Travels!

The last month has been filled with reading. I have devoured several books, mostly nonfiction, and haved queued several more for reading. I've also been taking advantage of the free book samples for Kindles, and reading tidbits about all sorts of interesting topics.

While I hope to share some of my learnings with you, for now we'll focus on the present. I've now been training for three months at the California Rowing Club and it's time to make my racing debut. I'm currently en route to a new country, Canada, to compete at Canadian Henley, one of the major summer races.

At JFK waiting for my 2nd flight.

While I've competed previously as a lightweight, this experience will be totally new for me. In collegiate racing, weigh ins are completed the afternoon before racing, giving you 15-20 hours to recover.

Much like wrestling, a lot of lightweight rowers sweat out some water weight in order to make the 130 pound weight limit. Generally, this amount is restricted to a few pounds because of the adverse affects on performance. Still, losing even a pound of water can affect your racing performance.

At Canadian Henley, as with most international racing, weigh ins are completed the day of the race. While this is a fairer approach, and perhaps safer (it discourages significant water loss), it can also be more stressful. If your weight fluctuates unexpectedly, e.g. due to travel, you no longer have the safety margin of a night's sleep.

In addition to day of weigh ins, I will also be weighing in multiple days. In college, our races were all single day affairs and only required one weigh in. Provided I progress from the heats to the semifinals and then finals, this race will span three consecutive days. This forces me to recover from weigh ins with strong awareness of the following days.

To help, I've taken some steps to ensure smooth weigh in the first day, so the second and third (*fingers crossed*) days go well:
- Hydrated like crazy on the plane, as well as before and after departure. I brought two water bottles and filled them both before getting on the plane. While it might seem counterintuitive to drink water when you might have to sweat it out two days later, it really helps keep your body functioning normally.

- Kept my weight below the 130 pound mark. Although my weight fluctuates some on a weekly and much on a monthly basis, I paid special attention in the weeks leading up to my departure. By hitting the 129 marker, my concern is on keeping my body functioning normally, not trying to lose weight while traveling.
- Brought normal food. I tend to eat really poorly when I travel, especially since JetBlue has free snacks. This time, I brought roasted sweet potato, grape tomatoes, apples, nectarines, almonds, rice cakes, and a protein bar. These are all foods I eat regularly, and they are helping my body feel more normal. I'm limiting my indulgences to one package of cookies and some orange juice on the flight.

I've also heard that compression socks can help with swelling and fluid retention in long flights. When I find the $60 to drop for a pair, I might experiment. In the meantime, I will stick with the recommendation to get up and walk around--easy to remember when you've had two liters of water and some orange juice!!!

What do you do to feel normal when you're traveling? Any recommendations?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Water Bottle Review

When you row, you only stop very briefly to catch your breath and drink water. It's important that when that break comes, you get the liquid you need. I've had a lot of different water bottles, and used them well.

My first water bottles were all Nalgenes. They carry a lot of water, which is definitely a plus if you're going for a long session. They're also great for gulping, which is important if you've got a limited amount of rest time. The screw top also keeps the drinking surface clean, which is nice when your bottle rolls around in the bottom of the boat.


Downsides? They take two hands to open, which is really inconvenient if you're trying to hold an oar, or steer a bike. (They also don't fit into water bottle holders on bikes--go figure.) The little leash that holds the cap on is also incredibly flimsy. A little duct tape goes a long way, but expect a decapitated bottle within the year.

They're also really big, which means they don't fit well in backpacks, or tucked into the back of a sports bra. If you expect to be short on hands to carry your bottle, the cap loop is only good as long as it lasts.

When I bought my bike, I also got these standard cycling water bottles.

I use these as my standard practice water bottle, bringing two for longer practices and hot days. They deliver a solid stream of water without spilling all over your face (no matter how jerky the ride). I can also use these with one hand, which is super convenient for riding bikes and rowing. They've got a tall, slim profile which fits well in my backpack and tucks nicely into the boat.

