Chicago

The swim is very spectator friendly. Lindsay walked beside me the entire time.


Me in the city.


Check in was in the suites at the Hilton. View was amazing.

Race start was 11:00am and I loved it! We were actually able to wake up at a normal time, eat a solid breakfast, and stroll down to race start. Going into the race, my training had been going pretty well in the biking and running discipline so I was confident going in until I saw the pro field was STACKED! The presence of Hayes, Bennett, Potts, Reed, and McMahon was humbling though :)

The swim paralleled the dock and going out you were squeezed in pretty tight between the dock and the divider line. The turn around was at 300m and then the course opened up. I didn't have the greatest swim...again and was down 1:30 on the leaders. I was told I was 17 coming out of the water and was not too happy to hear that.

The Chicago winter must have messed up the conditions of the road because it was rough! I started the ride like Landis and finished like Ullrich. Road solid and passed five guys on the bike. Went out too hard the first lap and died a little coming home. Bryan Lavelle was my target and he pulled away from me coming back in.

I decided to just go for it on the run and went through mile 1 at 5:05! I was either going to fail while trying, or just plain old blow up! This past year has been good fun but difficult because my form is coming back, but it isn't there yet. I feel like my body really responds well and I can come back and train harder when I do race and risk a blow up. Reeled in three runners during the 10km and came home top 10and in the money. It was one of those runs when I could have sworn it was a 33 high-34 low. I was disappointed to see 35:05. Maybe i will try some ITU events next year.

Was able to meet the K-Swiss crew who have been taking great care of me this year. Ivette, Mark, and Jon it was great meeting you all. Ivette, thanks for hooking up my wife with some awesome gear. She looks GOOD!

Chicago Tri

9th overall.

It was another fantastic venue and extremely well put on race considering. Another race that I will do next year. Will upload some pics as well as my thoughts on the race later today.

Deal with it.

Lindsay and I took a quick trip up to Dallas this weekend just for some new scenery. I always enjoy going up to Dallas every once and a while. Lindsay's parents were out of town so we had the entire house to lounge around and get fired up for the next couple of weeks.

We packed up the Nissan with the bikes and computrainer as I had a very specific workout to do. The area we stayed had has an abundance of traffic lights which would make my interval set rather hard to do. I have a love/hate relationship with the computrainer and I planned on setting up in Dallas so I could get a very specific interval workout in. Saturday morning arrived and while Lindsay was out on her run, I thought that I would go ahead and get this torture over on the trainer. Got the water and towels all ready and even had the olympics on TV in the background (a little more motivation for me). My first attempt to get the program started was around 9:30am, then trouble with computrainer program took place and I was getting ticked off. So I nixed the program and around 11 am tried to just hop on the computer trainer measuring wattage with both the SRM and the computer trainer's power meter. Well, of course they were both NOT matching up. At this point I am livid and decided to take a little break. We end up going up to the local bike shop to hang out and check out some sweet new tri bikes. That always makes me feel better. Then back home for a little nap and olympics. Its now 5:30pm and I attempt to find a street near the Taylor's house where I can do my intervals followed by an off the bike run. Luckily just around the corner was the perfect straight away!! Long day of frustration but mission was accomplished.
Cheers,
JPC

Crusty- Yum!

Cornmeal Crusted Turkey Tenderloin
This is a super easy recipe I threw together on Monday. James put it on the top of his list and I thought I'd share because its so easy to make and of course HEALTHY!

Whatcha Need:
1. 1 package of turkey tenderloin (HEB carries a brand that includes about six 4oz pieces in one package)
2. Organic Cornmeal
3. Steak Rub or other spice rub
4. Garlic and Black Pepper seasoning
5. Can of diced tomatoes
6. 1 egg mixed
7. Baking dish

Directions:

Clean off the turkey tenderloin slices and place on a plate. Mix 1 cup cornmeal and 1/4 cup spice rub in bowl with a few shakes of garlic and pepper (depends on what kind of spice rub you get). Then place each tenderloin slice into the mixed egg so its nice a moist, then dip into the cornmeal mixture until the tenderloin is evenly covered. Do this for how ever many slices of turkey tenderloin you have. Then place tenderloin slices into a baking dish (coated with a little olive oil)and bake at 350F for about 18-20 minutes or until the tenderloins look almost done. When almost done, pull out baking dish ad cover the tenderloins with diced tomatoes and other seasoning of your liking. Then place back into oven for another 15 min or until turkey is done. The tomatoes (not seen in the picture above) make the turkey meat a little more juicy and flavorful. To make the whole meal complete, place tenderloin on a bed of brown rice or wild rice. I also like to make a large spinach salad with diced pecans, strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and reduced fat feta cheese on top. YUM!

Let me know if anyone tries it! We're off to Chicago for the LIFETIME Fitness triathlon so stayed tuned next week. :)
LCotter

Divided

Turns out buy 2015 most couples will be looking for homes with a flex suite. What is a flex suite you are probably asking? It is another term for a second master bedroom for your spouse! Getting a good nights rest is crucial, but the disturbance from you partner could be having a negative impact on your sleep. Snoring, using the restroom, tossing and turning, or my case....bedroom violence, yes, bedroom violence is causing a sleep deficit.


