This could be interesting

I've been to Karel's races (and ran before he started) and Karel has came to my races (either biked before or biked to the race). A dream of mine was that Karel and I would both be racing together on the same weekend, in the same area. When we were in Georgia last summer for one of the GA cup races, I decided to race Cat 5 Women during one of Karel's road races. It was a great race (I was 3rd even though I lead the whole race!! hey, I wasn't about to draft for the 28 mile race, I'm a triathlete!) and I finished just before Karel started hi 80+ mile race. Karel and I will be heading up to Albany, GA tomorrow for the first GA cup race of the season. We both LOVE georgia and love the cycling up there (especially the mountains!). When I heard about Karel's race I did the same thing I do for all of his races that I attend...check the web for running races or triathlons. I have never found a race close to one of Karel's races (besides the 100K classic in Atlanta which I didn't do the 10K because I was still training "long" on my weekends for Kona) and I have been waiting to have a weekend where we can both race. Well, this is the weekend! Karel and I will BOTH be racing this weekend. The Snickers Half Marathon and Marathon is on Saturday March 1st and Karel will be starting his 3-stage race on sat. I will be running 13.1 miles at 7am on saturday and Karel will be warming up for the 3.6K all out prologue TT (12 turns, totally technical!) which starts around 8am. I will be running on the same roads as Karel's race sat afternoon (crit at 4:30pm) and I will be running on roads right next to the TT while he is sprinting it out for around 3 minutes. How exciting is this!! Not sure how many people can relate because some people are in relationships where there is only one athlete. That is totally fine and probably a little more relaxed than our situation. I always knew that I couldn't spend my life with someone who didn't have a similar lifestyle as me (it's fine to have different likes and passions but it is most important to share a similar healthy, active lifestyle). So when I met Karel, I knew racing, traveling and traveling to race would be in our future. So now I question myself...how is tomorrow going to play out???
Tomorrow morning we will both wake up early to warm-up. Karel on his bike as I head to the Y treadmill and then a jump in the pool. We both packed tonight so after a good complex carb breakfast (oatmeal for both of us...there is no question with that one!) we will be on the road for our 5 1/2 hour drive. In my racing world, I go to the race site EARLY and just relax. I am an awful traveler and I don't relax until I am at the race site...with my race packet. So in my mind, I need to travel 5 1/2 hours for my race (which I am not really racing, just participating and hoping to have a decent time for my first event post kona, after 6 months of dealing with my leg injury), check into the hotel (days inn baby...2 nights, less than $100!!!!), walk to the race site (Days inn but we are 1/2 mile from all the action. Both of our races are on the same road!) and pick up my packet and then try to find an outback for my ritual pre race meal of bread, sweet potato (everything on the side) and a salad (w/ the cinnamon pecans..yum!). Then to bed! Oh, it is freakin' me out already!! As for Karel, he is easy. He just takes his time (Oh, he just told me he will finish packing in the morning...errrr...hehe), stop in Jacksonville on the way to pick up some free stuff from his team (free is good, I can deal with that) and then get to the hotel when we get there. What about dinner, what about my race packet, what if the outback (that I already mapquested) is busy, what if something is wrong with our room...oh jeez. So now, two athletes who love each other, are in their own world. How will this play out? I can only imagine when Karel and I both do an Ironman together one day in the future...I think I'll plan on booking seperate rooms for that event!
I will try to keep my blog updated this weekend. here are the links to the events...

Georgia Cup Race

Snickers Half Marathon

I'm not a baker

I love to cook..but I'm not a baker. I guess I'm not really a big desert fan. I've tried to play around with recipes and make deserts "healthier" but it never works. I guess you can't really make a desert healthy. Well, perhaps we are so used to rich, sugar-filled, calorie loaded deserts and therefore, it is almost impossible to find healthy deserts. And I'm not talking about a marni desert of fruit and nuts, a sugar free/fat free frozen fudge pop or sugar free/fat free pudding (I know, it is sad what Karel has to live with, hehe). You can only find so much sugar-free food before you start finding low calorie foods which are loaded with sugar alcohols and who knows what chemicals, additives and perservatives. I'm all for low sugar/high protein but I still believe the less ingrediants the better. But when it comes to deserts, I'm talking about rich breads, cakes, cookies, brownies and ice cream. You know, the real stuff. We live in a society where the yummy stuff is loaded with calories. And therefore, we see those foods as "bad, off limits, too much sugar for our training/performance and diet unfriendly". It isn't your fault that you can't have those foods! If anything, a little bit of everything is fine in moderation. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't have a little piece of a chocolate chip cookie cake that my lab partner brought to class today. :) However, it is nearly impossible to have a little of something because we are tempted by the big servings! we eat with our eyes and therefore we aren't "full" until the food is finished and cleared from the plate. Think about it, you have a snack size snickers or a medium/large snickers. If offered either one you would eat it and probably not be full regardless of size. HOwever, your craving would be satisified with either one. That goes to show you that sometimes we just need to satisfy a craving. I know it is hard to avoid all deserts but don't be afraid to create your own. And when offered deserts, don't be afraid to pick off a piece or have 1/2 of a cookie. I am a picker so if I want a desert, I will just have a little piece of everything. I will just pick off a little piece and enjoy the bite. I'm sure it is annoying to see a cookie, piece of desert with a little mouse size chunck out of it, but it is the only one I will feel satisfied without overdoing it on calories (and of course, sugar!). So I don't do it all the time but why are deserts so big? why is it that indulging food is so big and loaded with calories? Why can't we have bit size deserts? And more so..why do we always need deserts? I would say that most people know they want something sweet after dinner BEFORE eating dinner. Probably because you know that ice cream or cookie is waiting for you and therefore, your mind is telling you to crave for it. So, if that food wasn't there, you wouldn't crave it and you couldn't eat it. BUt if you know you want something which is semi healthy and within your calorie range (because you cut back on 100-200 calories at dinner) go ahead in indulge. Just be sure you are prepared for the after effect of that desert. Even if you are within your calorie guidelines and portion control, the body reacts to all food that you digest. Therefore, even if you only have 200 calorie worth of a desert and cut back on 200 calories in your dinner meal and eat within 100 calories of your daily recommendations and you exercised for 2 hours early that day...the body will still react to those calories, sugars and fats. Your performance the next day may suffer and you may find that you have trouble controlling your blood sugar and consequently, you crave everything and can't stop eating..ok, so this may be in extreme but try to combine carbs (sugars) w/ protein. So when you want that desert, have a few nuts, a glass of milk or a piece of cheese before eating that desert.
Since i don't bake, I like to create my own deserts. Karel likes the Pillsbury low fat croissants (which come in a container, by the butters, eggs and milk) and he puts low-sugar jelly in them. I took my on spin on things and got really creative one night. First i prepared some fruit (strawberries and bananas) and melted dark chocolate w/ a little vanilla soy milk (my version of milk chocolate). I then drizzled the chocolate on the fruit. Yum! Karel licked the spoon and was heading for the bowl (before I stopped him! :) hehe.

When the oven was heating I took the croissants (each around 90 calories before adding my ingrediants) and opened them up. I spread them with fat-free cream cheese, sliced almonds and strawberries. I got really creative on some of them by tearing the croissants in half (before baking) and rolled them w/ a little PB and chocolate no sugar added powder and raisins inside (YUM!). On the side I also french toasted two piece of bread with raisins (I french toast my bread a lot..what better than egg whites on bread..perfect protein-carb combination!). Even though I'm not a baker and not even a big desert fan (You give me bread, however, and I will be one happy camper!) I really enjoy taking the healthy foods in my place and dressing them up to make healthy deserts. Enjoy!

No More Sunday Races!!!

