Saturdays mean long rides, making soup, and enjoying time with friends

I love Saturday's in the fall ... they are all about long rides, making veggie soup, and enjoying time with friends! Today was just that day ... starting out nice and early for a good 3 hour ride, clean up me and my bike and then into the kitchen for a 3 hour cook-fest (omlettes and veggie soup - no, I did not eat it all in one sitting). Gotta love fall. Don't get me wrong, I love the race season ... but I also love cooking and the fall gives me plenty of time to cook to my hearts content!

Enjoy the colors of fall ...

Yup, you heard it here first! Food, food, and more food. My new nutrition plan includes lots of color - and that is never a bad thing. How many colors can you eat in one day (and no, M&Ms do NOT count)?? Some good colorful options include:
- Veggie soup with bok choi, kidney beans, spinich, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, black beans, collard greens, kale, and zuchinni .... yummy!
- Salads with lots of green, yellow, orange, and red veggies
- Sweet potatoes and yams (a true favorite)
- Pears, apples, kiwis, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, oranges, cranberries, clementines, and pomegranates (I had my first one the other day ... they are very delicious and fun to eat too!)
Do I need to go on?

Enjoy the colors of fall ... and not just the leaves!

Apparently my body disagrees

So my mind was totally ready to be done with 'transition' and move into training mode ... I was getting my plan figured out, had my wish list of races listed for extra motivation, and was getting ready to make the move ....

And yup, you guessed it, i got sick. Tonsillitis none the less. It's a real pain in the neck (literally and figuratively) ... I am so bad at being sick. The thing is I think even though I DNFed at Moab after 12.5 hours, I don't think my body has fully recovered from the flu/cold that I had. So, to teach me a lesson and get me to 'knock it off', well, my tonsils hurt like heck.

I even stayed home from work today. Yup, watched some bad movies, read a book, and layed around in bed feeling sorry for myself .. oh, and drove Fraser nuts. I'm sure he'll be as excited as me when I recover. it was a good call though ... I went to work Tuesday and Wednesday and was totally exhausted when I got home - could barely make myself eat. Now look at me ... I'm even blogging.

The hardest thing for me is to RECOVER and REST. But I am determined. I can do it ... more bad movies, here I come ... I want to be better FAST :)

Race across the sky

Well, that didn't last long ... the transition thing I mean ...

Last weekend we went out with some cycling friends to watch 'Race Across The Sky'. Wow, want to get physched for long races? Want to get physched to do something epic? Want to get physched to train??? Then you NEED to see this!

It's an amazing documentary about the Leadvill 100 race. It's pretty cool. By the time the movie ended I was writing up my trianing plan in my head, ditching the idea of 'transition', and ready to get back on my bike for some serious rides - well, longer ones anyway.

All that said, the honest truth is that I am currently refining my diet - which means I am reading lots of books on how to eat as an athlete. I figure if i am going to race with the pros I should make an attempt to eat like them :). It's been interesting so far. What I am learning is that I should choose more complex carbs (read vegetables that are not potatoes) and that I am not getting enough protein. The potatoe thing makes me sad - as many of you know, potatoes have been my favorite vegetable for a long, long time. The other one that makes me sad is corn on the cob. What can I say? I am in no way a suger or sweets nut .. but I like my carbs. The trick will be just to eat less of them and more of the complex good stuff like spinich.

The other thing I am working on right now is figureing out my training plan for the year, listing out my wish list of races, and figureing out my focus for the 2010 season. Admist this I have become reunited with my love for running, am lifing some weights, and am enjoying some fall riding.

Life is good.