Although kale was around during ancient Roman times and a popular vegetable of the peasant class in the Middle Ages, it is just gaining the respect of Americans today.  In fact, it has quickly been hailed by the American, health food industry as a ‘superfood’. This is a label used to describe a food with high nutrient (vitamins & minerals) or phytochemical content that may provide health benefits.  Kale, which comes in straight or curly leaves, purple, red or green colors, contains large amounts quercetin a known antioxidant (phytochemical).   By adding kale to your regular weekly menu, you are helping your body sequester free radicals that are over produced during exercise and cause chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

You can buy kale though out the year, but it is most widely available and has a sweeter taste now.  Try it prepared one of these ways today:

• Kale a la Mediterranean - Combine chopped kale, pine nuts, and feta cheese with whole grain pasta drizzled with olive oil.
• Kale and Carmalized Garlic - Steam chopped kale for 5minutes, remove from heat.  In a pan, saute chopped garlic in extra virgin olive oil.  Reduce heat.  Add kale and toss.
• Kale Chips - Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet.  Toss with olive oil &  salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.

1. Bike Check

• Ideally, have your bike checked by a professional mechanic
• If you’re taking on the bike check yourself, your goal is just to make sure everything is working properly
  • Drop your bike, listen for rattling sounds
  • Check tires for tread and air pressure
  • Ensure there is enough “meat” on brake pads
  • Are your skewers tight?

2. Obey Road Signs

• Put your foot down at stop signs
• Remain stopped until light turns green
• Use your best judgment; some things cannot be avoided/adhered to but the traffic laws are there to protect everyone on the roadways

3. Head UP!

• Don’t look at your wheel
• Don’t look at the next bike’s wheel
• Look ahead and you’ll avoid accidents!
• Seeing what’s coming provides the ability to anticipate and avoid danger
• Bonus: you’ll draft closer, hold a straighter line and still see what’s below you via peripheral vision

4. Communication is Key!

• When on a group ride, call out the news: debris in the road, turns/stop signs, etc.
  • Line leader calls out
  • Each person down the line repeats in turn
  • This passes news effectively and tells originator that message was received

5. Ride Predictably

• When you ride predictably and all around you ride predictably, there are fewer accidents and everyone remains safe

In the next issue, we’ll go over the rest of this top ten list.

Remember: You’ll enjoy yourself more if you know how to ride safely and predictably!

It is not just the brutally hard training sessions at Vision Quest that get you to your goal. It is the people: Dave, Robbie, Melissa G, all the other members that train with you–they make you feel that no matter who you are you should believe that you can do it. Believing is half the battle in accomplishing whatever goal you set for yourself.

One of the best memories I have is from the VQ Santa Rosa Women’s Camp in 2011. I never would have believed that I could have ridden so many days in a row and climbed such steep hills. It wasn’t just about the athletics though, many friendships were forged there and to this day I think I could call upon any of those women should the need arise. The trip was so well organized that not one of us felt we couldn’t keep up. That is not easy to do. We all learned valuable lessons, including the most valuable lesson of all: Robbie’s technique for washing your kit in a hotel room, complete with his snail/reverse snail drying technique. It was priceless! Believe me, this lesson alone was worth the price of the camp!!!

This all started for me in 2010 as a weekly Taste of VQ class, then on to the Santa Rosa Cycling Camp, Ironman races, Robbie’s Gran Fondo, dragging myself to swim twice each week and finally becoming a member. Now I am about to embark on one of the toughest races of my life: Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. When VQ announced going to the race as a group, I just somehow felt in my heart that I wanted to do it. I toiled over the decision for weeks–wanting to do it and being able to do it are two completely different animals. Finally, on the day of the deadline, I signed up. What put me over the edge? Believing that if anyone can get me to that finish line, VQ can!

What you’ll find below is predicated on the assumption that you’ve put in your time building your energy systems and have a very strong and stable foundation of fitness across the board (aerobic, threshold, VO2). This should always be the starting point for any race-specific training program. When each system is strong and in balance, it’s much easier to hone the needed energy systems to a higher level for optimal performance.

