Los Cabos Round 2!

The view from our condo

I was SO excited to go back to Los Cabos this year, I really like having raced somewhere before...I know what grocery store to go to, where to get good dinner and I've ridden the course before, so I just have to go in and race my butt off!  I was not only excited to race, but we hadn't been away from work since Kona, so it was time for some VACATION!! As soon as I left work last week, I was just elated...it was time to go to Mexico, be with friends and race...all things that make me extremely happy.  I had been feeling great in my taper, but kept reminding myself that while that is a good indicator, it would be best to keep my confidence in check as in Ironman, anything can happen and the best days can be turned upside down lickety split.  We were in the same condo as last year (literally, the same condo...we like consistency, what can we say?), and were staying with good friends so this made pre-race easy and calm.  Mark had to remind me that it was race time, not play time a few times, but I argue that being relaxed is mentally just what I needed- I already get the "I want to vomit/poop my pants, I'm so nervous" feeling often, so anything that can take my mind off of that is A-OK in my book!

A few pre-race rides and a swim and before you knew it, bikes were racked and it was time to sleep one last time before race morning.  Thankfully we brought ear plugs as just like LY, there was a MASSIVE live music concert two resorts down the beach and fire works were included this year! 

Pre-race nutrition: 2 eggs scrambled with white rice and soy sauce, a whole milk mocha (is that acceptable to even type that I had that?!), one bottle of Osmo active, one bottle of Osmo Pre-Load and a banana while prepping transition.  Total kcal's: ~900 

Pre-Race hug from one of my BFF"s Jenny!

Roka Swim: 56:38, new PR by almost 5 minutes and I swam a 1:01:59 on this exact course LY, so I am calling it a legit, apples to apples comparison. Maybe the swim PR was brought on by my new Roka wetty?  Maybe it was just years of swimming Stanford masters with Tim paying off?  Maybe it was having the confidence that I KNOW I am capable of swimming under and hour and finally doing it? All I know is that I am THRILLED with this new swim PR. I have been wanting to bust the 1:00:00 barrier on the swim for a while now and have known that it was looming.  CHECK!
The swim in Cabo is a gorgeous rectangle in the Sea of Cortez and only the first stretch is into the rising sun.  The first half of the swim is into the chop and then the back half you have a much smoother ride home.  I knew from last year that the current pulls hard to the right and so I lined up in the front left (where are all the other women?!!  Turns out, they are hard to find in a race of only 200 gals) and ran hard into the water as soon as the horn blasted.  It felt super congested until the first turn, with me at one time feeling like I was on top of some guys and still moving forward.  Do they really not notice that they are doing that? I could see space open to my left, and got knocked around a fair bit, but as soon as we made the first turn, I made it a priority to just get on a pair of feet, sight and not stay mixed in with the masses.  With so many people around, I couldn't tell if we were all on pace to swim an hour (do that many people really swim that time?) or if I was swimming slow.  Every time I had a slow moment, I thought to myself, "no, you WANT this, it's way too early to go easy...pick it up and increase your turn-over".  In choppy water, it seems to make me more efficient if I also adapt a shorter, choppier stroke to just break through the water.  This was working and I was feeling good and the buoys were ticking away nicely.  We rounded the last turn for home and I thought that I was swimming next to buddy and fellow Stanford swimmer, Kayla, but couldn't tell.  Turns out we were right next to each other and exited the swim in 1st and 2nd position for the AG and 2nd and 3rd amateur females.  I saw the clock said 1:08:xx on it and thought, wow, did we swim that slowly?  No disappointment allowed, just time to get on my bike and move it along.  Turns out, as I was exiting transition, I heard the announcer say that we were just rounding an hour for the amateur swim, meaning that I must have swum under an hour!  BONUS smiles heading onto the bike!! 

mmmm, sandy transition

Side note: Whose Idea was it to place a carpet over loose sand and call it run-able?  My heart was trying to jump out of my chest and I was doing my best to not feel like I was dying a quick death only an hour into what is a long day in the sun.  Turns out, I would need all of those smiles as running through a loose sand transition really takes it out of you and the first few miles of the bike were all, woah buddy, let that HR calm down a bit before you start going OK? 

