Clearwater 70.3

I love coming to Clearwater and racing. It is a great place to hang out pre and post race with great weather and beautiful beaches. We had four days after the race to relax and unwind with with family on a beautiful beach front home. I tell ya, I did feel pretty American after the race. I got redneck with my boy Justin Park and must have consumed seven or eight miller lights after the race. Yes Dad I know, I was drinking water. I then watched and talked football on Sunday while having my arse planted in the couch for almost the entire day. 10 days since the race and I now feel like working out again.

Swim started off poorly with everyone paddling out a good 50 yards past the start line in anticipation of the gun. If you come to Clearwater you have to play the game that somebody always starts. With 80+ pros in the field everyone had to play and start swimming before the gun despite lots of four letter words being tossed about. I started solid and was in the mix of the main pack that was stretched pretty long. I came out 15-20 sec back of the first few athletes. Great position for Clearwater because if you are not in the front pack you can kiss your chances good-bye of a top 10 place. However, just like ITU, if you fumble around in T1 your race can also be over. I funmbled for a little too long :)

Heading into the bike I just missed the tail end of pack one. I was riding with Colucci, Able, and another fellow but the gap was growing by the minute. Eventually we all were eaten up by a fast charging second pack. This group was massive!! Rode the entire way back with the pack and it was fast. Every athlete was jostling for position the entire ride which leads to many close calls. You're constantly accelerating trying not to lose your spot and decelerating avoiding the dreaded drafting call. The ride is madness. It was pretty funny because the lead women were riding with us. I recall one of them riding up and slotting in right in front of me! I thought it would be best to position myself near the back to do the least work possible to be fresh for the run. About 6-7 miles from home I realised I was going to have a tough time bridging up to runner 1 of this pack if he was 300m in front of me. I surged up as best as I could to position myself with strong runners up front.

Came in to T2 and didn't feel very fresh at all running through transition. Chris Leigh and Cunningham were just in front of me. They made a move I now wish I responded to, but the legs were not there at the time. I still was running strong and was realing in guys on the second lap.

Crazy that a 3:44 will get you 22nd! The gap to 10th was only 2-3 min and 13-22place was very small. This race is all about the swim and T1 in my opinion so I look forward to tackling Clearwater again in 2010 in a quest for my top 10 spot :)

New favorites

So I must admit, when a new health product comes out, I am usually the first to grab it off the shelf. I love discovering new things to cook with or pair other food items with. That being said, here are just a few for the year. Can't wait till next year's line up, ha ha!

So delicious Coconut Kefir (goes great with homemade Muesli, YUM!) Its lower in sugar and a great source of calcium, magnesium, and B12.


So delicious Coconut Creamer (can you tell I like coconut?). Its super yummy in your coffee and you can use the plain flavor in place of real cream in other recipes in case your lactose intolerant.


Steave Sparkling green tea. So refreshing! Plus is doesn't have any calories using Stevia as a sweetener. Don't worry, it doesn't have ANY bad after taste. Great! It also is loaded with Folic Acid, B6, and B12. Not too shabby of a tea, eh?


Ostrich meat. Okay so this isn't a new product, but it sure is new in our diet. Its delicious red meat that is low in fat and HIGH in iron. We love using ostrich meat in place of beef or other red meat. Ground ostrich is great stuffed in bell peppers and since peppers are high in Vit. C they help you absorb the Iron even more. BEAUTIFUL!


Drop me a line with any other new products that you have found and want to share. Would love to keep the list going!

Cheers,

LC

p.s.
Next up, James' clearwater report. Stay tuned!

More bang for your buck

James and I love Muesli. Its such a good morning treat BUT when you try to get a decent brand at the store it cost $10 a box and you get about 4 servings (and they are all about 1/2 cup servings). That $10 box would last ONE day in our house, especially during high the tri season. So I opted to find a bargain and make our own. I was able to fill 2 whole freezer bags for only $5-6 bucks! Yea! Plus it tasted so fresh and delicious. We picked out our own ingredients. Oh boy do I feel like a Martha Stewart. HAHA!



Here's the mix/match of ingredients:

- dried cranberries and currants (we've also used dried cherries and chopped dates)
- dried coconut flakes (unsweetened)
- chopped pecans and almonds
- organic rolled oats
- sunflower seeds
- agave nectar
- cinnamon and/or cinnamon sugar

Layer all these ingredients, starting with the oats, on a cookie sheet. Spread it out evenly. Then add in a drizzle of honey, cinnamon or cinnamon sugar, and a little of melted butter or coconut oil. Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes or until the you can see that the coconut and the nuts/seeds are all toasted. Let it cool and VIOLA!