The little divot is ok for gripping, but otherwise these bottles lack a good carrying mechanism. You can stick them into your sports bra or spandex, and they're light enough to manage, but with two bottles it gets a bit trickier. The spout also tends to get pretty grimy. I suppose it's good excuse to wash them more often, but sometimes one practice will render the squirt top disgustingly salty.

My newest acquisition is a CamelBak bottle with a straw.



This is great for stationary biking, running and for just around the house. Because of the straw, you don't have to tip your head back to drink--a big plus if you're trying to stay balanced on the treadmill. It's also really fun to drink out of the straw, and I definitely drink more water when I have it around the house. The closure mechanism is very secure--don't worry about leakage.

Unfortunately, the straw also doesn't let very much out at a time--not good for gulping. It's also a little bit unwieldy--the flip top mechanism is difficult to use one handed and the loop isn't super comfortable for carrying. Finally, the straw makes packing in ice a bit difficult--you can fit ice but there has to be some wiggle room left.

The ultimate advice? The best bottle for you depends on what you're doing! I use my CamelBak at home, and my squeeze top bottles at practice. When you purchase a bottle, really think about how you're going to be using it--is tipping your head back ok? will you need a lot of water at a time, or just a few sips? how much water do you need and how cold does it need to be? how will you be carrying it?

Try going to a store that sells athletic equipment, preferably one with knowledgable salespeople. Ask for their opinions, and let them know your particular situation. They may be able to direct you to the best bottle for you.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Rowing with Olympians

Two weeks ago, the U.S. men's 8+ raced in Lucerne, Switzerland at the final Olympic qualification regatta. After failing to qualify for the 2012 Olympics the previous summer, the boat--and qualification--became huge priorities. In Lucerne, they raced to a gold medal, earning one of the few remaining spots in their category.

Yesterday, they returned to Oakland to continue training for their next challenge--the Olympics.

Rowing on the same water as and sharing a boathouse with Olympians is not new to me: both the men and the women trained in Princeton for much of my time there. In fact, we shared a locker room with the women who won gold in 2008. And yet, it seems that only now, as I try to earn myself a spot amongst these athletes, do I realize what they have accomplished.

Spending most of my time in Princeton rowing as an openweight, I never had any hope of competing with the women I saw in USRowing gear. At 5'7", I was two inches shorter than the minimum height for consideration and four inches shorter than most of the athletes that were asked to try out.

I never considered that it was more than height and pure talent that got these women to the camp--it was hundreds of hours of training, extra erg tests, blisters, sore muscles and a lot of heart. Now that I have subjected myself to just four weeks of the same, I am in awe of what these athletes have done. I am blessed with the near perfect size for lightweight rowing, and yet size and talent will not be enough.

As I watch the Olympics this year, I have a new appreciation for what the athletes have truly accomplished. While they are all blessed with an extraordinary amount of talent, they have all also earned their places, through blood, sweat and tears. The world is too big of a place to get to the top on talent alone.

Racing

Sit ready. Attention. Go. Don't flip. Splash. Accelerate. Splash. Please don't flip. Splash.

Last weekend, we travelled down to a local race course to do some 2000 meter racing. We faced off against each other, racing amongst boat classes and genders. Winners were calculated by comparison with world record times.

There were 10 entries total: five men's pairs, two men's singles, two women's singles and my lightweight women's single.

While I've raced at the course before, this was a completely new experience for me. In all of my previous races, I've had somebody else in my boat telling me how to execute my starting sequence, when to shift from the frantic strokes off the start into my base cadence, and when to push during the race. Not this time.

As the men's pair approached me, I heard the quietly uttered instructions from their bowman to push away, but the remainder of my racing passed in silence. No coxswain, no bowman, no set race plan. It was all up to me.

