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mikeconphoto · 5 years ago

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"FIT FEATURE: ALLYSON FRANCO" #WEARORANGE -BY MIKECON PHOTOGRAPHY

This is dedicated to Evan, all of the survivors and the victims of senseless gun violence.

I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a while about this phenomenal athlete, wife and mother named Allyson Franco. With current events in play, I figured that today’s that day. Before I share the interview with Allyson, let me tell you a bit about her.

Allyson and I met in 2016 at a gym in Castle Rock, Colorado. She was working there as a Personal Trainer, and I hired her to help me get back into better shape. As she trained me, we began to talk and get to know one another, and eventually became really great friends. Coincidentally, we’re both from Georgia, close in age, and appreciate family, food, and running. After some major convincing between myself and her husband we FINALLY got her to do a photo shoot with me. Allyson is a natural in front of the camera!! Not once did she ever tense up, or give up on the all day marathon shoot we did.

On May 7th 2019, the Highlands Ranch, Colorado community was forever changed when a shooting occurred at the Highlands Rance STEM School. There were 8 students hurt and 1 was killed. For me this hit pretty personal because Allyson’s one and only son is currently a student there. Living here in Germany, I rarely see the news going on in the U.S., however Allyson made this post on social media that she shared with me, and has allowed me to share with you all:

“I rarely post very personal things on Facebook, but what happened today is bigger than just my family unit. There was a shooting at Evan’s school today, STEM. He was in the classroom next door to where one of the shooters opened fired. At least 3 bullets came through the wall into his room and one grazed a boy in his class on the leg. His soccer coach was the teacher leading class at that time. One of his teammates was actually in the room where it happened (his teammate is physically ok). He knew the student that did not survive his injuries and, though not very well, he knew the 18 yr old shooter. This is a small school, everybody knows everybody on some level. Our son heard and saw things today that nobody should ever be exposed to, least of all someone his age whose biggest concern should be his upcoming game and what he’s going to do on Friday night. He heard all of the gunshots that happened in that room. He heard a student yell “He has a gun!” He heard the confrontation that happened between a shooter and an officer. He heard the confrontation stop after more gunfire. He helped gather his classmates into the area where they were supposed to be during a lockdown, including collecting two classmates who were hiding together in a deemed unsafe spot, which left him positioned on the floor in the middle of the room instead of up against the wall where, he was supposed to be because he was one of the last two people to take cover. He saw blood pools on the floor and blood on the wall as he was evacuated from the school by armed officers. To the depths of my soul I mourn what happened today. I mourn the loss of life, I mourn for those that suffered injuries, I mourn the lives of the shooters and I mourn for their parents, and I mourn for the rest of these kids that should never have been exposed to everything that happened today. I am immensely proud of how our son handled himself today. Yet I am devastated at his loss of innocence. I am an adult, yet I am unsure of how to deal with the feelings I have. How do we as parents help our kids through this who, at this age, struggle with simply processing their regular daily emotional load?

I worry every time this boy gets in his car and leaves my sight. So much so that I make fun of myself in my head for being such a ‘mom’. Every fear came to life today when I got the text that said “don’t call me because my phone can’t ring...there is an active shooter...which is where I am...” I’m surely going to freak the eff out when he leaves home now.

I’m not looking to be political. That’s not what this post is about. I’m heartbroken. So many children are hurting. I cannot thank God enough for the moment when I was able to hug my son after hours of standing in a gymnasium with hundreds of other scared parents. Honestly, I don’t really know why I’m posting this other than I need a place to ‘put’ what I’m feeling (imagine how all of these students feel). And that feelings about what happened today should not be kept inside.

Hug your kids for me. I love them all. “

As a Marine that has experience in combat zones I hate the fact that this happened to these kids, or anyone that has had to deal with this when they’re supposed to be safe on our own soil. I’m not here to politicize this, however I will bring awareness to this as the rest of the world has by wearing orange today to honor gun violence victims and survivors. Now, here’s more about Allyson. #wearorange

Describe your life before you started training. I grew up being uncomfortable in my skin. I was always the “skinny girl”. In fact, the mom of my best friend while I was growing up used to say I looked like a “refugee from Guam”. She didn’t mean any harm behind it, she loved me almost like a daughter, but it still stung and it definitely stuck. I spent some time trying out different types of dancing in my youth, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t my “thing” so I didn’t stay with it as I got older. I spent my high school years trying to come to terms with myself as a whole, just like everybody else did. I feel like I didn’t really start coming into my own until after I graduated. I’d have to say that the best I’ve ever felt about myself was in my early to mid twenties. Whether it’s related or not, that’s when I began to dabble in the gym. My then fiancée and I joined Lifetime Fitness and started working out to get ready for our wedding. I wasn’t nearly at the level physically that I’ve since become, and there have been many evolutions in my fitness journey since then, but after I started that one gym membership, I haven’t stopped.

How different do you feel now compared to then? Night and day. But sprinklings of that very insecure girl still show up more often than I’d like. There are moments when being a 45 year old, pre-menopausal mom and wife catch up with me. But my time that I spend training is what helps to keep those demons at bay. I’ve learned to appreciate my strength and the feats my body has been able to accomplish over the years.

Was there is pivotal moment that motivated you to start training? If so, what was it? Not really. At the time, John and I joined a gym in preparation for our upcoming wedding. It just seemed like the thing to do. We didn’t realize that we had begun what was to become one of the biggest parts of our daily lives.

Do you remember your first training session? How different is your training today? I remember when I first joined a gym after having my son. That was more significant to me than my first time ever training in a gym was. I was a new mom and needed to get out of the house and find a community. I found it when I came back to the gym. (I’d had to give up the gym during my pregnancy due to complications.)