BONUS- if you use the dried coconut flakes your house will smell HEAVENLY when it bakes. YUM!!

Enjoy! We've packed up the muesli and are hauling it to FL this next weekend. Cheers to the final race!

LC

2009...The Good and the Ugly. VERY long write up

The 2009 triathlon season has gone by in flurry! Just seemed like yesterday the wife and I were sitting on the deck over looking Lake Taupo! However, that was way back in February. Now we are a few weeks away from the season finale in Clearwater, FL.

2009 started very quickly for me. After competing in the Dallas Open in 2008 I flew straight into Kona to help out K-Swiss during the expo over Ironman. I had a great time and figured I would be home right-away. I was wrong. I met up with Terenzo Bozzone and ended up being his "training hack" over the course of ten days in his final prep towards Clearwater, which he won! I would like to take the smallest amount of credit since we busted out some wickedly hard sessions. It was then that he chirped in my ear about possibly doing Ironman New Zealand. Quick call to the coach and I was in. Things became even better when my old man decided he was in also.

I put all my eggs in one basket leading up to New Zealand. I kissed the wife good-bye, put the job on hold, and flew off to Hawaii for 6 weeks to focus on training. I wanted to destroy Taupo and place in the top 6 and qualify for Kona. I trained my ass off. I don't think I have ever felt as fatigued in any other 6 week period as I did in Kona. I remember one set in particular that hurt. 3x 5 miles at 5:40 pace with 3 min recovery between. When I was on, I was on fire! When a rest cycle came around, I needed if for sure. After six weeks I was the leanest I had ever been and I was ready to head back down to land of origin...NEW ZEALAND!

Once you step on an Air New Zealand flight (or any other non-US carrier. The exception being US Airways.) you realize how airline travel should be. No bike fee, free food and beverage (including alcohol), personal tv with unlimited movies, tv shows, video games, and music videos. Hell, I wasn't ready to land 9 hours later. I wanted more wine and video games. My homestay in Auckland was the legendary, Cameron Brown. I would be staying with his family for 10 days before my family arrived to drive down to Taupo. Training in Auckland was amazing and living down there has definitely been talked about between the wife and I.

Anyways, IMNZ didn't go as planned. A faulty wetsuit that would not unzip threw me out of contention and had me at a 3 min deficit in T1. Well, I actually threw myself out by riding too hard to try and catch up to the boys. Lesson one of 2009 learned. Don't let your ego get out of hand and try and chase over 180km. I blew up at 130km.

Back to America. I was bummed and looking for something. I decided to enter Wildflower. Went and stayed with Terenzo in a cool house a couple miles from race site. I was off the back from the gun and really struggled the entire race. More disappointment. After this race there was some confusion between my coach, myself, and the outfit who my coach was employed by. I left. Coach and I met up a month or so later and re-connected. He his awesome guy and he ended up leaving to form his own training center and is doing awesome here in Austin. All the best Derrick!

It was then I meet up with Matt Dixon from Purple Patch fitness. You may have heard of one of his athletes named Chris Lieto? Chris just finished second over-all in Kona! Matt presented to me a whole new way to look at training. Much more rest. In fact, he put me on 20 days with only one 40 minute training session allowed a day! Matt is great guy/coach and has gone above and beyond to help me out. Not only is he a genius with putting together great plans, he understands the bigger picture of success in the sport and life. To be a great athlete, you need to be happy and have a great support crew. I was so embarrassed to face people after resigning from my well paying job to run around in spandex and not perform. I now have a new training squad I run here in Austin as well as helping my wife our new nutrition company, Healthy Bites (aka Cotter Balls). This takes a lot of my focus away from the sport. I'm looking forward to moving in a new direction for a better 2010. Dixon, I owe so much to you. Thank you for believing in me and sorting me out every time I became a angry man.

After very little training I went to race Kansas 70.3. I went 3:54 and ran a 1:14 half marathon split placing 4th overall in a tough field! I finally saw a glimpse of the potential I think I have. I was ecstatic.

From here on out I thought I would be a top five or even a podium contender at every race. I went so fast on only two weeks training after 20 days of squat! Imagine what I could do more training, right :)

Reality check. Life is tough and doesn't care what you think. Trying to replicate and improve on Kansas was tough. I went to Rhode Island, Calgary, Austin Tri, Augusta and Longhorn and didn't race to the very high expectations I put on myself. If James Bonney is reading this, this is not a convenient personal "reason" always standing between myself and glory. Triathlon is a tough sport and even though I have seen improvement all year in each discipline, I have yet to put all three together. Like my man Naaman, my overblown expectations bred anger and bitterness. My desire for instant success after Kansas proved to be a massive road block for the rest of my 09 journey. Success takes time and to be successful you have to be enjoying the ride.