While this could have made the race stretch on forever--eight and a half minutes of full pressure silence--I found it liberating. I could develop and execute a race plan as conditions dictated. A strong tailwind off the start asked for a higher stroke rating in the first 500, and a delayed shift from high strokes to base cadence. An opponent's push at 750 meters was countered with a push back at 800 meters. The sprint began naturally at 350 to go, as we exchanged the lead in a demanding fight for the finish line.

I learned a lot from those four races: Stay in the moment. Race the race you're in. Have a basic plan, but expect it to change. And, most importantly, nine minutes is a long time, and I better get faster so I never have to race for nine minutes again.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Full Time Training

Last week Monday, I started training with a local rowing club that specializes in preparing athletes for international competition. Who knows what the future holds, but the present holds lots of exercise and LOTS of eating.

Although I compete in a weight restricted class, training for upwards of six hours a day requires I eat as much food as I can just to maintain my weight and my energy. I carefully track what I put in my body and what I ask of it so that I fuel properly.

Here's what a day of training looks like:
 6AM - wake up
Breakfast: peanut butter banana sandwich with large glass of milk, strawberries
7AM - bike to boathouse, 20 minutes
Snack: 200 calorie energy bar
7:30AM - get boat out, row for around 60 minutes, easy pace
9:00AM - quick break
Snack: chocolate milk, plus a few Belgian chocolates from a teammate
9:15AM - weightlifting, 75 minutes
Snack: almonds and dried blueberries
10:30AM - bike home, 20 minutes
First lunch: cheese roll from a local bakery
Second lunch: oatmeal with spinach, Parmesan cheese and a fried egg, strawberries
Third (!) lunch: leftover chickpea salad in pita, plus sliced cheese, oreos
Snack: mocha from Starbucks, with whipped cream
2:00 - nap time! Plus stretching.
4:00 - second workout, 45 minutes of biking, plus another 50-60 minutes on the rowing machine
Dinner: stir fry with tofu and brown rice, Oreos
Dessert: S'mores cupcake

Despite eating three lunches, and as much dinner as I could stomach, I was still more than 100 calories short of the calories I burned. A lot of my calories came from less than ideal sources--chocolates and cookies.

I'm trying to find a balance between being able to eat enough and eating well, as many of the foods that are good for me are also very filling. I'm working to increase my consumption of whole grains, dairy products and beans, and finding ways to incorporate them into easy snacks.


Expect to see lots of good snack ideas in the future!


Some tricks so far:
- When I menu plan, I make a list of snacks that use the ingredients we have on hand
- We use our slow cooker to make beans and oatmeal, and make extra rice/pasta when we have them for dinner
- Condiments can take something really simple (beans and rice) and put it over the top. One of my favorites: chickpeas, sticky rice, Sriracha sauce, sesame seeds
- When I'm looking for something to eat, open the fridge first; if I absolutely don't want anything in the fridge, then I look in the pantry

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Exercise Update

I took some time off of seriously working out to prepare for our wedding. I know this is the opposite of most brides, but losing some muscle probably helped me fit into my dress.

It was a pretty snug fit--the dress was strapless

Now, I'm getting back into the swing of things. I haven't been out on the water for way too long, but have found it impractical to travel out to work early to get on the water, miss out on carpooling, and get sweaty and cold for the kids' practice.

Instead, I've come up with some alternative solutions.

First, I've started running the stairs in our apartment building. Of course, Dan informed me that in football, they made the players run stairs as punishment. Fortunately, I don't weigh 250 pounds, so running stairs is fun, not torture. It's also a great way to redevelop my leg strength.

I've also been doing some running outdoors. It's finally warm enough to run in shorts, so I'm starting to branch out and explore our neighborhood. Last week, I ran the 2 miles to the closest bread bakery around. The route runs by our local lake, and I saw lots of other joggers out--nobody else was carrying a baguette.

Other than rowing and running stairs, my third favorite work out is on the rowing machine. Instead of paying $40/month to join a gym, Dan and I decided to purchase a rowing machine! The club where I work is selling their used machines.