Well, the studying was productive this weekend. I had one mid-term today and one more to go tomorrow (Wed). My spin class that I teach was moved up to 5:30 (from 5:45) tomorrow morning so I will have a bit more time after my spin/run to study prior to my 11:00 class. Then, my last mid-term of the week at 5:30!!! I've been studying most of the day (45 min on the treadmill at the Y this morning an another 30 min. this afternoon...just walking, no running) and I can't wait for tomorrow to be over!!!. Karel just got finished watching the Amstel Idol 2001 cycling race on DVD and now I'm taking a study break to watch Idol. I'm sure I'll be in bed early tonight. My morning swim came early today and my 4:40 am alarm came before I knew it and now, 16 hours later, I am a bit tired. I did have time to make a great dinner. Once a week Karel and I have omelette's. Tonight was omelet night...yumm! Egg beaters w/ a little mexican shredded cheese and chili flakes (I love hot food!!). I cooked fresh mushrooms, crumbled veggie meat (vegetarian night for Karel..he had his share of meat for lunch :), onions, corn and peppers w/ a little olive oil. I made a little risotto rice for karel and I had some cottage cheese. We topped off our omelets w/ salsa. Ole! Fiesta night tonight...and we were both blowing our noses and sniffling..I guess I added a bit too much chili pepper flakes :)
So things are going well for Karel and I. Training for me...good, but the adductors are a bit sore. I want to say it is my groin (uninjured leg!!) but it only bothers me if I accelerate quickly. I took it easy after my swim today...even though Coach Matt made me do 4 x 50's on 40 seconds..ouch, that was touch and go!! And that set came after I had just finished 3 x 300 pull, swim, pull on 4:30. I think I am getting faster in the pool...that's a great feeling!
Well, I guess I should give the update on Karel. Sat was great and his 6th place finish landed him a little money (gas $) and a great boost for sunday. The weather was perfect and the field was big! Lots of cyclists and Karel said he was ready to have a good race. Of course I am sitting at home after my 10-mile run/10 mile spin just waiting...waiting, waiting, waiting. Finally, 2 hours after I think he is going to finish I get a phone call. It goes a little something like this....
"Hi. I have some bad news. I crashed"
So here we go again. I expected another broken bike part and a little road rash. But another crash, two sundays in a row! Before last sunday, karel didn't crash for over 2 years!!! The only time I saw him fall was in GA when he was descending to come and get me as I was climbing one of the mountains and his front AND rear tire blew out. He flipped over into the side (kinda grassy) but he was ok. I was a little freaked! He has great bike skills and as a bike tech, his bike is always in great working condition..so why another crash? I think this crash was more like a Natasha Badmann crash..unfortunately, no one to blame the crash on but a stupid cone in the road. Although Karel can't recall much about the seconds before the crash, he said someone hit a cone and it rolled in front of him. He hit the cone and then a sandbag. Next, he flipped over his bike and landed on his head. The helmet now has a big crack in it and Karel's shoulder, back and fingers are covered in road rashes. Just a bit on the knees but mostly on his upper body. And in addition to last weekend, we are finally making use of all the bandages, neosporin and tape in our closet. Karel really hit his head hard and in addition to all his cuts and bruises, he was really dizzy after the crash....but the story doesn't stop there!!!
Just because he stopped for a crash, the endorphins were still going. So, as you know...I am engaged to one of the most passionate, dedicated and hard-working cyclists you will ever meet (Ok-so I am a little biased). Here's a guy who would give anything to race as a Pro but a 45-hour work week and only 300+ miles/wk, training in flat Florida sometimes takes the best of him. Now that he has a powertap and a great coach (Adam Baskin--awesome coach!!), every workout is quality and worth looking back on. So, what do you think Karel did after his head-hitting, road rashing crash...up we go...back on the bike. Totally dizzy and very much out of it, Karel jumped back in the race and ended up....wait for it, wait for it...11th!!!! Holy cow!! Can you believe it??? I just don't get it!??!! That took a lot of guts and courage to get back on the bike and finish. After you crash you lose that confidence and energy which is required in racing. To make it a good thing, not only did he finish 11th but they paid 12 deep so he received a little money as well (we could use that money for a good first aid kit!). Karel said he needs to stop racing sunday's..bad lucK!! Well, I think the bad luck is behind him and there are good things to come. We are heading up to GA this weekend for the Georgia Cup Albany race. 3 stages (prologue, Crit and road race) and I know he is going to do great. Lots of big teams (Jittery Joe's will be there..yum, love that coffee!!) and great riders. I think we just need to leave FLorida for a weekend and break this curse!

Memory Slideshow

Yesterday morning I rode Seduza. It has been 4 months since I have ridden her and it felt great! I love my road bike but I have trained and raced a lot with Seduza. I have only had her since Sept 2006 but it feels like forever! Two Ironman's and many, many, many miles. To keep me motivated during my 54 mile ride yesterday I was thinking back to all the great experiences I had with Seduza. I think a lot during my rides and instead of getting depressed about how fast I was in the past, I think about all the great things I have done in my short racing career. I truely enjoy every moment of everyone of my races and I remember almost every moment (can't help a bonking moment here and there). I absolutely love what I put into every race and because of that, I believe in ghe art (and science) of training for races and not just racing. I love training, working hard for a goal and seeing myself progress as an athlete. No matter if I am cycling, running or swimming I want to push hard and see what I am capable of. I guess my memory slideshow during my ride yesterday had me thinking that we (athletes who look back on the past, and for whatever reason, get sad or feel emotional about fastness or past performances) should take each training opportunity as a new moment to get faster, stronger and healthier. If we keep comparing ourselves to our past we will fall short on experiencing the process of training and miss the moments of seeing ourselves grow as athletes. This morning I did a 10.5 mile run and felt great. A little leg soreness during the last 1/2 mile but other than that I was zoning out and again, my 44 min. turnaround point came before I knew it. The running is a bit slow right now (average 9 min miles, run was around 1:28 w/ around 5 min. walking before and 5 min after) but I wasn't too concerned. Again, to get me through this run I started thinking. Instead of thinking about my speed or overall places at running events, I started thinking of all the fantastic experiences I have had with running. Those experiences didn't come overnight and I am the first to say that things don't come easy for me. I was never the State champion swimmer or the person who wins a race without training. I worked my butt off with swimming but never won 1st place in a big race. I have never won a race and I have never signed up for something last minute and be able to pull out a win. I work so hard just like everyone else and therefore, I am thankful for great experiences. Perhaps we should all look at experiences rather than times, places and finishes. I think deep inside it is the experience (past and future) that keeps us training hard every day.
Enjoy the slideshow.

After Ironman 70.3 Florida...feeling pooped but loving it!
Before our ride around Lake Tahoe. My first ride out in another state, my first time climbing and the first time Karel and I traveled far together.

Around we go! How beautiful!!!

Climbing up Brasstown Bald Mountain with the Gearlink guys. 5K, 4700 feet above sea level. Average grade 11% and steepest grade of 24%. I fell on the climb UP the mountain at "the wall" but I made it up to the top. Who knows how I got down that mountain..it took me forever and I hade super hot breaks!


Kona...there's no topping that! From getting body marked w/ my parents volunteering, to checking my bike in. Finishing that race was amazing. And even with crutches to help me walk in order to travel home and enjoy my last day in Kona...it was all worth it racing injured (Ouch!)





Ironman Florida 2006. My first Ironman and everything went perfect. I enjoyed every moment and I had my good friend Carlos racing with me, Karel cheering me on and my parents realizing that this race was only the beginning to MANY more races to come.



The miami maraton was my first marathon. 3 months of training paid off but I totally bonked from miles 18-22. I think this was the start of my found appreciation for sports nutrition. Oh, I hurt for 2 weeks after this race.

The Boston Marathon was my second marathon. What an experience and ranks 1st of all-time best moments, with Kona as a close 2nd. This was the most unbelievable 26.2 mile race. There is non stop cheering of fans for the entire race and when you finish you feel like you just broke the world record. Oh, and it is freakin' hard! Heartbreak hill is only 1 of three big hills that this Florida girl, newbie runner was a little strucken by. And with 4 miles at the start being downhill, it was all worth the medal and mylar blanket (Still have!) after the race.




And last but not least, my first triathlon. WE have to start somewhere.

