Sunday, May 16, 2010

A Week In The Life Of...

Friday, May 7 - MS Kickoff Training Ride in the Crossroads District




Tuesday, May 11 - First BRICK at the Downtown Airport KC

11 mile bike ride, 1 mile run, 1 mile sprint/walk

Thursday, May 13 - Livestrong Army of Kansas City/ Tour de BBQ Announcement at McFadden's in P&L District

       Livestrong POWER

 The BIG moment!! Patti signing up the Sosas for the Waddell & Reed Kansas City half-marathon!! October 16, 2010 - the day before my Nike Marathon in San Fran!

As you can see, we're keeping quite busy with our training and supporting of several local organizations/events around town. May is turning out to be one of the busiest charity fitness event months all year. If you wanted to, you could probably run, walk or bike for a different group every Saturday and Sunday. It's great to see so many people out there getting active and raising awareness for a variety of great causes. For a list of events in your community, search active.com!

Join us next Saturday, May 22 at Liberty Memorial as we Take Steps for Crohns & Colitis! See ya there!

**Note: Today is a recovery day - remember the importance of these! I am so sore every movement up, down, in, out and around HURTS! That's what I get for having a "Rocky" moment yesterday...pain is weakness leaving the body, right?

Friday, May 14, 2010

Fuel

Since this weekend is calling for rain, rain and more rain I've decided to focus on other aspects of training - stretching (yoga) and nutritious foods. The Sosa household is undergoing a very slow food revolution (less processed, more organic and more importantly, eating at home).

So, I've been doing "internet research" for recipes of my favorite things and I love, love LARABARS. They are a raw, vegan, whole food bar that have 5 or fewer ingredients. You can find them at most stores, but they range from $1.59 to $2+ a bar, and really, I need to save my pennies for more gear :)

Below is a recipe taken directly from, Enlightened Cooking (thank you). You can click on the title above for a link, or follow directions below. These are great and super easy, even Coach Sosa approved! and Costco has a big container of fresh dates! Note the formula below can easily be double, tripled, etc...




Very Cherry Bars

LARA BARS use a multi-layer package that keeps out UV light and oxygen, which, in turn, maintains freshness without the use of preservatives. I use plain old plastic wrap and my refrigerator, then pop one in my bag when I’m ready to go. (Use this as a template for almost any combination)


1/4 cup chopped dates (roughly chopped whole dates, not pre-chopped)
1/4 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
1/3 cup whole pecans, almonds or walnuts
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.

Place the dates and cherries in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).

Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped (photo 2). Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste (photo 3). Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste (just keep squishing, it’s fun; brings back memories of play-dough.

Divide mixture in half. Place each half on each of one of the sheets of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around each bar and start squishing into a bar shape form, 3 and 1/2 inches long, 1 inch wide and 3/4-inch thick); press against countertop to flatten bottom side, flattening top side and ends with flat of hand. Tightly wrap the plastic around each bar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 bars.

Nutrition per Serving (1 bar): Calories 207; Fat 9.4 g (sat .8g, mono 5.2g, poly 3.1g); Protein 3.9g; Cholesterol 0mg; Carbohydrate 24.9g; Sodium 0.4mg. (Note: I did the nutrition analysis using Diet Analysis Plus 7.0.1)

A Few Ideas for Variations:

Apricot-Almond: Use 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped dried apricots and 2 tablespoons date (to measure 1/2 cup total); use almonds for the nuts.

Tropical: Use tropical fruit bits (these come pre-packaged at the supermarket); use raw cashews for the nuts. Add 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest, and 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice to the mix.

PB & J (cheap and delicious!): Use 1/4 cup dried cherries or cranberries and 1/4 cup raisins or dates; use raw or roasted peanuts (lightly salted or unsalted) for the nuts.

Blueberry Bliss: Use 1/4 cup dried blueberries and 1/4 cup dates; use almonds for the nuts. Add 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, and a drop of almond extract to the mix.

Cashew Cookie Dough: Reverse the proportions of fruit to nuts--Use 1/3 cup dates for the fruit and 1/2 cup raw cashews for the nuts. (AWESOME)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Same as cashew cookie dough, but add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, pinch of cinnamon and 1/2 ounce very finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate to the mix.

Pistachio Heaven: Same as cashew cookie dough, but use raw pistachios and add a tiny drop of almond extract.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough: Same as cashew cookie dough but use raw or roasted (lightly salted) peanuts for the nuts.

Friday, May 7, 2010

WOW: Women On Wheels


Barb and I had our first real ride of the season last Saturday, May 1 out in Shawnee Mission Park! By real I mean not in a spinning class, biking to nowhere, but rather out on the road with real scenery and real, very real hills. The ride was sponsored by WOW (click on the title of this post for more info) - a great organization for KC women bikers. The weather wasn't perfect (in fact I was freezing by the end), but we still had a blast and squeezed in a mere 16.6 miles. Not bad for my first time back in the saddle! We got lost, as usual, Barb and I always seem to get lost, but if I can just vent for a minute - mark your courses!! There is nothing more irritating to a rider than being sweaty, dirty, exhausted and at the end of your ride doing extra miles because someone "forgot" to put a sign up to turn right into the finish line...Either way, it gave us a good laugh and we came to the conclusion that it isn't important getting from point A to point B, but rather what happens inbetween that makes the ride a good time (a little life lesson for ya there ;)

Barb's skipping out on Patti and I tonight as we join the rest of KC down at First Fridays in the Crossroads District. She will be sipping wine and admiring the art, while we are peddling and sweating and enjoying the spring weather by bike - my favorite new way to see the city. We're kicking off the MS Training Ride schedule tonight so don't worry, many more rides/stories ahead!

For a list of Kansas City training rides click here - now get out there and RIDE!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

She's a Brick...

"...house. The lady's stacked and that's a fact,ain't holding nothing back."

Ok ladies, the first brick (bike/run combo) is Thursday evening (5/6). There are a number of theories behind the "brick" terminology:
*your legs feel like bricks trying to run right out of the saddle
*you are combining/stacking two events on top of each other
*the thought of doing a triathlon requires climbing a mental brick wall?

Tell me your thoughts on the brick? All and all, we're just another...

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Metro Med Running Club

It is finally, almost, Spring! and with that the Metro Med running club is up, and well, running :)

We've had a sporadic start, but we are in it to WIN it! Our goal is two times a week together, and then cross training and additional days on our own. Compared to this time last year, I think we are all on our way to PR for this year's tri.

Happy trails ladies, get those iPods charged.