It's a little bit big for our apartment, but they stand up vertically. We plan to keep it in our bedroom, but in the summer I look forward to wheeling it out onto our balcony! I'll probably get strange looks from passersby, but at least I'm exercising!

As my mileage increases, look forward to more and more cake recipes! I eat a lot when I work out.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Giving Blood

Yesterday, Dan and I gave blood. In the past, donating has taken me out of exercising for a few days or more, but this time I'm feeling a lot better.

First, we both made sure to hydrate really well before going in to give blood. Our dinner Wednesday night also involved both spinach and beans to get our iron levels up.

Before we went in to donate, we went for an easy run together since we knew we wouldn't be able to exercise for at least 5 hours after donating. We actually ran to the donation center since it's only a few blocks from the house.

Both of us had good iron levels and were well hydrated. We finished our donations in 5.5 and 6 minutes. (He was faster.)

Afterwards, we both made sure to drink a lot of water. Dan ate a quarter of a watermelon to help replenish fluids, and I had a huge salad and a lot of extra glasses of water. We still both woke up thirsty this morning and will probably continue to hydrate well throughout today.

I was hoping to get in a bike ride this afternoon, but we decided to go see Harry Potter tonight instead! We're going to have an early dinner and head to the theater so we get good seats. I may still get in a short run, but we're just eating lunch now, so we'll see! I'm definitely feeling up to running or biking, as long as I continue to hydrate.

Have you ever donated blood? Did you enjoy the experience? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com. 

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Training This Week

I started the week off strong with some nice long, hard workouts, but got derailed on Wednesday when my breakfast decided to visit me a second time. After the unfortunate, unexpected and unexplained puking, I wasn't really up to working out much so I took Wednesday and Thursday pretty much off. I made up for it by working out pretty hard this weekend.

Monday: 3x25' on the rowing machine, HR ~145
Tuesday: 50' run
Wednesday: about 45' of easy biking (testing out potential new bikes)
Thursday: 60' of walking
Friday: 2 hour ride on my NEW BIKE! HR ~145
Saturday: 2 separate 30 minute rides, HR ~160
Sunday: 2.5 hour ride, HR 145-155

Yup, that's right, I got a beautiful new bike this week!

{Image Source}

It's a commuting/touring bike, so it's got fenders and a rack standard. It also has internal shifting, so it can have a chain guard. Yay! It's not the fastest bike on the road, but it can carry all of my groceries (and me).

I'm pretty wiped from my ride today, so I'm planning to take tomorrow a bit easier and go for a run (probably for an hour). I'm going to work the HR 150-160 range tomorrow running. Then we'll see how the rest of the week unfolds!


Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Training on my own

Yesterday was the official end to our season and the beginning of a new world--training on my own.

After spending the whole year with assigned workouts and a team to keep me accountable, I foresee it being somewhat challenging to go out on my own and maintain my fitness. In my year away from the team, it was disappointing to see my fitness disappear--and this time around I have much more fitness to lose.

I plan to transition my training to half running and half rowing-based exercises for at least the summer and then I will assess again in the fall. Dan and I are training to run a 5k in July (although I may enter the 10k race instead), probably this one. (I may also try to run the 5k next weekend. The entry fee is only $7 day of, so I can decide pretty late in the game if I feel like running.)

As I transition, I will be using this blog to track my workouts and log how my training and eating change over the next few months. I will also try to periodically post pictures as hard evidence of how my body has changed. I threw out all my size 6 jeans last week so I have no option but to stay thin!

Today's workout was a 45-minute jog, around 4.8 miles out and back, with some of my teammates, followed by core and stretching.


What do you do to stay motivated training on your own? Any suggestions?
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Weighing In

As part of women's lightweight rowing, all athletes competing are required to weigh-in at or under 130 pounds (59kg) the day before competition. This is no easy feat considering our training schedule, daily weight fluctuations and needing to balance muscle with body fat.

This is my first year rowing as a lightweight, and I came back to school this fall at 142 pounds. It has been quite a process making weight.