Karel's race report

I ended up staying home this weekend because of mid-terms next week. There is nothing I'd rather do than watching a cycling race or triathlon and since I am sitting around studying for two days straight...boo for this school stuff!! I did get in a great 54 mile ride this morning on seduza..first time I rode her since Kona and she felt great!!! It was super windy today and it rained as soon as I got home. It was a rough ride, even on my sexy bike.
Last night Karel didn't come home until 9pm. His new fork (which arrived on thurs this week) was squeeky on his fri. morning ride. He needed to get a part from a friend in order to make it stop squeeking and then he had to cut the part to make it fit on his bike (sorry for my lack of details..bike stuff, not my area of expertise). Karel can figure out everything with bikes but I am sure he didn't want to feel so pressured so last minute. This morning Karel was up at 5am and he left at 6:30. Off to orlando for the weekend. So I was nervous all day waiting to hear from Karel. The race was suppose to start at 11:30 and I didn't hear from him at 2pm. I texted him but no reply. I wasn't sure if he crashed, if he finished or if he had a good or bad race. I was just so nervous all day. I feel the same way when I watch someone online during an Ironman...you get so worried if you don't see their time when you refresh your computer!! So, it was 2:45 and still no phone call. He always calls after his races and I was hoping that maybe they started late due to the massive rain storm (the race was in orlando but it rained everywhere this morning) and that is why he didn't call. Of course with a race in the rain, that puts me in super nervous mode. So finally I hear from Karel. OF course he first has to tell me that he is eating at a German restaurant...food always comes first for Karel...then the results.
It looks like Karel redeemed himself from last weekend. Congrats to Karel for his 6th place finish!!! Wahoo....he gets his prize money tomorrow :) Hopefully he will have another great finish tomorrow for the crit. Although Karel just called, I didn't talk to him too long since he is with a group of cyclists all in the same house eating pasta (I know..they eat all the time!). I just received an email from him so I thought I'd post his race report:
Today race was pretty technically difficult. The rain, coble stones and carbon rims with the cork pads was not the best combination all together. The loop had six corners and only one long straight away on the other side of the course. Then it was 2 90 degree turns with really short straight roads between and I knew I couldn't pass anybody there. So I was planing to start my sprint on the other side of that long road. I did it and I was heading first in the turn (two guys were in the break) but than some guys went crazy in that turn and passed me. I didn't really fight for it because it wasn't worth it in this small race to crash or something. So I eased up and that put me in fourth place when I crossed the line. So I was 6th place with two guys in the break. I had few bad moments in the race after a few hard efforts and I had to kinda ease up and drop a little bit in the middle of the pack to take a rest. But than in the end I felt better. They shortened up the race for just 60min + laps (Instead of 75 min. plus laps) because of the bad weather. The field was getting smaller and smaller by the end of the race. From our team it was only Ryan, me and Curtis at the end. Curtis did 35+ race first and than didn't finished the pro 1,2 race.
Tomorrow we should have the whole team here so there will be a little bit more man power.

It looks like he had a great race even with only a few of his teammates to work together. I guess I will do my run in the morning and again, be nervous until I hear from karel :) I posted a few more pics from his last race.

Busy...but productive

A few pics from this past weekend. The day started at 6:00 am. I woke up to Karel putting on his HR monitor and by the time I poured myself a cup of coffee he was out the door for his warm-up ride w/ several standing starts. I was on my bike at 6:30am for a 1:45 ride. I didn't see Karel so I think we went opposite directions. I felt really good on my road bike and the time just passed before I was at my turn around point. My speed sensor wasn't working so my speed ranged from 8mph to 22 mph and I came home from my hour and 45 min. ride with 13 miles...hum, I don't think that is right. Karel said he would get that fixed for me, probably my battery or sensor. After the ride I did a few sets of ab exercises on my stability ball (which is also used as my chair for my computer..I recommend sitting on a stability ball rather than a chair). I hoped in the shower, cleaned myself up and grabbed a yogurt, glass of milk and some nuts. Not my real breakfast but enough to get me through the next hour. I was off to the park to personal train someone and by 10 am my morning responsibilities were over. So, back to home to make myself some oatmeal. Never too late for oatmeal and raisins! Because of my classes being mon through wed I really look forward to thurs and fri to catch up on "career" stuff. I spent a good two hours re-writing the nutrition description for the BeginnerTriathlete.com page. I wanted to make things a little more descriptive. I have had such great success with people so far but I want to be sure I am clear on all the great things people get with the nutrition programs. This is the old description of the nutrition program but I will keep you posted on when the new descriptive one is posted.

BT Nutrition Program

After working on some BT stuff, I finished up an article for Judy at Iron Girl. I am following a trend of New You articles on my Taste column and the third article is on grocery shopping. I am not sure when it will be published but keep checking. I included a grocery list for everyone and what to look for in those foods. I think the New You Part 2 article on food labels was really helpful so now people should know what to look for in foods. After the article for Judy was sent I started working on a plyometric write-up for a future BT video. That article was interupted by laundry folding while catching up on Ellen for the past week. I tape her everyday..My dream is to be on her show talking about nutrition..I just love her show..she is so positive, energetic and giving. Well, after laundry folding I decided to clean. Wow, so domestic today! This is kinda a shocker because Karel is usually the one who cleans..I enjoy washing dishes and keeping the kitchen clean but Karel is big on cleaning the floor and the bathroom and the vacuming and the straightening. So I thought I would help out today and dust and straighten one room (TV room). Hehe, that's all I did but at least I contributed :) After I "cleaned" I checked the fridge and realized I needed to get groceries. With Karel racing two crits this weekend in Orlando and spending the night on sat (I am not going due to studying...BOO!!!!) I needed to get him some of his favorite race-weekend foods. I decided if I was going to drive to the store I might as well go to the gym and run. That's what you think when you need to get groceries, right??? Since I hate driving around town but I do it all the time, I might as well go for a run since I would be out and about. I get to the Y around 3:50 (yes, all that and it is not even 4!) and hope on the treadmill just in time to watch Oprah. Since Ellen is taping at home I wasn't concerned about watching her on the TV in front of me so I kinda had the best of both worlds. I listened to Oprah (with my sony radio tuned in to the plasma tv from the wall at the Y) on one TV and read subtitles for Ellen all while running. What I do best, multitasking! I did have a magazine with me but I thought that would be a bit much for my brain to handle. Well, I guess watching TV worked in my advantage today because I had planned for a 3-4 mile run and before I knew it, 30 min. had passed by and I was feeling super good. I decided to do my 5 min hard, 5 min easy, 4, 4, etc. set to give me 30 more minutes of running. Well, in total I did 7.5 miles and I wasn't even tired when I jumped off. Still no speed but I am working on it. I say no speed because I am comparing to where I was before I got injured (more like IMFL time where I was running super fast). Today I was running comfortably at 7.5-8 mph for those hard intervals but that is ok. I am not wearing my HR monitor (Need to dig it out from Kona stuff) but i can tell I am not pushing too hard on those 8mph intervals. No heavy breathing and heart is not too high. It is more about my leg and teaching it how to run fast again. I did a few arm and leg exercises and I cleaned myself up before grocery shopping. So, now it is 5:30 and I hear from karel that he is heading to his friend's house to get some bike stuff and work on his bike. he got his new fork (due to the crash last weekend) yesterday but it was squeeky for some reason. So now I am home and just hanging with Smudla (our cat) and debating if I will open my medical terminology book to study for my practical on wed. errr, don't feel like it!
Well, I guess this was a productive day. I wouldn't consider Busy a bad thing for me. I seem to work better and feel more accomplished on the days when I just don't have time to slow down.

Pursuing my dreams is wearing me out!

