Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Day 113: Swimming, Take 2

Workouts. . .
30 min. lap swim


Today’s lap swim was fine, except for when I kicked my lane mate while practicing my turns. I kept misjudging the distance to the wall, even with my new goggles, and so the practice was necessary but painful — mostly for her. I didn’t kick her hard, or even directly, but when I got to the end and she was resting, she said “one more lap and it’s all yours” liked my warning kicks had been heeded or something. I felt bad and apologized, but she still left after her lap. Hopefully she was just finished.

It’s funny, but this second swim made me remember how much I love swimming. It barely feels like a workout — barring the turn practice session, and when I was done my whole body is thrumming with energy. Very different from the weak-legged feeling I get from biking and the overall exhausion that comes with a long run. It’s much more empowering, and really the only downer is changing in the locker room following. A lady today touched me with her naked butt. Ew.

I decided after careful consideration to just soldier on in my triathlon training. After all, it took me an hour to write everything into my iCal with reminders, so I’d hate to move all 12 weeks of appointments down a week. There is a little bit of a lazy factor here. But also, I caught up one lapsed day by using my “rest” Monday to kick out a swim session, so I’m not feeling as behind as before. Technically, I’ve only skipped one day — biking.

I made my sweet & sour soup recipe today and ate half of a huge pot after my swimming excursion. It was so good and so warm, I felt like I could’ve eaten it all. For dinner, I made mostly-homemade pizza. We cheated with crust, using a Betty Crocker mix that’s probably filled with horrible chemicals. But all of the pizza crusts I’ve tried have turned out poorly, so I’ve temporarily given up. Anyway, my pizza had green and black olives, fresh sliced tomatoes, feta and homemade pesto from an August ‘06 farmer’s market basil overload. It turned out delicious, but I used up the last of my pesto. Luckily it is almost summer again. Just a few weeks until market time!

In case I didn’t post the soup recipe yet, here’s the yummy thing. . .

Sweet & Sour Soup with Tofu
4 c. low-sodium vegetable broth (or use those mushroom bullion cubes in the kosher section, if available)
4 oz tofu (1/2 package), cubed
2 oz shiitake mushrooms, very thinly sliced
2 oz baby Portobello mushrooms, very thinly sliced
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 T hot sauce, any kind
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 pinch hot pepper flakes (or to your taste)
a couple grinds of black pepper
1/2 c. scallions or chives, thinly sliced

Bring the broth to a boil on the stove, then add the mushrooms and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes to flavor the broth. Add tofu, soy sauce, hot sauce, sugar, peppers, and oil. Let soup cook 10 minutes more to combine flavors. Add whisked eggs to hot soup and stir quickly to cook, about 30 seconds. Turn off heat, mix in scallions and serve. (This is supposed to serve four, but I really like soup and eat it as the course, not as an appetizer, so I find it makes two good-size servings.)

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