their concept looked interesting.

As background, I began participating in distance running, some short triathlons and road biking to support cancer charities in 2005. After taking time off from training for events due to travel and work, I started running again in 2017. At that point in my life, the training and participation in races lacked the excitement, feeling of health, strength and community that I had experienced years before. I was also not the in the best physical condition and couldn’t seem to get myself back into shape even while logging the miles and putting in the time.

Endurance sport had become, for me, the most banal meaning of the term i.e “to endure, to bear or suffer something painful or difficult, to live through or tolerate”… I also had a fleeting thought that maybe I should consider that endurance training would not be my next 25 year sport/hobby, and that I would need to consider other more traditional sports which had never interested me, such as golf or tennis. After all… I was overweight, of a “certain age” and without a network of peers in my community who were interested in endurance training.

With the support of my family, and I do come from a family of “sporty women”, I decided to give a call to the Endurance Edge office. Their advertisement interested me because the focus was on a total package of care, including nutritional assessments, sound physical performance assessments, bodywork, and coaching. I’m a life sciences executive, so I wanted the best scientific approach with lots of data.

Also, the advertisement sounded like the people there would be fun to work with too! I met with the team and decided to go “all in” for the VIP package for the 2018 triathlon season.

Did you hit any roadblocks during the process of working with us? If so, how did that change your approach, mindset or goals?

The first roadblock was a barrier in my thinking about nutrition. Once Chris Newport completed all of my performance testing, sweat testing and metabolic testing, she provided me with a nutritional plan which was not similar to any plan I had followed in the past.

I struggled to get in the right amount of protein and fats for the first several weeks, but once I put the priority on protein intake, followed by good fats, my weight started dropping, and I have maintained my muscle mass.

I’ve lost 29 pounds in 6 months, have kept my muscle mass and increased my strength. This is a first for me, because previous weight loss attempts while doing endurance sport have left me weak and losing half of the weight in muscle.

The second roadblock has been a “grouchy Achilles heel” which has surfaced with my increased training while participating in multiple shorter triathlons and long bike races. Chris has put “the team” on this issue, so Sheri Lawler  [bodywork] and Jon Paryz [PT] have developed a process to help strengthen and heal my tendons while I train and participate in all of the events I have planned through the end of the year. Teamwork at its best!

The third road block was my own bias about what type of racing I was capable of while I spent this year building my body up. A couple of sessions with Brian Wade, and my weekly coaching calls with Chris N. shifted my mindset, from “I couldn’t do a mountain road race or Half Ironman,” to completing the Cowbelle Classic 64 mile Bike Race in Boone NC in July, and recently Chris has given me the “ready status” to continue training for longer triathlon events.

I’ll be racing with my sister Christine in the Marin County California Olympic Triathlon in November and have signed up for the Half Booty 70.3 in May 2019 with other events in between.

What is the best part of your experience with The Endurance Edge?

The are several best parts:

First, the individual system that Chris N. and team have created for me has produced significant physical and mental results. I’m feeling strong, robust and much healthier than I’ve felt in years.

Second, the community at the Endurance Edge has been wonderful. I now have training buddies from all walks of life. We support each other and want to see each other succeed in our individual goals. That is our “team sport.” This has been an amazing experience, and the first time that I’ve met a training team like this.

Third, I’m getting a great education about new and interesting trends in endurance sport, nutrition and sport community which I can put into practice.

What are some of the lessons or concepts that stuck with you most?

The first lesson was to trust the process and let data guide my training. Chris N. and I have weekly chats and we use my data to determine how my goals are progressing, in a fact-based way. I’ve put my corporate skills to work and create a little power point presentation to share with her each week. This process of reviewing my goals with her prioritizes my health and training.

I’ve let go of the emotional drama about daily weight numbers and calorie restriction and the results speak for themselves. I now just document my data, make the changes in training and nutritional support she recommends, and the weekly trends work out.

Family support makes all the difference. My husband is a cheerleader at local events, my sisters and I pick different destinations for sisters’ weekends where I participate in races and they have fun as road crew. My sister Christine has traveled from California to be tested by Chris N. and plans to be evaluated every year, next year bringing her husband Bob to town. Christine had recent health issues and weight loss after a knee replacement and Chris was able to provide her with great guidance. Both Christine and Bob are international champion Masters Rowers/Scullers and feel that the techniques that Chris and team employ can help them maximize their current peak performance.

Finally, endurance training is a lifestyle, and I now approach my daily activities this mindset. I am clear that endurance training is what I want to be doing for this chapter in my life. We’ve been able to plan for all circumstances including nutrition and training while traveling for work, and different weather conditions. And with quality time spent on nutrition, wellness and exercising outdoors with great people, I can’t think of another sport that gives this level of satisfaction.

So endurance training for me now means “to continuously live a life of health, strength, and community… the sporty life!”

What would you like to accomplish next?

Well, to date in 2018, I have been able to participate in multiple sprint triathlons (actually won a little dinosaur by placing at a Rex event!), and multiple century bike races.

By end of 2018, I plan to be close to optimal BMI, and will have completed a half marathon and Olympic Triathlon.

In 2019, we’ll work on increasing my speed and I’ll have a full triathlon season to plan for with my new training buddies and family. Hopefully I’ll be able to take a couple of places in my age group in 2019… and all along the way we will have lots of fun!

Cynthia, it’s an honor to work with you! You’re our #shero and we’re so lucky to be on this journey with you!

To learn more about our coaching services, go here. And be sure to look for Cynthia on our wall of fame!