I kicked off my week on Nantucket with the Nantucket Sprint Triathlon. We got in late off the ferry. My mom had a great dinner waiting for us. She made Pizza with fresh vegetables that she roasted (eggplant, peppers, zucchini), a pizza sauce, no cheese on Namaste Foods Gluten Free Pizza Crust (you can find it at Whole Foods). Now I think a lot of gluten free products are junk. Many are filled with corn syrup and lots of additives and chemicals that just aren't healthy. I certainly don't think gluten free equals healthy, especially when it comes to packaged products. However, there are some good ones out there and I think Namaste makes some of the better ones. The crust is very easy to make, just add oil and water. It is made of brown rice and is free of dairy, soy, yeast, gluten and nuts. It is easily digested and a great quick and easy meal. I don't have a picture of the final product since I was ravenous when we got to the house and forgot to take one, but next time we make it, I will post a picture.
The race started at 12:30 due to logistics with road closures.
It was weird being able to sleep in on race morning instead of the usual 4:30 am wake up. I raced with both my brother and sister and my parents came to watch us. The course was fast except for the slow swim. It was low tide at the start which was at Jetties Beach. We had to run in the water/dolphin dive/whatever you thought would get you to shore fastest in the last part of the swim. The bike course went out to Madaket and back and was very fast. The run was out to Steps beach and back. I had about 1/2 mile left to run and all of a sudden the skies opened and torrential downpours started. (think Ironman Lake Placid 2008 kind of rain, but with more thunder and lightning). It was crazy. The roads started to flood, people ran for shelter, some people that were on their bikes pulled over and waited for the rain to stop. As I approached the finish line the timing clock blew over and the actual finish line that was on wheels took off and almost took out several unaware spectators. The storm passed over quickly and only lasted about 20 minutes, but it sure left a big impact and added excitement to the race.
I was very thankful that the roads were closed for the safety of all the athletes.I know there was controversy and some very unhappy people on the island for the road closures, but it truly did make a difference for this awesome event. I whole heartedly thank the residents and police officers for supporting such a great event.
I was Very happy with my race and ended up 1st in my age group (excited to see Robyn Varney on the podium with me!) and 3rd Overall Woman (on race day I was 4th, but a couple days later the results were made official and the top woman did not really win and was 1st by error).
However, the real excitement of the day was 1st when they announced the 20-24 female winners. We are waiting around for my award and we hear "1st place 20-24 Meghan Weiler". My whole family was in shock, we were so excited- jumping up and down and cheering (probably a bit obnoxious too). Meghan hardly trained for the race and just killed it out there. I am trying to convince her to do an Ironman with me, but not having too much luck so far.
Then they were ready to announce the free pair of round trip Jet Blue tickets. Michael was gunning for these tickets and even wore his "I must be butter... because I am on a roll" Splish speedo for the whole race.
Yes, a bit ridiculous, but everyone knew who I was talking about when I was trying to track him down post race. I love the splish bathing suits.. they make getting into the cold water at 6 am workouts a little less painful by adding some fun into it. (www.splish.com) Bill Burnett the race director looked at the results and said "well this is shocking.. wow.. I dont' know if this has happened before- the winner of the Jet Blue tickets did not go to the winner of the race- I hope Michael Weiler is here". Again, the Weiler cheering and jumping and hooting and hollering resumed. As Michael said afterwards- he was more excited than any Elite or Pros would be (yes he beat out the Pros!).
All in all it was a great day and I am grateful that I was able to share it with my whole family.
The rest of my week on Nantucket was full of training and eating some great dinners. One highlight was the local purple cauliflower that I found at Bartlett Farm.
I preheated the oven for 400 degrees. Broke the cauliflower into pieces (here I used the purple and an orange cauliflower), lightly drizzled olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I roasted it for about 35-40 minutes. Delicious.
I have been loving peaches this summer. The picture above also has my peach salad.
Ingredients:
Arugula or Baby Spinach
3 peaches
1/4 cup Raw Pepitas
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons raw honey
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice
sea salt
Cut the peaches into halves and remove pit. Grill peaches face down for about 6 minutes.
To make the dressing, combine the raw honey, olive oil, lemon juice and dash of salt.
Once peaches are done, I like to cut into slices. Combine arugula or baby spinach, pepitas, peaches and toss with the dressing.
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