tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14918702468191285272024-03-05T02:47:22.050-08:00VegpedlrPlants Pedal Me, I Peddle Plantsvegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-17564689780827448642010-08-07T16:35:00.000-07:002010-08-07T17:26:15.380-07:00Race Report: Squaw Mountain Run        How many years have I been trying to do this run? For some reason I could never find it to get registered until this year. Either it never showed up on the calendars that I checked, or web sites, or I would just miss it by a day or a week. I suppose that it is fitting that this year when I have raced so consistently that I would finally get set up vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-41821414483656519802010-08-04T11:17:00.001-07:002010-08-04T21:43:15.139-07:00Summer Potato Salads What’s more summer than potato salad? OK, for most people that would be BBQ, but for us plant powered people, summer means potato salad, fresh corn, and watermelon. If you remove the greasy, fatty, artery clogging dressings that are traditional, what you’re left with is the perfect canvas for nutrient rich plant power. Spuds of all kinds are ideal since they are a whole food in its natural statevegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-26126016813791134302010-08-03T10:44:00.000-07:002010-08-03T10:52:19.589-07:00XTERRA CountdownAfter a tough XTERRA race in Tahoe City in June, it is now time for specific preparation for XTERRA Incline. This means more open water swims in the lake, which appears to be warming up somewhat, course practice on the Flume trail, and maintenance of trail running fitness. My first lake swims immediately after the last race were painful due to the cold water. I couldn't find a comfortable vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-12886323591240939472010-08-02T09:06:00.000-07:002010-08-02T18:15:15.575-07:00TBF Friday Night MTB Racing SeriesWill the Real Sandbagger Please Stand up?I have read that there is a special place in hell for sandbaggers. Of course, I worry a little that in the novice category I might be considered a sandbagger! But I quickly assuage my guilt by reminding myself that outside of a couple of XTERRA triathlons, this series is only the second time I have ever raced a bike. That truly defines a novice, no? So vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-50015795454677218002010-07-05T15:48:00.000-07:002010-07-05T17:04:50.519-07:00Tahoe Trail Run: Run to the Beach 10K Race Report        With no clear information ahead of time, this race was even more of a mystery than most. If I knew the area, as some may have, I would have known what to expect. I expected a fairly flat and fast course, since the only description was a mix of trail and road. Also, since the 5K and 10K courses shared a common route for part of the race, I figured vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-19837003100801893372010-07-03T17:58:00.000-07:002010-08-07T18:01:56.318-07:00Race Report: XTERRA Tahoe City Wow, what a tough but fun race. What went right? Only that it was a lot of fun, especially the bike course. The bike course went through all kinds of singletrack through Sierra meadows, windy, twisty and fun. There some climbs, but nothing too major or demanding, except for the altitude, not like Del Valle with its long granny gear fire roads. What was difficult about this course was the false vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-14507174133297701412010-06-24T21:34:00.000-07:002010-06-24T22:26:17.584-07:00Tahoe City 10K        Never trust Google maps completely. That is the lesson of this race. Also, cross check information. I should have looked at the race website for directions, but since this race director has not always gotten all of the information correct in the past, I went with Google thinking that a state park should be easy pickins’ for the Archiver of the Knownvegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-68321756065056761722010-04-04T15:00:00.001-07:002010-06-24T17:53:08.836-07:00Ist XTERRA!March 28, 2010Granite Bay, Folsom LakeSo, my first ever XTERRA off road triathlon is done. The summary, fun, but hard. Worried about driving time, I got up too early, around 4:30. Thinking it would be about a 2 hour drive, I didn’t realize that going down the hill the whole time made it closer to 1 1/2 hour drive. I didn’t know how big an event it would be, so I wanted to get to registration vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-30590460895120979822010-03-04T21:26:00.000-08:002010-03-04T21:35:34.419-08:00Hero #2 Martina NavratilovaI first heard about her focus on diet many moons ago when reading Robert Haas' book on sports nutrition Eat to Win, which I think may be one of the first books of its kind for a general audience, coming as it did after the fitness boom of the 70s. What made it unique was it focus on quality carbohydrate, rather than protein, and emphasizing low fat eating. It's out of print now, but I found an vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-20863457953915087912010-03-01T12:14:00.000-08:002010-03-04T21:15:38.084-08:00Tuscan Beans and Greens Crockpot CasseroleWhile watching the Food Network with my mother, we saw the beginnings of a great slow cooker dish. While the TV chef used chicken, I saw the potential to make it right: fat free vegan! It makes a great stew that we served on soft polenta, but it could be served with other starches, such as potatoes, or a whole grain pilaf. Or, serve with crusty bread and a green salad.INGREDIENTS:2 cans rinsed, vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-34041887255084112382010-02-25T20:09:00.000-08:002010-02-28T00:53:27.054-08:00Comfort food?A recent post over at Soulveggie on "comfort food" caught my attention enough that not only did I feel the need to comment as I often do for his posts, but to reflect some and write my own thoughts on the matter. My first thought is that all food should be considered comfort food. Right? I mean, if you're hungry and you eat, aren't you comforted? But clearly there is a distinction