My New Obsession

Okay, so I've decided that I LOVE these drinks. I find myself looking for them everywhere:


I first stumbled upon them at Whole Foods in Monterey a few months ago with Brian. Shortly after that I saw them featured in a magazine article (not sure which one), but I'm hooked. Wishing they were easier to find, though I am relieved that Safeway now carries them! Anyway, there's my shameless advertisement for IZZE Sparkling Juices. Just don't blame me if you get addicted too!

Good Eats

Okay, so I'll admit it - I have an unnatural addiction to watching the Food Network. Last night, Brian and I were watching Good Eats with Alton Brown, who is hilarious by the way, and he was dissecting nutritional treats in this episode. Needless to say, we were a captive audience! It was actually kind of funny because we've made "power bars" before and lately, Brian has been experimenting with alternative ways of making rice krispy treats. We're both a little eager to try these three recipes out now and I, personally, was very happy to see Alton Brown explaining to the masses why certain oils and high fructose corn syrup are bad for them! I just made me think of how unaware most people are. I look back and think of how I thought I was doing good, but realize now that most people really, really do not realize the extent of the problem.

Brian and I have this conspiracy theory that the way that our economy is structured contributes to the problem. Think about it, all the big companies like Nabisco or General Mills, their goal is to keep their costs down to get the most for their buck, to keep the shelf life of food long to minimize loss & maximize profits and to keep up the marketing of the products to appeal to the masses. Good example of this is Cheerios. Surely they are healthy right? WRONG. One of the primary ingredients is high fructose corn syrup and they add all kinds of chemicals which are passed off as "vitamins and minerals." Same for Rice Krispies. It's scary really.

Even I'm becoming more astonished at the lengths these companies are willing to go to. Take McDonald's - they were the subject of Morgan Spurlock's movie Super Size Me. Shortly after that movie hit the masses, McDonalds added apple slices and fruit parfaits to the menu and salads - *shocking*, I know - and now they are catering their advertising toward the healthier choices that can be found. On a whim, I used their Bag-a-McMeal interactive tool to determine the nutritional content of something that should be a healthy choice. I chose the Cobb Salad with Grilled Chicken, which should be okay for you, but I'm curious so I also add the Newman's Own Cobb Dressing which, although it's a little high in salt, meets with our higher standards. I also add a small sized ice tea, don't add any sugar, figuring this is the most healthy choice of beverage aside from water for my imaginary lunch. I then hit that little button to get the nutritional content. All I have to say is Holy COW. I should not be surprised yet, I am. The entire meal packs 410 Calories, which is okay, but it contains 20 grams of fat, 31% of the recommended daily value ("RDV"), 11 grams of which are attributed to the salad, 5 grams of which is saturated fats. 150mg of Cholesterol (52% of RDV) *wow* and 1570mg of sodium, 65% of the RDV, 1120 of which is attributed to the salad alone, with no dressing on it. At this point all I'm thinking is: "WHAT?!?!" I notice a little plus sign next to the salad, so I click on it and it reveals an ingredient list for the salad: grilled chicken, salad mix, grape tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, diced egg, bacon bits and liquid margarine. Liquid Margarine?!?!? Scary part? Nothing but zeros next to that liquid margarine. WOW. I'm guessing that the chicken is grilled and the bacon is cooked with the liquid margarine, but who knows. I, of course, take the moment to click on more details and FINALLY get an ingredient list. Of course, the liquid margarine is TRANSFAT and they've managed to pass that along to you in a salad, not to mention all the preservatives the chicken has in it. Needless to say, the rest of the ingredients seem fine, since it really is hard to make lettuce or tomatoes worse for you. The blue cheese, which naturally has some sodium, is even okay in moderation, however, buyer beware that the Newman's Own dressing has High Fructose Corn Syrup as a main ingredient. But this salad is part of the high salt, high cholesterol problem that fast food restaurants are creating for our country.

Just think, the average person eats out several to multiple times per week on this high salt, high fat, high cholesterol diet. Over time, they slowly gain weight, probably even if they bother to get cardiovascular exercise. Now, think about this, they get sick from time to time, they develop high blood pressure or high cholestorol and require medication for it. Who's paying for that? The answer? We are all paying for it. With our health insurance premiums, our Social Security contributions, our state, local and federal taxes, our donations to the American Heart Association for research. All I have to say is DUH. The answer starts and ends with our mentality that everything needs to be quick, convenient and, most of all, cheap. We are a nation of people who are slowly eating ourselves to death and, slowly, bringing the rest of the world down with us! I'm beginning to wonder if this will be our legacy in world history - Britain and France were the super powers known for colonization and I think we're going to be known as the super power that fed everyone to death.

