my beloved fins

I have been swimming with fins, approximately 4 to 6 hundred meters per workout, to improve my flutter and dolphin kicks. Not only have I increased leg strength from using fins, but I have also gained some ankle flexibility to help me kick more fluently. In addition, I swim with fins to lengthen distance-per-stroke; the longer the distance I travel per stroke in the water, the more energy I conserve. This pair of fins costs less than 20 dollars, and it is one of the most versatile training tools I have ever owned. I highly recommend you to buy a pair of fins if you are looking for a way to improve swimming efficiency.

I consulted my friend, Connor, about my pool workout routine. I have gotten used to doing drills before main sets, and the routine is getting tedious and inefficient. Connor recommended me doing drills between main sets; doing drills between main sets can help me regain energy and strength for more challenging sets. With this new routine, I hope to cut my time in 50, 100, and 200-meter freestyle by at least 3 seconds in the next meet.

Warm up:

• 300 freestyle
• 300 flutter kicks
• 300 pull buoy

Main sets:

Main set 1

• 1 x (100, 200, 300, 400) freestyle

Drills:

• 1 x 100 flutter kicks
• 1 x 200 swim w/ fins

Main sets 2

• 1 x (100, 200, 300, 400) freestyle

Drills:

• 1 x 200 flutter kicks
• 1 x 100 catch-up

Total distance (in meters): 3,500

Winter squashes (a generic term for all types of squash sold in the market) are everywhere, and they are cheap and delicious. I will be experimenting with a squash recipe every week this fall (possibly in the winter too), and I’d like to share my experiences with you. I hope you will enjoy reading my culinary adventure as well as learning new recipes to cook for your friends and family.  

Butternut squash is a good source of vitamin A and C, fiber, and potassium. Buttnernut squash has a similar odor, floral and earthy, to a pumpkin; therefore, many people often use those two squashes interchangeably. I picked up a butternut squash a few days ago. Although I was attempted to take the easy way out by making a simple soup, I decided to make dumplings after watching Alton Brown’s Good Eats on cooking with squash.

A Butternut Squash

I roasted a butternut squash and 3 medium size potatoes (go for the starchy potatoes like russet) in a 400-degree oven for 45 minutes (unfortunately, each oven is different, but my temperature and cooking time could be your guide). When these two vegetables cooled down, I broke them into pieces and mashed them together like I were making mashed potatoes.

After making the mash, I added 1 beaten egg and 1 cup of all-purpose flour to the mixture and formed a wet dough. To make the dumplings, I turned the dough out onto a floured counter top and divided the dough into 5 portions. I rolled each portion out into a strip carefully with gentle pressure coming from my middle fingers. Finally, I cut the strips into 1/2 inch dumplings.

I boiled the dumplings for 5 minutes in boiling water, then transferred them into a frying pan for sauteing. I sauteed the dumplings with chopped sage and basil.

Final Concoction: Butternut Squash Dumplings with grated Pecorino Romano Cheese.

Stay tuned for more Guinea Pig’s culinary adventure in cooking with winter squash…

Warm-up:

• 300 freestyle
• 300 flutter kicks
• 3 x 100 pull buoy w/one breath in every 3, 5, and 7 strokes

Drills:

• 3 x 100 ( 50 1-arm swim followed by 50 freestyle)
• 4 x 100 (50 kicks on the side followed by 50 freestyle, w/ fins)

Main sets:

With fins:

• 3 x 100 freestyle
• 3 x 200 freestyle

Without fins:

• 3 x 100 freestyle
• 3 x 200 freestyle

Warm down:

•  1 x 200 flutter kicks

Total distance (in meters): 3,750

My good friend, Matt, visited me last weekend. To celebrate this rare occasion, I decided to make pizza for us on Friday night. I have previously made pizza by baking the pie on a baking sheet. Although the pizza was edible, I had never been able to create hard crust. To enhance the texture of the crust, I baked my pizza on a heated tile last Friday.

The result was fantastic; my pizza had crunchy crust. The tile trapped the heat and dissipated it into the pizza dough; therefore, the bottom of the pizza was brown (or black) and crusty. A hard crust is important to pizza’s overall texture. Not only does hard crust give the pizza a nice bite, but it also keeps the pizza in shape without cheese or other ingredients sliding off from the top.

My tile sitting at the bottom of oven.

Margherita - a famous Italian pizza made of fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, and chopped basil.

Cacciatore (a type of salami) with Fresh Mozzarella.

Triumphant…the hard crust!

What do you consider to be a good pizza? 

I have started a chain on Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food. The food chain gets lengthened whenever a recipe gets passed on to other people (but make sure you do cook and teach the meal to others!) The first meal that I have passed on to my friends is Chili con Carne, a hearty dish that could satisfy your craving for Mexican food. Now, it’s your turn to guinea-pig a recipe and pass it on to your relatives or friends!

What are you passing on this weekend?

My drag suit; it was my father’s regular swim suit from many years ago. The suit is very loose and creates “drag” in the water.

I have started wearing a drag suit when I swim; a drag suit creates more resistance and helps me to improve my endurance and speed. However, a drag suit is not meant to be worn in every workout; a swimmer can benefit from training with extra resistance, but he may get tired quicker and develop poor swimming habits. I currently train 4 to 5 times a week in the pool, and I wear drag suit 2 times a week.

You may purchase a drag suit ( or training suit). However, if you have any old swim suit laying around, like the ones I have, you could save the money and wear it outside of your regular swim suit.

Does anybody have great training tips for swimming?

Protocol: 3 x 1 minute (1st exercise) followed by 6 slow repetitions with heavier weight (2nd exercise), 30 to 40 seconds of break between each set
Purpose: maintaining muscular strength and improving balance

Warm-up:

• 2 x 10 bird dog
• 1 x 20 leg curls w/ a stability ball
• 2 x 20 rotators cuff

Main sets:

• Bench press: 45 lbs. & dumbbell chest press: 25 lbs.
• Squat: 95 lbs. & front lunges: body weight
• Overhead press: 45 lbs. & 1-arm upright rows: 15 lbs.
• Hang clean: 45 lbs. & front squat: 45lbs.
• 5 x 10 (swimmers, jackknife, and lower back lifts) w/ no rest.
• 3 x 10 pull-ups (wide, regular, and close grip)
• 2 x 20 oblique lifts on BOSU

Everyday Sweat Day 1:

Although I swim (a non-weight bearing exercise) 4 to 5 times every week to keep myself in shape, weight lifting, (weight bearing exercises), still plays a major role in my training. I am gradually moving away from lifting heavy weight as my swimming season goes on; I want to keep my muscle strength balanced for better hip rotations when swimming. In order to keep my balance, I focus on body weight training few times a week, mainly by doing Everyday Sweat. Everyday Sweat gives me a guideline to what muscle groups are to be trained, then I add other forms of exercise to keep my workout interesting. Below is today’s Everyday Sweat workout:

• Hip rotations: 2 x 10
• Wide, regular, and close grip push-ups: 3 x 30
• Bicycle crunches: 1 x 20
• Leg lifts: 1 x 30
• Regular crunches: 1 x 15
• Jumping jacks: 2 x 1 minute
•  Parachute: 1 x 1 minute

What has been keeping you sweaty?

My previous entry on Jamie Oliver’s recipes, from “Ministry of Food”, states that all the dishes could be made within 10 minutes. However, I was not aware that some of the dishes take longer cooking time, such as beef stew, and chili con carne (which I made tonight). I apologize for the misleading information. Good luck cooking!