Wednesday, June 27, 2012

#TrainingTruths: Workouts & Skyline Chili Spaghetti


As you are reading today's post, I am hanging out in Cincinnati for the week with my family and friends. I haven't been home since Thanksgiving (when I ran this race) and I've missed everyone and everything. Today I'm going to a Reds game and then lots of running around.

Last week was the start of summer vacation in the middle of a heat wave and in addition to the PT sessions of ART and Graston, my training schedule has been a little all over the place. I ran four times for a weekly mileage total of 14 (it was supposed to be 17).


WORKOUTS:

#TrainingTruth: I liked running on my lunch break.

I've been reading about people who work out on their lunch breaks for years. Being a teacher, I have approximately 30 minutes to inhale eat my lunch. No time for anything else and barely enough time to use the rest room. Our last day of school exam schedule gave us an hour long lunch, so BRF and I headed out for a 4 mile run. We were trying to beat the heat that was descending on New Hampshire. I now understand why so many people opt to do their workouts at lunch rather than wait until the end of the day. I couldn't do this during the school year because there isn't enough time and I'd be pretty stinky if I had a class after lunch.


#TrainingTruth: I don't follow doctors orders very well.

For the past few weeks I've been attending PT to address the knots in my calf. My PT did not ask me to stop running (thank goodness), but he did ask me to keep the mileage low on each run and always take rest days between. I'm a terrible patient. I was feeling good, awesome in fact, so I did a 7 miler and then ran three days in a row. It shouldn't surprise me that the pain flared back up right before what might have been my last session. Lesson learned. I reduced my Saturday 8 miler to 4 and did not skip rest days anymore.

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FOOD:

#TrainingTruth: I eat pasta for pre-race meals, but I like to spice it up.

Every runner knows that pasta is a great meal for loading up on carbs before a big race. It's also a quick, easy meal to make when life gets hectic. I like to make traditional pasta, but even more I like to make it Cincinnati style. To make it, all I need is to get my hands on some Skyline Chili (I stock up when I'm home or ask my family to mail me some), cook some spaghetti, and add some cheese.


If you don't have access to Skyline Chili, you can follow this recipe that my aunt recommend to me in case I ever run out:

Ingredients:
   1 quart cold water
   2 lbs ground beef
   2 cups crushed tomato
   2 yellow onions, diced
   4 garlic cloves, minced
   1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
   1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
   1/4 cup chili powder
   1 tsp cayenne
   1 tsp ground cumin
   2 tbsp cider vinegar
   1 whole bay leaf
   1/4 tsp ground cloves
   1 tsp cinnamon
   1 1/2 tsp salt
   cooked spaghetti to serve chili over

Preparation:
1. Add beef and water to a 4-quart pot. Bring to a simmer while stirring until the ground beef is in very small pieces. Simmer for 30 minutes and add all the rest of the ingredients. 
2. Simmer on low, uncovered, for 3 hours. Add water as needed if the chili becomes to thick. 

3. Refrigerated the chili overnight, and the next day remove the layer of fat from top before reheating and serving.

Don't forget to check out WIAW recipes also!



#TrainingTruths is not just about me. We all like to see what everyone else is doing and use that information to asses ourselves. It's not judgement. It's a way to share and learn and make changes when necessary.


To participate all you have to do is share your #TrainingTruths:
  1. Tag a Twitter post with the hashtag #TrainingTruths
  2. Comment on the Running Escapades Facebook page 
  3. Leave a link to your own blog post in the comments

I look forward to reading your #TrainingTruths!





4 comments:

  1. I like that hashtag, so cool! I hope your calf is getting better. I love training my calves and would be so sad if I had to take a break.

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  2. I suck at following doctors orders too. I have some scars from where I was told "Don't run until the stitches are out or it won't heal right." I decided I'd take the scar over not running. Whoops

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  3. Mmmm, I love the idea of adding chili to the spaghetti. YUMMERS!

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  4. Following doctor's orders is hard. Especially for runners.

    That chili spaghetti looks great! Yum!

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