Lynn Tougas Whole Heart Whole Health Registered Kinesiology and Sport

10/09/2024

Another great training weekend in preparation for the Age Group Sprint Championships in 🇪🇸 this coming Oct 17🏊‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Sunday after my 12•Celsius morning swim granted me the Arctic Swim Badge shortly after exiting the water 👉 scroll to see me all bundled up post swim before I head over to the bike site. I didn’t ride in the puffer vest but did keep the beanie on until half way through the recon race-stim bike before I head out onto the run in my still wet-from-the-swim race suit.

After logging some good progressive workouts earlier in the week including a virtual progressive ride the day previous, I think I even impressed myself with post torrential wind 💨🌪️bike-to-run pacing😊

Who ever thought in the sixth decade of life I’d still be so motivated and capable💪🇨🇦

29/08/2024

Open water swim session success👍

Before👉After👉Support🙏

Could have bailed bc of the light drizzle, high wind gusts, grey skies, cooler temperature, and heavy current going east…but this up and down weather thing doesn’t seem like it’s gonna change very much in the near future so I decided to grin and bare it🤷‍♀️Besides, what doesn’t kill you makes your stronger. Especially when you have your own personal support kayaker…this way going in I knew that no matter how 💩 the conditions were, I wouldn’t die🤣







#

21/07/2024

Did you know women are more prone to In fact, throughout all stages of life after puberty, the risk can be 50% higher for women due in part for one major reason — hormones like estrogen and progesterone — which both alter and function.

This risk is heightened for women who:

•are pregnant
•use oral contraceptives
•use menopause related hormone therapy (MHRT)
•have an increased genetic risk, issues with and genes which play roles in hormonal balance and detoxification

If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted any race photos yet this year, it’s because I have been dealing with these very issues that have been building up since I started doctor recommended over the last couple of years. I have ALL of the above further generic risks (as identified by Pure Insight powered by PureGenomics 🙏) which make my body particularly sensitive to such issues.

Even without the MHRT may cause problems all on its own with its natural hormonal fluctuations although likely none as bad as these recent ones that had me attend the emergency room two times over the last two weeks.

First issue was identified by CT Scan and looped colon. The second was a residual

In between the two I consulted with my GP to go off of the therapy and am now also on a very reduced regimen.

I am feeling on the mend and have learned a ton in the process including how our healthcare system is still not as adept as it could be in sorting out common modern day issues.

Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, I’ll get back to my
and gut health healing protocol as I await FU with my doctors.

If you are suffering similar issues, feel free to reach out via DM or leave a comment! Don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for yourself💪I would love to help you to get your words out👂

21/07/2024

Did you know women are more prone to In fact, throughout all stages of life after puberty, the risk can be 50% higher for women due in part for one major reason — hormones like estrogen and progesterone — which both alter and function.

This risk is heightened for women who:

•are pregnant
•use oral contraceptives
•use menopause related hormone therapy (MHRT)
•have an increased genetic risk, issues with and genes which play roles in hormonal balance and detoxification

If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted any race photos yet this year, it’s because I have been dealing with these very issues that have been building up since I started doctor recommended over the last couple of years. I have ALL of the above further generic risks (as identified by 🙏) which make my body particularly sensitive to such issues.

Even without the MHRT may cause problems all on its own with its natural hormonal fluctuations although likely none as bad as these recent ones that had me attend the emergency room two times over the last two weeks.

First issue was identified by CT Scan and The second was a residual

In between the two I consulted with my GP to go off of the therapy and am now also on a very reduced regimen.

I am feeling on the mend and have learned a ton in the process including how our healthcare system is still not as adept as it could be in sorting out common modern day issues.

Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, I’ll get back to my
and gut health healing protocol as I await FU with my doctors.

If you are suffering similar issues, feel free to reach out via DM or leave a comment! Don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for yourself💪I would love to help you to get your words out👂

11/06/2024

What most people don't know about lowering choleserol is that is can be as simple as adding more fibre to your diet. During digestion, soluble fiber binds with cholesterol in bile and aids in its excretion, which lowers the amount of cholesterol in the body.

Soluble fiber can help remove excess LDL cholesterol from the body. Learn about binding, its effects on cholesterol levels, and more.

