Friday, December 21, 2012

New Powerbars!

More Snow = More TRAINER!
So I got a delightful present in the mail today, from the great folks at Powerbar. I guess you could say it's an early Christmas present? Just as I was about to jump on the trainer (yes, with all this snow lately, I've been logging some solid hours on the old trusty trainer,) the Purolator delivery man arrived to hand over a package. Expecting a few things (yes, Amazon and Ebay have been frequented lately,) imagine my surprise when I receive NONE of the things I was expecting!

Powerbar Christmas Present!!
But what a surprise it was. I've been talking to Troy Hutchinson (the Powerbar Canada rep,) about the newly reformulated Powerbar Protein Plus bars, and my present was a bar of each flavour! Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla Yogurt, Cookies and Cream, and my all-time favourite, Peanut Butter. The delivery was perfect timing, and at the advice of Troy, I tried out the Cookies & Cream bar after the gruelling 3hr trainer ride. As I neared the end of the workout, all I could think about was that Protein Plus bar. Then, finally, I got to crack into the new bar.
Finally, after 3 hard hours, it's chow time
A. MAZE. ING. All I can say. They are absolutely NOTHING like the old bars, completely different flavour profile and texture. The Cookies & Cream was almost a cake-like consistency, very light in texture but huge flavour. The chocolatey coating landed an ever-so-slight crunch, and the inside had tiny little crunchy bits of cookie. They are smaller than the old bar, at only 210kcals (down from a sometimes hefty 300kcals,) but still packing 20g of protein and 26g of carbs, to help you recover. I still am in awe of how amazing it tasted, I am looking forward to tomorrow's training sessions so I can try some more (it's almost sad how excited I am about them! Peanut Butter is next at bat.)

Cookie & Cream perfection. BAM!
Just thought I'd let you all know about the new bars, they are available now, so go get yourself a few and try them out! I liked the old bars, but these bars are a whole new level of rectangular perfection. I'll be posting soon about all the other exciting new revelations lately (skiing anyone?)

Have a Merry Christmas everyone, and a safe and Happy New Year! (and please, be SMART out there during the holiday season!)

Nathan

Friday, December 14, 2012

What happens in December, stays in December

Christmas, it's the best time of year! Well, it's my absolute favourite time of year, that's for sure. It always means dinners, gatherings, and good old-fashioned parties with friends and families! Not even half-way through, and I've gotten up to all sorts of things already! First, there was a poinsettia incident. I can bake you almost anything, but trying to keep a plant alive? Not my forte! I've been told poinsettia's are difficult to kill, but I managed to end the life of some poor thing in only a day or two. Sad really.

This spring, I was asked to partake in the filming for an indoor cycling video, SpinFocus, by my good friend Jordan Hurdal. It was a lot of fun, although I only participated in the outdoor portion of the filming. Well, Jordan recently asked me to ride in one of the studio spin sessions, and how could I say no? I think the seller was the fact there would be a room full of good lookin' ladies, and a kitchen of food :-) He knows the way to an athlete's heart, that's for sure! It was a blast, we spent a few hours filming. The videos should be finished fairly soon, and trust me, they are solid sessions!

In the spin focus studios!
One of the most exciting things to happen yet, was the Team Ossenbrink Christmas party. Partly because it was with an awesome bunch, but mostly because it was at MY HOUSE! The first party I've ever hosted, EVER. I am a big fan of the christmas decorations, I like it to feel very festive, and I tried to go pretty all-out. Maybe beginner to some, but I was pretty happy with my efforts. For my first kick at the can, I'd say successful. Now there are more to come every weekend until the big December 25, which I'll assist in hosting at my parents house. Absolutely LOVE this time of year! Even though I'm lacking a douglas fir or charlie brown in my living room, I was able to get to my parents house for the annual mulled wine and tree decorating (and for the record, my mum makes THE BEST mulled wine around.) What a treat.

Today was the first day in months I've ridden the roadie outside, and what a day to go out! It was sunny the whole time, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone out there today with a bigger smile. I'd attribute the smile to a few things, one of which being that my power numbers were excellent for this time of year, and two being that I recently received an invite to race in the 2013 Abu Dhabi Triathlon in March!! WOO was I ever excited!!!! I am hoping I'll be able to find my way there, but it will be an absolutely amazing race to do. The perfect way to kick off the season as well.

Anyways, it's time to pack it in for the evening, happy training everyone, and Merry Christmas!!!

Nathan

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

New Reading Material…..

Waffles: NOTHING better!
…would it surprise you, at all, to know a cookbook is my new favourite book? If it does, it shouldn't. 'The Feed Zone Cookbook,' by Biju Thomas and Allen Lim, is a phenomenal little book that will give you all sorts of ideas to fuel you right, whether you're taking off on a 6hr cycling adventure, or just kicking back for a day of relaxing. I've been trying out some of the different recipes, my favourites being adapting the pancakes into waffles (with my awesome waffle maker, generously donated to me by Rachel McBride, another waffle aficionado!) Also, I've been starting my day with a take on their Sweet Rice breakfast bowl, it's a real treat! If you head down to Multisport Science Inc you can find it locally, at a great price, along with a few other hardcovers to dive in to. I've also started reading Scott Jurek's 'Eat and Run,' it's been great so far. An added bonus is that Scott has recipes for tasty snacks and meals throughout the book, making it difficult to put down.

After a pretty solid week of training, including some of those long, mentally draining indoor trainer sessions (that leave you feeling like a candy bar wrapper that's been crumpled up and thrown on the floor,) it's time to recover up a bit and do some cooking and baking to prepare for a weekend of christmas parties. This has to be the best time of the year, getting together with all your friends and family to celebrate with good food and even better company.

Have a great week everyone, be safe out there (looks like snow might be in our forecast!)

Nathan

Suffering now = gains in 2013