Cross-Training, You Have To Work!

There are two approaches to cross-training: as a regular part of your training, or as a workout of last resort.

It can be incorporated into a complete training program (much like the OJ in a complete breakfast!) as an added benefit. Running every day is great, but it’s even better to bike or pool or lift or swim on occasion to strengthen muscles not directly related to running. Cross-training also gives you days off of the pounding of running without missing working out. Overall cardiovascular fitness and muscular stability is the goal.

Despite all of this, cross-training is the bane of my existence and I avoid it like the plague (sidenote: who doesn’t avoid the plague???)

I see cross-training as an act of desperation - the only time I really cross-train is when I can’t run. I see time on the bike or in the pool as a place-holder for running – something I don’t enjoy but do to maintain my fitness (and sanity) when I’m not out pounding the roads and trails. (Right now I'm trying to be smart and alternate running with cross-training days.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love to run, not just to exercise and I believe there is a distinct difference between the two.

But when I need to cross-train I will do it. And if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right. No leisurely bike-rides, no slow-motion pooling – I make it hurt because I may as well get as much out of my time in an icky place as possible!

If you’re used to running, you know what a solid run or workout feels like. You know that if you’re absolutely gasping for breath you’re probably working too hard, and that if you can carry on an easy conversation it’d better be a recovery day. But when you’re cross-training sometimes it’s harder to judge. Just how hard is too hard? What’s too easy? Obviously it depends on what you’re doing and what kind of day and week you’re having, but I have a few standards to determine if I’m getting a worthy workout.

In college I asked my coach how to know if I was doing enough on the stationary bike. His advice, though mildly horrifying, has stuck with me: It’s hard to get a good full-body workout on the bike, since it’s mostly your legs. So to know if you did enough, when you get off the bike you should be surrounded in a pool of sweat.

The pool is even trickier. You can’t tell how much you’re sweating, since you’re in water. So I judge it by how out of breath I am. 

Pooling is my preferred cross-training because it’s the closest thing to running. So I try to get myself just as out of breath in the pool as I would be on a run. This can be hard to achieve, since it’s easy to feel like you’re doing a lot just by moving around in the water. But forward motion isn’t the goal and it isn’t enough – by the time I’m done with my hour in the pool I should be tired, and when I get out of the pool my legs should feel shaky.

Just like when I'm running regularly, I like to have a structured plan for my cross-training workouts: I alternate easy, long, and hard workout days to keep things interesting and reward myself for good workouts.

In conclusion, don’t waste your time with leisurely workouts! Don't fool yourself into believing that an hour slowly swishing through the water equates to an hour-long run. Make the most of your cross-training so that you can get back to running fast asap!  

Literary Bite: We Need to Talk About Kevin

I’m not sure what to tell you about this book. We Need to Talk About Kevin is definitely a good book, but I’m hesitent to recommend it.

Let me explain:

The pros: It’s engaging, original, and extremely well-written. The story is essentially about the relationship between mothers and children and husbands and wives, but it’s such a different angle that it seems new and fresh. The writing style is phenomenal - very real and very impressive.

The cons: It’s disturbing, at times horrifying, depressing, and gave me nightmares.

Considering those points, I can’t recommend this book. But I wouldn’t un-recommend it either…I just suggest you know what you’re getting into. Basically, if you want to read something that will convince you NOT to get married or reproduce, We Need to Talk About Kevin is your book.

Kevin is a Columbine-style high school killer. The book is from the perspective of his mother, exploring Kevin’s life from before he was born through a couple years after that awful “Thursday.” 

"I may be hounded by that why question, but I wonder how hard I've really tried to answer it. I'm not sure that I want to understand Kevin, to find a well within myself so inky that from its depths what he did makes sense. Yet little by little, led kicking and screaming, I grasp the rationality of Thursday."

I found myself sympathysizing with Eva (the mother). The way I read it, she had an abusive husband and a devil-child and though she was certainly not perfect, I felt she was more the victim than the criminal.

BUT apparently a lot of other people read it differently! They felt for Kevin, and blamed the mother for the way her son turned out. I guess it’s that question of nature vs. nurture.