Since we can't have a flex suite, this is our so called "solution."

Here is a picture of how we have to set up the bedroom most nights. Instead of one bed nation, we have established two countries with the boarder running down the center of a once happy bed nation. WHY? Because I have some radical restless leg and arm syndrome that drove us to this set up. I actually gave my beautiful and loving wife a visible welt on her backside the other night because of a secret attack. Apparently my knee crossed the boarder around 0250am and I laid down a can of whoop a## on my wife's a##!! There was no communication between my brain and legs and all of a sudden, BANG, I knee'd her right in the ARSE! We have since talked and there is some peace but who knows when I will break the accord again.

Training has been going well the past two weeks in the lead up to Chicago in next weekend. The swimming has been my weak link as I swim by self everyday. From March to May I was on fire, swimming 4,500m most days. Now, even with the motivation of the incredible Michael Phelps, I'm lucky to get in 2,000m. It goes in two day cycles. Yesterday I pushed out a massive...1K, where as today I did 3,800 no problem and could have done more.

RRPD

I caused some trouble in the weight room and the RRPD boys threw me in the back!! Actually we're just tooling around after a workout. My records clean, so far.

The past few months I have been training the men and ladies in blue of the Round Rock Police department. I will admit, I was a little intimidated when I first went in to teach these guys, but now I can handle them as well as they can handle my workouts. Their tolerance for pain has grown ten-fold and they go hard. One of guys has even gone on to compete in triathlons and a number of them have lost 10+ pounds. Great crew and I love going to work when I know I have them. They give 100% and I love it.

Big props to: Rod, Martin, Jim, Mellisa, Willie, Rick, Barry, Joyce, Ardeen, and everyone else.

Good News for Pizza Lovers!

Barbecue Chicken & Onion Pizza
PREP AND COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES BAKE TIME: 15-20 MINUTES


COOK'S TIPS
Leftover chicken can be used to make this pizza in a flash.
Use a barbecue sauce flavored with hickory or mesquite smoke to bring out the biggest barbecue flavor without lighting up your grill.

· large onion, sliced
· plum tomatoes, sliced
· slices turkey or meatless bacon
· diced garlic cloves, pressed
· ½ cup smoky barbecue sauce
· 2 teaspoons Barbecue Seasoning Mix
· 2 cups diced cooked chicken
· 2 small or 1 large refrigerated pizza crust
(we usually use Spelt or Corn Meal crust)
· 1 cup (4oz.) reduced fat feta cheese (you can also use part skim mozzarella)
· 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
*** I also like to add spinach for extra veggies!

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Cut onion in half crosswise. slice onion and tomatoes. Dice turkey bacon.
2. Heat (12-in.) Skillet over medium heat until hot. Lightly spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Add onion, bacon, and garlic pressed with Garlic Press. Cook and stir 10-12 minutes or until onion is tender and lightly browned.
Stir in barbecue sauce and seasoning mix; remove from heat. Stir in chicken; set aside.
3. Spread chicken mixture over dough to within 1/2 inch of edge. Arrange tomatoes evenly over top of pizza; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Cut into wedges.
Yield: 8 servings

This pizza is low is saturated fat and has a great source of protein. The reduced fat feta also has a good source of calcium and the spinach supplies lots of Vitamin K. Overall, its a great recovery meal after a long hard day!

YUM!

LCOTTER

Cotters Harden Up with Heat Training!

Cooling off in cold lake water.


The past few days have been so bloody hot! We had a record high on Sunday and training in the heat was so oppressive. Sunday is the always the long run and the plan was to get out a little earlier then normal. As much as the heat drains me, I love it, but the wife isn't a huge fan, so start time was 8:15 instead of my proposed 10am start time. I was going to meet up with my buddy, Grant (who is in training for Ironman Hawaii) for a 15 mile run while the wife was running for an easy hour and a half long run. We set off for our 15 mile run and by mile 5 everything on us (clothes, socks, etc) was saturated! It was like we had both jumped into the lake and then began running....brutal. Is is not very fun running with saturated shoes. Met up with the wife at the end and we both felt exhausted and thirsty. We jumped in the car and headed off to 7-eleven for a nice cold Slurpee, then it was home to hop in the cold lake for an "ice bath" as well as playing with the dog.
Turns out the temperature had soared to a wickedly hot 103 degrees on Sunday. No wonder we were totally wiped the rest of the day. If you're training in the heat, remember to stay cool and hydrated.

Next race is Chicago and I'm in a very hard block of training. Lots of VO2 max work on the bike and it really hurts. I came very close to almost bringing up lunch the other day during on one of these sessions. The scary thing is that if I complete the session, coach will be increasing the intervals for the next session! Have a hard run tomorrow and a wicked hard bike on Wednesday. That being said, off to bed to rest up!

Hope all is well.

JC