What has been the most rewarding aspect of training for you? Why? By far, my sense of self. I feel more confident and secure in my station when I have my outlet. I am a better wife and mother when I’m able to get my training in. My personal fitness evolution also lead me to becoming a personal trainer, which became my career passion the minute I started.

What has continued to motivate you throughout your training? Why? Setting a good example for my son is a huge motivation. I want to show him that just because we have to age, it doesn’t mean we have to get old. And also to show him that taking care of yourself is a foundation to leading a good life. Training is also my outlet. I’m a better version of myself when my training is on point. My family and my clients deserve my best.

What are your qualifications - why did you set out to achieve these? Professionally, my personal training certifications are through NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine. I have my Certified Personal Trainer certification, Corrective Exercise Specialist certification, Fitness Nutrition Specialist certification, Weight Loss Specialist certification, Women’s Fitness Specialist certification, and Youth Exercise Specialist certification. NASM is one of the most highly regarded institutions from which to become certified. I figured that I’d be wasting my time, and my clients’ time, if I didn’t set high standards for myself from the beginning. Each new certification I acquire makes me a more effective and well rounded personal trainer. My clients deserve my best effort, and that includes not only my attitude, but also my knowledge. Beyond my professional certifications, I try to practice what I preach. I have tried to be accomplished both professionally and personally. I have finished multiple 30 hour adventure races, completed multiple marathons, completed a 50k ultramarathon, finished two 70.3 distance triathlons, and also crossed the finish line at the inaugural Chattanooga Ironman 140.6 triathlon.

What have you had to overcome to get to where you are today? Did that change you in any way? If so, describe how. I’ve been blessed that my road to becoming a personal trainer has been a fairly smooth one. My husband has supported me 100% since day 1, and he’s my biggest fan. He has trained along my side and in many of my personal endeavors too. We trained together and held hands as we both crossed the finish line in the Chattanooga Ironman. My son has also been consistently positive about everything I’ve done. My support system is strong.

What is the number one lesson you have learned about health and fitness through your training? Sustainability is key. Each person has to find a nutrition and training regimen that they can stick with long term. Health and fitness should be a lifelong endeavor.

What do you wish you had known when you were 16? That great things happen when I push myself outside of my comfort zone, both mentally and physically.

Describe how training makes you feel. Strong. Capable. Beautiful. Centered.

Do you have a quote that you live by? If so, why this one? “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” We all can become complacent in a blink if we aren’t paying attention. This applies to all areas of life - physical, mental, social, professional....Nothing progresses if we are stagnant and comfortable.

What was your reason for taking health and fitness to the level you have? Why is it so important to you? It’s been an evolution for me. As I gained more confidence in what my body could do, I kept pushing my limits. Every time I completed a race, even though I was beat down and exhausted, I felt strong and accomplished. I also want to be strong and healthy for my family. I try to lead by example so they will be encouraged to be strong and healthy as well.

What advice would you give to women wanting to get into the best shape of their life? Don’t get discouraged. No one thing works for every person. Don’t be afraid to try different avenues of exercise.

What is the most important thing women need to remember when training? Why? That it’s ok to take that time for yourself. We tend to feel that by doing something that seems like it is for us alone, we are taking away from the people that we love. That’s not the case. The truth is, this small amount of time that we take, makes us better for the people that count on us.

We all have days where motivation is low – how do you overcome these? Have you always been able to do this? I am a “doer.” I’m very task oriented. If something needs to be done, and I’m the one that is supposed to do it, I complete the task regardless of how I feel about doing it. The same principle applies for me with regard to my training. If it’s on the schedule for the day, I do it. That said, there are occasional days where I might be particularly low energy or run down. Perhaps those will turn into unscheduled rest days. I’m trying to listen to my body more. I was not very good at doing so a few years ago. My last line of defense, though, is my husband. If I’m really failing to get myself moving, he’s very good about stepping in. He’s been known to create a butt-kicking workout for me so that I don’t have to think about it. I just show up.

Do you enjoy training alone or with a partner? Why? Really, it depends on the day and what I’m doing. There is something great about being in my fitness studio alone, my music turned up loud, and doing my thing. But I also have fun when my friend comes to join me and we help push each other. I love the times when my husband and I can get in the gym together too. My son will come workout with me sometimes as well, especially during summer vacation. Those are great opportunities for us to spend time together.

What would you like to see change in the health and fitness industry? I’d like to see some regulation on vitamins, proteins, and supplements. So many people think that all supplements are created equal. They’re under the impression that these products are all safe because they’re sold over the counter. That’s not true and it makes it difficult for the average person to make informed decisions about what they are putting in their bodies.

What would a perfect Sunday involve for you? A perfect Sunday would come at the end of a successful training week. There would be snow on the ground, I’d sleep in with my husband, stay in sweats all day, there would be a big pot of homemade spaghetti gravy on the stove, and I’d finish off my evening with a couple of glasses of red wine.

Contest history - do you have a highlight? Why? I’ve completed multiple 30-hour adventure races, several marathons, a 50k ultra marathon, two 70.3 distance Ironman Triathlons, and the Inaugural Chattanooga 140.6 Ironman Triathlon. The highlight would have to be the Chattanooga Ironman. My training had been sidelined by a few unexpected surgeries I’d had at the beginning of that year. I had come to terms with not being able to participate in this race that coming September as I hadn’t been able to train at all for the first 6 months of the year. But at the last minute, I decided to go for it. I trained hard for two months and, while my time wasn’t as good as it would have been if I’d been able to train properly, I crossed the finish line next to my husband. Running down that finisher’s chute was one of the highlights of my entire life.

