The stuff I use

I get a lot of questions about the stuff I use and why. So I will address these catagories: Nutrition, Equipment, and Motivation.

The first two are easy, the third one, not so much. Before I start a LOOOOOONG diatribe on nutrition let me say a couple of things first. As a chiropractor I take pride in what I know about nutrition. as an Ironman competitor...I have a HELLUVA lot to learn! I can say I have completed all my races. Albeit from sheer will a couple of times because I trashed my body and under-fueled. I'll chalk that up to stupidity, stubbornness, and the almighty I know it all attitude. It is hard to want to loose weight and control my calories and then want to race well. I have to let go and eat...that is REALLY tough for me. So for nutrtion there are two types for me. I prescribe to the Eat Clean diet and Paleo Diet philosophies. I am not totally gluten free, but I try. It helps that Kristine is gluten free. I don't know where I would be without her support, I shudder to think.

So this is where I start to shine, supplementation. You will probably laugh, but I take A LOT of supplements. My two MAJOR vitamins are Metagenics and Hammer Nutrtion. Every 6 to 8 weeks I take a Function Medicine Assessment. This tells me how oxidized I am, how efficient my Cellular Respiration is, if I have Adrenal Stress, pH, Conductance, Carb. metabolism, Hydration, Electrolytes and several other things. I also monitor weekly my Bio Impedance Analysis. (Yes I am a geek and I am blessed to do what I do and have at my disposal what I have.) With that information I can tailor my nutrition to my bodies specific needs. This helps me avoid going tachicardic due to nutritional deficiencies. It also helps avoid over-training symptoms due to nutritional and electrolyte depletion.

Currently for my health I am taking Ultra Clear Plus pH, Cerelin Forte, ISO D3, Protien Powder, Glutagenics, Ultra Potent C Powder, Multigenics, Mitochondrial Resusitate, BioSom Spray, Nano Cell CoQ10, and EPA-DHA High Concentrate liquid. I know that sounds like a lot, but I have the labs to show why. I have health issues and some genetic predisposition to some bad stuff. So I don't want it to happen. If someone wants me to actually go through several of my labs and explain why I take each on of the suppliments I would be happy to do so publically or privately, but I am on the verge of a serious snoozefest here and I don't want that.

Currently for racing and training I take: Antifatigue Caps, Race Caps, Glutamine (I load this 4 days prior), Sustained Energy, Enduralyte Fizz (new and cool), HEED, Hammer Gels (1 every 30 minutes), and Recoverite. I still have a lot to learn about fueling during a race. www.felog.net has helped me, as has the Fueling Guide for Endurance Athletes (Hammer Nutrition)

http://www.hammernutrition.com/downloads/fuelinghandbook.pdfutm_source=guidetosuccess&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=guidetosuccess.

In conclusion about nutrition let me say this. You are what you eat, you are what you eat and what it eats. This is especially important for athletes. If you owned a Ferrari you would not put cheap gas in it, so why would you put cheap gas in the most important machine you'll ever own, YOUR BODY!!!! Nutrition controls what you are made of, expression of genes, biochemical processes, whether you are pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. It is one of the single most important things you can do for yourself. OK, one more point or illustration. pH is VERY important. Why? Because it controls how much ATP or energy you produce. If you

are outside of the normal range of pH you go from producing 36 ATP to 2 ATP. Oh I could go on and on....

Equipment, toys, gadgets, and fun stuff. I like it all and I want it all. Let's start off with (disclosure notice - I am a Polar Ambassador yea me, I have however used Polar products for 10+ years) my heart rate monitor. I use the Polar RS800CX with all the bells and whistles. To be honest and fair, I am not crazy about the foot pod, it's just not that accurate for me and I am transitioning into a fore foot runner. Everthing else is the BERRIES about it.

Next thing to talk about is my bike. Since I am just beginning into Triathlon I bought a used bike from and pieced it together. My frame is the Kuota Kalibur, outfitted with SRAM Reds, I rent wheels, but I train on ADAM wheel set. On my bike I use both a Fuel Cell and Speedfil hydration systems. Also the bike is equipped with DUAL, yes 2 Salt Stick systems ;-) I like my bike and I feel it is one of my stronger events. To train in Indiana during the winter I just added a Computrainer to my list of toys, along with a TRX suspension system (my core sucks). I have to say riding the Louisville Ironman Course on the Computrain SUCKS!!!! I used to race maountain bikes and I like to think I am "somewhat" of a climber. There is 1 hill in that course that I have to stand on EVERY stinking time. Below are pictures of my various toys, the model holding the bike is my wife and fellow competitor Kristine Miller (@kgirltris on twitter also a tri coach for Prsfit).

