Eat. Tri. Venture.

So the last couple of weeks have really been a great blend for all three.  Let’s start with the tri part.  This week’s recovery wraps up my second block of interval-focused training.  I’ve been working on run drill intervals at 5k pace, painful, long, broken sets of 2000 in the pool, also painful, and a mountain bike race, time trial test and more intervals on the bike.  The time trial test was a bit of a fail as I was just absolutely burned out from the race and intervals I had done a few days earlier.  But in addition to the threshold work, I completed a nice, long run, where I felt strong, even though I have not been running as many miles recently, and several long mountain bike rides.  It’s nice that summer finally appears to be here and the trails are drying out.  That being said, I’m enjoying every minute of my recovery week. 

Eat.  I have managed to stay on track for the most part, even while traveling last weekend to Asheville, NC.  Asheville is well-known for its progressive, local food scene and I was not disappointed.  Our local tour guides took us to several restaurants which catered to all dietary considerations including vegetarian, dairy and gluten free.  Besides enjoying some great local grub, I got ideas for some new recipes to try at home. 

Venture.  JMac and I ventured to several new areas over the weekend.  First, we checked out the mountain bike trails at Mountwood Park in West Virginia on our drive down to North Carolina.  http://www.mountwoodpark.org/Biking_trails.html   While we only had a chance to ride a small part of the thirty mile system, the trails were in good shape, well-marked and fun.  The park itself was very nice as well.  After riding, we enjoyed a picnic lunch there before getting back on the road.  Being only ten minutes off of interstate 77, we definitely plan on going back there again either as a getaway weekend or on our next trip down south.  We next ventured to more new and not so new trails at Bent Creek in Asheville.  http://www.mtbikewnc.com/trailheads/pisgah-national-forest/pisgah-ranger-district/bent-creek/   I had ridden there several years ago on my last visit to the area.  My recollection of my introductory ride there was long, painful, uphill gravel grinding followed by long, sometimes scary downhills.  It’s amazing what a couple of additional years on the mountain bike will do.  Nothing could be farther from the truth than my memory of yore.  While you do utilize a gravel park road to connect the various trails, the climbing was a lot less painful than I remembered.  And the downhills?  So fun.  So. Much. Fun.  There were wide, sweeping, banked turns, allyoops, and on the trails we rode, very few obstacles to navigate.  The trails at Bent Creek were a blast.  I am so very jealous of the folks in Asheville who have access to such a great system right outside their door. 

So…What’s going on with training?  This week has been the second week in a block my coach is terming VO2.  We have added some intervals and upped the intensity.  Due to a late season snowstorm (!), the first track workout of the season on Tuesday had to be moved to the treadmill.  But it was done easily enough inside, alternating thirty seconds of 10k pacing with thirty seconds of recovery.  Wednesday was one mile repeats at a max but steady effort on the bike.  Swimming has been long broken sets of a mile plus, followed by shorter intervals.  On tap for the weekend is a brick, consisting of a road ride for endurance followed by a forty minute run.  And Sunday!  I am so excited.  Sunday is the first mountain bike ride of the season.  JMac and I are driving down to Mohican to ride the twenty-four mile loop.  Although I have ridden most portions of the trail at some point or another, this will be my first attempt at connecting all of the pieces together.  It’s not supposed to rain between now and then so the trails should have a chance to dry out. 

As training, or life in general, picks up, the one pot meal can be a valuable tool in your dinner arsenal.  There are endless options for veggies, protein and a side dish.  And, it comes together in one pot, eliminating extraneous dirty dishes.  You can throw in pretty much any vegetables you have on hand.  Here is my recipe, if you can call it that, for Easy Peasy Mexican One Pot.  I made this on Wednesday, after one mile bike repeats, and it hit the spot of being filling but still clean.

Easy Peasy Mexican One Pot (Vegan)

1 red onion, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced or a few slices of roasted red pepper, from a jar (I used Trader Joe’s roasted red pepper)

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

Olive oil

Cumin

Protein (tofu or Beyond Meat, cut into ½” pieces or tempeh, crumbled)

Jar of your favorite minimally processed salsa

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2-3 sweet potatoes, depending on size

Rinse the sweet potatoes and cook them in the microwave on your potato setting.

Heat about 1 tsp of olive oil in a deep skillet.  Cook the onions, pepper and garlic on medium-high heat until softened and starting to turn brown.  (If using roasted pepper, add the pepper a little later, after the onion and garlic have started to soften).   Sprinkle with ½ tsp-ish of cumin.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add the beans and protein.  Stir.  Add about ½ a jar of salsa or to taste.  Stir and heat everything through. 

Scoop out the baked sweet potato into an individual bowl. Serve the One Pot over the mashed sweet potato.  Add a salad trough et voila!  Dinner is served. 

Have a great week.  Fuel yourself for life, eat real food!