Sunday, November 25, 2012

Recipe: Java Protein Balls

Here's a super-simple recipe for a high-protein hunger-killing and amazingly tasty snack. The 'base' of this recipe can be used and flavoured in a number of ways to suit your taste - I'll explain as we go on.

What you'll need:

  • 2 cups almonds
  • 1 cup pitted dates or figs (pre-chop these up or give them a whiz in the blender prior to mixing)
  • 1/2 cup ground flax seed
  • 3 'scoops' (about 1/2 cup) of protein powder 
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup espresso coffee 
  • 2-3 tbsp of agave nectar or honey (optional)
  • Few tbsp's of hemp seed or chia seed (optional)
  • Shredded coconut, or oats or something of a similar nature, to roll the balls in.
  • A blender or food processor
'Dry Mix'

Put the almonds in the food processor and blend until you have an almond meal/flour consistency. Add dates, flax seed, protein powder in the food processor and mix until blended. Add the coffee, vanilla and agave and mix. 
Ready to make some tasty balls!

Make small balls (an inch diameter or so) and roll in coconut. Place them in an air-tight container, separating layers with parchment paper. Store in the freezer. Take them out and throw a few in your lunch box for snacks or eat them after a workout for a quick snack. 

You can use the base - almonds, dates, flax seed, protein powder + 1/2 cup liquid - with almost any variety of other ingredients to make different types of balls. For example, try adding some lemon zest, dried cranberries and cranberry juice. Or, raisins, chopped walnuts, cinnamon and apple juice.

Enjoy!



Monday, November 19, 2012

Race Report: Fat-Ass Trail Run a.k.a The One That Got Away

Our good friend JP invited us down to Frankford to run the Batawa Fat-Ass Trail Run this weekend. A weekend chez les Pellerins and a fun trail run wasn't hard to accept! Initially, we were signed up for the 7.5km run (i.e. one short painful loop over and around a ski-hill), but after a few beers Saturday evening, a little smacktalk and a phone call from M-P meant we were all-of-a-sudden running the 17.5km (i.e. one short painful loop + one longer and slippery loop in the mud). Why not, right?
Heading up the first ski hill.

The first 7.5km went well and I led a pack of 5 (including myself) guys around the 7.5km loop. I was working hard and it was going well. I think there were only one or two 7.5km guys ahead of us.

 Onto the 10km loop and my legs started to slacken off, and I lost that 'punch'. The cadence dropped and it quickly became a slog fest to hold onto the back of the guys. Eventually, after sliding my way through puddles and bogs, the experienced trail running guys dropped me and my 5lb water-logged shoes. The 'It-was-a-good-idea-at-the-time-long-run' on Friday evening was catching up to me pretty quick.
A little later on...

I kept on slogging along and dropped the pace off as I was running solo and thought I was no longer in contention for the podium. I headed onto what I thought was an out-and-back section of the 10km race loop. Lots of 10km folks were coming back along the trail, and I kept my right accordingly. Little did I know it wasn't an out and back but a 'lollipop' which went onto a single-track section to loop back. Yeah, I missed that turn. My bad. It's a racer's responsibility to know the course. I ran into a couple of volunteers and they stopped me to tell me the news. We chatted briefly and I turned around to chug it back into the race site. I ended up crossing the line 1st from the 17.5km racers. Those studs who dropped me like a sack of potatoes were running the 25km (i.e. one short painful loop + one longer and slippery loop in the mud + another short painful loop).

JP crossed the line a few minutes later and it turns out he did the exact same thing as me. We went and saw Sportstats and DQ'd ourselves. Turns out we ran the same distance, just missed climbing a ridge on that loop section. A shame as I had a good lead over 2nd place.
It was fun all the same and I had plenty of mud to show for my efforts!

Unfortunately, Audrey found herself in a similar position (leading, or close to it) but fell and hurt her knee. She had to stop for ~5minutes then got back up and limped on, to finish 5th in a gutsy race.


Monday, November 5, 2012

Race Report: Cookie Run 10k

My second 10km road-race of the year (and, well, ever) was this past Saturday morning. I'd been in the trenches with a cough-cold for a few days so I was pleased with the outcome: 37:28, m20-29 win and 3rd (officially? There were two other guys who finished up in the top 3 but I'm not sure if they were indeed registered) overall.
It was a cool morning and the 5km and 10km race run by Run Ottawa Club lined up together for a 10am start on the campus of the National Research Council here in Ottawa. I took off in the first km on a ~3:30/km pace, straight up the hill. That gassed me quick and the next 1.5kms or so into the steady headwind really got the HR up despite taking the pace back a knotch down to ~3:40 for km's 2 and 3. With the downhill, I clocked 3:31 for the 4th km. The 5th, 6th and 7th km's were awful. The poor pacing (and probably the cough medication) really caught up to me I ran 3:52/3:59:3:59 and lost a tonne of time to Martin Lamontagne-Lacasse (Québec stud who finished 4th at Ironman Mont-Tremblant this year) as I was totally gassed heading into the wind and up the hill again.
Crossing the 5km for the first lap, however, I noticed the clock read 18:10 or so, which constitutes an unofficial PB. I'll take it.
I managed to regain control in the last few km's clocking 3:40, 3:33, and 3:42 to bring it home for the PB.
A lesson in pacing, to be sure! With the correct pacing and a bit better health (no cold) I think sub-37 wouldn't be too far off. We'll see next time, I suppose!
The prize purse!

UO Triathlon crushed it! We must have had at least 15 folks line up for the race. We had three of us in the Top-10 for the 10km race, a top-10 woman in the 10km and a number of AG placings in the 5km race.

We did an in house prediction comp where you had to predict your time going in, the winners who ran as close to their prediction as possible took home the dough. I guestimated 37:30 that morning and took home a $25 gift certificate from Euro-Sports.ca