Here are a few of my favorite things from this week.
Okay, so I'm not Oprah. No, you won't find any of these items magically under your chair after reading this post. I am sorry. If I could afford them all for everyone who wanted them, I would definitely buy them for anyone who wants.
And, surprise, they all relate to triathlon training in some way. In no particular order:
1.) My bike booties. I got there at Bike Nashbar for just $30 and unfortunately had the chance to wear them yesterday for the first time, since it was barely over 35 degrees when I had to head out. I have been avoiding booties out of my usual fear of gear -- I'm not a real biker, I don't need those fancy things. I can't afford them. I won't know how to use them.. blah blah blah blah blah. WORTH EVERY PENNY. Warm, wind proof. Beyond easy to use. Totally self explanatory.
2.) This brilliant cookbook. I admit, I have had it for over a year and barely used it. I purchased it when I ordered another one of my all time favorites, Appetite for Reduction, just so I could get the free shipping. I made three recipes from it this week and they all turned out AMAZING -- coconut tapioca pudding, vegan Feijoada (added in some Kale to this one) and red lentil apricot stew (I put in extra chickpeas of course).
3.) My new physical therapist Dr. Tim Vidale. As some folks know, I recently strained my left calf pretty badly and I finally told myself it was time to go see someone, even if insurance was going to be a pain about it. So I did and I am so happy I did. Dr. Vidale was awesome. He is an athlete himself so really understood immediately my desire to keep training and get ready for my race. Plus, when he was evaluating my range of motion in my ankles he said, "you can really tell you are a runner, most people don't have that kind of foot definition." Needless to say, that made me feel awesome. BUT perhaps the best part of the visit was his tips for me on squats. My squats are TERRIBLE. Really. I can't do them. He showed me a way to do them with the ball against the wall, tucking my butt underneath the ball as I squat down -- was a revolution. Most people probably already knew this exercise, but it was an eye opener for me. OH - and his online booking tool, ZocDocs, gave me a $10 amazon gift card because of the inconvenience of having to reschedule my appointment by one hour. I used this to buy...
4.) The Complete Nutrition Guide for Triathletes - only 30 pages in and already it is exactly what I needed. General biology stuff in easy to understand terms, simple explanations of the carb/protein/fat ratios, NOT anti-vegan like so many of these sports health books seem to be. It's realistic, and deals with both daily nutrition for training and race nutrition - for all distances in general and then broken down help specific to each distance. In my quest to figure out what to eat, I think this is going to be a perfect resource.
Happy Friday all.. here's to an awesome weekend.
Labels: bike, cook, favorite things, gear, nutrition, physical therapy, vegan