Bike Nutrition: 10 salty balls (yes, the entire recipe's worth), 8 bottles of Osmo Active (3 from the start and additional single serves carried and dumped into the Speedfil), 1 bottle of 1scoop pre-load from special needs, (hallelujah it was still cold after being wrapped in foil frozen- will def do this in Kona), and additional water as needed at aid stations.  Total kcal's: 2060 or 374/hour.  Don't tell me I'm not a good eater!

Enve & Argon18 Bike: 5:34 over a course of 5k of climbing.  LY was 5:57, but they have changed the course, so not really comparable.
The only way to describe the Cabo course is unrelenting.  There is no flat ground, you are always either going slightly up, more up, or the opposite with wind ;)  It was really windy last year as well and the day was calling for 20 mph gusts with consistent 12-15mph wind.  Mark packed extra wheels so we could make a timely decision and I ended up riding a really shallow 3.4 wheel in the front and my 8.9 in the back.  My comfort with cross winds is growing, but I feel so much more mentally comfortable when I'm not being blown all over the road, so we opted for the more conservative front wheel choice.  I did my usual, timer to go off every 15 minutes, time to eat alarm and like clockwork, had half of a salty ball every time that timer beeped.  Sometimes I don't feel like eating in which case I become fois gras and stuff myself regardless, but this was not that day.  I was actually anticipating the alarm sometimes and was like, "yep!  must be time to eat!" I drank at every opportunity and just tried to really never stop drinking.  I know that carrying single servings of my own hydration product seems so high maintenance or even unnecessary, but truly, the Osmo doesn't mess with my stomach the way perform does and it goes down SO much more easily so for me it is 100% worth it.   This year, the bike course was 3 loops in an attempt to make it "easier" this requires an entire separate rant/post, Ironman is NOT supposed to be easy taking us between San Jose Del Cabo and San Lucas.  I was afraid that the course was going to get crowded with the multiple laps, but most of the time, it felt as if I was riding solo. The views are beyond spectacular...coming back to San Jose, with the Sea on the right, you just can't help but smile.  I had the usual low around mile 90 where my stream of consciousness goes something like: "I want to get off my bike, my lower back is hurting, isn't it time to run yet?".  As you come back into town, there are so many cheers and I hadn't been passed by many women, so I was confident that I wasn't coming off the bike in 11th place female like I did last year.  Thankfully, I was right.  I was off the bike as 2nd amateur female and it was time to run.

Run Nutrition: bottle of half pre-load/half active over the first two miles, 3 bags Cytomax energy chews, 1/2 of a banana, glucose tabs over the last 10k and countless cups of pepsi, gatorade chased by water and more water. Totak kcal: ~(hopefully) 700 or 200/hour

