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24
Oct
10

The end of the 2010 Tri season…but not endurance season…

By Feerlessfood 9 Comments
Categories: Dinners, fitness, Mexican, Personal Bests, Races, Restaurants and sweet potato
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

First- I found out that I did in fact qualify to be a member of Team USA for ITU Worlds!  The race will be in November, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  It’s good that it’s over a year away because this race will take some preparation.  It’s a 4000m swim, 80-mile bike, and 18-mile run.  Lizzy, I’m going to need some help with that swim!  This also gives me time to get as good as I can so I can really vie for a top spot…not just some kid who made the cut.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the race or not because of the distance, but thanks Marcus for your thoughts and inspiration.  I don’t know when I may get this chance again so why not take it head on?!

To continue, last weekend I ended the triathlon season in Austin, Texas at the Longhorn Ironman 70.3!  It was awesome- since it was an Ironman event, it was huge production- over 2200 racers.  I fell in love with Austin from the moment I stepped off the plane- Smiling, friendly people, cowboy boots and hats…and the airport even smelled like barbecue!   When can I move there?  Friday, I got a ride to the hotel and then walked around the city a little bit, notably to the Flagship Whole Foods store, where I grabbed lunch and sweet potato for (I thought) my pre-race dinner.

Lunch- Turkey sandwich on Sourdough

For dinner I went to the famous Iron Works BBQ.  I figured this was a pretty good decision since the only ingredients would be the meat and some sauce.  In the days before races I try to make sure I know every ingredient going into my body so I don’t run into anything that doesn’t do well in my stomach. 

 

Iron Works BBQ

 

 

Lots of BBQ

 

Tasted great- all skinless breast, plus one skinless drumstick

The next morning I got rides to and from the expo where I picked up all my gear…and some new swag:

Ironman Backpack

I came home, soaked my legs in the chilly outdoor hotel pool and then at my pre-race dinner.  This was from a health food store near Whole Foods called SNAP, where I got a meal of chicken, kale, mushrooms, and carrots.  Has this with, yup, a sweet potato haha

Chicken, kale, mushrooms, carrots from SNAP

Then I hit the sack early, not with out my pbj first!  Morning came quick and grabbed all my food and ran down to the lobby where I shared a cab with three guys from Ecuador.  I ate my perfect usual pre-race breakfast in the car; bagel, Coffee HoneyMilk, and a banana.  Thanks for the ride my Ecuadorian Amigos, I hope you all had great races.

The race site was beautiful and luckily it wasn’t as chilly as I thought it would be.

SunriseTransition Area 1

At 7:50, the horn sounded and my last race of the season was underway with 2 goals in mind.  First, set a new PR, and second break 5 hours.  The swim went ok- it was about as slow as I expected it to be, if not a little faster haha.  It just seemed like it wouldn’t end.  If I could drop 10-20 minutes off this swim, it would be seriously beast.  That’s my goal for next year…and to take half as many strokes. 

Swim Exit

 

Transition 1 went well- they had wetsuit-strippers which was awesome!  Although scary!  I came out of the water and the girl ran at me and started ripping my wetsuit off.  I was like “whoa girl, easy, let’s at least wait till after the race…” but then I realized what was going on.  This probably saved me like 2-3 minutes.  Then I was off on the bike

On the bike

The course was beautiful with a number of rolling hills.  There were a lot of people on the course and sometimes it got pretty crowded, but I think this served me well as I finished the 56 miles in 2:38, average about 21.7 mph.  After flying through T2, it was off on the run.  My goal was a sub 1:27, which would put me faster than my time in Myrtle Beach.  Little did I realize how hilly this course would be.

Grinding

The course had a mix of trails and road with a mix of flats and hills.  There were a good number of hills though, notable one called the “quad burner”, about 1/3 mile on steady incline on grass.  The course was 2 laps meaning I had to do it twice.  My strategy was get water at every aid station that was convenient and Gatorade whenever I could as well.  Most of the water went over my head and the Gatorade was about one gulp per station since I refuse to slow down at all to drink.  I also had a gel at the beginning of the second lap which was a good idea because it was a warm day. 

The finsih was running right into the huge arena on site where the crowds were sitting in the stands cheering us on.  My last mile was probably around 5:30 pace…but only because I thought the finish was way closer than it was!