04/04/2024

Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis is difficult for many reasons, including the following:

- women often think symptoms are a natural part of menopause and don't acknowledge or report them.
- clinicians may mistake abdominal symptoms for those of a bowel condition or bladder problem.
- almost half of GPs (46%) in the United Kingdom (for one large population example) mistakenly believe that ovarian cancer symptoms present in only the later stages -- as such they may not thoroughly investigate a patient's concerns should they occur earlier on in menopause/perimenopause

To learn more about symptoms, tests and treatments, visit the Medscape Link below by typing the followig article title into their library:

Ovarian Cancer Red Flags: What to Know to Quicken Diagnoses

23/12/2023

made me do it🤪🤭Was debating heading to the gym for a dreaded indoor run when Halley told me she just got back from a soggy and somewhat chilly but mostly enjoyable Holdiay run — so I decided to buck up and bear the conditions. Threw in a visit to at the halfway point and am sooooo very thankful for the Scratch Lab drink and gummies! Thank you Brian and Halley and a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours🚴‍♀️🤗😘🎄🎅

17/12/2023

“The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.” — Ann Strong, US author - / Immediate Media

Great overcast morning on the bike that turned to light rain on the way home…but that posed no problem because my mission was complete after having popped into to pick up my Dyora RS Winter Jacket. Health also ⚖️ out my seat finalizing my DIY fit on the Amira. Guess nothing is really DIY🤔because I couldn’t have done it without Health’s first tip to simply flip the short stem which prompted me to swapping the stem for a slightly longer one and then his final take on my seat level⚖️which is super difficult to achieve with the Oura saddle but Health nailed it…of course👌

Anyway, I love my cycling community, adore my “new” bike and can’t get enough of this brilliant late fall superbulous cycling weather!

All I can say at a close is “it’s not about the weather…it’s about the clothing! Dress appropriately and you can ride through most anything! And, don’t forget to clean her off before the next one🚴‍♀️😉” Thanks to Muc-Off👍cleaning the bike off after fall/winter cycling can be just as fun as the ride🤷‍♀️

06/12/2023

What an awesome late fall🍁🍂season it has been for 🚴‍♀️ whether you are a roadie, mountain or gravel enthusiast.

Monday afternoon found me exploring some long lost paved trails I found using an App called Bike Paths Toronto by developer Altair Apps. These paved trails helped me safely find my way on my *new* (very gently used) Specialized Amira road bike to the bike shop that started it all for me back in the early 90s. I already had the 🚴‍♀️ enthusiasm, endurance and 🦵power — but lacked a coach and team. I found all that and more🤗❤️⚙️

Over the years we’ve stayed in touch via seeing each other at various events however, getting out to the store had become cumbersome due to thicker city traffic amd my lack of a well-planned safe route. Now I have it.

👉scroll to see the map and trail orientation I used to safely connect from Edward’s Gardens/The Bridle Path over to Sloane Rd that runs traverse pretty much as straight to the store as one can get😁

Now with my 100mm stem I can continue my DIY Amira bike fit and I also scored a new pair of daily road shoes so my 10 year+ old Tri shoes can be reserved for Indoor Training only moving fwd🤭

Service was 👍👍👍👍👍as always. Cleats put on the shoes matching the pattern on my old shoes while I waited in store and my headlight was also given a good charge for the ride home while I shopped🙏

Now that I have a safe🚴‍♀️route mapped out to the store I’ll visit more often — esp bc I didn’t spend enough time in the new expanded showroom🤩which I’ll do next time I’m in!

Last photo: Egyptian Lentil Soup w/ a healthy sprinkle of paprika😁which l made into a stew👌for after late fall🚴‍♀️

05/12/2023

Discovering new safe cycle routes to one of my most favourite bike shops 👌

Not to mention I continue on the right path with my Amira DIY Bike Fit finding the 100mm 1👌In between appts the Amira DIY Bike Fit Journey continued with a ride to memory lane 🤗🥰❤️😘 out to D’Ornellas Bike Shop where my racing journey all began in the early 1990’s🤭 Had long before developed the enthusiasm and legs riding recreationally but the journey to go faster just went 💥 when I started training and riding with Eon, Coach Bev and the rest of the gang🙏❤️👌 Today’s journey completed my search for a 100mm 12 Degree Stem I was looking for, as well as a new pair of daily road shoes. I’ve got my competitive eye on a few other models👀and that journey will continue throughout the Winter as I fully establish my goals and then competitive needs for next season.

My one and only Specialized Trivent Expert’s that I purchased back in 2015 🤭 will now take the back seat to indoor training.

Cleats were assembled for me while in store on the new Torch 2.0s by the stores female cycle tech pro mechanic👏🙏and my front headlight was charged while I continued shop, hang out and talk all things bikes.

