The Runner's Kitchen

Yesterday morning I headed out to Central Park for a 4.5 mile recovery run. My hamstrings were a little tight from Sunday’s race, but otherwise I felt great! The sun was shining and my legs were thankful for the squishy softness of the dirt bridle path.

The rest of my day wasn’t nearly as carefree as my a.m. run, but I had fun evening plans to look forward to. After reading a review in the NY Times a few weeks ago, I was intrigued by The Meatball Shop. This new restaurant specializes in….you guessed it – meatballs!

The Meatball Shop is tucked away on Stanton Street on the Lower East Side. In fact, I walked right by it at first! The menu is blissfully simple and the quality of food, cozy atmosphere, and attentive service are top-notch. Bonus: Ingredients are locally sourced and humanely raised.

Once we were seated, I perused the menu. Diners are given the choice of meatballs (beef, spicy pork, chicken, salmon, lamb, or vegetable), sauce (tomato, mushroom, meat, or creamy parmesan), cheese (mozzarella or provolone), as well as an array of breads, pastas, and vegetables. I chose the “meatball smash” which featured 2 chicken meatballs, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese stuffed and grilled inside a brioche roll. The arugula and apple salad on the side was a nice addition. I can’t say enough good things about this meal – it was warm and hearty, without being too heavy. And all of the ingredients were super fresh - loved the arugula!

(Grr…dim lighting…blurry photos)

My dining companion ordered a classic beef meatball hero with melted cheese on a whole grain roll. The meat was described as being “fall off the bone tender”. Never mind that meatballs don’t actually contain bones….you get the point! And of course more of that yummy arugula salad on the side.

How do you top off a delicious dinner like that?

I know…

Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar!!

Remember when I made a vegan version of Momofuku’s compost cookie? That was good, but there’s nothin’ like the original…

Last night I also snagged one of the cornflake-marshmallow-chocolate chip cookies and I think I like this one even better. It tasted like a chocolate chip cookie-rice krispies treat hybrid. Oh my heavens.

Wondering what the heck a fartlek is? Confused by interval workouts? Running Shorts comes to the rescue with explanations for the sport’s most common terms.

IT band pain? Watch this Runner’s World video to find out which yoga poses will help.

Love diet coke? I’ll admit…I can’t resist popping open a can of icy cold DC every so often. Fortunately, there’s a healthier stevia-sweetened alternative to all those chemicals. Yum!

What’s your favorite type of cookie?

 Holy comments! You guys must really like popchips

And the winner is:

Comment #39:  Erin says: February 17, 2010 at 1:04 pm  I love that speed workout – I need to try it sometime. My favorite chip flavor is definitely sour cream and onion. Yum!

Erin – email me your shipping info and I’ll have popchips send the goods

So last night, I attended my 4th consecutive CPTC Thursday road workout. After what seemed like an entire year of frustration and injury, I’m finally starting to feel in “racing shape” again. I’m still a little nervous about doing twice weekly workouts and a long run, but so far so good. I haven’t been so vigilent about my PT exercises, but I’m trying to give myself some extra TLC in other ways (sleep, lots of fruits & veggies, stretching). And the foam roller and I have been seeing a lot of each other lately! Last night was a pretty brutal workout, but I felt GOOD. As I was grinding out the last tough mile, I thought to myself: “This is FUN! I love running hard and pushing myself to the limit”.

CPTC Thursday Night Road Workout

• About 1.5 miles to warm-up
• 8.1 mile tempo run in 59:28 (average pace = 7:20)
• Ran the first 4.05 mile loop at roughly marathon pace – 31:00 minutes total, averaged about 7:39 per mile
• Ran the second 4.05 loop at half-marathon pace – 28:28 total, averaged about 7:02 pace
• About 2 miles to cool-down

11.5 miles total – yikes, that’s a lot of miles for a mid-week run!
Wore the lunaracers – no blister problems. I think they’re a go for the NYC 1/2 marathon next month. I love these lightweight racing shoes – they make me feels so fast!

By the time I returned home, it was almost 9pm and I was ready for food in a major way. I wasn’t up for cooking anything elaborate, so I just threw a bunch of leftovers into a bowl and called it a junk salad. It was actually pretty yummy!

In the bowl:

• romaine lettuce and homegrown sprouts
• dried tart cherries and walnuts
• triscuits topped with melted cheddar cheese
• homemade dressing made with 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar, spoonful of dijon mustard, and a spoonful of lingonberry jam whisked together until combined

I gobbled that down and they had a bunch of yummy (vegan!) cookies. They just might be the *best* vegan cookies ever. Are you ready for the recipe?? A few weeks ago I mentioned how enamored I’d become with Momofuku’s compost cookie. I made it my mission to create an animal product-free version for a vegan friend and while the results are not exactly the same, these cookies are pretty dayum good

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup packed earth balance (not the same as smart balance, FYI)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1 Tbs ground flax
• 3 Tbs water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 BIG handful of chips, roughly crushed
• 2 oz. pretzels, roughly crushed
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
• With a mixer, cream together the earthbalance, sugar, and instant coffee powder
• In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax and the water until smooth, add the vanilla extract
• Fold the flax mixture into the earth balance & sugar 
• In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (oats through chocolate chips)
• Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated
• If the batter isn’t holding together well, try chilling the batter for about 20 minutes
• Scoop rounded Tablespoons of batter on to the cookie sheet and bake for about 10-13 minutes or until golden brown
• Cool on the baking sheet for a minute or so and then transfer to a wire cooling rack

Nutritional stats (per cookie – approximate): 95 calories, 4g fat, 13g carbs, 1.5g protein, .5g fiber.

