What a Difference A Day Makes

Update: See my new post-script for an update.

If you'd asked me last week how I would be spending the Wednesday before the marathon I would have looked at you funny and then said, I'll go to work and then come home. I would not have answered, I'll be moving boxes. Of course, last week I didn't foresee that Sandy would leave half of Manhattan in darkness, shut down the trains and my office, and nearly cancel the marathon.

So where was I yesterday? At the Javits Center helping set up the marathon expo. Even before Bloomberg had officially announced that the marathon would go on, Jack Rabbit Sports--the folks behind much of the expo--put out a call for volunteers.

A look at the Asics area after several hours of work.

Usually expo set-up begins the weekend before the marathon, but because of Sandy no one had access to the Javitts Center until Wednesday. To make things worse, because of all the cancelled flights, cancelled trains, and generally difficulty getting into and around the city, many people who were supposed to come work set-up were unable to get into Manhattan.

Thankfully my friend Helen, who was also volunteering, has a car, so we were able to get to the convention center even though there was no subway service yesterday. We actually had a pretty good time helping with the set-up, though after being at home all week, I was surprised at how tired I was after a few hours. Thankfully, the folks from Power Bar were there early and they hooked us up with some Harvest Bars (actually really good) and eventually there was even some pizza.

Even though there were a ton of us volunteering, when Helen and I left around 2 it was hard to see how they were going to finish everything in time for today (Thursday) by the expo's 10am opening.

Looking picture perfect this morning.

Well, when I went back this morning, I was amazed! Not only did the expo look almost as good as it did last year (there were a few small empty boothes), but there was a huge line that seemed to be comprised solely of Europeans. Some how these people found a way to get here and some how the organizers found a way to get the expo set up in time.

I'm not sure what to expect this weekend, but I have faith that NYRR, volunteers, and the city will pull through.

P.S.  After seeing the damage that Sandy did later in the week I felt kind of bad for spending my volunteer time at the expo, but at least now I know it wasn't totally in vain: Asics donated all of the proceeds from Saturday's sales to the recovery effort.

Feeding the Runner: Fall and Oats

In the bible of running, Once a Runner, Quentin Cassidy lives by the mantra, "If the furnace is hot enough, anything will burn." As much fun as that philosophy may be, it's not the approach most runners take these days. With that in mind, here's the newest installment of my occasional posts on healthy recipes for runners (and other people too). Bon appetit!

As I posted yesterday, Sandy (or Frankenstorm) has necessitated a lot of indoor time in front of the TV enriching my brain. It turns out, however, that there's only so much reality television self-enrichment one can handle in a day so I turned to cooking for a little distraction.

Normally I'm a cold breakfast kind of guy. I like cold cereal, iced coffee, granola and yogurt mainly because these things are quick to prepare. It turns out, though, that not only does being trapped inside due to a hurrican mean that hot breakfast sounds good, it also means you have all the time in the world to sit in front of the stove.

Since last year's visit from that unwelcome guest Irene, I've had a few canisters of steelcut oats sitting around (though I'm not sure why that's what I decided to buy when I heard a hurricane was coming through). Yesterday, I got a little creative and decided to mix some fall flavors into those oats and the result was surprisingly delicious.

While steelcut oats take a while to make, they make great letfovers and are extremely filling. You might be able to make something similar with rolled oats, but don't steelcut oats sound a lot more badass?

Anyway, I recommend this recipe even if you aren't faced with a natural disaster anytime soon.

Pumpkin Spice Steelcut Oatmeal
Adapted from my really bored self

4 cups boiling water
1 cup steel cut oats
4 tbsp pumpkin butter*
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 or more tbsp of maple syrup
1/4 dried fruit

Bring four cups of water to a boil and stir in your steel cut oats. Add in your pumpkin pie spice and dried fruit. I like to add the dried fruit early (I used a mix of cranberries and raisins) so that they soak of liquid too.

Once the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the pot, for roughly 25 minutes. Kind of like risotto, you can add extra liquid as needed and the oats will continue to slurp it up.

Finally, add the pumpkin butter and maple syrup to taste (obviously you can add more than I did if you want it sweeter), keeping on the stove for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Spoon into a bowl and serve with milk, cream, more syrup or any other toppings you feel like. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for several days, though you will likely need to add more liquid when reheating.

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*You can use puréed pumpkin, but the flavor won't be as strong and you'll need to add extra maple syrup for sweetness. You can also make your own pumpkin butter if you're really ambitious; I wasn't.

An Unscheduled Rest Day

Well, Frankenstorm is fully upon us here in Harlem and after taking today off, it doesn't look like I'll be running tomorrow. Normally I would be freaking out about two days without running but for once the taper crazies are working in my favor.

On Saturday I did my final pre-NYC double-digit run, 12.4 miles including the final 10 miles of the marathon course. I had planned to take Sunday as a rest day but since it seemed unlikely I'd be running the next two days  I snuck in an easy 5 last night. Again, I worked it the final miles of the course, getting in one of the last runs in Central Park before the Parks Deparment shut it down.

Right now NYRR expects everything to go on as planned and so do I. Last year they had to deal with the aftermath of a freak Halloween snow storm that damaged nearly 400 acres in the Park, leading to the loss of approximately 1000 trees. The Central Park Conservancy worked around the clock and by the time runners began to arrive for the festivities later in the week the Park was ready to greet the world.

As for me? I'm keeping myself busy with cleaning, reading, and cooking. Oh who am I kidding? I'm glued to the TV watching images of the carnage around the tri-state area. Stay safe everyone!