between being vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-65619028409229646562010-02-22T13:57:00.000-08:002010-02-21T15:40:57.353-08:00Book Review: Indian RunningWhile all the running literary buzz now surrounds Christopher McDougall’s fine book Born to Run, I thought I would go a bit old school and look at this out of print book that covers various threads of the Native American running story. It describes in part the Tarahumara running tradition that has been fascinating in recent years, but also covers some lesser known aspects of Native American vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-79764881616274986022010-02-19T11:14:00.000-08:002010-02-21T14:45:45.683-08:00Shepherd's Pie with Little or No Plan What a discovery! My sister has mentioned the fun of shepherd’s pie for awhile, but I didn’t get it until I tried it myself. Part of the problem was reading five fairly different recipes, but eventually I created an easy one. It still takes a couple of steps because of the mashed potatoes. But we all agree, the mashed potatoes are what make the dish. So the basic game plan was to use vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-75619247124078300142010-02-18T15:33:00.000-08:002010-02-18T22:18:38.324-08:00Hero #1 Rip Esselstyn First in an occasional series of plant based warriors who put the walk to the talk, so to speak, is former pro triathlete and current firefighter Rip Esselstyn. Son of doctor Caldwell Esselstyn who has pioneered heart disease reversal through low fat plant based diet, the whole family walks the walk. In Rip’s case, he also talks a lot. In his new book vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-76216437723984348122010-02-16T12:40:00.001-08:002010-02-16T12:40:38.792-08:00Lent LeftoversBe honest: What happened to your New Year's Resolutions? If you're anything like me, Life is what happened. As in, Life is what happens when you are making other plans. For me, the usual scheduling challenges of final exams and basketball season derailed my January base training goals. Nor did I lose those couple of holiday pounds. Of course that means that my race weight is rather vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-68314718874293616762010-01-19T14:18:00.000-08:002010-01-19T14:27:32.578-08:00LOW Fat is the KeyWhile many in the nutrition field like to pass off low fat eating as another embarrassing 80s trend along the lines of a Sony Walkman with those foam headphones or leg warmers, no one can really argue with the clinical success and scientific research about a diet where 10% of calories come from fat. Some like the Atkins crew, Gary Taubes or even South Beach, FL like to argue that all that low fatvegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-44732616526314550362010-01-18T12:45:00.001-08:002010-01-18T12:45:42.605-08:00Belgian Training Part 2: Monsoon MondayBelgian Training Part 2: Monsoon MondayIf last week I thought all the grey made it like Belgium, this week's forecast calls for a monsoon: heavy rain and high winds all week, mudslide and flood risk, general meteorological mayhem. Well. I guess the gym and indoor trainer are on tap for the week. The gym is fine, I should be working on building more of the strength that I began creating vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-6480122407789435452010-01-09T18:52:00.000-08:002010-01-18T12:56:11.595-08:00Belgian Training BustWhenever the weather in the endurance "off-season" gets murky, I just think of Belgium. The Flemish hardmen are out training in worse weather, what right do I have to complain? Especially since there is no real "off-season" anyway. Now I am supposed to building a base, which means training hours, right? The Belgians are even more intense, they are racing cyclocross in the snow, or preparing vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-70883344346384863132010-01-02T18:26:00.001-08:002010-01-02T18:26:03.272-08:00Evolution or Revolution for New Year'...Evolution or Revolution for New Year's Resolutions?Many times I think that we try the path of revolution for the New Year. As the feasting wears off and we think of what didn't get accomplished in the previous year, we set truly ambitious goals. It's like we are trying the personal equivalent of storming the Bastille. If any aristocrats of our old habits are found, off with vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-2405805705031397882010-01-02T13:46:00.000-08:002010-01-18T12:58:18.687-08:00Pressure Cooker ParanoiaLike many people, I have an irrational fear of pressure cookers. I have long read of their advantages, especially for vegetarians who like bean dishes. Speeding up the bean cooking process would be fantastic as I already like to cook from dry beans whenever possible for better flavor. So I received a pressure cooker as a a gift and I was so excited that I ... left it unused. I especially vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-9875532011342971532010-01-01T23:33:00.000-08:002010-01-02T13:21:11.088-08:00New Year's Day CrashSo while the purported 60,000 New Year's Eve partiers slept of there new decade enthusiasm, we continued our recent tradition of skiing on New Year's Day. The blackout period of our season passes has ended, and the hill is not crowded. Time to make some turns! For my niece, Gabrielle, this is probably her favorite thing in the world: skiing with her uncle and grandpa and especially her dad. vegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1491870246819128527.post-11773149271376215312009-12-26T22:20:00.000-08:002009-12-29T22:07:30.230-08:00InitiationSo, the initiation commences. This is the training blog: a place to record workouts, events, thoughts, and hopefully stunningly perceptive insights into human performance. But today was really none of those things. Props to the fact that I awoke when I said I would ( 6AM) and made it to the gym according to plan. A little later than hoped for though, because I needed the obligatory cup of teavegpedlrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14289018541560866762noreply@blogger.com0