Next is my love hate relationship with the sport. I actually like running, I just suck at it. I ran a marathon in a pair of brand new Solomons and was such a heavy heel strike I destroyed them in one race. Totally removed the heel. So now I am trying to transition into being a fore-foot runner. My training tools Vibram 5's and now I am the proud owner of Newton Gravitas. There is not a lot I can say here except, transitioning into this type of runner has GREATLY decreased my hip, knee and ankle pain. Am I "there" yet, no but I am trying.

So that is it. My toys and what I use.

Introduction and thanks you's

Wow this is something I NEVER thought that I would do. Write a blog post, kinda funny actually I never ever really kept a journal. So I would like to thank Polar for the opportunity to be one of their ambassadors. So let's begin.

Hello My name is Trevor Miller. I am a chiropractor in a small town in Indiana. My back story is I got fat, I got really fat. I did not want to look like the typical mid-westerner. I also did not want to be the doctor that told you to loose weight but then was obese myself. So I started mountain biking and I raced mountain bikes. I did a local state series and then after 5 years of racing I finally achieved my goal of winning the series in the Clydesdale division. At that time it was 1997 and I got down to 218 pounds at the lowest. I will be truthful and state that I was on a weight loss drug at the time.

My brother is an anesthesiologist and he told me how hard that was on my heart. I did not want to orphan my children or leave Kristine with 3 children and a dead husband. So I never refilled my script. So round one, I went from 250 lbs to 218lbs. I thought that I had it made and I could maintain where I was at that point in time so the drugs had done their job.

Slowly the weight came back. I was unmotivated to ride and race. I was however doing 2 Xterra series tri's every year. I liked them and really looked forward to doing them. I was trying to get Kristine interested in doing them, but she had no interest in woods riding. She told me that she might be interested in doing them on the road. So I wanted to do something that we could both do and travel together.

So the year is 2010, I now weigh close to 270 pounds. I am miserable. I am lethargic. I am depressed. I am not a nice person. I have been seeing a functional medicine doctor off and on now for a few years and taking the band-aid approach to my health. Then Kristine had had enough. She started reading the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. She started to implement healthy nutrition into our family life and it was paying dividends. I had been running, lifting weights (bulking up) and doing some cycling. But the nutrition started to slim me down. By April Kristine had hired a tri coach and suggested that I talk to him. At this time I was using some computer software to do my training plans and was working out 2 to 3 hours everyday and doing bricks everyday to every other day. Coach said I was working to hard and that he does heart rate training. We talked for a little bit longer and I decided to join with coach.

Coach used my logs and several tests from my Polar heart rate monitor to establish my heart rate zones, resting heart rate, and max heart rate. From there we started to build A LOT of base. My first marathon was a 4:18 and I had NO training from coach. My second marathon was the Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon and I scored a sub 4 hour marathon, talk about happy. On the way to that sub 4 hour marathon I also competed in my first half Ironman in Cancun. It was completed in under 5:30. My run is the weak link. I fell apart. Nutrition and improper form tore me down. We have now started my journey into natural and forefoot running to strengthen my weakness.

So at my core I am a triathlete, I may be a fat Tri Guy, but none the less. I have my eyes set on Kona. So now with guidance from Kristine, Coach Kline, and a small circle of friends my quest for Kona begins in earnest this year. I will be scheduling some sprints and OD tri's, with Eagleman in June and Louisville in August. Keep your fingers crossed and I will keep on training.

So here I am, with the abbreviated journey above. From 270 pounds down to 215 as of today and at 17 percent body fat. I still need to work on run form, but I am getting there. Coach says for every 10 pounds I loose it translates roughly into 1 minute per mile faster. I think I have 10 or 15 more to give. Maybe with more eye watching I will try harder, we'll see. But I really have all the motivation I need right here at home :-)