Adventures in Kale

I've heard all this great stuff about Kale but, really hadn't eaten it other than occasionally in salad. Off season is a perfect time to explore new foods. Hence, Adventures in Kale was born.

(NOTE: I picked the dish, Grumpy provided the culinary skills)
 
Adventure #1. Grumpy made was Kale nd Apple Salad Recipe.

This was GREAT! There is something about the blended taste of the almonds, dates, and lemon juice on top of the kale. (I brought this to a Super Bowl party and there wasn't much leftover).

Adventure #2. We had some left over BBQ'd chicken so, we added it to Whole Grain Spaghetti With Garlicky kale and tomatoes

This was pretty good too.

Adventure #3. We tried Mustardy Kale and Butternut Squash to see if we could incorporate some butternut squash.

meh.

Adventure #4. Another favorite is Kale Pesto which can be used on anything regular pesto can be used.  Sorry, no picture. Trust me. It's really good.

Adventure #5. Not sure I'm crazy about the parsnips but, the Kale-Bacon Risotto was a nice change. (sorry. No picture.)

All-in-all, this was kind of a fun adventure. Kale now appears regularly on our weekly menu.

2014 - A Year of Excitement

2013 was a year of getting to know my strengths and weaknesses. It was a year of building. It was a year of learning. I wanted 2013 to be a solid foundation on which to base goals.

In 2013,

• I ran my first half Ironman.
• I placed first in my age group in an open water swim.
• I ran the whole way in a half marathon for the first time.
• I broke through my 30 minute 5k barrier - TWICE!

With out further adieu, it's on to 2014.

I want 2014 to be a year in which I stretch. A year where I push myself to be faster and stronger. I've picked races that will be the back drop for this goal. There will be lots of hard and long training to meet this goal. I will need mental strength to get me past the times when I'm sick of being sore. I will need mental strength to keep me making the right/good choices when I'm tired and want to quit. I will need mental strength to keep me from whining when the workouts make me want to puke since this is my choice to do. To embody this mental strength, I'm going to employ a mantra this year.

Those on twitter and facebook already know my mantra for the year - Buckle up (and probably sick of it). But, you might not know why.

I could have used Macca's "Embrace the suck". I guess you can interpret it differently but, I see it as you are the victim of the suck. I see it as taking away your power. I wanted something to give me power when I needed it.

I could have used Bobby McGee's "There you are. I've been waiting for you". Closer. With this, the pain becomes your companion. This doesn't take anything away from you but, pain is never your friend. I wanted something that acknowledged the adversarial role that pain plays.

Facing the pain (aka discomfort) as I push myself in a race is what I need to do to meet my goals. It's like a bull rider that needs to draw the biggest and meanest bull in the show so that he gets the most points... and the most risk of pain. It's like being on a huge roller coaster as you reach that first peak and fear floods your body. We've chosen racing as our adventure. I wanted to take ownership of that. What do you do when you find yourself on the bull and the gate is about to open?

Buckle Up!

2013 Off Season...

Looks like off season is just about over and not a moment too soon. But, wait. It hasn't all been bad.


This is the first time I've had an honest to goodness "off season". From reading and listening to others, "off season" supposed to be about:

• Recharging
• Reconnecting
• Losing some fitness

I was completely ready to recharge (mentally and physically) and reconnect (with friends, family, and Grumpy) but, lose some fitness???? I don't have that much to lose!!! Coach only told me NOT to do nothing....

So, I've reconnected with my dogs by running, hiking, playing:

Grumpy with Tazzy & Essie

Essie (run by Grumpy) making a nice close turn on the jump

I've reconnected with junk food and alcohol:

Candy Cane Joe Joe's and Chocolate covered Joe Joes

I've reconnected with my pajamas (no pictures, just imaging flannel jammies and slouch socks)

I've reconnected with friends for dinner, dog shows, and music. 

Blowing off all sorts of workouts has been a decadent treat. I've recovered from constant fatigue. My mind is clear. Come December 1, I'll be ready physically, mentally, and spiritually to start working on the 2014 workload. This final week is a bit like standing on the edge of the pool at 5:30 am. It's going to be cold. It's going to be hard. I'm excited to get going.

2014 Meal Planning

I hate to cook. I have no interest in it. I'm happy with a bag of croutons or a bowl of cereal. I know this isn't a healthy diet. Over the years, Grumpy has taken over this household chore. Problem solved... right? Not really. Grumpy isn't good at decisions or planning.

Every week, I spend 1-2 hours combing over recipe books and on-line recipes, reviewing the upcoming schedule to know how much cooking needs to be done, and looking through the cabinets and refrigerator all in order to make a meal plan and grocery list.

