A quick update on further cookie research

I've been able to make a few more batches of these and have been playing with the primary flour each time. I've used Pamela's Baking Mix, Bob's Red Mill GF Flour and King Arthur GF Flour. I've kept everything the same between all the batches save for the 3 cups of ______. Without a doubt the batches produced with Pamela's come out by far the best. The others are brittle and dry while the Pamela's ones are moist chewy and spongey. Great texture and pull apart like a wheat flour cookie (perhaps even a bit more gooey so *that's a good thing*). The only thing that I can surmise is that there is something about the sorghum flour that makes it this way. The other mixes are primarily bean or rice flours and dont have nearly the same moisture hold or integrated texture.

I will continue to experiment! ;-)

CJW's IM Florida Race Report

In his own words.....

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In late 2005 I was interested in purchasing a power meter. After reviewing dozens of post on ST, I sent an email to MarkyV. We continued to chat after the purchase and he would provide me with thoughts on using the power meter correctly. As I began to progress in the HIM, he would review my training plans and adjust bike workouts. I had raced enough to have a good idea of what I needed to do to be successful at the HIM. I learned through trial and error mostly. MarkyV corrected my errors on the bike training and the effort culminated in a great race at Clearwater 2006.
I had competed in IMAZ 2005 and was ready for another IM. I would train my self. Injury & surgery in September kept me from IMFL 07. I trained for Gulf Coast in 08 and had a great race. IMFL here I come. Err, broken pelvis…..twice. Missed IMFL again. Didn’t sign up for 2009, but got injured anyway. Get the picture?
For 2010, things would be different. MarkyV and I started discussing things and I signed up to be one of his athletes. After a great year of training and a couple of excellent results, this is my RR.

2010 Ironman Florida Race Report

Swim – 1:02:42 (40th in AG)
Equipment – Xterra Vector Pro2 Full; TYR Socket Rocket 2.0 blue metallic

Swam early Friday morning in Xterra V 0.02 and notice strong right to left current. It was freezing standing on the beach. I wore socks to try and keep my feet a little warm. Special thanks to Boardwalk for running their sprinklers and ruining any potential of relief for the feet.Given that swimming is my weakest link, I wanted to have as clean a swim as I could and avoid the WWF match that usually is mass start swimming, so I, along with a friend, started well right of the buoy line. I figured I had made a good decision when I saw “the” Joe Bonness out on the edge with us. I’ve had my best triathlon swims, except for Clearwater, when I’ve avoided the melee. Cannon fired and we were off. Ran as far as I could, took a couple dives, and I was clear. Pushed for a couple 100 yards and settled in to a nice rhythm. I could see the pack about 20 or so yards to my left and angled toward the first turn buoy. The first turn buoy was my first point of combat/contact. The remainder of the first lap was good, except for two guys about half way in after the second turn buoy. I’ve seen drunks on a slick track hold a straighter line. The second loop had more contact, but it was much less contact than my 2005 IMAZ effort and much less than the Clearwater slugfest in 2006. I was under my swim projection by a couple minutes and very pleased with the swim.
T1 - Skipped the wetsuit strippers and ran for the transition. It was a nightmare. PACKED house. The volunteers were awesome.

Bike – 4:57:45 (19th in AG)

Equipment:
2010 Cannondale Slice (56), HED Aerobars, Quarq SRAM, Garmin Edge 500, Rudy Project Syton Open TT Helmet.
Nutrition:
1 Bottle of Cytomax/CarboPro and 1 bottle of Water. 3 PowerBars; 1 Vanilla PowerGel and 2 caffeinated PowerGels.
The bike was my biggest concern. I had not progressed through the year as I had thought I should. In early October my bike began to really come around. Given that I had been training in 90 to 105 temps on the bike, and it was going to be near 40 when I got on the bike, MarkyV and I decided to use 2 cages for fluid and 1 cage to hold my spare and PitStop. Smart move. I ordered a long sleeve jersey and had it overnighted for the race. Wore the long sleeve on top of my Craft jersey. Purchased running gloves at one of the outlaw expos, wore PI shoe covers and SmartWool socks. Not sure which was the smartest idea, but I’m leaning toward the borrowing of a friend’s ear/headband. I never got cold. Headwind with shade was a little cool, but otherwise I was perfect.
Had discussed my race plan with MarkyV and stuck to it. Joe Bonness passed me as we were approaching the right onto 79. Someone needs to tell him we were into a headwind or we need to question the laws of nature as they apply to Joe. I was passing a good number of stronger swimmers and was watching my watts closely. The plan was to ride the first 10 to 15 strong and then settle in. About 2 miles from Ebro the first peloton engulfed me. Probably 15 to 20. Nice time to eat half a PowerBar as the pack eased by. Got back into the aerobars after the R turn in Ebro and stayed 20 to 30 yards behind the pack. Marshal dinged one rider in the pack. About halfway to 77 the second pack came by and joined the first. Great time to eat the remainder of that PowerBar. By the time I got to 77, they were a half mile down the road. 77 and out 388 were as expected. Stopped at special needs 2 boxes to far, but the Awesome volunteer ran my bag down. Big Thanks! Switched out my 1st bottle of Cytomax Grape/CarboPro for a bottle of Tangy Orange/CarboPro. This bottle was not as strong as the first. I also took a flask of First Endurance PreRace mixed with Gatorade. After my snafu and stop, I was out to regain some ground.

