I have a new favorite blog to read. I've been much more interested in cooking in the last few years, as Ejdo and I both really, really enjoy eating. And becoming a member in the CSA has expanded this even more, since now there is a wide variety of food coming in my door, whether I know what to do with it or not.

So I've been reading a lot about cooking and flavors and what makes things taste good. I was recently turned onto this blog by another blogger.

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook Doesn't that sound like something I should like? We hunt. We fish. We would love to garden, but the solid clay backyard and lack of sunlight have pretty much nixed that idea. And boy do I like to cook. And eat.

So now I have a new blog to pore over when I'm looking for ideas on what to do with the food from the CSA. Right now I've got 3 eggplant that should probably be used this week. We'll do grilled eggplant sandwiches one night, but I might take a page from PlateSpinner's book and do a ratatouille one night. Its always an adventure. And soon we'll be inundated with squash that will need eating. I'll fall on that grenade.



//// I'm also going to be purchsing a new book. "The Flavor Bible". Not a cookbook, just a grouping of what flavors work well together. If I've got X, what flavors will match well? Sounds perfect for inventing your own recipe. Sign me up.

I am a horrible blogger. I have been negligent and apologize. Here is a nice long blog posting to attempt to redeem myself in your eyes. Hopefully you can find it in your heart to forgive me for being so neglectful. :-)

Hokie lost her d@mn mind!

Also known as the Patriots Sprint Tri race report.

Long story short: I did a tri and I did pretty good. Didn't die. Bonus.

Long story: Sunday was my first triathlon, at least my first one doing the whole thing. I did a sprint as part of a relay earlier this year, and while we had a good time and finished 4th, we decided to do it less than a month before the event. To say we were “well prepared” would be a bold faced lie. So this time I started a training plan 3 months out. Well worth it.

In the morning things were rushed, like they always are on race day. Didn’t arrive as early as I would have liked, mostly because of all the other people trying to get there as well. Luckily, all I had to do was set up my transition area and get my chip/body marking.

It was about 64 degrees at 7 AM when everything started. Water temp was 74. As a novice, I was in the last wave of starters, so we got to watch all the others go out. It was a strange swim, because of the tides of the river. It was high tide, so you could walk almost half way to the first buoy. Kinda odd.

It was total chaos when my group started. As the novice/relay group, most people had never done this before. I was mentally prepared for the chaos....or at least I thought I was. The first five minutes were insane. I decided just to hang back and let people go nuts in front of me, then get into a rhythm. It worked pretty well. By the first buoy I felt good. The long stretch I was picking off people all along the way, while only having to deal with a few crazies on their backs going perpendicular to the race course. Made the turn back to shore and swam as hard as I could.

Ejdo was there waiting for me to tell me I suck and should go faster. He’s very helpful. The run to the transition area is quite long. I would bet it was almost 1/3 mile through a park and a large mowed field...with a steep short hill. It wasn’t horrible, but there were a lot of pedestrians about and one walked out in front of me. I yelled at him pretty good and he got out of the way.

Got all my stuff on and grabbed my bike. Running in road bike shoes sucks.

The ride itself was almost totally flat. One roller about 4 miles in on the out and back. It was crazy to see all the people on really nice, high zoot bikes, that were squeaking and rusty and completely unmaintained. I could hear almost everyone’s chain as I approached to pass. Nuts.

Thought I was hallucinating at one point on the bike. There was a larger woman in black shorts and a Williamsburg bicycle jersey in front of me. I was moving quite a bit faster and passed her no problem. A few miles down the road, there was the same woman again!! Larger woman in black shorts and a Williamsburg bike jersey. I thought I was losing my mind. We passed each other back and forth a few times, with me entering the transition area first. Tried to put it out of my mind, but I still couldn’t figure out when she passed me to get in front during that ride.

The run was pretty uneventful, other than I passed that woman again. She must have gotten out of the transition area faster than me. Took me a little while to get my legs back; pretty sore and crampy from the bike (need to adjust saddle height). It was a different route than they usually use for this race, but I think we got some more shade because of it. Surprised they didn’t have a timing mat at the turnaround, but I didn’t see any cheaters.

Felt strong through the run. Knew where I was and tried to put in a bit of a kick at the end. I could hear a guy behind me and I wanted to make sure I beat him. Squeaked it out by a few seconds.

After the race I was telling Ejdo about the hallucination with the woman on the bike. I told him that I really hoped there were two of those women. Not 30 seconds later, he points over my shoulder and I see two larger women approaching with black shorts and the same Williamsburg bicycling jersey. I told them they made me think I was losing my mind and we all had a good laugh. It was a great day.

I finished in 1:37. Averaged 17.4 mph for the 12.4 mile bike, which gave me the 9th fastest bike in my group. I was 12th out of the 44 novice women. Would have been barely top half in my age group, so I’m glad I went novice. It was a good day. Packed up all our stuff, back to the hotel for a shower, the off to Pierces Pitt BBQ for lunch. Home by 3. Fun stuff.

Ejdo is a great support team. He takes care of my bike maintanence for me, so I always have a nice, quiet, well performing machine to ride. Its great that he comes out to support me and always knows what to say to keep me going, even if other people think he’s nuts for shouting “You suck! Go faster!”. I can’t thank him enough for helping me out.

So there it is. My first tri report for all of you. It was a good race, but now I’m sore. Time to relax for a few days, then get my legs for the century.

Sadly no pictures, as we left the camera in the hotel room in all the early morning insanity. Hopefully the shots from the race photographers won't be too expensive.