Who are my swimmers in the audience? Were you the kid that was thrown into the water before you could even walk and therefore became some kind of amphibious land/water beast?
Do you sleep in in a full bathtub at night?
Do your friends and coworkers suspect you may have webbed feet?
This is not me.
I took swimming lessons as a kid, but it didn’t stick as a sport. Always having access to an ocean growing up, I am luckily comfortable in the water, diving under waves and floating amongst jelly fish. But I never swam to get anywhere, or (heaven forbid) race people to a destination.
That I’ve improved at swimming is due completely to the training and coaching of my triathlon team, Full Throttle. Loyal readers of this blog are by now familiar with my band of merry athletic maniacs.
Keeping up with this group requires some helpful tricks. One useful technique in the pool is a flip turn. The flip turn, as demonstrated below, allows the swimmer to maintain a faster momentum while swimming laps:
I can’t do a proper flip turn. I say “proper” because I have been flip turning but they aren’t….pretty. Take this in-pool conversation as an example:
Teammate after a 200 meter warm-up: What was THAT?
Me: What was what?
Teammate: That weird little pirouette you do – like a sideways somersault!
Me: You mean my flip turn?
Teammate: Hysterical laughter.
Hmmmm….
This winter I have dedicated myself to improving my swimming technique. And while there are no flip turns in triathlons (outdoor races, anyhow), I feel that it’s a useful skill in helping me become a more fluid swimmer.
Enter Kyla. Kyla is a member of our team and also one of the swimming coaches. She is one of the fastest swimmers on our team, beating people like me out of the water by what feels like days. I’ve been taking lessons from Kyla, as she also has the ability to explain swimming techniques so that they make sense to my land-lubbing brain.
For example, did you know I have lazy elbows? True story! Also, sometimes I forget to kick, which is really just silly. Anyway, Kyla showed me how to do a REAL flip turn. And I attempted a few of them, with limited success. But I’m working on it. And the important thing is, I think I know how to fix it.
In addition to improving my flip turn and overall swim technique as a means to keep up, I’m also beefing up the Triathlete Kitchen (you will notice a tab in the Recipes Section dedicated to these concoctions). You may recall my first post about Lana Bars, energy bars of my own devising. This recipe is an updated, and in my opinion better version. I have two options.
First: The Fruit, Nut PB&J Lana Bar
What You Need:
1 1/2 cups instant/quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups Kashi puffed wheat cereal
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cups chopped walnuts
pinch of salt
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 dried blueberries
1/4 cup currant or mixed berry jam
3 egg whites
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Equipment: a round cookie cutter, about 1″ to 1.5″ in diameter
What You Do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with a piece of parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate. Mix them up well.
Add in the agave syrup, peanut butter, egg whites and jam. Mix well with your hands so that it all starts to come together.
With a spoon and using the cookie cutter as a form, press about a tablespoon-sized amount into the cutter and on the prepared cookie sheet. Press it down, packing it solidly and then lift off the cookie cutter.
Repeat until you use all of the mixture.
Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
While the bars are cooling, melt the 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler, or in a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water.
Once the chocolate is melted, dip the bottoms of the energy bars into the chocolate so that one side of the bar has a thin coating of chocolate. Set them chocolate side up back onto the cookie sheet to cool and harden.
Once the chocolate is hardened, store the bars in an air-tight container in the fridge. They’ll keep for 2 weeks. Pop one before you start practicing your flip turns.
Next up: Coffee and Molasses Lana Bars
What You Need:
1 1/4 cups instant/quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups Kashi puffed wheat cereal
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
3 tablespoons of your favorite ground coffee
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dark molasses
3 egg whites
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Equipment: a round cookie cutter, about 1″ to 1.5″ in diameter
What You Do:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with a piece of parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate. Mix them up well.
Add in the molasses, peanut butter and egg whites. Mix well with your hands so that it all starts to come together.
With a spoon and using the cookie cutter as a form, press about a tablespoon-sized amount into the cutter and on the prepared cookie sheet. Press it down, packing it solidly and then lift off the cookie cutter.
Repeat until you use all of the mixture.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
While the bars are cooling, melt the 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler, or in a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water.
Once the chocolate is melted, dip the bottoms of the energy bars into the chocolate so that one side of the bar has a thin coating of chocolate. Set them chocolate side up back onto the cookie sheet to cool and harden.
Once the chocolate is hardened, store the bars in an air-tight container in the fridge. They’ll keep for 2 weeks.
This is amazing, i would love to learn this recipe and would like to cook and eat by myself…