Sometimes things just don’t go to plan…

November 29, 2015November 29, 2015 ~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

The Runner’s race today is a great example of a day when things just don’t go well. There was nothing he did wrong and nothing he could have done better- but the triathlon gods just didn’t smile on him today. Going into the race, he felt fitter than ever, confident and strong. He had been eating all the right things, training hard, and mentally in the zone. He knew the course well- in fact, Western Sydney was the race he qualified for the world champs for last year. So there was no reason to think the race would give him any trouble.

However, it did. Lots of trouble. So much trouble in fact I’m proud of him for not giving up and just going home. First, he lost his goggles during the swim- so he couldn’t see where he was going. Not ideal. Then, he hit a pothole and came off his bike and is currently sporting “racing stripes” down the side of his shoulder, side, hip and hands as a souvenir. Then, he got busted for drafting- and had to sit for 5 minutes in the penalty box.

It was in short a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”

But on the bright side, he’s in relatively good spirits as he sits here and patches himself up. I know he’s disappointed but who isn’t when things don’t go as we’d hoped and planned for. But how often does life really go to plan? Sometimes, when things don’t go plan, they wind up absolutely perfect. I’m not sure today’s an example of that (in fact, it’s not) but it is an inspiring example of what to do when things aren’t what we expect:

Just keep swimming—even if you’re not 100% sure where you’re going. Staying still isn’t really a great option.
Pick yourself up, dust yourself up and get back on your bike. Even if your wife winces when she sees you later, a bit of blood and a few scrapes aren’t the end of the world.
Take 5 minutes and think about things….it might help.

And finally, stay positive and keep smiling- there’s always next year. 12314335_10153109755996879_7681138627121084989_o

A Typical Saturday- He Biked, I Learned to Cook Mexican!

February 1, 2014 ~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

Happy February!

Today was a fantastic way to start the month. The Runner did a VO2 Max/Lactate Threshold test and is busy analysing his results. He is exceptionally pleased with them and now is just trying to work out how to use them to improve his training. Husky Long Course is a mere three weeks away and this year he’s either going to get an awesome time or possibly die trying. He’s had three bad races there in the past three years he’s done the race– a torn Achilles the first year, a crash and a lost watch the second year, and bad cramping last year. This year we’re hoping the curse has somehow been lifted!

While he was out testing, I was at a Mexican Cooking Class at The Essential Ingredient in Rozelle. It was a Christmas present from The Runner and it was fantastic!

First of all, I love that shop, it’s basically a cook’s paradise in Sydney. They have lots of ingredients and cooking equipment and Le Creuset pots, and Kitchen Aid mixers and all sorts of other kitchen related things. From obscure ingredients to obscure equipment, if you need it to cook with, they probably have it.

Secondly, the chef, Travis Harvey, who led the class was absolutely fantastic. He’s just gotten back from filming an SBS series on Mexican Cooking with Peter Kuruvita and his passion and knowledge of Mexican cooking was fantastic! He was really helpful and gave just the right amount of help but also let us play and cook ourselves. The food was TO DIE FOR. Literally, some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in a very long time. I’m not a fish person, but the fish tacos we made were the best ones I have ever had in my entire life. We made Baja Beer Battered Fish Tacos and the recipe is here on the SBS website along with 10 of his other Mexican recipes which are related to the show which are on the web as well.

Actually, everything we made in our class was tasty. We made Ceviche with the Snapper that we learned to fillet in class– actually I watched other people learn, I have a thing with dead, whole fish. (It’s their creepy, dead eyes and the thought of their scaly skin…I shudder just thinking about it). We served it with tortilla chips and they were beautiful and tasty.

Also, we made mini spit roast pork tacos with pineapple which were yum! We learned how to make corn and flour tortillas and various salsas as well.

I was responsible for making two types of Chicken Tamales- one with salsa verde in banana leaves and the other with salsa roja in corn husks. And they were fabulous!!!

Best of all, everything we made were things that I could easily make again. In fact, I bought a tortilla press, black beans and masa harina and tomorrow I’m going to make vegan tacos from scratch! I think it should be pretty easy but of course, no cheese or sour cream to go with them but hopefully with guacamole, pico de gallo, and maybe even salsa verde we won’t even care!!

If you’re in Sydney, I highly recommend taking one of his classes- I would do one again just to eat the delicious food! You can book for yourself here.

The race that stopped The Runner

November 4, 2013November 4, 2013 ~ stephzuniga ~ 1 Comment

Greetings from Noosa! Unfortunately this year didn’t go to plan in the He Runs, I Cook family. Not only did we miss out on a Melbourne Cup booking at our favourite Bistro C but The Runner had an awful race- and by awful I mean didn’t finish. In fact, for the first time ever, I never even saw him race!

I somehow missed him coming out of the water by a matter of seconds- literally I must have blinked and missed him. I was waiting with Mrs H and her daughter because we had a few friends competing this year and we saw nearly all of them come out of the water in varying states of exhaustion. While we were waiting I had a missed call from a number I didn’t know but didn’t think twice and kept watching the race. We moved to watch the bike leg in my usual Noosa spot- by the roundabout at first! We even had our photo snapped in the process by the local paper! As time went on and on and on, I started to get a bit worried. The Runner’s progress wasn’t updating on the Subaru Athlete Tracker and we were starting to calculate that based on his swim he definitely should have come past by then. And then I remembered the call and froze.

I’m his emergency contact of course and slowly it all fell into place. I checked my voicemail and yes, you guessed it. It was The Runner calling from the medical tent. He had a crash about 50 meters into the bike leg and had to pull out of the race. I raced to the medical tent fearing the worst. There he was lying on a cot with blood pouring out of his face, thankfully nothing broken but pretty bruised nonetheless. Being a pillar of strength that I am, I immediately burst into tears when I saw him. Partly out of relief, partly out of fear of what had happened. He was more pissed off that he couldn’t compete because after falling off the bike and onto his face, he had wanted to keep racing. Ummmm, yeah you read that right. With blood pouring from his cheek, his first impulse was to get back on the bike and finish. Thankfully, the race officials said no- he had cracked his helmet in the fall so couldn’t continue. He also managed to destroy his sunglasses and twist his bike.

Although disappointed, he also realises how lucky he was not to break anything or have a more serious injury. I’m also relieved that the wedding is still 9 months away. He looks like he’s been in a bar fight at the moment but the doctor said there shouldn’t be any scarring. Personally, I would like to ban him from cycling but I know that probably won’t happen– he’s already talking about ordering a new helmet.

So that was our race this year- eventful but not in a good way. At least we’ve been enjoying the rest of the best of Noosa and having a great time with friends.