Eating for Running

My summer of rest has been great for relaxation, but it hasn't been so good for my racing weight. Not only have I cut back on the miles, I have lost mindfulness of what I am eating. Bowl of chips - sure, send them my way! Leftover Oreos - yum, pass them over. And the beer - pass me a cold one. Or two.


But summer is over, folks, and it's time for me to not only get my training back under control, but my eating as well.  I won't be eating to lose weight - I think that the increase in weekly miles will take care of that provided I am eating right - but I will be eating to fuel myself properly.  Which means proper meals, lots of veggies and fruit, whole grains...and tons of dirty dishes!  Why is it that cooking healthy seems to require using every pan I own?


I am not a fantastic cook.  I don't know my parsnips from my turnips - and I don't know that I have tried either one. I thought I would start posting some of the recipes that I try in this ultrarunning journey because I know that I take a lot of inspiration from what I see in other runners' blogs. And you can be pretty darn sure that any recipe I post will not be very complicated. I also have wishful thinking that if I start taking photos of my food I can eventually become as talented as Eat Live Run or Sprouted Kitchen. (I know - I might qualify for marathon trials or Kona too! Ha!)


So here's what I had for dinner last night, courtesy of No Meat Athlete.

Hawaiian Beans & Rice

• 1 cup dry brown rice
• 1 can drained and rinsed beans, or 2 cups cooked (I used Kidney beans)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped red cabbage (about half a head)
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 can sliced pineapple, juice reserved

Cook the brown rice in a rice steamer or follow the directions here.  Heat up the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and fry the onion for 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and fry for an additional minute.  Stir in the beans and heat through. Stir the red cabbage, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce.. Cook for 5 minutes, until cabbage is cooked but still crunchy. Stir in spinach and cook for 2 more minutes, until slightly wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste.   Add rice to pan and heat for 1-2 minutes.

Meanwhile, spray a frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium high. Lay pineapple rings in pan, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Fry for 2 minutes per side, until nice and charred. Serve on top of beans and rice.

The original recipe calls for smoked paprika, which I did not have.  I also added a little teriyaki sauce, but I didn't have much.  I love beans & rice, and this was a nice variation on the theme.

I found a really cool way to collect recipes and other things I want to try.  It's called Springpad, and it allows you to add an extension that you click on when you find a recipe you want to save (super helpful when one pops up in Google Reader).  You can make lists and set up tasks, and then use an iPhone app so that you can see those lists and things when you are on the go.  I used it yesterday to set up my shopping list - and I was even able to check my recipe while I was at the store. You can save notes on books you want to read, restaurants to try - all that miscellaneous info that I tend to forget as soon as I hear it. I'm pretty excited about it, and better yet, it is all free.

Run happy!