Timberman 70.3 Race Report

4:30 am came quickly. We wanted to get to transition early, so that we could park right at Ellacoya state park rather than parking at Gunstock or remote lots and shuttling to the start. We did get there early and I ate breakfast and sipped on my yerba mate tea in the car before the sun came up. 

After prepping my transition spot, I had quite a bit of time since the pros went off at 7am and my wave went off at 8am. It was a cold morning and I was happy I had my sweats. I actually wore my hoodie and flip flops until the last moment so I wouldn’t be cold. I was lucky enough to have Joe on the beach with me, so I could hand off my clothes to him.

No matter how many times I have done a half ironman, I still get that feeling when reality sets in of what I am about to embark on. It is 10xs worse for ironman, but I still get it to some degree for a half.

I felt great on the swim, but I was a couple minutes slow based on my goal. I swam it in 34:50. I have been working a lot on my swim and have gotten so much faster, but clearly something went awry. I guess the bigger issue is I can’t figure out what since I felt good and felt like I swam a straight course. I have a long time in the pool ahead of me with Coach Jen to figure it out before Ironman Mont Tremblant. 

The bike has always been my weakest discipline. I have been working a lot on my bike this year. The road conditions weren’t great- lots of potholes and rough areas, but it could have been worse. Since the roads weren’t closed I did find myself in a sketchy situation flying down hill and a car passed me and had to stop due to riders. There wasn’t a shoulder on the road and I had to slam on my brakes- I think my heart rate was the highest of the day at that point as it shot up in fear that I was going to slam in the back of  the car. Other than that, the bike was pretty smooth.

 My goal was to break 3:00 hours on the bike and ended up with a 2:50- I am thrilled about that. All my hard work has paid off and I am hoping this is a good sign that my riding will just continue to get stronger.  

The run was tough- even though I am smiling in almost every picture from the run. It tends to relax my body when I smile. I try to fake myself that I am not feeling uncomfortable.

 I am always happy when I get on my two feet, but I didn’t feel as great as I would have liked. It ended up being quite a hot run and I am always thankful that at IM races they have the cold sponges and towels at the aid stations. They help so much to help cool the body down. And this is coming from someone who loves the heat and can handle heat much better than cold.  I ended up with a 1:51 half marathon- about 5 minutes slower than I would have liked, but hey, I will take it.

Crossing the finish line was especially special since 3x Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington gave me my finishers medal. Not only is she an amazing athlete who keeps breaking her own world records, but she is truly a genuine person. She took the time to congratulate everyone has they came across. It was the highlight of my day.

Overall, I am extremely thrilled with my race. I broke my personal record for my Half Ironman distance with my 5:20:19 finishing time. I placed 9^th in my AG and 336th overall out of the out of 1600-something men and women, which I am extremely happy about. I had an amazing cheer crew and can’t thank Joe (@flinnj3- for doing an amazing job giving race updates via twitter even though he had never tweeted before), Andrea, Katy and Ray (follow ray! @brownie1818) enough for all their support. No one else had a better cheer squad out there.

Thunderstorms rolled in and they closed the course early pulling runners off the roads before they finished.  We got on the road before the thunderstorms hit and I sipped on my chocolate hemp milk mixed with hemp protein on the way home to start the recovery process.

Timberman wrapped up my triathlon racing of the season. I have a LOT of work to do before Ironman Mont Tremblant next year to be able to accomplish what I want to do, but I am excited for the challenge. I have a fun fall ahead of me before the IMMT journey begins...

Now onto ‘cross….

Timberman 70.3 Pre-Race Report/Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

      My last triathlon of the season was this past Sunday- Timberman 70.3 (a 1.2mi swim, 56 mi bike and 13.1 mi run).

