Feeding the Runner: Roasted Eggplant Soup

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, I'm going to start doing the occasional post on healthy recipes for runners (and other people too). Bon appetit! 

Monday was Columbus Day, a holiday for many of us on the East Coast. Having the day off was the perfect excuse for a nice 13 miler but it was also a good excuse for a visit to the Union Square Greenmarket.

My greenmarket haul, ready to go.

For those who don't live in NYC, the Union Square Greenmarket is the largest farmers' market in the city but unfortunately it only goes until 6pm during the week so I don't get to go very often.(Yes, they also have it on Saturdays, but somehow I never seem to make it then either).

Since the cool weather has finally hit I knew I was in the mood for soup but figured I would let the produce inspire me. That strategy worked great! After scouring the market I decided on eggplants, tomatoes, and onions--all of the necessary ingredients for Roasted Eggplant Soup. Eggplants are nearing the end of their season so I figured I'd better do something with them before they're gone.

This soup is surprisingly easy--you simply roast all the ingredients, simmer them together on the stove, purée, and then eat.

I made a couple modifications to the recipe, first by making it vegan (no, I'm not vegan, but I use almond milk on my cereal and in my coffee so that's what I had on hand). Second, although I was sure I had some thyme it my spice cabinet, turns out I was wrong, so I substituted cumin and curry powder instead. You know what? It turned out super tasty.

Post-roast.

See my version of the recipe after the jump.

Running When You Don't Feel Like It

For those who run in the morning, often the hardest part of the run can be getting out of the door. Later in the day, the issue can be finding time for a run--sometimes work goes later than expected, you get invited to an event you just can't turn down, etc.--but in the morning, provided you wake up early enough, you can always squeeze in your run.

During the summer months I have little trouble getting up early because I know if I don't it I'll have to run in the sweltering heat. Compared to the afternoon or evening, the morning is almost pleasant except on the hottest of days and in the summer I'm all but guaranteed a beautiful sunrise during my run.

Enter fall and winter.

Suddenly running early in the morning means running during the coldest part of the day--in the dark--when my bed is so warm.

Here's the where the self-motivation really comes into play. On mornings like today, when it's dark, windy and rainy, and not all that warm, I remember one of my favorite passages from Once a Runner:

Quenton Cassidy knew what the mystic-runners, the joggers, the runner-poets, the Zen runners and others of their ilk were saying. But he also knew that their euphoric selves were generally nowhere to be seen on dark, rainy mornings. They primarily wanted to talk it, not do it. Cassidy very early understood that a true runner ran even when he didn’t feel like it, and raced when he was supposed to, without excuses and with nothing held back.

Sure enough, the roads were pretty empty this morning but I did see a few hearty soles souls out there. Have they read Once a Runner? They probably didn't need to.

Training Essentials: Flexibility

Note: As we get closer to Boston (only 17 days to go), I'm going to highlight some of the things that have been "essential" to me during training. Now, for all you literalists out there, by essential I simply mean things I wouldn't want to train without. 

This morning's run reminded me that flexibility is key to any training plan. I don't mean physical flexibility, though stretching certainly has its place; I'm talking about rolling with the punches. It's been my experience that many--though definitely not all--dedicated distance runners are a little type-a, maybe even borderline obsessive-compulsive. In fact, in the classic novel about running, Once a Runner, John L.Parker wrote that being OCD is "probably an absolute necessity for a true distance man."

This compulsive drive is part of what helps dedicated runners log miles every day, even when they feel less than 100%. It's what gets us early morning runners out of bed at the crack of dawn when all we want to do is hit the snooze button (or better still, smash the alarm clock with a hammer). In other words, being a little compulsive can be a good thing, but like nearly every aspect of life, moderation is key. In this case, that means being flexible from time to time.

I've already talked about being flexible when it comes to the weather, but there are other times when it pays to walk the line between being committed to your training and being a robot. Being too compulsive can lead to things like burnout or injury, while being too relaxed might lead to undertraining. For me this cycle, being flexible has meant moving the time of my run on certain days to respond to other commitments; it's meant taking a few days off to deal with a potential injury; and I need to know that on Patriot's Day it may mean adjusting my time goal. I'll tell you what, though, sometimes it takes an awful lot of dedication to be flexible!
_______________
Today's Run: 6.1 miles at 7:44 pace.