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03:22
:08

Food Penance

Posted in Diet and Nutrition, Tips by Rachel Ross

redlentil.jpgOr Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup recipe.. whatever you want to call it.

The clearance holiday chocolate carried me through to the Valentines Day candy, when I discovered 2 lb. bags of all green peanut M&Ms (practically a vegetable) and by the time those were gone the Cadbury Mini Eggs came out. If only they’d throw a little protein in, I could write them off as recovery food..

But as the season gets rolling, we all know it’s time to start eating better. To fuel our training, not eat for entertainment. Or in my case, as 4pm rolls around and I realize I’ve eaten nothing but crap all day, it’s time to try to make up for it with a healthy dinner.

This Lentil Soup is quick and easy, loaded with veggies, fiber and vegetarian protein, and mild enough that it doesn’t hamper the evening masters swim workout an hour later (yes, I swim. It doesn’t show, but I do it anyway.) Your kids probably won’t eat it, mine didn’t. I found it in Good Housekeeping, as seen at your local dentist’s office.

Red Lentil & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (14 1/2-ounce) diced tomatoes
1 can (14- to 14 1/2-ounce) vegetable broth
1 cup dried red lentils
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bag (5-ounce) baby spinach

In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil on medium until hot. Add carrots and onion, and cook 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Stir in cumin; cook 1 minute.
Add tomatoes, broth, lentils, 2 cups water, salt, and pepper; cover and heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 8 to 10 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 2c serving)

Calories 265 Total Fat 5g Saturated Fat 1g Cholesterol – Sodium 645mg Total Carbohydrate 41g Dietary Fiber 13g Sugars – Protein 16g
Source


03:13
:08

The Becker Buzz…Florida’s Great Escape Race Report

Posted in Athletes, Racing, Race Reports, Race Results, Tips by Blake Becker
 

Florida’s Great Escape
March 9, 2008
6th Overall 1:13:38
Swim: 13:20 Bike: 41:07 Run: 16:51
This last weekend I spent my last weekend in Clermont out at Lake Louisa State Park for the annual Florida’s Great Escape triathlon. There is always a strong field that shows, and this year was no exception. Some of the Canadian National Team was is attendance, in addition to a few other elites from around the country.
On race morning, we were greeted by temps in the low 40’s and a stiff north wind. NOT the typical early March weather. I have logged 30hrs of training in the 7 days prior to the race, but felt that I could make a good run, if things went well.
After a long warm-up, I got the start line for a the dreaded beach start. Lots of running and dolphining into the white-cap waves. I had the new Blue Seventy TST Wetsuit, which was a huge help. The flexibility in the newly designed shoulders is great. Unfortunately, me dolphining skills are not great and lost contact in the rough water. I did find my rhythm at the turn and managed to swim through the second group, which contained some good swimmers, so I was pleased.
Onto the bike, I knew I would be able to make up a bit of time, but I wasn’t sure how much. With the cold temps I never was able to find my legs, despite riding my way up into third place off the bike. This was only my 3rd ride on my new Trek TTX SSL and it was great. All I can say is to go check out these bikes if you are looking for a great all around tri-bike.
Once in T2, my feet were FROZEN and I could not get my feet in my shoes….in fact, I could barely control what was going on with my feet. I finally came out onto the run in 5th or 6th and tried to push was hard as I could. I managed to run 16:51 for the 5k, which I was pleased with, considering I don’t do much running over half ironman pace.
I crossed the line in 6th, but less than a minute off of 2nd. Seconds counted today.
Here is what I learned at this race:
#1 - ITU guys can run REALLY fast.
#2 - Transitions are REALLY important. Had I been able to have the speedy transitions that the first few guys did, I would have finished 3rd. Oh well, lesson learned.
Results can be found here
Photo’s can be found here
+++++++++++
I am now training out in Phoenix, Arizona and am in my final preps for Ironman California 70.3 on March 29th and Ironman Arizona on April 13th.
More to come soon,
BB

