Testimonial by Taylor Haley; IRONMAN and KONA bound 2017!

I had hit that stage in life where exercise alone would not keep the weight off.  I didn’t want a diet but rather wanted to change the way I eat to support the way I wanted to live and what I wanted to do athletically. 


A little back story...In 2004 I found myself weighing 272 pounds.  Many factors in my life led me to a place of change – it wasn’t about body image but a deep desire to experience my body as God’s gift to me.  I rediscovered my bike, 2 months later started to run (in the dark so no one could see the pathetic-ness). I went to the track and jogged half a lap, walked half a lap.  I started jogging because I wanted to do something that I could do outside all winter in Wisconsin – well, most of the winter.  Then I wanted a goal to keep myself motivated. Triathlon became the goal, sooooo…at age 39 I learned how to swim and did my first sprint triathlon.  I was hooked!  In 2006 I did Ironman Wisconsin, tipping the scales at 202 lbs!
 
I love Ironman and PR’d in Florida with a 12:08.  Over these last few years the weight has creeped up and I was regularly showing up at Ironman between 215 to 220 pounds.  Exercise along with modest eating wasn’t getting it done anymore.  I was working with Angie Smith as my coach and experienced great improvement in all three disciplines.  To really make the improvement that I wanted I needed to get a handle on my weight.  Angie recommend working with Katie.
 
I started with Katie 3 months out from Ironman Maryland.  When we started, I was 219. On race morning I was 197 – I had not seen that morning weight in at least 25 years!  I was disappointed that the swim had to be canceled at IM Maryland and the bike had to be shortened by 12 miles.  Some of the streets were flooded and we ended up running through 6 to 12 inches of water 18 times and a mud section 6 times on the on the marathon. This re-aggravated my shin splints, so I didn’t end up with a very good gauge of my overall performance.   I’d never run that well off the bike as I did at IM Maryland but a mile 15 I yielded to the shin splints and was reduced to the dreaded Ironman walk.
I went into the race excited – at my last few Ironman competitions I had some foreboding because I was too heavy. I knew the toll the run would take on me because of the extra 20 pounds.
One other item of note was that IM Maryland  I nailed my nutrition plan!  

My take-aways from working with Katie:

• I learned if feels great to be below 200 lbs
• I learned that I need to spend time in planning, shopping, prepping and cooking to eat well – It really is another discipline along with swimming, biking and running.
• I learned how to fuel my body properly
• I learned I didn't have to starve to reach my weight goal
• I’m excited to “go it on my own” knowing that OWN will be able to help me get back on the right track if needed.