One of the number one questions I get when people find out that I work out two or three times a day, six times a week is "what do you eat?" The answer is complicated. As a lightweight rower, I have to fuel my body for practice but not overindulge. It's a balance I am still tweaking and fine tuning as I continue with training.
On a couple Wednesdays a month, I'd like to share some pictures from my kitchen. This past week was a little different because I had off work, so I had the time (and the Christmas gift certificates) to shop at Wegman's and Trader Joe's.
I bought 11 pounds of meat at Wegman's this weekend. Since Wegman's is a hike from where I live in Philly, getting to go is always a treat. They have really good prices on high quality food. I bought so much meat that I had to leave half of it in my boyfriend's full size freezer because it wouldn't fit in mine! My New Year's resolution is to eat more meat, so I'm going to say I'm off to a decent start.
Dinner: Honey mustard salmon from Trader Joe's cooked in the oven, garlic butter broccoli and plain linguine with a little bit of parmesan cheese.
Dinner: Oven baked chicken with Italian seasoning, plain linguine with a little bit of parmesan cheese and roasted Brussels sprouts. And a mouthful of ramen, that I ended up giving back to my boyfriend because I was too full!
Lunch: Whole wheat couscous and spicy jalepeno chicken sausage with red pepper flakes, both from Trader Joes. If I had known couscous was so easy to cook, I would have replaced any and all pasta in my diet a long time ago. I made a big batch of this for work lunches.
Dinner: Steamed broccoli, crockpot pulled pork and my roommate, Claire's, version of fried rice. Both the pulled pork and fried rice were part of weekend food prep so I can come home from practice and have dinner ready in under ten minutes. Blue plates supposedly help to curb appetite - not really sure if that works for hungry rowers post erg workout.
Comments? Questions? Email me or leave a note below! Want to share what you eat with the world? Tweet with #WhatIEatWed
For
me, the most exciting thing about summer is the feeling of possibility. This is
the feeling that no matter what is going on right now, summer guarantees exciting
new adventures. This summer that feeling of excitement is especially high as I
have moved my fabulous self to a brand new city. For the next three months, I
will blogging from the brotherly lovin’, cheese steak eatin’, Rocky Stairs
runnin’ city of Philadelphia. I am not gainfully employed (yet) but I am rowing
for Penn AC’s intermediate program. Practice hasn’t started yet so in between
applying for real jobs and trying to keep my out-of-shape self from getting
more out of shape, I have been exploring things this great city has to offer.
This isn’t a traditional “Tory’s Top Ten” but here is a list of ten things I’ve
done in the past ten days since I moved.
1.
Run the Rocky Stairs. This was the first thing I had to do. Granted, I did it
as a workout and not to re-enact that famous scene (as many tourists
do). In the five or so other days that I’ve run them, it’s cool to see just how
many different types of people pay homage to Rocky on the Art Museum Stairs. On
top of running them at the end of each of my jogs, I’ve also done 3x8 sets with
3’ rest and 5x5’ of steps with 5’ rest. While it’s not as hard as a true 5x5’
workout, it was definitely not easy.
2.
Eaten old fashioned ice cream at Franklin Fountain. These interestingly named
sundaes were a little expensive, but worth the wait and the money. I had never
had a banana split before so I tried “Banana Split for My Baby” which is a
smaller version of a banana split with more peanut butter. So kind of like one
of my shakes …only way, way unhealthier and way, way tastier.
3. Enjoyed
healthy eats at The Couch Tomato. When I ventured to Manayunk, I was
overwhelmed how many restaurants I wanted to eat at. The Couch Tomato stuck out
because it was a funky looking spot off the main street. The food was great (I
tried the Holy Chipotle and BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad). Even if the food had
been so-so, they won me over when I was asked if I wanted my dressing on the
side and I didn’t have to feel like a picky snob for ordering it that way. (Even
though you can’t really tell from this list, I am dieting…yeah, I swear!) Any
salad can be made into a wrap and they have a ton of vegetarian options, or you
can make your own. The ingredients taste as fresh as they are guaranteed to be
and if you sit outside, it’s a great place for people watching.
4.
Partied at The Bike Race. The Philadelphia International Cycling Championship,
known in Philly as The Bike Race, is a pro bicycling race that snakes its way
through Philadelphia every June. I thought people only drank before 10 a.m. if
they were being hazed but when we arrived at “The Wall” at 10:45 a.m.,
spectators were already slurring their commentary. It was like an outrageous
day-long frat party to support the bikers. “The Wall”, one of the best places
to watch, refers to a giant hill in Manayunk where the riders slow down enough
that I could almost high five them. If they hadn’t been climbing a hill giant
enough that walking up it just once made me need a nap.
5.
