I stayed busy on Sat after the race. On the couch in my Zoot compression tights, w/ Campy napping by my side, I finished up a few training plans for my athletes. For dinner, I made my parents and myself French Toast. After the race in the morning, we were all (including my dad) craving something comforting and I knew French Toast would do the trick. I topped mine w/ greek yogurt and added blueberries, strawberries, banana slices and a few walnuts. I forgot to take a pic but it was GOOD!
On Sunday morning I was anxious to spin my legs. For me, I need sleep and light exercise in order to recover. Depending on the race (usually less than half ironman distance) I like to do a long-ish ride after a race (I hardly ever run the day after a race) if the race is on a Sat. If the race is on a sun, I either take off on Mon or just swim (which I would do regardless of when I raced or if I didn't race). Because Mon is my "recovery" day, I look at this day as a way to recover my body through non-weight bearing exercise (<60 min Swim or an occasional spin) in order to get stronger by repairing damaged tissues and prepare my body for upcoming weekly workouts or I use the day to rest my mind (which means a day off!).
One thing I ALWAYS do on Mon is wake up without an alarm. Because many of us wake up early on Sat and Sun (or most days during the week) in order to squeeze in workouts earlier in the day, I make sure my body is well rested (that means my body tells me when I need to get up rather than me telling myself I need to get up). I typically need 7-8 hrs of sleep a night and since my sleeping routine is fairly consistent (+/- 30 min.) I am usually up and wide awake by 6 - 6:30am.
So, in order to spin my legs after the race I decided to join my favorite group of cyclists for a group ride. I met the Gearlinkers (this is the group who set Karel and me up in 2006) about 11 miles down the road from my parents and I was excited to catch up with everyone. The Sunday ride is an easy group ride and when we ride we stay two-by-two on bike-friendly roads (Suncoast trail). Each group takes turns pulling and then goes to the back. There is lots of talking during this ride and with everyone around 20+ years older than me, I always seem to learn something new about life during this ride. They are such great people!
I had no plans for the ride and paid no attention to my distance. Because I hardly ever pay attention to my speed, I just kept my eye on my power to make sure I didn't get into the tempo zone. I stayed aerobic for most of the ride (well, until the last 10 miles which I did alone, into the wind, in order to get back to my parents).
When I got back to my parents I had a little under 3 hours and 60 miles and that was just perfect for a recovery spin. After the ride I apologized to Campy that "mommy's legs don't want to run right now" so we went on a 20 min. walk around the block. He was still happy.
Later in the day it was time to prepare my homemade Zucchini bread w/ homemade icing and make my fruit pizza for a party that we were going to at 4pm.
Fruit pizza is super easy (once again, forgot to take a pic!)
1 package reduced fat or regular cookie dough
2-4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Fruit
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Press cookie dough on a nonstick baking sheet to make a large cookie (or cover the baking sheet).
3. Bake for 8-10 min. (or until outside is firm and center is a little soft. It will harden when you remove from oven).
4. Let cookie cool and mix together cream cheese (may want to microwave for 15-20 sec.), cinnamon and extract.
5. Spread on cookie dough and top w/ Fruit.
I made my Zucchini Bread on Sat and made homemade icing for the party to go on top. I had a feeling that the people at the BBQ party would probably not be big fans of my normal Zucchini bread so I added a little sweetness for this occasion. I think people were BIG fans of my pizza and not so much the Zucchini bread, but I sure LOVED The Zucchini bread with the icing!
Zucchini bread
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 eggs (1 whole egg, 1 white)
1/2 c. plain nonfat yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini (about 2 large Zucchini's)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup water (optional - if your batter is too thick to stir, add a little water, up to 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp chocolate chips (chopped/shredded)
2 tbsp walnuts (chopped)
2 tbsp raisins (chopped)
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat. Add yogurt and vanilla, then add rest of ingredients. Spray loaf pan with a little non stick spray. Bake in 350 degree for 45 min - 1 hour.
Icing:
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp butter (melted 10-15 sec.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Mix together w/ whisk.
2. Add a few tsp water as you are whisking to get the consistency of icing (I think I used less than a 1tbsp of water).
I cut most of the Zucchini bread into 1 inch slices and then cut into cubes. Once again, forgot to take a pic but it looked pretty when it was topped with 1-2 tsp of the icing. I promise I will make this again and take a pic.
