Tuesday, January 31, 2012

You Say Potato Part II

A few days ago I was curious about how the potatoes served at the refreshment stands, on the Two Oceans Marathon course, would be prepared. So I wrote to Two Oceans via their facebook wall and asked them. They responded! It turns out they are (drum roll please...) baby potatoes boiled with a little salt and butter.

This weekend I am planning on doing a 21 mile (or so) long training run, otherwise known as two loops of the run I did Saturday. It will be the perfect opportunity to see how the potatoes are for running and munching because I can stop at my apartment and grab some before I start the 2nd loop.

Tonight I boiled some potatoes and jazzed them up a bit. I also baked some wild Salmon. Here are the recipes:

Slightly Jazzed-Up Boiled Potatoes

This is a variation of something my friend (and ex boyfriend) made for me recently. He's so nice that even though we aren't dating anymore he will do my taxes and make me dinner while I raid his whiskey stash and watch tv.

Boil baby potatoes until soft and drain the water
Add a little salt and butter. (Set aside half of your potatoes for a long training run. )
To the other half, add a bunch of kale and simmer with a little more salt, vinegar and Sriracha sauce (a hot sauce)
Continue to simmer and add chopped garlic.


Salmon Baked with Brown Sugar and Herbs

This is a dish that my mom made at Christmas from a Katie Lee cookbook (a food critic that was married to Billy Joel when she was like 12). It is AMAZING. I don't have the original recipe so this is a variation.

1 serving of Salmon

Mix together these three ingredients and smear all over the salmon:
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Stone Ground Mustard
dash of Olive Oil

Finely chop and mix together these next ingredients and pile onto the salmon:
2 Tbsp each- Parsley,  Thyme, Chives, Mint
Salt
Dash of Olive Oil

Lastly, place Lemon Slices on the Salmon

Loosely wrap in foil and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minute. Uncover and bake for 5-10 more minutes.

Before

After

I like to put fresh herbs in little cups of water because it looks pretty and keeps them fresh. But they still need to be used soon!

Monday, January 30, 2012

DOMSday

I got a little adventurous this past weekend and made up a new 11 mile (10.92 miles to be exact) loop to do in Brooklyn. I mapped out the course beforehand using runningmap. (I've used mapmyrun before, but I got really annoyed with its ads that block the view of the map and the extra sensitive pointer that draws a line when you're just trying to scroll down. One of these days my toolbox will include a fancy Garmin watch.)

It was a beautiful tour of Brooklyn. The course took me through the cobblestone streets of DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). This was followed by Brooklyn Heights with a breathtaking view of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. I trotted along through Cobble Hill, crossed the Gowanus Canal (a Superfund site, not to be confused with "Super fun"),  passed through Park Slope and then ran south of Prospect Park toward Flatbush. Flatbush Ave. turned into Washington Ave, which took me home.

Eleven-ish miles isn't that long of a run compared to the 35 that I'm training for, but my legs are incredibly sore! This route turned out to be very hilly. There is one hill in DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights that is reminiscent of San Francisco (northern Californians can roll their eyes now).

I ran for a couple of miles yesterday, but it didn't loosen up my quads. Stairs are challenging, as is getting out of my office chair. The word for this is DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness. This type of pain always takes me back to the days after the first practice of every soccer season, when I was a kid. I would be so sore from trying to prove myself on the field and it always made me feel tough and proud.

Here are some things I saw on my run:

The tip of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty (which appears small in this picture)


An old fashioned retractable wooden bridge, built in 1889, over the Gowanus


This bridge is the oldest of four of its kind in the country.


A market with outdoor speakers playing Caribbean music


Lively stores on Flatbush Ave.

Friday, January 27, 2012

You Say Potato

This evening, running home from work, I sweated my way through gaggles of good looking people who were probably heading somewhere to hang out with other good looking (and non-sweaty) people. Meanwhile, I was thinking about potatoes. My train of thought began with how weird I felt because I ate too much sugar today. I felt similar while running in the most recent NYC marathon, at least during the last half of the race. And I attribute it to eating too many caffeinated energy gels. That led me to thinking about the "refreshment stations" that are going to be along the course of the Two Oceans Marathon. On its website the race organizers say that potatoes will be provided as one of the refreshments. But it doesn't say anything else about it. Will these potatoes be baked? Fried? Will there be a potato bar with butter and sour cream? Will they be mashed potatoes? Potatoes au gratin?