Got a brain freeze at Philly Flavors. Anyone who knows me knows that I love
Rita’s. This might be the better version of Rita’s…with more flavors, real ice
cream as well as frozen yogurt and HUGE portions for about the same price (just
don’t get a sundae because those will run your bill up). They will mix Italian
ice with soft serve ice cream and it is so good. I highly recommend peach ice
with vanilla soft serve. Just don’t eat it as fast as I did…brain freeze!
6.
Used my college knowledge to crush Quizzo at North Star Bar. Ok, so maybe I
only got one question right. But my team was really smart and that’s what
counts. This trivia night, hosted by Johnny Goodtimes (who sometimes raps
questions), was a low key pen-and-paper game with four rounds: easy, speed,
themed and impossible, with some “guess-the-song” rounds in between. And no,
the question I got right was not in the easy round. The wings were pretty good,
the beers were better and the feeling of winning would have been the best.
Guess I have to go back next Monday for that!
7. Had
my first cheesesteak as a Philadelphia resident at Mama’s Pizzeria. While it
might not be as famous as Pat’s or Geno’s, I could care less because it wasn’t
crowded and the cheesesteaks were awesome. And by “cheesesteaks”, I have to
confess that I could only eat half. But it was a fantastic half, with perfect
roll and extra cheese and grilled onions and tasty steak. I will definitely be
sampling a lot of cheesesteaks over the next three months but even if there is
a better one out there, it probably won’t taste just as good microwaved for
lunch the next day (but Mama’s did!)
8.
Celebrated Beer Week at Memphis Taproom. If I had known that Beer Week existed,
I probably would have moved here years ago. Who wouldn’t love a city that
celebrates beer? Memphis Tap Room was a great place for me to go to kick off my
first beer week. Not only did they have a no repeat beer week beer menu, they
also have fried pickles (they taste WAY better than they sound) and delicious
sandwiches for not too much money.
9. Devoured
wings at PJ Wellihans. Thanks to Darby’s forty cent wing night, I discovered
this year that I love wings, especially sweetly barbequed wings with a little
bit of tang. I might not have had a long history of wing eating, but these
wings are the best I have ever eaten. Ever. We ordered 30 Hot ‘n’ Honey wings
for three of us, but I am pretty sure that I could have eaten all 30 by myself.
And then wanted more. They were amazing.
10. Sampled
my way through Whirled Peace. I went to this froyo place for the first time in
March and I was totally in love. At that point, I didn’t know I was going to
move to Philadelphia (perhaps subconsciously this is what made me chose) but I
knew I loved this place. They have about ten flavors of frozen yogurt, from the
typical chocolate and vanilla to some super weird sounding flavors that were
actually kind of good. I don’t know because I’ve made ten trips, I know because
they let you have free samples of every flavor. Actually, I'm not sure if they
let you do this. I just know that there were sampling cups and I was in charge
of getting my own. When you stop sampling, you can add a TON of different
toppings for whatever craving you have that day. So delicious!
So
what if three of my ten adventures were ice cream related? Clearly I have my
priorities in order. While I have done these ten things, some highlights so far
that didn’t make the Top Ten include getting a bike flat, falling off my bike, successfully
parallel parking my car, erging in the Penn AC boathouse, riding my bike in the
city at night, figuring out where I am (sometimes), going grocery shopping in a
less than nice neighborhood and not getting any parking tickets (so far). I
haven’t been on the water yet, which will make 22 days the longest amount of
time I have not rowed (during rowing months) in the past three years. Other
than that, I am enjoying myself immensely and look forward to a summer full of
adventures! Do you have any adventure ideas for me? Leave a comment or send me
an email!
Independence Day Regatta is one of the biggest summer regattas and despite eight years in the sport, I had actually never been before. Although I was signed up for a triathlon that day, I asked to defer my registration fee so that I could attend IDR.
Because the classification rules for the Schuylkill Navy are different from the rules for US Rowing, I had to row in the intermediate instead of novice single. This meant that I had to race my first 2k in the single. My heat was at 5:18pm on Friday so I left for Philly in the morning after de-rigging, packing up and washing my boat. After a little traffic and about five bathroom stops, I made it to Philly around 1pm. This left a good amount of time for rigging, socializing and a quick nap under a tree.
One of the things about rowing the single that is still taking some getting used to is how much it is all about you. This seems obvious to anyone who knows about rowing but I don’t think that I realized what it was really like until I started racing by myself. When rowing for a team, there’s always someone to launch you or carry your oars or travel with you or check your equipment or high-five you on the dock. When rowing an unaffiliated single, you need to be able handle everything yourself. As much as I really enjoy rowing the single, that is the one thing that makes it very different. Rowing by myself is very enjoyable, it’s doing everything else alone that threw me for a loop at first.
