Olympic Fever

In cased you missed it, the Olympic trials for the marathon were held in Los Angeles, CA last Saturday. I would have been clueless had it not been for a colleague who said that they were going to be televised on NBC. As I watched these athletes run their ridiculously stupidly fast 5:00+ min/mi paces (the men's winner, Galen Rupp had an average pace of 5:01 min/mi ... I can't sprint that fast!), I thought about my goal to run a marathon this year.

At some point last year, I wrote that this year's marathon was going to be the Monument's Marathon in Indianapolis on November 5th. However, this will not be a good summer or fall for training. First, there is that little thing called a wedding on June 18. This will be followed by a two-week honeymoon to Belize. There will be no running during the honeymoon, but there will be beaching, snorkeling, caving, and hiking through jungles to see ruins!

Once we return from the honeymoon, I teach a summer class (although it will be online), writing, and preparing for the Fall semester. In September, it looks like I will be out of the country for a couple weeks. There are two marathons in WI in late August and early September -- the Marquette Marathon and the Lake Michigan Marathon (held just south of Milwaukee). The former is extremely small and the latter did not really speak to me. I want to run a marathon and have a good time at the venue, but I don't want to run a marathon simply because it is my only option.

Other options that entered my mind where running the Disney or Houston marathons, which are January 10 and 15, respectively. However, Jody and I have started a tradition where we go to Florida at the beginning of each year to visit family and have a week of relaxation before her busy season and my semester start. The Disney race would be a possibility, but that would be at the tail end of our trip and neither one of us wants to spend a couple nights in Orlando surrounded by the throngs of Disney goers.

All this means that a post-wedding marathon was not likely to happen this year, or technically speaking, early next year. Grrrr! I was surprised at how upset I was to realize this.

Not to be denied, I returned to the calendar.

Could I recover from a marathon two weeks before the wedding?

Jody and I had previously discussed this very scenario. She was crystal clear when she said that she did not want me running a race so close to the wedding date. Her point was that it isn't necessarily the race, it is all the training that leads up to it and we will inevitably need to deal with a surge of last-minute tasks for the wedding. After a 20-mile run, I'm basically comatose for the day. Fair enough.

Still, I thought it was worth asking again (sometimes I am a glutton for punishment). This time, I had in my mind to run the Minneapolis Marathon, which will be held on June 5. Then Jody came home and we talked... Nope. There will be no marathon running in June! Damn!

But there was a compromise. I would be allowed to run a marathon in May, if I could find one ... Well, as it turns out, the Green Bay Marathon is held on May 22!

Less than a day after learning about the race, I booked a hotel room in Green Bay and signed up for the jaunt! (In case you are wondering, the route takes runners through Lambeau Field!)

At first, I was skeptical that I could train for a marathon on such short notice (relatively speaking). This doubt was quickly replaced by a desire to tackle this new challenge. The marathon is about 13 weeks away. Prior to signing up for it, I had already run two 10-mile long runs, so it is not like I am starting from scratch. A few days ago, I mapped out my long-runs and believe I have a solid plan to ensure that I get in at least one 20-mile run. Unlike last year, I cannot afford to skip a week of training or shrug off a long run simply because "the race isn't until October." Nope. Training is now ... and this is exactly what I needed to reinvigorate my running routines.

Brussel Sprouts

Growing up, I was an extremely picky eater.

One very embarrassing story that my mother loved to tell.... The summer after I completed the fourth grade, my parents, sister, and I took a road trip across the country to San Francisco. It was a wonderful trip, parts of which I still remember quite vividly. I forget how many days we were in San Francisco, but on one of the afternoons, we went to a nice restaurant along Fisherman's Wharf. Seafood galore, and a menu that I would drool over if I were there today. The problem was, I was a picky 10-year-old and I wanted no part of anything on the menu. My eyes started to swell up in frustration and I probably said a few inappropriate words. My parents did not simply order something and make me eat it. Instead, I got scrambled eggs!

I would say I ate safe for the first 20+ years of my life. Then I moved to Vancouver, BC to pursue my PhD. In Vancouver, there was a lot of variety and foods from all cultures. I cannot say that I went out of my way to try them all, after all, I had a limited budget. I did, however, had roommates who liked to cooked and would often share. They would often make foods that were foreign to me. But who was I to pass up free food even if I had never heard of it, seen it, or smelled it before? How did I know that I did not like it? I didn't. So I tried most of it and, you know what, I liked most of it!

Which brings me to brussel sprouts. A couple winters ago, Jody and I struggled to find new fresh vegetables to eat for dinner. As much as we like asparagus and broccoli, we needed something different and, preferably, something not out of a bag or can. On a whim, we decided to give brussel sprouts a try. I vaguely recall not liking them when I was a kid, but I was willing to give them a shot, some twenty years later. You know what? We cannot get enough of them! We do not eat them raw, instead, we dress and roast them...

What you need:

• 1/2 lb of fresh brussel sprouts
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Herbs & spices (we typically use Italian Seasoning, Garlic powder, Red Pepper Flakes and/or Smoked Paprika)

What you do:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Cut each sprout in half length wise
• Put them in a mixing bowl (some of the leaves will shed, but that's no big deal)
• Apply a liberal amount of oil (I like to add a lot more than Jody) 
• Add your herbs and spices (I just shake until it feels right)
• Mix up everything
• Spread the brussel sprouts out on a cooking sheet (we've also cooked them in a cast iron skillet on the stove, but baking them 
• Cook for 30 minutes at 400 degrees (time will vary based on the size of the sprouts)
• Check the sprouts at 15 minutes and shuffle them around

Once out of the oven, they should be nice and brown, but still have a little green to them. Enjoy!