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Jake had an enduro race Sunday morning. It’s a stage race for mountain biking. There were seven stages, with transitions between each stage. Riders are timed for the stages and then have some time to recover in-between. It’s pretty fun to watch! Before the races started, we had oatmeal.

All the guys piled into someone’s truck and headed to stage 1! There’s Jake in the back of the truck.

This is the beginning of stage 4, which is the first stage I got to watch. It was a HOT day.

It was fun getting to see some friends race! Ryann looked so strong when she came through!

Here’s Jake and part of the team he races with – Sunshine Bike Shop. They’re all crazy awesome.

How many carbs is too many carbs? HA! This was the lunch for the racers. I definitely did not need all of these carbs, but I know everyone who had been out racing in the heat sure did.

Here’s Jake finishing stage 7, the last stage. He did amazing and ended up with 8th place. I loved getting to watch him race. It definitely made me miss racing. There’s no better feeling than crossing the finish line, knowing you left everything you had out there. I can’t wait for my first race back when this foot is healthy.

We left Arkansas around 4PM and got back home around 6. It was another hot ride in the van since the AC still wasn’t working, so we were happy to get home to get into another car with working AC! We met my parents for dinner at The Rock, a new restaurant here in town. This was our second time going and I was impressed! The first time we went, I left being pretty disappointed. The food I had ordered wasn’t very good and I just didn’t think it was going to be a place I wanted to go to again. I told Jake I’d give it one more chance and I’m glad I did! Jake and I shared the ham and mango (we added jalps) cauliflower crust pizza and a burger. Both were incredible. We started back to a stricter Paleo (caveman) way of eating Monday, so we enjoyed some of our favorites before then. I love Paleo; it’s probably my favorite way to eat. You are fueled with nutrient-dense whole foods, which my body loves. We cut out anything processed, which helps a lot. We aren’t super strict with it – we still eat peanut butter and beans, but we 100% feel our best when we follow this way of eating. It’s different for everyone! Jake can handle more diary and bread than I can, so he’ll have those things occasionally. If we crave something, we have it. But we like using Paleo as a daily guide.

This is the Slab Burger and it’s incredible.

I got up Monday and knocked out my swim and lifting at 5AM. There’s nothing more humbling to me than swimming. I am hoping to swim 3 days a week right now. I started with 30 minutes on Monday and hope to add 5 minutes each time until I’m at an hour comfortably. I have A LOT of work to do before that happens, and that’s okay! It’s all about the journey. If you have any swimming tips, I’d love to hear them! I was on swim team for a few years when I was younger, but those skills did not transfer to adulthood. Ha!

After working out, I made an egg and veggie scramble with hummus (not Paleo). It hit the spot and was so delicious.

I never sat down yesterday until lunch and dinner, which wasn’t great for my foot, but I had a lot to get done. After breakfast, I hit up the grocery store. All. The. Produce.

After I got groceries, I dropped off our van, then made a delicious smoothie bowl for lunch. I topped it wi
th honey, a banana, chia seeds, and hemp hearts.

After lunch, I started on meal prep for the week. I loved being on vacation, but it sure feels good to be home and getting back to our routine. For breakfast this week, we are having egg, veggie, and turkey casserole. This has turkey, mushrooms, spinach, and sweet peppers. I just chopped and mixed everything together, then baked at 350 until solid – maybe 30 minutes? I usually use whole eggs for casseroles like this, but this time, I used egg beaters and egg whites. I think about 2 cups of each.

Holy yum. Jake’s lunches are amazing. Deer meat, butternut squash, kale, and sweet onion. I cooked all of this with coconut aminos, which gave it kind of a sweet flavor. So. Good. Once I browned the meat with the onion and kale, I topped the cubed squash with the mixture and baked it all together until the squash was soft. That’s it! 350° for maybe 30-40 minutes.

The girls aren’t allowed in the kitchen when I’m cooking. This is what Rhea has started doing. She’s KIND OF following the rules. Eye-roll.

One of my favorite sides – sweet and beets! This massive dish has 3 sweet potatoes and 6 beets, all chopped about the same size. I added two TBS of ghee, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. That’s it! I bake at 450° for 30ish minutes.