Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Kale & Pineapple Pairing

Fancy Feast!* 

There's not much to this dish, which, by no mere coincidence, makes it amazingly simple to throw together. I found myself with an abundance of kale chilling in the crisper, a fresh pack of Dr. Praeger's veggie burgers, and some frozen pineapple chunks all begging to be combined in some such fanciful way today. I felt the true gentlemanly thing to do was to oblige them.

Using a covered frying pan, I heated a splash of water (about a 1/4 cup, or so) until it was near boiling, all the while chopping the greens (kale, broccoli, & okra) in preparation for their sauna. The kale shrinks rapidly when it's steamed, so don't worry if it looks like a lot when you first toss it in. Once the greens go all in, drop the heat to a low temperature, and squeeze a bit of lemon juice to add a touch of tanginess. I like to balance the lid across the halfway point of the pan, so the steam isn't completely trapped inside; this way, there's some air flow. Once the kale wilts, toss in the pineapple and add in the spices & Bragg**. Waiting until this point makes it a lot easier to mix everything together, as opposed to doing it immediately, when things are crisp & bouncy. Since this is a simple steaming process of fresh vegetables, it really doesn't take long for things to be ready & edible. The veggie burger is microwaved for under 3 minutes, diced, and stirred in after the veggies are done steaming.

The bellow recipe ratios represent my individual appetite on this particular day, at that particular moment. So if you're feeding more than yourself, or you're just ravenous from running around, it's probably best to up the ante on the portions I've laid out. Also, this is a meal that, if you desire slightly more sustenance, could be accompanied by a base layer of any grain (or pseudo-grain) or pasta, from brown rice, amaranth, quinoa, to couscous (the usual suspects***). I opted for eating it as is, without any additional accouterment, and was fine with it. This recipe lets the natural flavors of all the ingredients sing a subtle song of sweetness, and I'm happy with the harmony in their tune. When all is said and done, this is a nice quick meal—though there are plenty of directions to go in with this all-terain vehicle, if you're feeling adventurous in the kitchen—that adds up to less than 200 calories. The kale & the pineapple combo is what really sells this dish (the okra isn't half bad either), beyond that, go nuts kids.

Recipe:

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Wheels of Fortune

Finishing off yesterday's easy slice of half marathon pie, like a returning champion at a food eating contest, struck a line through another taper week on the calendar, and left me feeling refreshed & optimistic about today's cross training challenge. I received a new-to-me bicycle over the weekend (thanks Pete!), and was eagerly eyeing it up all Sunday with anticipation for a nice long ride on Monday's scheduled cross training session. 

A sunny, yet brisk, 68°F day & a new bicycle led me on an adventure to Valley Green park (a long and winding stretch of public park that reaches out like an artery from the heart of Philadelphia to touch, ever so lovingly, the shoulder of the wide suburban sprawl. Edgar Allan Poe was even a noted fan of the area). It had been a long time since I was last there, even though in the past it has served as a staple of activity for walking, running, and even hiking*—it's an especially perfect path for HOT summer days, because it's such an oh so shady lane—yet, I've never biked there before. I suppose the main reason for that previous life omission is because I've never really had a bicycle before, at least not one tempered to take on the off-road elements of Forbidden Drive (that's really its name kids, no foolin').

Classy Covered Bridge!

I left home with thoughts of taking it easy on the ride, since I know all too well that I'm standing in the shadow of the colossus that is this weekend's 20 mile long run, but husbandry be damned, the day was just too nice to lend worry to such things as excess. Although I set out to ride no more than 14 miles (22.5km), I ended up pulling in a total of 20 miles (32km). I know this, because my sweet new ride has a fancy old odometer. I'm no longer confined to the preplanned routes of yesteryear, and because this bike is a hybrid (as opposed to the road bike I had been riding before**), I can finally follow fleeting whims and go off road for a bit of unpaved shenanigans. 

