Butternut squash, apple and cranberry muffins - the recipe

First and foremost, I now only have 700 words to write. I have made pretty good progress during the day and am taking a well deserved break, until tomorrow morning. All that is left is tidying things up a bit, writing the abstract and the conclusions and I am DONE. I am pretty excited and eager to start applying what I have learned. I have a little related project that I can't wait to start... but more on that later :) For now, here is the muffin recipe mentioned in the post below.

Butternut squash, apple and cranberry muffins

1-2/3 cup spelt flour (I use spelt because it doesn't upset my stomach. I can't stomach whole wheat flour...)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey
1/8 cup cane sugar
1 cup butternut squash (Peel, cut into cubes, boil until soft & throw in the blender)
1/2 cup almond milk (I used vanilla flavor)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 granny smith apple (peel and coarsely grate)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Handful of dried cranberries

Well, thats it... pretty simple, and they taste great... Well, in my opinion they do :)

Butternut squash put to good use :)

After an awesome breakfast at Mole post coaching at Crystal (for some, after swimming at Crystal), I made some pretty good progress on my assignment, and a little break was needed... So, what did I do with that break? I put a butternut squash to good use and now there are some butternut squash/apple/cranberry muffins baking in the oven and I have a steaming bowl of butternut squash and apple soup in front of me! Not bad for a little study break, I think :) Recipes to come, if you are interested!

Time to eat, and get back to that assignment! Only 1300 words to go...

IMC 09

Ironman Canada was a tough day this year. The heat and the smoke made things a bit tough... Most of my athletes achieved their goals, 10 out of 11 finished, all within 15 hours. Well done guys!

Kudos to both winners, Jordan Rapp and Tereza Macal who seemed to race smart and completely dominated the race. A shout out to Jasper Blake who ran through most of the pro field to claim 4th. That was pretty awesome to watch Jazz!

A friend who raced (congrats Kim!!), mentioned that she saw one of the pro women grabbing a phone from a spectator and calling it a day at OK Falls. Her comment was that she did not realize it was even a possibility to phone someone and stop if your day is not going according to plan... Her comment hit the nail right on the head. I think that unless you are going to cause harm to yourself, you should get to that finish line. The pro athletes set an example to the AG racers, weather they like it or not. There are so many age group athletes that have a bad day and end up walking the marathon, but they get the job done and make it to the finish line...

33 out of 40 pro men finished the race this year. I am certain that many of them had a very good reason to DNF, but I saw a few of them after the race walking around looking pretty fresh... it made me wonder why they did not get to the finish line? Was it because they were not having a good day and decided to cut their losses and call it the day?

On the other hand, 2 young rookie pro athletes from Victoria had a pretty rough day out there, but they finished. They showed courage, heart and dedication and I am certain that there are great things ahead for those two. As Adam's coach, I am very proud of him for never giving up and getting the job done. It brought me to tears to see him on the run, as I have never seen him suffer like that. But he just kept going, knowing that it was not his day... he finished his first Ironman as pro athlete and proved that he truly deserves to race in that division. Same goes to Steve (who I do not coach) - keep doing what you have been doing so far... There is no doubt in my mind that when all the pieces of the puzzle slide into place you will be unstoppable.