Smith Optics & Coeur Run: 3:34:35 vs LY time of 3:34:44
I came into this race telling myself that a sub 3:30 marathon is TOTALLY within reach.  I think though, that I have been telling myself that for a while now as I continue to run 3:33's-3:35's at EVERY.SINGLE.RACE I complete.  It's a bit baffling really- I am stronger, faster and had the confidence this time in my ability.  So what's the scoop people? Why can I not break that barrier?!! I did not, however have a Garmin as it proved to not want to function, and so I just ran. The first few miles went like they did in Kona, very hard to get settled and I actually stopped to pee.  This is a first for me at an Ironman...I either go without visiting the loo, or I don't go at all.  But I really had to and also, I think I just needed to stop for a quick second to get my life together.  Thankfully, Mark told me to remember that the first 30 minutes of the marathon are the worst for me and I told myself to just keep going, it would get easier.  And it did.  I ate, drank, took some tums, and I continued to tell myself to keep getting stronger. Thankfully, there were also friends ALL over the course cheering for me and telling me to keep it up, that my lead over the AG was growing from 15 minutes off of the bike.  There was a time at which, the running felt good...like my legs were doing what they were supposed to do, and it was "easy".  That didn't last long, though, and then those nice miles were followed by a few, holy crap, my legs/feet are on fire, and my skin feels like it is swelling under the Mexican sun by the minute.  Soon enough I found myself at mile 20, and I told myself that I can run 6 miles any 'ol day, but still did not allow myself to get excited about winning, as it is never, ever over until the fat lady sings...or in a triathlete's case, until Mike Riley says "You ARE an Ironman!!!" I thought that the bike had taken me 5:45ish, so when I finally flipped my watch over to total time for the day and saw that I was at 9:35 with a little more than 4 miles to go, I though, WOW, I am going to SMASH that 3:30 barrier and got a bit peppier in my step.  I caught up to Alyssa, and would be remiss if I didn't thank her for her words of encouragement to push to the finish, so thank you chica!!! And then around mile 25, I got passed by a gal in the 25-29 AG for 2nd overall amateur...wait, wasn't I passed LY at this same spot?  No sorrows here though, as this gal out split ALL of the pros but one, and ran a 3:10 marathon en route to her 2nd place amateur spot.  I saw Mark at mile 26 and thought, YES, only .2 to go...and then he said "nice work babe, only a mile and a half to go!".  I almost lost my mind, and def dropped an F-bomb at him (the man needs some love here...he put s up with a lot from me on race day, I yelled at him twice in Cabo).  Turns out, it really was mile 26, but man did that last .2 really for more like .5...the street that the finish is along is not well paved and my very in pain feet were ready for the day to be done.  I rounded the corner to the finish line and got a massive smile on my face as I had just won my 2nd age group Ironman title, and defended my title from last year.

Post-Race Coco Frios

It was a very special day indeed!  I was also able to secure 3rd amateur overall and 13th place Overall female, besting my OA position from LY (19th) and beating a few pros! Quick visit to the massage tent with a protein shake in hand to avoid last years, med tent experience and then it was off to shower up and celebrate although who am I kidding, I took three sips of my wine and only ate a bowl of soup!!

Podium!!!

Kona Bound girls!

Now we're back home, back to reality and all of the sudden it hit me.  I am GOING BACK TO KONA!!!  I think I'm pretty open about my love for the island of Kona and my desire to continue to race there as often as possible against the best in the world, so it means a lot to me that I have qualified again.  It's one of the times of year that I look forward to most.  I get to be with friends near and dear to my heart, have family cheer me on, visit with the honu and listen to the waves crash under the sun.  So now, it's time to rest and repair and then start to focus on the rest of the season!

2 margs at lunch? Yes PLEASE!!

I'd like to thank Mark for being the best partner and coach to me as well as my family and friends for their continued support and love.  And then I'd like to thank my extended family of sponsors.  These guys take such good care of me, it's hard to express my gratitude enough for them getting me to the starting line with not only the best gear but with all of their support. 

The long road of triathlon

The Road ahead looks GOOD!

I've been talking a lot with Jess about how this year feels a bit different than last year, how getting up at 4:45AM a few times a week doesn't bug me as much as it did last year. This made it all the more obvious that truly, we are always evolving in triathlon, and that really it's like that in so many aspects of life.  You start on a mountain bike and work your way to a TT bike. I'd like to avoid the word "journey" for this post, as I feel it's pretty overused and can put some people off.  So how about we talk about the long road of triathlon?   So I thought it might be good to get a post out there.