I have recipe books....

... and more recipe books ...

It sucks but, this it what it takes to get healthy meals cooked regularly. What's worse, is that when the weekend workouts get long or we go to dog shows, this falls apart.

I've been trying to figure out how can I speed this process up? What I want is a menu that has only healthy meals... no thought, just point. I came up with this:

Recipe binder with full and half page inserts

That's right. ANOTHER recipe book!!! But not just any recipe book. This recipe book will be limited to ~40 GO-TO favorite healthy meals - one stop shopping!

I've already started collecting and I should have about 40 GO-TO meals by February or March.

Wish me luck!

Off Season 2013 - aka. A Blog Full of Promises

Last year, I didn't really take a break. I worked through the "off season" with coach to take off a bit of weight. I was also concerned about getting out of the routine. Although I still have both issues, I decided to take the break this year. I KNOW what the late spring and early summer will bring.

Sooooo, it's off season huh? Now what?

First thing, look back on the 2013 season. In particular, what are the NON workout points that I want to do differently. These include:

1. Menu planning and preparation.
2. Work out journal
3. Bike weight reduction - hydration
4. Bike weight reduction - tire kit.

I will write about these issues in future blogs... I promise.


Second thing, plan the 2014 season. What are my goals? How am I going to achieve my goals?

I will write about these in a future blog... um, I promise.


Finally, do all the things I can't do during training:

• Staying in your pajamas all day - my favoirte.
• Sleeping in - my record so far is 7:45am.
• Go for a hike
• Eat pizza - may be not the whole medium pepperoni pizza
• Eat cookies and candy - may be not the whole box
• Stay out late with friends.
• Get personal swim lessons.
• Try out club workouts.

But, the ultimate goal is to become bored. I want to recharge and be ready to take on a higher level of training to help me achieve the goals I set for 2014 and beyond.

Wish me luck!

2013 OktobeRun Half Marathon

Well, I haven't been keeping up on blogging BUT, I haven't been sitting on my butt. After I recovered from Vineman 70.3, I started training for this half marathon. Something finally clicked. I was having one surprisingly good training run after another. I knew I was going to finally break my half marathon plateau.

But first, a little background...

I've done a fall half marathon for the last 4 years. Last year, I decided that I wanted my season to be done in October instead of dragging through the end of November. I picked the Morgan Hill Half Marathon thinking it was on the east side of the valley (flat farm land). How wrong I was! This year, I went for FLAT FLAT FLAT. 

The OktobeRun Half Marathon takes place about 40 minutes north along the marsh land of the San Francisco bay.  The city puts on a big Oktoberfest in conjunction with this race so, Grumpy would have something to keep him entertained. And did I mention that it was flat?

This is an out and back going over an overpass at miles 1 and 12. It then goes over a small bridge that crosses a small channel at miles 2 and 11. I have no recollection of what was at miles 3 and 10 to make the blips that are shown in the picture above.

The last 2 weeks was very stressful at work and I missed a few swim workouts. My asthma was out of control and I was not sleeping well. My run workouts were not at normal times and they also suffered. But, I didn't focus on them. I knew my long runs had been solid. I understood that the current life stress was playing havoc on my training.

As I wrote my race plan, I focused on making this race as close to those great long runs as I could. I programmed it all into my Garmin as I've done for my long runs. There were programmed target pace ranges but, I knew exactly what pace I needed at each stage in order to make my overall goal.

The morning of the race, I woke with a mild migraine (slight head ache and sour stomach). I would have loved to be able to stay in bed but, I knew if I could just get moving on my day, I'd get through it. Grumpy and I arrived early to find parking was a breeze. Nothing was open so, we sat and watched all the swank people do static stretches (especially this tall, thin, hard core running attired woman that seemed to know EVERYONE).

This week, the temperature suddenly dropped to the upper 40's. 15 minutes prior to start, it was time to take off the warm cozy jacket and "warm up". The plan was a simple 5 minute jog with some strides thrown in....

THISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARDTHISSUCKSTHISISHARD... 

I could barely do 12:00/mile. How was I ever going to meet the day's goal??? I told myself that this is like the first 5 minutes of my training runs and that I never look at how fast I go then because it is always sucky. (Not going to panic).

5 minutes later I met up with Grumpy and agreed where to meet and when after the race. I really didn't think I could do this race the way coach and I had planned. But, I shifted my thinking "this is just a long run like she's had you do before". I recalled that my long runs had been great, they had been done with some what tired legs, and I was well tapered. Just stick to the plan. The plan was solid.