It wasn’t gratuitously violent…what disturbed me was the cruelty of it. I guess that speaks to the skill of the author – she could make her characters feel so real that I believed them and all their actions. But sometimes I had to put it down because it got to be too much.

Has anyone else read this book? What did you think? 

It's going to become a movie in 2011! Go  here for details.

Go here for a review. 

Go here to learn more about Lionel Shriver. 

Cake of the Week: Butter Tarts

I first experienced these tarts of buttery nutty goodness at the LOTR Hobbit Party (they pair quite nicely with Cakeballs!). And then they mysteriously appeared in my fridge after a long Tuesday’s workday.

Do you believe in the butter tart fairy? Out there looking over us, delivering rich and nutty cups of awesomeness to those most in need?

I do.

I believe she’s looking out for my sweet tooth, creating late-night butter tart-storms in my kitchen. I believe she is the pixie of pastry, the bogie of butter, the nisse of nuts, the siren of sugar, and the goddess of goodness in butter tart form!

Basically, she's LLC - reliably bringing me baked goods whenever I'm not baking myself. 

So here’s the recipe, if you feel the urge to become a Butter Tart fairy yourself...

Butter Tarts from Joy of Baking

Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry)

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Butter Tart Filling:

1/3 cup (70 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat)

1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (toasted and chopped) (optional)

 

Pate Brisee:  In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched.  If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour. 

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Next, make the filling.

Butter Tart Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 12 - 4 inch tarts.

Brush up on your Butter Tart trivia by listening to this CBC radio program. 

The Weekend Report: Long Lazy Weekend

I’m not sure why exactly, but the federal government still recognizes Columbus Day (despite the fact that he did not discover America, and actually was a pretty wipe-out-all-the-natives sort of bad guy). But I won’t argue – give me an extra day of weekend and I’ll give you an Ahoy there! All hail Columbus!

This weekend was long and awesome but not particularly eventful. Sometimes I just need to chill out, not do much, and not feel guilty about it.

Friday night 6x6 and I went for a National Mall run – I will never get tired of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial at sunset.

Saturday morning I went to the farmer’s market, where I discovered my new favorite kind of squash: Blue Hubbard – have you tried it? I picked one up on a whim (it’s blue, it’s round, why wouldn’t I buy that?) and it’s delicious! 

My most ambitious activity for the day was shopping in Georgetown. It was even more crowded than usual thanks to the Taste of Georgetown event thing. We didn’t even go near that – there’s no need for me to pay for a food sample! That should just be free. But paying for an Americano and a cookie at Baked and Wired? Mmmmm, I’m totally ok with that.

Saturday night we celebrated LLC’s newfound employment. WOOHOOO!!! Finding a job is hard and she did it! So we meandered over to Saint-Ex for an night of dancing and ridiculousness. LLC celebrated in style with a big group of friends, but oh man I was tired the next day!

Sunday was a repeat of the laziness – brunch at Founding Farmers (blueberry pancakes!), followed by lots of reading on my floor, followed by a baking and cooking a house dinner for my friends and co-habiters because I’m the awesomest roommate ever (it involved pumpkin. And peanut butter. Get excited!).

And then Monday – oh Monday! No work = sleep in, run, and read. Excessively. It was awesome! However I did redeem myself from the land of the lazy by embarking on a major activity in the afternoon – I made my way out to MD to see my refugees and spent over 2 hours at their house doing high school homework and attempting to navigate the complex system of being poor in America. Both of which are hard!

I’ve always felt (pretty strongly) that all weekends should be 3-day weekends. Two days just isn't enough, right? Hope you had a good one! 

Best of Fall

It’s definitely fall, my absolute #1 favorite time of year! I love autumn desserts and am ready to embark on a season full of fall-inspired baked goods from pumpkin to apples to spices to squash – get ready, get set, it’s coming!

But before I get started on this year’s autumnal bounty, let’s re-visit last year’s most successful ventures. (These pictures were pre-Photoman, so forgive their lackluster-ness.)

Plum Ginger Upside Down Cake

Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Streusel

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling

Apple Ginger Cupcakes with Ricotta Icing

Pumpkin Chocolate Layer Cake

Here's to another fall of fabulousness!

Literary Bite: Little Bee

Read this book. Please. I promise you will love it.

