Simple Veggie Curry

Last night I made one of my absolute favorite dishes...vegetable curry.  The beautiful thing about this is how simple it is, plus you get tons of leftovers!

Things you'll need:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 large yellow squash
• 12 oz. cooked chick peas
• 1 large red onion
• Garlic
• Red curry paste or your favorite curry spice blend
• Thai basil or cilantro
• Brown basmati rice
• Bouillon cubes

Start by cooking down some garlic with the red onion (thinly sliced) in some oil (I prefer coconut oil).  After a minute or so throw in enough curry paste to coat the onions.  Note: the more spice you use here will give you a richer curry flavor, so that's your judgement.

Once that has cooked for several minutes the remaining ingredients can be thrown in the pan.  I tend to keep the pieces of produce rather large, but it doesn't really matter.  Just keep them consistent so everything cooks at the same rate.  After you have combined everything and smooth out the coconut milk, top the curry off with water so everything is covered.  Make sure to add one bouillon cube per cup of water added so the flavor doesn't thin out.

Meanwhile, cook whatever you want to top the curry with.  I recommend brown basmati rice or quinoa.  Once the curry sauce has reduced to a thicker consistency and the potatoes are tender it is ready.  Top with chopped basil or cilantro.  Some lemon zest adds a nice touch as well.

Magical Crock Pots

Anyone who says they can't cook is full of shit.  Period.

If you are one of those hopeless kitchen people, the ones who burn everything, can't figure out how to boil water, or are forever attached to grab and go food or salads...get a crock pot!  Seriously.

I generally use mine for making large batches of chili, soups, etc.  They are also a must for keeping large quantities of food up to temp for parties and whatnot.  But, I tried something new (for me) yesterday.  Before I left for work, I put some extra pork shoulder I had from a New Years party in the pot, left it on low, and headed out for work.  Its amazing how something so minimal in terms of ingredients can come out so tasty.  The only things I put on the shoulder were salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne pepper.  By the time I got home the entire apartment smelled of wonderful, succulent pork and it was fall off the bone tender.  This would work with any large cut of meat.

And if you don't eat meat, throw in all of your favorite veggies, some liquid and some seasoning and I'm willing to bet something appetizing will come out of it.  Haven't tried it yet but you can bet your ass I will be soon.  Happy eating!

New year goals and motivation

I cannot believe it is already 2013!  The last month has been a blur of family, holidays, and what naturally comes along with that...tons of junk food.  I felt like Thanksgiving through the New Year was nothing but rich, comfort food and an exorbitant amount of desserts.  While I do love that time of year, my stomach is glad to be over it.

With another new year being well on its way means that everyone is also making resolutions.  I have never been too fond of making resolutions to keep, I have always believed that if you want to change something do it right away.  No need to wait for an arbitrary time to make beneficial changes in your life.  With that said, there is something I am starting to change in my life and it just so happens to be with the start of 2013.  I need to be more proactive about taking responsibility with things I need to get done.  However, this doesn't apply to anything major I am trying to accomplish, just the little things that will make my life much easier and far less stressful.

A great example of this would be getting back to what I was so good at last summer when I was chest deep in Ironman training.  Although I was incredibly busy with work, staying on top of my training and maintaining what little personal life I had; making sure I had food prepared ahead of time and workout gear was in order made everything so much easier.  I know it sounds silly (and like I said, small changes), but I need to get back to doing that.  I am just now coming out of my "off-season" and I'm hoping that these changes will naturally occur.

The biggest thing that is hindering me right now is this damn WI winter!  The days are short, nights are long, and the cold is here to stay.  I absolutely love sleeping, so when I try to get up at 5am for group cycling, it becomes very easy to hit snooze and tell myself I'll go to the night class instead.  This is fine I suppose, but I prefer getting stuff done right away.  This is where the small changes need to take place.  If I know I have my food ready for the day and my bags are packed, I have little else to get ready for the day and getting out the door becomes so much easier, even if it is 5 degrees outside.

Enough of my ramblings...with that I am happy to say I am pumped for this year.  As mentioned in previous posts I am with a new team, Wattie Ink Team Elite, and am very excited about it.  The right column of this blog should now have click-able links for all of our team sponsors.  I have decided I am going to target 3 70.3 distance races this year: Racine 70.3, and the Rev3 WI Dells & Anderson (South Carolina) events.  I will also be racing a lot of shorter stuff as well as some running races.

Lastly, the Packers looked great last week and I hope they keep this momentum going as they take on San Fran this coming Saturday!  Go Pack!

Woodson looked far from old and slow.  He is still a force to be reckoned with!

Read this if you plan to attempt a beer mile...

Note: beer mile was attempted Nov. 22, 2012.  Also, this is not a guide for running a good beer mile.

Here are some general guidelines when attempting to do your first beer mile, in no particular order of importance.  