I follow the Two Oceans Marathon on Facebook and decided I would take my question there. I noticed that the person running the page is very responsive to questions and suggestions on the page. There are lots of interesting conversations on there (and not so interesting posts pleading for bibs to the sold out Half Marathon). Earlier today Two Oceans said,  "70 days to go to race day - that's 10 weeks...hope you have some great training runs planned for the weekend or maybe you're doing a race. Let us know what you're up to." See, so friendly! There are 22 comments so far, including one from a koala bear (judging from the profile picture). It just says, "Knee injury :-("

Recently I followed on their facebook page a controversy over the price of the Trail Run that is happening the same weekend as the marathon (there are several other races that weekend, including a Trail Run and a Half Marathon, which are both sold out). It seems that the Trail Run was posted as being a certain price and then suddenly the registration price was raised on the website without an explanation, but it included a free t-shirt. Subsequent complaints on their facebook page included stuff like, "I don't want to buy the t-shirt. Why are you forcing us to buy a t-shirt. This race is too expensive. You're never going to get locals to run in this race. This is highway robbery and we really want an explanation for why you are ruining this race." Then someone would respond with, "Stop complaining." The 22 km Trail Race (and free t-shirt) costs 550 Rand. I'm not sure how much that is in regular money, but it sounds expensive. 


So I posted this question on their wall: 

Greetings from Brooklyn, NY! I am running in the 56 km marathon and I would like to be prepared for the food provided at your refreshment stations before race day. I want to try eating potatoes on my long training runs. Is it possible to learn what kind of potatoes they are and how they are cooked? Looking forward to seeing you all on April 7th.

It will be fun to see what kind of response(s) I get.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

72 Days, 13 Hours, 48 Minutes (and a book review)

What's been going on in Two Oceans Marathon training land! I'm still feeling confident. My goals still include: running at least 40 miles a week; eating less processed foods and more raw foods; drinking less of the alcohol; and getting enough sleep (which means kicking the animals out of the bed). The first two weeks of January I was successful in getting 40 miles in. It wasn't easy, but I felt stronger than I have in a really long time. I even had a couple of runs up the Williamsburg Bridge (the bridges in NYC are our urban mountains) where I totally zoned out and didn't even realize I'd run uphill until I was heading down the other side. Brilliant!

I wasn't as successful in the third week. I felt kind of cranky and tired. It happens. On Saturday it snowed and I fell on the ice while fighting with Oscar over some delicious-looking garbage he found (because I wanted to keep him from eating it, not because I wanted to eat it). On Sunday I was so sore from falling down that I felt as though I'd been in a car accident. I even had what felt like whip lash. (Someone call whine-one-one, I need a whaaambulance.) Monday, I took ibuprofen and iced my back all day. Now I know what people are talking about when they talk about icing stuff. It really helped! I ended up taking three days off in a row, which meant I lost my Saturday long run and now I'm behind this week

In the meantime, I finished reading Ultramarathonman: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes. I will probably write more about this book. But for now let's just say that I really thought I would not like the guy. Maybe it was the title. Or maybe it was the whole "sexiest man in sports" award by Sports Illustrated (don't they know this award belongs to Johnny Depp?). Obviously he's not Scott Jurek, my favorite "ultramarathonman". But despite all these reasons to be put off by him, I found his story really interesting. This book is definitely not a book that you would read for insights into how to be a great runner; there are no details about what he wears, eats (other than the stories about stopping at gas stations or ordering pizzas mid run) or even how he trains. He jumps right to the big events that have shaped his now-running career. Also, there are no stories about other runners. While I'm writing this I'm starting to feel like he is an asshole. But wait! What I found interesting about him was his brief insights into why he runs. Even though he is obsessive compulsive about it, I could relate to his use of running as therapy (I even used to say, when I lived in the mountains, that running on the trails was my version of going to church). I could relate to the thought that the "runner doesn't need much" as I am a really low maintenance runner when it comes to gear (often I don't even wear socks). And mostly, I related to the feeling that if you can complete a long distance race you can do anything. After surviving the "meltdown/euphoria" cycle that comes with participating in a marathon, there is a period of time when I feel pretty much invincible, and when I feel I could also get the "sexiest man in sports" award (but only if I wanted it).