In the fall, our coach requested that we all maintain weight under 136 pounds. Although we raced a few longer races in the fall, the weight requirement was 133 pounds during that portion of the season.

Over the first few weeks back at school, my weight quickly dropped from 142 pounds to around 136 pounds, just from the increase in training volume and the change to dining hall meal plans. Still, I had an incredibly amount of willpower for the first few months on campus, restricting my dessert intake, and eating between 1500 and 2000 calories a day.

In the winter, our coach requested that we all start to drop our weight down, and the new weight standard became 135 pounds. Of course, 135 pounds seems like a very concrete number when you realize how much your weigh fluctuates on a daily basis. My weight often fluctuates 4 pounds in a day, with my lightest weight in the morning and my heaviest right after dinner.

Summer is here!

This week is my last week of classes! We have a 12-week semester, with an additional 3-week finals period at the end. Starting next week, classes are over but I'll be preparing several projects, essays and presentations as well as studying for final exams.

The end of classes also means we're nearing the end of racing season, and championship season! Our last league race is this weekend, and we're hoping to round out an undefeated series of league races. Two weeks after that, we'll be headed to the regional championships.

In preparation, we've stepped our training up a notch.

Today's Workout(s)

Weight lifting in the morning:
I got up early and did a 15-minute warm-up on the elliptical and a fairly hard weight circuit. It's been a while since we lifted, due to travel last weekend, so it was a little bit rusty. I still got in some good reps and even increased my weight on the last set of squats. Dan came with me to the gym, which is always fun!

Rowing in the afternoon:
Before practice I spent about 20-30 minutes warming up on land and stretching. I was a bit stiff from the lifting and from double practice yesterday, so it felt good to get the blood flowing.
It was super windy today, so we did a lot of skill and drill work to improve in the wind. We were out for about 1.75 hours, and ended up going about 9 miles. It wasn't a lot of distance, but it was good focused work.


Tomorrow, we have a hard workout, so I need to rest up tonight! I'm also looking forward to watching some video of our boat that the coach took yesterday.


Do you ever work out twice a day? How do you manage your time and energy so each workout is high quality still? Let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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Racing in California + Chocolate Mint Energy Bars

This weekend we travelled to California to race Stanford and Wisconsin's lightweight women and the St. Mary's openweight women in a series of dual races at the PAC-10 Invitational at Redwood Shores. We flew out Thursday afternoon and arrived in California late that evening.

Our hotel was right on the race course. You could almost see the finish line from our hotel room.

The finish line buoys were just out of view.

The next morning, we headed to the grocery store first thing. We still had to weigh-in for the day, but we all stocked up on a lot of fruit and other snacks for later in the day, and for the next few days.

In the afternoon, we practiced twice to get used to the course and our new boat (we borrowed it from Stanford so we didn't have to drive ours all the way out!) and weighed-in.

Weight Lifting Basics

I started lifting weights freshman year in college as part of our training plan. Despite being a varsity athlete and lifting three times a week at the boathouse, it took me two years to get over my intimidation of the weight room at the gym.

As usual, talk to your doctor before lifting, especially if you've never lifted before. If you do start lifting, though, you'll find that your metabolism is higher, you'll feel stronger, and you'll look smoking.

Here are some of the things I've learned:
1. Use Google before you go to the gym
There are a LOT of serious weight-lifters out there who have posted videos and animations on how to do certain lifts. Watch them before you leave so you don't look like an idiot when you get there and do a squat with your feet together.

2. Use free weights, not the machines
When you use a free weight, you not only develop the major muscles, you also develop the minor muscles it takes to keep the weights balanced and above you. Also, it just simply makes you look like more of a badass.

3. Do exercises that bend more than one joint
The more joints you bend, the more muscles you're using. In other words, tricep extension? Bad. Bench press? Good.

