Yep, a different tone than when I left off. So when I last signed on I was what we might call “down” in the metaphorical “dumps” (insert joke about falling ‘down’ i.e. landing on my knee and losing my noodlely-cheesey goodness) and feeling all around defeated. Well, la-de-da, I have a terrific run tonight! Which is EXTREMELY surprising since I haven’t gone running in 3 days (since the 4.5 debacle in Munster, Indiana) which is not a good thing for a marathon training schedule (and I may or may not have had too much to drink last night. It was Wednesday night, it just seemed fitting to do a little sauce sipping). Anyhoo, before I delve into my triumphant run, I’d like to do some food-talkin.
So as I mentioned before, I bought “The Athlete’s Palate Cookbook” post-Christmas shopping as I was armed with a Barnes & Nobel gift card (which still has about $8 left on that I’m just ITCHING to spend…maybe it’ll be a latte, a magazine, a book, who knows! But I’m guessing it will be some type food-related item). I’ve looked through it a bunch of times, thinking “ooo, that sounds tasty! But look at all the ingredients I’ll have ot buy for probably a one-time-use” or “yikes, that looks gross!” and the occasional “I like this recipe because there is an adjacent picture.” But I have marked a few tasty options to start out with and I created my first dish from this book: Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables by Mark Bittman (food columnist for the New York Times). (sidenote, this book is comprised of recipes of famous food people/well known chefs, and before each recipe is a little note about the chef and how they got into running/cooking for runners. I’d say 80% of these stories are “well I was a smoker for over 10 years, and once I quit I started running” and the sort. Ahhhh chefs. They certainly do like to smoke. And if they’re not smoking they’re, running?)
So basically you take these ingredients and make a soup-like item. I love veggies, and I've been on a sausage kick lately (hold the jokes, please) so this was kind of the perfect recipe for me.
Did I mention I was on a sausage kick?
So anyways, it was extremely easy and the results were TASTY. Cook Sausage. Take sausage out of pan. Cook veggies in delicious sausage fat. Add canned tomatoes (with juice), add back sausage, and add some red wine and/or chicken stock (I opted for both because hey! booze and meat juice!). Simmer. Enjoy.
Wednesday, 5 miles, 6pm (yet lighter than normal), pretty clear sidewalks.
And here we are. Tonight. I KNOCKED THAT SUCKA OUT OF THE PARK. And, I admit, 5 miles isn't a HUGE feat for me at this point, but it was how it felt. I was a little nervous to hit the road today because of obvious reasons (crushing defeat and utter let downy-ness). I started off the run and MY GOD was it cold. By far the coldest run I've had yet this year. My face was in actual pain for the first 12 minutes or so of the run (which when you have hurty-cold face seems like an eternity). Once I got over that, I started thinking about how poorly I had been doing this week as far as running goes, and then I had to talk some sense into myself. I didn't run Monday and Tuesday because I hurt my knee on Monday morning. I didn't run on Wednesday because I had a late meeting that turned into a little boozin' which hey, there is nothing wrong with when done in moderation. So although it was 3 days of no running, it was "well-deserved"ish, and it's not something I should keep beating myself up about. And hey! It took a mile's worth of time to think this all out, so boom, I was more than 2 miles into my run, and I felt vindicated and my face wasn't cracking. It felt good. When I hit the 2.5 mile mark and turned around to begin my journey back home, I was feeling good. Almost great (I tried not to get too excited, because we all know what happens..I overdo it and look foolish FOOLISH!). Anyways, I had encouraging thoughts throughout the run, and now I'm not as afraid of my long run this weekend: 8 miles. What is a little intimidating is the longest I've run to date is only 6 miles. But I think I can do it. And you'll be here to hear all about it, RIGHT??!
Oh, and another quick update, remember that wall-bat that was screeching? Well I came face to face with him last night. I was actually in the bathroom and saw his shadow as he was swooping around my living room. Yes. A terrifying way to see a bat. But—something I'm not proud of—I've experienced so many bats in the past few months, I didn't freak out. I was able to bat him to the floor, swoop him up in a sheet, and send him on his way outside. And as I watched him majestically fly up into the sky toward the frozen moon, I just thought to myself "WHAT THE F&@$! I'm so god-damn sick of these bats!!!"
Oh, also, I backed into a pole parallel parking this morning (what? I figure this is just a self-deprecating sounding board for myself).
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