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9 Miles Of Mud Ganache

9 miles under my feet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The run was pretty easy. I’m really amazed at how easy it has been to add more miles to my running. I think it helps that I have a fun partner to chat it up with and we’ve got the wonderful (long) greenway to run on so there’s no distracting cars or roads to cross (and minimal hills!!)

The greenway had apparently majorly flooded because there was icky, sticky mud EVERYWHERE!!!

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We had to stop and tip-toe through it many times throughout the run, which meant our pace was not accurate. We decided early on not to worry about pace at all and just to enjoy the miles.

Here are the stats regardless. It’s pretty clear which miles had lots of mud and which were dry!

9.0 in about 1:20 something

9:30 something pace

  • 8:47
  • 9:54
  • 8:37
  • 10:15
  • 9:09
  • 10:09
  • 8:47
  • 9:50
  • 9:07

I decided that 9 miles – approaching 80 minutes of running – was time to add in some fuel in addition to breakfast. I’m not one for goos or gels – real food should do just fine. I brought a box of raisins in my pocket and popped a few just before the run started.

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I didn’t end up needing anymore because Casey, Emily‘s husband, planted a water bottle with a homemade sport mix at the 3 mile marker so on our return trip (about 6 miles in) we could rehydrate and get a boost of sugar + salt (and lemon juice). I don’t know his recipe – go hound Emily for it on her blog! I need to get it! It was hard to tell if the water + sugar gave us a boost, but I like to think it did. It was like homemade lemonade and tasted AMAZING 6 miles in! Brendan Brazier also has some homemade sports drink recipes in Thrive (which I am currently reading) and even some gels that if I ever feel like I need them I will try out.

Remember when I ran 8 miles and felt pretty icky all afternoon? So far I feel much better right now. But my legs are definitely feeling it!

Last time I ate a big salad upon return. Today I took Brendan’s advice and recovered with a smoothie – a blended salad if you will. He says (and I think Dr. Fuhrman says too) that blending up vegetables (and foods in general) makes them easier to absorb and a quicker, more effective recovery. Just so you don’t think I believe everything I hear, this follows what I learned about the GI tract in physiology as well. And since I love SIAB‘s, I have no problem putting them on my recovery day menus 🙂

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In the vita-mix:

  • 3 kale leaves
  • 1 big handful spinach
  • 1/3 cup lite coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup organic 1% milk
  • 1/2 a cup frozen berries
  • 2 blobs greek yogurt
  • 1/2 package Chocolate Amazing meal (I have two of these left and definitely will buy some when I’m out)
  • 1/2 a frozen banana (I initially did not put banana in this but I tasted it with just berries and the banana was severely missed)
  • Squirt agave (again, after the first round the taste was on the berry side and it needed a bit of sweetening)
  • AgavePlus granola leftover from brunch on top

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It may look like swamp sludge but it was HELLA GOOD!!!

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On the side I had some Whole Grain Goodness toast smothered in some Naturally Nutty Vanilla Sunflower butter. LOVE that stuff.

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Matt sheepishly asked if he could have one of the Amy’s soups I was sent to review. I said sure as long as he gave me a bite to taste test!

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This was the Curried Lentil

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And WOW – we both loved it!!! Matt said: “It has a depth of flavor that no other canned soup I have ever tasted has.” I agreed – it was THICK, which I loved, and did not have an oniony, tin-can taste!!  The only con is it’s pretty calorie dense – nearly 500 for a can (and I could easily eat a whole can!) But taste-wise, highly recommended.

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Gotta run walk drive to the grocery store for some goodies and then we’re meeting our friends for a SuperBowl shebang at 5:30!! So excited. I’m bringing pimento cheese + kale chips!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I assume you’re trying to continue to maintain your weight and know how much to eat in order to do so. Do you still continue to weigh yourself? How often, if you do? This is just popped in my head 🙂

    Reply

    • Maintaining, yes, technically. But if I lose a few it would be fine with me, as I’m still probably up some from my 2009 Fun Year. I don’t weigh myself and eat intuitively. But if I were to lose (or gain) a significant amount of weight in a short period of time, I would address the concern.

      Reply

  11. Wow big congrats on the run! Wait til you get to double figures, then the fun (and AMAZING feeling after!) really kicks in 😛
    I agree about the blending thing making food easier to absorb. It seems wise cos it kinda saves a chunk of digestion – if that makes sense?
    Have a good time tonight 🙂

    Reply

  17. yep, clearly blended foods are easier to digest and absorb more quickly…essentially the blender is doing a big chunk of the “digesting” for you by breaking down the components. They also have a higher glycemic index in the same way that juice has a higher GI than whole fruit.

