Fabada!

Cold and blustery.  Sure, it's going to get colder yet, but still this week was the week that we were reminded that winter had not forgotten us; there's been frost more mornings than not and we had that short but vicious flurry on Thursday.  As a runner and a cyclist, this has been the week that the longs all came out; long-sleeved tops, long tights, long-fingered gloves all topped off with a toque.

Just the day for a warming recipe, so I tried making a fabada or Asturian Bean Stew; something I had when in Spain a couple of months back.  Nothing too complicated, just white haricot beans and sofrito.  If you're watching your cholesterol then the original, served with chorizo, blood-pudding and pork belly can be a bit much (although they are all food-stuffs I love dearly) so I added a lean pork chop instead.

I'm sure it would have been nicer at Casa Fernando, but a couple of bowls of that, fresh bread and a little too much Rioja than was strictly necessary and I perked right up.

This was a needed meal after quite a full weekend.  Headed for the usual club run yesterday and ended up running ridiculously fast for an easy Saturday.  However it felt good, it was nice to know the legs were still (kinda) there and it was a great excuse for a breakfast sandwich.

After we got home la belle said let's go for a ride on the BLT trail to the Bike And Bean cafe. I didn't really feel up to it, the morning's run had left me feeling a little empty and my knees were aching but hey, it was warm (or at least not cold) and the wind wasn't too bad so why not?  I'm sure there were coffee shops closer (it's a 60km round trip) but it was pleasant enough.

This morning was the cross.  Again, it was warm and like last week warm enough to essentially race in summer kit

....although I did my practice-laps in my Team Canada jacket (I managed to get another one after swapping my original with Raul for an FETri running top).

The course had dried out quite a lot and it was quite fast.  I managed to have my 'cross head on again and had a good race, for me.  Like last week I was in a sprint for 37th place (or something) but unlike last week I won it!   The wind was insane, 50kph gusts according to Environment Canada.  On the back part of the course we were blown along, you were pedalling but it was like the chain wasn't there.  On the grass the wind was mostly in our faces and coming around the last 180 before the barriers/finish I was quite literally stopped dead in my tracks as I turned beam-on into the wind!  

The wind notwithstanding, it was a tough race for me.   Despite doing the same number of laps as last week in almost exact;y the same time, after a couple of laps I started to feel the effects of the previous day's run.  It's one thing to do a >160bpm run for 45 minutes, but at my age I'm starting to find that it's quite another to ask your body to do another 45 minute >160bpm effort 24 hours later.

Tomorrow's a rest day for sure!

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