Spinning Away

As the temperatures get colder and days get shorter, outdoor training can become difficult.  You really have to get creative in the winter to make treadmill and bike trainer workouts both enjoyable (if you can call the pain they inflict enjoyment) and productive.  The Sport Factory has GRIND classes (awesome indoor rides) several times a week that are targeted for short or long course and specific to the phase of training.  Unfortunately, the commute from Charlotte to Alpharetta is a little too long to take advantage of those each week.  So, instead, it's just me, my bike on the trainer, my Garmin, and the TV for some entertainment.  Here's what today's "ride" consisted of:

Race cadence warm up Z1 10min
10min Z2 race cadence, 5min top Z2 80rpm, 5min Z3 75rpm
10min top Z1 95rpm
10min top Z2 race cadence, 5min Z3 75rpm
Recover 5min
10min top Z2 race cadence, 5min Z3 70rpm
Recover 5min
10min mid Z3
Recover 1min
4 x (30sec sprint/30sec recover)
Cool Down

That's just over 90 minutes of sweaty fun (or two hour-long shows on TiVO).

After all that, I was starving.  Dinner needed a little prep though, so I chugged a glass of OJ for a little replenishment while I got to work. I had a big bunch of fresh collards from the Farmer's Market, that I was anxious to cook.  I always seen greens in the cafeteria at work and they sound good, but if you look closely they are floating with bits of meat (bacon, I assume) and surely are well over-salted.  Tonight, I simply sauteed garlic and onion with a tablespoon of olive oil for about 10 minutes.  Then I added the chopped collards to the pot.  A quick addition about about 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup white wine made the simmering liquid.  They cooked for about 40 minutes.  Towards the end I added freshly cracked pepper, a dash of salt, and some chili powder.  The end result was vegan collards that were equally as satisfying, yet much healthier than the southern-style, fat filled "vegetable" that pops up all over restaurant menus.

The rest of the meal was an assortment of random ingredients.  Topping the greens was a mix I made of farro, lentil soup, and red beans.  I know, I know, very strange combination, but I promise it tasted fantastic.  I'm the queen when it comes to whipping up a meal out of odds and ends.  On the side was leftover cucumber salad.  Quick and simple dinner that left my stomach full and wallet happy.  Plus, there's extras left for tomorrow night when I drag in late from a "long call" day.