Recovering from Last Week and Preparing for the Week Ahead

For the past several weeks, I've been subjecting myself to a form of torture otherwise known as the Barnyard Brawl prep at Praxis.

The Barnyard Brawl is a CrossFit competition sponsored by Big Barn CrossFit in Albuquerque and scheduled for August 19th and 20th.

http://bigbarncrossfit.com/2017-barnyard-brawl/

This last week was probably one of the toughest weeks of workouts I have had in many years but I survived.

My body was so beat up I have simply rested all weekend with a few walks for some easy, active recovery.

Looking ahead at the workouts for the week ahead, I realized it's gonna be another Barnyard Burner so I figured I better prepare myself the best I could in the food department.

So I fired up the back patio Weber.

And begin prep'g.....

Fresh pineapple cut in discs and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Vidalia onions, Poblano Peppers, Red Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Peppers, yellow squash, Fuji Apple, a few slices of Ciabatta bread and 3 ribeyes and a pork chop preseasoned with meat tenderizer, salt and pepper and a mix of curry powder, garam masala and allspice with these same spices and seasonings on the veggies.

Looks about right....

Round 1.... Peppers

Round 2.... Onion and Pineapple.

And on and on.... with all the cooked components ending up in a large Dutch Oven and hit with a little Balsamic Vinegar, EVOO and a dusting of salt.

Finally, the bread and meat.  I want a hard sear on the meat to create a crust with the spice rub and seal in the juice so I let the fire come on and watched it real close flipping as needed.

Now that's a pile of Paleo goodness!

And that ribeye is a perfect medium to medium rare.

When I cook a lot of meat and veggies and know I will be eating on them for several days, I will take the veggies off a little al dente and the meat a little rare because I know I will be heating them up.

Incidentally, I use a cast iron skillet for the heat up not a microwave to keep from getting that rubbery twice cooked texture.

Let's plate the first meal up and pair it with a Pinot Noir spritzer with Fresca and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Beautiful!

At 55, I will never keep pace with my younger and fitter compatriots at Praxis nor will I likely ever win any sort of competition, but I will give myself every chance I can to be the best I can be by managing the workouts I'm given and giving my body the rest, recuperation and nutrition it needs.

And in the end analysis, that's a Win for me in this Game we call Life!