giveaway winner & I cook more strange things
Happy August, everyone! Thanks for all your great comments over the last few days - the warm & fuzzy props for my PR (I PR'D!!! did you know?) were awesome, and the fuel comments gave me a lot of food for thought (HA HA! I kill me.) about my own nutrition while working out. I've been struggling with nutrition on rides over 2 hours.
Yesterday I got up for a long ride, and decided to mix up my on-ride fuel with some real food. I packed shot blocks, Gu chomps, a Luna protein bar, a banana, some small hard pretzels, and some almonds on my bike and my person. At the 1-hour mark, I stopped and ate the entire packet of chomps (minus one I gave away) - roughly 175 calories. At the 2-hour mark, I had the protein bar - 180 calories. At the 3-hour mark, I just ate the banana (only had 8-10 miles to go) - roughly 90 calories. I also consumed 2 bottles of nuun and 2 bottles of water throughout. When I walked in the door, I ate the bag of almonds (140 calories). On the ride, I didn't feel the bonk that I've felt before, nor did I have the sloshy-cramping-tummy or the giant headache from eating nothing but gooey sugar for 4 hours. If I was planning on riding a 4th full hour, I would've eaten the pretzels on the third stop as well, or maybe added a Gu in the middle. But this is the best job I've done so far of nutrition on a ride - I just need to keep experimenting.
Yesterday I got up for a long ride, and decided to mix up my on-ride fuel with some real food. I packed shot blocks, Gu chomps, a Luna protein bar, a banana, some small hard pretzels, and some almonds on my bike and my person. At the 1-hour mark, I stopped and ate the entire packet of chomps (minus one I gave away) - roughly 175 calories. At the 2-hour mark, I had the protein bar - 180 calories. At the 3-hour mark, I just ate the banana (only had 8-10 miles to go) - roughly 90 calories. I also consumed 2 bottles of nuun and 2 bottles of water throughout. When I walked in the door, I ate the bag of almonds (140 calories). On the ride, I didn't feel the bonk that I've felt before, nor did I have the sloshy-cramping-tummy or the giant headache from eating nothing but gooey sugar for 4 hours. If I was planning on riding a 4th full hour, I would've eaten the pretzels on the third stop as well, or maybe added a Gu in the middle. But this is the best job I've done so far of nutrition on a ride - I just need to keep experimenting.
It was a great morning for a ride, as well - 68* at 6:15am when I headed out. I had company for the first 35 miles, then did a hard 10 miles (32 minutes), then rode home. I wore a bike jersey for the first time and LOVE the back pockets! Why don't they make these for runners??
Total: 54 miles/3:38/avg. pace 14.9mph
So! The giveaway!
I let random.org pull the winner....
#27, That Pink Girl!!
She says....
"I'm not a GU-er. But people just RAVE about the flavors. (apple pie, really? I can eat apple pie filling on a long run?) Currently I use Clif Shot Bloks. I like that they are organic and not full of too much junk. Plus, I enjoy the gummy bear consistency. Plus, they are easy to carry around!"
Drop me an email at katrina dot brownell at gmail dot com with your address and I'll mail you a happy little Gu package this week.
Speaking of nutrition...
I decided last night to finally cook the tempeh that's been lurking in my fridge for a week or so. Tempeh is scary. I sauteed it in a pan until it was cooked (until I was bored of pushing it around), and then dumped in the taco seasoning sauce that you make with the little packet.
Here's where I got in trouble. I thought I had peppers and onions, but I guess I cooked them this week and forgot. And I thought I had some avocado, but I guess I ate it in my sleep. The fridge.was.bare. Whooops - should have checked the veggies before I started cooking! So I just had tempeh and cheese in a small taco shell. It was still pretty delicious! I think I should have let it saute in the taco sauce for a little while longer - some of the pieces didn't pick up a lot of the flavor.
Happy Monday, everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of July. What happened to the summer?