Archive for June, 2010
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Two kinds of rookie marks
[I don’t have a reason for putting this up there other than I love this lolcat.]
Today was my first long ride with my road shoes and clipless pedals. I went about 16 miles and my pace was just over 14 mph. I thought I had practiced clipping out of my pedals pretty well, but about halfway through my ride, I had stopped, was already clipped out of my left pedal and was leaning to clip out of my right pedal for some reason … and SPLAT.
Unfortunately Grant’s trail was pretty crowded today so it did not go unnoticed. Some guy asked if I was ok and chuckled a little. I would have, too, since I fell when I was standing still. Oh, the perils of standing.
After I started to ride again, I noticed I had the telltale rookie marks:
I’m pretty sure I got them when my bike fell on me. And while only one person saw me fall, lots of people were aware that I fell, which is the crappy part about rookie marks.
The other side of my leg got the road rash treatment:
Road rash is the new rookie mark.
Other than that humbling experience, it was a good ride and my longest one so far. I’m not quite sure where else to ride in St. Louis – since I did the entire trail (out and back) today and I am going to need somewhere new and longer to go eventually.
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These shoes were made for bikin’
And that’s just what they’ll do.
One of these days these shoes are gonna bike all over you.
You’re looking at my Shimano WR40 SPD-SL and SPD compatible bike shoes. Shoes seem like a slightly unnecessary accessory for biking, considering there were times when I biked barefoot when I was younger. It is slightly unnecessary, but if there is anything I’m learning about biking, it’s that the sport shames you into buying more slightly unnecessary equipment so that you don’t feel so inadequate once you have all the new and fancy and expensive (read: lightest) gear.
The reason why shoes might be slightly necessary is that they clip into the pedals. Without being clipped into your pedal, your propulsion comes from the downstroke of your leg and foot. While clipped into the pedal, you take advantage of that attachment and you propel the bike in your upstroke (while your foot comes up from the ground as you pedal) as well as your downstroke. This means more speed, easier.
This is what the cleat (the part that hooks into the pedal) looks like:
It looks like that robot from Short Circuit looking at you. See those holes in the triangle position surrounding the cleat? Normally those holes are for your typical road bike cleat. The pedal I have is the Shimano SPD type, which is normally for mountain bikes:
But the difference between a mountain bike pedal and cleat system and a road bike system are going to be negligible for me at this point other than an extra $100 or so that I don’t have right now
But seriously, a road bike system is supposed to be lighter and the cleat is much larger which supposedly makes your weight/power distribution better and more efficient. I don’t make these things up, I just repeat them.I had my local bike shop install the pedals this weekend because it was pretty tough getting them off (or so my husband says…). While there, I had them tune the bike up and I got a little emergency tire repair kit and some biking gloves with the fingers cut off because when you bike, you don’t care what you look like as long as you look like the other (road) bikers.
And while I’m at it, I wanted to show you my girl:
It’s a Specialized Dolce from a few years ago. Right now she’s hanging in the garage in the usual spot but I think she may come down for a weekend ride.
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Shampoo, rinse, repeat, shampoo, rinse, repeat
Is it hard to eat coconut at every meal? No, not really — and I’ll show you how!
1. Have yogurt with banana, coconut butter and chia seeds OR peanut butter mixed with coconut butter and chia seeds on toast and for extra bonus points, coconut cream!
2. coconut curry tofu & vegetables for lunch
3. eat cake for dinner (oops?) and then eat a coconut bar.
Repeat until you’re tired of coconut. I’m still on the repeat part. Honestly, in general I don’t eat coconut at every meal but sometimes I do. See above.
What’s not on repeat? My open training calendar. Ok so maybe it never was — in the back of my head I’ve had two races in mind for the fall. First, the Lewis & Clark half marathon on October 3rd which is in St. Charles Missouri. I did it last fall – it was ok – but this year they have pushed it back a month, meaning cooler temps. It also falls on my first anniversary, but I ok’d it with the hubs.