    Reply

  21. Yay on the 9 miles!! Whoo-hoo!

    Kale chips are awesome…made your recipe last night for the 1st time before our dinner of lentil-rice soft tacos. My husband’s exact words were “Good luck with that” when he heard what I was making. Alina looked doubtful, as well. Hmmmm – it’s funny how all of them dug in when they came out of the oven and each of them said, “Oh – my – gosh! These are great!” I had to laugh. 🙂

    Reply

  23. You go girl! Nine miles is pretty awesome Kath 😀 I’m crossing my fingers for you, that you won’t end up feeling icky at all for the rest of the day! It’s pretty muddy in my usual run spot too..Cramerton is alongside a river, and it floods SO easily..so I’ve been staying away

    Reply

  24. Wahooo!! Congrats on the wonderful run! I’m with you on preferring real food over gels. I tend to bring a baggy of cereal mixed with raisins and cranberries as a quick energy booster for the long runs. I’ve also heard salty crackers are good in warm weather, as well as fig newtons. I think some homemade version of figgies would be good. 😀

    Have fun at the super bowl party!!! 😀

    Reply

  25. congrats on 9!! i’m excited to hear what you think of Thrive. I just don’t get how those guys eat such a huge volume of food and then run. Dean Karnazes has some interesting fueling methods too.

    LOL to ‘just so you dont think i believe everything i hear…’

    Reply

  27. Great job with your run!

    I tried that soup a few months ago and I didn’t care for it although I agree it didn’t have a tinny canned taste at all. Glad you liked it.

    Reply

  34. Hey Kath I guess I’m delurking now but I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I love it! I love the recipes, the blog design, your healthy approach, and your knowledge of food!

    I have a question, re: the kale SIAB above. Is it good to your accustomed green taste buds? Or do you think someone would like it who doesn’t eat a lot of green SIAB’s? I’ve had the spinach green smoothies and love them, but I’ve tried kale and I can’t get it down…maybe the wrong kale (I used dinosaur kale)? I would like to try kale again but I’m kind of afraid!!!

    Thanks,
    Hannah

    Reply

    • It might be a blending thing. My blender couldn’t handle kale, but the vita-mix does it perfectly so the consistency is right.

      Reply

  35. Mizfit’s most recent podcast had a bit about whether you need gels and goo and what not in runs under 10 miles. Interesting perspective. I bet the Thrive recipe is tasty.

    If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed that photo was taken BEFORE your run! I know I never look that happy after even 3 miles! Way to go!

    Reply

  36. I think the rule with smoothies is that the worse they look, the better they taste! I was wondering, though, what an acceptable substitute for kale might be? I’ve never had much luck finding kale in Australia – would something like silverbeet do??

    Reply

  39. Way to go! Not sure re: the green goo … but I may try it in the future … how is it “OK” that it has a higher GI – I thought we wanted to aim for lower GI ??? I too am working on increasing miles – signed up for Team in Training to raise funds for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society … doing a full marathon on San Diego in June – YIKES!! Haven’t ever really run more than 6 miles …. Looking forward to hearing more on your blog about your journey … and really truly – thanks for being so dedicated to your blog – I absolutely love it!

    Reply

    • Do you mean the green smoothie? You want a high GI after a run so you get the fuel into your muscles as soon as you can.

      Reply

      • Oh – OK … thanks! I didn’t realize that … makes sense now. I remember reading that chocolate milk is the best post workout snack … I like the SIAB idea – just not the color and the taste scares me! I will try following your recipe and see what I think …

        Reply

  40. I feel your leg pain with the running. I ran my longest run to date yesterday, 11 miles, and my knees and hips were killing me this morning. I popped two extra strength Tylenol and they feel much better!!!

    Reply

  44. I’m so glad you brought up your mid-run fuel. I’m starting to increase my milage to train for my first half marathon and my second triathlon. I think I might need to begin adding some mid-run fuel and I have no idea what to eat. Raisins wouldn’t be too much fiber? Maybe you would consider doing a post on this sometime?

    Reply

    • Well a small box of raisins doesn’t have too much fiber. I think it will all depend on your individual response. I’ll be sure to post more foods I try out.

      Reply

  48. Hey Kath,

    I really like your idea with blending. I make a super smoothie almost every day. I’ve got a somewhat good understanding in nutrition (undergrad was in Kinesiology) but since you’re going for your RD and much more well-versed than I am, I have a question for you. I know that juices are not as preferred as eating the actual fruit because you can get more nutrients out of the actual fruit itself, but when you drink a smoothie, you mentioned that it speeds up the absorbtion process. I get that part, but does it lessen any of the nutrient content because you’re breaking more of it down so your body doesn’t have to? I hope this makes sense! I may be comparing apples to oranges, but it’s a question that’s been on my mind a lot with my smoothies – I’m adding gobs of spinach but not sure if I can “count it” as gobs of nutrients like I would if I ate a spinach salad.

    Thanks:)

    -Jenny D.

    Reply

    • Jenny,
      Count away!! All of the nutrients and fiber are all still in the smoothie – they’re just pre-chewed for you 😉

      Reply

  49. I should pick up that Thrive book – it sounds like it would be a good read! And I love Amy’s soups … I don’t know if we have that one in Canada, but I’ll keep an eye out for it!

    Congrats on the 9 mile run!

    K

    Reply

  51. bought some chocolate amazing meal today – yummy – put it in my smoothie with greek yogurt , banana, and protein powder

    Reply

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