Diet/Workout week:

[Please outline a typical day’s meals and your workout]

Monday

Breakfast - Isagenix IsaLean Strawberry shake, coffee

Snack - small handful of raw almonds and an apple

Later lunch/ post workout - 2 Mediterranean grilled chicken skewers, 2 tbsp hummus, cucumber slices

Dinner - roasted chicken, roasted red potatoes, and a salad

Tuesday

Breakfast - Isa shake, coffee

Snack - 2 slices sharp cheddar cheese and an apple

Later lunch / post workout - Just Shredded Chicken from Sprouts, 2 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot wing sauce, and baby carrots

Dinner - baked salmon, brown rice pilaf (made from scratch), steamed asparagus

Wednesday

Breakfast - Isa shake, coffee

Snack - beef jerky

Late lunch / post workout - one of the two lunches described above

Dinner - chicken stir fry with carrots, baby bok choy, and bell peppers, served over brown rice

Thursday

Breakfast - same

Snack - same

Lunch / post workout - same

Dinner - baked chicken breasts, roasted potatoes, baked Parmesan squash and zucchini “chips” (dipped in Greek yogurt ranch dressing)

Friday

Brakfast - same

Snack - same

Lunch / post workout - same

Dinner - chicken tinga tacos from Yolanda’s

Saturday

Breakfast - avocado toast on Ezekiel bread with 2 eggs and a sliced tomato, coffee

Lunch - 5 marinated mozzarella balls and a chopped tomato with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Snack - almonds or beef jerky and an apple

Dinner - sweet and spicy honey-sriracha chicken thighs with honey-soy glazed carrots served over brown rice

Sunday

Breakfast - scrambled eggs (made by my husband), Ezekiel toast, coffee

Lunch - turkey and cheddar flat sandwich from Pot Belly with all the toppings except mayo and oil

Dinner - either some form of leftovers from previous dinners, or homemade spaghetti gravy over whole wheat pasta

QUICK QUESTIONS:

Describe yourself in three words. Stubborn, dependable, feisty (Editor’s note: Allyson is half Italian and Puerto Rican, so those three words might make better sense!)

What is your favorite food to indulge on? How often do you treat yourself? I love cheese! I don’t think I’ve ever met a cheese that I didn’t like. I don’t eat it as often as I’d like. Maybe once a month I’ll put together a big tray of cheese and charcuterie and my husband and I will have that for dinner with a couple of glasses of wine.

What is your favorite non-cheat food? Tomatoes. I’ve had an obsession with them the last few months.

What is your favorite home-cooked meal? Who cooks it? Homemade spaghetti gravy with handmade ravioli. We make the ravioli by hand as a family, but I make the gravy. This is what we have for Christmas dinner every year.

What are the staples in your fridge? Just shredded chicken from Sprouts, sliced cucumbers, romaine letuce, we always have lots of veggies, Perfect Bars, Organic Valley 2% milk, Silk soy creamer, eggs.

What is your favorite body part to train? Why? Legs, because I’ve always felt that they require the most work for me. If I’m not training them hard, then they become too skinny.

What is your least favorite body part to train? Why? Chest, because I hate push-ups.

Do you prefer to train outdoors or indoors? Why? Indoors, but my training studio is in my garage so I love to have the big bay door open. I get the best of both worlds that way.

Describe the atmosphere in your favorite place to train – what can you see/feel/hear etc.? The lights are low and the rock music is loud. The vibe is strong and positive. I must have some personal space too, and be able to see outside.

Do you prefer cardio or weights? Why? I used to be a cardio junkie. I’m not like that now though, At this point, I’d have to say that I prefer weight training. I think I burned myself out running 10 miles a day, several days a week for such a long period of time. I just don’t have it in me to do that anymore. I also discovered that I prefer the way my body looks when I’m doing more lifting and HIIT training than the way it looked when I was running so much.

Do you have a favorite book? Why this one? ‘The Outlander’ series by Diana Gabaldon, because I’m a sucker for a good romance and strong lead characters.

What is your favorite feature? Why? My skin. I try very hard to take good care of it and keep it healthy and youthful looking. I was blessed with good genes. My mother and my grandmother both have beautiful skin. I have big shoes to fill in that regard.

Name five (5) things you can't live without. Other than my guys (John & Evan)? Blue jeans, boots, wine, my pets, and my workouts.

Name three (3) things most people don’t know about you. I don’t like crowds, I sang in the chorus in high school, and I love to cook.

What is on your bedside table? Water, hand lotion, Burt’s Bees lip treatment, 2 pictures of my son as a baby, and a lamp.

What is your best beauty secret? Eye cream! I’ve been using it since I was in my 20s. And serious sunscreen on my face.

Who inspires you? Why? My son. He exudes a quiet, but fierce confidence that I wish I’d had at his age. Or that I wish I had even now! The intelligence and maturity that he possesses is inspiring to watch grow.

Who is your fitness and body role model? Why? I can’t actually say that I have one. I just try to be the best version of myself that I can put out there. I spent too many years dangerously comparing myself to other people out there. I try not to do that anymore.

What do you have in store for the future? What do you want to improve on? Looking towards the future I’ll be focusing on expanding my business model and figuring out how to do that while not falling short on the daily running my household. I want to improve upon my ability to do both.

I'm currently preparing for: Nothing physical. I am working on building my brand professionally, while keeping my own training consistent.

Website? www.afitlifeforyou.com

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graemeruns · 6 years ago

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Multiple update time: Reigate half, Sittingbourne 10 and Abingdon marathon

Oh dear, it’s been 3 months since I last wrote anything on here about my running, so now’s the time to get up to speed with what has been going on.

After the Caterham half (detailed here) I looked at the goal races I had lined up and drew up a training plan. I actually only had two races booked in my calendar: the Reigate half marathon in mid September, and the Abingdon marathon five weeks later. So I decided to loosely follow the marathon training plan I used for my first ever marathon in Brighton in 2014, with Abingdon as the eventual finale and Reigate as one of the marathon tune-up runs. I always find training difficult in the warm summer months and during the school holidays, but this plan was doable because it shouldn’t mean excessive mileage (the greatest week being 55 miles, but most weeks between 40-50 miles). It also only meant five running days per week, so two days to fully rest and recover and not create any further injuries. I was hoping that training when it was warm would mean that the cool autumn races would be much easier too!

