Fat of the Land

The garden is producing (although my brussels sprouts and green onions are totally MIA)and I celebrated by making a little gumbo risotto for lunch. This is a basic risotto, but instead of shallots and mushrooms, it comes with onions and okra. It's seasoned with a generous mix of black pepper, curry powder and red chile sauce and a pinch of salt. I don't eat meat, but if you do, shrimp would be very much at home in this as well. I garnish with chopped almonds (although pretty much any tree nut will do) and fresh parsley.

Even  though the rice is fortified, this isn't exactly the most balanced meal. It's heavy on the carbs and light on pretty much everything else, but as part of a whole day's nutrition it has it's place--especially on days that feature a longer run or ride. I try to follow my workouts with a scoop of protein powder (25g) so once you factor that in with the pre-ride risotto you're macros actually start to look pretty reasonable.

100 Miles

This has been my first triple-digit week in years and it feels great. A friend at work recently acquired a $450, second-hand Cannondale (it came with a complete Ultegra gruppo and Spinergy wheels--what a steal) and I've been riding with him a little. Somehow these rides  helped me break the ice on the solo riding I need to do if I'm going to ride much here. Best of all, it only took a couple of days to feel like I was really groove back. I'm certainly not as fast as I used to be, but I've still got some game.

Yesterday's ride was 34.63 miles long and Map My Ride says it had a little over 800 feet of climbing. I averaged 15.9 for a total ride time of 2:10:11 (counting three red lights). The routes I've been following have moderate traffic and are kind of pretty.

The lead up to the hardest climb.

The top of the hardest climb. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Proof that I don't completely suck.

Bike Ride Sunday

Back on the bike again today. I'm getting better at dealing with the whole solo ride thing, but it clearly isn't really the most intuitive or enjoyable way to do it. I tallied 39.7 miles today (let's just call it forty) over rolling hills. The elevation profile (note the spiffy use of metric--who else is getting excited about grand tour season?) doesn't really convey how the ride felt, but I suppose that's ordinary enough.

I didn't check when I got home but I'd ball park it at 90 or 91 with a another five degrees from humidity and blacktop convection. I've ridden in worse heat, but I can't say it's fun. Luckily my eerie inability to find a comfortable spot on the saddle distracted me from the weather-related discomfort I would have otherwise suffered.

I haven't kept strict track (anyone noticing a pattern here?) but I thing this is close to two weeks of working out without a break. There's a chance I'll have a riding buddy tomorrow, so I'll plan on ridding then, but I'll most likely make Tuesday and Wednesday light activity days.

Bikes and Gardens

So far I've clocked sixty miles on my bike this week. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a very big deal, but since I took the new job and had to move away from my group it's been hard to get the miles. If you've been reading for long you know that I've replaced a lot of that riding with running, which is fine if that's what you're into, but I'm finding myself more and more desperate to get on my bike for real.

The route I've ridden twice so far this week is a pretty nice out and back that sticks to state roads in farm country. According to Map My Ride it offers about 800 feet of climbing, which is mostly split between three or four hills. Last time I finished in just under two hours. Weather allowing, I'll ride it again on Friday and see if I can't do about the same.

Food wise, the garden is looking about ready to pop. I'm really looking forward to the tomatoes and okra, and the herbs are already earning their keep.

Summer Eating

The summer is officially here and I find myself wanting to eat more-or-less raw food most of the time. I had pancakes this morning, but my am cravings lately are more of the yogurt and granola persuasion. The garden is starting to produce (anybody want some yellow squash?) so there should be should be good tomatoes and lots of herbs to go with them. Honestly, if I get off my ass and make some bread I'll have all the ingredients of most of the meals I want to eat now that the mercury is over 90 most of the day. See illustration below:

I've got more work to do on my essay and them I'm braving the heat for a (hopefully) thirty-mile bike ride. It would be nice to get more saddle time in general this summer. I'll put that on the list.

Cats

Workouts and food, blah, blah, blah.

Meanwhile, since my summer class didn't make I find myself trying to get research-type work done at home--never something I was especially good at. This summer (as was the case in the last) this is complicated by the cats who let us live with them. Long-term readers will remember that we found two kittens about this time last year. They decided we could stay and now they're around a year old. We originally thought they must be siblings, but as they grew up it became clear that they aren't. I'm still trying to figure out how I can work adopting two cats into my case for tenure.