Soup, DOMS, Sneakers

First off, I’d like to give props to my girlfriend Amanda, who got second in her first trail race ever.  Of course it had to be the toughest one ever as well!  I got a hard earned 3rd place.  This will be our last trail run till the fall.  Next up is the Olympic triathlon in Tremblant !

So I made a great soup last night which I’d like to share.  Very easy to make.  Looks like boiled grass but takes yummy.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium white potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 1 six ounce bag baby spinach
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Sauté garlic, onion, celery and potato for 5 minutes.

Add chicken broth and fat-free milk. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in half the spinach, cover and simmer for 10 more minutes.

Cool slightly, then transfer soup to a blender, working in two batches if necessary.

Add remaining spinach and blend (if working in two batches, use half the remaining spinach with each batch). Blend until smooth.

So as I sit here and type this, my legs are toast!  Wow…  I thought my DOMs (Delayed Onset Muscle fatigue) was cured!  even after an icy bath in the river post race couldn’t cure my destroyed legs.  Turns out icy baths may not be that helpful.  I read this journal today and they found that after doing 100 squat jumps, then ice bathing, there was little change to the group that didn’t.  There really needs to be mroe science to figure this sort of thing out!

Last but not least is my trail running sneakers: La Sportivas “Crosslite”.  I am very picky when it comes to fast sneakers.  I bought these shoes based on how light they were (not super but lighter than a training shoe).  These shoes are the BEST for handling trails.  They have great stopping power, traction and are pretty quick.  Because fo the good traction, they are only good for the trails though so if you have a mix of terrains, consider another option.

My only complain with the sneakers is there damn laces.  They are the slick kind which are easy to tie but come undone a lot.  Even after 3 loops I can’t keep them closed.  This caused me twice to tie them on the race in the weekend.

The pros outweigh the cons though.  Great shoe!

Happy Trainin

Cliff