More of your “Ask Me Anything” question answered:

In your opinion, what bakery serves the best cupcakes in NYC? I’m a sucker for frosting, so I’d have to say Magnolia Bakery. Although the Reese’s PB Cup cupcake from Crumbs is also really delicious….

How many calories do you eat a day when you’re running vs. a rest day and what is the break down of foods throughout the day? I don’t usually count calories, but I’d have to estimate that on a rest day I consume about 2,000 calories and on a hard workout or long run day it’s closer to 3,000. On my FAQ page I discuss what I usually eat in a typical day.

What events did you run as a member of your college track team? Which college PR are you most proud of? During my first few years of college I mainly focused on the 1500m  for indoor and outdoor track, but by senior year I made the switch over to the 5K. The college PR I am most proud of is my outdoor track 5K (18:52.73) It’s the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to a runner’s high. It was one of the best days of my life

As an experienced runner, what do you think about barefoot running? After reading Born to Run, I’m much more skeptical of all the fancy cushioning and stability features that modern running shoes offer. The human foot is a pretty amazing thing,  so it seems like we might actually be designed for barefoot running. HOWEVER, few of us have been running barefoot since childhood (like our ancestors did), so I think it’s important to ease into barefoot running very slowly. I’ve started wearing lightweight training shoes (Nike lunaracers) for workouts and some easy runs and I plan on incorporating some barefoot strides in the grass come springtime.

How do you get motivated or stay motivated to run in such cold weather? Good question! I am not a big fan of winter, so cold weather running is tough for me too. I’ve found that good gear helps (tights, running jacket, hat, mittens, etc.) and having a  buddy to run with in the morning motivates me on days when I’d rather by hibernating It’s already mid-February, let the countdown to spring begin!

Last, but not least:

Want to experience less pain during and after running? Tart cherries might be the answer!

Live in NYC? Check out this awesome runner’s map.

Happy Weekend! Anything fun planned??

Brr, it’s been a chilly weekend here in the big apple. I just finished running the NYRR Gridiron 4-miler and am feelin’ good! This was the first time I raced hard since I was injured over a year ago and it was a big confidence booster. But more on that later…

Yesterday was a day full of good eats and rest. After 8.5 hours of sleep on Friday night, I woke up ready for a quickie breakfast and a yoga class. I didn’t have any coffee beans on hand, so I tried the new Starbucks VIA instant coffee. I was a little skeptical, but it was actually decent! I don’t think I’d have this every day, but it’s a good option if you’re traveling. Along with my coffee I had a banana and Brown Cow maple flavored yogurt. Mmm, whole milk yogurt is so delicious.

And then I met some of my lady friends for a 10am class at yoga to the people. Obviously, I did not take a photo in class, but the studio looks like this:

Even though my gym offers yoga classes, I still prefer the yttp studio. FYI – even if you don’t live in Northern California or NYC, you can try out a yttp podcast!

After getting our yoga on, we headed to Atlas Cafe in the East Village. This little restaurant had an amazing array of menu options – I was a little overwhelmed! I ended up getting the smoked salmon and avocado sandwich on multi-grain bread. I don’t usually eat fish, but I was feeling like I could use a little omega-3’s in my life. The sandwich was delicious and fairly inexpensive by Manhattan standards.

Afterwards, we headed over to Momofuku milk bar for some COOKIES! I was tempted by the crack pie (toasted oat crust with gooey butter filling), but decided to go with the compost cookie (pretzel, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, and chocolate chips).

Oh lord. This was one of the BEST cookies I’ve ever had. Next time I’m buying two. Thanks to my friend Ani for the great recommendation

I had dinner plans with my friend Joe at a little restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. My pre-race dinner was a little unconventional, but it hit the spot. I ordered the warm spinach salad: fresh spinach leaves, sauteed onions and mushrooms, LOTS of croutons and a balsamic vinegar reduction. I also had a whole grain roll and butter with my salad – gotta get in those carbohydrates

I had planned on being social after dinner, but the cold and wind convinced me to stay home and hibernate under the covers. Oh winter.

I finished up the night with half a pint some mint chocolate chip goat milk ice cream, netflix, and an early bedtime

Waking up early to go running is never easy, but when it’s 17 degrees it’s particularly difficult…

Ah well, I just have to remind myself that I run and race for FUN! When I look at racing as something I get to do, rather than something I have to do, my mindset is a lot more positive

I had the usual pre-race breakfast around 7:30am – coffee, banana with peanut butter, and 1/2 clif bar. Andddd I finally broke out my hand warmers. These things are lifesavers if you have poor circulation (like moi) and they’re only 99 cents!

Alma and I warmed up for about 30 minutes (ran from our apartment to the starting line) and after a quick bathroom break, it was race time! I’ve run some races as “workouts”, but today’s 4-miler was the first time I raced hard in awhile. I was shooting for 7:00 pace and finished a little under, so I’m pretty happy. Miles 1 and 3 were slower than I would have liked (maybe because of the hills), but other than that things went as expected. Also, I was really excited to meet a blog reader at the finish line. Hi Jacqui!

• Mile 1 – 7:11
• Mile 2 – 6:57
• Mile 3 – 7:10
• Mile 4 – 6:40
• Total: 4 miles in 27:57 (6:59 pace)

After the race I was feeling really good (probably a sign I should have gone faster!), so I added on some miles to make today a “long run day”. My cool down was about 50 minutes long bringing me to about 13 miles for the day. Only 6 weeks till the NYC 1/2 marathon!

After a long hot shower I refueled with some pumpkin-apple-chocolate chip oatmeal. I’m already hungry again – off to go eat some more!

Even though it’s February (and f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g in the Northeast!), it’s never too cold for a smoothie! Matt and I posted our favorite recipes on True/Slant – check it out

What’s your favorite smoothie combination?