Following the plan over the preparation period is pretty easy. Think of it as a ship heading from the UK to New York. Maybe when you first set out, your ship is pointed a little bit more toward Miami. Not that big a deal, you still have 3,500 miles to get back on track. The race-preparation phase is the last third of this journey, when you want to make sure your ship is on the desired course and make needed corrections quickly to avoid adding unneeded time, distance and effort to your journey.

It is an incredibly rare case in which training that is mapped out at the start of the year is carried all the way through to race day. Work and family obligations creep in and get in the way. Sickness or injury puts you out of commission for a week or more. Sometimes you simply don’t progress as quickly as you had hoped. Other times you may actually progress faster than expected, but when you’re looking to be at your best on one specific day, that’s not necessarily a good thing.

One of the most important things you can do to stay on track during your race-preparation phase is to start it at the best possible health. That means you’ve given yourself adequate time in the general build-up to recover from any sickness and heal any injuries. If left untreated, those things tend to crop up again at the most inopportune times, derailing the best laid plans. This is also the time when you want to be sure you have complete buy-in from others in your life or at least as much as you can realistically expect. (Most of you probably won’t get away with telling your boss you need every Wednesday off to put in a long ride!) Think about your non-training schedule and try to plan as many things in advance as you can so that there are fewer reasons to miss the training that matters most. That means preparing snacks so you can always refuel properly after workouts, being diligent to minimize surprises at work and getting to bed on time each night. You probably won’t do everything perfectly, but try to do as many things “right” as you can.

Consider the rate of your progression as well. If you’re not coming along as fast as would like, it may be time to take a step back and have an objective look at your original goals, particularly if they were time-based. Is the ramp rate between now and then realistically achievable? If so, it’s better to make the necessary adjustments as early as possible to avoid a last-minute scramble. If reaching the original goal isn’t realistic anymore, it will be much better to readjust your expectations and continue on the more linear course toward those new goals.

On the other hand, how should you handle progressing faster than you want to? Some may ask why this is even a problem, thinking “If I’m going well now, won’t I be going even better on race day?” That’s certainly a possibility and definitely an enticing proposition. Athletes in their first or second peaks may not know the answer, but those who have been in that position a few times before should have a sense for how long they can hold their fitness. Ideally, your training load should top out 10 to 14 days before your event. From there you would scale back your training, building freshness and carrying residual fitness into a peak performance on race day. If you’re on track to hit your maximum too early, you may find yourself on the downslope of your fitness when you start your taper. Just like the case above in which you’re progressing more slowly, it’s best to recognize you’re progressing too quickly as early as possible and make adjustments that will allow you to sustain that peak fitness level longer.

Information is your most important tool in doing this right as often as possible. Every time you try to peak for an event, take note of the outcome. What worked and why? What didn’t and why? Use this information to avoid some of the pitfalls the next time around. Realize too that just because something worked once doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work as well again and just because it didn’t work doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be an effective strategy in a different situation. As you accumulate more and more experience, you’ll be able to identify the patterns and strategies that help you to be at your best when you really want to be.

Unfortunately it is difficult for the body to do both, at the same time. Building muscle requires energy. If you are restricting Calories to lose undesired body fat, your body may not be getting the fuel it needs to create new muscle tissue. This is like going to Home Depot to buy building supplies, without bringing money to pay for the purchase – you will be sadly disappointed with the effort of the shopping trip without accomplishing the task. To minimize muscle loss and increase the potential for reducing body fat requires small changes and lasting lifestyle modifications. The following are helpful guidelines:

•  Implement only a small Calorie deficit
• Assure you have adequate protein intake
• Consume frequent small meals that provide adequate protein and Calories
• Incorporate resistance training to help protect against muscle loss by proving stimulation to those tissues.

The bottom line – short-term diet restrictions that do not result in lasting, lifestyle modifications are short-terms fixes to a long-term goal.

Not quite what was on your wish list, but with the right kitchen appliances you can spend less time in the kitchen, and more time doing what you really what to be doing.  Plus they’ll help you get the most favor and nutrition from your food.  I have listed a few favorites in my kitchen:

The Crock-Pot – you know, the things you would find line-up on the table, like soldiers, at the PTA potluck dinner. These are the ‘fix-and-forget-it’ appliances of yester-year making a comeback in the 21^st century.  This baby kept me fed in grad school. They’re ideal for simmering lean cuts of meat, which are healthier due to their low fat content, but also tougher for the same reason.  Just put the ingredients in the pot, turn it on, and you are out the door – it works, while you work.