- DO dress like a fool.  You will look like a fool during your first attempt, why not dress the part?
- DO NOT wear shoes 2 sizes too small for women
- DO NOT run a beer mile after a hard race.  Not trying to play down being a BAMF, just try to avoid any unnecessary injuries.  
- Avoid any kind of crap beer that is ice cold.  This was probably my biggest downfall.  I did not come prepared with the proper brew, so I was stuck with throat numbingly cold MGD.  Highly NOT recommended.
- DO have your race timing friends give you splits for each lap + transition!
- The more effed up the course the better.  We did 4 loops on someone's land, which was largely trail running.  Also resulted in my friend Jordan and I getting lost on 2 of the loops.
- Did I mention to dress like a fool?

Me on the left sporting borrowed shoes and shorts and my amazing wool socks.  Ryan on the right, who also ran a marathon that morning.

I would say my first beer mile was a success.  Things I took away from it are that cold MGD sucks.  And it makes you puke on your 4th lap.  You are immediately drunk afterwards.  Having awesome friends who set up official timing equipment for a beer mile is awesome.  

Although I don't remember my official time (definitely 10+ minutes), I had an awesome first lap.  It was somewhere around 90 sec including the beer.  After that, things went downhill quickly.  I think each beer after loop 1 took around 1 minute because of the cold beer and me just being a terrible cold beer drinker.  The running was not bad at all.  Next time around I will be prepared with shitty warm beer in hand.

#RocktheW 2013!

Quick update...I made the Wattie Ink Elite Team for 2013!!!  More to come on this as I find out more details, but I am incredibly excited to have this opportunity!  Also really excited that fellow Madisonian and friend, Patrick Brady, made it on the team.  The fire burning inside of me lately just turned into a bomb!  Time to get the gears rolling...

Check out Wattie!

Holiday training, Packers loss, and waiting on Wattie!

With deer hunting and Thanksgiving behind me, I am feeling fatter than ever!  Jokes aside, I think the post IM weight is slowly creeping back on, which is something I was expecting.  The holiday season is the perfect time to put back on a little weight, because mid November through the new year is always the time for me to indulge and not feel too bad about enjoying things I would normally feel guilty about imbibing in.

While I think it is important to let my body rest this time of year, I am certainly remaining active, with my eyes set on partaking in activities that I normally don't have time for during peak training.  Right now I am following a very unstructured training schedule.  I swim, bike and run whenever I feel like it (which is pretty much every day) and also take some time to enjoy strength training and yoga.  I also recently ran the Berbee Derby 10k.  I really wanted to crack 37 minutes, but hunting the weekend before (i.e. lots of whiskey and wonderfully unhealthy food) with a combination of forgetting my inhaler lead to a poor race, compared to what I was hoping to run.  I did manage to run in the 38's, but I know my fitness is better than that.

Anyway, I digress.  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PACKERS LAST NIGHT?!?!?!  I was expecting a tough game, but did not expect we would never have a fighting chance.  My beloved Packers looked like they played with no heart.   The (va)Giants absolutely destroyed us.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR WATTIE TEAM ELITE!

I recently applied to be on the elite team Wattie.

I will find out if I am accepted in a couple of weeks, until then I will keep praying and hoping I get onto the team.  The culture is awesome (as well as the kits) and I would love the opportunity to represent the W during my 2013 season.  Hopefully, more to come on that later...

Until then, happy holidays! 

Ironman Wisconsin Part 2 - Race Day!

2000+ athletes taking their positions.  Start to a gorgeous day!

4 AM WAKE UP CALL!!!

Quite honestly, I don't remember what time I woke up.  My alarms (all 4 of them) were set for 4, but I'm pretty sure I was up before then, calmly laying in bed.  By some stroke of luck, I was asleep by 10:30 the night before, which is ridiculous!  I am always a nervous wreck the night before a race, even sprints!  I had my typical pre-race breakfast: steel cut oats w/ PB, banana, honey and some almonds.  I also had some tea to get some caffeine in me.  After one final gear check and grabbing my bottles from the fridge I was out the door and off to the square.

Since it had rained the night before I made sure to double check everything on my bike...brakes, gears, bar tape, shifters.  I did not want a preventable mechanical to ruin my day, so I spent more time than usual on my bike by triple checking everything.  After I taped some gels to my bike and got the tires pumped, the remaining 90 minutes before the start was relaxation time.  This was also the time to take care of pre-race business.  Any triathlete will know what I'm referring to ; )

THE SWIM

Once I knew everything was in order I made my way to the top of the helix for last minute goodbyes and meeting up with fellow athletes.  After getting my wetsuit on halfway, I decided to just get in the water because the wait was killing me.  The plan was to get to the front of the pack halfway between the inside buoy line and the ramp.  I happened to run into Jason Landretti and Mark Werwie out there, which was awesome.

