make real food for real (hard) training

The very first things our run brand product manager Juliet packed when heading to Tucson, Arizona last week for an intensive Ironman camp—27 hours of training in just five days—were her rice cooker and Vitamix. (Turns out they fit quite nicely into a bike bag.) We asked her what it’s like to start training for her first half Ironman—two of them, actually—at the age of 42, and why she lugs small appliances across the continent with her to do so.

I’ve been training for six years without any huge mission other than to stay active. In the last two years I was doing some huge volume, but I wasn’t into doing events. Then this last year I did a couple, and they’ve given me a bigger goal to push after.

Now I’m training about 15 hours a week for my first Ironman 70.3; two actually, one in Tremblant, Quebec and one in Muskoka, Ontario.

I’m absolutely blown at the end of a seven day cycle because now some of my runs have measurables; my heart rate has to be above 165. Before I’d have gone on that run, but my heart rate would have only been 150 if I was tired. So I’m constantly pushing the bar now. I mean, you know you’re hurting when you’re using arnica like it’s body lotion.

you know you’re hurting when you’re using arnica like it’s body lotion

I put a lot of hours into my training and many of those are spent on my bike. You need fuel on the bike. Your body carries enough to go, depending on the person, an hour to two hours of good energy if you’re going all out. So you run out. You bonk. You can’t move anymore. So I have to eat on the bike every half hour to 45 minutes to keep the energy up.

But I was tired of eating processed bars and gel things. They didn’t make me feel good and they went against the way that I eat every day: fresh, local and homemade. So I decided to start making my own bars and foods to eat while I am training, and my Instagram hashtag #TastyRides was born.

Now I fuel my training with my own food that I make, whether I’m at home or travelling; homemade bars, banana bread, Spanish omelette, French toast, sticky rice cakes, muffins…. I do dates instead of gels if I’m in serious need of a sugar crush.

I’m an ambassador for Skratch Labs, and I get a lot of inspiration for my menus from them. They put out a great book called Feed Zone Portables that is full of real food training solutions.

I believe in drinking all of my electrolytes. I used to make my own ‘Gatorade’ but the Skratch Labs (product) is pretty much what I was making on my own, ground up dehydrated berries, a super clean sugar source—but barely any—and magnesium salt, etc. I go through a bottle every 45 minutes or so when I’m on the bike.

This is my recipe for Tortilla Espanola (Spanish Omelette). It’s great served warm or cold with a salad. I prefer to eat it while riding my bike.

JULIET’S TORTILLA ESPANOLA

Ingredients
6 large egg whites 3 large eggs (I use eggs whites in a carton; you can also use 6-7 large eggs)
1 lb of potatoes (I use half white and half sweet potatoes)
1 medium onion
1 tbsp salt (I use Himalayan sea salt, which has a lot of minerals to help replace the ones I lose while I am sweating)
1 cup of olive oil
Bacon or ham bits to taste

Method
Peel and then cut the potatoes and onions into thin slices approximately 1/8″ thick.
Salt the potatoes and onions to taste.
In a medium (approx 9″) size frying pan heat the olive oil on medium low heat. Place the salted potatoes and onion in the frying pan and spread evenly. Cook until tender (do not brown). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon to drain excess oil. Set aside in a bowl.
Put all eggs into a bowl and beat them together. Add a bit of salt. Add the cooked onions and potato mixture.
Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium (approx 9″) size non-stick frying pan and heat on medium. Once the pan is hot (if the pan is too hot, the omelette will burn) pour the onion, potato egg mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Cook until the egg is done around the sides. You can gently lift to see if the bottom side is browned. The inside/ top will still be runny.

Once the mixture is browned you are ready to flip the omelette. I do this part over the sink. Place a plate, larger than the frying pan, over the top. With one hand on the frying pan handle and the other on top of the plate to hold it tight and quickly turn the frying pan over. The omelette will fall out onto the plate. Put the frying pan back on the heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. Let the pan warm up again. Carefully slide the half cooked omelet off the plate into the frying pan, cooked side facing up. I use a spatula to shape the side of the omelette, to make it pretty. Cook through (approximately 3-5 minutes). Turn the heat off and let it sit in the pan for a few minutes, then slide out of the pan onto a cutting board or plate.

When cooled, cut into wedges and wrap in parchment paper. Packs nicely in the back of a bike jersey.

Want to be inspired by more badass women on road bikes? Meet the Specialized-lululemon 2014 team.