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

'twixt the fennel-field

I have a new obsession with fennel, which I've consumed just about every day so far this month. I never bought it before this time and didn't even notice it in stores. But the crazy thing is that while reading about fennel just now in order to write a post about a delicious fennel salad I just made, I learned that "marathon" is the Greek word for "fennel". I kid you not. Here I thought I was going to write a post that didn't have anything to do with running, to freshen things up a bit, and low and behold, I'm eating a bowl full of marathon. Historians believe that the town of Marathon is named after the fennel fields that are found there. Marathon is also the site of a great battle (cue the battle drum and flute music) that famously led Pheidippides to run very far to Sparta in order to get help, followed by a 25 mile run to Athens to announce Greek victory over Persia (after running a total of about 175 miles during all this drama, it is said that poor Pheidippides collapsed and died). I also read in one place that he ran with a sprig of fennel in his hand, which probably looked really stupid.

From an 1879 Robert Browning poem (found on wikipedia):

So, when Persia was dust, all cried, "To Acropolis!
Run, Pheidippides, one race more! the meed is thy due!
Athens is saved, thank Pan, go shout!" He flung down his shield
Ran like fire once more: and the space 'twixt the fennel-field
And Athens was stubble again, a field which a fire runs through,
Till in he broke: "Rejoice, we conquer!" Like wine through clay,
Joy in his blood bursting his heart, - the bliss!



So obviously, fennel is amazing. It has a lot of vitamin C in it and it's supposed to be good for digestion. The entire plant is edible so nothing gets wasted, and it's not expensive (at least not at Mr. Coco's in Fort Green/Clinton Hill). 


Here is the yummy salad that I prepared after a run home from work. The proportions are up to the eater. I slice the fennel by quartering the bulb and then slicing it thinly.  Tonight I also threw in some chick peas that were already open (in a can) in my fridge.


Fennel and Gorgonzola Salad
Baby Arugula
Fennel Bulb sliced
Fennel Leaves chopped
Crumbled Gorgonzola 
Dried Cranberries 


Placed in a bowl.


Dressing
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar 
A small squirt of Stone Ground Mustard
Sea salt (did you know that all salt is sea salt?)


Placed in a jar and shaken. 

Mix together and serve with a little black pepper. 




I've taken this salad to two potlucks this month, and both times I used the plastic container from the "Organic Girl" brand baby arugula", $3.99 to transport the salad, which made everything ridiculously easy. 

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Eating on the Run

I have decided that part of my training for the Two Oceans Marathon needs to involve experimenting with eating while running. I usually ingest the powerade gels (chocolate or vanilla flavored) during races longer than 90 minutes, but I felt so nauseous during the last marathon I ran that I'm a bit scared of them now. The gels are amazing; the first time I had one I wondered why I didn't use them recreationally. But they are full of caffeine and who knows what else. You can overdo it with them for sure. And by "overdo it" I mean poop your pants.

I went on a 2 1/2 hour run today, so it seemed like a good time to take along some food. I chose a peanut butter Cliff bar. I was so excited about it that I was having a hard time not eating it 20 minutes in. While I fantasized about the snack weighing down my pocket, I wondered what else I could eat while running. A burrito? A veggie dog? In Ultramarathonman Dean Karnazes talks about ordering a large pizza and en entire cheesecake to be delivered to him mid run. Would I be able to handle a cheesecake-pizza sandwich? Probably not, but it is always fun to fantasize about eating. Mmmmm...pizza and cheesecake.

About 90 minutes into my run, I was heading down the West Side Highway toward Battery Park and I decided I'd try the Cliff Bar. My face was numb and my throat was dry from the cold so the first couple of bites tasted exactly like plastic. But by bite three it started to taste delicious! There is something that feels very primitive, thus liberating, about eating while running. And I would say that it was a success. No stomach cramps. And I didn't get hungry or feel low energy by the end of the run. Most importantly I did not poop my pants. Next, I'll practice with salt intake while I run. Pretzels!

Two Oceans will have "refreshment stations" along the course which the race organizers say will have bar-one chocolates, bananas, potatoes, and ice cream. I'm not sure about any of these things. But I know of the perfect ice cream shop to help me "practice eating" while running. I'll do it, but only for the love of the sport.

Some things I saw on my run today:



Christmas lights still hanging in someone's yard and a cow that hangs out on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn



Thursday, January 12, 2012

85 Days 13 Hours 27 Minutes

Websites for marathons love to include the countdown to their race. I suspect it's supposed to invoke panic. The internal monologue goes something like this: "Eighty-five days, 13 hours, and 27 minutes! Wait, what? WHAT?? What am I doing? There isn't enough time. I'm going to make a total ass of myself! I am an ass. I am, in fact, an ass of myself."

This may seem like a long time if you, say, know you will have to return a library book. Or if this is the countdown to your roommate's birthday. (If you are counting down 85 days until your roommate's birthday, you're probably psycho. I've seen Single White Female.) However, in terms of training, 85 days can easily be broken up into not-too-many-sounding weeks. And each of these weeks is important.

