February is here again, and Run Swim Bike Cook is back! For anyone who may not know, the challenge is to conquer the equivalent of an Ironman (run 26.2 miles, bike 112 miles, and swim 2.4 miles) over the span of an entire month while completing three out of four culinary challenges. Ironman meets Ironchef--how cool is that?
On the Ironman end of things, this year I will likely forego the biking to make time for some extra running. Several days ago I officially registered for the Red Mountain 30K (18.6 miles) on April 21st. (They are also offering a 50K ultra-marathon, but I'll leave that one for the clinically insane.) I was really excited to find a local race that will encourage me to up my mileage without being quite as demanding as a marathon.
As motivating as this 30K may be, I'm even more excited for the half marathon that Jason and I both registered for on March 10th--The Dirty Hurty. Our debut in trail running, this race winds through 13 miles of dirt in Santa Clara and Ivins, even requiring us to cross the creek. To tell the truth, I don't really care much about the race goes as long as I get a shirt with "The Dirty Hurty" printed on it. It just doesn't get cooler than that.
Switching over to the Ironchef, this week's culinary challenge is to highlight citrus as part of a main dish. While I have yet to break out any lemons or limes, tonight's dinner did break us free from our boring weekday cuisine. While Jason took the kids swimming, I tackled Rick Bayless's Tomatillo-Braised Pork Loin. (Try it. It's delicious.) My first time cooking with tomatillos, I felt downright adventuresome as I husked the green beauties and stuck them under the broiler to blacken.
Jason and I both gave the recipe two thumbs up, but the kids liked the side dish even better--roasted brussel sprouts. Likewise making their maiden voyage across the Wheeler dinner table, these crispy-tender sprouts were a definite hit. Believe it or not, Brooklyn ranked this unpopular veggie third--right beneath hawaiian pizza and mac 'n cheese (tied for first) and mallow oats cereal. Surprisingly tasty, if you think you don't like brussel sprouts, I recommend reserving judgment until you've tried them like this.
Gee, between Dirty Hurty racing, tomatillos, and brussel sprouts, February is already off to a great start. Here's to many more adventures!
5 comments:
Once again, you amaze me. The energy! Where does it come from?
Can't wait to see the "dirty" photos. I'm still debating whether I want to really dive into the Iron Man thing this year. If I could do it without the bike, I think I could manage it. (and without running the entire mile). Looking forward to the citrus recipes.
Good luck with training for all your races! That's awesome.
I was totally just thinking of Run Bike Swim Cook today and thinking I should check it out again. How timely. Maybe I'll muster up the motivation and dedication to put my best foot, and wooden spoon, forward. However, my house typically looks worse than the photos you posted, (thank you for being human and compassionate for the rest of us with disorderly houses, by the way, you're as wonderful as always!) Therefore, it may be slow starting! Have a happy day!
I LOVE roasted tomatillos! They make the best salsas. And it goes without saying that Rick Bayless is a Mexican-food god...
Sounds like a good run! We're headed to DC in a few weeks to run a 10K with Lance.
Am I in the spam queue?
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