Tomato Avocado Salad and Kona - What a Combo!

The Holy Grail of Triathlon was run over the weekend. Every year I get excited and go on the countdown to Kona - the Ironman of all Ironman. The elite athletes that complete this course in astounding times just about make my head spin. The average people who have full time jobs and kids and have to spend $20K just to get there, as well as the people who are fighting or have fought illness or tend with disability, well, they just make me cry. There is something all inspiring about a human being who has all of the odds against them, staring fear and doubt and impossibility in the face and getting it done anyway. True inspiration.

I managed to get my 5km run time trial done on Thursday. I was right ... it hurt, but on a massive plus side I managed not to go out too fast and completely lose the plot at 3km. I ran 25mins3sec, which is relatively slow, but it's where I'm at and from here I can work accurately on speedwork pacings and well, just getting faster.

I spent the entire weekend working, so got a total of 0 hours training completed. Work life balance ... what is that?

If watching Kona wasn't enough to change your life then never fear, this salad will. This salad was inspired by a great raw chef website, only their version used heirloom tomatoes and required a melon baller and considering that I have worked the last 9 days straight these were things I just didnt have the time or brain power to find, so I mixed it up and made my own version and WOW. My new favourite salad has been found! Don't be put off by the fact that it looks so darn gourmet or that you need to use a food mixer - you could substitute it for a mortar and pestle and this meal can be put together in under 15 minutes. It combines the fresh tastes of tomato with creamy avocado and cheesey parmesan, all whilst being dairy free, raw, high in essential fatty acids, vitamin C, E and B6.

Tomato and Avocado Salad
Serves 1

Salad
1c Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 Avocado, chopped into large chunks
1-2c Mixed salad leaves
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Parmesan
This vegan parmesan cheese

Place cherry tomatoes on serving plate and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. You can use as much or as little as you like, depending on your tastes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Roughly chop the mixed salad leaves and place on serving plate next to tomatoes.

Gently roll the avocado chunks in your parmesan mixture until coated and place on top of tomato. Voila!

I added some lean protein (mini angus burgers) to balance out this meal nutritionally. You could use Chicken or lentils or some grilled fish - whatever takes your fancy.

Until next time...
Train hard, live long and prosper.

Time Trials & Fresh Menu Plans

Did I say Summer was on its way? What I so easily forget after 20+ years of living in Melbourne, is that a run of 3, 4 or even 20 days of seasonal weather in no way indicates that you won't be sent a FREEZING day at any moment. But there is a silver lining in every (rain filled) cloud. Cold weather is terrible for swimming and riding motivation, but cold weather is always great for running. I love putting on lots of layers and heading out for a run in the rain and thankfully that is what the training schedule called for.

I nailed a great endurance/speedwork run on the weekend. It was a format that I had never tried but I found it so much more enjoyable than 400's repeats. I did 5 x 1km run at between 4min30sec/km and 4min55sec/km with 90 second walking breaks in between. I also did 1km warmup and cool down easy jogs. It felt good to do my first speed session of the season and I am planning on doing this session once a week and seeing where it might take me (I am optimistic for Usain Bolt-like territory).

I have been just so lucky over the past few days, to get some help with my training plan from a friend at work. It really is terribly helpful when a workmate has competed in track for Australia at the Olympics. After checking my running form he made some suggestions to try and avoid the general niggles I get in my right leg. We then ran through what my training schedule should look like and he made it clear in no uncertain terms that running should always be quality over quantity. That, quite frankly, is in direct opposition to what I usually do, but I am happy to give his method a go as, well, my method has made me exactly 0sec/km faster since I employed it in marathon training 3 years ago.

We decided that what I really need to do is a current 5km time trial, because my pacing is from a TT I did oh, nearly 2 years ago I think. Or maybe 1 year ago - who even knows?! The problem is that I hate time trials. Time trials hurt. A lot. But seeing as my A race (try and say that without feeling like a tool) will have a 5km run, its really important that I know where I am at so I can get correct pacing for sessions. Boo.

Nutrition wise my diet has been very blah. I have not been organised, I have not had a plan and so what has occurred is an awful lot of avocado sandwiches, sweet muffins, bounce balls and bananas. Thats about it really. It has been a combination of not having ingredients in the house and of being in a food rut. So I did what all good nutritionists do, I sat down and made a menu for the week and it goes a little something like this (thanks run dmc):

Breakfasts
Pina Colada Smoothie
Choc Banana Smoothie

Lunches & Dinners
Asian Chicken Salad - minus the Chicken plus more Edamame
Vegan Mexican Salad bowl
Tomato Salad with 'Mozacado' Balls
Beetroot, Goat Cheese and Lentil Salad
Pumpkin, Olive and Quinoa Salad
Quinoa, Pepita and Tahini Salad

Snacks
Blueberry Banana and Seed Muffins
Apple, Almond and Grape Snacks

... and then I shopped. I will cook up a storm over the next week and post any new recipes. Mmmmmm I am hungry just thinking about it.

Today seems as good as any to time trial - go on, get out there and make yourself nauseous with me, I know you wanna.

The Art of Procrastination

Day 2. Swimming day. Duh na na na. Dn dn dn dn. In case you couldn't understand that, it was the sound of impending doom.