No matter how many times I have done a half ironman, I always forget how much it hurts. For some reason I always tend to down play the severity of what I am about to embark on. Although I do take my eating seriously :). I started off Saturday with some pancakes that I made from scratch. I like to eat a fairly big carb loaded, easily digestible breakfast and lunch the day before the race eating most of my calories for breakfast and lunch. I cut down on heavy fiber foods or anything that could possibly cause any GI distress. I made the pancakes by throwing in some ingredients, so I don't have a proper recipe to post.  I was running late on time, so I didn't take the time to write anything down.  I will recreate and post the recipe soon. They were gluten free and vegan and it was a combination of millet flour, sorghum flour, hemp protein powder, baking powder, maple syrup, coconut oil and applesauce. We topped with maple syrup and blueberries- delicious!

Lunch was composed of more easily digested carbs and some fat. I made cilantro lime brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes and avocados. The lovely Sarah Cincotta (@scincotta if you want to follow her!) mentioned that she made cilantro brown rice and inspired me to make my own. I was short on time and I didn't have time to soak my rice. I recently discovered truRoots germinated brown rice. It is already soaked and sprouted, so you don't have to do it to gain all the benefits. This process helps you digest the rice more easily, removes the phytic acid in the rice that blocks the absorption of vitamins and minerals. It also increases the amount of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) a neurotransmitter studies have shown to regulate anxiety, sleep, the immune system, and fat metabolism.

Cilantro Brown Rice:
1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
1 Lime
1 Cup Fresh Cilantro
Sea salt

Cook the brown rice.
Squeeze fresh lime juice (if you really like lime you can do 2 limes).
Stir in fresh cilantro and sea salt.

Cut sweet potato into chunks and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast on 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Cut 1/2 avocado into chunks. I didn't still all together but just lined up the rice, avocado and sweet potato next to each other. You could also add some black beans to this, but I didn't want all that fiber the day before a race.

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS:
Cilantro- a powerful herb
-loaded with phytonutrients
-aids in digestion, prevents intestinal gas and prevents nausea
-Detox- removes heavy metals such as mercury, aluminum and lead from the body
-antioxidant properties
-anti-fungal and anti-septic properties
-immune boosting properties

Sweet Potatoes-
-Rich in beta carotene/vitamin A
-Rich in Vitamin C
-high in potassium

To fully absorb the beta carotene, it is important to eat with some fat. The olive oil and avocados not only taste good, but add function to help with absorption. I talked about the nutrition benefits of avocados in my Cherry Chocolate Pudding Post here.

We headed up to Gilford that afternoon and picked up my number at Gunstock. It was like a ghost town, I guess most people picked up their numbers earlier. It was weird since I am used to athlete village being buzzing.  We racked my bike and headed to where we were staying. I am incredibly grateful to my friend Ray (@brownie1818 on twitter if you want to follow too!) who let us stay at his house. I packed a small bag of ingredients to make a simple dinner at his house (and try not to impose!)- brown rice pasta, olive oil, oregano, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, salt and hemp seeds (very similar- minus the kale to this post). It was extremely easy to make outside my kitchen. We were very lucky to stay so close to the start especially with the 4:30 am wake up call awaiting us.

Purple Cauliflower? Grilled Peach Arugula Salad/ Nantucket Triathlon Recap

Sorry for the late post.. didn't have the pictures and this post just wouldn't be complete with out the image of Michael's speedo!

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.

Brown Rice Pasta with Kale, Shallots and Hemp Seeds

I raced the Mass State Triathlon a couple weeks ago. I was out and about on Saturday and needed something nutritious and quick and easy for dinner. I am peaking for Timberman 70.3 (a half ironman in August) and had a decent day of training on Saturday since I was not tapering for Mass State. I just was making dinner for just myself, so I made a quick pasta dish. I made the dish from everything that I had in the house already. The basil in our garden smelled so good, so I decided to throw some of that in as well. I had heard that a lot of brown rice pasta is mushy and falls apart, so I had stayed away from it in the past. However, I made this meal with Jovial Brown Rice pasta and LOVED it! I cooked it for a couple minutes less than it called for and the consistency was great and it tasted delicious.

