‘Tis the season for bad photos of food. It’s dark by the time I get home to make dinner so my typically unattractive food can’t be saved by good lighting.
It’s also the season for warm spices and thick sauces. Continue reading
Oat Groats and Chicken
Chupacabras and Running
Running is not normally part of a paddling trip and mysterious noises are never on the itinerary. The mud and snow we had earlier are a bit par for course, but our next three days gave us two “fun” experiences. Unfortunately, like purgatory, we have no pictures to go with the stories. There are never pictures of Type Two fun because everyone is busy swearing or surviving or just being miserable. So you only get pictures of the easy times. Continue reading
Mud and Snow
Will and I set out for our first paddling trip in four years. It was just the right amount of type two fun. Type 2.1 – mostly fun with just enough weird angry swearing to have a story to tell. It was a great reminder of how the wilderness never fails to test my fitness.
We seemed to forget how hard portaging is.
We were way too happy at the trailhead. Continue reading
A season of dinosaurs.
I always felt a bit like a lonely misfit in triathlon culture. I figured it was my outdated equipment, solo training, or playfulness in a disciplined sport. Little did I know the true cause. I was part dinosaur and just hadn’t found my herd.
This season my herd found me.
The origin story began as a dream that percolated for years until it exploded. Now I know that last April was not my 34th birthday, but my first dino birthday.
The clients…
Below is a small selection of the dino-shenanagans of the season. Continue reading
Posted in Fitness
Tagged dinosaurs, finding your herd, Team Velocikitty Snuggles, training, triathlon, triathlon family
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Corn and Shrimp Pilaf
If this was a food blog I’d be in trouble. You could grimace a little and then do a sympathetic head tilt and shrug. Again, I have achieved cooking something that I swear is tasty despite looking like crap. Mushy glop. 
It was supposed to be a pilaf. But the rice got all over cooked and the crab and salmon only accentuated the… let’s say creaminess. If I call it a risotto does that make it better?
A rhubarb chicken race report.
I’m going to mask a lackluster race report in chicken. Rhubarb chicken salad to be specific. 
Both the sandwich and the race happened three weeks ago. They are way too old now, but I’m going to tell you about them anyway.
I did Point to LaPointe a two mile swim in Lake Superior from Bayfield to Madeline Island. Continue reading
Posted in Fitness, Kym Cooked
Tagged chicken salad, Lake Superior, lake swimming, Point2LaPointe, race report, rhubarb
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Invisible sauce chicken
This is more flavorful than it looks. It’s perfect for hot weather because even when eaten cold it packs a flavor punch without being creamy or tomato-y. It feels like a substantial meal, not like a salad. Yet it also doesn’t feel heavy in your digestion. It’s got an invisible sauce 😉
While I love the flavors of the summer season (tomatoes, basil, fresh corn etc) sometimes it’s nice to get away from them. Continue reading
Posted in Kym Cooked
Tagged broccoli, Butter and Soy, chicken, healthy cooking, pasta, summer salads
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Ta-Da! A swim workout!
A successful workout can be like pulling off a magic trick.* It can be a little surprising, leave me a little awestruck, and then I might feel pretty dang pleased with myself.
The Point to LaPointe swim race is in two weeks. My training has been not terribly focused and a little spotty. There have been weeks I didn’t get any swimming in. While I have no intentions of being impressive, I’d also like to have a respectable, not embarrassing race.
So two weeks ago I did my longest open water swim of the season. It was roughly 4,400y in about 1:30.
Last week wasn’t looking good for getting to the lake. So I opted for pool session. Solo pool swims usually don’t go well for me. I get bored. I procrastinate until there isn’t enough time. I get indecisive about what sets to do. I bargain with myself to get out early. So I was feeling particularly smug when I pulled this workout off:
Not only did I do it but I didn’t waste time half way through trying to talk myself out of it. Even when I was off pace and could have thrown in the towel. I just plowed ahead and got it done.
4,000y in 1:10. Even better than last year.
Ta-Da! Feels kinda magical.
*I feel like I should add… like any good magic trick, it’s not actually magic. It’s not like tons of work doesn’t go into being able to pull off a magic trick. It’s just sometimes even the person trying to pull it all together has doubts and is a little surprised when it actually works.
Posted in Fitness
Tagged lake swimming, open water swimming, Point2LaPointe, pool swimming, racing, swimming, training
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I’ve named my fear.
I have a stupid fear. It feels a little shameful.
This really shouldn’t be a problem for me. See, I do triathlons that require me to train and race swimming in lakes. I teach a class on swimming in lakes for triathlons. I’m a strong and confident swimmer, just not so much in lakes. I really don’t like swimming in the lakes. There, I’ve said it.
It’s the lake weeds and sticks and the way it smells. Mostly I hate the murkiness. Its the fuzzy greenness that my limbs disappear into that creeps me out. If I knew with 100% certainty that it was entirely void of creatures I might be ok. But I know with 100% certainty that there ARE creatures in there. Creatures I won’t be able to see unless they are practically touching me.
It’s not that I don’t like creatures or fish. Or that I’m actually afraid of them as I know they are mostly harmless. I have snorkeled and SCUBAed in the ocean with creatures that are obviously more dangerous. I’m totally OK in the ocean as long as I’ve got a crystal clear view of the fish. My friend Andrea made the point that if the lake was suddenly super clear I’d see lots of fish. I’d be ok with that. Actually that would be really cool. It’s not like I’m prejudiced against fresh water fish. If the pool was filled with freshwater fish I think it would be weird but I don’t think I’d be afraid of them.
But swimming in the lake is like waiting in the dark for monsters to sneak up on me.
Andrea, who I’ve coached. Whom I’ve coaxed into first enjoying swimming in the pool. After winter months of slowly coming around to pool swimming was then certain that she’d never like lake swimming is now obsessed with it. She loves swimming in the lake and likes to tease me about my fear. She sent me this lovely news article:
A monster Muskie caught in Lake Nokomis. This is the lake we swim in every week!
So I did the only reasonable thing I could with this knowledge. I gave my monster a name. Continue reading
Posted in Fitness
Tagged athletics, coaching, fears, fish, lake swimming, naming your fear, open water swimming, swimming, training, triathlon
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Pineapple Ham Salad
It’s salad season. I like salads that are complete meals and keep in the fridge for several days. I recently made my Mustard Green Potato Salad which was every bit as good as I remembered. This one is salty and sweet and spicy. I’ve never cared for pineapple and ham on pizza but as a salad it rocks. This would make a great potluck picnic salad.
You can really adjust the quantities of things depending on what flavors you want to stand out more. Continue reading
Midwest With Zest 