Is this pic just too cute!! I love it!
ok, now for the complaining...What a week this has been!!! I am not sure how I can keep this all up (being so busy) but knowing that continuing education will be "worth it" I think I can hang on for 1 more year. I think I should be finished with the dietetic school by the end of next summer. Afterwards I will do an internship (6 months - 1 year, hopefully 6 months) which is very competitive (I need to apply prior to next summer!). THEN....I take the RD exam and THEN...I can call myself a registered dietitian. I also would like to become licensed and board certified but that will come with time. I just want that RD behind my name. Let me practice Marni Rakes, MS, RD...oh it looks so good! This week was really tough. I had 4 exams! Mon morning and evening I had an exam (Bio in the morning, global marketing in the evening) and on tues and wed I had a quiz (tues, bio lab and wed, med. terminology). OF course with Karel's race last weekend (which I wasn't going to miss, I've been looking forward to it all year!) I kinda crammed for the exams. I am very big on not procrastinating but my time management skills aren't the best right now. Honestly, I am trying to put school first but as I try to pursue my career as a sports nutritionist, I really have to spend a lot of time on outreach and other important things such as emailing magazines, answering questions, writing on my blog, getting ready for presentations, consulting, personal training..and then squeezing in a little time for training (which is going well). I am so happy that it is thurs but unfortunantly I have two practicals next week (tues and wed) and then it is spring break. Thank goodness! Oh, I also spoke at a Team n' Training meeting on Tues evening about sports nutrition for endurance cycling (they are riding around Lake Tahoe to raise money. I remember when Karel and I rode around Lake Tahoe..what a blast!). AFter my masters I decided that the MS was good enough and I would just work at a gym or do something with exercise physiology. Sadly, my passion wasn't in that area. I love the information and science behind ex. phys (mostly cause I can apply all my education to myself and my training!!! :)) but I really love nutrition. It was funny cause last night in med. terminology class my professor was discussing the digestive system. Now last week when we were talking about the lymphatic and immune system I was doing more listening than participating (when she asks questions. I like teachers who ask ?'s along the way..it keeps you more interested). Well, last night I was answering everything like I was reading her notes. Not only did I feel smart (that is always a good feeling, since in my global marketing class I am kinda out of the loop with all the business majors in there) but I felt like I just wanted to learn more and more. "Please don't stop talking" I kept thinking. If I were to teach a class I would be sure to give my students info which really made them think. So, back to my passion of sports nutrition...it took me a year to find out that I needed to set myself apart from other "nutritionists and ex. physiologists" in order to become something. Nothing comes easy in life even if you know the right people. I believe in working hard for something and I never want to stop learning. Also, I never want to stop educating. I know in my heart that this is right to go back to school. Yes, I would love to make $ right now with a full-time job but I have a dream. Cliche it may sound but it is so true. Have you ever wanted something so bad (i.e. doing a new event, reaching a best time, trying a new sport, etc.) that you would do anything to reach that goal. Well, I feel like I could just be OK without an RD but having that degree would really make it a lot easier to reach my goals, ambitions and dreams. I want to thank everyone for believing in me. I have been so lucky to help so many people with their nutrition and I only hope to continue.
And on a training note...8 x 150's this morning at swim team practice. They were all supposed to be on 2:15 but I bumped up the cycle for the last four to 2:10. I didn't feel like i was pushing too hard and I was coming in on 1:56-2 min. And to make things harder, the breathing pattern was every 5, 3, 5 by 50. On Tues the set was 4 x 300 on 4:30. 25 free, 25 back. I don't like backstroke..I was a 200 Flyer and 100 breastroker in college. I did swim 200 IM but I just suffered through the backstroke. I guess it is important for triathletes to work opposing muscles in backstroke from all the free that we do. I don't really care what the set is..when you get me in the water, I love to swim!

What a weekend...

Well, the weekend was filled with plenty of emotions. As I had mentioned, Karel was ready for this weekend. With the San Antonio 85 mile road race on Sat and the 80 min + 5 lap Criterium on Sun in Dade City, Karel was anxious to see if his hard training is paying off. Obviously it is too soon to peak but he was ready to pull out at least a top 10 finish in Pro 1,2 in order to get points to help him upgrade to Category (Pro) 1 as soon as possible. I had a hard 48 mile ride in the wind and I was pretty spent when Karel and I headed to San Antonio. However, once I was in the car with Karel I was ready to support him for his race. And when it comes to Karel's races, there isn't much talking prior to the race. Karel is in his zone just like I get into my zone. I can get pretty touchy prior to a big race but I am usually willing to give plenty of smiles and thumbs up. Karel stays calm but you can sense nervousness. I don't know if any of my blog readers have been to a cycling race but it is tense. You really have to watch a race and know someone in the race to feel the nerves, excitement and energy that comes from cycling. It is a totally different environment from triathlons and I love being a spectator. The only difference with cycling races is that they never start on time. 5, 7, 10 minutes late. You never know how behind they are, especially when it comes to the Pro 1,2 race which is usually the main event (and the longest). Karel's race was at 12:30 and we arrived around 11:50am. Just enough time for a short warm-up and time for Karel to talk strategy with his team. Apparently, someone told Karel that they were 40 minutes behind on the start for the Pro 1,2 race so at 12:40 Karel warm-up a little longer. And with no warning, at 12:50 the riders were off...without Karel! Oh my..I didn't know what to do. Where was he? Well, you could understand the heartache that Karel felt and I really don't know how he had the strength to hold back his tears..and anger, sadness. Never has Karel missed a race and to happen right now so close at home, I guess it was ok to happen close and not far away but still..this was his race! I was upset, he was upset...I think a lot of people were upset. If it were me...I would be crying my eyes out. Again, this is a situation where it is hard for me to say the right thing because if it were me in his situation, you think I would really want to hear Karel's encouraging words to cheer me up? I'd probably cry my eyes out and tell him to just stop talking. Well, Karel handled it like a man and true cyclist and told the director what happened. Rather than just getting back into the 17-mile, 5-loop race (getting in on lap 2) and risking his license being suspended because that would be illegal, the race director told Karel that he could jump in but couldn't contribute to the race. Therefore, no break aways, no attacks and pretty much, he had to just sit in a use that race as a training race. As a positive note, I don't know that many cyclists (aside from the Pro's) who can just "sit in" on a Pro 1,2 race and consider it a training day. I think most people wouldn't even last a lap at that fast and intense pace. So after handing Karel bottles as he fed his teammates with the drinks, I really didn't know what to say to Karel. I figured he had 3 1/2 hrs to think about what happened and I'm sure he will never miss the start again. I feel so horribly bad but at least there was another day. I told Karel that he was ready for the weekend races so he still had another chance to show his stuff.
On sunday morning I again had a nice ride but the 30-mile ride was over a done early in the morning due to a few hours prior to the start of karel's race. My parents were heading to the race to watch Karel so I decided to study for an hour longer and get a ride with them. I gave Karel a good luck kiss and told him to be confident. Yesterday's incident had nothing to do with his fitness, heart or dedication as a cyclist and therefore he needed to forget about it and move on. Oh, and you better believe Karel was at the starting line well before the race was to begin. After the riders were off there was a break away with the top 3 guys in crit racing (NRC crit champion was there..sorry, don't know names). There were a lot of top guys and good teams there but the crit is one of Karel's strengths (road racing being the other). After the first couple of loops (Crit is a downtown loop, less than 1 mile, usually sharp turns and lots of corners) with 6 corners in each loop, Karel was working hard and keeping a top 8 position. At one point he was 6th! The race was fast and because of the number of prems ($ given away to the leader of the loop, $10-$20 usually) the pace kept increasing during the race. Karel was thinking..please no more prems! Karel was working really hard and this was a long race. 80 minutes over your lactate threshold, pretty much all-out, you feel like dying and there is nothing you can do. So after around 20 minutes of me cheering I noticed that Karel didn't come around for a loop. I am usually pretty good at spotting him, especially since he was at the front for most of the first part of the race. Well, I see Karel in the middle of the course on the street with one of the Gearlink guys giving him a water bottle. I thought perhaps he had a flat and in that case, his rhythm is thrown off but you can still jump in with one lap free. I asked Dallas what happened and he said Karel crashed. What!!!??? oh jeez. Apparently, it wasn't Karel's fault and the guy infront of Karel fumbled on his handlebars and served to touch Karel's wheel. Karel has very good bike skills and in most cases, Karel can dodge crashes. Right before Karel crashed, there was a crash a few loops prior which karel barely missed. yes, crit racing is dangerous..exciting but pretty scary to watch. At least Karel knows how to fall but when I heard what happend I couldn't believe that he was able to jump back in. He flipped over his bike with his feet still attached and landed on his back with lots of bruises and road rash. But seeing that this is Karel, the most dedicated and hard-working person I know, he was back in the race in a matter of seconds. Karel had a really hard time getting his rhythm but near the end of the race he was slowly moving up to the middle pack of the chase group. At least 20 guys had dropped out which left around 30-40 still in the race. The pace was picking up and just around 80 min. I see karel stopping at the wheel pit. Oh no... a flat?? Well, luckily the racers had 3 loops to go and therefore, Karel was still able to get one lap for free. If he had stopped to check out his bike (not a flat) after one more loop he wouldn't be able to hop back in. So karel jumps in with 3 to go and after that loop I see Karel riding over to me on the grass. So, here's the story. When Karel stopped prior to the end, the handlebars were lose for almost an hour and Karel didn't even realize it until that point. At the end when he rode over to me with 3 laps to go, he stopped because his deraileur was messed up from the crash and he was stuck in the small chain ring at a 39 gear. For the sprint of 40+ mph, he needed to be in the big ring for power. So Karel knew there was no way he could finish the race in a small gear. Well, it was a good thing that he couldn't change gears because when he crashed, he broke his fork. If Karel would have tried to sprint without a broken deraileur, there would have been a good chance his handlebars would have broken and the fork would have been shattered. Well, there's the weekend for you. Karel is in good spirits for the most part and he knows there are many more races to come. As for this weekend, I am very inspired with his hard work and good attitude. Yes he was upset, bummed and dissappointed but that is assumed and perfectly fine. The fact is that he got over it. Last night he took apart his Cervelo to find the crack in the fork and decided to put together his Colnago for the next week or so (until the Cervelo is fixed). The Pinarello is still hanging on the wall to avoid scratches, wrecks or rain :) I really learned a lot about karel this weekend and I took a lot away from this weekend. Aside from the many emotions that we both felt this weekend I remember one point in the weekend which really touched me. Aside from my dad taking phenomenol pics of Karel (I'll post those later this week) and my mom still thinking that the races are scary and Karel goes too fast, there was a young girl (around 9 or 10) who came up to Karel after the race and asked for a hug. I almost teared up that regardless of how he finished (or if he finished or if he started on time), this young girl and many other people who knew karel came up to him and told him that he had a great race. This young girl wanted a hug from Karel because she just though he was a great cyclist and I learned that even when you feel down and upset at your own performance, there are so many other people who either look up to you or see your performance as something they could never even dream of doing. In this case, congrats Karel...there are many more races to come and I know he will keep training hard and burning the fire he has for cycling.

