Getting the work done and a tasty dinner...

So I am almost done month one of the plan I put together for getting back into shape, and be in some way ready for having some much anticipated fun racing this summer.  And besides skipping one run, because of a little niggle in my knee, I have managed to get all the work done. 

Yesterday I did my first 20min TT re-test, 3 weeks after starting this bike program... and of course I was thinking I would have made huge gains right away... but it turns out I need to be patient... not my strong suit!  I did improve and have come to be happy with that, my watts/kg went up just over .10, sadly I'm still in the "new rider" category.  But I refuse to let that get me down!  I do have to consider that I haven't done any intensity on the bike (or the run for that matter) in about a year and half!  I will continue to plug away on the trainer, I know it will come back!

Running is starting to become easier, much easier, even enjoyable!  Today, my stride felt pretty quick, and my breating felt controlled, it was great.  I only still go for about 45min, and today was a pretty funny story...

Pearl's paws were getting all gummed up with snow, and she was driving me nuts with stopping to chew the ice balls from her pads, so I let her off-leash.  Well she was going a bit crazy, running all over the place as usual, we were running on a pretty deserted gravel road.  First she fell through some ice in the ditch on the side of the road, and splashed around slightly frantic as she pulled herself out.  Then, because she was all wet, she started to roll in the snow, gathering more and more snow and ice onto her fur, causing her to go even more crazy.  She then ran full tilt into a barbed wire fence, she flew backward stunned.  I was way more upset and concerned than she was, she just ran off tail wagging.

I end this post with an amazing recipe story...

The other day, I made Kashmiri Bean Soup.  It was a vegetarian slow cooker recipe.  I had to put dried beans and broth in for 8hrs to hydrate/cook, but I decide to add chicken.  So 8 hours later, I checked the recipe to add the Indian spices, garam masala, tumeric, ginger, coriander etc, but it said I had to puree the beans and broth... so after trying to remove the chicken...  it just fell to pieces... so I threw it all in the blender... I didn't think much of it, but apparently the thought of pureed chicken made Colin want vomit!  I guess in retrospect it is pretty gross!  More like Indian baby food...  but spiced very yummily....  here's what the soup ended up looking like....

Anyone want to come over for dinner?  Too funny!

Not my finest culinary moment