Brown Rice Pasta with Kale and Shallots

1 Package of Brown Rice Pasta
1 head of Kale (stripped and torn off of stems)- I used green curly, but any kind will work (Lacinato, green curly or red kale will all work)
2 Shallots (chopped)- you could substitute with onions if you wish
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds
1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)
3 tablespoons Red pepper flakes (add more if you like it spicy)
Salt and pepper to taste

Start boiling water and follow instructions on box on how to cook pasta.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet
Cook chopped Shallots in skillet for about 2 minutes
Strip and rip the kale into pieces and put in skillet cooking for another 3 or so minutes stirring occasionally.
Once pasta is done and drained, combine kale, shallots, hemp seeds, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, remaining olive oil and salt and pepper.

When creating this dish, I didn't want to go out shopping for ingredients since it was getting late and I need to pack, so I created it from everything in my house and garden. I wanted something easily digestible and I wanted to add a "nutrition punch" to it. Kale and hemp are my two of my favorite powerhouse foods. I add kale and hemp to my smoothies and I sometimes sprinkle hemp seeds on my salads too.

Why Kale? I could write forever about kale, but I will stick to the highlights. Kale is quite possibly one of the most nutritious foods around. You are certainly getting the most bang for your buck when eating kale- providing an extraordinary about of nutrients per calorie. A dark leafy cruciferous vegetable, it is high in a plethora of vitamins and minerals and has seriously significant anti-cancerous properties. Many studies have shown anti-cancerous effects. It is anti-inflammatory- the combination of the omega 3s in kale and the very high vitamin K content (which helps regulate our body's inflammation process) helps to fight chronic inflammation as well as oxidative stress. Kale also helps to lower cholesterol.

Why Hemp? Hemp is one of my favorite foods. I like to sprinkle the hemp seeds on salads, add hemp to smoothies and I love using hemp milk. It is another one of my power foods (and no it does not contain THC and not just for hippies!) It is a great source of protein and is loaded with essential fatty acids (EFAs) and omega 3s. Because of its globular protein content, it is much more easily digested than soy and whey and a great replacement for soy and whey in a recovery smoothie. It gives any meal a nutritional punch to nourish your cells, blood, tissues, mitochondria and boosts your immune system and cardiovascular health. It is also a very sustainable plant and naturally needs very few pesticides and no herbicides to flourish. I use the Nutiva brand of hemp seeds.

The next day I had a great race. I figured out that this was my first Olympic distance since 2007! All the long course racing squeezed out any time for Olympic distances. The course was not as flat as I thought. The air temp was in the 90s and the water was warm, but wetsuits were allowed since it was less than 76 degrees. The bike course had 2 good climbs. There was some rough road on a long downhill (last year this is where my dad lost all of his electrolytes and fuel when it bounced out of his bento box), so you do have to be careful. The run was fairly flat with some small rollers. I felt great on the run, running the 10k in 45 minutes. I am a big fan of Honey Stinger Organic Chews. My body digests them well and I run well on them. I was really excited when the announced the new flavors of Lime-ade and Pink Lemonade. I finally picked up some at Marathon Sports in Wellesley before the race. They only had the Lime-ade, so I have yet to try the Pink Lemonade. However, the Lime-ade was great and loved that they added their first naturally caffeinated version to their variety of flavors.I will definitely be picking up some more of these to train and race with.

All in all it was well run I had a Personal Record for that distance with a 2:29 and placed 2nd in my age group. It was announced 3rd at the awards ceremony, but the results were messed up, so my dad called and told me I had moved to second as he was checking out the results the next day.

Next post will be a recap of Nantucket Triathlon- we had a great time and some fun stories.