I had entered the Reigate Half in 2017 at the ‘early bird’ price and it had always been my main aim this year once recovered from my injury; it had been useful to have a long term goal to focus on when I started back running in April. After my Caterham half disappointment my training needed to focus on building up the Sunday long runs (all after a fast paced Saturday parkrun) and also ensuring I tried to get one tempo or interval session in during the week. I was also determined to listen to my body, so if I felt too tired for one of the sessions, I would change it to something else, but make sure that I still got the miles under my belt. By the time the Reigate half came round on 16th September, I had managed 5 runs between 16 - 20 miles, and felt a lot more prepared than when I ran Caterham 2 months previously.

This was my first time running the Reigate half. The organisation was superb, and the communication, event village, baggage tent and parking was faultless. The course itself was all on closed roads, and I’d been warned it was quite hilly. In fact there were only really two hills - in the first mile and the last mile - but everything else was all slightly undulating; I never felt like I was on the flat at any point. My race plan was to go out at 4min/km (6:25/mile), and see how long I could keep that up. In the end I managed that pace for the first 8 miles, then started to slow, crossing the finish in 1:26:34. My whole run, however, had been slightly hampered by the hill in the first mile: going up it had been slow, so I had rocketed down it and that had made both my hamstrings sore, like a minor strain, which remained for the rest of the race. It probably didn’t slow me down much, but it certainly wasn’t nice to run with. Nevertheless, I was content with my time, and finished 1st in the V50 age category, which was an added bonus despite there being no age category prizes. You can view my race on Strava here.

After Reigate there were now five weeks until the Abingdon marathon. In the next two weeks my long runs consisted of a 16 miler with 12 miles at around marathon pace (4:13/km or 6:46/mile), and a 20 miler. The following week I decided to do a final tune-up race and entered the Sittingbourne Striders 10 mile road race. I had run this race in 2015 in a time of 64:30; you can read about that encounter here, which explains the course in detail. This year I was hoping to run a bit quicker and something in the 63 minute range. The weather was cool and conditions very good apart from a fairly stiff breeze in places, and this came to the fore midway through the race at the highest point of the circuit. I ran well, and, more importantly, enjoyed the race; I enjoy few races these days as I’m usually thinking of pace, splits and times rather than the event itself. The fact that I didn’t hit my goal time, but finished in 64:22 (which was a small PB) didn’t really bother me. Oh, and I was third too, and received a £10 Sweatshop voucher and a trophy for my troubles.

You can view my efforts on Strava here.

Now there were two weeks left before Abingdon, so I tried to do a mini taper, but failed really because I had put myself down for the Surrey League Cross Country the following Saturday, and ended up with a 41 mile week. So in the end it was more like a 1 week taper, with a half-hearted attempt at carb loading two days before the race. I examined the training I’d done over the past 17 weeks, and the mileage worked out at an average of 43 miles/week. Compared to 2015, when I finished the London marathon in a time of 3 hrs 06 minutes on an average 52 miles/week, and 2016 when I finished in 2 hrs and 58 minutes on an average of 57 miles/week, the training was certainly on the light side. Saying that, I’d got some good long runs in, and was sure that the warm weather training would be beneficial now the temperature had dropped. I was also weighing in at the lightest I had been for some time, which could only help. Realistically, I didn’t think I could get under 3 hours again, but thought I could be close, so my plan was to run the first 13.1 mile in 90 minutes and see how it went from there.

5:10am on Sunday and I’m up before my alarm goes off. I’d sorted out everything the night before, but it still took me the best part of an hour to eat and get ready, so soon after 6am I was in the car and away. I hadn’t been looking forward to the drive much, and it took me about 1 hour 45 minutes, taking it easy as it was dark and also foggy in places, with the outside temperature about 8 degrees - perfect running conditions though! Parking was in a local school, for which there were plenty of spaces, and the event all took place at the local sports arena, so everything (toilets, baggage, snacks and coffee, and space to warm up) were all close to hand. I spotted the local scouts were selling flapjacks for 50p, so bought some to add to my pre-race banana as I was already feeling peckish from my breakfast 2 hours previously. I stayed dressed until 15 minutes before the start, did one lap of the track just to get the legs moving, and settled in waiting for the starter.

Abingdon marathon is a marathon for serious marathon runners. You won’t find many charity fun-runners here. The only real reason to run it is because it is flat and fast, and the race was packed with lean racers who were certainly not new to this game, looking for that elusive PB that perhaps they had missed at the hottest London marathon earlier in the year. It was 18 months since I last raced the distance, and I was quite nervous whether I’d be able to complete it on the limited training I had done. When the hooter went, there was the usual excited racing off by some runners who forgot that it wasn’t a 5k, but I soon fell into my own pace and let these runners gradually come back to me.

The route heads out to the east at first to Radley, onto a footpath through Radley lakes (covered in low mist) then back to the west, twisting through the narrow streets of Abingdon town, where we were greeted with some generous support. The route then headed south out of Abingdon, along the River Thames, until it turned sharply to the west again, just before 10k, for the first of two loops through the local villages, each loop approximately 14k. It then headed back towards Abingdon town again, through western part of the town before turning back to the finish at the athletics track.

My memory of races is usually vague, but there were some parts that stuck in my mind:

There was the heavily panting runner who was taking up the whole path through Radley lakes by running in the middle (it was easily two-abreast if you ran to the side). That slowed me down a bit, and I genuinely worried that he could safely run 10k let alone a marathon.