Smokeless stove top grill – We got this as a wedding gift – you know, one of those you say, “regift!”  Well, it has turned out to on of our favorites for quick, clean cooking.  The heavy-duty grill plate cooks food perfectly with even heat for low-fat or no-fat cooking.  The water filled outer ring catches fat and juices as it grills, leaving it moist, juicy and delicious.  We have used it for both meats & vegetables.  Just Google stove top grill – yes, it’s the ‘As Seen On TV’ grill top.  I told you, our first response, but you will have to try it yourself.

Pressure cooker—not just for grandma’s canning any more.  How about cooking a whole chicken in 25 minutes or brown rice in 20 minutes and not have the messy, cooked-on layer at the bottom of the pan?  A pressure cooker can:

• Reduce cooking time by 50% or more compared to conventional cooking techniques
• Decrease energy usage
• Keep your kitchen cool
• Make great tasting food with or without added fats
• Boost your nutrition by locking in flavor and color
• Make cooking meals change from boring to delicious

Mushrooms stand out as the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources.  In fact, the Institute of Medicine recognizes them as the exception to the rule that plant foods don’t naturally contain vitamin D.  Vitamin D helps build and maintain strong bones by helping the body absorb calcium, in addition to other recently identified roles of vitamin D (immune system regulator, reduce the severity & frequency of asthma symptoms & attacks, and reducing the risk for heart attacks and developing cancer).  Vitamin D can be acquired from the diet, supplements and sunlight, which is why D is also referred to as the “sunshine vitamin.”  Similar to humans, mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D following exposure to sunlight (UVB rays).  Exposure of mushrooms to as little as five minutes of unfiltered sunlight can produce a significant quantity of vitamin D, demonstrating that this process could provide a significant, unique plant source of vitamin D for vegetarians and individuals who do not drink milk, the major fortified food source.
Enjoy mushrooms every day by simply adding them to soups, pastas, stir-fries, omelets, salads, or sandwiches; they work with nearly every cuisine.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)

• 2-3 c cooked quinoa – prepare to package instructions (I use chicken stock, instead of water)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro – chopped
• 3 green onions – chopped
• 1 Tomato – diced
• ½ Bell pepper (red or yellow) – diced
• Dash of cumin
• Squeeze of lime juice – to taste
• Optional ingredients – black beans, grated cheese (such as Chihuahua)

• Dried cherries make a good grab-and-go snack
• Add dried cherries to a hot bowl of Irish Oats for a breakfast boost
• Create a quick yogurt parfait with vanilla yogurt, granola and dried cherries
• Add dried cherries to a fresh spinach salad with walnuts for a light post-exercise meal
• Stir up whole grain couscous with grilled chicken, dried cherries and a splash of cherry juice for added flavor
• Rehydrate and refresh with the Red Alert – a mix of cherry juice, coconut water, and club soda
• Recharge with the Red Recharger Smoothie, a triple hit of cherries, antioxidants, and protein

Cherries powerful package of antioxidants and phytonutrients delivers:

• Anthocyanins –antioxidants that are responsible for cherries’ anti-inflammatory benefits. Cherries may work like common pain medications reduce post-exercise muscle soreness.
• Melatonin – a potent antioxidant that may help improve natural sleep patterns, which may impact overall quality of your training.
• Other antioxidants – cherries contain at least 17 antioxidants, including powerful antioxidants that may help boost immunity…keeping your training schedule on track.
• Essential nutrients – cherries are a good source of vitamin A (beta carotene) and also contain fiber.

Red Recharger Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup thawed tart cherries 
• 1 cup fresh or partially frozen strawberries
• 3 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
• 1 /2 cup plain, Greek yogurt (or vanilla yogurt)
• 1 /2 cup tart cherry juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• ground nutmeg

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except nutmeg).  Blend until smooth. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Enjoy!