Hello friends. It’s been a while. I’ve had writer’s block, by which I mean I’ve been very lazy and spending too much time on TikTok. Lots to cover today.
The omicron variant and training for the Boston Marathon have forced me to embrace winter running in a way that I never have before. The first marathon I ever ran was the Los Angeles Marathon, and like Boston, that required training in the cold, sad months of January, February, and March, but I did a lot of my easy runs on the treadmill at the gym. I’ve been avoiding the gym lately for COVID-related reasons, so that option is out. Sad because you know I love a treadmill.
I had a pretty awful training run on Saturday. It was supposed to be a 14-mile long run but my nose literally would not warm up, the headache I was trying to run off got worse, and about two miles in, my stomach started making sounds that suggested I had one too many cups of coffee with whole milk that morning.
I tried that run again on Sunday and got through it thanks to lots of electrolytes and nine hours of sleep the night before, and a chocolate Gu, and a few good podcasts during the run. I tend to listen to running-related podcasts on mentally-hard training runs because they make me feel more connected to the task at hand and the sport in general. I’ve come to prefer ones that feature interviews of ultra-runners about recent races—the more physical suffering the narrator has gone through, the better. A few favorites include The Freetrail Podcast, Trail Society, Endurance with Ian Sharman, and The Morning Shakeout. Rich Roll also has some great runner guests.
I know many of my readers don’t follow running news like I do, but this past weekend was quite exciting for professional women’s distance running and its themes transcend the sport and will motivate you more than a SoulCycle instructor. 37-year-old Keira D’Amato ran 2:19:12 at the Houston Marathon to break the American women’s record, previously held by Deena Kastor. She’s a mother of two who ran in college and for a few years professionally, then took a seven-year break from the sport after an ankle injury and worked as a real estate agent before coming back in 2016. She got a professional sponsor in 2021 and her record-breaking performance is proof that it’s never too fricken’ late to go after your dreams!!! And life isn’t linear!! Ugh, I’m so inspired.
Before I leave you, let’s talk baked goods. I made buckwheat-chocolate-molasses cookies (pictured above) yesterday from the latest cookbook in the Run Fast, Eat Slow franchise. They’re definitely “healthy” cookies, if you know what I mean. And though it’s not quite a baked good, my colleague (and fellow runner!) Sarah Jampel developed a recipe for vegan banana-oat pancakes that I plan to make soon because the ingredients to make pancakes are often the only thing I have in my kitchen.
That’s all for today. Don’t forget to do your push-ups. I missed yesterday’s because I took a sick day from life so I’ve got 60-something on tap for today. Uhhh…
Elaheh