Campy had a GREAT time. I think he was in heaven barking at the Jet Ski's, running up and down the boardwalk to the water and enjoying the food scraps from the friendly party guests. Thanks to Kevin (who is an avid cyclist and does pilates with my mom at the Y) for inviting us (and Campy!).
Enjoy the pics!
On Sunday morning I was anxious to spin my legs. For me, I need sleep and light exercise in order to recover. Depending on the race (usually less than half ironman distance) I like to do a long-ish ride after a race (I hardly ever run the day after a race) if the race is on a Sat. If the race is on a sun, I either take off on Mon or just swim (which I would do regardless of when I raced or if I didn't race). Because Mon is my "recovery" day, I look at this day as a way to recover my body through non-weight bearing exercise (<60 min Swim or an occasional spin) in order to get stronger by repairing damaged tissues and prepare my body for upcoming weekly workouts or I use the day to rest my mind (which means a day off!).
One thing I ALWAYS do on Mon is wake up without an alarm. Because many of us wake up early on Sat and Sun (or most days during the week) in order to squeeze in workouts earlier in the day, I make sure my body is well rested (that means my body tells me when I need to get up rather than me telling myself I need to get up). I typically need 7-8 hrs of sleep a night and since my sleeping routine is fairly consistent (+/- 30 min.) I am usually up and wide awake by 6 - 6:30am.
So, in order to spin my legs after the race I decided to join my favorite group of cyclists for a group ride. I met the Gearlinkers (this is the group who set Karel and me up in 2006) about 11 miles down the road from my parents and I was excited to catch up with everyone. The Sunday ride is an easy group ride and when we ride we stay two-by-two on bike-friendly roads (Suncoast trail). Each group takes turns pulling and then goes to the back. There is lots of talking during this ride and with everyone around 20+ years older than me, I always seem to learn something new about life during this ride. They are such great people!
I had no plans for the ride and paid no attention to my distance. Because I hardly ever pay attention to my speed, I just kept my eye on my power to make sure I didn't get into the tempo zone. I stayed aerobic for most of the ride (well, until the last 10 miles which I did alone, into the wind, in order to get back to my parents).
When I got back to my parents I had a little under 3 hours and 60 miles and that was just perfect for a recovery spin. After the ride I apologized to Campy that "mommy's legs don't want to run right now" so we went on a 20 min. walk around the block. He was still happy.
Later in the day it was time to prepare my homemade Zucchini bread w/ homemade icing and make my fruit pizza for a party that we were going to at 4pm.
Fruit pizza is super easy (once again, forgot to take a pic!)
1 package reduced fat or regular cookie dough
2-4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Fruit
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Press cookie dough on a nonstick baking sheet to make a large cookie (or cover the baking sheet).
3. Bake for 8-10 min. (or until outside is firm and center is a little soft. It will harden when you remove from oven).
4. Let cookie cool and mix together cream cheese (may want to microwave for 15-20 sec.), cinnamon and extract.
5. Spread on cookie dough and top w/ Fruit.
I made my Zucchini Bread on Sat and made homemade icing for the party to go on top. I had a feeling that the people at the BBQ party would probably not be big fans of my normal Zucchini bread so I added a little sweetness for this occasion. I think people were BIG fans of my pizza and not so much the Zucchini bread, but I sure LOVED The Zucchini bread with the icing!
Zucchini bread
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 eggs (1 whole egg, 1 white)
1/2 c. plain nonfat yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini (about 2 large Zucchini's)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup water (optional - if your batter is too thick to stir, add a little water, up to 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp chocolate chips (chopped/shredded)
2 tbsp walnuts (chopped)
2 tbsp raisins (chopped)
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat. Add yogurt and vanilla, then add rest of ingredients. Spray loaf pan with a little non stick spray. Bake in 350 degree for 45 min - 1 hour.
Icing:
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp butter (melted 10-15 sec.)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Mix together w/ whisk.
2. Add a few tsp water as you are whisking to get the consistency of icing (I think I used less than a 1tbsp of water).
I cut most of the Zucchini bread into 1 inch slices and then cut into cubes. Once again, forgot to take a pic but it looked pretty when it was topped with 1-2 tsp of the icing. I promise I will make this again and take a pic.
Campy had a GREAT time. I think he was in heaven barking at the Jet Ski's, running up and down the boardwalk to the water and enjoying the food scraps from the friendly party guests. Thanks to Kevin (who is an avid cyclist and does pilates with my mom at the Y) for inviting us (and Campy!).
Enjoy the pics!