I would tell you all about it, but according to the back cover:

We don't want to tell you what happens in this book.

It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this:

This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there ...

           Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is so well written that I wanted to savor it, but at the same time I could not put it down! I thought it was a really powerful story. Though it’s fiction, it feels very real and is based on real events.

I felt immediately connected to the characters. I’m not much of a crier, but Little Bee made me cry on the metro!  This could have something to do with the fact that I was reading this story about a Nigerian refugee living in Great Britain, while on the metro to see my refugees from the Congo living in Maryland. That’s getting borderline too real, if you know what I mean.

Though the subject is heavy and the book is sad, it’s not depressing. Overall it was surprisingly uplifting, intense but enjoyable.

I want to read Cleave’s other books – I am so in love with his writing style! Little Bee is the kind of book that I recommend to everyone – LLC and LOTR-Emily are reading it upon my insistence. I kinda want to re-read it now...it was that good! So all my blog followers – please read this and let me know what you think!

Note: In Great Britain and Australia it is published under the title The Other Hand. 

Click here for an Author Q&A.

Click here to read the first chapter.

Cake of the Week: Devil's Food Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Raspberry Filling

A few months ago a group of my friends started a book club. The theme is (loosely) “books we want to have read but probably wouldn’t read on our own.” We meet approximately every 4 weeks and at each meeting one of us prepares a presentation and discussion questions while someone else hosts.

The host is important because in true Eat Run Read fashion, I expect good snacks to go along with my book discussion!

In August I hosted our discussion of The Master and Margarita, a Russian classic about the devil taking over Moscow. I pondered my food-options…something Russian perhaps? But borscht and potatoes and dumplings didn’t sound too appealing to me (I’m sure there’s great Russian food out there, I just don’t know much about it). So instead I opted to take the devil angle of the book literally and make a Devil’s Food Cake with Raspberry Filling and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Devil’s Food Cake is just another name for chocolate cake – probably called “devilish” because it’s sinfully rich and delicious. (Umm hello - if I were a devil I would eat this cake. And if I were an angel...I would still eat this cake!) Usually I make the classic Hershey’s chocolate cake, but this time I busted out a cookbook and made the All Cakes Considered Devil’s Food Cake.

And the frosting, oh the frosting! It was a stroke of absolute genius on my part. I made a classic cream cheese frosting, then added chocolate. Yowza! So smooth and delicious and not too sweet. Then I layered it with raspberry jam for that devilish little something extra.

This cake, and our subsequently well-fueled book discussion was a great success!

Devil's Food Cake

From All Cakes Considered by Melissa Gray (Chronicle Books, 2009)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup strongly brewed coffee

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pans, spraying and lining bottoms with parchment paper. (Or just spray and flour them.)

2. In separate bowl, hand whisk cocoa and coffee until smooth. Set aside.

3. Using mixer, combine shortening and sugar. Add eggs, beating after each. Add vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

4. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

5. Add flour mixture and cocoa/coffee mixture alternately to creamed mixture. Beat until smooth.

6. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.

7. Place pans on rack as close to the middle as possible without touching. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cake tests done.

8. Cool for 10 minutes in pans, then unmold onto cake rack.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese – room temp.

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) – room temp.

½ cup cocoa powder

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons milk (as needed)

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until mixed.

2. Beat in cocoa and powdered sugar and vanilla.

3. Add milk and/or more powdered sugar until you reach a spreadable consistency.

To assemble cake:

1. Slice layers in half to make 4 layers.

2. Place first layer on plate. Spread with a thin layer of raspberry jam.

3. Spread with frosting.

4. Place next layer on top.

5. Repeat for all layers, and then cover the whole cake with frosting.

6. For the red swirls, I just mixed the leftover frosting with some raspberry jam until it looked red enough and then piped it on the cake. (Optional)

The Weekend Report: Amy and Jordan's Wedding (Vail, CO)

My friends got married this weekend and it was fabulous. Congratulations Amy and Jordan! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love weddings!!!

This one was especially special because it happened in Colorado (one of my favorite places in the world) at Vail. The setting was gorgeous – perfect weather and aspens at the height of their fall colors set the scene for a beautiful ceremony.