My race in the heat was not the greatest. Since there were 21 boats in the Intermediate 1x category, three boats in each of the four heats moved on to semis. I was in Lane 1, and had been warned about the turn. However, I still took it badly. I ended up with my starboard oars on the buoy line instead of my port oars, the way I was supposed to and actually ended up off the course before the marshal waved me back on. I definitely lost some time because of that. Fortunately for me, I got lucky with a slower heat and qualified anyway. A lot of that race was a learning experience for me. I was trying to learn how to handle the length of a 2k in a single and couldn’t really think about anything other than crossing the finish line with a place good enough to qualify. I finished third and got to move onto the semis, on Sunday morning.
Dinner on Friday was spaghetti and meatballs at Angellino's
Friday night I stayed with a friend of Sean’s old roommate and Marist crew alumnus, Andrew, who lives in Philly with his fiancée and Penn AC junior team coach, Rebecca. Andrew’s friend, Steph, used to compete in Ironman races so one of the highlights of my stay with her was getting to see real Ironman medals. The other highlights were her two dogs, Tracker and Betty. I spent most of my stay with her playing with my new furry friends.
Breakfast was a cinnamon raisin bagel on Saturday morning at RyBread
Since I had all of Saturday to hang out and not race, I got to see a good deal of the city of Philly as well as a lot more racing. I think that most of the people who were rowing for a team rowed in multiple events, something I did not envy on such a hot day. On Saturday night, I stayed with my parents, who had come to see me race. That night, we saw an amazing display of fireworks from the hotel window. Philly definitely goes all out to celebrate 4th of July: these fireworks were awesome.
Video of Sean's heat, taken by Andrew from his bike
My friend from high school, Andy, walked onto the Bucknell Men's Crew team and is rowing for NYAC this summer. For more video from Saturday's races, click here.
Chicken and whole wheat penne with pesto at Maggiano's with my parents
On Sunday, I was happy to race in the morning. I think that one of the reasons my race in my heat was so bad was because I was exhausted from traveling and spending a day in the heat. Obviously, a good rower should be ready to race in any conditions, so that’s no excuse for a bad race. Needless to say, on Sunday I was glad to be racing at a time where I felt I was strongest.
My race was at 8:36 a.m., but things were a little behind so I didn’t actually end up lining up until 9ish. Everyone in the warm up area was a little tense, but we all got some laughs when the girl from St. Catherine’s (Canada) asked “Do you think they’re behind, eh?” It seems weird to be friendly with your competitors before racing, but the best rower is going to win anyway, not the nicest (or meanest) person.
On this race course, the start is staggered because of the turn. Because I was in Lane 1, it seemed like I started ahead of everyone, though things were evened once we went through the bridge. Despite this false sense of being ahead, I felt that my start was very strong, as were my first power strokes. A couple of the girls shot off the line but I was able to hang with the main pack for about 600 meters. I made a middle move of 15 strokes at the St. Joe’s boathouse, where I could hear my mum cheering for me. (One of the best things about not having a coxswain is that you can actually hear the spectators!) At that point, all the rowers but one were ahead of me. Through the 3rd 500, I tried to focus on lengthening out my stroke and relaxing my hands, two things I had worked on in practice.
Photos taken by the paparazzi, aka my mother
Once I hit the island, I knew that I probably didn’t have a chance of qualifying but I was going to sprint anyway. I wanted to show the people in the grandstand that I wasn’t completely defeated. I took the hardest power 25 that I think I’ve ever taken in my life before I heard the buzzer signaling that I had crossed the line…in 5th place. I hadn’t qualified, but I was very happy with my race. Throughout the weekend, I had successfully doubled my racing experience in the single. I had also learned from my mistakes in the heat and had a better semi because of that. Despite reservations earlier in the weekend about whether giving up my spot in the triathlon was the right thing to do, I am very glad I went to IDR instead.
Another thing that I liked about the race was that the organizers sent a survey afterwards. This showed me that they really cared about making it a good race for everyone. Even though it’s been around since 1880, they are still working to improve it and that impressed me. I also met the race organizer, Clete, who was very friendly and genuinely cared about my racing experience. The only thing that I wish had been different was the time between heats, semis, and finals. Having 36 hours between heats and semis, and then less than 2 hours between semis and finals seems uneven to me. But since I didn't actually make finals, I was unaffected.
Intermediate Women's 1x Final on Sunday morning....wish I had been in the race, but it was exciting to watch too
Thanks to my parents, for coming to watch me race, to Steph, for giving me a place to stay, to Andrew, for cheering loudly, and to Mulvey and Sean, for their amazing ability to keep my ego in check while still giving me moral support.
Check back next week for updates on my first triathlon of the season!
