Vineman 70.3 2008: Part II

One week ago this time at 7:50 p.m. I was asleep in my bed (my post-race nap...I woke up at 9 p.m. and fell back asleep at 10 p.m....). I was beginning to feel my muscles attempting to repair themselves, the result of which is soreness (that proceeded to last for 3 full days and POOF! Just like that...on Thursday...no trace of soreness. Rest and stretching probably aided that...). Earlier that evening I was forming my race report in my head, piecing together the day and thinking about what sort of goals I'd achieved, reveling in being done and ready to take a nice, long break from training (by long I mean...5 days).

What a nice break it's been. What a WEEK it's been! It flew by! Went so fast I never had time to blog! What have I done since Vineman?

A) Went to the ocean



B) Cooked (see recipe below): Provencal Corn and zucchini soup with rouille-spread garlic toasts

C) Baked chocolate chip cookies

D) Hiked

E) Went on a cruiser ride out to Sebastopol (a civilized 8 mile ride along a dedicated pathway for bikes and pedestrians) where I sat and drank Belgian ale while thoroughly enjoying mussels and frites along with an SF Chronicle and some nice summer sun (and even had a nice headwind coming back that I pushed right into so that I could feel like I had some decent aerobic activity).

F) Went to a Giants game

G) Went for a 20 minute run with no heart rate monitor, no particular pace and not a care in the world. What do you know - I ENJOYED IT!

H) Pulled out my road bike and realized why riding my tri bike so much over the last few months may have actually weakened me: my road bike is double crank with an 8-speed cassette maxing at 25; my tri bike is also a double but a 10-speed cassette going up to a 27. I rode that road bike...well...everywhere. There was never a hill I couldn't conquer with it...and now I am freaking out about riding it next weekend in the Marin Century. I RODE IT TWO YEARS AGO IN THIS VERY RIDE! WHAT AM I BEING SUCH A BABY ABOUT?!?! I just need to suck it up and shut up and realize that I will probably hurt quite a lot next Saturday. But that's okay. I need a little toughening up right now.

I) Thought about my goals for the next two races and what the rest of 2008 will look like.

Goals for SB Tri and LA Tri:
-Train hard but keep it fun
-Race hard but keep it fun
-Don't care about where I place, what my time is, or how it compares to anybody else. Just RACE HARD AND HAVE FUN!!!!

Goals for rest of 2008:
-Join Empire Runners Club and start running cross country in hopes I might like running a little more AND get faster
-Swim more often and go to an evening workout once/week to get help with my stroke (evening is when they give you more coaching)
-Hike more often (like once every 2 weeks) and explore this amazing beautiful playground I live in
-Yoga more often and learn to meditate better
-Keep trying to find good spinning songs and keep it interesting!

Taking a week post-race to just...chill...and do whatever it was my heart desired to do was really...awesome. I feel so excited to start the week - getting into spinning tomorrow, making a splash at the pool, getting back to my running group...hooray for mental and physical breaks!

Recipe from SF Chronicle Food & Wine Newsletter 2 weeks ago:

Provencal Corn & Zucchini Soup With Rouille-Spread Garlic Toasts

(easy to make but beware of the garlic!! You will have very bad garlic breath! The soup is good by itself but a tad plain; could probably spice it up a bit and not even bother with the rouille if you wanted to avoid fat and garlic...)

Marlena Spieler based the following recipe on the fish soups of Provence, made with vegetables instead of fish. The soup itself has no added herbs, spices or flavors; it comes alive with the rouille, or hot pepper and garlic mayonnaise. The rich rouille has been given a Southwestern flavor with the addition of lots of cumin and cilantro, then spread thickly onto garlic toasts. The toasts grow soft and swollen from the soup, and the rouille swirls about in the broth and vegetables, adding its distinctive character.

INGREDIENTS:
The rouille:
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon ground red chile
1 to 2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
2/3 to 1 cup mayonnaise
3 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
The soup:
1 medium-large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped, + several garlic cloves for rubbing on the toasts
1 tablespoon olive oil, or as needed
3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 small to medium zucchini, diced
Kernels from 2 or 3 ears of corn
1/2 loaf stale French or Italian-type bread, thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS: To make the rouille: Combine the garlic with the ground chile, paprika, cumin and mayonnaise. Stir in the olive oil, adding it slowly, until emulsified. When it is smooth and fluffy, stir in the lemon juice, salt, cayenne and cilantro. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To make the soup: Lightly saute onion and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add diced tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add tomato sauce, broth, zucchini and corn. Bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Lightly toast bread slices until just golden on both sides. Rub each side generously with a cut clove of garlic.

Ladle the hot soup into serving bowls. Spread garlic-rubbed toasts with a generous amount of rouille. Float as many of the toasts in each bowl as will fit.

Serves 4 to 6