4. Pick the right amount of weight
This is the trickiest part of weight-lifting, and most people lift the wrong amount of weight. First, make sure it's not too light. The easiest way to do this is to select something you know is too light, and using it to warm-up doing the same lift. Keep increasing weight until it gets to be too heavy and then drop the weight back down. How can you tell the weight's too heavy? You should be able to do the reps with complete control. The exercise should burn, but you should be able to maintain a steady, even pace for the majority of your reps, while keeping those parts of your body not involved in the lift relatively still.

5. Plan your weight circuit ahead of time
- Do some cardio to get your blood pumping. Preferably, use a machine that uses both upper and lower body, like the rowing machine or an elliptical with moving handles.
- Start with 5-10 core exercises to help get your body warmed up. I suggest: planks, hamstring bridge, push-ups, back extensions (without weight) and bicycles as a basic set. [The first two are not super easy. If you can't do them, replace planks with crunches and don't use a ball for the hamstring bridge--just hold the bent knee position on the ground.]
- Alternate upper body and lower body exercises. Also alternative pushing and pulling exercises on the upper body. Here's an example:
                   1. Squats (lower body)
                   2. Bench Press (upper body, pushing)
                   3. Lunges (lower body)
                   4. Seated Row (upper body, pulling)
                   5. Jumpies (lower body) [squat down to a sitting position and then jump up as high as you can go]
                   6. Overhead press (upper body, pushing)
                   7. Single leg squats (lower body)
                   8. Pull-ups (upper body, pulling)
If you want to do a short lift, switch off between the first four and the last four exercises.
- Know the number of repetitions per set and the number of sets you want to do. For general purposes, 3 sets of 15 reps is a good place to start. If you're trying to gain muscle, do fewer reps with heavier weights.
- Set a rest time between sets and stick to it. Generally, I rest for 1-2 minutes between sets.

6. Stretch thoroughly after you lift
You will have a lot of build-up of lactic acid in your muscles after you lift. Stretching will help get rid of it. If you haven't lifted in a while, I also suggest doing some light cardio for 5-10 minutes after you lift to help flush out some of the lactic acid before you stretch.

7. Lift regularly
The first time you lift, you won't feel like moving the next day. If you keep up the lifting, you'll start to feel better each time. Lift 2-3 times a week, always with at least one day of rest in between lifts and preferably no more than 3 days of rest between lifts.

8. Switch up your routine
Every 2-3 months, switch up your routine. This could be as simple as doing it backwards or as complicated as changing all of the exercises, number of reps and number of sets. Not only will it keep your brain interested, it'll train you better.

Do you ever lift weights at the gym? Or at home? What's your weight-lifting advice? Let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com!

On becoming an athlete...

I've been spending much of the last week reading a lot of other blogs, especially those of vegetarian athletes, trying to get a sense of how I need to adjust my nutrition to make up for the lack of meat. Since I didn't eat much meat before, I really haven't been doing much differently.

Reading, though, I realized that a lot the bloggers out there didn't start doing anything athletic until well after their college years. I found it fascinating to read about how they just picked up running, wishing that I could pretend to be so self-motivated.

I am a very different story. At the tender age of five, I picked up my first sport--martial arts. I wouldn't consider it a particularly aerobic sport, and I had no idea what it meant to be in shape, but I could certainly do more push-ups than any other elementary school kid you've ever met.

This is me in middle school. Embarrassing.

I continued martial arts through middle school and the beginnings of high school. Looking back now, I wouldn't consider myself at all athletic when I entered high school. I couldn't run more than a half mile without stopping. I was strong, but not fit.

oh dieters, how you amuse me

I don't know if you've ever watched somebody on a diet, but it can be really quite funny. Now, I've been on a diet (as most Americans probably have) and I've fallen into some of these traps before, but after taking a step back I can't help but find amusement in it all.

1. Taking the largest cookie from the pile
Because, after all, a cookie is a cookie, and when you enter it into your calorie logbook at the end of the day, it's going to be 120 calories whether it's the biggest cookie in the pile or the smallest.