12:18
:07

GOLFing in the Pool

Posted in Racing, Training, Training Programs, Tips by Blake Becker

GOLFing in the Pool

I am about 5 weeks into my swim block and am making some great progress. I will share some times and number in another week or two, but first I wanted to share a great drill that I have learned and seem results using(in both myself and my athletes).
Over the course of the last 5 weeks I have learned a lot from those that have spent their entire lives in the pool. One “drill” or “game” that I have learned is called GOLF. No, there are no clubs or balls used in this game. It is easy, yet VERY effective. The goal is to swim fast with as few strokes as possible. The sets are usually made up of descending 50’s.
To get your score, you add the number of strokes it took you to complete the 50, to your time. For example, if you swam a 50 with 32 strokes in 40 seconds, your score would be 32 + 40, or 72.
The purpose of this drill is to keep you “long” in your stroke. Most triathletes have a tendency to have a short choppy stroke(especially when swimming fast) and this can be a fun way to work on improving that.
So, the next time you are at the pool, add in a set or two of “4×50 descending GOLF” on 15s rest in to your warm-up. The goal would be to get a lower score for each 50.
Try it, give it some time and let me know what you think.

 

 


12:07
:07

The Friday Night Special

Posted in Athletes, All Women, Team Humor, Tips by Laura Tingle

So, I have a lot of time on my hands now….too much time. All of this time has caused me to do something I generally try to avoid, thinking. While doing some “thinking” today, I decided this blog needs some excitement, especially now that the race reports will be slowing to a trickle. Living in Boulder, I have made some interesting friends, and by interesting, I mean FAST. I decided to post a weekly interview with these interesting folks. To start with, I interviewed Amanda Lovato….

 

LT: Do you ever feel like your athletic accomplishments are overlooked, because people are so focused on your looks? Kinda like how people dont realize that Brad Pitt is a great actor, because they cant see past his super hot bod.

AL: Considering that I raced three ironman races that did not go as I would have hoped this year, I want to be noted for something.  And if that “something” happens to be the VISION ad that I was in or my skimpy SPLISH suits or my apperance at races, I’m ok with that.  Even if my race doesn’t go well, at least people think I look good!

LT: Have you ever been arrested? Feel free to elaborate.

AL: Yep.  I was arrested in June of 1990.  I had just finished my senior year of high school and a bunch of us girls went to “beach week” in Ocean City, MD.  Being 17 years old and “free”, we got ourselves in some trouble.  To make a long story short, I punched someone and got arrested for asault and battery.  If you ever want the full story on how I was booked and how my dad had to drive 3.5 hours to bail me out, call me.

LT: If you had to live your life as a legume, which would you be? (I will save you the time of looking up “legume,” that means a plant of the ‘pod family’, veggies, beans…I know, because I just used dictionary.com)
AL: I think Green Beans are cool.

LT:  If you could put an Ironman race in a new location, where would it be?

AL: I would love to do one in my home state of Maryland.  I think of Maryland as “little America”.  It has mountains and the ocean.  I have often thought of how cool it would be to have an ironman in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The terrain is rolling and not too tough.  The scenery is beautiful. There are great places to swim and I think the community would love to have an event like that.  Maybe I’ll talk to Graham about it….. Eagleman is not a great example of how beautiful Maryland is. 

LT: Would you rather have a pet squirrel, monkey or penguin?

AL: I like my dogs and Frisco (my oversized cat) the best, however, if I have to choose from the above mentioned, I’d like to have a penguin.

LT: Have you ever hit a prairie dog while riding your bike?

AL: Thank god…no!
Although, I do think about the little critters when I have been prairie doggin’ it on a ride/ run…..

LT: Anything else you would like to add? 

AL: Michael and I met at Worlds in Montreal 1999.  We had one wild night and have been together ever since….

LT:Thank you, that is all of the questions I have at this time.

 

 


12:04
:07

More tri & parenting talk..

Posted in Training, Family, All Women, Tips by Rachel Ross

Congrats Kim & Kevin on baby Nora!

Kim, my friend Bree’s only goal going into her first ironman this October was to beat her labor time - maybe that’ll have to be your Hawaii goal this year..
I’m just here to link to Bree’s Blog about training for triathlon as a mom and how it changes things. See it here at breeweehawaii.blogspot.com

koolinabutts.gif

Hawaii moms - Bree Wee, Ingrid Rolles & me



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