Spring storms

Storms rolled in around 3am this morning, however, the entire household, (dogs and people) except my mom, slept through all the crashing and loud rumbles.  How did that happen?    Despite the rain, I scooted over to the pool for practice. There were only a handful of people ready to swim outside in the chilly rain.  Coach Mike sent us off for an easy 300 warm followed by 6 x 100 @ 2'(50 drill/50 swim). As soon as we pushed off the wall for the the second 50 of the very first 100, the lights shut down, and the pool was black! Wow, that was a weird sensation to swim in complete darkness. I made a little screech noise. 

We spent the next 10 or so minutes kicking and sculling until Mike could figure out a way to get the lights to come back on.  As we continued to go up and down the lanes, the rain continued to fall, and there were a few girls sitting on the benches waiting to swim, and I kept thinking that they probably thought we were nuts to be swimming in the dark.  Mike hit the breaker a bunch of times, and lights were finally restored.  We carried on with the rest of the workout.  This was a perfect practice to improve stroke work. Too bad we were not able to finish it due to the lightening. 

continuing the Pre Set:
6 x 75 @ 1:30 (kick/drill/swim by 25)  fly,  back,  breast by 75
6 x 50 @ :50 pull (desc 1-4, 5-8)
6 x 25 @ :30 drill/fast IM order 2 of each stroke

Main - 3 times*
200 FRIM @ 3:00
100 IM @ 1:30
6 x 50 @ :50 (drill/swim by 25)
6 x 25 @ :30 odds cruise/even strong
* on the third set - as soon as we finished the 200FRIM, I heard Paul from across the pool, where he was coaching the age groupers yell to us, "That's it - everybody out! " I saw a bright flash directly overhead and did not going hesitate jumping out. 

The remaining workout was suppose to be:
12 x 25 @ ;30 odds drill/evens underwater to 15
6 x 50 @ :50 pull
4 x 100 @ 1:35 kick

200 EZ (SCY)
Happy Laps!

Last night I decided to experiment in the kitchen and cook amaranth for dinner.   Amaranth is a mexican grain, and it kind of looks like grits.   I looked up a recipe for Amaranth on the app, BigOven, and it called for dried Porcini mushrooms.  Trader Joe's did not have it because it was a seasonal item, so I found the last jar of it at Whole Foods for $10.00!!! Geez this stuff better be good.  The recipe instructs you to soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 15 min.  and use the reserve water for some of the liquid to cook the amaranth. When it was done cooking, I added the cooked porcini and button mushrooms on top of the prepared grain, it looked good, however, it had a very pungent smokey smell and flavor.  Needless to say, none of us really enjoyed it very much. However, the main dish, a beef and green curry with peas and red peppers was delicious!