A while back, Coeur posed the question of what prohibits those with the means, to get into triathlon? From even starting along the road to involvement in sport?  I thought about this a lot, as for me it's a no-brainer, I love it...why wouldn't anyone want to get involved in any sport, moving my body is what keeps me sane. I have gained some of my very best friends from my involvement in this sport and interacted with people who otherwise I would not. The answer it seemed for most, was fear.  Fear of the unknown, fear of being a newbie, fear of being DFL, fear of something unfamiliar and of being uncomfortable- racing triathlon is generally not a comfy endeavor :)

Trail racing is ALWAYS uncomfortable for me.

Maybe this is SO obvious, but I think that we forget that most top athletes did not start off being AMAZING, sure you have some outliers, that said "tomorrow I'm going to do a triathlon" and POOF, they won.  But for most of us, let's be honest- you start from scratch. When I first did a triathlon, I was still SMOKING cigarettes on the regular, drinking way more than I needed to and 20lbs heavier...no joke, the pictures are on the interwebs, so it is a fact, but there is no need to post them again!  My very long winded point is this.  "Comparison is the thief of joy"- T. Roosevelt.  Don't compare yourself to this girl or that guy on FaceBook, Twitter or the gal racked next to you at your next event.  Saying "ohhhhh, she looks FIT" doesn't accomplish anything...she just may be on a different portion of the road then you are...OR she may also just be dedicated to a very strict diet...no matter, you have to start somewhere.

Where's my vino?!!

What brought me to this post is that I gave up wine (OK, maybe it was more suggested to me than self imposed) about 4 weeks ago to give it up almost 6 weeks out from Los Cabos.  No, one glass of wine won't kill me, or hell, even effect my performance and in previous years, it was harder to make these sacrifices.  Harder to give up wine, or not stay out as late, or just be that little bit more disciplined than I was.  And I don't know when I became more aware of the shift, but this year, it's been easier to go just a little bit further and I've been more OK with it.  But had you told me a few years ago, that I would be staying home most weekends and giving up wine weekends with friends for bike rides with other friends, I would have laughed at you and told you, no way, no how, not gonna happen.  But somewhere along this road the desire to get back to Kona and see the honu has increased and I am trying to maximize my chances of going back to swim with the dolphins.

Wine Country with the laydeez!

But don't worry, after Ironman Los Cabos on the 30th of this month, there will be PLENTY of enjoying some down time, wine with friends and some much needed R&R.  Because, without that type of balance, I would likely go off the deep end!

See you in Los Cabos and beyond!  Hope everyone's season is off to a great start and that your road is looking good!

Thank you as always to the awesome support team of my friends, family and sponsors- I wouldn't be able to do this without you ALL!

Crystal Springs Trail Half Marathon

Oh running races, how I try to avoid  LOVE you so!  I didn't grow up a runner, although I "ran" in high school and college, I also smoked more cigarettes per day than I ran miles.  So as you can imagine, when I first started in triathlon, I was doing AWESOME until the run, where I would promptly get passed by all of the gazelles.  And while I may not be Miranda Carfrae just yet, my running has definitely progressed.  Last year though I thought that it was the year to BUST through that 3:30 barrier in my ironman marathon...having some oh so close with multiple 3:33's...this should be a no brainer, right?!! I did my treadmill sessions, long runs...all indicators pointing to having that 3:30 fall by the wayside and 3:2x appearing.  Well, I may have broken 10 hours in Kona in October, but I was unable to break 3:30 on the marathon.  So coaches order he may have mentioned running races last year was to start to do run races every weekend possible.  Last Saturday was my first opportunity and I decided on a great local trail run half marathon.

After swimming, I headed to Peet's collected my pre-race coffee, ate a Tram bar (have you found these yet?  I picked some up during my Kona build and have been digging them ever since!) and then registered for my race.  You could pick me out of the "runner" crowd right away...I was severely over dressed!  The real runners were in shorts, tank tops and gloves.  People, it is only 45* out!  I was in capris, a short sleeve top with a long sleeve over it, Muscle Milk Visor, and some sunnies...I think I forgot that the entire race was under a canopy of trees! needless to say, they may have been in the correct attire and by mile 3 i was trying to run and strip at the same time! I didn't want to start RIGHT at the front, as if you will reference the paragraph above, I am not a runner by nature.  We get started and this race happens to go up one of the best bike climbs in the area...a bike climbs that takes me 34-45 minutes depending on the day...so it was 6 miles up, then another 1.2 miles up and across and THEN we would get to FLY down the mountain home to the finish line.