Final Stretch

Crossing the line...what a great feeling

I crossed the finish line at 4:54:51- not only breaking 5 hours but setting a PR by 9 minutes!  I couldn’t have been happier!  My run was a 1:28:02, which I was happy with, although would have liked to have been about 1-2 minutes faster.  Had to remember though about those hills.  They threw a medal around my neck and I grabbed some finish line pictures!

For fun!

And another picture about 30 minutes later haha

I finished 198/2100+ racers, putting me in the top 9%.  I was 16th of 80 in my age group- this was a college championship so those damn Army kids were there and they have a really good team.  Overall, I was really really pleased. 

I also picked up one of these…Haven’t had some delicious Blue Bell ice cream since I lived in Texas!

Blue Bell Ice Cream

Bummer I didn’t get to eat it before it melted, but I’m glad I got the picture.  I’ll get some more when I move to Austin, right?

After hitching a ride back to downtown, soaking my legs in the cold pool (twice) I met up with some friends my amazing, real, tex mex food.  It’s amazing how when food is cooked well and like it should be, than you can eat incredibly healthy with a ton of flavor!  I had a mouth-watering plate of shrimp and chicken fajitas with corn tortillas

Queso appetizer ordered by the table...I didn't really eat any...

 

My plate! Can I go back, please?

Taco with a touch of awesome guac

The following morning, I hobble to airport and now I’m back home in Norfolk.  I had no idea how much I had missed Texas, but God I do!  I’ll get back there someday.  So with that I come to end of a very successful Triathlon season.  But is my racing done for the year?  There’s a marathon in Richmond on November 13th…I’ve never run more than 16 miles, but what do you guys think, should I do it??

  1. Have you every done a marathon?  What advice do you have?
  2. Have you ever been to Texas?

Thanks for reading guys!  Hope you’re all having incredible weekends

12
Aug
10

Eats, Exercise, and free stuff!

By Feerlessfood 8 Comments
Categories: Chicken, fitness, Mexican, Nutrition, Peanut butter, Uncategorized and Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve had a couple great workouts this week.  Unfortunately, they have been at the expense of sleep and a set schedule.  The past 3 days, instead of going straight to the gym and getting my workout in, for some reason I’ve gone home and decided to lie down for an hour.  What does that tell me?  That I’m too tired and need to sleep and recover more.  But then because I’m tired, I want to grab that quick nap..which leads to finishing dinner at 11…it’s vicious cycle!  Today, I had a long bike and run planned, but when I didn’t get out of work in time, I figured I’d take a recovery day and totally slept though the light run I was going to take.  It’s making me pretty uncomfortable since it’s the second day this week, but I’m trying to keep it in a positive light and tell myself it will make me stronger for that long workout tomorrow!  

Tuesday and Wednesday I got in some good workouts and even a little lift after my running Wednesday night.  Thursday I did a duathlon at the gym: Started with a 10k, then a 42 minute bike (specific workout) and then another 5k run.  It was tough, but I loved the bike workout.  I incorporated endurance, power, and speed, instead of doing multiple sets of just one.  Let me know if you want to see the workout.  

Also got a lot of good eats this week.  This first recipe was baked chicken fingers.  I didn’t feel like taking the time to do these right, so I just coated the chicken in bbq sauce and Dijon mustard and sprinkled some oat bran on top, instead of doing a whole flour and egg wash.  I also forgot to spray them with cooking spray or anything, so they didn’t get real crispy, but they were still crispy and good enough!  

Baked on a rack so the bottom doesn't get soggy

Delicious

Here was a snack I had at work the other day: I tried the peanut butter on a Clif Bar again, but this time used a Peanut Toffee Buzz Clif Bar.  Much much better than using a thicker, more chocolately bar!  

At my desk haha

And here was my lunch today.  For some reason I was inspired to making something different than my regular sandwich.  I shredded some chicken tenderloins and mixed it with salsa and steamed vegetables then put some cheese on top which I heated up so that the cheese melted before I ate it at lunch.  I also sliced up a tortilla a crisped in the toaster oven to make chips!  Thanks to Em and Georgie for this idea!  

"Chips:

The ingredients

Ignore the 1% cheese…its allI had on hand.  Regular is 100 times better.  

Pre-heated

Melted and awesome

Now finally, a give-away!  I work with a triathlon coach, Ben Greenfield, who has a website www.Bengreenfieldfitness.com where he provides fantastic information that is great for everyone, not just triathletes and other athletes.  He also does a completely free podcast each week where he interviews some sort of fitness, nutrition, etc, expert as well as answer listener questions in incredible depth.   