People, including family members, think Brian and I are fanatic. We are - we're fanatic about filling our body with real food. You'd be amazed at how much better you feel and look. I haven't been sick in the last two years I changed my diet and I have yet to even go to a doctor for a non-routine checkup this year. That speaks volumes in my humble opinion.

Okay, stepping off the soap box for now, but I recommend giving the matter some thought or, at the very least, tuning in to the Food Network to drool over REAL food. We make everything from scratch now - mmmmmm......and we're loving every minute of it!

The sloooooowwwww burn....out.

Okay, so its starting to seem like we're both hitting our mid-year lag right about now. All kinds of parties, weddings, graduations, races, nice weather, longer days....so tired. I know personally that I don't even really feel like I sleep anymore because I wake up and feel like I just closed my eyes! Brian seems to be pretty tired too. Two burned out people = lots of interesting discussions, arguments and more time together than usual! No complaints from me really, but I've developed a new term I think I should trademark - "PRS" instead of "PMS". PRS shall be defined as the months, weeks or days leading up to the next race for my husband. I was joking with Brian today that he had PRS - he's moody, crabby, tired and generally a pain in the _____. But now that I read that statement in black and white, I think that this is a usual state of existence for him. I'm just finding myself trying really hard not to laugh at him mid-meltdown or, some days, I'm fighting the urge not to kick his bike over in the garage! :) So that's my story for the moment...I'm too tired to think anymore for today. I think I'll go lay down and close my eyes and let another day to begin....

24 and no, I'm not talking about that TV show

Okay, so 24 Hours has come and passed. The race that is. And granted, it is only the first 24 Hour race of the year, but it has come and gone. Survived it, yes. Happy with results? Not at all. Brian had a tough time this year. There are several hard spots in an endurance event like this and they seem to make or break you for the race. After several weeks of strategizing and figuring out a new game plan for these types of events, Brian decided to test our theories at the 12 Hours of Weaverville event last Saturday.

First and foremost, I must say that Weaverville was beautiful. Reminded me a lot of my hometown Placerville, before it became a suburb of Sacramento. I was most impressed by the local grocery store, Top's Super Foods, which surprisingly catered to our healthy, organic eating lifestyle that is on par with Whole Foods. Go figure right? 300+ miles from the closest airport, an hour from a large city and here you find a haven for healthy lifestyles. I think my problem is going to be convincing Brian not to pack up and move there!

For me, the race was nice, though at times, I found it to be a little cold for my liking. Scarlet fared well and was, as usual, an attention getter. She seemed to like playing in the muddy grass best and took to running up to rather large dogs in hopes that they would play with her. All in all, the people were really nice and I was happy I got to read an entire book, two magazines and I learned how to clean & grease Brian's chain for him. It was relaxing and I'd happily return to any races that Brian wants to go to there. Here are some pictures of our day:









The race ended up quite well for Brian - he finished the race strong, well nourished and ready to train the next day! He received first place in his category of Expert, finishing ten laps in 12 hours and he was second overall by mere minutes to a two-man team with the same number of laps. Quite impressive to me, especially considering he's training hard, he didn't taper and he's never been riding in that area before!

Now that he's redeemed himself and gotten down his endurance race strategy, I feel more confident that he'll see some success in his remaining two 24 Hour events this year in Wisconsin and Georgia. I am definitely looking forward to more racing, more reading and more travel!

Before I depart this time, I would like to tell our funny story from the weekend. Usually, you put the two of us in a car together for a long time and something entertaining happens. Well this weekend was no exception. For the first time since we met, Brian got pulled over by the Highway Patrol. This time, even I didn't see him coming! We were rushing through Weaverville looking for Trinity High School the night before the race, trying to pick up his race packet. Well, of course, we were going 45 in a 30 mph zone. Oops. Brian was apologetic and was fortunate to get a nice officer who let him go with a warning. My two cents? I think the cute little puppy wagging her tail was what got him off! ;) We laughed about it and let out a collective sigh of relief. Of course, Brian promptly sped all the way back home from the race! I'm convinced that he's lucky - maybe I should get him to buy some lottery tickets........

The dreaded countdown to the "A Race" has started.

Okay, so it's all fine and good when you're out there on race day cheering on your beloved athlete. However, there is a price to be paid. *sigh*

In my case, this phase of "training" usually begins about two weeks out from the race and intensifies as the time draws nearer to the starting gun. It even has a special name - the "taper" to the race. To me, it usually means an increase in stress, a decrease in sleep and the loss of the sane alter ego of my husband. Allow me to elaborate. And, I promise, I do have a point to make.