The store’s newly expanded showroom is fab😍 I wish I got a shot of that but you’ll just have more reason to head on down now😁

Said hello to the city’s legends ⚙️Bobby - he looks like he has never aged btw👍 Must be all that 🚴‍♂️

Check out with Jackie🥰 and didn’t get to say hello the man himself but he is well on the mend from his near death collision back about a year ago and is back in the store several days weekly, just not on Mondays.

It was a great late fall day for riding. Chosen gear worked👌 for the conditions and I am really impressed with the little app I’ve discovered detailing safe off-beat cycle routes and trails all across the

14/11/2023

Was a great day for a Fall 🚴‍♀️ Ride 🍂🌿🍁❤️

07/10/2023

2023 Standard Distance World Championships - Pontevedra🇪🇸 September 24

All said, I impressed myself to get to the start line in strong racing form after a year plagued with infection and residual autoimmune related issues.

Felt great and swam well for my current level of swimming fitness. We swam in a salty and buoyant Atlantic Ocean fed river. Water was 20-21 degrees Celsius. I wasn’t able to stay with the main group but was able latch on to a few other stragglers as we made our way around the simple one loop course to the finish/Transition 1 (T1).

Little issue w/ R foot getting out of wetsuit costing me ~ :30

Then I’m out on the prowl to make some headway on the bike when chain dislodged nearing peak of the main climb (costing me ~1-2 min) as I made a poor decision to drop into small ring —chain was on last legs and staying in biggie ended up better strategy anyway. 2nd 🚴‍♀️ lap was an entire km or so faster than first so this issue along w/ my slow T1 could have easily placed me into my planned Top 20 finish😔

Then comes my absolutley insidious lolligagging w/ my watch during dismount at T2. This is am definitely NOT proud of at all and makes me think of my old coach Erik who always felt it stupid to wear a watch at all during a big race like this as it wld just be there as a distraction.

Onward👉I had a fast, smooth & pain free run w/ a strong finish. After gaining over 20 spots w/ my strong bike outside of the costly chain drop, I lost two of these gains in T2 and then 5 more during the run 😔 Note to self here…don’t even think of breaking your stride one bit for a sip of water ever again in such a short competitive event — seconds doing so are costly!

Anyway, getting back into these shorter, faster distances after 10 years of several Top 10 finishes at the IM/Half IM distances has been simply exhilarating!

I am proud to be 🇨🇦 and to have been able to travel the world to show off our country’s love of the sport of triathlon.

Official Results:
F50-54 4th 🇨🇦28/61 Overall

29/09/2023

Post-Race Beach Vibes Day 1☀️👙⛱️

16/09/2023

Last longish training day before heading off to 🇪🇸for the Standard Distance World Triathlon Championships next Sunday, September 24.

Had been feeling so nervous about my readiness for this event however after this past week and including today’s little race pace jams I’m feeling very optimistic💪

Had a tough year with a few of the most🤧😷🤒🤢nastiest little bugs which made it difficult for me to get to where I am but I’ve finally made it and feel great to be here.

If you’d have asked me in my 20s if I’d still be doing this at 50 years young😆I’d have said HELL YES because I’ve had such great role models along the way who’ve been doing the same.

I want you to know I am very grateful of each and every one of you, but today I’d like to give a particularly honorable mention to Leith Drury, a Master’s Triathlete who was a fellow member in the old Toronto arm of the now present day C3 Caledon Quarry. Leith was in her 50th year or so in 1998 and along with the coaching excellence of our 🇨🇦legend Barrie Shepley Leith captured the Gold 🥇 Medal at the Triathlon World Championahios in the 50-54 AG at the Worlds in🇨🇭

I remember seeing Leith often at our swim workouts and was in awe at the physical strength and beauty one could achieve at the age of 50. Leith’s athletic excellence into her 50s told me that ageing could be a much more palatable thing to look forward to rather than what I was most used to experiencing in the community which I grew up in. In my hometown area, there was (and still is) too much of an abundance of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke all happening during the same fifth decade of one’s life.

Leith’s athletic excellence at this age made it clear to me that there were other options out there available and, that most of all, I had the ability to chose and create the kind of lifestyle I wanted to see myself in when I approached my own 5th decade.

Here I am. Feeling blessed🙏😇❤️

Je suis prête😉

13/09/2023

Source of my recent jaw pain every swimmer/triathlete should be aware of👉

Swimmer’s Ear

I took one look at my old well used indoor swim cap and then continued onward to do an entire clean up of my swim gear bag. I also purchased cleansing wipes for my goggles and sport ear buds to ensure they stay bacteria free after every use/swim.