I knew Hwy 20 back to Ebro was going to be into a headwind and had some early rollers. Any incline is not friendly. The plan, assuming all things had gone according to plan up to this point, was to up the watts and try to make a move. I looked at my watt avg after I turned on Hwy 20 going back to Ebro. This was the 25+ mile stretch into the wind. I was at 199 at that point and KNEW I could push the hills and headwind. I was in a loose group of about 6. Unbelievably, I gained ground on everyone going up the first roller. After I led the group up the next roller, I decided to up the watts and go (see excellent race plan strategy). For the next 22 or so miles, I was simply trying to catch the guy/Fpro in front of me.
Sidenote: One complete jacka$$ on a new P4 with wireless SRM, Zipps, etc, etc, did not appreciate my effort. As I pulled up next to him, he starts hammering. He slides up, while I was at 250, and then starts coming back to me. I start the pass again and pulled the same BS. Luckily a logging truck comes by and I get a free tow. It was like he was in reverse.

After that I thought I was all alone for 17 or so miles. Didn’t hear anyone or see shadows. Marshals would zip past. About 3 miles from Ebro, marshal comes by. Then there is a guy next to me. I had carried him for 17 miles. Never knew he was there. He was letting me know he got dinged sitting on my wheel. Coming out of Ebro we had a tailwind for the first time in a couple hours. I hit 30 and held it for several minutes. At this point I started sipping on the PreRace/Gatorade mix. Awful. Find something else to mix PreRace with. Almost undrinkable, but got what I wanted down. The turn onto Steelfield road for the out and back was terrible and really played with my confidence. Back into a headwind or cross wind. I began to wonder if my effort on Hwy 20 was too much. I saw the peloton about half way in, while they were cruising out, and knew I had made up some ground. I was ready to get off the bike. Remainder of bike was uneventful. Hit caffeinated gel about 5 miles out to prep for the run. Big thanks to Roger Hawkes at Higher Ground for the bike and bike fit. Awesome guy and I highly recommend.
I was very pleased with the effort and the result. Unfortunately I forgot to stop the Garmin or press lap, so I don’t know my numbers. I know I was better than I had anticipated by a couple minutes and I felt good.

T2 – Grabbed bag quickly, my volunteer was nothing short of fantastic. Enthusiastic, positive, put everything back in my bag. Thanks mate! I on the other hand was in a hurry. First, I learned I can’t urinate when it is that cold and I’m on a bike. Find me a porto-let. Second, I was anxious to see if my legs were ready. I changed one sock, but not the other. Sweeeet move.

Run – 3:10:08 (2nd in AG)
Equipment: Saucony Kinvara. Nutrition: PowerGel every 3 miles. Water every aid station. Start the Coke at mile 15.
Finally, my discipline. Our plan had been to run a 7:20, or slower, first mile and then settle in. MarkyV wanted 7:15. I wanted 7:10. I have a tendency to run a little fast the first couple of miles off the bike. Exit onto S. Thomas and all feels good. MarkyV had threatened me, spoke of untold horrors that may be inflicted and otherwise screamed at me to show some iota of restraint and not blow a great race plan and all the training. No problem. Ran past the family and hi-fived the kids. I was cruising along….6:28. I didn’t want to seem that stupid, so when I saw a friend on his MTB about 1.5 in I told him 6:40. I kept slowing down for 4 miles. All the way down to 6:45. By that point the damage was done and I had to go with whatever I had. My heart rate remained excellent despite my stupidity. Focused on one mile at a time. I had missed a gel at Clearwater and paid, so I was very focused on my nutrition. I had 3x3 flavors. The 40-44 AG winner passed me about mile 4. He was the only person to pass me on the run all day. I didn’t know what AG he was in because of the compression socks. Didn’t matter, he was getting after it. All was going good and I settled into my pace.
Hit the turn around and it was time to go to work. My training had focused on improving my swim and bike to put me into a position to use my run. The second half was where we would see if all the work paid off. MarkyV’s plan had accomplished exactly what we wanted. I was on the second loop, I felt good, I knew I was having a good day and I knew I was still running well. Time to go to work.
The problem was I didn’t know where I was in my AG. All I could do was catch the person in front of me and remain focused on my nutrition. The course was much more crowded. Last time by family and friends, except for the MTB friend who I saw every mile or 2 except for the park. Upped the pace back to the park. On the back side of St. Andrews, I knew I had a chance and I had 6.2 miles to achieve my goal. I stayed focused and ran strong. After mile 24 I started feeling the effort, but there were still people in front of me. I didn’t know what lap they were on and it didn’t matter. I was going to catch them. The last guy I remember passing in my AG was just before we turned onto Thomas Drive. Like a horse headed for the barn, I was all in. Regardless of whether I had earned a slot, I knew I had put everything I had into 2010 IMFL. The finish line was great and I saw my family in the stands as I approached. A friend, who did IMH in 2009, was volunteering and led me through the corral. Now the wait…. About an hour after I finished the results were updated. 2nd in AG. Hello Kona.
I can’t say enough positive things about MarkyV (unless you are in the 40-44 AG, because then he is a total tool that gets his triathlon plans from a mass production plant in China). I’ve witnessed MarkyV’s approach and philosophy change over the years. His plan was not cookie cutter. He forced me to think about things differently, to work with him to create my plan, and to trust him. When I questioned him because I didn’t understand the purpose of a workout or a week, he explained. When I complained that my bike wasn’t progressing, he gave me confidence that it would come. 2 weeks later, the improve arrived in a big way. When life got in the way, he altered the program, stayed positive and kept things on track. When I wanted to push, he taught me to Rest Hard! When I wanted to push higher volume, he told me to be patient. When the time came, he unleashed and got me ready for IMFL. MarkyV, YEEEEAAAHHH baby!

