Taper Week before the Olympic

I am now closing in on my 13th weekend of HIM training out of 20...wow!! I had a pretty tough two work weeks including traveling to Phoenix and Houston and managed to follow the majority of my plan including long bike on Sat after flying in and getting home at 2am the night before followed by a wonderful 63rd birthday dinner for my mom's birthday.
...where we were able to open a bottle of Chianti that Mike and I bought for them when we went to Castello de Meleto in Italy back in 2007 which was their reserve 2003

...t was amazing - so glad we waited!!
Sunday morning I woke up at 9:30 to ridiculous heat and did my long swim and long run before leaving for another flight. I have to say I was glad Mike made me bring my fuel belt for the 90 min run (last 2 miles was a run/walk due to calf cramp.
oh yeah! And it made it all worth it because I went to Lululemon in Phoenix and bought the Totally-Tote-Tastic-Tote (I snagged the idea from the California Training blog) - I love it!!!!!

I was tired, Monday was a 13 hour work day so it didn't seem like a good day off, I flew home on Tuesday and physically and mentally was drained. Plus, I still had a calf cramp from Sunday and a groin pain. So I did a yoga tape, my trigger point which is great, watched some TiVo'd True Blood, a glass of wine and dinner, and went to bed.

Wednesday - Christine, Nicole and I went to Marlton Lakes and did a 1/2 mile open water swim...

followed by a 3mile easy pace run

followed by water ice :)

Thursday - I went on a nice flat ride for an hour. I averaged about 19 -20 but it was fabulous with the wind. I came home and made an awesome dinner of Wild Red Sockeye Salmon and Quinoa with Kale, Garlic and Portabellos - this is my 20 min meal (move over Rachel Ray and your EVOO...)
Recipe for Salmon (remember I am Italian - we don't measure)
skin side down on foil, turn on grill to medium heat.
Brush salmon with grapeseed oil (cuts the fishy flavor nicely), balsamic vinegar, and sliced garlic and seasoning of red pepper flakes, garlic and parsely.
Put on the grill until cooked through...

Recipe for Kale, Garlic, and Portabellos

1/2 bunch of kale washed, veined and chopped
1/2 pack of portabello mushrooms
8 cloves of garlic
lemon juice
red pepper
white vinegar
Olive oil
salt/pepper
quinoa

Boil 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa with 1 cup water
once it comes to a boil put on simmer for about 10-15 min

In the meantime, sautee olive oil, garlic and mushrooms on medium heat.
Once softened, add kale, some lemon juice, and red pepper, cover and let it steam.

Use a medium size bowel, mix mushroom/garlic/kale with quinoa, add a little white vinegar, salt and pepper and some parm cheese (if you want)

Eat with the salmon - Delish!!!

And I almost forgot - I had a DogFish Head Palo Santo Marron with notes of vanilla and caramel...yummy... I had that as my dessert.


Tomorrow is race pickup and for the first time I will be a spectator on Sat at the NJ State Sprint to cheer on Christine and Nicole! I will be racing on Sunday with my friend Bill in the Olympic race!! Stay tuned for Pre-Race news and Post-Race Report!!!