B-Fit B-Day Challenge

March 7, 2009

I stumbled across the B-Fit B-Day Challenge a few weeks ago. It goes like this:

Take your age and in any order:
1) Swim the number of yards in the first number(# multiplied by 1000 yards),
2) Run the number of miles in the second number,
3) Bike the number of miles in the combined number.

So a 45-year-old athlete would:
1) Swim 4000 yards 2) Run 5 miles 3) Bike 45 miles

If you choose to accept the B-Fit B-Day Challenge you must….

Bronze: Do all three (swim/bike/run) during the week of your Birthday.

Silver: All three (swim/bike/run) in the 3 days before, after, or on your B-Day.

Gold: Do all three (swim/bike/run) in 24-hours to celebrate your B-Day!

Platinum: Do all three in miles (swim first number in miles not yards/bike/run) in 24-hours to celebrate your B-Day!

So today was my birthday *pause for you to say “happy birthday”*.  I happened to have already registered for a 5k. And since Tani had to work all day, I thought it would be perfect.

The 5k started at 10am so my plan was to hit the pool in the morning and get the 3000m in, then do the 5k and follow that up with the bike.

I made it to my gym by 7:15am to find out that the pool was closed for maintenance. What!? So now what? In my frustration I didn’t even check to see when the pool would open. Luckily Aquatic Adventures was open so I was able to pay to swim there for the day. The 3000 meters went surprisingly well. It got a little slow and boring towards the middle but overall it was a pretty good experience especially having never swum that distance all at once before.

The swim didn’t take me as long as I thought (about 51 minutes) so I had plenty of time to get ready and make it taaron-katewaldron5ksmo the 5k. Got up to the race, checked in and met up with JJ and Ryan who were there to support me (Thanks guys!). The 5k went about as well as I could expect. I haven’t paid much attention to my running lately, I’m not a particularly good runner, and the 5k distance isn’t really my distance. Finished in 25:10. Had some great food from the event sponsors and then hit the road. This event was top notch for sure; Especially considering it was the inagural event. Lots of great stuff, food, prizes, music. It was also well organized and was all for a good cause.

My original plan was to go take a nap after the 5k and hit the bike in the evening figuring that I’d have to ride indoors anyway. Fortunately the weather was about as perfect as you can get in Ohio at the beginning of March; 74 degrees and sunny? Really? I grabbed my bike and hit a paved trail near the house. The trail is 12.5 miles round trip so I rode that twice to get me up to 25 miles.

I picked up my daughter from my parents and after some lunch we went out on our bikes to ride the remaining 8 miles.

Age:33 check, Swim 3000m check, Run 3 miles check, Bike 33 miles check. B-Fit B-Day Challenge complete! Gold style. This was definitely a fun challenge and a great way to kick off another year and another triathlon season.

3 Comments | race, training | Permalink
Posted by Aaron

Meet Quinoa, the Super Grain

March 5, 2009

The March 2009 issue of Runner’s World has an article titled “In With the New” in which they list a number of food alternatives. Perfect considering I’ve been on the hunt. I’ll cover most of them at some point but today is all about Quinoa.

Quinoa, pronounce “keen-wa”, a food considered more valuable than gold to the Incas, has all but disappeared from most modern pantries; But that should change. Quinoa is a grain like no 0ther. While most grains are deficient in the amino acid, lysine. Quinoa has an adequate quantity of lysine as well as the other essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. Additionally, quinoa has high amounts of fiber, magnesium, iron, tryptophan, copper, and phosphorus making it much more nutrient dense than other grains.

Once cooked, quinoa has a nice nutty flavor with a much softer texture than, say, brown rice. I I really enjoyed the change. And knowing how much more nutritious it is, it will definately be staying in our pantry and standing in for some of our lesser grains.

Cooking Quinoa:

Cooking quinoa is super easy.

  1. Thoroughly rinse 1 cup of quinoa. (There is a bitter coating on it which needs to be rinsed off.)
  2. Bring 2 cups of liquid to a boil. (I used chicken stock but you could just use water.)
  3. Add a little salt to the water for flavor
  4. Add quinoa to water
  5. Cover, drop heat, and simmer for 15 – 20 min.
  6. Fluff with a fork and serve

Quinoa with Chicken and Veggies:

  • 1 small zuchinni, diced
  • 1 small yellow squash, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • handful of mushrooms, diced
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large chicken breast, cooked, diced
  • olive oil

Instructions:

I used some chicken that I had already grilled. Dice the chicken and all of the veggies into little pieces. Heat oil in a large skillet on med-high. Add garlic and onion. Once onion is translucent, add the rest of the veggies and mix together. When everything is just about cooked to your liking, add the chicken to warm.

Serve over the quinoa you made from above.

1 Comment | food, nutrition | Permalink
Posted by Aaron