Race weekend and Ironman is on TV!

Karel has a big race this weekend. The Race for Humanity Road Race and Crit. We are both really excited because this could be a really good weekend for Karel. As for me, I will be cheering while Karel is beating himself to the ground to pull out a good finish. I told him that he knows the race will be hard but the more you want it, the harder you will have to work. Aside from cheering for his team (Linder Capital) I will be practicing my almost perfect feed zone water bottle passes. I think I am 100% accurate but perhaps there were 1 or 2 times at Karel's first race which I watched where I didn't run fast enough as I was passing him the bottle. It's very hard when they are racing for 75-100 miles but I only see him once every 15-20 miles (or every 45 min). That is a lot of pressure. I thought watching the race was stressful but when I see them coming around the corner, I am scared out of my mind that I will mess up and Karel won't be able to grab his Hammer Sports Drink. Oh the pressure!! Just kidding :) I will be at the race most of the day tomorrow. I will start off my day with a 3 hour ride but then I will have to be snappy to take a shower and get in a good breakfast. Karel's race starts at 12:30 and it is 84 miles in the hills of Florida (san antonio). Sunday at 12:15 Karel has the Crit in Dade City which will be super hard and super fast...just like the road race. I will post updates by the end of the weekend. The best of luck to Karel and his team!!!
And since you have nothing else to do, don't forget to watch the Ford Ironman World Championships on NBC at 2 EST on Saturday. If you are missing that push or a little inspiration to step up (or start) your training program, just watch the broadcast and you will be ready to swim, bike and run in no time. And be sure to tape the broadcast. During the last 5 minutes, you will see me cross (be carried away) on the finish line. My head is down, I have my oakley pink sunglasses on and a white Zoot jersey. You can also see my big polar watch. If you don't see me but you see the 80 year olds just skipping across the line like the Ironman was a walk in the park, then you went too far :) Oh the memories of crossing that finish line. It still hurts to think about it but it was so worth it!

Happy valentines day!

What I learned in Biology lab

First to training. After I taught a grueling spin class I jumped on the treadmill for a 7 mile run. The first 40 min. were at an easy pace. I went 10 min at 7 (1% incline), 10 min at 7.2 and repeated that twice. why an easy pace? well, I had my medical terminology text book infront of me and I needed to study and retain information. I have a cardiovascular quiz tonight so where else to study about systemic and pulmonary blood flow than on the treadmill. Honestly, I don't think I could have gotten through graduate school without training for the Miami marathon in 2005. Almost 95% of my runs (with my longest being 3 hours, around 20 miles) on the treadmill I might as well had my laptop with me. When I ran at 24-hour fitness in Davie, Florida everyone knew me and my treadmill was filled with notes. If I am running at a comfortable pace I can read while I run but if I am doing intervals or something fast, there is no way I can focus, let alone think straight when I'm in the zone. so after 40 min. of studying/running, I bumped up the speed and I ran 5 min. at 7.5 mph pace. Not too shabby. decided to take it up a bit and did some intervals of 1 min at 8.1 mph and 30 sec at 7.5 mph. I guess I am slowly getting my speed back. Not trying to think of where I was last summer as I was training for Kona but rather where I want to be in May for IM Florida 70.3
So, now to bio lab. since I am surrounded with teenagers I feel very old in my classes. Yet when I am with my training partners, my age 25 is at least 10 years younger than most of my friends...who are crazy fast. As we were waiting for our lab projects to react, we had a little down time to talk. The 4 guys at the table behind me were looking at an Apple phone (I think that is the kind...the one with the internet and all the gadgets) and they were laughing really loud. I wanted to know what was so funny so they showed me. I thought I would pass along what was entertaining them (and me) in biology class. After you watch the first clip (watch for language!), check out the 2nd and 3rd ones. What a great education I am getting! haha

My new hair cut

Asian version

Jewish version

No more excuses...get faster!

