I have discovered that I can drink my greens, and they do not have to be disgusting. It’s a revelation.
Recently I participated in a bike ride sponsored by the Austin chapter of Organic Athlete to visit various vegan restaurants around town. One of the stops was at a new place called Beets, located on 5th St near Mopac. Beets was offering the cyclists discounted smoothies, and so I tried one that was made of blueberries, orange, and either spinach or kale (I forget now which).
Almost 20 years ago, I embarked on a mission to become an expert juicer. I read Juicing for Life, got myself a juicer, and started juicing like crazy. I tried all kinds of combinations, including recipes that were supposedly tried and true winners. Frankly, I found most of them disgusting, and dealing with the juicer was a big hassle (cleaning too for-ev-er). Didn’t take long for me to abandon juicing in spite of the nutritional benefits.
Fast forward to the blueberry-orange-green smoothie. I was skeptical, but willing to try it. Lo and behold, it was pretty good, actually. Even my daughter said it was “okay,” knowing that it had lots of greens in it.
I went back to Beets a few days ago and had another smoothie: the tropical green. It was bright green, and again, I was skeptical, “knowing” it was going to taste just like ground up greens like back in the juicing days. Wrong. Tasted like mangos and bananas! Delicious. Amazing. Not just “okay” but rocking!
At the restaurant, they had for sale a book called the Green Smoothie Revolution, by Victoria Boutenko, which I picked up to give me some ideas. It is chock-full of green smoothie recipes, and so far I am 2 for 2 from that book and looking forward to trying more.
I’ve put in an order for a Vita-Mix (heavy duty) blender based on several recommendations, so I’ll report on that when it comes in. I’m told that using the Vita-Mix versus a regular blender is like day versus night, and that it is worth its weight in gold, so we’ll see…
Records broken at Ironman New Zealand -
Cam Brown wins a record ninth Ironman NZ with a time of 8:21.52, while Jo Lawn sets a new women’s course record of 9:14.35.
This past weekend was so gorgeous. So many Texans were tweeting about how “beeeeuuuuutiful” it was — finally, sunshine and some warm weather!
Sunday morning was the allotted time for cycling, so we left the house about 7:45 AM. We rode around central Austin, then down to Town Lake where the trail overflowed with runners. After doing a couple of loops there, we moved on to Barton Creek greenbelt for some mountain biking. Although I am no Melanie McQuaid, at least there were no wipe-outs, and I had a fun time taking on the rocks and mud.
Because of all the rain we have been having in Austin lately, the creek was quite full. I should have taken pictures, but they would not have done it justice, because there were also the sounds of the creek to take in… Hard to believe that this lovely spot is right here in the city. No need to drive out of town for a wilderness trek!
A “Cosmic Trigger” from the Daily Juice hit the spot, and 3.5 hours after leaving home, we returned, smiling.
Next week was supposed to be the first week of training for an early June triathlon, but instead, it will be week two of a 6-week (we hope!) rehab for an ankle injury.
Yes, an athlete-friend is sidelined, just as the spring sun was starting to appear and training was about to begin in earnest.
Frustration. Disappointment. Anger. Depression. And let’s not forget Fear – specifically fear of gaining weight and losing fitness! Any athlete who has experienced an injury knows how easy it is to have all of these feelings when the training plan goes down the toilet.
The reality is you are injured — and that cannot be changed. Of course it is important to do the icing and the rehab exercises on the schedule recommended by your doctor or physical therapist. But the real key is to change the way you think about the injury! An injury can be an opportunity. For example, I decided to learn how to swim when I could not run for more than a month. I might not be a triathlete at all, if it weren’t for that opportunity.
Don’t get me wrong, injuries are a pain both literally and figuratively. But, in most cases, there is still training that can be done. For example, my friend with the ankle injury can still do core and upper body strength training exercises. This is the positive way to look at this injury. We can delay swim/bike/run training for a month, and by then, she will have developed a killer core. And we all know that a killer core is critical to peak triathlon performance, eh?
Let’s get training now, shall we?
What a great morning for running in Austin, Texas!
I was not racing this morning, so I took off on my bike from Placid Athlete Headquarters and headed north along the marathon route. It was still a little early for any runners to be on that part of the route, so I just enjoyed riding along Shoal Creek with the roads closed off to traffic. The weather was beautiful: sunny and mid-forties, or so — thankfully, not as cold as anticipated. It was terrific to get some sunshine after all the cold, rainy, miserable weather we have had these past few days/weeks/months.
I was up at about mile 18 on the route when the elite men came through, and they were flying — looking very strong and smooth. I watched their running form and all of them seemed to float with a light step, forefront strike, making it look so easy to run that fast! The number of spectators cheering along that section of the route was few, and I wondered how much a cheering crowd (or lack there of) makes a difference for those runners?
After following the elite runners for awhile, I took off into northwest hills to do some climbing. Later in the ride, I headed back down toward the race route where the average runners were struggling to stay on pace. Some were running, some were walking, and some just looked downright bad — like there was no way they would make it another 12 miles — but somehow I think they probably found it within themselves to make it all the way. Willpower is an amazing power indeed.
