Good morning!
Last night I got some exercise after all. :) Eric and I took our bikes out for a spin around the block. I am SORE though. Not from my groin muscle, but from sitting on the seat! I think I am going to need to invest in some padded bike shorts! Does anyone have any recommendations? The seat is even padded too, but it didn’t seem to help much.
Otherwise, it was a great bike ride!
Ahhhh…Spring, how I love thee.
Everything is just so fresh.
Including this juice I made…
I had some random things to use up in today’s juice: Celery, beet, carrots, ginger, grapefruit.
Along with a mix of delicious Four O’Clock Japanese Sencha and White loose leaf tea:
Cleaning out the loose leaf steeper is such a pain in the butt! That is why I love this huge loose leaf pot because I can make a huge batch of it at once. The tea gets cold, and yes I drink it anyways. ;)
I made another bowl of delicious Vegan Overnight Oats last night!
Coconut Maple Syrup Vegan Overnight Oats
Last night I threw into a bowl:
- 1/3 cup regular oats
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 mashed ripe banana, leave a few chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal Powder
- Tiny pinch of sea salt
Directions: Stir the above ingredients and place in the fridge (covered) overnight.
In the morning, throw together this quick and delicious topping…
This is one of my favourite pancake toppings and it is so easy.
Reduced-Sugar Overnight Oats/Pancake Syrup:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Mix together and pour overtop!
I actually enjoy this topping much better than nut butter! It is soooo good. The syrup coats the oats and you get a taste on each bite. I highly recommend it!
Triathlon Talk
Last night Eric and I started to plan out our TRY-A-TRI training. :) We have under 6 weeks until our Try-A-Tri.
The course consists of:
- 375 meter swim
- 10 km bike ride
- 2.5 km run
The course is very hilly (think murder hill), but luckily we can train on the actual course and prepare ourselves.
Now that my groin muscle is feeling better, it is time to get back into the training.
It will be about another month until we are able to do open water swims (and even then the water will be frigid), so Eric and I looked up a local indoor public pool that is about 15 minutes from us.
Confession: Eric and I are both grossed out by public pools. We seriously hate them. I have a huge fear of hair and band-aids and it takes a lot to get me into a public pool! However, we are in this together and are going to support one another! We will get over our fear…
After looking at the Adult Length Swim schedule, we decided on swimming twice per week:
- Monday night, 8-9pm
- Wednesday night, 8-9pm
The days might vary here and there, but we are going to try to stick with Monday and Wednesday nights to have some consistency. There are some great swim drills/workouts online that we can try once we have built a bit of a base up.
I also need to get myself a swimsuit for swimming laps asap. A bikini will NOT cut it.
I was doing some reading on Triathlons last night and I came across the Brick Workout.
The Brick workout “refers to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption in between, just as you would do in a race. Usually when people talk about bricks they refer to a bike/run workout, but bricks could also refer to a swim/bike workout or to a run/bike workout.”
I will likely be incorporating some Brick Workouts into each week. Because I have a half marathon just 1 week prior to the TRY-A-TRI, I will need to make sure that I keep up with my long run each week and then incorporate some brick workouts here and there.
I feel like there is SO much I don’t know about triathlons and I feel like I have a lot to learn. It will be a huge learning curve, but I kind of like the challenge of trying something new!
Today’s question- Have you ever taken up a sport or activity and had a big learning curve at first? What was it?
I’m off to do some bakery training! :)
lol…I don’t mind public pools…although kiddie pools are another story :-)
My bum hurts SO badly after bike rides!!!
I was trying on JEANS yesterday, put my hand into the pocket to straighten them out, felt something and pulled it out… it was a USED BANDAID!!!
I actually laughed when I pulled it out – it was gross, but I kept losing bandaits on an awkwardly positioned cut I had on my finger a couple weeks ago. Someone’s gonna find them! Imagine the bandaid trail around the world! Does everyone of them get found by someone else?
I tried skiing this winter for the first time. It has a huge learning curve, plus the conditions are constantly changing so every run and every day is different. Not to mention all the equipment. But it was worth it!
I think it’s so fun that you and your husband have something so awesome to do together! I’d love love love to do something like this with my hubby.