Cherry Chocolate "Green" Pudding

I love when cherries are in season! They are one of my favorite fruits not only for their sweet tart deliciousness, but for their powerful health benefits as well. I was inspired by the Whole Foods Cherry Recipe contest to create this recipe even though I never entered the contest. This is such a fast, easy recipe and quite decadent way to sneak in some extra greens!!

Chocolate Cherry "Green" Pudding

2 Avocados
3/4 cup Raw (ideally local!) Honey (or Maple Syrup. For completely raw vegan- raw agave or raw vegan sweetener of choice)
1 cup fresh cherries (if cherries are out of season, frozen can be used)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Put all ingredients in a blender (if you don't have a powerful blender like a vitamix or blendtec, a food processor might be better) and blend until smooth. Put in fridge to chill. That is it! Easy!

Some tips:
It is important to make sure that the avocados are not too ripe. If they are overripe, they have a weird taste and you can definitely taste that in the pudding- not good. I have made this mistake before. I have also made this for my grandmother who is quite possibly the pickiest eater I know and she absolutely loved it and had no idea that there were avocados in it.
Raw cacao powder is typically found with other superfoods at whole foods or in your local health food store. It is not typically found in the baking aisle with regular cocoa powder.
Why raw cacao powder?
Raw cacao is unprocessed cacao with lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. There are a lot of health benefits that are lost when chocolate is processed. Chocolate turns unhealthy when all the dairy and sugar is added to a the nutrient stripped processed chocolate. Though a dark chocolate bar is considered beneficial in small amounts, it doesn't even come close to the health benefits of raw cacao. It has high levels of antioxidants like resveratrol and the polyphenols catechin and peicatechin. It contains the feel good neurotransmitter serotonin, the motivation booster neurotransmitter dopamine, and the feeling of bliss neurotransmitter anandamide. In addition, it is high in magnesium, chromium, iron, B vitamins and vitamin A, B and E.
I use Navitas Naturals Raw cacao powder which can be found at Whole Foods or most local health food stores:

Cherries- : I love cherries. They are packed with antioxidant anthocyanins which are responsible for the power anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown that muscle fatigue and pain was reduced in athletes who drank cherry juice. The study suggests that cherries before endurance training and after can help reduce muscle soreness and pain. It is a much better alternative to traditional NSAIDs (Advil, Aleve etc.)! Cherries also may help reduce inflammation in relation to heart disease and arthritis.

Avocados: some people shy away from avocados because of their bad rap for the high fat content, but they truly have a great kind of fat and are a nutrition powerhouse! We need fat in our diet especially good fat coming from plant based whole foods. The good fat content helps with increased nutrient absorption when eaten with other foods. For example, studies have shown significant increased beta-carotene and lycopene absorption (200%+!) when avocados are added to salads. Avocados are also anti-inflammatory due to their diverse cartenoids.In addition avocados are great sources of folate and vitamin E.

Spinach: We all could use some more greens in our diet! Spinach is full of neoxanthin and violaxanthin which are regulators of inflammation making spinach a great anti-inflammatory food. It contains high levels of calcium, vitamin K, vitamin C and E. It is a powerful food for boosting your immune system.

Raw Honey: Raw honey can look funny to those who have never seen it. It looks creamed or sometimes even hard. This is because the honey is in its natural form and unprocessed. Processing honey causes the loss of all the nutritional value packed in honey in its natural state. Raw honey is a natural energy booster, immune system booster, and contains antioxidant and antibacterial properties. I could go on for a while on the benefits of honey, but we will leave it at that for now! I do suggest buying a local raw honey either at a farmers market, a farm or read the label to see where it was made.

The power of Chlorella

I have been experimenting with my own bar recipe. I recently had food allergy tests done because of the issues I was having and found out that I needed to eliminate quite a few things out of my diet. One of the issues is that I have an extremely limited selection on what kind of bars I can eat while I ride my bike. Bars that are vegan and unprocessed typically have almonds. Bars that don't have almonds typically have gluten, or some form of dairy or soy. I had been eating great bars before, but the whole almond thing has really thrown me for a loop. So I am going to have to experiment with making my own recipes. This morning's batch was just okay. It is definitely not developed to the place where I can post the recipe. One of the misses, was that I put in chlorella. While the taste is extremely strong and did not work in the bars, it led me to do a quick refresh on the powerful nutritional benefits of chlorella.