I continued south to the early part of the course — near Lake Austin — and the trucks were coming by to load up the road blocks and tables and pylons. By the time I returned home, there was no evidence of a marathon having come through.
Although I had been concerned about attempting a ride in central Austin on marathon day, it turned out to be a fun morning watching the runners! And, when yet another cold front came through this afternoon, and it got cloudy, windy, and cold again, I was so happy to have already done my ride when the weather was so gorgeous.
Happy Valentine’s Day, and congratulations to all the runners (and walkers) who participated in today’s Austin marathon and half-marathon! Cheers!
Thrive and Thrive Fitness - Brendan Brazier's books on nutrition -
I just finished reading Thrive Fitness, after having read Thrive a couple of months ago. There is a lot of interesting material here about a whole foods, plant-based diet is the best nutrition plan for anyone, whether you are a beginner athlete or a professional endurance athlete.
I’ve been thinking about whether to recommend just one or the other of these books, but both have different material to offer, so I think folks will benefit from having both books. Both Thrive and Thrive Fitness provide the basics behind why changing to a whole foods, plant-based nutrition plan has a positive effect on people. Thrive is more comprehensive in its discussion of the science, which is really great information, although it can be overwhelming if the material is all new to the reader. The list of recipes in Thrive is also fairly expansive.
Thrive Fitness, on the other hand, spends more time on the exercise part of the equation. This book includes a well-rounded list of exercises, with how-to photos and good descriptions for how to do the workouts. This is helpful information for beginning and intermediate athletes. However, I think that the recipes in Thrive Fitness will be more beneficial to advanced athletes, because a lot of the recipes are for performance sports drinks, gels, and pre- and post-workout food. Some of these recipes are not appropriate unless you are planning to workout for >90 minutes, so they won’t be too useful for the beginner. That said, I am really excited about trying some of the homemade gels for my long workouts, because for a long time I have been interested in trying to concoct something in my own kitchen but didn’t really know where to begin.
I’ve tried a few of the other recipes (sports bars, smoothies, cereal) and although I had one massive failure with the yam pancakes which would not cook at all (Brendan, what the heck?) everything else has been tasty so far. Some of the ingredients have been hard to find, but Whole Foods and Central Market here in Austin have mostly come through for me.
I recommend that y’all check these books out, as they are a worthwhile addition to your library. Remember that you do not have to become a vegan 100% of the time to reap benefits. Anyone will benefit from making incremental changes toward better nutrition.
Brendan Brazier's "Thrive in 30" -
This is worth a look-see. Brendan Brazier, Ironman triathlete and author of Thrive and Thrive Fitness, explains the principles behind the Thrive diet, which is a whole foods, plant-based diet. I saw Brendan give a talk recently in Austin, and he had a lot of interesting information to share.
Placid Athlete is forming a Spring 2010 triathlon training group in Austin, TX!
This program is geared primarily toward triathlon rookies or those who have been inactive for awhile and want to ease back into a fitness program.
Goal Race(s):
We will be training first for The Rookie Tri, which takes place on May 9, in New Braunfels, at the Texas Ski Ranch. This race is a 300 meter swim, 11 mile bike, and 2 mile run. (Details at http://www.therookietri.com)
An optional extension program is available for those who also want to race in the (longer) Lake Pflugerville Triathlon on June 20. This race is a 500 meter swim, 14 mile bike, 3 mile run. (Details at http://www.lakepflugervilletri.com)
Program Includes:
Dates:
10-week program’s first session will be on Wed, Mar 3. (Race date May 9)
6-week extension starts week of May 10 (Race date June 20).
Pricing:
10-week Training Program:$265
6-week extension: $155
Participants are responsible for race registration fees and any additional fees, such as park entry or pool fees.
Class is limited to 10 participants.
Contact Suzanne to join the group!
“I find ecstasy in living; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” — Emily Dickinson
I was flipping through my journal and came across this golden nugget, which I had copied from Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. This is a reminder that in this season of giving, we must not forget to take care of ourselves. (More later on the importance of training logs/journals…)
“Recognize that anything worth having is worth fighting for. Good health, vitality, more energy, more confidence, better sex, great abs, a tight ass —- you either want ‘em or you don’t. You can continue plodding along in your life feeling like you’re not living up to your glorious potential or you can dedicate yourself to creating the life you want. F—k excuses about not having the time or the money. You spend 40 hours a week working, or more if you’re a full-time mom. Certainly your health and your body and you are more important than anything else in your life. You are worthless to your colleagues, friends, and family if you do not value yourself enough to take excellent care of you. Yes, you have to put yourself before your friends, parents, boyfriend, husband, and even your children. It won’t make you a bad daughter or wife or mother; it will make you a less resentful, more confident, interesting, beautiful, patient, tolerant, and fun person to be around. Your bright, shining light will give everyone around you the permission and inspiration to shine more brightly. Love yourself enough to do whatever it takes to be the best you you can be.”