I started to pass a few gals a few miles in and told myself on the uphills to just keep moving and try not to keel over from such a high HR and I would do like I do in any race, be the tortoise and make it to the line ahead of some folks.  I had ZERO intention of winning, but the night before, Mark had told me I need to go out there and try to win...um...love you husband but have you seen my running pedigree?  A few friends were out on the race course and at the turn around told me that the first place gal was only about 30 seconds up...and when I saw her after the turn, I was able to start thinking...ohhh, maybe, JUST maybe if I work REALLY hard, I can catch her.  The pace down the mountain was high and it's single track so I was trying to race, not fall over and trip and fuel all at the same time.  I made the pass of a few guys and was finally at mile 9 hot on the heels of #1 gal.  I decided it was now or never, only 3 miles to go...time to pass and go for broke.  Immediately I thought to myself, ohhhhh this may have been too early- this hurts- what if I can't hold the pace?!!  We ran closely for the next mile until the terrain flattened out a bit and had a few rollers.  I could hear her breathing was more labored than mine and just thought, keep pushing the pace and she will hopefully crack, she's having to work harder than you are...at this point, my legs almost buckled beneath me as the ground tilted slightly uphill.  Silly trail running, you actually have to pay attention to what you're doing with your feet ;) Thankfully, I was starting to open a gap, and with two miles to go, I was on my own and had heard that I was the first gal.

1st Run Race Hardware

WOOO HOOO!  Really, I just crossed the finish line as the overall female winner?  And did you say I set a new course record by over a minute?  There wasn't much time to spare, as less than a minute later, 3 women rolled in together.  We congratulated each other, and the gal who was ahead of me most of the morning told me "well played"...I told her that I was worried I went too early!  The awards were almost immediately after we crossed the finish line...this is SO much more efficient than a triathlon! I took home a beautiful coaster and headed home.

I know that racing is harder than training, I get that...but because of all of the uphill an then 6 miles of downhill running, my legs were honestly more sore than any ironman I've done...It took me until Monday to stop lowering myself onto the couch with arm assistance!  Mark of course says this is "exactly what we wanted to happen" and that we "need to do it again soon"...my quads may not feel so passionately about the next running race or love him at the moment!




Next up is the coast ride...375 blissful bike miles with friends!

Made in the USA

"Oh no, is she going to blog about a new sponsor?...Boring!!" But I think this post if far from boring...so you'll just have to bear with me or just look at the pretty pics while I explain why this next move was so important to me.

Mark (the hubs) co-founded a company called DODOcase that makes cases for iPads, iPhones and other Apple products.  ALL of these  products are made in San Francisco, even though it's likely cheaper to get them made overseas.  Likewise, I am incredibly PROUD to be a stakeholder in Coeur Sports, a women's clothing company that is making, designing and sourcing their hot goods right here in the USA as well.  Again, cheaper to do this elsewhere, but it's a core value to us to do it here in California. See a theme developing?

#luckygirl 

This year, I've been blessed with the opportunity to work with Enve Composites for my wheels and bike bits and bobs- sometimes you just can't resist a good 'ol Brit phrase! This company is based in Utah, home of ALL things outdoors.  They make their product in Utah and even ship it with a "made by" card.  I know who made my wheels, so when I'm out there riding my guts out, I'm not going to be worrying about wheel failure.  I'm going to know that the person who made my wheels is cheering me on aboard their hand crafted speed! So are these wheels, the fastest out there?  Yes, are they the best looking?  I sure think so.  But more importantly, they have the same core values that I do as an athlete.