Ben has a great shirt that anyone can get just for donating to the show.  He sent me one and since I have 2 now, I want to pass one on to y’all!  What makes this shirt so great is the message it reads.  It says, “My personal trainer told me to eat more fat!”  This is such a true statement and means a lot to see since it’s something I struggle with so much.  I would love to send to the winner as well as some nutrition bars and goodies I have left from other give-aways!  

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Here’s how to enter–each method is worth one entry:  

  1. Leave me a comment and let me know why you agree that fat, and all macronutrients, deserve a place in a balanced diet.  OR just leave me any comment you want!
  2. Add my site to the BlogRoll on your site
  3. Mention this giveaway in one of your posts
  4. Tweet about this giveaway on your Twitter

Leave me a comment to let me know what you’ve done!  Thanks everyone, looking forward to hear what you have to say!

06
Aug
10

Proud and Confident

By Feerlessfood 11 Comments
Categories: Eating disorders/ recovery, fitness, Motivation, Nutrition, Peanut butter, sweet potato and Workouts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You should call me Thundercloud…because I make it raaaaaiiiinnnn!!  Haha no seriously, this was the second Thursday in a row that I headed out with Ben (http://benjaminscottfarrell.blogspot.com/) for a ride and run and we got caught in the rain.  Actually, now that I think about it, what we did today was the exact workout we planned to do last week before we got monsooned.  When we started it was easily 95 degrees.  Hit a good 45 mile ride to start- wind was completely in my face going out, but with us most of the way on the way back which was good.  Averaged about 20mph coming back, but the wind heading out killed my overall pace.  After this, we made a quick change and headed out for a run.  At our turn around point I started to see that we were going to be racing a storm back.  It got reallll dark and the temperature took a scary drop.  I’ll say though, fear of getting caught in rain and lightning is a good motivator.  I thought for sure I would negative split this run, but I running into the wind for the first half of coming back.  As the storm swelled around me I started booking it and began averaging about 6:55 min/miles for miles 7-10.5.  Literally as I made it back to my car the skies opened up!  But got the work in- 10.6 mile run.  Not as fast as I wanted, again, but my shoes my soaked making them really heavy which doesn’t help your time.  

Other workouts this week were a 9.2 mile run on Tuesday with some mile repeats thrown in at 6:20 pace.  Then yesterday was 1.5 miles repeats at about 6:26 pace totalling about 7.8 miles.  Of course, these were both on a treadmill though.  I’m hoping though that these tough workouts were the reason my pace was a little slower today…not to mention the 45 mile ride before!  

But really, who cares?  Do you care how fast I ran or how much I worked out?  No, probably not at all.  Is it my own little way of, I guess, bragging?  Yeah…I guess it is.  But then why write about it at all?  Because I’m proud of it, that’s why.  Am I the best?  No, there are better athlete’s.  Am I going to be a pro triathlete?  Who knows–not today, not tomorrow, but maybe someday.  I’m proud that I work hard and repress the negative thoughts that want me to take the day off and skip the workout–or to do a cop-out workout where, while still hard, is comfortable for me.  I’m proud that I am pushing the limits and proud of what I have accomplished and where I have come from since I was at my darkest moments.   

Sometimes, however, these workouts are only for my eating disorder: have to workout to eat.  But I am battling that.  I’ve come to a realization that I need to fuel my body and recover in order to get the results that I work so hard at trying for.  I haven’t felt as strong lately even though I have been working really hard…cause?  Probably improper fueling, rest, and recovery.  What do you think?  Here are some other things I’m proud of:  

  • Last week I got 7 days of workouts in a row.  I’m not proud that I didn’t give myself a recovery day, but I’m proud of the mental fortitude and negative thoughts I pushed out of my mind to accomplish that
  • That I met with my nutritionist and am committed to increasing my overall calories and especially my sources of healthy fat
  • That I have overcome some anxieties and reached out and found people that will be there for me
  • My little sister, and all that she has accomplished in battling her eating disorder
  • That I reached out to my old therapist in hopes of getting her back in my life just for someone to talk to
  • That I am “giving up” a hard day of working out to do a race as past of a team on Saturday
  • That I have consciously tried to DO the things I talked about with my nutritionist
  • That I am conscious and aware of all the irrational behaviors I do and am working to justify stopping them

What does this all come down to then?  Confidence.  How confident are you in yourself?  A better question is, why would you ever NOT be confident in yourself?  Naturally, yes, some people are more confident, but I have found that telling myself what I am going to accomplish and then going and doing it is absolutely achievable and feels great.  Find your strengths and play to them.  And when you don’t think you can do something…tell yourself you can and find a way to do it.  