I had 1 aim and 1 aim only for this day. Get. In. The. Water. The plan was to go straight from work to the pool. But then I finished work and decided that I should really have some breakfast. After I had breakfast I reasoned that I would definitely swim more if I just got a wetsuit and could swim at work. So then I researched and priced wetsuits for 2hrs on the internet. Then I reminded myself that I had to swim today, wetsuit or no wetsuit. And then I thought to myself "Emma, everyone always says, don't affirm poor swimming form, get a few lessons". So then I researched female swim coaches in my area. For about an hour. Why female you say? Well for some reason it feels less intimidating to flail around like a drowning cat in front of a girl than a boy. I blame single sex private education.

So that brought me to 11am ... and it was time to head back to work. Shucks. I did, however, enjoy a delicious lunch at work. This little flavor combo was brought to my attention by a lovely co-worker. It covers off all your macro nutrients - including complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and protein. Not to mention zinc, choline, b-vitamins, vitamin E, omega 6 - the list goes on and on. It is easy to cook in bulk on a Sunday and then assemble at work during the week for lunch.

Egg Quinoa Salad

Serves 2

1/4c Quinoa (dry)
1/2tsp Organic vegetable stock
2c Water
1c Baby spinach shredded
1/2 Avocado
4 Boiled Eggs

Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a sieve. Place quinoa, stick and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for approx 10 minutes or until quinoa is soft and cooked through. Drain and set aside. Roughly chop avocado. Peel and roughly chop eggs. Place half of the quinoa on plate and top with baby spinach, 2 eggs, then 1/4 avocado. Season with salt and pepper or fresh chopped spring onions. You can eat this warm or cold.

I mentioned to one of the swimmers at work (who is a swim teacher) that I swim like a cat drowns and she offered to look at my stroke and give me some pointers. Not wanting to scare her off, I didn't point out to her that calling the way I move through the water a 'stroke' was probably going a bit far and agreed to a little swim lesson on Thursday.

After work the water looked Uh-Mazing, but it couldn't fool me, I know its only 13.3 degrees in there. Plus, I had a swim lesson the next day. I needed to get home and rest for crying out loud.

This may look like the most inviting swimming water. It's not. It's freezing.

Though it may appear that my procrastination knows no limits, I have purchased a super cheap wetsuit online and I lined up swim lessons, so eventually, I am confident I will run out of excuses and will just bloody swim ... tomorrow.

Here Comes the Sun

I am sure this won't come as a surprise, but it has been so long since I blogged that I had forgotten my password to login. As if I wasn't returning with my tail between my legs anyways, the wide web of the world had to make a fuss while I tried to sneak back in. Rude.

So spring has sprung! Exciting times for those of you who have been out pounding the pavement and riding into arctic headwinds all Winter. And for everyone else who had a cold weather hiatus - its time to, quite literally, get back on the bike. Mild sunny days are on their way. Spring also means that triathlon fever starts floating in the wind - which may be the reason that I can't stop sneezing ... or maybe its just the pollen count. It's around this time of year that I think
1) I am so pumped for triathlon season
2) Why didn't I actually do the swimming training I had planned for Winter
3) I wish triathlon clothing was looser. They really don't factor in that one may have a tendency to partake in an extra winter casserole or two.

I have put in a lot of slow, miserable kms on the bike this winter and thanks to a foot 'thing', not a lot of run time. Swimming ... what's that? I have swum a grand total of about 300m since March this year and that was because I had to become a qualified lifeguard for work and we did a 200m timed swim, plus a bit of general floundering around. I have, however, managed to do quite a bit of 'Bodyrocking' and Metabolic circuits, which will be beneficial in no way whatsoever for triathlon. Schmeh.
Hence why this week is all about trying to ride a little faster, run a little more and ACTUALLY GET INTO THE POOL.

Yesterday was a great start to my training. I figured I would start off with a run  - the easiest of all disciplines. I had planned 5km with 700m about 30sec above 10km race pace and then 300m gentle pickup x 5. My signature planning style is to make the first run session back a set of about 6 x 400's at 80% ... and then I actually run it as fast as I possibly can and can barely run for a week. You can see why I might be trying to avoid this. I headed out for my run, sans Garmin due to the fact that I had left it at home on the charger, which meant my run was something like this: Run for about 4km or maybe 6km who would really know. Sometimes running fastish, sometimes slowish, but really its all hurting so I have no clue what sort of times I am running. Or distance. The only thing I know for sure is that I went for a run and at this stage, that'll do.

For best result, take Garmin off charger and place on wrist before leaving household.

The Breakfast of Champions who Forget their Garmins (this is an actual category of breakfasts) was porridge with banana, almond spread and almond milk. Served, of course, in a glass jar, because I have found that everything in life tastes better when served in a glass jar that has fruit imprints on it.

Banana and Almond Porridge

Serves 1

1sml Banana finely chopped
1/4c Raw oats
3/4c Water
1T Almond spread
Splash of almond milk

Combine water and oats and cook porridge as normal. Stir in almond spread and banana and add almond milk if required. Serve.



Easy. Simple. Delicious.
Like me.
I kid, I kid.