I'm hoping if you have a need, you'll check these guys out.  I know I couldn't be more honored and excited to have their support for my 2014 season.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Anyone who knows me knows that Friday nights used to be are "Pizza and vino Friday's!!"...but as I move toward keeping the diet less and less processed foods and truly no gluten except for special occasions, pizza has needed to be replaced and sourced with different ingredients.  Enter cauliflower crust....not that you can really call this "crust" as it is not chewy, stretchy, gluteny deliciousness...but it IS an awesome way to get in some cruciferous veggies and an EXCELLENT vehicle for cheese and other veggies! 

So I have been experimenting with this recipe and usually it is not really pizza, but more of something that falls apart as soon as I try to remove it from the baking sheet and while tasty, is kind of a pile of mush...

So here is what I did last night that seems to have helped but really, it's not pizza, so use your imagination OK? the crust situation.

Step 1: Open your fave bottle of red wine, turn oven to pre-heat to 350

Step 2: Take one medium head of cauliflower, throw it in your food processor and blend that thing up until it's the consistency of rice.  Take this mess and throw it in the microwave for 3-5 minutes to steam it a bit.

Step 3: Mix in not but 2 eggs and a half cup (or more) of mozzarella cheese.  This is your crust.

Step 4: Spread mixture onto a greased baking sheet and make thin...maybe 1/4 inch thick only so it can have a fighting chance at becoming crust like and bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden brown...this sometimes takes longer.

Step 5: This is the chose your own adventure portion of the evening...take whatever veggies you have in your fridge, top with those, cheese, tomato sauce or pesto if you're feeling spicy and bake for another 15 minutes until the cheeses is golden.

Enjoy!!!  And id you get it to stick together better, please let me know...I think that more cheese and potentially even a third egg could do the trick...

Fun thoughts on Kona 2 weeks later...

The Kohala's 

I've been doing a lot of thinking on Kona, and wanted to throw out some bullet point style thoughts on this years trip to the island how much it means to me.  There were multiple times this year where I was impressed by the behavior or other athletes.  At the beginning of the race week, the air felt a bit tense with athlete nerves, but out on the course, it was a different story. For those not in the triathlon lifestyle, they often ask "what do you POSSIBLY think about for 10 hours...excuse me, that's 9 hours 58 thank you very much! ?"  So I wanted to give some answers about all of the fun things I don't think about during Kona.  "Hailey, did you see your rocks out on the course?  Uhhh, nope, all I saw was a white line for 112 miles".

Poison...

This visit to Kona marked my one year anniversary of Operation: just say NO to Diet Coke, or any artificial sweeteners.  Pressured into it last year on the Thursday before race day by Mark and my family, I went cold turkey and haven't looked back.  I now have a loving relationship with my local Peet's barista and whole milk lattes.

Celebrating the Sub-10

While in Kona, I didn't take an indoor shower once.  I DID shower, but in an outside shower for 14 days...I am now plotting how to get Mark to install one at our house for summertime use.  There is NOTHING like the feeling of fresh ocean air while showering.  I may be drooling about going back already!

The day before the race, I got a call from my sister and she told me to ask myself during the race "what can I do today/right now to be my best".  I made that my mantra and really kept repeating it to myself...especially in those last three miles when it was critical that I ran as hard as possible to break the 10 hour mark.  

MacGuyver Manning

Every year when I hit the Energy Lab, I tell myself that I have to hunt someone down at this point and pass someone.  This year this part of the course was where you had to be tough as nails, as it became a 10 mile stretch with no spectators...what was that about?  Although, my crafty husband managed to take an "alternate" route and found his way onto the closed section of the Queen K run course.  All of the sudden, he goes "beep beep!".  Instant smile time.  Never underestimate the ability of Mark Manning to become MacGuyver.