Repost: Giving Thanks: A reflection on my first year in Boulder

I wrote this 3 years ago after my first full year in Boulder.....still holds true :)

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I am writing this from the bus on my way to DIA for the flight to Kona. As the bus was pulling out of Boulder and up the turnpike headed for the Denver area I sat glued to the window as I watched the Flatirons and the colors of fall beneath them slip by. Heading up Davidson Mesa I stole one last glance back at Boulder Valley, the Front Range foothills, the divide and the crystal blue sky framing it all. It got me to thinking how very lucky I am to live here.

I arrived in Boulder just over a year ago looking to start anew in a place known as Mecca to many the outdoor enthusiast. In that time there has not been one_ day_ where I have regretted my decision. Everyday brings with it a whole new experience and a chance to find and try something new. In a way the move has caused me to be true to myself. It has allowed to surface my true desires, goals and aspirations in life and has given me the courage to follow through with these impulses.

Read the rest, with pics, here: http://bit.ly/boulderreflections

Happy Farm

File this under "had to share".

Stole this from Herbert's Marketing blog and figured it was pretty apt to the way I shop :)

http://bit.ly/happyanimalshappyfood

Enjoy!

The power of the mind

I got to thinking this morning, as I am preparing to head out for my first road bike ride since April, about the power of "I can". I have spent the last seven months largely doing nothing. At least nothing athletic. Sure I've done some hiking and some mountain biking but not with any regularity that could be contrived as training. Despite having no fitness I dont even second guess going after a peak, or skinning up the side of a mountain, or going for a fun dirt bike ride. The only thing that stopped me from summiting Mt Baker and Mt Rainier this summer was lack of equipment for the task at hand. Not because I couldn't do it. I popped right up the side of those hills happy as a clam, never once giving thought to what I couldn't do.

Now we come to the return of training. It wasn't until today that I came to realize the juxtaposition in my thinking. When facing a mountain I don't give it a second thought about whether or not I'll be able to conquer it. But faced with the daunting prospect of my return to training I was not immediately filled with thoughts of victory but rather doubts of my ability and what I could do. Could I even complete Neva loop? Should I even try for Nelson loop? I'm probably going to bonk. As I've gotten back into riding a bike I've largely been hiding from this personal confrontation with myself by choosing to ride the CX bike on trails or the MTB up in the mountains. There I have no boundaries, no hesitations, no known limits of what I can do. But on the road I know at what rate the grass on the shoulder should be zipping by me at. I know how long it should take me to get from Broadway and 36 to Lefthand Canyon and because I know these things I fear seeing what today will bring. But! in finally coming to this point I've exposed my fear, a completely irrational one and, as simple as taking a different attitude towards this first pedal stroke back, I WILL be having a good ride today.

Funny how my approach to the training can be laced with doubts yet deep in my mind all along I have KNOWN and have ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE in my return to racing and the way I'll be going about it.

For now.... I'm off to ride my bike.

Back in Business

Just a heads up about some of the troubles I've been having with my computer (and eyes). Over the Thanksgiving holiday my hard drive crashed and then last week I had elective eye surgery (PRK) performed. The recovery from eye surgery has taken a bit longer than I had expected and I finally got around to installing the new hard drive today. I've lost a good bit of information and am doing my best to recover it (my last hard drive time machine image was from 2.5 weeks prior to the crash, alas, a lot of things happened in those two weeks). I will be working to recover as much as I can in the coming days and getting caught up on EVERYTHING.