slingshots

when you fracture the radial neck (forearm bone near the elbow), treatment of the fracture depends on how displaced the bones are. for minimally displaced fractures (as mine currently is), they take a risk and don't cast you. this is because casting this fracture results in stiffness and loss of range of motion in the arm (pronation, supination, flexion, and extension). so, you sling it, be damn careful and hope it doesn't displace. you go see the occupational therapist to work on range of motion, and have weekly x-rays to watch the bones. it's really weird walking around knowing my bone is broken but with no cast.

prognosis after week 1: my range of motion excellent! yahoo! i got big props from the OT. then i went to see the orthopedist for my x-ray and the news not so good. my fracture had displaced a few millimeters. still not surgery-bound, but definitely warning me to chill and basically not move the arm or will have to get pins implanted. sweet. the next x-ray will be on teusday...crossing fingers for the bones to settle.

so they gave me a nasty blue polyester sling at the hospital. and i proceeded straight to the fabric store- time to take matters into my own hands. the blue sling has been relegated to "workout" sling- (i'm allowed to stationary bike)- and i've graduated to these bad ass random slings.

this one is for when i want to go undercover.

pink AND camo. i almost don't want to heal because then i can't wear it.

and this one is becuase i'm pretty sure no one else would ever have (or want, i guess) a bright green corduroy sling.rocks.


the camo has been getting much more air time, so i might work the cord into the mix a little more next week. next up, a training update- lots of trainer, spin, trainer, spin, core, core core, lunge, trainer, spin. i'm going crazy. i am NOT born to be a gym rat.

i miss my vitamin D.

power peanut butter pretzel granola

i've been a little into cereal lately...like 3 bowls-a-day style...it's my crack..this granola has been a recent staple and is evolving over several batches...it's sweet and salty and sort of a mix between cereal and straight up granola. it's especially good with some sliced up bananas or strawberries...in yogurt or milk..i started making my own granola because most of them you find in stores are really high in sugar, oils and other extras. mine is fortified with good fats (flax & PB), protein (from peanut butter and nuts), fiber, and has no added sugar. all you sucralose haters can go ahead and toss in some cane....


power peanut butter pretzel granola

1/2 cup peanuts- rough chopped
4 tbsp. flax seeds
2 tbsp Splenda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt (optional)
3 1/2 cups quaker old fashioned oats
4 tbsp Naturally More Peanut Butter
3/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
2 cups puffed corn (they sell this in plastic bags in the cheapo cereal section)
3/4 cup fiber one
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar Splenda
2 oz. pretzels - crush 'em up a little

heat oven to 325 degrees. mix together oats, flax seeds, salt, peanuts, splenda, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Heat sugar free maple syrup and peanut butter in microwave for 30-45 seconds and stir together. pour over oat mixture but reserve a couple tablespoons for later. mix together and spread evenly over 2 baking/cookie sheets. bake for 15 minute. stir granola. bake for 15-20 more minutes until granola is crispy and just beginning to turn golden. shorten cooking time for chewy granola. mix together pretzels, fiber one, and puffed corn. pour remaining peanut butter/syrup mixture over. add to oven granola and turn off oven after 2 or 3 minutes. let granola sit in oven until it cools/dries. store in airtight containers and enjoy!

Nutritional Info (calculated on thedailyplate.com)
2250 calories in entire recipe (yield= 9+ cups)
125 calories per half cup
nutritional info per half cup serving:
carbs 20.2 grams
fiber 4.2 grams
protein 6.2 grams
fat 4.3 grams
sugars 0.8 grams

a little about my cooking style: i basically take any recipe and think about how i can whole-grain-ify it, lower the sugar, increase omega-3s but lower other fats, eliminate trans fats and anything hydrogenated, or add fiber and taste (hot, spicy, sweet, sour, salty....i dig me some flavor)...other recent favorites have been mediterranean quinoa salad, curried mango quinoa salad, brown rice/turkey stuffed bell peppers, buffalo chicken salad, blue cheese balsamic portobello mushroom salad, turkey chili with fire roasted corn, thai salad rolls, mini egg white fritattas, and healthy french toast...i also have an affinity for sugar substitutes (i heart splenda) and i know this is my nutritional downfall, but i'll take it.

special thanks to taste tester james who helps me fine tune from batch to batch.

a couple firsts

this weekend was interesting. it started out with my first triathlon. i had finally recovered enough from my hip stress fracture to try to complete a race- the san diego triathlon club september club race. this month it was sprint distance in glorietta bay on coronado island. i showed up and i was ready. my plan was to do my best on the swim and the bike and see how i felt on the run. if it hurt, i was not going to push myself at the risk of re-injury....well, the race went well, and by the time i got to the run, there was just one woman ahead of me. i knew that if i held a steady pace, i could pass her and get first! although i was excited, i was still freaked out about running on the concrete, i hadn't tried hard surfaces at all in the past six months. i decided to take it a bit easier on the concrete parts and pick up the pace on softer surfaces...i was able to pass the leading woman and i won my first triathlon!
me and Paul #1 male finisher (and fellow injury recoveree!)