I usually thrive in the first 10 miles of the run along Alii, I love all of the spectators and it's not usually too hot for me.  This year I was far from thriving.  I had to walk a few times and Mark wondered not aloud thankfully if I was going to finish the race.  It is here that an older guy told me that this is "as hard as it gets, this is the worst section" and that I needed to run.  Thank you sir, you helped me break 10 hours.  

Hi buddy!

Honu.  Man do I LOVE these things.  Look for some new ink to be on my body soon.  That old tattoo of the Chinese symbol from college is going to get covered up with a more meaningful tattoo. I am going to try to find a tattoo artist form the Big Island locally to do the work.

Hawaii Dreaming

I left Hawaii just two weeks ago and it is already finding me in my dreams.  Does it do this to you too?  Not dreaming about the race, just dreaming of the peace that I feel when I am there.  The ability to disconnect from work, and visit with my  super support team, best friends and family every year has become one of my highlights each year.

Cauliflower pizza crust, not bad!

Off season eating.  I usually find myself gagging for an almost binge worthy period of eating...lots of vino, carbs and ice cream.  I allow myself to go completely off the wagon. I've been gluten light (let's say 90/10) since 2010 and have recently begun a shift towards a higher fat and lower carb diet (not during races though and will increase carbs as needed for high training/race weeks).  This year after Kona, I didn't feel that urge as much for all of the sugary items like Dairy Queen...but there has still been wine.  It's been interesting to see how the body changes year after year and that you start to crave these items less.  Although it was a tad disappointing that my DQ didn't taste as awesome as I had hoped...what is WRONG with me?!!

Swelling.  Swelling continues to be an issue for me and I could feel it start on the bike.  When I went to put on those stupid, never gonna wear them again wings for sun protection, I could barely get them over my wrists.  When I crossed the finish line they took me to the med tent as I was indeed pretty swollen.  They ended up ripping my beloved wings.  I'll continue to work with pal Stacy on this one to see what we can do to limit the bloat.

I didn't watch TV or listen to the radio for the entire trip either.  I am not a big TV watcher in the first place as there just isn't' that much time in the day.  But I do like the Biggest loser and sometimes turn on the TV just to be in the background...It was nice to not even turn one on and I didn't even miss it...although I also had NO idea on what was happening outside of the Big Island...ignorance is bliss right?

So now it's time to relax, have fun exercising and focus on some strength before gearing up for Ironman Los Cabos next Spring!

Awesome saying found at coffee shop in Hawi

Salty Balls!

Many of you have emailed and asked for the secret recipe for the infamously named Salty Balls that I used as my bike nutrition in Kona this year.  These were developed by friend and AMAZING mad scientist, Stacy Sims of Osmo Nutrition.  This woman knows her stuff and then some, and we as women are lucky to have her in our corner changing the nutrition scene for women.

Stacy advocates REAL nutrition, even though I kept telling her that I have done Kona and been successful on ONLY gels in the past.  She says that you may feel OK on only gels but that you will perform better if you stay the hell away from them.  So, tested in Vineman and put to the ultimate test in Kona these balls were prepped by uber sherpas, Robyn and Kebby.

The balls were the only thing I ate on the bike along with Active Hydration in Mango and one bottle of Coke.....mmmmm, coke!

Here's the recipe...let me know if you love it!

Salty Balls:
Makes 10 balls, ~140kcal/ball

1/2 cup nutbutter (peanut or almond, natural kind)
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup whey protein isolate ( I had Muscle Milk Chocolate powder on hand, OSMO Active recovery would be bomber too)
1/2 cup dry oatmeal or 2/3 cup Perky's Rice Crisps- I went with the crisps
1/4 cup shredded coconut (Stacy used raisins but knows I love coconut so tailored for me)

Pop the PB and rice syrup in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that they are melty and able to be combined well.  Then combine all ingredients.  If you need a bit more holding power (we did), add more protein powder.
Then add a sprinkle-ly of salt on top.