Mixing it up

I'll admit it.  The last thing I like to do during the summer is come home and do any strength training.  It's hot out, I've walked up the hill from the bus and i'm sweaty. I need to set hoses to water or cook or go run track!  The last thing i like doing is doing strength training workouts and when i do them, i slack off in the summer.  There are too many other things to do.

I need that strength training though so what to do? Hey!  A new Barre3 studio opened up close to me.  What is a barre workout?  There are various types (barre method, barre3, lotte berk method) and all seem to use a ballet barre, isometric holds and light weights to strengthen.  It's hard to describe.  I was pretty happy that the class i tried didn't really have a cardio component.  I've got that already!  This doesn't mean i wasn't breathing hard or sweating though.  No, my legs were shaking and my arms were burning with effort.  One of my van mates at Ragnar said that she has found that the barre workouts do the best for her to keep knee and hip injuries at bay.  And judging by the one class which targeted glutes until they were screaming for mercy, i'd agree!  It was fun and I'd do it again. 

It's been great weather this summer and it's been fun to get out on my bike with K.  I'd run many times in Discovery Park but had never biked there.  After a nice walk through the locks on our bikes, we found some huge hill to go up by accident.  That left my legs quivery!  I resisted the granny gear but just barely made it up.  This also gave me a chance to try a new type of fueling on the ride.  The Feed Zone Portables comes from testing on the Tour de France and other major bike events.  Turns out that if you feel rider of long multi-stage bike rides crappy junk, they feel pretty crappy and soon don't want to eat that stuff.  You don't eat when biking?  Bad things happen!  So they set about finding easily cooked, easily digestible ingredients that taste good.

Coconut rice bar with blueberries & chocolate

I tried a blueberry chocolate rice bar made out of cooked rice flavored with coconut milk, sugar and salt and mixed with fresh blueberries and chocolate.  it was super tasty, easy to eat and make. I had one when riding and had one a couple times as a snack at work. It is mild tasting for a snack at work and tastes much better when out on the bike. Freezing it did change the texture and consistency.  Freezing caused it to fall apart easily which makes it a bit harder to eat on the bike and taste was a bit less fresh but still perfectly acceptable.  I cannot wait to try a savory recipe.  I cannot wait to try these on long trail runs too.