Second, the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis on December 3rd. It’s the only one nearby that’s far enough out for me to properly train. I was looking at a really neat training plan in this issue of Runner’s World yesterday after Monica mentioned it on her blog. I looked at the sixteen week plan and tracked it back and realized that this Sunday is 16 weeks from December 3rd. Um, it’s time to get on the training horse people. The plan is designed to get you in shape for a sub 4:00 marathon. I don’t really want to get under 4:00 considering my 4:45 debut, but I’d like to get to 4:00 even. I blame at least 10 minutes of my 4:45 time on the fact that there was no aid station (read: porta potties) at mile 22. If you’ve ever had to hold it in for 2 miles you know what I mean. The training plan is a little weird compared to the FIRST plan I used earlier this year. For one, it’s more days of running – 5 compared to 3. Second, it’s not nearly as much speedwork — odd since the plan is selling you an improved finish time. I’m sure RW knows what they are doing — but the frequency of workouts and mileage is a different song than what FIRST sings.
Anyway, the one other elusive goal is to complete a sprint triathlon. I’ve been biking almost every weekend lately. Plus, I’ve been researching them (sitting on my butt) and the desire to do one is getting strong. I had a great swim last night — I did just 550 meters in 25 minutes. That’s not fast, but I felt like it wasn’t as hard as it used to be. However, my swimming capability is still not where it needs to be, so the only ones far enough out are indoor — which I guess would be a good thing? So I haven’t decided what I’ll do about that yet.
I haven’t signed up for any races yet, but I’ve got time and coconuts on my side.
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Nuts for coconuts!
Alternatively, cococrazy, white on white, or some other clever title here.
I have been craving coconuts lately. I think it may be the weather, or reminiscing about the copious pina coladas I drank on my honeymoon…
Ok, so I don’t have a picture of me drinking a pina colada in Riviera Maya, but this should do right?
And my point was that I have been craving coconut. Yesterday, I got this guy in the mail:
That would be organic coconut butter. Think peanut butter, but with coconuts. And only coconuts. There is no added sugar, salt, preservatives, etc.
Not having a clue what to do with it this morning, I put it on toast. And topped it with this:
Chia seeds. They look like poppy seeds and have a great nutritional profile:
Nutritional Benefits:
- According to study, Chia possesses the highest percentage of the polyunsaturated fatty acids(linolenic and linoleic) of all crops. Chia seed contain 60% omega 3 fatty acids.
- Good source of B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper.
- The protein content of Chia is higher that other nutritional grains. Unlike other grains, it is a complete protein, meaning that it has the appropriate balance of all essential amino acids. About 19 to 23% of chia seed weight is protein.
- Chia seed is high in fiber, a 15 gm serving of chia seeds will provide 4 to 5 gm of fiber. Our body requires at least 35 gm of fiber a day to stay healthy.
- Chia seed contain boron which is essential for bone health.
- Chia seed is rich in calcium, about 2 oz of chia seeds contains 600 mg of Calcium, as compared to 120 mg for a cup of milk.
- Chia seeds has 2 times more potassium than banana.
- Chia seeds has 3 times more antioxidants than blueberries.
Chia seeds are the new flax seed. They tasted ok – I didn’t really notice them other than making my toast a little crunchy and having to fish them out of my teeth.
The coconut butter? Kinda weird. When it arrived yesterday, the coconut butter was sludgy like a pina colada, which I assume was from the heat from sitting outside my door. This morning, it was as thick as peanut butter. The coconut butter had no sweeteners in it, so it was kinda odd. I think it would be a good complement to things other than toast though.
It didn’t 100% satisfy my coconut craving. When I was at Whole Foods for lunch, I bought this:
Barf. This was not good. Again, good for you – no sugar, sweeteners, added preservatives, etc – literally just water from coconuts. They add sugar to coconut for a reason. It’s kinda weird on its own.
So why don’t I shut up and drink a pina colada?
They are super high in calories and sugar – this article says they are over 600 calories.
Blah, blah, blah.
Oh hell, I think I will go drink one.
About Me
My name is Michelle and I like to write about running, food, and fitness in general. Check out my About Michelle section for more!