What is it? Chlorella is a single-celled green algae. It is a nutrition powerhouse. It is filled with vitamins and minerals and chlorophyll. In particular, it contains natural B12 which is plentiful in animal foods, but not in plant foods. If you are a vegan, chlorella is a fantastic way to get B12. B12 is important for red blood cell formation, developing nerve cells and metabolizing macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein). Chlorella is great to take after a tough workout. Not only is it a complete protein containing all essential amino acids to speed up recovery, but it also contains chlorella growth factor which speeds up the cell repair and growth. Perfect for muscles broken down after a long training session. It also helps increase good bacteria in the gut to improve digestion. This is a plus for recovery as well since it helps absorb recovery food and all its nutrients much better.
In addition, chlorella has powerful detox properties that help reduce cell damage from free radicals.

When buying chlorella, look for cracked cell. The cell wall needs to be broken for people to digest it. It is important to not to take a processed version or a version with extra fillers. I like the Yaeyama brand.

You can take the tablets with water, or you can blend it into a smoothie. Just be careful not to over do it- the taste is very strong!

Salmon with Leeks and Peas

My mom did the work on this one- we adapted this recipe from a Boston Globe article last week. We adapted it to make it healthier, anti-inflammatory, allergen friendly and a little less labor intensive along. This is one of my favorite recipes - it was so delicious, I can’t wait to make it again!

Salmon with Leeks and Peas
(dairy-free, gluten-free)
Serves 4

10 oz frozen or fresh peas
5 large leeks, trimmed of dark green, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced crosswise
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 pieces (6 oz each) boneless wild organic salmon
Salt and pepper to taste
5 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 package pasta (optional) –I suggest Quinoa or Brown rice pasta so it is not pro-inflammatory and gluten-free.

Method:
1.Rinse peas to defrost if using frozen peas (don’t even need to cook, just start letting them defrost.)
2. Start to boil water if cooking optional pasta.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks, peas, salt and pepper to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes and stir often.
4. As leek mixture is cooking, sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper. Add salmon to skillet with the skin side down and cook for 4 minutes. Turn and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until cooked through.
5. Optional pasta: Depending on type of pasta you chose, cook pasta for indicated time.
6. Add the mushrooms to leek mixture and cook for 5 minutes more continuing to stir. Stir chives and basil into the mixture.
7. Optional- if adding optional pasta, turn off the heat and add cooked pasta to skillet and mix into mixture.
8. Arrange the leeks and peas mixture on the 4 plates and top with salmon.
Enjoy!!

Nutritional Benefits:

Salmon: Why eat wild salmon over farmed salmon? Farmed salmon contains about 10 times more toxins than wild salmon (such as Polychlorinated biphenyls- PCBs) Farmed Salmon are typically raised in fish pens and fed grain (not their natural diet), and given antibiotics since disease can spread quickly in the farm environment. Wild salmon are not given any antibiotics since they are living and eating in their natural environment. Wild salmon have higher levels of critical omega 3s: DHA and EPA. The omega 3s promote normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, improve blood flow, promote health skin, hair, promote optimal brain function and enhance immune function. Salmon is also high in protein, vitamin D and is anti-inflammatory. The majority of salmon is farmed, but it is worth the superior health benefits and extra cost to seek out wild salmon.

Leeks: Leeks are very similar to onions and garlic. They are high in vitamin C, vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, folate, iron, potassium and manganese. They help with stabilizing blood sugar by ensuring the sugar in the body is properly metabolized. Leeks are also antiseptic and anti-inflammatory- great for fighting infection or inflammation.