Work, family, recreation, and health are all high priorities for most people. Sometimes they’re difficult to juggle, though, and prioritizing one thing requires deprioritizing one or more others. For many years, Ana Ximenes, who resides in Castle Rock, Colorado, with her husband, prioritized her job as a business coach and consultant ahead of recreation, fitting in weekend bike rides and hotel treadmill runs around her frequent travel. But when in 2016 Ana’s sister asked her to train for and complete a triathlon with her, family became the priority.

“We are close and I can never say ‘no’ to her,” Ana explains. “Still traveling five days a week, I made up my own plan and did the best I could getting my workouts in. We managed to complete our triathlon in August of 2017, and from that moment on we were hooked.”

Then, in 2019, Ana was diagnosed with swim-induced pulmonary edema, and health became her main priority. Heeding her doctors, she put a pause on further racing to make sure she had no underlying health issues and to await official clearance to resume competing. By then, Ana had already discovered the 80/20 endurance training method and was primed to reap its benefits, which she finally was able to do earlier this month.

“On August 15, I completed my first triathlon since my diagnoses and with the help of the 80/20 plan I accomplished my goal of coming in first in my age group,” says Ana, who is 60 years old.
Eager to take her performance to the next level in 2022, Ana advises her fellow 80/20 athletes to “remember life happens and you may miss a workout or two. Hit the ‘reset button’ and start again the next day. Remember it is supposed to be fun!”

Sounds like Ana has her priorities straight!