The weekend before a race such as 24 Hours of Adrenaline, which begins on Saturday at 10 a.m., usually is composed of lots of list making, errand running and thinking out loud. All on the part of my husband. I'm just the unwilling hostage, who really wants to help get to the end goal, despite the personal torture this usually inflicts upon me! Take yesterday for example - the day of last minute errands. Slight clarification - the last of the last minute errands that Brian will attempt and complete, but by no means the end for me. My apologies, I digress. On Sunday morning, I got up early to take a normal weekend morning walk with Scarlet and get some of my own chores accomplished. Brian called me around 9:30 or so to let me know he had just finished his swim and was ready to go ride his bike for a while. We agreed to meet at 12:30 at the parking lot where his car would be. No problem. Right? Nope. Wrong.

I take my time, knowing full well that it was a beautiful, uncharacteristically nice day and arrive at 12:30, on time. Which, as many would say, was quite shocking and it was on the weekend nonetheless. I get out of my car, take a short walk to check out the wildflowers. I then curse myself for forgetting my camera. Darn it. Time slowly passes. Twenty minutes creep by and I call my sister, Katie, to chat while I wait. Finally, over a half an hour late Brian finally shows up. At this point, I should affectionately refer to him as the lobster, but I will restrain myself for the time being. Of course, as I've already suspected, we are living in Brian-land. This happy place, *insert sarcastic smile*, that we always seem to arrive at about a week or so before the race. A place where Brian's alter ego magically appears and normal, sane, usually levelheaded Brian turns into a crazed athlete on a mission - to boldly prepare for a race that no man has conquered before. Oh wait, he has, he's just got tunnel vision for now. I try to remain calm, but I noticed yesterday, for the first time I might add, I began to resist the madness. The constant reassuring, the trying to reason with him. *SIGH* Nothing works like it used to! It's all strategy, all about the race - what to eat, how long each lap will be, how hard to push it. I listen and sympathize and do my best to reason. But sometimes, it just isn't going to work!

So we run errands - pick up the new blur (I'm sorry, the new family member - haha), buy new race shirts, buy organic food (totally overpriced in my humble opinion - we should get a tax break for our lifestyle choices, but that's another subject for another day), buy sunblock and coke and batteries.....the list is unending and all about the race. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and I love to cheer him on and I support him 150%, but the six hours spent running race related errands, arguing about whether or not to pick up the sandwiches from Nob Hill on Friday night or Saturday morning, just stresses me out. Since determining that stress affects my body so hard, I've really begun to notice my triggers. This, unfortunately, seems to be one of them. My TMJ is really bothering me and my stomach is a little rumbly. yay. Minute little comforts to me this weekend take a back seat to the race and I have another long, cold, lonely, sleepless race weekend to look forward to. yay. The only reward is to see Brian achieve his goal - it makes me so proud to support him. I guess my trouble is finding a way to cope with being the indispensable right hand help to the focused endurance athlete. I work so hard to be supportive and loving, however, I sometimes question if I really handle this race week preparation correctly.

Is it wrong to be upset when he intentionally sunburns himself the weekend before? I think so - what good is all this time, money and effort, just to end up with skin cancer in five years? And what about all of the tossing and turning on his part cause he's on fire?! Is it wrong to state an opinion about when I [emphasis on "I" here] want to go pick up sandwiches for the race? That's the point though, I think the hours upon hours of training all add up to lots and lots of mental strategizing and planning that can't be reasoned with! So I succomb to the planning. I think my strategy going forward will be "yes dear" from now on. It doesn't suit me per se, however, I think I can grow from it. I take comfort in knowing that no matter what, I am a critical part of his race and part of his own little recipe for race success. I believe that he has a mountain of potential that he's only begun to climb. So I'll be there on Saturday - mixing sports drinks, offering words of support, tracking lap times, taking pictures, checking out his competition, giving him a kiss & telling him to get a move on and, most importantly, trying to stay warm!

The funny thing is that our cat Nala summed up for me yesterday morning what I have so grossly understated about this race here tonight:

LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY!

The War Against....Food?

That's right, the war in our home begins and ends with food. For Brian, the battle began before our paths crossed. He was overweight and sought to improve his health. He read Body for Life by Bill Phillips and that became his way of life. When we met, he was training to run a marathon and would run most days for an hour to an hour and half. The more important thing Brian did was to eat as well as he could. At that point, it was excellent to most people's standards - lots of fruits and veggies - low in fat and not a lot of junk food. At that point, Brian still liked to indulge from time to time by ordering a pizza or going out to dinner or getting a sundae at McDonald's or even by grabbing a big tub of popcorn and a soda at the movies. I think he'd keel over and DIE today if forced to any of those alternatives, except of course, for the movies. (I think that's the last hold out for him....at least for now!)

