Eating to Win

It's been a busy few weeks here at Optimum Omnivore HQ. I raced my first aquathon of the summer, and the USMS Open Water National Championships, in addition to working my actual job and preparing for the 4th anniversary of my 30th birthday. Said anniversary is being celebrated in DC, possibly the world's epicenter of shittastic weather. But I digress.

I'm so hot I can't be bothered to draw my other leg.

With the aquathon on a Thursday night, and the National Championships the following Sunday morning, nutrition should have been my first priority. Unfortunately, the workweek was hectic and stressful, and there were a lot of social engagements, so my priorities wound up looking something like this:

1. Don't get fired 
2. Drink with co-workers to relieve stress 
3. Drink with friends to relieve stress 
4. Eat whatever food is located close to where I am drinking 
5. Lament how I could have eaten better to prepare for my race 
6. Race 

Given this priority distortion, I am exceptionally pleased with my race results. However, I fully recognize that said results could have been improved by better nutrition, and less drinking. Since my next race is two weeks away, I have resolved to eat cleanly while I train, and avoid falling apart immediately prior to the event. I hope this plan will not only improve my race results, but also the actual racing experience.

This is what racing the one mile open water championship race felt like on a stomach fueled by a bottle of red wine and about 1.5 cups of freshly whipped cream

Normally I try to eat as much "real food" in support of my training as possible. I don't go in on a lot of supplements, or recovery drinks, etc. However, my husband was recently inspired to buy me a large container of Hammer Nutrition's strawberry flavored Heed. I give it 10 cool points for being vegan friendly, kosher, and gluten and MSG free, but I have to deduct 20 cool points for tasting like flat strawberry Fanta mixed with milk. Maybe they should have left the MSG in the formula after all.

No word yet on whether said beverage is going to make me the next big thing in masters women's open water racing. But these Hammer people are obviously very popular with athletic overachievers like myself, because there were large chafing dishes at the open water championships filled to the brim with their gel product. While I already knew that their flavors were suspect, I'm really cheap, and these were free, so I simply couldn't stop myself from stuffing my pockets.

Who else thinks "mountain huckleberry" is probably an overly ambitious description of the flavor?

Anyways, I hope to report back in a few weeks about how said Hammer products are helping sustain me during my training. In the meantime, I thought I'd share with you the dish I should have eaten the night before my races. It's not dairy free, but it is a great mix of protein, carbs, veggies and fat (I find food with those properties, in that descending order of quantity, are the best for dinner before my race). Enjoy.

Greek Quinoa Salad

Ingredients: 

1.       1 cup whole fat plain greek yogurt
2.       Zest of 1 lime, juice of one lime
3.       Zest of 1 lemon, juice of one lemon
4.       1 cup diced English or Persian cucumber
5.       1 cup diced red pepper
6.       ½ cup diced red onion
7.       ½ cup basil chiffonade
8.       ½ tsp salt
9.       ½ tsp pepper
10.   1 tsp dried oregano (or 2 tbsp of the fresh stuff if you've got it)
11.   1 cup white quinoa (or red if you like)
12.   2 cups vegetable broth

Directions: 

1.       In a large bowl, mix the first 10 ingredients thoroughly. Let stand for at least 15 (I’d prefer 45) minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Could be made up to 12 hours ahead and left in the fridge, covered.

2.       Prepare the 1 cup quinoa with the 2 cups vegetable broth according to either:

a.       Your method
b.      A method you like on the Internet
c.       The way I do it: I pan toast the cup of quinoa in a saucepan until it smells nutty, frequently stirring, on medium heat, for about 3-4 minutes. Then I add the 2 cups vegetable broth and bring the whole saucepan up to a boil. Then I drop the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated. I remove the quinoa from the heat and let stand for another 20-30 minutes. At this point, I can fluff it with a fork and it has cooled sufficiently for me to add it to the bowl with dressing I’ve made above in instruction one. I mix to coat and serve immediately.

3.       You could eat this as a side dish, or as a main dish, or on top of a salad, etc. My favorite way is to make a salad of spinach and pine nuts, and to top that salad with a cup of the greek quinoa salad. I also like to use the greek quinoa salad as a base to serve turkey patties (a turkey hamburger). Lots of options.