The first week of classes was rough. I couldn't wake up at 4:40am for my 5:30am swim and I was too tired in the afternoon to train after a day of studying and 1-2 classes. After 2 weeks of getting myself on a schedule I'm finally getting into a routine which involves training, studying, class, writing, eating, sleeping and relaxing (in no particular order). I've learned that waking up and thinking if I should or shouldn't train is a sign of being tired..AKA I don't WANT to train. Now I am waking up, jumping right out of bed and looking forward to training. It is much harder to make excuses and wonder when or even if you will work out during the day. I just get it over and if I feel like training in the afternoon, I already have one solid workout knocked out from the am. Also, I find that I am just misserable if I don't do something in the morning. Even if it is just a walk, I just don't like going all day without a good sweat in the morning. If I need a day off to prevent overtraining or burnout I absolutely know when that is needed and I don't think twice about staying in bed or lounging around. But not working out because I made a silly excuse is just a lousy reason to miss a workout. I woke up this morning excited to swim. Of course at 4:40am my excitement is shown by bumping into doors, spilling a little coffee and stumbling as I am putting on my swim suit. Luckily, most days I have Karel to greet me in the morning and it is nice to have both of us up so early in the morning. As for this morning, he has an off day (two days in a row due to his big race weekend coming up!!!). So when I saw karel as I was pouring my coffee, I told him "you don't have to get up this early!" He gave me a kiss on the cheek good-bye and told me "I know, I'm going back to bed!" Oh, so lucky! Swim was good this morning. Lots of people in the pool with barely enough light from the sky to allow us to see the walls. Most of the workout was drills, which are almost as tiring as main sets. I have a feeling thurs will be a little more intense. Like two weeks ago when i had to do 8 x 125 pull on 2 min. Ouch, sore shoulder. During the 2400 swim workout i was thinking about this summer and racing. Now that I am back into a routine of feeling good, I am ready to get faster. I think I lost my fastest for good reason (injury) so I am willing to work hard again and regain some speed. The endurance is coming along nicely but if I want to compete again at Ironman Florida 70.3 (Disney) I will need to keep working at (and above) my lactate threshold. I wasn't really looking forward to a run after the swim since I am usually doing plyo's and lifting with karel on tues. Well, I was solo this morning so I thought about getting faster and i knew the only way that would happen would be to get on the treadmill and run. After 15 min of running I was bumping up the speed for a little interval set. I did 5 x 2 min at 8 mph and I felt pretty solid for those. With 1 min rest at 7.2 mph in between, I finished the run with 6 miles. I jumped off the treadmill and felt fine. I think i will bump up the number of intervals to 6 or 8 next week but not much faster. Once I feel comfortable with the speed and number of intervals, then I will get back to my old running pace of 8.5-9mph. It might take a while to get there but that is the way to do it. Overtime you get faster, it doesn't happen overnight. That is what I love about training...if you don't make excuses you get faster!

How do you do it?

To all the mom's out there. Specifically, Bree Wee, Angela Bancroft and Katie Jongerius...my three mommy-triathletes that I feel I know as friends due to lots of blog reading and emails :) I just don't get it how you get it all done?? I have had the busiest weekend and still smiling cause I know it could be worse. Not that having kids would be worse (I can't wait til I have little Marni/Karel's running around...or riding around in Karel's eyes) but I have been super busy I feel like the weekend was only 1 hour long. And that was the one hour I laid on the couch on friday night and watched part of a movie with Karel. I've been doing great with my training by the way. Getting in two workouts a day on tues and thurs and swimming hard 2 days a week. Last thurs was one of my best swim sets of 4 x (4 x 75) on 1:30, 1:20, 1:10 and 1 min! Thurs and Fri I ran after swim (and fri ran after Karel and I lifted) and I felt just great. I got in an hour run both days and felt just super. I even rode tues, thurs and fri afternoon and felt great on my road bike. I am just so super busy with things that I choose to do to keep me busy. As far as if I had a baby around here, that would be something that was not a choice but rather a priority. I just don't know how you all do it?? Lots of props to the mommies and daddies who train, work, sleep, eat and still have time to relax with friends/families and your significant other. Although Karel and I have different schedules, that is one of the best things about our relationship. We have an equal relationship where we both understand what it takes to be an Elite athlete. But one day when I am ready I will take on that task of being that tri-mommy. But for now, in my baby-free..super busy weekend.
Friday evening Karel came home around 8pm from his easy spin and I had angel hair pasta, semi-homemade marinara sauce, bread w/ fresh mozzerella and veggies ready for him. Sorry about not having a picture. Karel was sitting at the kitchen table well before I even thought about getting out my camera. Hey, the boy's gotta eat to get ready for his race. Saturday morning the alarm was set for 5:30am. Not for training but for the Gasparilla race. I was working a booth for Race Place from 7am-12 at the Tampa convention center. I thought about signing up for the race but since I wasn't sure if I was ready to "race" yet, I thought helping out would be just as good. I saw many familiar faces which was great for my spirit but the best part was walking to the convention center. I had my running shorts on, my Ironman World Championship Finisher hoodie on (so proud to wear that, I must admit), hair in a high ponytail and I was wearing my new pink mizuno wave rider running shoes. Aside from my hoop earrings, I looked like all the 5K and 15K runners. And not only did I have the look but I had the nerves and excitement as if I would be running the race. Over the past couple of months I wasn't sure if I missed racing. I have been devoting my time off from racing (due to that horrible pre-kona un-diagnosed injury) to my passion of sports nutrition. After walking into that arena as a non-registered athlete, I feel I can 100% equally split my passions of racing and sports nutrition. I love them both and I don't know what I would do if I didn't race and fulfill my dreams and if I didn't help others to fulfil their racing and nutrition dreams. So after 5 hours of standing on my feet, talking to people about signing up for the chilly willy duathlon and the Escape from Ft.desoto tri, I was heading back to my car to head to the Clearwater Y. I really wanted to run on after I worked the expo but I was searching for the strength to actually get to the gym and not just head home. Ever since my injury, I never miss an opportunity to run if I have the motivation and energy to run. Even if it is 7pm or 6am, all I have to do is think about 4 months of no running and being in pain for almost 2 months straight and I have plenty of reasons to get my butt out the door and run. So as I am heading back to Clearwater with my trusty GPS and I zoned out and missed my exit for 60. I didn't dare call Karel and tell him that I am now driving over 30 miles out of my way and heading to new port richey on 275N instead of heading west. Karel got me the GPS so I wouldn't get lost all the time and call him crying that I have no idea where I was heading. Well, I knew where I was heading and I was totally out of luck for turning around and back tracking. I decided to continue to new port richey and run on the suncoast trail and visit my dad afterwards. Now here is where I thought about you mommies out there. It is 12:45pm when I arrive on the trail. I can't remember the last time that I have ran past 8am in the morning. Aside from Kona training when i would run at 1pm after a 100+ mile ride, I don't enjoy running in the afternoon and starting my day with a run is the only way I really know how to have a good run. Well, I pulled out my inner strength and started running when I arrived to the running/cycling trail (paved). With my head phones on and my music going, I was really enjoying my run and I feel I could run at anytime of the day if I just told myself to do it more often. I think nutrition needs to be right on and regular if you choose to run at lunch or mid-day, so with that in mind, bring it on lunchtime run! After 1 hour and 25 minutes, I was finished running and ready for a shower and some food. I visited my dad and we chatted for a bit as I enjoyed a nice cold glass of milk before a late lunch. I finally arrived back in Clearwater at 4pm and crashed on the couch right before Karel came home from work (bummer that he has to work on sat. The life of a cyclist who works at a cycling company - Gearlink.com). After a quick rest on the couch, at 6pm karel and I were out the door for a wine tasting event for a lady who is raising money for Team in Training. I recently did a nutrition consultation for her and we were invited to a wine tasting to raise money for 100 mile ride as a charity ride. Well, since I don't drink I enjoyed the great great great food (bread, nuts, cheese..oh I was super happy!) and karel enjoyed 10 glasses of wine (not full glasses!) for the tasting. He is a big wine drinker and with his European upbringing, I really find joy when Karel and I can be together and he can tell me stories or anything about Czech and his family. In this case, Karel was enjoying every moment with the tasting and he also enjoyed meeting some of my tri friends and learning how to taste wine. No surprise, if food is involved, Karel is a happy man. After an entertaining 3 hours with good food and lots of people, we headed home and were ready to go to bed. Around 9:45 the lights were off and I was almost out. With no TV in our bedroom and only a fishtank, we watched our fishes for a few minutes and then I was fast asleep. So now were are onto sunday. I woke up early and headed out on my bike around 7am. With my super grover jersey on, I felt just great. I think I put a couple smiles on the faces of other riders out on the roads today. After 51 miles, I was back home only to miss Karel who left for Gainsville 5 min. before I arrived. Bummer. No good bye and good luck for him so I had to give him a phone call. He won't talk to me before his race (he gets into his zone and does his thing) so I had one opportunity to wish him good luck and that was 6 hours before his race :) Karel had a race this afternoon and I just received a quick call from him that he was 5th in the field sprint. He said there was a crash right before the finish and that threw him off from the main pack and he had just enough juice to almost catch up with the top guys. In the crit races which Karel loves there is a lot going on in the <1 mile loop. congrats to his team...I am sure I will hear more details later.
After I got myself cleaned up and had breakfast, I worked on a nutrition plan for someone who is doing an ultra run. I will have to fill you in on more details about this but for now you can visit runfortheinnocent.com . After the nutrition plan, I worked on my biology lab report all afternoon since it is due on tues. Almost finished except for some graphs which I need to do on excel but my brain is in overload right now. At 4pm it was time for grocery shopping but I was not alone on this one. I am mentoring a senior high student (daughter of one of the guys who rides with the Gearlink team) who is doing her senior project on becoming healthier. We spent an hour at the grocery store as I got groceries as taught her about reading labels and looking for affordable and healthy food. With an almost college freshman, this comes at a great time to teach her how to learn how to eat and stay healthy and not develop bad habits in college. After the grocery I stopped at the produce market on my street to get some veggies and fruit (so much cheaper than the grocery) and at 5:30 I was home for the evening. I am now finished with everything and thinking about calling it a night. I will probably fall asleep on the couch and wake up when Karel gets home later this evening. What a weekend. Now I am exhausted and looking forward to filling my brain with information for the next three days in school. Alright moms, what's your secret????

