From left, Brittanny Anderson of Metzger Bar & Butchery/Brenner Pass, Caroline Ciulla of Nota Bene, Beth Dixon of Pasture/Comfort, and Sarah Gaskin of Pasture (Photo by Jason Tesauro)
Now we're talking! Hitting the two-month mark means that many of us have reached “the zone.” The zone is that mythical spot where the work of working out is completely in balance with the benefits. In the first month or two, it's all sweat and ache with little reward from the mirror beyond a faint promise and a healthy glow. Once you're in the zone, though, things accelerate. With form, strength and stamina well-established, workouts are efficient, focused and more intense. And the feedback from your body, your lover and your selfies is apparent, plentiful and satisfying.
Photo courtesy Brittanny Anderson
Looking around our squad, I see Jason Alley in the zone. “Put in 50 today!!!!!” he said with five exclamation points last week when a bike request went out. I see Julia Battaglini and David Martin in the zone. “We’ve been lifting all week,” she posted from Basque Country, “jamon to our mouthholes. And clocking 12,000 steps a day … our diets have been on point!” I see Beth Dixon and Brittanny Anderson in the zone. Dixon continued to impress with her bench presses and 100 perecent attendance streak, and Anderson won the week with badass legs and a custom dessert for Hunter Rhoades’ birthday dinner at Brenner Pass.
Our crew is rocking steady, and word is spreading.
The official cycling jersey for the Chefs in Shape effort, courtesy Virginia Tourism Corporation, Virginia Wine and Richmond Region Tourism (Photos by Jason Tesauro)
This week, three of the commonwealth’s killer V’s spurred us on like a jockey’s whip: Virginia Tourism Corporation, Virginia Wine and Visit Richmond (Richmond Region Tourism) chipped in to outfit us with official cycling kits. Now we are rolling ambassadors for local bounty and lifestyle balance. The tagline on our jerseys reads, “Eat, Drink, Ride, Repeat,” and nothing could be more apt. While some aim for fanatic devotion to exercise and calorie-counting, we represent that camp of realists who find truth in the give and take of fitness and feasting, wall ball, and Harvey Wallbangers. Because, as Beth Dixon puts it, “I don't ever want to skip dessert; I just don't want to get fat and die [eating] it.”
You've seen the chefs in their whites, now come see them in their white, black and red racing kits aboard their bicycles. Support your chefs in shape, and there will be more dessert for everyone.
