Cooking 101

Have you ever noticed how much better everything tastes after a long, hard run? A banana with some peanut butter is absolutely delicious, a cup of hot chocolate is heavenly. So invite your friends over for a nice long run followed by a meal (mandatory showers before sitting down to eat). Fix them something like macaroni and cheese and they will be singing your praises as the best cook there ever was.

Gotta run…

Energized

Thanks to over 30 years of running, there has never been a time in my life when I wasn’t in shape. I can do all kinds of sports without slowing down, outlast most, like the Energizer Bunny. So why do I run out of steam after an hour of shopping? I end up buying stuff I’ll never use just to get it over with. We all know women who , whether physically fit or not, can shop all day long without their batteries running down. The sales are in full swing here and I need some new clothes, but I’d rather run 10 miles than spend an hour shopping.

Gotta run…

Abs

I usually just skim anything in Runner’s World that talks about stretching and strengthening exercises. However, something in the Core Values article in the February issue caught my attention:

Self test
If you think your abs are steely strong, test yourself with this move. Get into a plank position with elbows, forearms, and toes on the ground and back flat. Hold the position and jump your feet out about 18 inches on either side, then jump them back together. That’s one rep. Do as many as you can without stopping.

0-19 Get moving
20-30 You’ve got good stability and core strength
31-49 You’re approaching bionic
50+ What, you train on a high wire?

Was I being challenged? I couldn’t just let it go.
I was satisfied with my 37 reps, but I’m going to try not to laugh or cough till the lactic acid evacuates.

Gotta run…

100% natural

We have two fig trees in our yard that bear twice a year. You can only eat so many fresh figs, believe me; so I cook them, puree them, spread the puree on cellophane taped to a cookie sheet, dry it in a warm oven, cut it into strips and roll them up. A lot of trouble to go through to have homemade fruit rolls, you may say, but they are the perfect thing on a long run. Who needs Cliff Bars (have you ever tasted those things?). Ok, I confess sometimes I grab some Candy Corn for the road too.

Gotta run…

Dragging my feet

I’m actually only dragging one foot, the right one, due to a nagging hamstring injury. The annoying thing, besides the pain, is that my shoes do not wear evenly. My left shoe is still in pretty good shape, whereas the heal of my right shoe is worn down to the foam. I wonder if there is anyone out there with a ruined left shoe, but a decent right shoe. If we wore the same size and model, we could swap and get some more use out of these shoes!

Gotta run…

On you mark, get set, go!

The 2010 "Guide des courses populaires" came in the mail yesterday. I went through it and marked 19 races I'm thinking about entering this year; all but 2 within a few miles of home. I had circled about the same number of races in the 2009 booklet and ended up running 11. Not bad, after all, running is not my highest priority. We’ll see what happens this year. Nothing on my calendar till Spring.

Gotta run…