Good Luck Karel

I'll post more later today but I wanted to give a good luck shout-out to Karel and the Linder Capital Racing Team today. Karel is heading to gainsville for a Crit race which starts at 4:30pm. I'll be staying here...studying :( Just finished my coffee and toast w/ PB and a few nuts and I'm ready to get on my bike. I'm going to wear my sesame street Super Grover jersey that Karel got me for the holidays. I wonder if I will get more looks by kids on their bikes loving the jersey or adults on their bikes wondering why a kid is riding such an expensive bike!!! Confession: I'm 25 years old and I love grover!!! How could you not? Too cute!

Top Chef

I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 years old. I swam in HS and in College and started running my senior year of college (2000). For 13 1/2 years I have been learning how to eat like an athlete. I would say that the first 10 years of being a vegetarian were really hard. At first I cut out the meat for animal reasons but kept my normal diet. Therefore, cheese on everything, salads w/ ranch dressing, cheez-its, chips, a few veggies every now and then (like carrots w/ ranch and celery w/ PB) and lots of pasta and pizza. Although I had no idea what my insides looked like with much of my diet being filled with carbs and fat, I was kinda bulky, but strong, due to all my days of swimming. From HS to the end of college my life was swimming. I swam 6 days a week and with most of the weekdays being two-a-days (especially in college), I probably averaged 10,000-12,000 yards a day of swimming. I was burning A LOT of calories in those days! However, I was eating like a teenage/college athlete and we all know what the kids today are looking like (sedentary and active) from unhealthy eating patterns like my own back in the days. After reading a library of nutrition books and devoting my education to understanding the body and exercise, I learned how to eat like an athlete. During that time, I also developed a LOVE for cooking.
Now I wouldn't say that I could open a gourmet restaurant but I love watching the food channel and creating my own dishes...with a little healthy twist. Since I don't eat meat, I have to be very creative in squeezing in the protein and not overwhelming my meals with carbs. Even though I am not crazy about pasta, I love carbs especially from thin crust pizza and bread. My main goal with my cooking is combining protein w/ carbs in order to stabilize the blood sugar. My other twist is creating meals that people may think are high in calorie but presenting the dish in a way which you get a little of everything and not a lot of one thing. Oh, and when it comes to presentation, a plate w/ food has to look beautiful before you can eat it. The other night Karel came home and I told him to not come into the kitchen for 2 more minutes cause I was still working on the presentation :) I come up with recipes all the time from watching shows on TV. I like to incorporate good nutrients into the meal so that the meal is not only delicious but filling. I posted a few pics of some things I made in the past couple of weeks.

This is a chicken meal I prepared for Karel. Since I can't taste the chicken and test for seasonings, I buy frozen chicken strips and leave the seasonings to Karel. I used egg whites and a little corn meal and "breaded" the chicken and cooked it on a non-stick pan. I also scrambled the eggs and added in a little rice pilaf to the eggs. I then laid spinach on the rice/egg mixture and topped it with the chicken. I always prepare more food than I plan on us eating so that we have leftovers for another meal. That night I had the extra eggs, rice and spinach and served my dish w/ cottage cheese.




This was one of the best deserts I have made! We actually had this after I made Karel's chicken dinner (above). I must of had a little extra time that night (Most of meals only take around 15-40 min. to prepare. I like to be fast in the kitchen!) I found a recipe for an apple struddle and what is better than hot apples w/ cinnamon and brown sugar. I cooked the apples on the stove (I could have used the oven) and topped it with a little brown sugar. I used a tbsp of Smart Balance Omega fortified butter as the apples were cooking.
I then cooked 1/2 cup instant oatmeal for about 45 min. Just enough for the oatmeal to stick together. I added a little cinnamon and put the oatmeal on the apples. I then spooned the oatmeal all over the the the apple and brown sugar (I use light, not splenda. If you look at calories and ingrediants, there is really no difference)and pressed it down. I cut up a few more apples (not cooked) and placed them in a rectangle cooking dish. I then spooned the hot mixture into the dish and topped with a little more brown sugar and cinnamon. WOw...this was a yummy dish. I had a some vanilla Lit n' Fit yogurt on top and I was amazed on how healthy (and yummy) my desert came out!


This was lasts nights dinner. I made "pizza potato skins"!!! And veggies. I microwaved a white potato (I prefer sweet potatos but Karel enjoys the white ones) for about 10 minutes until semi-soft. I then cut it in half and scooped out the inside like a twice baked potatoe. I added a little oregano to the insides and stirred it up in a bowl. I then put a little less than half of the potato/oregano mixture back into the potatos. Karel can now have mashed potatos another night and we saved a bunch of calories from the inside and kept the good stuff on the outside. I preheated the oven to 345. On the potato, before going into the oven for around 5-10 min. I spooned mushroom/green pepper marinara sauce on the potato and topped with part-skim cheese and a little parmesean. When the potato came out of the oven, the cheese was melted and the outside was crispy. And, since i cut the potato into slices, I made 1 potato go along way. I also prepared fresh cooked veggies (I usually have veggies w/ every dinner meal, either w/ eggs, cooked or in a salad) and a side of scrambled egg beaters. Sorry about the spoon on the plate and bad presentation with my veggies. Karel was super hungry and he wouldn't wait for me to take a picture!

The heart!