A couple people struggling with their own issues have asked me how to gain confidence.  Be proud of yourself.  Hold you head high, stick your chest out, and make an impression.  Step outside your comfort zone.  You know what will happen?  Nothing bad.  You’ll wake up tomorrow, and guess what?  You’ll still be alive, the world wont have ended, and you will be proud of what you did.  

I know a lot of people probably won’t read all of what I wrote above, and that’s cool, but if you did, please leave a comment for me.  What are you proud of?  How do you gain confidence in yourself?  

And now for a little fun:  Here are some pictures of good eats from the past couple days:  

Stepping outside my comfort zone and adding some extra “goodness” to my snack…  

Peanut butter ON the Clif bar? Do I dare...

  

Hells yeah I did

  

This was great- but would have been better on a not as chocolately thick Clif bar.  I used an Almond Fudge flavor…Probably would have been better on, well, peanut butter flavor or the Oatmeal Walnut flavor.  

Sweet potato with cream cheese and slivered almonds

  

Quesadilla grilled on the foreman!

  

Thanks again for reading and for all the support you all bring to me.  So again:  

  1. What are you proud of?
  2. How do you build confidence in yourself?

I’m racing the Mud Run in Norfolk on Saturday with my team from Jim White Fitness Studios.  We are hoping to win it so I will post a full race recap this weekend- I am confident we can do it!

27
Jul
10

Rockett’s Landing Race Report from Richmond

By Feerlessfood 9 Comments
Categories: Chicken, Dinners, fitness, Peanut butter, Races and Reviews
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

As promised, I wanted to write a quick race report for the triathlon this weekend.  Rockett’s Landing is in Richmond on the East side of the city on the James River.  I stayed the night before with my friend Catherine from William and Mary, and tried to stay out of the way of her roommates who were making paella, drinking wine, and watching a quirky wine movie.  They said it was fine that I hung out with them, but I didn’t want to impose haha.  Catherine took me to Whole Foods after I begged her and we saw Salt later that night so that we would be out of the apartment.  Not a bad movie actually- a lot better than I thought it would be.

For my pre-race dinner I went with pasta and chicken.  Simple grilled chicken with tons of italian spices, and then some Cappelini pasta (I think).  I tried to choose a pasta that was whole wheat, but with as little fiber as possible.  I topped it all with a can of organic fire-roasted tomato sauce.  Low calorie, low sodium, but really tasted awesome.  I threw a Laughing Cow cheese and some squash in there too.

This...

...Was microwaved into this!

This came out way prettier than I though a pre-race meal would!  Before bed I had a Honey flavor HoneyMilk which I mixed with a little of Gatorade I had left.  Then ate a Nature Valley bar with this.  Not my usual protein powder and cereal, but I’m trying to figure out what sits best with me before my big races begin in a couple months.

Honey Milk! So good

The race site was nice, but it was hot and only going to get hotter.  The day ended up breaking the high temperature records for Richmond…perfect day for a triathlon!  I got to the race site much later than I planned too.  I was cutting it way close, but knew I really needed to use the Porta-Potty to make sure I wouldn’t have to later.  As I waited in line I could see everyone in my heat waiting in the water for the gun to sound.  As I stepped into the toilet I heard “4, 3, 2, 1, GO!”  Damnit.  Haha  I sprinted out and ran down the dock and leapt in, starting about 30s behind the pack.  The water was like a spa, and hot water doesn’t help you swim any faster.  I was able to catch a couple swimmers, but swimming isn’t my strength, so a late start there didn’t help me.  I came out of the water at 33:16, making my personal time like 32:45 because of the late start.  Needs work.

After a long run to the transition, I got on the bike and headed out.  It was getting hotter and maybe that slowed me down, or maybe it was some of the hills I didn’t expect from Richmond, but was split was about 6 minutes slower than I hoped it would be.  It was a 1:14:05, and I was aiming for a 1:08.  It’s all good. 

