InsideOut client: Becky Paige, All That Glitters is Gold in 2022!

Caroline Kavanagh | Dec 30, 2022

Becky Paige, ITU World Champion, Sprint, AG 50-54 yr A quiet confidence, a belief in herself and a knowing that it is the little things that separate the good from the great and the great from the best. This past year, Becky Paige raised some illustrious GOLD and dusted that GOLD with a sprinkle of Silver! Some race stats which highlight some of Becky's outstanding performances this year and a short look-back at how her focus on nutrition played a role. She started her nutrition focused journey four years ago. Her progression has been a steady upward trend ever since. We all know, even the best plans coupled with a methodical dedication will encounter obstacles and setbacks. The ability to be resilient and maintain focus, with an unrelenting dedication to the plan or process directed towards the goal or vision, is a key differentiator between achieving mediocrity or peak performance. Becky just keeps hitting peaks! Again, we all know, it is not one training session alone that produces success, nor will one meal or week of meals do the trick. However, a clear and focused plan executed consistently over days, weeks, months, and even years is a sure-fire way to reach excellence. If you are looking to be inspired, as you set your sights and fitness goals for 2023 - read on! ....... BLING - BLING Becky Paige's GOLD level World Champion performance ignited her 2022 race season (photo above). Her race distances ranged from Super Sprint to Ironman distance against the best in the World. She more than measured-up. She out-paced and out-performed on both the World and National stage.

Becky is the 2022 reigning 50-54 AG Sprint World Champion and the USAT Olympic National Champion! 2022 RACE STATS: ITU Worlds, Montreal Canada - Sprint: Gold, World Champion, 1:12:44 50-54 Female AG (Fastest Swim Split) USAT Nationals, Milwaukee Wisconsin - Olympic: Gold, National Champion, 2:18:20 50-54 Female AG (Fastest Swim and Run Split)

Becky Paige, USAT National Champion, Olympic, AG 50-54 yr That is some sizable bling-bling! Gold is her mettle :) DUSTING OF SILVER A little Silver dust never hurts either.....

Especially when toeing the line and racing against former professional triathlete Michellie Jones. Michellie is widely considered one of triathlon’s most decorated athletes and one of the top 10 female triathletes of all time. With over 175 career victories at all distances. She dominated the sport for over 20 years and competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics winning a silver medal for Australia. Becky saw this race as an opportunity to compete against a professional triathlete in her age bracket. An opponent which would require her to perform at her best. She welcomed the challenge and derived much satisfaction and honor raising hands with one of triathlon's best.

Becky Paige, USAT National Championships, 2nd Place, Super Sprint, AG 50-54 yr USAT Nationals, Milwaukee Wisconsin - Super Sprint: Silver, 2nd Place, :39:07 50-54 Female AG Sounds like a storybook tale, but all-the-while Becky was dealing with an acute foot injury. All season she was receiving physical therapy treatments in order to be able to eek out what run training she could in order to do what she loves to do - triathlon racing. ............

I'll turn my attention now to how Becky set herself up last year, at this time, to have the most favorable race season possible. Metabolic Efficiency - Nutrition Summary

Becky began working with me in late November of 2018 with her primary goals at that time to optimize performance and improve her nutrition. Becky made astounding progress in short order! Her body composition was the most notable "upgrade" on the outside, while her inside improvements were revealed via her carbohydrate and fat oxidation levels. (Note: to read in more detail about this initial improvement: https://www.insideouthp.com/single-post/2019/06/10/insideout-client-becky-paige-unleashes-in-utah-at-ironman-703-st-george-1st-place-in-ag-8

Fast forward to the beginning of this year. Shown below is the first page of Becky's metabolic assessment report, this first page is titled "Metabolic Efficiency Point" (MEP). This particular graph shows energy expenditure from fat and carbohydrate at increased intensities. It also indicates whether an athlete does, in fact, have a Metabolic Efficiency Point (MEP) and if so, the heart rate and intensity at which it occurred. It is from this unique information that adjustments to nutrition and training are made based on the athletes goals and current phase of training.

The complete assessment report also includes training and race fueling intake ranges, targeted fat-burning as well as nutrition suggestions based on the clients current daily foodstuff. For this article, I am only featuring the first page of Becky's bike report. Before any assessment there is a warm up period of 10 minutes in which time the athlete is "hooked-up" to the Parvomedics metabolic cart with headgear and mask via long tubing. During this warm up, expired breath is measured (respiratory exchange ratio - RER) through the analyzer, and carbohydrate and fat oxidation is viewed as it scrolls upward on the computer screen. This warm up period helps to establish the starting intensity of the assessment. ............................................ Becky's Assessment: ............................................

Assessment Client: Becky Paige Date: Mar 1, 2022 Age: 51 years

RESULT: Assessment shows MEP occurred at an estimated heart rate of 152 beats per minute (bpm) and an estimated intensity of 216 watts. Below this heart rate and intensity, she was more efficient at using fat as an energy source, but began to burn a higher proportion of carbohydrate beyond this intensity.

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Summary

Stunning! Becky's metabolic efficiency point (graph above) is now three stages to the right from her last test that we did a year ago and that test was spectacular. This one..... I see very few of these... meaning? Her aerobic engine/fat burning - almost off the charts! She has "set the stage" in her Base Phase of training and it looks to me as if her daily nutrition has been inline with her training, Becky's aerobic base season is the foundation for her success. This test was done in the month of March and she was shifting into her Pre-Competition phase of training. Now what assets should she develop? We dove deeper into her daily nutrition for two weeks and highlighted her individual training sessions. Whether it was threshold work, anaerobic capacity or something else. In identifying these unique training sessions we correlated her nutrition to the sessions. How were they supporting her energy needs? The term I use is "micro-periodization," her goal now is to be sure that she is fueled appropriately to maximize her efforts in these quality sessions. Higher intensity = Higher carbohydrates. Longer sessions over 2 hours also require additional carbohydrates. With her goal shifted to performance, it became important to be sure carbohydrates were available pre-and post- training to maximize the efforts and assist in recovery for the next and ongoing sessions. We scrutinized her foodstuff and made some key adjustments. I have learned that Becky's body responds in a flash. She reports in short order her impressions. Yah or Nay. I attribute this to her finely tuned sensibilities. The work she has done over these past years attuning and refining her daily nutrition have dialed up her senses. I listen :) We also did some race fueling practice towards the end of her season as she was looking towards longer distance racing. Even at the pointy end of the stick, there are refinements that can be made to bring about gains. As I said in the beginning of this article..... Becky knows it is the little things that separate the good from the great and the great from the best. 2022 was an extraordinary year for Becky Paige. Congratulations on another unprecedented race season. Whoopee! ........ As you progress in your chosen sport, you might discover that your greatest satisfaction is coming not necessarily from your accomplishments and wins, but maybe from your willingness to go through the process of change? Much of the real and lasting value of athletic endeavors are intrinsic — same is true with nutrition. I express to my clients, it will not be me "convincing" you that the quality of your nutrition will make an everlasting change for the positive, but rather it is the additional energy and pleasure you will "feel" that will propel you forward toward the fulfillment of your goals.. Becky's achievements are the perfect showcase to inspire all of you. Look at what is possible! Happy New Year and welcome 2023.