There were the three runners who drafted behind me for many miles, using me as a slight windbreak against the breeze. I didn’t get annoyed because I was running my own race, but it would have been nice for them to have taken turns at the front. I dropped them both later in the race.

There was the point after about 5 miles when I said to myself “Why am I doing this? It all feels quite hard, and I could just stop and go home early”. That was a strange emotion so early on, and I think I was focusing too much on the remaining distance. I calmed down by telling myself it was just a long training run.

There was the lady runner who caught me somewhere around the 18 mile mark, and it urged me to concentrate on my pace, which must have been slowly dropping. I ran with her for a few miles before she gradually pulled away and finally finished a minute in front of me.

I remember the joy at seeing the 20 mile marker, and knowing it was only 10k to go. If I could keep my pace up I would finish in a respectable time. Although I was starting to struggle to turn the legs over, it was only in the last 5k that my pace really started to slow.

As you run through Abingdon town with only 3k to go, you have to negotiate a twisty underpass, and climbing up the short steep far side was torture!

Finishing on the athletics track with a fast 300m sprint where I overtook a few people, including the triathlon legend Annie Emmerson. It was a great conclusion to the race.

So how was my race overall (which you can view on Strava here)? Well, I passed half-way in just over 90 minutes, and proceeded to lose another 3 minutes over the second half. My 10k splits were 42:28, 43:05, 43:43 and 44:34, so no big collapse, just a gradual slowing, although I did get my pace back on track for the final 2.2k which I completed in 9:33. My finish time was 3:03:23, which is my second fastest marathon time, albeit 5 minutes slower than my PB. I placed 152 out of the 744 finished, of which the first 124 ran sub 3 hours. Now that is a quality field of marathon runners!

Would I recommend it? Absolutely - the results speak for themselves! The race has a capacity for 1200 and does sell out, so enter early. It usually opens in mid February and is full within 6 weeks. I got a medal and a t-shirt for my £43, as well as some very sore legs for a few days, followed by a nasty head cold as my immune system wasn’t up for keeping anything at bay!

Next race is the Brighton 10k in 3 weeks. I’ve not run a 10k this year yet due to my long time absence with injury, so it will be interesting to see if I can remember how to pace myself over that shorter distance. I’d like to aim for 38 minutes but I need to shift this cold first and get some speedwork in to see if I have any hope of that. Whatever the outcome, it’s great to be back running well again.

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famedubaitravl · 4 years ago

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Lee Carseldine: The Ultimate Survivor

Lee Carseldine, an explosive left-handed batsman, featured in four Sheffield Shield finals ©Getty

It doesn’t hit you right away. Maybe it shouldn’t either. The term “play the game”, after all, is one that you expect to hear from an ex-cricketer. It’s only after Lee Carseldine has used it on numerous occasions that you realise why it sounds a tad discordant. To start with, the “game” he refers to has nothing to do with the one he played as a professional sportsman for over a decade.

Instead he’s referring to the game he was involved in on a remote island as part of a “tribe” with a bunch of people ranging from an “18-year-old skinny boy to a 65-year-old grandmother”. He’s talking about the time he had committed to “bringing mateship and loyalty” to a game that was based around “lying, cheating and stealing”. This is Carseldine, the former Queensland all-rounder and one-time Rajasthan Royals player, recalling the time he ended up as the runner-up on the first-ever edition of AustralianSurvivor, despite being tagged as “Mr Nice Guy”.

The irony of being a former elite-level sportsperson talking about playing games on a Reality TV show isn’t lost on the 44-year-old. If anything, it’s a running theme of our hour-long conversation where Carseldine keeps alternating between Lee the cricketer and Lee the Reality TV star. Despite the fact that he feels like the two are “different people” and is aware that his success has come in two “very different worlds”, Carseldine is clear on not wanting to be pigeon-holed as either. Where he does see a difference is in the reality of his current identity around Australia. Not that he shies away from it in any way.

“Basically now 8 out of 10 people will know me for Survivor and 2 out of 10 will be cricket fans and know me for cricket. What the show gave me is probably 10 times the amount of exposure I ever had playing cricket. It’s weird that the attention that I get now is purely because I’m on a TV show, which sometimes I scratch my head about,” Carseldine, who was back on the show for Australian Survivor: All Stars last year, tells Fame Dubai.

The essence of his current stardom, and where it has emanated from since he was on Survivor for the first time in 2016, certainly is evident when you arrive on the home page of his website. The clips that greet you aren’t those you’d automatically associate with someone who was better known as a cricketer at one point. Whether it’s Carseldine cinematically jumping into the ocean, showing off his rather envious physique, him dragging a truck with a rope tied around his waist or especially him posing for an underwear shoot. There is of course enough mention about his cricket career once you scroll down to the ‘biography’ sections. And he insists that while it might not come through on the face of it, there are still deep links between his days as an attacking left-handed batsman, who played in four Sheffield Shield finals, and a useful medium-pacer, who once dismissed Rahul Dravid in an IPL game.

“There are elements of my cricket profession that I’ve used in the Reality TV space. If the world ate me up and spat me back out, I would always go back to cricket,” says Carseldine, who in spite of his busy celebrity schedule is a member of the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA), a Queensland Past Player Welfare manager in addition to managing two women cricketers, including World Cup star Beth Mooney.

“Something I am really passionate about is how players handle retirement because I had to go through it twice. It helped me deal with the influx of attention that comes from being on Reality TV. When few people who aren’t used to being in that profile bubble get all this attention, they don’t know how to handle it and then when it goes – and it goes quickly – it’s a bit like when you retire or stop playing cricket, they’re on to the next player. In Reality TV, they’re on to the next show.”