Over time, as he's increased his training and as he's achieved goals and set new ones, he's slowly begun a war against food. I believe the first victim was transfat, which appears in most processed foods. I couldn't tell you when or where, only that it most likely came to him in his relentless online research into improving his training. I was instructed to not buy food with partially hydrogenated fats. Okay, seems like an easy task. But then you discover all those snacky foods and cereals you've grown to love have it. Oreos. Cheezits. Doritos. Even Saltines. WOW. It was, at first, a tough transition. It's simple enough not to buy it anymore, but to overcome that craving for a cheezit when it's in a bowl at a party? The self control and will power is difficult. But it's really only difficult at first I learned. Over time, I found that those momentary occasions where you want just a couple bites to satisfy the craving....they were great in your mouth, then you can feel your body's difficulty in digesting them. You feel sluggish. Your stomach is definitely upset. So you learn that the craving isn't worth the consequence. It's much easier for me to skip those momentary cravings now. It isn't always easy, but give me a break - undoing twenty plus years of bad habits is awfully difficult!

So a few weeks ago, I was to this point - feeling pretty good that I'm cautious and careful about my food choices and my body is healthier than ever for it. The catch you might ask? The next battle has been decided. Can I cry here?! The next battle will be against high fructose corn syrup. No more Rice Krispies :( No more Rice Krispie Treats?? :(

So the moral of this story for me is that where I thought there would be some calm on the battlefield - there is only another battle in store. I'm learning, I'm healthier, but some days - what I wouldn't give for a krispy kreme doughnut or a deep fried burrito! I can't even imagine what else we can cut out of our food, but I've learned that there will most likely always be a new enemy on the battlefield....

Mud Fest 2006 (formally referred to as the Sea Otter Classic)

So last weekend was three big race for Brian at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca, California. It was local and, consequently, it was for bragging rights amongst friends! LOL All-in-all it was a good weekend of races and by far it was the best expo of booths I've seen at a race yet. The downside? MUD. Lots and lots of mud. And not just any mud - fine beach sand mixed with five weeks of rain. ugh. At one point the announcer likened it to peanut butter. Mmmmm.......yummy. This mud was accompanied, of course, by a cold, slow, steady sprinkle. For 5+ hours. Not exactly great for the athletes (or their bikes), but definitely not great weather if you're a spectator like me.

In the end, Brian was disappointed that he wasn't able to win a yellow jersey. When races turn out like they did this weekend, with close finishes, tough conditions and results that leave something to be desired for by my husband, I find it difficult to console him. I believe that over time, I've improved at it (if that's at all possible! LOL), but it's so hard to see the disappointment, the effort, the training and then watch him get passed at the line to take second place. It was a tough weekend with lessons learned I think. Even for me - I learned NEVER WEAR HIGH HEELS TO A RACE. EVER. You never know when you'll have to park your car on a mountain and walk a mile to see the race.

Here's a picture slide show of the highlights, including seeing Levi Leipheimer race! :)

So you may wonder...what's it like?

What is it like to be married to an athlete? Someone who eats, breaths and even sleeps training and racing? It is never a dull moment and I hope to start shedding some light on the matter through my little old blog. If nothing else, to be able to return in a year and remember some of the more obscure memories that could be left behind.

So take this week for example - big races this weekend at the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. A big race usually consists of tapering for a race. What, you might wonder, does tapering mean? Brian would tell you it's slowly easing off the volume and intensity of his training. I will tell you it means a lot more of him at the house, a lot more eating and definitely a nightmare or two. That's right, nightmares. Take last night for example.

I've learned to wake my husband when he starts yelling out in his sleep and I've also learned that for my own entertainment, I must ask right at that moment what he is dreaming about. So last night, he starts yelling out "No, no, no!" in his sleep. I, of course, wake him and ask him if he's having a bad dream. Of course he is, so naturally, I ask him what about. He proceeds to tell me that he was dreaming that he bought a new crank for his bike and it wasn't working and he was grabbing my arm & biting my arm to get the instructions from me. What?! At this point I start laughing at the obvious irony - my husband actually wants to read the instructions? He's biting my arm? Has he personified himself in the dream as our dog or something?! Naturally, I console him and he doesn't remember anything about this nightmare when I asked him this morning.

*sigh*

There's a small tidbit of what its like. The first of many, of that I can assure you. The race starts tomorrow and I'm guessing I will awaken to go to work to find him up with entire house cleaned, lawn mowed, car loaded and wondering what else he can do to kill time until his race at noon...I'll be sure to let you know!

Engagement Picture

Here we are pre-wedding. Somehow, I managed to get him to take the pictures without his bike in it....I feel a sense of accomplishment for that!