I knew my last bicycle was a bit of a lemon, but didn't realize just how sour it was until today. Riding a bike with a frame that actually fit my height, being able to switch gears effortlessly, having pedals that aren't being held together with duct tape, and so forth, are all contributing factors to a relatively fear free jaunt through the forest road. For once, I could simply enjoy the ride with the confidence that less things were likely to go wrong. 




Footnotes:

Friday, September 9, 2011

The Risky Business of Shaolin Shadow Boxing

I woke up to a phone call from my grandma this morning. What, on the surface, sounds like something pleasant enough, actually wasn't: her basement flooded again, and she needed help cleaning out the water. With all the rain we've been inundated by lately, this is starting to become a biweekly task. I threw on an old pair of running shorts & shoes, that I had put aside to donate but deemed worthy of one last job before passing them along, and headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

A simple system was put in place: my aunt ran the wet vac, I ran the water buckets up the stairs. The routine was akin to the kung-fu training process seen in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin: once the wet vac fills to the brim, I dump it in a 6 gallon bucket and trudge it up a narrow flight of stairs, then tip-toe through the house making sure not to spill a single drop, pour it outside, then by the time I get back to the bottom of the basement stairs again, the wet vac is already full and waiting to be emptied. It's a non-stop stream of motion that gives no respite, like trying to douse an increasingly intense imaginary fire by passing a pale of water down a line comprised of only yourself. I'd claim that it was a Sisyphus-like endeavor, except eventually, it actually yielded noticeable results.


It was certainly an unconventional morning, but it undoubtedly covered my strength training for the day. So while I don't necessarily recommend flooding your grandmother's basement for the purpose of exercise (or any other purpose for that matter, unless it's literally on fire; or she has given you permission to freeze it and skate around on), if you happen to find yourself in the situation, the 6 gallon bucket water workout is pretty thorough! Once we were done (about 3 hours later), my grandma treated my aunt & I to coffee. I headed home figuring that since I was already wearing my running gear, there was no point in putting off the 5 miler on the day's schedule for later; though I did throw on a new pair of shoes and dry socks before hitting the road.

Now, about the run...

Monday, September 5, 2011

Building a Better Runner

Though I missed the Philadelphia Naked Bike Ride* (this year, though last year is a different story), this week did see me figuratively don The Emperor's New Clothes and parade through the streets with a suit sewn from the finest fabric that a surplus of cycling has to offer. That is to say, I barreled through week 10 with a lot more cross training than I normally take on. Not for any particular reason, other than I felt like I had extra energy to burn like an Autumn scented aromatherapy candle, in addition to rather enjoying the prolonged state of functionality Schwinny Cooper has graced me with lately, by remaining, mostly, intact. In the typical course of marathon training, perception of miles is prone to shrinkage, like a sack of hand knitted Cosby sweaters in an Alaskan laundromat, so if a round trip to the produce junction, or the library, adds 5-10 extra cycling miles per trip to the week, what's the big deal? 

Dapper, indeed! 

For the most part, despite mildly fatigued legs from time to time, the benefit of sticking to a more consistent cross training schedule has done exactly what it promised to do: build a better runner by balancing out slightly different muscles, without adding too much additional stress. This week's excess of energy speaks volumes on behalf of the benefits of steadily building up the experience points from cross training, and then cashing them in for a higher endurance level across the board. So, even with these unscheduled additional miles everything was going good this week, that is, until the slight glitch in the matrix during yesterday's 17 mile LSD. I had completely forgotten how far that great of a distance on foot actually feels. 17 miles is the longest run I've done since actually completing the marathon way back in February. So, while I remain somewhat familiar with its face, I had forgotten certain less-than-desirable personality traits that begin to grate on your nerves when the distance overstays its welcome. One of the more vexing aspects is that it just plain takes forever to complete. At least, if you run it like you're supposed to, which is near the speed of a Galapagos tortoise, which has a life expectancy of 170+ years! So, they don't really need to rush.

More long slow distance shenanigans below...