***

The first of those “two retirements” that Carseldine talks about came when he was all of 29. A back surgery that involved replacing a degenerated disc with a titanium one that had gone rogue when he developed septicaemia due to one of the needles being infected. There were even fears that it had entered his blood stream and that his life was in danger. He remained bed-ridden for some time, being unable to walk, and was forced to bring his cricket career to a premature end.

Carseldine though managed to come out of it not just healthy but fitter than ever before and in four years’ time was back in Queensland colours. It led to him enjoying his best-ever run with the bat. That included averaging 99.33 with a strike-rate of 134.84 in the 2008-09 edition of Australia’s then-T20 league. His performances even attracted talk of a possible call-up to the national T20I squad. Although that wasn’t to be, Carseldine was bought by the Royals for the 2009 IPL, which was held in South Africa. Two seasons on, he was left out by Queensland and, now into his late 30s, the strokemaker decided to call it quits. But having come close to dying at an early age meant that Carseldine remained motivated to keep putting himself “out there” and challenging his body and mind to the hilt.

“When you go through such a life-threatening experience, you realise, ‘Hey I am mortal and there is so much more to try’. I reassessed what I wanted to do. That was a huge learning curve because when I finished sport, I wanted to get out there and make the most of everything. Because when your life nearly gets taken from you, you want to make sure you live every moment,” he says now.

Survivor wasn’t the first stop for Carseldine as part of his “live every moment” campaign once he retired from cricket. Desperately keen to step outside the sport bubble, he began by putting his body through some strenuous trials.

“I went on a spree of doing physical challenges – like I completed the Kokoda Trail (considered the most challenging endurance test in Australia) one year. I did a triathlon, a marathon, all these things I couldn’t do when I was playing because of contractual obligations. I wanted to now set aside time to challenge myself physically and mentally every year,” he explains.

So, when he heard about Survivor, a pioneering Reality TV show that started in the USA in 2000, coming Down Under, Carseldine looked at it as his next challenge. That it would lead to fame and fandom was never part of his original plans.

“I didn’t know anything about the game strategically and I thought worst-case scenario, I can at least set a goal to train. I had no idea I was going to last that long, 55 days. I thought I’ll get to maybe a couple of weeks and do some fun challenges, test my body and my mind and that was going to be my challenge for that year. But I did so well that first season that they asked me back this year,” he says.

When he heard about Survivor, a pioneering Reality TV show that started in the USA in 2000, coming Down Under, Carseldine looked at it as his next challenge ©Fame Dubai

***

While his fitness levels and life-long ability to be a team player made him a perfect fit in the early stages of the competition, Carseldine was to learn that he wasn’t a natural when it came to playing the political side of the game. He in fact reveals to have informed the producers of his wariness around the “lying and back-stabbing” aspects of being on the show.

“It was a show in which even though it’s not a scripted show, yes they can build characters up. They always ask about the way you’re going to play the game. Some people get casted because they want to play a sort of an evil type of character. I said: ‘I’m too old to change. I am going to play myself, very similar to how I played my sport, and if that gets me voted off in the first week so be it.’ I got nothing but support from my people and no one tried to talk me out of it, and I don’t know why,” he says with a chuckle.

“That first season I really struggled with the time I had to lie to people but that’s the nature of the game. Survivor fans and players don’t necessarily like my style of play. I wanted to show that you can play it in a different way and still win it and I came really close in the end.”

Not surprisingly, the best part about being on Survivor for Carseldine was competing in the physical challenges. It helped him bring out the competitiveness he’d lost since retiring from cricket. And at times he admits that the unbridled excitement in his celebrations after winning a team challenge, while being “dehydrated and completely spent”, were as genuine as what he’d experienced on the cricket field.

That winning ensured he and his teammates would spend at least two extra days on the island was an added bonus. It wasn’t always easy though, especially during the All Stars edition last year, where Carseldine was up against some “25-year-old physical beasts”. Yet again, it was the game-show part of these challenges that he struggled to comprehend, and not just when he was still on the island.

“There are people out there purely for exposure. There are people out there who also sabotage a challenge. It’s almost like having a team member who’s throwing a game. You find that out maybe some five months later when the show goes to air and you go: ‘I’d no idea you were throwing that game’. Because I played sport and there were a few more athletes in my tribe, and we just couldn’t go into a game strategically performing only at 50 per cent,” he says.

Carseldine manages to draw comparisons between some elements of doing Reality TV and being a cricketer. They include the need to perform your skills while shutting out all background noise – “six cameras in your face from the moment you land on the island” – and dealing with the “narration” side of the show, which he insists reminded him of facing up to the media in press conferences after the day’s play.

Getting used to having your personal life being laid out bare was a completely different experience, he reveals. “In the first season, I dated a girl (El Rowland) from the show. I think I felt this need to keep that public image up, share everything with my private life and that relationship is finished and now I’ve gone full circle and my next relationship is a lot quieter, without going so public about it,” he says.

It paled in comparison though to hearing about his mother, who’d been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, suffering a stroke while he was in Fiji shooting for All Stars last year. Carseldine decided to leave the show prematurely and bravely chose to let the producers play out his exit on camera.

“I lost my mom when I wasn’t home. I really fought with it whether I wanted me to be exposed looking so vulnerable, crying on national TV. I thought about what good can come from this tragedy. It was through the work that I wanted to do when I finished, raise some awareness about a really bad illness. We then did a towel challenge and what we achieved through the foundation was more than anything that I could have asked for. I knew the Survivor crew and that they weren’t going to chase ratings from it. They did it in a very respectable fashion,” says Carseldine.

***

Being locked out twice on faraway islands and left to live off nothing also prepared Carseldine to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions in his hometown of Brisbane. The “self-imposed” self-isolation, he believes, has allowed him to be in a good mental space while dealing with the uncertainty around most aspects of life over the last few months.