Dixon came to the rescue and gave me a call after Longhorn. He explained there are great athletes who have lots of potential but have not put themselves in a environmental setting necessary to succeed. This off season I will be looking to change a few things in my environment and steer it towards a course that will breed success.

Clearwater is a few weeks away and I'm really looking forward to the off-season

Just like to thank my beautiful wife, my family, Matt Dixon, Phase One, Ron Vaughn, and K-Swiss for going above and beyond all year helping me through my struggles.

Also a big shout to Randy at Pure for helping me out with a great recovery shake. Katie at zico for supplying me with coconut water. This stuff is fantastic after training in the Austin summer. Very refreshing.

TAPER FOOD

Its taper week for the Hubby so what do I feed him? Fresh foods, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats/fish, and limit the carbohydrates.


Typical Foods for a taper week:

Breakfast
- Organic Rolled Oats, nuts, honey, Banana
- Earl Grey Tea

Snacks:Ultimate Crunch mix with berries
- This is a trail mix with dried berries, flaxseed, cashews, and almonds. At Costco, love it!

Apples, Peaches, Carrots, Apple Gate Farms Turkey slices, Bulgarian or Greek Yogurt, and Ricotta Cheese (good source of Whey Protein).



Lunch:
I usually try to make tacos and salad. So 2 corn torillas with scrambled eggs or turkey/chicken sausage and tomato inside.

Dinner:
Lean meat or fish like Salmon, Ostrich, Chicken, or lean ground beef for iron.
Steamed veggies (brusseld sprouts, cauliflower, etc). Sprinkles with a little black pepper and olive oil.
Large salad with avocado and balsmic vinegar.


Desserts:
I'll mix up ricotta and greek yogurt with a little honey/cinnamon and sliced peaches or berries.



Very Simple, very clean. Lots of wholesome Food.

Cheers!

LC

Mashed what?

So with all the Halloween/Fall Festival decor, I had pumpkins on my mind. But there are so many choices. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, etc. I wanted to use it for something different. So instead of my usual sweet potato or cauliflower mash, I thought maybe I'd go for a combo. Pumpkin/Cauliflower Mash. Ohhhh, it was good! Plus its loaded with fiber and vitamin A yet not as starchy as sweet potaotes or regular potatoes. Recipe is below. It went well with balsamic glazed chicken and brussel sprouts (James' favorite vegetable believe it or not).






*2/3 10z can organic pumpkin
*1-2 cups steamed and then mashed cauliflower
*olive oil (1tbsp or so)
* 1/4 cup all natural ricotta cheese or other creamy soft cheese of preference (like cream cheese or *laughing cow cheese soft cheese)
*black pepper and sea salt to taste
*And other flavoring/spices you like. I used a some Greek spices that seemed to match well.

Throw everything in a pot on medium heat until well blended. EASY!!

Email me if you have any other pumpkin recipes that are unique.

Cheers!
LC

HEALTHY BITES UPDATE
October Flavor: The Halloween Bite





In addition to our standard four flavors (Apple Cinnamon, Whey Good, Cookie Dough and Apricot Fig) we are also introducing special flavors of the month. Our October Flavor of the Month is the Halloween Bite. Now you can indulge with our mostly all-natural and gluten-free treat that is definitely not a trick! Plus the kiddos will love these too and you won't have to feel guilty about giving them all that Halloween candy!

Per Bite: 100 CALORIES; 4.8g TOTAL FAT (1.5g saturated fat); 0.2mg CHOLESTEROL; 37.0mg SODIUM; 3.8g POTASSIUM; 13.9g TOTAL CARBOHYDRATE; 1.0g FIBER; 11.5g SUGAR; 1.5g PROTEIN

Ingredients: Marshmallows, all-natural caramel popcorn, sugar-free vanilla pudding, and Nutella. __________________________________________________________________________________________________

A New Twist On An Old Classic



We have added a twist to the classic Whey Good Protein Bite. Now you can get it in either the standard vanilla or in chocolate! Yes, Chocolate Whey Good! If you haven't tried either, order a box of half vanilla and half chocolate so you can see which one you prefer!



Lindsay Cotter & Kelly Bruneman
Nutrition Managers & Fitness Professionals
Kelly0412@hotmail.com
Lyndzut@sbcglobal.net