2. Eating every crumb off of the plate
They're still going to go into your calorie logbook, even if you don't eat them, so you might as well.. I mean, otherwise you're wasting perfectly good calories on nothing.. literally, nothing.

3. Weighing yourself at different times every day
I don't know if you've ever had a 16-oz glass of water to drink, but I have. I've also eaten a 4 ounce steak, some veggies and some starch with that 16-oz glass of water. But since you stop going pee and sweating when you're on a diet, all of that weight should obviously be counted on the scale. So of course then it doesn't really matter when you weigh yourself, right?

4. Thinking you actually burn off an entire Gatorade of calories during that 20-minute run
Since I run a 5-minute mile pace, as do all dieters, I burn approximately 350 calories in 20-minutes. Therefore, I can have that Gatorade, and a granola bar, and ice cream. Again, this makes perfect sense. If I am trying to burn extra calories by working out more, I should definitely eat all of those extra calories, or I'd have a calorie deficit!

5. Burning more calories by running more efficiently
If you run more efficiently, you can run faster, and when you log that in your activity logbook, it says you burn more calories. Never mind that you're running more efficiently, so you waste less energy moving yourself forwards. What really matters is that a faster pace means you deserve that pint of Ben & Jerry's.

6. A meal with vegetables has fewer calories than the same meal without veggies
A hamburger with fries--a dieter's worst nightmare. A hamburger with fries and a side salad--a well-balanced meal. And well-balanced obviously also means low-calorie. So go ahead, enjoy your burger and fries, just make sure you also have some corn on the cob before you have dessert!
[No, seriously, Americans actually believe this one.]


Have you ever gone on a diet? What did you try that was absolutely ridiculous? What's your strategy now?

Lots of Training and Whole Wheat Apple Pastries

We're starting to transition into shorter pieces in preparation for the spring season. We've spent the fall and winter working mostly on our aerobic base, doing 80+ minutes of low heart rate work on a regular basis, with a few shorter (~45 minutes total work) stints at faster paces.

Our training now is phasing into 20 minutes or less of total work at much faster paces. It's really fun to see all our hard work translate into the faster pieces, without ever training these speeds.

We've also been lifting a lot. If you've never lifted before, it's time to start! Look out for an upcoming post on lifting basics.

I've been an athlete for most of my life, but I remember for most of it feel very out of shape. I got tired walking to the tops of stairs, couldn't run very far (or very fast) and just generally wasn't very energetic. This year that totally changed. I'm sure losing weight has helped, but we're also doing some incredible training this year.

We bought a bunch of apples from the 'soup bin' at our local grocery store, and have been collecting apples from the dining halls as well. I had originally intended to make my one bowl muffins (I have a post waiting, it just needs some good pictures.. they always seem to disappear before I can take pictures).

I then quickly remembered that I was trying to branch out and try new, different things. Quick breads and muffins are fairly straightforward, as are cakes and cupcakes. Instead, I thought I'd try pastries. I tried to make mini pumpkin pies with homemade crust over winter break and was sorely disappointed. I figured I'd give it another go.

I'd been wanting to try poptarts for a while, so I found a recipe. I also have an excess of whole wheat flour right now, that needs to be used ASAP. (Did you know that whole wheat flour goes rancid quickly?) I decided to sub whole wheat for the all-purpose flour and see what happened.

They were crumbly, not flaky, and the whole wheat gave these a great nutty flavor that went well with the apples.

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Whole Wheat Apple Pastries
makes 6-8 small pastries

Ingredients
Filling:
1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
0.25c brown sugar
1T cinnamon
0.5t ground ginger (optional)

Crust:
1.25c whole wheat flour
1 stick (0.5c) butter, cold, cut into small cubes
2T really cold water
1T sugar
0.5t salt

Energy Bars Take Two

Last week, I went on a training trip with my team to Austin, Texas.

