Yams

I have mentioned before about this amazing ability that I have.  Well, this amazing ability becomes a problem during the week before a race when we taper.  Before a big race, most athletes go through a tapering phase where the volume and intensity of the workouts decrease in order to allow for sufficient rest and recovery.  If you time your tapering phase correctly, you should feel relatively "fresh" on race day.

I often find tapering challenging for two reasons.  First, with shorter and fewer workouts, I accumulate a lot of nervous energy, thinking about the upcoming race.  Second, tapering makes me want to EAT, but it is just as important not to overeat as it is to be properly fueled!  Since I cannot relieve the anxiety by working out, I want to use food to help me relax.  We are still working out and maybe still doing intervals, but we are not burning as many calories as during normal training.  This morning, we did 2x2,000m on the water, but have you ever wondered how many calories you burn?  Have you ever looked at the calories/hour reading on the erg after a 2,000m erg piece?  The last time I checked, I burned only 140 calories for my 2k erg test.  All that work for 140 calories.  That is nothing!  That is half of a normal ice cream sandwich or half a cup of cooked pasta or a slice of whole grain toast with peanut butter thinly spread across.  I could eat that in two bites.  Concept2 has a good calories burned calculator that takes weight into account, if you are ever interested.

As San Diego Crew Classic approaches, Chris has reminded us several times to take care of ourselves--making sure we rest and recover before and after hard workouts, getting enough sleep, and staying healthy.  For me, another aspect to that is eating well, healthy.  I try to cut back on my processed foods and eat more wholesome, natural foods.  Recently, I have had this insane craving for yams, but not any particular yam.  PURPLE YAMS.  Two weeks ago, my parents baked purple yams that were so delicious.  These yams are dark purple on the outside and bright purple on the inside.  The texture is smoother and less stringy than the normal orange yams, and the taste is sweeter.

This past weekend, I was determined to eat purple yams.  I actually thought about these purple yams all day Friday on my way home from Ohio.  Then, on Saturday, I made a special trip to Safeway to buy the yams.  Well, Safeway only had the normal orange yams.  With the Princess refusing to stay seated in her nice little seat in the front of the grocery cart, I made a hurried decision and grabbed a big bag of orange yams.  When my husband saw my seven pounds of yam, he was not amused.  He has seen me go through phases where I am obsessed with a certain food and buy tons of it only to lose interest a week later.  I have gone through a Lean Cuisine frozen dinner phase, a butternut squash phase, a cottage cheese phase, a vegetarian chili phase, a smoked salmon phase.  There is only one thing that my husband hates more than wasting food, and that is having to help me eat all the food that I buy in huge quantities before it goes bad.  And he is not a fan of yams (nor of Chinese food as I found out after we got married).

Normal, orange yams

I baked all seven pounds of yam and probably ate about half of that on my own before realizing that I was sick of eating these yams and that I still wanted purple yams!

Sunday, after practice, I went to Whole Foods to get these special purple yams.  Whole Foods had two types of yams--the normal type and a type called "Japanese yams."  I was again in somewhat of a hurry and quickly grabbed a big bag, i.e. another seven pounds, of the Japanese yams, which were purple on the outside.  I could almost taste these yams on the way home.  Another unamused look from my husband who did not fail to remind me that this was the third time I went to the grocery store this week.  To my utter horror when I went to bake these Japanese yams, they were NOT purple yams.  Inside, they were a soft whitish-yellow. 

My seven pounds of Japanese yams, minus the four yams that I already put into the oven

Definitely NOT purple on the inside

I am still fixed on getting those purple yams at some point in time, after I finish all the yams I have at home.  Luckily, I have two things in my favor.  First, the Japanese yams taste pretty good and I have not gotten tired of eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Second, although my husband has so far refused to help me eat the yams, I have found a willing helper in the Princess!  She has no problem helping herself to some yam, purple or not purple.