Weekend Update

Last weekend @ Mission Trails, riding with Tim & Sarah from AZ

What an interesting weekend....kicked Friday off with the disheartening news that our good friend Justin had a pretty bad road bike accident. He survived, though with some broken bits, and will be back on the bike after he heals. San Diego sends its love, J!

Dan & Justin, the Mann

Also headed up to Rehab United in Carmel Valley to meet some new folks and hear about Team EXCEL. Awesome to finally meet Beth, catch up with James, hear Lesley Paterson give a few words (my new Xterra inspiration) and meet some other awesome folks.

Saturday, Dan and I thought it wise to practice transitions since we hadn't done them, well, ever. Spent the afternoon down at Glorietta Bay with our mountain bikes, timing and video-taping and self-evaluating. It's somewhat easy to remember the first two or three things you want to do but beyond that...got a little fuzzy. I know it'll come in time. We had a nice swim out to the buoy and back (3x) and got to watch Catherine, Victor, Lulu, and Marilee from the Pulse crew hit the one mile swim.

Gear, gear, and more gear

Sunday we had planned on a Tour de Noble with Darryl and some of the STR crew. Since it was Easter, we knew the trail would be fairly empty and the ride group small. We started off with a 30 min trail run (which was great except today I can feel the 15 min rocky descent).

Dan & Darryl descend Extra Credit

It was quite cold at the start but warmed up nicely. Met the ride crew back at the car and got geared up for a long day in the saddle. Liz, Jeneine, Kay, Greg and Scott all came out to sample SD's finest. I will say...Noble kicked my ass today. Every climb felt awkward and the descents were, well...okay. I survived Barney Rubble on the Era and actually had not too many dabs (other than my normal tough spots)...oh, except my walk down Stairway to Hell. Another day...

On regen this week...hope to rest up and recharge.

On the new-product front...scored some half-price Zoot compression socks from Pulse's sale bin :) I've worn them a few times, and I have no complaints so far. We'll see long term what happens. Also, changed over my laces to Yankz...LOVE them!!

Key for easy in/out in transitions. Finally, we picked up Zoot race belts @ REI today....just in time to come home and get our USAT licenses in the mail. Only a few more days until Renegade!

Banana-Coconut Pancakes (Paleo Eats)

Allison shared a Paleo banana pancake recipe with me a few months back, and it's become a staple in our weekly breakfasts (especially on the morning of a big ride). It's super healthy and easy to make. I promise you won't miss the flour. I modified* it a bit from Allison's and added unsweetened coconut to change things up a bit. If you HATE coconut, just omit and double the amount of ground flaxseed.

(*I really don't measure when I'm cooking these, so I'll give you rough equivalents. Honestly, I usually toss in ingredients based on experience and adjust if the batter looks too runny or too thick.)

Ingredients:

4 large ripe bananas

2 eggs + 1 egg white

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

2-3 tbsp ground flaxseed

2-3 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl...

1. Peel the bananas and break into large chunks. Mash banana into a pulp. I use my hands...you can use a masher if you like.

2. Add eggs, protein powder, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.

3. Add in flax and coconut. Usually, I'll start with less and add more if the batter is still too runny. You want a fairly thick batter but not so much that it won't spread on the pan (just like regular pancakes).

4. Meanwhile, heat skillet on medium heat. When warm enough, grease with cooking spray, butter, coconut oil, etc (your choice).

6. I use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to portion out the batter. Cook for a few minutes on one side until you see bubbles forming. Flip and cook a few minutes more.

7. Top with your favorite goodies (we like cashew butter and pumpkin butter). Nom nom nom.

Yields ~20 pancakes.

New Hammer Product Flavor Fails...

I have been using Hammer Nutrition products now for a couple of years with very good success and predictable results. My body tolerates the product quite well, and there are a wide variety of flavors to be had...something for everyone's taste. (disclaimer: the rest of this blog entry has to do with my personal preference and opinion...I suggest you taste the new product for yourself before making a determination...but maybe don't throw down the coinage for the biggest bottle before you try it).