The morning of the wedding, a big group met for a high altitude run around Vail Village.  My first workout at the Brookline Res was with Amy, and she joined me to run Denny Creek one summer at camp. A year later I cheered her through the Boston Marathon, and have since followed her blog about her triathlon ventures. Thus, though a wedding-day run may seem odd, we’re all friends from college cross country and track and clearly running was destined to make an appearance on the agenda.

The rest of the day was spent getting pretty for the big event. The bridal party all got their hair done – Amy’s took almost 3 hours! As a non-bridesmaid, I got to hang out in my running clothes and observe/entertain throughout the process. The hairdresser said that more weddings happen in that area of Colorado than in Las Vegas!

When the girls were finally prettied up, they headed off to take pictures and I went back to my room for my own (much more simple) beautification. My awesome friend Chris arrived to serve the all-important function of my date (being the only single person surrounded by couples is just odd).

Chris and I always joke about the “wedding photos” we take together, and this weekend really surpassed all previous experiences. 

We coordinated our clothes accordingly and hopped on the shuttle to the wedding pavilion.

The ceremony was outside and Amy looked soooo beautiful! (Don’t you love her dress?) 

After hor d’oeuvres on the patio we all  moved inside for dinner and a truly epic dance party. 

We moved and grooved and shimmied and shook and laughed and limboed until all too soon the party was over.

The next day a group of us took on the ambitious venture of hiking up the mountain. 

It took over 3 hours round-trip, and was totally worth it! We made it to Eagle’s Nest mid-afternoon, slightly out of breath and wishing we were skiing (oh wait, maybe that was just me). 

The hike down was much quicker, and my only question was Where’s the snow?

That evening we hung out with Amy and Jordan, telling stories and eating leftover wedding cake. 

The weekend was over all too soon – Sunday was a very long day o’travel (someday I will get direct flights. Someday…) Chris and I are planning an epic ski trip for this winter, so hopefully we'll be seeing Amy and Jordan again soon!

It was a fabulous weekend and I am so excited for my other friends’ weddings! 

Running in the Rain

There’s something magical about running in the rain. It’s oddly peaceful – the sound of the raindrops muffles the street noise and the general wetness disallows an ipod. Trails and roads are less crowded since only the super-dedicated or the supremely unfortunate are out on a day like today.

Some of my best running experiences have been in the rain.

I remember one run specifically in high school. It was absolutely pouring, which is rare for Northern California. In a frenzy of excitement my teammates and I ran around Petaluma like a pack of crazies, splashing through puddles and making general mayhem. We ended our run by sprinting around the corner, screaming like soaking wet banshees and cannon-balling into the high school pool, running shoes and all.

In college, my first run with the Cross Country team was a drenching day along the Charles – across the BU Bridge, up through Cambridge, and back along the bike path. That run’s degree of exhaustion and good-workout-achyness set the tone for most of my college running career.

Running in the rain, like running in the dark, somehow feels faster. And I certainly feel more hard-core when I’m the only one running in an all-out downpour. 

My first summer in DC was a particularly rainy one. I ran every evening after work, and sometimes the rain was so heavy I couldn’t open my eyes. I ran along the Mall, watching the lightening strike the Washington Monument and Smithsonian Tower, and wondering if it was unsafe to be out (but obviously not really caring either way).

I’m not a big gear person, but after that eyes-closed run I hit up CVS to get a visor. Visors/hats are absolutely necessary for rainy runs! The brim is like an umbrella for your face, saving you from squinting and keeping your hair from tying itself in wet tangly knots.   

I can only think of one really bad rain-run experience: Cross Country Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park my senior year. It poured all night and all morning, through our warm-up and as we lined up for the gun. The race started with two tight laps around a baseball field that was more of a foot-deep swamp, churned beyond recognition by a couple hundred of the East Coast’s most competitive distance runners. We were so muddy afterwards that a teammate and I took over a gas station bathroom to attempt to wash ourselves for the long ride back to Boston. I don’t think the station manager was too pleased…

Are you a rainy-run fan? Or more of a tentative treadmiller when it gets too wet outside?

PS – I promise you an AMAZING Weekend Report once I get pictures. It involves a wedding in Vail…In the mean time, enjoy the rain!