Training trip = (Sleep + Eat + Row + Eat + Sleep + Eat + Row + Eat) * (Numbers of days in trip)

It was exhausting, but really, really fun. We also made a lot of great strides as a team, both physically and technically. While I'm glad to be back home with D, I'm also really glad we took the trip.

As you can see, I ate a lot during my training. Most mornings before practice, I ate a bar, because they were easy to eat, kept me going through practice, and were light enough that I could do the warmup run without getting cramps.

For a while I've been trying to find bars that give me energy and make me feel good. I tried a lot of different bars, from the FiberOne bars, to Clif bars to Nutrigrain. Finally I settled on Larabars. I really like that they only have a few relatively simple ingredients, they fill me up, and I can exercise right after eating them.

Wholesome, delicious ingredients.

I don't like how expensive they are, how difficult they are to find, or that I didn't make them myself! So I started to look for recipes. There were a lot of recipes for homemade Larabars, but lack of food processor basically took all of those out of the equations.

Before we left on our training trip, I tried to make a batch of energy bars. The recipe I used claimed to not taste as healthy as the input ingredients. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case--they tasted awful. I rarely throw away food, but these were that bad. Granted, I think I burned them a little bit, but there wasn't much goodness to begin with.

Over the course of the trip, I looked for more recipes, and found two that I liked. One of them is called "oatmeal crispies" and is basically oats, flour, butter and sugar baked into bar shape. I may try these in the future, but the other recipe sounded more like what I wanted: oats, nut butter and honey, with a whole bunch of yummy add ins.

It was really, really snowy here.

So today, D and I ventured through the snow in search of missing ingredients. We came home, mixed these up, and immediately devoured way too many of them. They're incredible!!! The rest I have wrapped up in my fridge ready to take to practice or as an afternoon snack. I'd also like to try making different versions of these.

Below, I have the general version of the recipe, which you can customize to taste however you want. I've also included our version at the very bottom (because it's that delicious) and the version I'd like to try next!

We both had these for dessert, that's how good they are.

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Customizable Energy Bars
adapted from (never_home)maker
makes approximately 20 bars


Ingredients:

1.5c nut butter

1c honey (or other liquid sweetener, like sugar syrup or agave)

1t vanilla

0.75c water 

2.5c quick cooking grains
0.5c powder (e.g. protein/cocoa/milk)
1c coconut flakes (you could probably replace this with more grains)
1.5c nuts (chopped) and seeds
1.5c dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc.
2c fresh fruit, chopped into small pieces
1c crunchy, salty stuff

How to Use a Rowing Machine

Okok, I know this is a food blog, but how can you eat as much as you want without exercising?! I'm a varsity athlete here, and I definitely enjoy both working out and eating.

I don't enjoy watching people come close to injuring themselves when they try to use one of these:

A rowing machine, aka an 'erg'

I can hardly teach you the technique without a video, which I don't have the capability to take at the moment. However, I can give you a few pointers to teach you how to use one better!

These things give you a great workout. Unlike most cardio machines, you use your upper and lower body at the same time. You also build a lot more muscle than you would running, which means you keep burning calories for longer after your workout.

Because you use your back muscles, you get a really strong back (which is otherwise pretty hard to train) and a great core. It probably won't give you great calves, but the arms, shoulder, butt and thighs are all in for quite a workout.

For the basics on how to use an erg, either look at the pictures on the actual machine, or check out the manufacturer's website. It's got a lot of information on how to get started. Here I'll give you the inside information from somebody who has spent a lot of hours with her butt on one of these machines.

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1. Use the drag setting to your advantage.

Like most machines, ergs are adjustable. In the picture above, the big round fan section has a dark blue dial on it that allows you to adjust the resistance. The higher the dial, the harder it is to pull the handle. Since rowing uses your back, and backs are not fun to injure, START AT A LOW RESISTANCE!!! Even the U.S. national team sets the damper lower than most recreational users who don't know any better. Generally between a 2 and a 4 is a good place to start.