“The isolation over there was probably way more than what we had to experience here now. You get told where you can and cannot go – which is basically what’s happening now with the government telling us what we can and cannot do – and you’re stripped away from all the things that you like doing, going to movies, going to a pub, catching up with friends,” he says.

In some ways though, he admits that along with it being his tryst with some cricketing royalty, the IPL also helped him subconsciously prepare for the world of glitz and glamour. To blend with a mix of diverse people from around the world is a “perfect sort of microcosm” that he found the Survivor environment to be too.

“They’re all coming together in a short period of time to win a competition. The IPL was great to share a dressing-room with legends like Graeme Smith and Shane Warne along with some great Indian players like Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan. Except for Russell Crowe owning South Sydney (in the NRL) we don’t have celebrities involved with sport in Australia. In the IPL I remember these stunning women walking in and out of the room and I remember thinking I need to find out who this person is. Oh right, she owns the team and oh right she’s mega famous. That’s the beauty of Indian cricket,” he says.

Carseldine reveals to have received a lot of support from his former Queensland teammates once he decided to take the plunge into the Reality TV world even if they had one common lament about his appearance.

“Guys like Kasper (Michael Kasprowicz) and (Andy) Bichel, Stuey Law and especially (Andrew Symonds) always put a bit of shit on me because I never had a shirt on and I said I’m living on an island mate. I find that I’m not getting any younger and it’s not getting easier to stay fit. I also tell them I don’t keep my t-shirt off just to show off but it’s always for a cause. I am fitter now than I ever was during my playing days.”

Carseldine does believe a show like Survivor would do good for many sportspersons who are looking to learn more about themselves after retiring. And though surprised to learn that Symonds did have a two-week walk-on role on Big Boss (the Indian version of Big Brother) he is confident that the former Australian all-rounder would do well if he were to become the second cricketer to step onto a Survivor island – but with a rider.

“He loves his fishing, but he probably wouldn’t put up with a lot of shit in terms of people trying to vote him off. He won’t take to that too kindly.”

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maslife · 8 years ago

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Lil’ diesel back in action :-). After the race, we went to Key West for a few days, where the sun finally came out, but it was still chilly. Harumph!

I’m back…

I’m back from the edges of overtraining. I’m still pushing my edges – just not tipping over them.

I’m back into the thrill of the chase, and working that line between getting enough oxygen and going as fast as I can.

And, with my first 70.3 in almost 2 years, I’m back to races that begin and end on the same day.

I’m back, baby. I. AM. BACK.

You know what?

I kinda missed the shenanigans.

Okay, I definitely missed it.

A lot.

While I did a few shorter races in the Fall, I didn’t really consider myself “back” until I did HITS Naples 70.3 on January 7.

Now I feel like I’m back in the Ironman game.

I originally chose this race because I dreamt of escaping the bitter reality of the New Jersey winter, by racing under sunny skies, in 70-something temps, with the warm breeze of the Florida gulf coast.

What I got was 25 mph winds, rain, and 55ish degrees.

That’s close enough, I guess, considering we had about 6-8 inches of snow at home, and blustery 20-something temps.

HITS Naples begins at Vanderbilt Beach, where the swim completes a counter-clockwise loop in the Gulf. The day before the race, the water was calm, blue and inviting (see the picture below, on the left). The morning of the race, it was dark, angry and hostile (see the picture on the right). In fact, we stood on the beach, looking outward to the horizon, and we could see lightning in the distance.

Hmmmm. Surely we aren’t going to swim with lightning?

Um, wrong. Surely we are. I want bonus #Hardcore points. Just saying.

As I stood on the beach, waiting for the start, I redirected the thoughts of total swim suckfest. I also tried not to think about the possibility of that distant lightning getting closer. I wasn’t really in the mood for electrocution. (Luckily, the storm stayed way off shore.)

Day before the race.

Race Day.

It’s quite a thing to go from days upon days of swimming in the warm, calm pool to thrusting yourself into the open water swells with a few hundred other people. When I say “quite a thing,” I mean a progression from “holy shit this is chaos,” to “okay, just do what you need to do to survive,” to “okay, I think I’m doing something that resembles swimming now” to “oh, thank goodness, last turn to the beach.”

The way out to the first buoy turn was rough, but it was manageable. The swells pushed from behind, but every once in a while, a rogue swell would come around, and deliver a mouthful of water. It occurred to me that once we turned to head back, it was going to be ugly.

And, it was.

It took me almost the whole swim quite a while to recruit my memory for swimming in rough ocean seas. Ocean? you say. But this was the Gulf, right? Okay, let’s agree on “ocean-ish”.

There were times I’d come around on the recovery, reach for the water, and got nothing but air because I was on top of a swell. Other moments, I timed the breath imprecisely and was greeted by steeples of white caps instead.

Ah, yes, the chaos of rough water.

Rather than continue slogging, I focused in. What do I need to do?

This is an easy answer: RELAX. You really don’t get much by fighting current and wind (or gravity when on the road).

I pulled back on the effort, and took the time to figure out the pattern of the swells. They were coming in sets of mostly 3 to 6, although not perfectly because there were plenty of little choppy white caps. Even so, I knew after 3-6 sets of higher swells, there would be a lull. While the sea rested before pummeling us with another round, I took advantage of that moment to sight, to breathe, to push the effort until the next rollers came through.

And, with those adjustments, I was finally in the “something resembling swimming” phase.

My foot stepped back on the beach in 38 minutes – which is far from my best swim, but given the conditions and my lack of swim prep for this race, I was happy it wasn’t 45 minutes (which I feared when I was out in the abyss).

John was right on the beach, “You got this, Maria!”

“Uh-huh,” so convincing.

Try again: Yes, yes, of course, I do. I remember triathlon.

Off to transition, which was about 400 meters or so from the water – give or take, considering my utter lack of geographical awareness. All I know is that I had to run for a few minutes to get to my bike.