my first medal (in my life- for real!)


me and jen...visor buddies


after the race, we headed to James and Jen's Coronado pad for a soak in the jac....aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh




and later to a Tri Club BBQ at Don's in Carlsbad. We celebrated James' b-day and had some fine wines served by Thomas, the club sommelier

James D (Birthday Boy) and Rachel looking hot


So race day was a blast...my first triathlon was so fun and my leg was none the worse...and the day got EVEN better with a couple glasses of vino...


and its a good thing too because i went out on a bike ride the following day (sunday), had a bad crash, and ended up in the ER with a broken arm (fractured radial neck between elbow and wrist). sweet. 2 broken bones in 6 months. so i'm back on the injury bus...nice...needless to say, i am super bummed, but also i know i should be thankful the crash was nothing worse...mykl (who i rode with) really handled the whole thing expertly and he made sure i was taken care of and got his dad to take us to the hospital.
so my training log will be a little light (NO swimming, biking, running) for weeks, but I'll be able to do a little stationary spinning..any tips to keep my sanity are welcome! (or DVD recommendations for the trainer)
james came to the ER (huge, on charger's sunday no less) and took me home. mostly, i'm glad james helped me to keep it in perspective and remember that it's not the end of my triathlon career (which has thus far lasted one day) and i'm actually super lucky. here's a photo he took on the way home from the ER...hmmm. i look a little mellow...could those be vicodin eyes?


Here are some fun pictures from the weekend. Click the photo to see the album

Tri Club Race, BBQ

triathlon-ish

first, races....until i get to race myself, i'll just write about the rad races my friends are doing...at this point, i should be in the spectator olympics- i've logged some serious triathlon watching hours...i could call it "research" for future races..here's what some friends did this weekend:

*pacific coast triathlon*
i woke up at 4am to head up to the OC for the pacific coast triathlon. i saw some great racing from james, bill, and lots of folks from felipe's breakaway training group including felipe, kirsten, matt g., and paola. the race is a sprint, but the killer views, fun rolling course, sand on the run and steep swim to bike long haul make it interesting for all kinds of racers...this is one i think i'd have a lot of fun with next year!
view from transition down to the swim..

james on the run...


*shane is an ironman*
TCSD friend shane b. complete his first ironman (wisconsin) in 11:32:11 and finished 18th in his AG! this is not only kick ass accomplishment for ANYONE, but especially for a normal, fun TWENTY ONE year old dude...every time i think about what shane just accomplished, i think about how when i was his age, the only thing i spent 11 and half hours doing besides sleeping was recovering from a hangover by sitting around and eating wendy's (junior bacon cheeseburger &frosty!)...shane, you know how to throw down. so impressed.
this is shane..


now, back to me (ha ha)...
*de soto & inside triathlon magazine*
earlier this year, i lucked out: i walked into the De Soto Sport shop to try on some triathlon wetsuits and walked out with a little photo gig- emilio de soto asked me to wear some of their 2008 line and i said heck yes....a couple shoots later, lots of bad pictures, a few good ones and some great new friends at De Soto, some of the stuff is starting to come out..it was pretty uncomfortable at first...hello, bikini shots..it was funny, after they asked me to do it, De Soto wanted me to email a bathing suit shot or anything w/ my whole body before hand and I didn't have any, so this (re: spandex and bikinis) was definitely a first. I figure, in the long run when i'm old and wrinkly I can break out the glamour shots and crack my kids up.
this month, me and Felipe are in this ad- p.63 of Inside Triathlon Magazine (October, 2007) (all photos/graphics) by Chuck Cates)



a bunch of these posters will also be around at the InterBike convention in vegas and probably to dealers as well



more de soto pics...will add to soon.click on photo

some de soto pics

*mitch thrower- me on the "other" side of the lens*
last friday at La Jolla cove, i was catching up with my friend Kate who lives in Boston and went to Vanderbilt University with me. She was nice enough to come down to the cove and chill with me before my evening swim with the Tri Club ("bricking" social plans with worokouts is ALWAYS a nice bonus on the efficiency clock- but i do love Kate and would have skipped a workout for such a rad friend). Anyhow, Mitch Thrower, "Ironmitch" and Triathlete Magazine man, came and asked me to video an interview...He threw the video on his website with a cool credit to me.. check it out- The September 1, 2007 entry...and I promise, he told me to to shake the camera to make it "realistic", i was not drunk filming:

Mitch's Blog

that's it for now. i made my own recipe of healthy power peanut butter pretzel granola (with no added sugar!) this week and am going to post the recipe soon (maybe a recipe of the week)? i do a lot of healthy makeovers of traditional recipes that are fun for fit follks trying to eat real and pack in protein, carbs, fiber, whole grains and taste! Anyhow, the granola is good and so much better for you (will post nutritional info too!) than any granola sugar bomb you can find in the grocery store.

girls in pink can train tough too

a week in workouts 9/3- 9/9



Monday: 4.5 hour endurance ride, 67 miles
Tuesday: Master's swim at Mission Valley YMCA (3200 yds), 30 minute jog on fiesta island (working on that leg, felt the stress fratcure a bit), core/arms 30 minutes
Wednesday: Physical Therapy- 35 minute run on treadmill speeds varying from 5.5 to 8.2, 30 minute spin class, one hour full-body circuit training with core focus
Thursday: Master's swim at Mission Valley YMCA (3000 yds), 1:40 interval/hill ride- 2x up mt. soledad, tempo fiesta island loop and tried to keep the pace up in between soledad + fiesta
Friday: Master's swim at Mission Valley YMCA (3200 yds), 30 minute jog on fiesta island- leg felt okay but still feeling it.
Saturday: TCSD Club ride from Del Mar to Oceanside Harbor and back (40 miles/2hrs15) and 30 minute transition jog on the beach in Del Mar with Jen
Sunday: Bike ride from Dana Point to Carlsbad- 50 miles (3 hrs15 min). I was up watching the Pacific Coast Triathlon in Newport Beach, CA and literally got dropped off on the side of the road on the way back to ride back!


totals:
swim: 9400yds (3hrs 20 min)
bike: 180 miles+ 30 min spin class, (12hrs 10min)
run: 2hrs 5 min
strength/core: 1hr 30 m
TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 19 hrs 5 min

things i need to work on in training next week:
okay...i'm not training for ironman, or anything really, so close to 20 hours may be a little much....i think maybe i should take it easy this coming week. i also need to watch out for ramping up my run too fast, but my Dr. and PT are highly involved and are supporting jogging on soft surfaces every other day for less than 1 hr....i just really need to make sure that I stop training so haphazardly and get a handle on this stuff, i just don't want to take the fun out of just going out and getting to do what I feel like

good things in training this week:
monday way my longest ride to date. Also, in master's on tuesday, I timed myself going hard on 3X100s and made it under 1:30 each time, fastest beng 1:26! I've come a long way since I hopped in the pool in May and inefficiently struggled to make it under 1:55...i'm excited to work even harder on my swim. this was only my second week going to master's and I put in 3 solid sessions. I need to make sure to get back into the ocean next week, but it's COLD...

enough about training..there will be another update today or tomorrow about other triathlon related-ish things going on

A week in workouts 8/27-9/2

SO I didn't keep perfect track, but I know last week was a tough one..I completed:
swim: 2 3000+ sessions at Mission Valley YMCA master's. this was my FIRST time at master's...it was intimidating and i had to just get over it and go...and it was great! kicked my ass, but a good hurt..
also did 1.5miles open water at La Jolla cove on Friday and a mile or so at Fletcher's cove on Sunday..
bike: BIG bike week! 62 miles through pendleton on Monday, about 30 on thursday (brick w. master's that included 2 climbs up mt. soledad and 2 hard fast big loops of fiesta- this is my favorite high intensity bike workout), 60+ on Saturday, I did a big loop with Felipe's Breakaway Training group (http://www.breakaway-training.com/) followed by a nice dip in the pool. Felipe's group is full of rad, fast, great people and this was definitely a tough, great workout for me..
also fit in an 80 minute easy recovery ride up the coast on Sunday...all in all, I think I covered around 175 miles last week...plus a 45 minute spin class
run: physical therapy including a 1 hr "run" in the SwimEx ( jacuzzi size pool where you run w/ current rushing against you for resistance) and total of 40 minutes of treadmill jogging, and a 15 minute jog on the beach while I watched the Triathlon Club of San Diego Aquathlon..so the running is beginning again slowly after 6 LONG months and I'm trying not to rush it, I can still feel the stress fracture when i hit the ground so i know i can't even begin to go full force yet..soon i hope.
strength: slacked a bit this week. did one full hour strength circuit and 2 core sessions..

one reason i've been focusing on the bike is because i'll be doing my first real race on the bike on September 22- the Superfrog Triathlon in Coronado, CA. This is about a half ironman distance and i'm doing a relay with James (swimming) and Nick (running)...two SUPERFAST guys who know how to get it done...i know my bike leg will be a little slow in comparison, but we're just trying to go out and have a good time..Both James (read James' blog at www.va2ca.blogspot.com ) and Nick are sharpening up for bigger races (James is racing Xterra Nationals and World's and Nick is going to 70.3 World Champs in Florida) and I'm just out to get my but kicked..now we just need a good team name...