This week it's hard getting my planned 40 miles a week in. I'm an evening runner and since I have plans after work tonight and tomorrow night I'm going to have to cram a bunch of miles in on Saturday. Either that or I run slightly tipsy tonight when I get home or wake up early in the morning? And try to run then? Morning? Huh?

The excellent news is that there is always time to eat. Here is my lunch from Tiffin Wallah yesterday. One of the great things about living in New York City is the food. The food and the Jay Z song, "Empire State of Mind" are actually the two great things about living in NYC.



South Indian buffet, $7.95. Near the corner of 28th and Lexington Ave.

And just for the hell of it:

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Something To Listen To

Modest Mouse is my favorite band. Like a good friend, they have withstood the test of time; I first started listening to them back in college and first saw them live in 1999, I think. At that show I was so mesmerized by Isaac Brock that I didn't even notice that two guys were standing behind me and had stripped below their shirts and were "sword fighting." Um, yeah. Modest Mouse has never inspired me to do that, but they do inspire me to keep on keepin' on.




Most often when I run, I need something to listen to. I've listened to the Wolf Parade and Modest Mouse Pandora radio stations while running so much now, they feel like my own personal compilations. I only listened to music once during a race, and decided that it's best that I reserve the music for training. I think Modest Mouse is going to get me through a 10-12 miler on this spectacular winter day. That will put me at 40 miles this week. Yee-haw! Thank you Isaac.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Introducing Oscar


Thirty degree temperatures are my favorite temperatures to run in. This evening it was 38, so I took my dog Oscar out on a quick half hour jaunt around Fort Greene Park. With its hills and Rocky Balboa-style stairs you can still get a pretty good, short run in as you pretend the world is a giant obstacle course (and it is, isn't it?).

Oscar and I have very different running styles. He tends to go out feeling really strong and energetic. His first 10 minutes into a run are solid. He runs with his tail and head up, looking straight ahead like he's a show dog and not an orphaned mutt found on Rebel Dr. in western North Carolina. I, on the other hand, usually take 10 minutes to warm up before my creaky bones feel lubricated and my muscles feel relaxed. I'm not sure what those first 10 minutes look like to the outsider, but I imagine that I start out looking like a character in a zombie apocalypse.

Unfortunately, it was at this stage in my run that Oscar and I passed a cute guy jogging in the opposite direction. "He's a great runner! Good looking dog!" he called out to me as I lurched forward. I tried to answer him, "Thanks, he is a great running part....." but I couldn't finish because he kept going and I realized he wasn't interested in a convo. *Sigh* Oscar is a good looking dog. It's true. He has even kissed my neighbor Rosie Perez on the mouth. On New Years Day an old lady stopped us on the sidewalk and proceeded to kiss Oscar on the lips and said, "Oh thank you. That's the best New Years kiss that I got." (And I didn't doubt it.) And you know what? It's okay if he gives it his all during the first 10 minutes of a run and then tries to stop and smell things and roll in grass and jump on girls the rest of the run, because sometimes picking up my running shoes and seeing his eager face and wagging body is the thing that gets me out the door when I'm otherwise feeling defeated. And I'm pretty sure we make each other look good.




(top photo is of Oscar when he was a puppy, right after he was found in the woods in western North Carolina and bottom photo is him now, modeling my Turkey Trot medal)

Tonight's post run beverage is hot chocolate with nutella in it (because I was out of sugar). It's delicious and perfect for winter time!


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Feels like Six


I think I might have PR'd (personal record) running home from work tonight. There were several tricks involved in this feat. First, I had to race the cold feels-like-six-degree temperature outside, and by this I mean I had to run fast to keep my body temperature warm and I had to get through wind tunnels as fast as possible. Second, I had to beat that guy with the flashing light on his backpack. Who did he think he was? At some point on 2nd Ave, my chosen route home tonight because I don't like running along the East River in the dark (because someone might throw me in), I was standing still at a stoplight and this guy dressed all in black with a backpack and a flashing light on it, ran past me. Not only did his backpack have a flashing light, but it also had a reflective cover over it. I don't know why this last detail is important, but I'll admit it, his extreme caution irked me. "Where's your helmet?" I wanted to call out to him in my best circa 1985 bonehead accent. Instead, I did what any rational person would do and I sprinted halfway down the block to pass him. I was winded for the next few blocks but I was happy to be winning. But then, something surprising happened and suddenly the sidewalk seemed to split into two sections; one section continued being the dumb sidewalk and another section turned into an awesome asphalt-paved bike lane right along the road, and that joker with the backpack light took the awesome route. He breezed past me, rightfully on the road with his flashing light, which now seemed like his own custom automotive tail light.