Swimmer’s ear (acute otitis externa) is a painful condition that affects the outer ear and ear canal caused by infection, inflammation, or irritation.

12/09/2023

Race Report Lakeside Sprint Triathlon

Well, it’s a wrap for my local🇨🇦triathlon racing season and it definitely wrapped up with a nice big GOLD bow🥇

Before you take a 👀the running photos — beware they were not that flattering at all! It’s no wonder I had residual jaw pain after the race😑My allergies and subsequent asthma were not happy racing in rural 🤧London as I forgot to take my Reactine that morning💩As such I was very noticeably struggling to breathe! But this didn’t stop me from nailing my goal running pace out in 🐄 land, Ontario.

Regarding my longer swim time🙊I made an executive decision to NOT wear my long sleeved wetsuit for this event as the water was a very balmy 24 degrees. Since this wasn’t my A race I figured why not see how much time I’d lose in the swim vs gain in T1 without having to strip from the suit. Well I lost about 25 metres right from the start as I swam a little off direction🙄Lost a bit more getting into the swing of my rythmn while sighting. Def missed the buoyancy of the suit! End result maybe gained 20s in T1 but lost about 2 min overall🙃Good thing I’ll be swimming in a cooler Atlantic Ocean fed river at the Worlds in just under two weeks and will most certainly be wearing the suit!

Scored the fasted ladies bike time of the day and slid into roughly the top 15 men’s bike of the day as well (out of some 750 men or so) of the day🚴‍♀️💪

All said it was a worthy final 🇨🇦 season Tri event at Lakeside for me. It’s an extremely pretty and well-run course that I highly recommend all of you Ontario🇨🇦triathletes to consider next season!

Next stop👉 Championships Pontevedra, Spain🇪🇸Sunday, September 24, 2023.

As soon as I have an Athlete Tracker Link for the event I will share it in my story🤙

05/09/2023

MultiSport Canada 🇨🇦 Triathlon & Duathlon Community Wasaga Beach Oly Race Report:

After bailing on the TTF Oly end of July in place of the Sprint due prolonged recovery from Spring Sinus Infection — I was so stoked for the Wasaga Beach Oly!

However, I was plagued by yet another infection😩I suspect I was fighting off the new strain of Covid although never tested positive.

Thursday b/f race I set my Garmin to beep when my HR was unusually high bc I felt it was racing during my mid-week race prep swim and knew I must be fighting something off🤧The alarm did go off two or theee times after setting it🫢

W/ extreme nausea I bailed about half way through the swim. This was a difficult decision. It was wavy enough to cause some sensitive ordinary mortals nausea but since I have completed this race before w/ flying colours w/ almost identical conditions it was unusual for me to have such issues🤢

2nd transition was hilarious as I was somewhat delirious w/ nausea & building flu-like symptoms + low food intake. Had issues finding my bike, forgot to put on my race belt and here’s the kicker - I didn’t take the gel (race food) out of my running shoe and put it in my pocket before heading out onto the course (as I normally have done for years). I went out running w/ the gel in my shoe🙈
until about 300 metres or so into the run! I knew I felt something awkward and eventually stopped to take the gel out while spectators laughed along w/ me🤣Overall run time was not that bad although I am positive I could have done wayyyy better considering what I’ve been logging in my training.

All said, got the job done. Felt like death warmed over🤢on the drive home and went straight to bed upon arrival. Took the next two days off of training and kept the next few days light afterward to ensure a full recovery so that I could continue to keep my training intensity and volume high enough to ensure a proper taper before the Standard Triathlon World Championships I’ll be attending in Spain in a few weeks time.

🤞my body is done with infections for the season and I get to🇪🇸in good form!
🙏Jesse D for reminding me of
👉Next up: Lakeside

20/08/2023

Another fabulous Tri training morning C3 Caledon Quarry ~1500 Mtr Swim followed by a ~90k Bike 🤪which was a little extra hilly because we neglected to follow course (again🤣) and got slammed with a few longer, steeper climbs.

Enjoyed a little extra motivation watching a supper strong and happy Bob Knuckey there pushing some extra kms on the bike while we swam👍

For me this was an out of the frying pan and into the fryer kinda ride as I had just done a little hill repeat session only two days ago.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger💪🤷‍♀️

17/08/2023

“We retire too early and we die too young. Our prime of life should be in the 70’s and old age should not come until we are almost 100.”

