I really like pancakes, especially on Saturdays after long rides.  Here is the recipe I’ve been making recently which is delicious.  I usually eat the entire batch, but it would also probably be enough for two ”normal” sized servings…

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbls sugar

3 tbls butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Walnuts (optional)

Blueberries (optional)

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl and mix.  Then do the same with the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, making sure to warm the milk up a bit so the butter stays melted.  Pour the wet into the bowl with the dry and stir until all the lumps are removed.  Let the batter sit for a couple of minutes while heating a large pan or skillet to medium-high heat before adding a bit of butter to grease the pan.  Pour batter onto skillet and add walnuts or blueberries to the cakes on the skillet if desired.  Let the pancakes cook until the bubbles on the top are no longer disappearing and then flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side.  Remove from skillet and serve with syrup on top and a glass of milk on the side.   

For all of us in the triathlon world this past weekend saw the start of the Ironman season with Ironman Arizona taking place in Tempe. There were some great performances and my congratulations go to all those that trained and competed in this event especially my TIMEX team mates.
 

However, for those of us in the less tropical climates we are dealing with the changing of the seasons. In Canada this means spring with the NHL playoffs in full swing and at the local level hockey tournaments are the order of the day.
 

This past weekend I participated with some of my employees at the arena in a little hockey tournament. The tournament was set up as 7 people per team including a goalie. The plan was that you could have 1 goalie, 5 skaters and 1 spare. This was a little shift in my Ironman Training having not been on blades for 8 years or more. It gave a whole new meaning to anaerobic training something us distance athletes do not do enough of. Not to worry though, I got in a couple bike rides in between games to loosen up and work out some of the kinks, bumps, bruises and ……….
 

Having not played hockey for a number of years I was pleased to see some of the progressive changes that have taken place. Firstly’ and foremost was the inclusion of women and men on the same team in a tournament sharing all the ice time, responsibility and duties equally. To this end were a couple statements heard from the ladies stating that they “were upset if the guys did not try 100%”. They felt that there should be nothing less than 100% effort on everyone’s behalf thus having a truly competitive game, which was great to hear. The other significant change was the significant amount of alternate beverages after the game rather that the brown bottle staple of years gone by.
 

The tournament involved a series of 5 games including semi finals and a final. I was very happy to make use of my new Spenco insoles in my skates as they gave a whole new meaning to the word comfort as we progressed through the busy weekend. Our team played in the final for first place in our division. We were the highlight game of the day with our final game being tied after regulation at 0. After overtime there was still no score and only during the shoot out was the determination made of who was the best on that particular day when we scored one goal and the other team came up empty.  
 

The weekend was fun and now as time goes spring here will soon be summer. Next weekend I will be back on the bike for those long rides and soon will be culminating the preparations my Ironman in June.
 

Remember, cross training can take on many forms so use it effectively towards your long term goal.
 

Happy training,
 

Bruce “The IronCanuck”