The start of the IMWI swim is unlike anything I have ever been a part of.  Watching it is one thing, being right in the mix is exactly what you expect.   Chaotic.  Exhilarating.  Loud.  Holy crap was it loud!  I couldn't hear myself think...but at this point I don't think you have to.  Your body goes into autopilot as you're practically swimming on top of people.  I've turned into a fairly decent swimmer so holding my own wasn't too much of a problem.  Sighting was good.  I took a fair amount of elbow and foot beatings, but all in all, it wasn't too bad.  I managed to stay with a group for most of the swim which helped on the back end of the  course because it got a little choppy.  I came out of the water right where I wanted to be.  As you get your bearings and run towards the wetsuit strippers, the crowd is deafening!  Wetsuit came off without a hitch and was starting cruising up the helix!  Probably one of the most fun parts of the course : )

Giving Jodi a high five!  She was one of the few people I actually picked out in the crowd.

T1 went without a hitch.  My roommate Sean waited back so he could help out.  I got my socks, glasses, helmet and race number on, and was off!

THE BIKE

My plan was to just stay chill for the first 40 miles of the bike ride.  This was extremely difficult to do because I was getting passed by so many people!  But, I stuck to my plan and told myself I would be seeing most of them around mile 80-100, or on the marathon.  I could write for hours about the bike ride so I'm choosing to go with the notables:  

• The first loop was INSANELY crowded
• I had to pee the entire bike ride; also managed to use the restroom on the move for the first time (wasn't the last either...)
• I had a terrible stomach ache for most of the ride, but my legs felt great!
• The hills had so much energy from the crowds that they felt easy the entire way through
• Riding through Verona festival was a blast!
• Aid stations were awesome
• By mile 110 I was ready to run and get off of my bike  

T2 went smoothly.  I was in and out in a flash, but made a quick pit-stop for sun screen and a much longer pit-stop to urinate once again.  I didn't feel like I was hydrating too much, but maybe I was with the cooler temps on the day.

Headed back downtown on Syene...feeling great!  Also had an amazing group of friends at this point!

MARATHON TIME!

The run.  I cannot say enough about how much I loved this part of the race.  The crowds were amazing, I had friends and family everywhere, and I felt good for nearly the entire 26.2 miles!!!  Part of that is because I seriously busted my ass for this race.  But, I know there was some luck also.  I made a last minute decision to hit the Coke from the very first aid station.  I probably drank about 4-5 oz. of soda every 2 miles, and alternated that with IM Perform and water.  Whenever I felt a cramp I took another salt pill and hit my Powerbar gels every 45 minutes or so.  I think the key is to just go out steady and not overdo it for the first half of the run.  This strategy may not work for everyone, but it sure worked for me this past September.  Also, another Powerbar Team Elite member, Craig, had passed me in the first miles of the run.  He was running strong and I caught a glimpse of him every turn around.  It was awesome motivation to see a fellow teammate out there also having a great day.

I didn't get through that marathon without my fair share of issues.  The bottoms of my feet felt like they were on fire!  Still not sure why, but I wasn't blistering and I knew I could put up with that pain considering everything I had sacrificed to get to that point.  My hamstrings also decided to start cramping up in the final miles which caused me to take a couple stretch breaks, but nothing too terrible.

Running towards Camp Randall on the 2nd loop...starting to feel it at this point.

 I don't want to babble on too much, time to wrap this up.  The highlight of the entire day was obviously crossing that finish line.  But, the build up to that...running around the Capital...not only knowing that I was about to finish a long time goal of mine but that I was well under my goal time, made for a very emotional finish.  I wish I had a split for my last mile because I was flying.  Based on feel alone I know I was running a sub 6:30 pace.  I felt that good!

Headed towards the finish! 

Feeling very exhausted and satisfied post IM!

After crossing I had a bunch of friends there, which was awesome.  Although I felt relatively good, I soon became very cold.  Putting those thermal blankets on is a must!  Once my body calmed down, I devoured everything in sight, got changed and got a massage.  Highly recommend all of those things.  

What better way to finish off my first IM experience?  I got access to the VIP tent at the finish, had food and drink, hung out with good friends and got to watch everyone else finish.  Amazing way to finish the day.   

Here are the numbers:

Swim: 1:04:46
Bike: 5:34:30
Run: 3:38:14
Total: 10:27:51

Very happy with this time, especially considering it was my first attempt at the 140.6 distance.  Next time you see me on the IMWI course will be in September of 2014.  Look out AG 25-29.  I'm coming back with a vengeance!  #Konaorbust!

I also need to add that I couldn't have done this without my coach, Will Smith.  We worked closely throughout the year to make sure everything was on track for this day, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.  Thanks Will!  Check him out at www.triwillsmith.com