I knew I would have to try and make up time on the run, but the weather wasn’t helping.  The trails of Richmond allow for a cool running venue, but only so much of it is shaded.  having to climb a couple big flights of stairs isn’t wonderful on the legs either.  As is always my primary goal, I wasn’t passed by anyone on the run.  I ended up running the 10k in 40:54, giving the 9th fastest overall split and a pace of 6:34 per mile.  My final results were 2:32:55 officially, but really more like a 2:32:25 due to my start.  I’m not thrilled with this, but I have to take into account the weather…also more inspiration to work better in the pool. 

I placed 3rd in age group which meant I got an award which is always gratifying.  They took forever to do them though…I probably got a little bit of a tan from it though!  The rest is history- as I posted Sunday, I met Rebekah for lunch and then headed home!

Finish Line

Pretty cool view of the city

On my way back I stopped and Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter in Williamsburg.  They the 3 new flavors of Laughing Cow cheese.  I’ve tried them all since then and here are my thoughts.  Queso Fresco=really good.  Mozzarella and sun-dried tomato= Ok, but the French Onion flavor is better.  Now, usually I spend time reviewing products, but here is why I felt the need to: I bought the Blue Cheese flavor as well= Really gross haha!  It’s probably the case that I just don’t like Blue Cheese, I’ve never actually had it honestly, but this flavor was just awful for me.  I’m sure some people love it, but it’s not for me.  Now I’m stuck with a tub of it.

2 Reviews

I also opened a new jar of banana flavored peanut butter.  This was ok, but it didn’t taste very natural and had an artificial banana and peanut butter taste.  Overall, I’ll probably finish the jar though…slowly.

Thanks for reading and for keeping up!

  1. What’s your favorite kind of race- Sprint tri, 10k, marathon, Ironman, cycling?
  2. Whats your favorite nut butter- flavored and of-all-time?
05
Feb
10

Body Pump and Oatmeal Protein Cakes

By Feerlessfood 2 Comments
Categories: breakfast, Eggs, Nutrition and sweet potato
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

For the first time tonight I tried a Body Pump class at Gold’s Gym.  My parents have gone to the class for years…actually, when I was little and before the class became so popular, we had like bootleg video tapes of the class that my dad would use in the basement.  It’s a class based on lighter weights with higher reps and combos.  For example, we did constant squat varieties for an entire song, then moved on to bench press the same way, and so on for each body part.  I did my running etc before the class which didn’t make the squats much fun, ha!

Speaking of running, my workouts have been so random lately.  They are either great or they suck.  I think the problem is going too hard one day to make up for a bad workout the day before and then getting into a cycle of that.  I think it may also be from not eating enough and recovering correctly–what do you guys think?  And I know the 4 hours of sleep I got each night this week are killing me. ..

Remember, its what you do outside the gym for recovery that makes you a better and more succeful athlete.  I overheard something actually smart at the gym today… I mean usually you just hear people clueless about nutrition giving each other advice: “Drink your protein immediately after your workout.  Carbs are bad.  Fat will kill you!”  Haha, sure, NOT!  (I’ve been wearing my “My Personal Trainer Told Me to Eat More Fat” shirt from Ben Greenfield Fitness more lately at the gym to try and dispell myths.)  I will go into another post about healthy macronutrient balances in a future post.  Although, I can’t lie- I’m still very afraid of fat.

Anways, the smart thing I heard!  A guy was telling his girlfriend the importance of eating before working out.  Basically, I just overheard him saying that by restricting before working out, you have less energy to workout with and so you workout less hard and burn less calories.  Just a thought.

My friend Melissa wanted me to try the Pumpkin Pancake Recipe created by April at Food’s of April.  Well this was my plan…till I realized I was mising most of the ingredients.  So I invented my own.

Honestly, I don’t remember the exact recipe, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was:

  • 2/3 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/3 of a leftover baked sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • Cinnamon and Pumkin pie spice
  • Little bit of water

Mix these all up in a bowl and put into a hot pan.  I know, this sounds like something you would just microwave right–like any other super oatmeal.  But, even though it tasted great just straight uncooked (had to lick the spoon), it actually came out really good being cooked like a pancake!  Just don’t over do it!

Oatmeal, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese

Un-cooked...but realy good!

In the skillet

Into the pan

 They tasted great!  Like gooey pancakes, but they were warm and eatable with a fork.  Plus satisfying and incredibly healthy.  4 Super Foods plus cinnamon!

Here’s a bonus picture I made: Bananas in eggs?  You know it.  Awesome sweet savory combo!

Bananas in eggs? Wwwhhhaaattttt

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