Mail Call! (Image Source)
I’ve been receiving a quite a few good reader questions lately. As stated on the contact page, I try to respond personally to your inquiries. However, I occasionally receive questions the answers to which I feel would benefit all of my readers. Therefore, it is with great pride that I introduce what I hope will become a recurring feature here at TimWoodbury.com, the Monday Mail Call.
Tim,
I tried your recipe for chocolate pinole. I loved the flavor, but mine didn’t come out nearly as nicely as your pictures. It came out very crummy. Definitely not something I could carry with me on a long run. What did I miss?
Lisa, WA, USA
Hi Lisa,
There are a few things that can help with the texture. For one, make sure that you grind the chia seeds if you didn’t. Using whole chia seed not only creates a naturally grainy texture, but also deprives the pinole of the creamy smoothness that the distributed fiber adds (try adding ground chia to oatmeal to see what I mean).
The second common mistake I’ve made when putting pinole together is not using enough water. My original post recommended a half cup, but that’s really the baseline. You should use enough water to give the mixture roughly the consistency of oatmeal. A little extra water can help keep the pinole moist, which also helps with cohesion. Just take care to not let the mixture become runny.
Finally, and a bit of an extension to my last point, be careful to not over-bake the pinole. As I said, the drier the mixture, the less cohesive the final product. (Go hydrogen bonds, eh?) With the cocoa, it can be hard to see when the pinole is fully baked and the impulse is to leave it for longer. There aren’t any raw ingredients in pinole, so there’s no health risk from under-baking. Start with 10 minutes, and check its consistency at that point. If it falls apart from being too moist, you can always put it back in.
Hope that helps. Happy baking!
Hi Tim,
I’m a new bocker. I just got my bocks a week ago but I can already walk around and jump on my own. I went out bocking the other day and the next morning my back was really sore. Is that normal or am I doing something wrong? How do I keep this from happening again?
John, IL, USA
Hi John,
What you’re experiencing is most likely the phenomenon known as “bocker’s back.” It’s an overuse injury that a lot of bockers have reported experiencing. It’s especially common among people who are new to the jumping aspects of the sport, and there are a couple of reasons why.
For one thing, bocking engages your core in a way that few other activities do. Consequently, most people don’t really have the strength to support particularly the jumping side of bocking. Add in the fact that most new bockers spend waytoo much time out on their bocks initially, and you have a perfect recipe for bocker’s back.
Bocking can be a lot of fun. There’s a strong temptation is to ignore the signals your body is sending you to eke out a few more minutes of jump time – I know I did when I first started. Don’t ignore those signals! When you start to get tired, your form suffers. And when your form is poor, that’s when injuries are most likely to occur. Also, take the day off and rest if you’re in any pain. Bocking while injured will only make things worse. Your bocks will still be there when you recover.
Also, be sure to check out this set of bocking tips for beginners such as yourself.
And there you have it. My very first Monday Mail Call. If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered here, pop on over to the contact page and send it my way. You can also leave me a question in the comments on any article and, if other people should know the answer, you may just get featured here.
Still have more questions? Check out other Monday Mail Call articles. Or consider reading a random article from TimWoodbury.com.