There was no seeding so I just positioned myself in the middle and with all the people, it felt warmer (took off the arm warmers before the horn went off). The horn went off and we were all moving.

Race Start

First 26 minutes: Plan was to build to a peppy but, not fast pace. Then, build to goal pace for a few minutes. Then, wake the legs up by building to slightly faster than goal pace. Finally, back off to slightly less than goal pace. Not surprisingly, lots of people passed me. But, I also passed people.

By this time, I was running along side the bay. My plan relied on me running as close to a 13.1 race as possible. I tried to keep the line to the shortest possible but, at times it was 4 people across.  I was easily running at goal pace and took the bridge over the channel with only slightly more effort. I started to think about picking people to pass and immediately shut that down. Stick to the plan. This felt exactly how my training had been.... stick to the plan. My plan was to run MY race not go off the rails.

I had programmed the Garmin such that I'd run at goal for a while and then get to drop to slightly below goal for a couple of minutes. I descended the length of each goal pace stretch so that as I got tired, the breaks came sooner. Mentally, this helped me keep the pace up. I had to keep it up for less and less amount of time.

As I hit the 6 mile mark, I suddenly spotted Miss I Know Everyone and passed her like she was standing still. I was passing men too. I hit the turnaround and kept chugging along. I found that if I kept my cadence between 90 and 93, I would begin to feel less discomfort. I made sure my arms were swinging properly - not across my body. The more tired I got, the more I made sure I kept my form correct (or at least as correct as I ever am).

Between 7 and 8 miles, my stomach started to get a little upset. I held off on the next scheduled gel and just took in water. The field was really starting to thin out. I passed a woman who was walking while her partner tried to talk her into running again. I passed a man who was hunched over making thudding noise with every foot fall.  And OMG, I passed some guy that really should have showered BEFORE the race (may be even twice).

Miles 9 and 10 were a blur. I followed the Garmin and I just kept plugging away. I hit the down hill of the bridge over the channel and my knee SCREAMED. I'd pay for that later. I made it up and over the overpass at mile 11 passing a couple more people at the bottom.

Mile 12 was just keeping the pace until I hit my last "break". But I knew I had this. After the break, the Garmin showed "Haul Ass" on the screen. This was a quarter mile out and I could see the turn to the finish line. The finish line was just around that corner. I had not programmed any target. The plan was to give what ever was left in the tank. I was so close to my goal and it actually felt good to push. I guess I looked really strong because the comments I was getting was a lot different than the woman just ahead of me. I came around the corner and crowd applauded. I kept pushing strong until I was done.

I swear I was hauling ass and there was a crowd!

Result:  2:13:24
 
Not only did I meet my goal of sub 2:15 (set in December 2012). I met coach's goal of sub 2:14!

With that, my planned 2013 season is over. I'm a little sad to see it end as I feel like things are finally coming together. But, I'm also very excited about events I'm looking at for my 2014 schedule.

For all that you have done to help make 2013 a wonderful year, thank you to:

• Grumpy for all the times you came to my races and you had to wait for me to finish my workouts.

• My coach, Elizabeth Waterstraat, who is patiently working miracles.

• My friends and family that have given support and humor.

I love you all.

2013 Vineman 70.3 Race Report

A week ago, I did my first half Ironman®, Vineman 70.3. I'm struggling to come up with what to say in this race report. The problem is, I really didn't race it. At no time during the whole day, did I push. Just the distance was enough of a challenge. How can I write a race report if I didn't race?

Last year, I wasn't ready to do a half marathon run after the swim and bike. So, I did the Aquabike. Best decision. This introduced me to the swim, bike, and spectacle that is Vineman without having to do the run. But this year, I was ready.

Vineman 70.3 starts at Johnson's Beach which is on the Russian River in Guerville. The swim is an out and back course that starts at the seasonal dam and goes about .65 miles upstream past numerous cabins with docks along the waters edge.

 

I got to T1 early and found a great spot right next to a sign. I was determined NOT to lose my spot when I came back from the swim this year. Set up went quickly and I double checked that I could find my bike from the swim timing mat. Lots of time to hang around watching the pros and the early waves take off.

Finally. Time to put the wetsuit on and get in the water. Waves went off every 6 minutes. I lined up in line with the sight buoys and a couple people back. 30 seconds. 15 seconds. Horn!

