Laarni Paredes spills the beans on juggling career, being a mom and finishing the hardest triathlon in the world.

Laarni Paredes is not your regular work-at-home mom. She can swim 4km, bike for 180km, run 42km and is a consistent podium finisher in running and triathlon events.  She is also a qualifier and finisher of the Ford Ironman World Championship, and a 7 time full IronMan finisher.

And as if that’s not enough, she recently became the first Filipina to finish the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon last August 5, 2017.

The Norseman Extreme Triathlon is dubbed by many as the hardest triathlon in the world.

It takes the full Iron Man distance to another level of torture as the swim is done in 13 degrees celsius and below, the race starts by jumping off a boat and swimming to shore.  


The bike ride has a total elevation gain of a little more than 3,000 meters going uphill and down, and the marathon run will have you running uphill with an elevation gain of 750-1500 meters including the infamous Zombie Hill, which is so steep you will regress from running to walking like zombie.

That makes Laarni Paredes a #CertifiedMamaw

During Herbalife’s pressconference, I got a chance to ask Laarni about her training, how she juggles working, being a mom and being a top athlete for Herbalife’s triathlon team together with her husband. 

Here's a snap shot of Laarni's typical day, life and training:

On juggling a full-time job, being a mom and triathlon training

It helps that her husband Omar is also a triathlete, so they both understand the level of sacrifice and healthy lifestyle one needs to have in order to maintain top condition. 

Laarni works as a home-based digital content manager and most of her work hours are at night. In the morning, she makes breakfast for her 5 year old daughter, sends her to school and as soon as she gets home, she starts her training. She does light workout in the morning and reserves the hard part of her workout late in the afternoon to the evening.

Mileage

For a full triathlon training, she did eight 180 km bike rides and runs 60 to 70 total km per week including 32 km long easy runs. And in the final weeks before race day she includes hill runs aside from the swim and interval work.

Injury prevention

She keeps away from injury by listening to her body and backing away from the intensity of training by taking it easy but keeping the volume or by focusing on the other aspects of the triathlon, the moment she feels any kind of pain.


Mindset and race strategy

“Kung kakayanin ng lalake, kaya din ng babae” 

What motivated her to do the race and what kept her going during the times in the race where she felt like giving up:

 

"Inisip ko lang yung mga taong nag-support and nag-offer ng prayer"  

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Her race strategy was to keep an even pace throughout, especially on the hills where it was critical to conserve energy as much as possible.

On how she endured the extreme cold

Although the bulk of her training was done in the Philippines, she stayed in Norway 5 weeks before the race to acclimatize to the extreme weather. She trained in Mt. Makiling and the mountains of Baguio to prepare her for the five mountain passes on the bike leg. 

She was also more prepared and confident learning from Omar’s mistakes and experience with the race (her husband who was the first Filipino to finish the race last year… making them the first couple Filipino finishers of the Isklar Norway Extreme triathlon)

Laarni also read the book “Becoming the Iceman” by Wim Hoff and implemented his protocols using cold thermogenesis and breathing techniques to boost her immune system and endure extreme temperatures.. 

During the race, she ended up using 4 layers gloves as she needed to change gloves every time it would get wet and iced up due to the extreme weather.

When Laarni started having difficulty gripping and using the brakes of her bike as her hands started getting numb, Omar came up with an idea to make her wear dish washing gloves inside on top of the other gloves to keep the ice and water in check and it worked perfectly preventing her hands from succumbing to frost bites.

What’s next for Laarni?

Right now her priority is to sleep and recover and go back to being a mom. Her husband also implied that they were planning to include another child in the team. 

Nomnomnom...
 We got a taste of  Herbalife's new cookies and cream flavored nutrition shake and a shot of aloevera concentrate as we raised our glasses in celebration of Laarni's triumph

Laarni used Herbalife's comprehensive performance nutrition line of products to help her get ready, get set and get fit. Balanced with carbohydrates, protein , vitamins and minerals, it provides optimal recovery and fuel for athletes to help you go beyond the finish line.