It's cold, rainy and pretty miserable in Amsterdam at the moment. And - for us Brits at least - nothing says winter comfort like a piping hot Shepherd's Pie. Here's my attempt at a low carb version!
The movement maketh the man. That’s not an actual phrase or quote, but it damn well should be. In the meantime, it’s certainly my new mantra. As I mentioned in my last post, this season I’m looking into all the ways I can improve my triathlon performance that go beyond simply training more or harder. Most of thee have the added benefit of making you a healthier, happier person too, so that can’t be a bad thing, can it? Having listened to Kelly Starrett on a couple of podcasts and started reading his book Becoming a supple leopard, I became convinced that mobility lay at the foundation of many of these ‘marginal gains’. And I decided to start, as is almost always best, at the very beginning. With the foundations. My friend and fellow ATAC member Lorna Wilson is a Biomechanics Coach as well as a full time personal trainer. Last week, I headed to see Lorna at Sport371 in Amsterdam to begin a course in foundation biomechanics. I am, at heart, a writer. I like narrative. I like themes. I even like to theme each of my triathlon seasons. This season’s theme, I’ve decided, is “squeezing every last drop”. What do I mean by that? Well, for the five years or so that I’ve been doing triathlon to a greater or lesser extent, I’ve gradually trained a little harder and a little smarter. I’ve improved nutrition. I’ve learnt what sort of taper suits me. But there are tens of other things that go into performance. 2015 is going to be a big and busy year for me, with work reaching new heights and other big things in the offing, and so simply ‘training more’ is not an option. In fact, I’ll probably have to train significantly less – but I think I can offset that with smarter training, lifestyle and looking into other elements, such as sleep, mobility, strength and proper recovery. As always, I promise to let you all know how it goes and which elements make the biggest differences. Maybe these are things you can use in your own ‘performances’ – whether that means triathlons, marathons, fun runs or just life itself. So, what's your theme for the 2015 season? What, other than the basics of training, are you going to focus more on in the 8 months ahead? Mexican food makes a great basis for low carb high fat eating. The largest part of Mexican classics consist of garlic, corriander, chilis, lots of vegetables and some form of meat or fish. Fresh, easy, quick and tasty. The problem, of course, occurs when you add the taco shells, fajita wraps and nacho chips that often accompany the dishes. Fortunately, there are no sugar no grain options, such as 'oopsie rolls'. This weekend marked the traditional watershed in winter training. Yes, I cycled outside! I’d been slowly making some progress with indoor cycling sessions – stuck outside on the balcony with the home trainer, tri bike, laptop and mercifully cool breeze – working on focused sessions of around an hour or so max. But would that prepare me for a real actual group ride on proper roads? Actually, it sort of did… On Saturday, the weather was perfect for winter cycling. Nice and cloudy (keeping it an almost balmy 8 degrees!), not wet or too windy. I went out with around 10 members of ATAC. Most of those riding were committed cyclists who ride year-round, including some of the pretty hardcore local cyclocross racing. Then there were a couple of us who are either slightly less committed or triathletes, starting to come around after our winter’s slumber! Due to this Sunday being devoted to dressing up like a loon and drinking incessantly (also known as “carnaval” in the south of the Netherlands), I was forced to rearrange my training a little this week. Normally, not a big deal. But this week it meant a 25km long run (my longest run since Roth last July) just three days after running the half marathon in Schoorl (my previous longest run since Roth last year!). Needless to say, the back half of the 25k was painful and very, very tough. But sometimes, that “shock to the system” session – or pair of sessions – is just what’s needed to get going, mentally as well as physically. I now feel like I’m properly starting to get back into shape and have started preparing for the race season ahead a little more. It’s that dose of pure reality which reminds you of the hard work in front (a 25k long run shouldn’t be that tough for me when in shape) but also reminds you that you’re not in bad nick anyway. Plus, a couple of days on from that, and I’m already feeling the physical and fitness advantages that those two runs have brought. On the whole, I don’t tend to miss most of the processed and unnatural foods that are a no-no when you move to a more primal or paleo lifestyle. Bread was a great love of mine, but it doesn’t really register now. Nor pasta, for the most part. But sometimes you do want to dive into something big, bold, tasty and comforting like a lasagna. This one is perfect as a weekend treat and makes at least 4 triathlete-sized portions! Lasagnas essentially comprise of repeated layers. The layers are going to be made up of: · Courgette (taking the place of the pasta sheets) · Mince · Tomato sauce · Cheese The courgettes are a little fiddly but easy enough. You can create long thing strips, by using the wide blades on a cheese grater. You’ll want about 1-1.5 courgettes worth. It’s the source of constant mirth for me watching triathletes rock up to swim sessions equipped with Santa Claus sized bags full of toys and gadgets. One by one, these are loaded on to the poolside, to the extent that it becomes hard to find a stretch clear enough to dive in for the warm up. Triathletes are renowned for our love of gadgets and training aids, trying to squeeze every last drop of data and effectiveness out of each session. But the pool is a place for simplicity. It’s the antithesis of the pimped-up bike section. It’s bloody Zen! So, here’s a list of things you’ve probably wasted money on: There are many things that the Dutch are famous for – beautiful windmills, mastery over the seas, fields of bright tulips, total football… but food isn’t one of them.
By and large, the local fare isn’t all that inspiring but, credit where it’s due, the Dutch serve up a decent range of hearty winter fare and no dish sums that up more than stamppot. Fortuntely, it’s super quick and easy to cook, there are various versions – so you can personalize it as much as you like – and it’s easy to make a healthier no sugar no grain version. It seems a little disingenuous to write a full report about this Sunday’s race in Schoorl. With barely three weeks of training in the legs, ‘race’ is a very generous term indeed. That said, it was a good experience. Schoorl is located in the northwest of the Netherlands, right on the coast and consists of a large and well-known area of dunes, making the run far more testing than you’d expect for a Dutch event. It takes about 45 minutes to drive there from Amsterdam, tho being a small village (with quite a large number of racers), you’d be advised to arrive early as parking isn’t so easy and, when you do find a spot, it’s usually a good 10-15 minutes’ walk to the start area. The problem with an ‘easy training race’ is that there’s a temptation not to take it seriously enough – one that I fell into completely. I had my traditional pre-race breakfast of bulletproof coffee but totally forgot to take any water or the small U-Can drink I’d usually sip on en route to a race. Through some general pissing-about type behavior, I then ended up not having a lot of time before the race start, so I essentially started having a) not topped up glycogen reserves whatsoever after a night’s sleep; b) having drunk nothing but a coffee all morning (11am race start); c) without the new Vega Sport gel (a totally natural, vegan, no added sugar gel I’m trialing… or meaning to trial). Idiot – tho, if I’m going to make stupid mistakes, better at this part of the season, right? |
AuthorMatt. Brit in Amsterdam. Triathlete. Ultrarunner. AG30-35. Slightly in front of the middle of the pack. Slightly behind the front of the pack. Categories
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June 2015
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