I was reminded of a half marathon I ran in the Bronx nearly a year and a half ago. It was a terrible race to start with because it took forever to get there via train from Brooklyn. I got a late start and it kind of threw me off for the next 13 miles. But at some point I was competing with this dorky-looking guy with one of those hydration belts. These things also irk me even though they are eco friendly, and hey, ultra runners have to carry their own water! I think it has to do with looking like you take yourself too seriously. But I digress. This guy would pass me and then a little ways ahead I would pass him, and this went back and forth for the entire race. At the finishing area where I was noshing on a bagel and a banana I ran into Hydration Belt and he smiled at me and said, "Great race! I was trying to keep up with you the whole time!" It was such a great moment! And of course he suddenly seemed super fit. I would tell people later, "Oh man, I really killed it in the half today. I raced this guy with 2 percent body fat the whole time." Not!

Needless to say Automotive Tail Lights beat me down 2nd Ave. and we had to part ways when I turned down Delancey to cross the Williamsburg Bridge. At which point I had to go it alone. And alone I was! There weren't many people on the bridge tonight.

I ran 7 1/2 miles this evening, but according to the Two Oceans Marathon training program I was supposed to run 3.7 miles (or 6 km by their measurement standard). This seems weak. In fact, none of the running days look too demanding for January. I'm feeling confident.

Monday, January 2, 2012

35 at 35

(picture of a t-shirt signed by Ryan Hall, which a friend from work picked up for me in Boulder, Co)

Around the same time that I was turning 35 I found a marathon in Cape Town, SA called Two Oceans, which also happens to be 35 miles long (56 km by their measurement). Perfect! The only trouble is that I haven't been running nearly as much as I should. Yes, I did the NYC marathon (for the second time) back in early November 2011, but it wasn't one of my finest races. The race-organizing folks are calling Two Oceans an ultramarathon, but I kind of think that should be reserved for 50 miles or longer. Instead, I'll just call it "a long f@$%*ing race."

I've completed seven marathons. Back in 2008 I had been living in Brooklyn for a year and I decided that I wanted to train for my first marathon, the NYC...because I'm crazy. It is difficult to get in this race through the lottery alone, so I raised money for a charity that primarily helped people in poverty living in NYC. It was my way of giving back to this city. Not that things had necessarily been easy living here. I was in a relationship with someone who was neglectful and dishonest, I'd gone through many temp jobs and craigslist gigs (no, not *that* kind of gig) before finally getting a job I liked and I'd had a series of unfortunate roommate situation after my first roommate (who was awesome!) had to leave town for a medical emergency. In the words of my girl Dolly Parton, "The Big Apple took a bite out of me." Training for the NYC marathon took my mind off of my troubles and gave me something positive to focus on. But I still had no idea the extent to which actually running the race would change my life forever. It was, in fact, the best day of my life. I'll never forget crossing the start line, running through Brooklyn and right past my then-apartment in Bed-Stuy with my neighbors sitting out on their stoops, hitting Williamsburg and seeing friends everywhere, running into Queens and getting a big bear hug from my cousin who was yelling his head off for me, and then crying the last couple of miles in Central Park because it hit me that I was actually going to finish. For someone who is plagued with constant self doubt, this was undeniably a great accomplishment. Once that medal was mine nobody could ever take it away from me.

Here's where I should post a picture of me running the NYC marathon, but eff-you Brightroom photography and your terrible race photos! All their photos of me make me look bloated and sluggish. But maybe that's just how I look when I run. Instead, here is the photo with my four-legged training partner that I used for my fundraising page:



Since November 2008 I have fought occasional depression and bad decisions to successfully complete six other 26.2s: Chicago (2009); Silver Spring, MD (2010); Paris (2010); Harrisburg, Pa (2010); Napa Valley (2011); and NYC (2011, again).

This being the first blog post I guess I should say that my goal right now is to write about what inspires me in order to get inspired. I also want to sell tons of adspace and become rich!! JK.

I have three months to train for the Two Oceans Marathon, "the most beautiful marathon in the world." Geeez. This morning, on this beautiful holiday day, I ran for 2 hours around Prospect Park, listening to my standard Wolf Parade pandora radio station. It felt like a decent start. I only need to be able to do that times three...and I'll be good to go April 7th.