I was beyond excited when Hammer announced it would be releasing a new flavor of Recoverite...chocolate! I could practically hear the angels trumpeting from above. We'd been rocking the Subtle Strawberry flavor for quite a long time (great when mixed with OJ), so I was eager for a change. How would my old faithful Strawberry stack up to the new sexy Chocolate?

What commenced is probably the biggest new product let-down I've experienced in a long time. Sorry Hammer...your Chocolate Recoverite tastes pretty terrible.

Here are some completely scientific ratings (pffft): (scale of 1-5 best)

Flavor: 1

Color: 1

Smell: 1

Dissolvability: 3

Overall drinkability: 2

I noticed that the Chocolate powder smelled weird...not bad or spoiled...just weird. Almost a fruity overtone or something that I can't put my finger on. I mixed the Recoverite as called for on the package...2 scoops in 8-12 oz of water. Usually, if at home, I'll doctor up my Strawberry Recoverite with OJ...but in order to be fair, I went for the straight water approach. (I don't think Strawberry tastes friggin' fantastic either when mixed with water, but it's not bad).

The color was a weak, watery brown. I really had to struggle to smell anything resembling chocolate. And the taste was pretty underwhelming. That same fruity overtone again! But overall, calling this product "Chocolate" flavor was being a tad on the generous side. Did I expect the flavor density of a dark chocolate bar or even chocolate milk? No, I'm realistic enough to know that this is energy food after all. But with Hammer, who puts out some great flavors such as Caffe Latte Perpetuem, it was a let-down. I know the company tends to flavor some of its products on the more "subtle" side of the spectrum (thank goodness), but I think they got this one wrong.

There is one silver lining in all of this: when mixed with Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, it was more tolerable due to a less watery consistency and appearance.

The other highly-anticipated new product flavor was Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gel. The small and unassuming yet flavor-packed huckleberry has been a favorite of ours while dining on huckleberry pancakes at the Lochsa Lodge on the annual rafting trip. And they turned that goodness into a gel flavor? Yeah!!

Well, sort of "yeah!"...Dan brought home a gel packet from REI a couple weeks back. I couldn't wait to taste the Huckleberry flavor. With flavor-dense options such as Tropical, Raspberry, and Apple, I expected big things. Again, though, it was a let-down. The flavor was pretty weak (which I guess is good if you like subtly-flavored gel), and the only thing I kept picturing was jellybeans. Jellybeans?!

I'm not a gel-user and stick to HEED for shorter events, but I've been known to take a gel here and there. I don't think that Huckleberry will be my go-to flavor.

All in all, I am still a Hammer girl...for me, the most important factor is product performance. However, if it doesn't taste good, I'm not going to be spurred to drink all my recovery drink or keep up my nutrition during a race. While I think Hammer has some amazing flavors of products in their line already, I'm of the opinion that they could have done better with these two new offerings.

If you are curious, just try the single-servings before you go all-in and get the monster 80 0z Recoverite bottle or the 16-serve bottle of Hammer Gel :)

Recently...

2010 is all about trying something new...triathlon (or Xterra, to be more specific). Everything has been a learning experience so far...so much to take in!

New bike...2009 Specialized S-works Era: full suspension XC race bike...light, light, light! 22 lbs of carbon goodness...this bike is tricked out. Thanks to The Path in Tustin for hooking a girl up! Words can't even truly explain how much of a difference this bike has made for me!! I went from a 30 lb all-mountain beast to a full-carbon dream bike that climbs like crazy and descends everything I need it to. Amazing bike.

New run gear....Pulse Endurance Sports tri top (our local shop), Zoot shorts (honestly, not a very flattering fit on me), new Brooks Cascadia trail runners (these buggers have grip!).

Ah, the wetsuit. Up until all this tri business, the last time I swam in ernest was probably two decades ago. Yup...it's been tough, but I love it! We've put in 3 open water (Glorietta Bay at Coronado...yes ocean) swims so far. The first was good, second was terrible, and last night was great. My Xterra Vortex3 wetsuit is amazing...warm and flexible in the water. Best part was that when I needed to switch to a smaller size, I just drove up to Mira Mesa and exchanged it. Love it when companies are local!