Long Rides, Nanna Naps and General Holiday Fare

Oh how I love holidays. No time restrictions on training, gourmet lunches every day, mid afternoon naps. Bliss. I have spent the last few days trying out all my great new Christmas gifts, which include but are not limited to;
Clear riding glasses. I have found that due to the fact that the bug kingdom has a great affinity for my eyeballs, these have become a hideously uncool yet necessary item whilst riding. They work a treat - not only at keeping the bugs out of my eyes but also at making me look like I take myself way too seriously. Check and check.
Spangly white runners with a pink trim that look like cleats. Why not just buy cleats you ask. Because I have enough trouble stopping and not falling over without having my feet bolted to the pedals thank you very much.
I was also spoilt with a fantastic bright yellow 'Livestrong' windbreaker, a beautiful pink lululemon top and lots of other goodies. Lucky lucky lucky.

So how has my own little hell week gone so far? It has been awesome. It didn't get off to the best start - the weather leading up to Christmas wasn't ideal (read: gale force wind and rain) so some alterations had to be made.
Christmas day was a great 10.5km run with my most faithful running partner - my mum. Its our Christmas tradition and thunder, lightning and rain were not going to get in the way.
Boxing day was poor weather again so we opted for riding indoors. I managed 30km on the spin bike in 58mins 30sec followed by a 5min 30sec 1km run.
Today was a 40km road ride. The weather had improved enough to get out on the road and give it a crack. My legs felt pretty tired to begin with and the 30km/hr headwinds up the hills were less than helpful. But, i'm sure Confucious said something about a bad headwind being a good tailwind and indeed he was right. I was able to complete the 40km in 1hr 30mins.
Tally as of day 3 -
Run - 11.5km
Ride - 70km
Swim - 0km
Note to self: Must swim more.


And now on to the food. I made Pumpkin, Alfalfa and Spinach Sushi for lunch and it was absolutely amazing. This recipe is great for detoxing, its gluten free, alkalizing, promotes thyroid health and just what a tired, sore little body needs (along with protein of course).

Pumpkin, Alfalfa and Spinach Sushi

Serves 2 with a protein or 1 as a stand alone meal

1T Tahini
1T Tamari
150g Pumpkin
4 Nori sheets
1 container Alfalfa
Handful of Baby Spinach
Bamboo rolling sheet to roll sushi

Slice the pumpkin into approx 3mm thick slices and place on a baking tray. Cook on 170 degrees for about 25 mins or until cooked through. Set aside to cool.
In a small bowl combine tamari and tahini into a smooth paste and set aside.
Place a nori sheet on the bamboo rolling sheet and spread a teaspoon of tahini mixture in a line horizontally across it. Place 1/4 container of alfalfa on top of the line of tahini mixture. Place spinach and pumpkin on top of alfalfa. You may need to trim pumpkin into strips so that you can neatly place it on the spinach. Fold the nori over and continue to tighten and roll sushi as you roll it up. I brushed the ends with a little water to make sure that the nori softened up and did not split. Use a very sharp knife to cut into 8 pieces. Serve with wasabi if desired.

Keep training hard kids!