Since it is getting close to v-day I thought I would talk about the heart. Last night in my medical terminology class we discussed the cardiovascular system. As my teacher was lecturing about the chambers, path of blood flow and heart problems I was brought back to graduate school. My cardio phys class was 4 hours long (6-10pm) on monday evening. It was my first semester of grad school and the class was intense! However, I really started enjoying my marathon training (not a triathlete at the time) when I started taking that cardiovascular physiology class. I just think it is so cool how the heart responds to exercise and with training. There are so many physiological changes with training! I think we (me included) often forget the meaning behind training. Too often we train to get faster, get stronger, lose weight or gain power. But in our task of trying to reap the benefits quickly and becoming disturbed and bothered if we don't see those changes over night, we forget that the heart is undergoing stress on a daily basis in order to give us our desired results. Therefore, when expecting so much from the heart, do we give it the love that it deserves?
For example, think about your nutrition. You exercise every day but you may indulge in high fat foods. Nothing like real ice cream, cheese on everything, fatty meat and processed treats to replace those calories burned during training. Although a little of a healthy version of your treat is recommended, some people choose a high fat diet because of the way they look on the outside. Since you look slim and lean on the outside, there is nothing wrong with choosing high fat food on a daily basis, right? WRONG! Even if you watch your calories to control your weight, but choose high fat foods which keep you full and satisfy your cravings, you have no idea what is going on in the inside of your body. Foods high in cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat may contribute to heart disease. Although your exercise routine is strengthening your heart, there is plaque forming on your arteries which is decreasing the blood flow and increasing your chance for a heart attach or embolism (clot which travels). Although fat is necessary, be sure you are incorporating good sources of fat such as olive oil, nuts (choose unsalted, almonds, cashews, walnuts, peanuts or soy nuts), avodados, olives, part-skim cheese, low-fat (skim or soy preferred) milk, peanut butter (natural), lean meats, veggie meat and fish-to name a few. Also try to choose healthy butter options (Smart Balance) and try to cook w/ olive oil when cooking veggies (absorb vitamins). I wouldn't be surprised that there are many fit athletes out there who look great in spandex and a wetsuit (can't get any sexier than that!) but choose to have a high fat, calorie controlled diet which increases cholesterol levels (bad LDL increases, good HDL decreases) and clogs the arteries. You may not notice any benefits now but by incorporating a heart healthy diet to your healthy exercise routine you will increase your longevity..and time in triathlons/multisport (the real reason why you focus so much on your nutrition, right? :). If you cook at home you can 100% control what you are eating and you are aware of your nutrition at each meal and snack. I eat out 3-4 times a month, with maybe 1 of those being a restaurant and the other times being Moe's (I love the salad w/ beans, lettuce and tofu), Panera (I love the Orchard Harvest salad, dressing on the side w/ a whole grain baguette) and Village Inn (omlette and whole grain pancakes after a hard workout w/ Karel). Even though I am busy, I find foods which are natural, wholesome and easy to prepare. When I have time I cut up veggies and keep in the fridge and when I am short for time, I can never go wrong with an omelete, stoup (I make my own soup/stew and throw everything into a bowl w/ water and seasonings), a hearty salad or veggie burger sandwich.
I came across two sites on fast-foods which would be great reading. Remember that FAT is GOOD for you. Be sure you are choosing the right kind and you can greatly improve the health of your heart, in addition to staying full throughout the day.

Cleveland Clinic Fast Food and the Heart

Learn about fats from the American Heart Association

Busy in school

I am getting ready for my last test of the week. I had an examine mon and tues and I am ready for this week (of school) to be over with!! I think I am doing really well in my classes but the studying is getting the best of me. I just want to watch reality shows, ride my bike and go to bed at 9:30. ahhh, what a life I had before I enrolled in school :)
In my global marketing class we discussed the super bowl commercials. My professor had a great website link that I wanted to share. You can check out the interest of people during the commercials, based on a study. Of course, seeing that I am so analytical, I really enjoyed the commercials so much more after seeing how other people viewed the commercials. That's not to say I agree with the subjects in the study however. I had a few favorites, which involved the Pepsi head banging, the Budweiser dog and horse (who didn't love that!) and the Tide stain. I can't stop laughing at that stain! Oh, and when will farrell did his commercial, I was laughing out loud. I just love to laugh and I will probably laugh at anything.

Superbowl commercial study

But then we started talking about commercials which weren't aired during the superbowl. There have been great commercials out during the last year, specifically the Burger King commercials where they took away the whopper. I didn't realize that this was a real situation and wait til you see these commercials. Do not watch the second commercial if you are at work or around kids. It has very bad words. I couldn't believe we watched it in class! The beginning is probably the funniest but then it gets bad...maybe they started acting. Gosh, I feel sorry for all those whopper lovers! I guess I would be mad if the stores stopped selling bread, eggs and nuts. What would I do!!???!!!

Whopper freakout

Whopper freakout-Rated R

Happy Super Bowl!!!

One of the only times I can't wait for the commercials!!! I have a global marketing assignment to watch the commercials..I get a grade for taking notes during the superbowl!! I hope everyone has a great super bowl sunday!!!
Just a quick update..I had a super morning. Ran 9 miles and felt so fresh. I was daydreaming about my wedding, being on Ellen one day and future articles and I ran 2 miles and didn't even know it! Has that ever happened to you? I know it happens sometimes when you are driving but I was literally running on a familiar road and before I knew it I was 2 miles away from where I started zoning out! Now if I could only do that in EVERY race I do!!! Actually, I like zoning out just as much as I like the self-talk to keep me going. After the run I jumped on my bike for a 25 mile bike ride. The weather was humid but comfortably cool and I didn't want to get off my bike. The rest of the day was studying for my exam tomorrow (I have another exam on tues and wed). Karel had a super hard 5 hour ride in San Antonio today. He rode hard and made a lot of attacks. Next week "officially" starts his season and I can't wait to see what he is capable of this year! I am helping out at Gasprilla next sat from 7-1 (come visit the RacePlace booth!) to work the expo so I won't be able to see Karel's first race. But the following weekend he is racing in Dade City and San Antonio (SA on sat for the road race and DC on sun for the crit) and I can't wait to see him then. Well, time to get off and start paying attention to the commercials, in between the football game :)

Understanding food labels

I've been wanting to write an article about food labels for a while. Judy at Iron Girl finally gave me the avenue to get my thoughts on the computer in one of my best articles (in my opinion). When I say "best" I think it is the most informative article I have written because it applies to everyone. I spent time researching and when I wrote the article I wanted to think like the consumer...a misinformed, mislead and uneducated consumer. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Feel free to write your thoughts in my comment section of my blog.

Iron Girl Article - Click on Feature

If you would like to read my other articles, click on

TASTE

Saturday morning

Good morning! Did everyone sleep well last night? Sounds like I am writing a mass email! :)
I am waiting for the coffee to get done...and it almost is! I'm heading out for a bike ride today. I hope to get in 50-55 miles since the past couple of saturday's have been around 45 miles. I rode yesterday morning and I felt great. It was super windy but I got in 22 miles to start my day. Karel decided to ride as well and I saw him in the opposite direction when I was riding. It's always nice to bump into him when we are on our bikes. I thought I would turn around (since I was heading home) to try to catch Karel but he was doing his standing starts so there was no way I would catch him. So, i turned around again and headed home. After studying for most of the day (w/ one nutrition consultation completed and a deadline for my GAOM triathlete mag article) I headed to the gym for an afternoon workout. I ran for 3 miles, walked 1 and then lifted. My arms are a bit sore but it is the good sore. I know I did something yesterday :)
well, just a quick update before I get on my bike. Things are going well and that makes me happy. Not that I wasn't happy in life before (when I was injured) but now i feel I have my lifestyle back which brings me discipline, excitement and motivation in everything I do.

What leg?

I just realized that I went a day and a half without noticing, feeling or even thinking about my leg pain. That makes me feel really good. Yesterday morning I joined the swim team for a nice practice. Lots of 50's since a lot of people where in the lanes but we still ended up with 2800 yards. After the swim I decided to walk on the treadmill (because of my blister) but after 10 minutes of walking, I was so over the blister. The speed increased and I ran for 20 minutes at 7.2 mph. At least I am getting up my speed and a little endurance as well. The last 10 minutes I did 3 x 2 minutes w/ 1 min rest in between and the 2 minutes I ran at 8 mph. That makes me feel so good to be able to run fast (and comfortably). After the run I squeezed in a few sets of abs on the stability ball and I was off to go personal train someone. After a day of studying, I decided to go for a short bike ride. At first I had trouble making myself want to get on my bike but I had been studying all day INSIDE and it was absolutely beautiful outside. I decided I could get in an hour of cycling so I headed out and started my ride. I bumped into a race director I know so I joined him and his friend and I enjoyed being pushed a bit. I was riding side-by-side with the RD but after a few miles of 22 mph, I decided to drop back a bit. the pace went up to 24 mph at that point and I was wondering how I would be able to make it back in the head wind (yes, we had some nice tail wind). I decided to branch off and head to Howard Park and at that point I had 13 miles on my speedometer. Oh well, what's 2 more miles going to do. So I ended up with 30 miles and my hour ride was extended just a bit :) I guess I really didn't want to go back and study.
well, I ended up getting in a few hours of studying in the evening and I am glad I rode my bike.
Looks like Karel and I are switching our routine today and he is heading to the gym but I am hoping on my bike. I don't want to miss my opportunity of wanting to ride my bike. have a great Friday!