~ Joseph Pilates

07/08/2023

Fabulous Saturday morning open water swim at C3 Caledon Quarry followed by a no lack of rolling hills bike through the surrounding counties🚴‍♀️

Thank you Barrie Shepley and Mario Meffe

24/07/2023

Not exactly what I had planned for my overall run split today or even for my race to mention — I had changed over to the Sprint distance event from the Standard last min due to a flare up with my autoimmune related issues.

Nonetheless, my sub 4 min sprint to the finish landed me in Cat 2nd place/19th Gender Overall.

I overtook the would be 2nd place gal without even knowing I was chasing the poor thing down less than 250 metres to the finish line.

So, I’ve qualified for the Worlds again next year — this time at the Sprint Distance🥈

Spain has once again won to the host title. The location this round is in Malaga, a lot more south than Pontevedra where I will be this year.

Looking very forward but got to work a little harder on this ageing athlete business and hand in hand - on my running🏃‍♀️

To infinity and beyond I go👊





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12/07/2023

07/07/2023

06/07/2023

“Many of us shrink before impossible tasks, or even tasks that are just a bit hard, because we are just like Hanuman. We easily forget that there is a part of us that is also divine and can accomplish the impossible.”

~Alanna Kaivalya, Myths of the Asanas

17/06/2023

5 Nutritional Supplements+Home-Based Resistance💪 3xs Weekly Improved Lean Mass & Strength in InActive w/ (muscle loss) and (aka Skinny Fat)

👉whey 👉casein👉creatine👉vitamin D3👉FishOil

CSEP SCPE PD Day ‘23

Old age is associated with lower physical activity levels, suboptimal protein intake, and desensitization to anabolic stimuli, predisposing for age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia). Although resistance exercise (RE) and protein supplementation partially ...

06/04/2023

🚹does affect men.

To learn more, watch this short segment that appeared on Breakfast Television yesterday, featuring my male breast cancer survivor client, Warren👏

If you are curious about lumps or tissue changes around your ni***es, chest/breast area and/or armpit and are male, please don’t hesitate to check in with your doctor because men get breast cancer too.

Catching cancer early has the best outcome👍

02/04/2023

Heavy head/happy heart❤️🤧🤒Over my ~30yr running/triathlon career I’ve had a lot of success with very few DNFs but I honestly can’t recall any events I haven’t made it to the start line.
🥲
Nonetheless, my partner in crime did and we made lemonade out of lemons with her running the Virtual Spring Run Off 5k in our local cemetery with me biking slowly beside for encouragement and support.
🏆
Without the huge crowds, clapping and motivating music (that would have killed my thick sinusitis blocked head anyway) Gayle got it done.
👏
We had a few good laughs with Gayle’s fancy new Apple watch including the beat laugh when we couldn’t figure out how to get the run timer to stop. Pressing all the buttons in an effort to not have her time run over the watch began to hydrate us🤣💦🤣It wasn’t until I screamed at the thing telling it to “stop the timer” which it said the timer wasn’t started 🤨so then I said “stop the workout” — the damn thing finally stopped.
😆
My original plan was to race the 8k & then run the 5k w/ Gayle as a cool down.
🤧
If you scroll👈through the photos you’ll see I tried everything I could incl steaming & acupuncture to get my sinuses to let up but in the end although I could breathe better, my body still wasn’t finished fighting the underlaying infection and my watch reports agreed.
🍾🥂
Post-race celebrations still went underway as planned and future race goals were discussed. We’ll definitely be giving this another try in the mot so distant future as Gayle wishes to improve upon her time anyway!
🤧
As for me, hopefully w a few more good sleeps and lighter workouts I’ll be as good as new at the Mississauga Half Marathon start line at the end of the month.
🤞

28/03/2023

EVERY DOCTOR’s OFFICE shld have this poster.

If you have HBP STOP adding salt bc you likely get enough in your daily diet. Just a few sprinkles toward a piddly 1/4 Tsp will easily tip you over rec daily healthy 1500mg😬

02/03/2023

With age, we naturally do slow down.

It can be frustrating to continue training so hard to only see a steady decline in our pace times while moving into the second half of our existence.

But that doesn’t mean we need to quit because there are apparently still medals out there to be won!

Keep up the good work, Betty🥇

After shattering the world record in 2022, Betty Lindberg ran the Publix Atlanta 5K in a quick 59 minutes, 6 seconds.