At this point, I didn’t have any idea how many women were ahead of me, but I gleaned from the chatter of others that it wasn’t that many – maybe 5 or 6. But, it was too early in the race to get involved with all of that…just yet.

The bike. Ah, my old nemesis. Here we are again, Rooby Roo. I am back, and you are still here.

Will we be friends today, old girl? I thought as I ran out of transition to the mount line.

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to this bike course. The day before, we drove the route and the majority of the course was on a busy highway. Ugh.

Yes, there was a bike lane, but that mere 3-4 feet of space and a painted white line is all that separated me from the pace of traffic rushing to get to the seemingly endless array of strip malls in Florida–not to mention the 18 wheelers that came in a progression. I hoped that Saturday morning traffic wouldn’t be as menacing as it was the afternoon prior. (For the record: it wasn’t as busy as Friday, but still more traffic than I like!)

The bike course took us along the highway, and eventually to some more country-ish roads for the final 20 miles or so. (Transition 2 and the finish line was about 30 miles away from the finish line.)

Tucking myself in as tightly as possible.

When I race, disciplined effort at the beginning is almost always the rule of the day for anything 70.3 or longer.

As I began the bike, I took note of how I felt. My HR was raging (likely due to the swim conditions added with residual impacts of a cold), and the effort felt a little strained. So, I decided to shoot just under my power target until I could feel my rhythm.

Eventually, I did. Over the course of the 56 miles, I steadily built my effort, and while cyclists passed me quite a bit in those opening 20 miles, I saw many of them again over the final 16 miles. Psychologically, that is always a good feeling–passing people in the final miles. It’s worth putting the ego in check when you start.

I came in to T2 at 2:39 – which officially makes this my fastest bike split by 5 minutes! But, to be fair, we had about 30 miles of tailwind, so that was a KEY factor. Judging by sustained watts, this was NOT my biggest power for 56 miles. Even so, the 2:39 is in the official results, so it’s not an alternative fact. ;-)

Into T2, the rain was still falling, and that suits me just fine on the run–no worries about the heat. I was in and out of T2 in a flash–I had work to do.

Four or five women passed me on the bike, and I focused on slowly reeling them back in – like I always have to do. Despite my fastest time, I was still NOT with the front bikers–they apparently had best-ever bikes, too. Tailwind!

The run was a basic out and back, along a bike path. For competition purposes, I like the out and back because you can count how many people are in front of you.

By the time I got to the turnaround, I had run myself into 3rd place female overall. As I ran back, I saw another female competitor BLAZING the run. I quickly realized I needed to step up my game in whatever way I could and try to hold her off as much as possible.

I managed to hold her off for almost 3 miles. She ran past me at mile 9 as if I were walking. After the race, I saw that she ran a 1:27. Um, yeah, so, yup. Nice run!

In the final mile of the run, I saw John, and he said there was a woman just ahead of me. I dug in as much as I could, and I could see the figure getting closer, and closer. Just before the finish, I realized, Hey! That’s not a woman – it’s a man! But, John’s comment did the trick to help me finish strong.

One mile from the finish. #PainCave

Steps from the finish! I can stop now :-)

I finished in 5:05:23, as the 4th place woman overall, 1st place AG, and 20th OA finisher (no, I didn’t catch the guy who was in front of me!). My personal best, set at Eagleman in 2013, was 5:05:15. That was the last year I raced IMLP, and I’m ready to return. I have a new set of big dreams, different from the last time, when my singular focus was to qualify for Kona.

So, yes, I feel like I’m making my way back.

In hindsight, I don’t think I realized at the end of the 2014 season just how much that 3-year journey to the big island took out of my body–and more so, my mind. While the last two years of racing have been incredibly fun for me, I did lose some of my fire. And, now, it’s back.

I can feel it starting to rage.

I’m heading back to where this Ironman journey began: Ironman Lake Placid. When I enter that magic sphere that is the Lake Placid Olympic Oval, I want to know that there is nothing else I could have done to go even one second faster.

Do I have other goals for that day? Yes. For now, they are super secret goals, so I’m not comfortable sharing them. They sound audacious enough when I utter them to myself. Best not to have you think I’ve gone truly crazy.

For now, just know that I am back, and I have not stopped believing. Not even once.

Our friend Bill (middle) also raced. It was his second go at the distance and he finished like a champ!

Yes, I’m a ham.

I’m Back: 2017 HITS Naples 70.3 Race Report I'm back... I'm back from the edges of overtraining. I'm still pushing my edges - just not tipping over them.

#florida #halfironman #HITSNaples #HITStriathlon #imlp #ironman #ironmanlakeplacid #triathlon703 #triathlonracing

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famedubaitravl · 4 years ago

Text

Lee Carseldine: The Ultimate Survivor

***

When he heard about Survivor, a pioneering Reality TV show that started in the USA in 2000, coming Down Under, Carseldine looked at it as his next challenge ©Fame Dubai

***

“He loves his fishing, but he probably wouldn’t put up with a lot of shit in terms of people trying to vote him off. He won’t take to that too kindly.”

The post Lee Carseldine: The Ultimate Survivor appeared first on FameDubai Magazine | Your daily dose of Lifestyle, Shopping & Trends in UAE.

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famedubaitravl · 4 years ago

Text

Lee Carseldine: The Ultimate Survivor

***

When he heard about Survivor, a pioneering Reality TV show that started in the USA in 2000, coming Down Under, Carseldine looked at it as his next challenge ©Fame Dubai

***

“He loves his fishing, but he probably wouldn’t put up with a lot of shit in terms of people trying to vote him off. He won’t take to that too kindly.”

The post Lee Carseldine: The Ultimate Survivor appeared first on FameDubai Magazine | Your daily dose of Lifestyle, Shopping & Trends in UAE.

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