Re: your bike seat issue, it will honestly get better even without a padded seat if you wait a week or two. Someone told me that before I started spinning and I was so sore the first time I thought it couldn’t possibly be true. But then magically the seat started being comfortable two weeks later.
First of all, that coconut butter/maple syrup combo is DELISH!! I was making homemade granola bars the other week, and licked the melted coconut butter/maple syrup container clean. Sososososo good :-D
As for training, the first time I started running a few years back, I hadn’t ever completed a single mile. Running was simply impossible for me when I was obese. The first mile I completed, I almost jumped off the treadmill and did a back flip at the gym…but decided against it ;-)
I know I still have a lot to learn about running, but simple accomplishments are sometimes all you need to feel great about new tasks!!
I work for a cycling/running company so I know allll about bike shorts and they are DEFINITELY worth the investment (I actually have a friend who had to get plastic surgery on her lady parts because of a bad seat/short combo. Not pretty). The ideal situation is padded shorts and a not so padded seat. There is a reason why the pros have little to no cushioning on their saddles! I’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have!
My butt also ALWAYS hurts when I ride a bike…even if it’s just for 30 mins or so…
Let me know when you find a good pair of padded shorts as I’d like to train for a Tri one day too!
I also have been wanting it take up swimming again and I knew a bikini wouldn’t cut it but I didn’t want to spend a lot on a ‘sport’ swim suit…I ended up getting one at Costco for $24!! It’s a 1 pc, but they also had 2 pc ones at the time…they had about 3 different kinds.
I’m not sure if they still have them, but it’s worth a look for a lot of savings!!
i’m so happy you and eric are doing the try-a-tri, a month ago i decided i was going to do one in the same series (but in August)!! i am feeling very nervous/apprehensive about it because i am not an experienced racer in any sport, but have always wanted to do a tri. i’m also signed up to do my first half marathon (*heart palpitations*) in september, and am also running the TO Women’s 5k! anyways i can’t wait to read about your training and know i am not alone.
also, i have been riding my bike 10k every day for a week and a half (to/from work) and the first week my butt was SO sore, but now its gotten used to it. i guess go with the padded shorts, it seems to be the best solution!
a friend of mine has a pair of those padded bike shorts for riding and she said they make SUCH a huge difference. i would definitely look into it if i were you! :)
good luck with the tri training!!
What do you cover the oats with over night? Plastic wrap? Aluminum foil? Or a lid of a tupperware container?
lululemon just came out with the nicest looking bike shorts I have ever seen! they are called the Zoom bike short: so they make you feel speedy and they do not give that diaper bum from the padding. They are not yet on the website, but the stores have them and they are fab. Just invested in a pair myself and was not sore at all after my first spin of the summer!
Just adjust your bike seat. You probably need to adjust the angle of the seat which is easy to do. You’ll need an allen-wrench to loosen the bolt, tilt the seat a little forward or backward, then tighten the bolt.
I’ve realized that if I don’t do spin class over a period of a few months and then I get back into it that my bum and inner thighs are a bit pained. However, once I attend class a few more times, I must get used to it because the pain doesn’t occur anymore.
Definitely running and bike riding. I’m always learning new things about each and new things about myself.
I REALLY want to do a triathlon, but I feel so lost, more so about how to deal with the transitions and the idea of swimming in open water, than the training. There’s a triathlon club around here, so maybe I just need to get with them.
Hi Angela! I read your blog all the time and I love it! I don’t comment much but I thought I’d tell you that Shebeest has awesome padded shorts for biking! They are the best I’ve ever tried. They have really cute capris for biking too.
Also your oats look so good! I can’t wait to try that combo!!
Padded shorts are a must, but from what I hear, no amount of padding really stops the sore crotch situation.
Hi Angela
I’ve been reading you blog for the last 3 weeks and am very excited to hear you are doing a tri! Congrats! I recently started a company called Swimcation — it’s basically an adult swim camp in a tropical location. This year’s hot spot is Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Would love to offer you some swimming tips or workouts if you are interested in gaining endurance in swimming. Let me know if I can be of any help and check out my site www.goswimcation.com when you get a chance. Keep up the fabulous blogging!
Pretty spring pictures. I made one my desk top background :) Thanks
Love the juice! Beautiful color! I’m freaked out by public pools too…..I never go in them or hot tubs.