Typical. Every one jumped ahead as soon as the horn went. That's me where the arrow is and everyone is already off the screen. My plan was to just go steady and use the swim as my warm up. There was a LOT of contact all the way through the swim. I don't mind the hands on the toes but, you grab my leg and hold on, you're going to get kicked -- and not so gently. As I reached the turnaround, the wave behind had caught up and there was a mass of people trying to turnaround in extremely shallow conditions. After the turnaround, there was about 10 feet that was impossible to swim. Swimming meant raking your hand across rocks. Everyone had to walk. Then, it became an effort of dodging previous waves or my women in my wave that tired out. Finally, I made it to the ramp. This year, I lined up straight on to avoid the huge rocks -- really wasn't that less rock.

Swim: 42:06 (PR)

Once I found my legs, I quickly ran to my transition spot and ripped off my wetsuit. Shoes on. Glasses on. Helmet on. Grabbed the bike and out of T1.

T1: 4:36 (better than last year!)

After a quick run up the hill, I was on the bike and headed out on a nice 5 mile stretch that is perfect for getting settled in. Eat a little. Drink a little. Do a couple quick spin ups just to wake up the legs and then it's a quick down and a very rude short steep hill that requires you to get out of the saddle - 286 watts - ouch! From there, it's about 40 minutes of rolling hills. Coach's words kept going through my head -- How is what you are doing going to help the run? I kept the up hills easy. I rested on the down hills if necessary but, other wise kept the speed up.

Once out of the rollers, I tried to keep the watts with in range yet, I wanted to leave lots in the tank for the run. I passed some of the people that had gone out too fast. There were a few people I saw in the distance that I was able to slowly real in. Eventually, the ride was done and I entered T2.

Bike: 3:33:13 (*sigh* slower than last year)


I had an easy to spot spot in T2. My rack was at the first large tree and all the way back on the cement. I quickly racked my bike and almost started out with my helmet. Took an extra second to add some spray on sunscreen.

T2: 4:24 (forgot to get out of my shoes while still on the bike -- la la brain)

So now the dreaded run.

It was easy to write up my race plan for the swim and the bike. I struggled with the run. It took some hints from coach to get in the right frame of mind. I realized that I wanted to do Vineman not because I'm some fast, young, speedster. Just like the Morgan Hill Half Marathon (HILLY), I wanted to do Vineman because it is a challenge. So what if it's hard. What can I do to rise to the challenge? Just go do what I need to.

As usual, I felt great right off the bike. My plan was to go easy on the run and walk any hills I needed. The first 2-3 miles weren't bad and there was a lot more shade than I had anticipated. Following the plan, I took water and ice at each aide station. And then the first hill which I power walked. And then another hill, power walked that too. About this time, I started leap frogging a middle aged man. We would encourage each other as we passed.

Just after I power walked the biggest hill (around mile 4), I began to have a few negative thoughts. By my calculations, I wasn't going to meet my sub 7 hour goal. All this power walking was just too slow. But my race plan came back to me -- What can I do to rise to the challenge? It didn't matter if I didn't hit sub 7. Just keep moving.

The hills and leap frogging went on until mile 6 which took us into a winery. They had a lovely mister that I took full advantage of and out of the winery for some more road running. I walked a portion of mile 8, regrouped, and then... the miles started ticking down. The man passed me on the last hill of the course. I passed him on the down hill and kept going. The last 2-3 miles are relatively flat so, I ran... and ran... and ran. All of the racers encouraged each other. The spectators were great. And then, I was running into the high school. It seemed like the finish line was at the other end of the school but, I made it. And I finished strong.

Run: 2:34:53

As I crossed the finish line, I did a quick calculation (8:11 - 1 hour = 7:11) and was a little disappointed that I hadn't made sub 7. But, I just did my first half Ironman®!!!!

The finish shoot dumps you right into the food and knowing I couldn't take the food out of the area, I ate enough to quickly recharge so I could hurry up and leave. I met up with a friend, Johanne, who had just finished and chatted a bit. But, I really just wanted to go find Grumpy and get on the road home. As I was leaving, I saw Leap Frog Man and we congratulated each other.

On the drive home, I checked my official on-line results and to my delight - I HAD GONE SUB 7! My wave took off 1:12 after the pros!

Overall: 6:59:12

This week, every one wants to know if a full Ironman® is next. And I still say, it is not currently on my bucket list. I have enjoyed all of the training for this HIM and look forward to doing another.

Thank you to Elizabeth Waterstraat, my coach, for not giving up on me. I look forward to you turning up the heat.

Thanks to dear friends  - Dorothy, Susan, James, Mark, Scott, and Janice - for keeping the love of my life company while I chase dreams.

Thanks to Barbara and Molly for getting me off the sofa so many years ago.

Last but not least, thanks to Grumpy for all the sacrificing you've done while I go challenge myself.