A Digest of Amazing Stuff You Should Try

This week is the week! The big race is on Sunday! Since I'm tapering my workouts, my brainpower also seems to be in taper-mode. Therefore you get a digest of cool stuff to read/eat/run. After the race and a week in Yosemite with my husband-of-soon-to-be-five years, I will blog about the San Francisco experience. AND I will make another major running-related announcement. But you'll have to wait until August 7th!

So until then, enjoy some reading, some recipes, and some workouts!

What you should read:

The op-ed by Vanessa Cullins on the shocking reality that birth control is not covered by many women's insurance: Make Birth Control Affordable

The op-ed by Mark Bittman on why junk food should be taxed and healthy food made cheaper: Tax Soda, Subsidize Vegetables

What you should make to eat (no cooking involved!)

chickpea, cherry, ginger, and orange salad

This is quite possibly the best cold salad I have ever made and ever eaten. It is fantastic! And easy! And so good for you! I got the recipe from Runner's World "Don't Cook Now" (the crab and lentil with greek yogurt is tasty too!):

Chickpea, Cherry, and Ginger Salad

Tart cherries are teeming with nutrients that aid in recovery by reducing muscle damage. Chickpeas supply a trio of carbs, protein, and iron, "a mineral needed to carry oxygen to muscles," says sports dietitian Tara Gidus, R.D. A study from two Georgia universities found compounds in ginger can reduce muscle pain postexercise by decreasing inflammation.

ASSEMBLE: Combine 2 15.5-ounce cans chickpeas, 1 11-ounce can mandarin oranges, half a red onion (diced), 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 2/3 cup each chopped pecans and dried tart cherries, 1 minced jalapeno, 1 cup chopped parsley, and 4 ounces feta. Whisk together 2 tablespoons each apple-cider vinegar and olive oil; add salt and pepper. Pour over chickpea salad and mix well.

And finally, What you should do: Here are a couple of workouts to run this week or file away to do the week before your next race. I got these from the October 2010 Runner's World article Get Sharp! I love the marathon "tune-up"! It feels so great because it feels so easy. Even with a dewpoint of 78 at 7 a.m. (I did my track workout today instead of Monday).

Monday: Run a mile at 10-K pace. Recover for five minutes, then run 1200 meters at two seconds faster per 400 than 10-K pace. Recover for four minutes, then run 800 meters at four seconds per 400 faster than 10-K pace. Recover for three minutes, then run 400 meters at six seconds faster than 10-K pace per 400.


Wednesday: Two-mile marathon-pace run

Check back August 7th for the post-race run-down and where Heartland's Harrier is going from here!


MORE RECIPES:
I'm on a cold salad kick! Two more that are tasty and easy to make:
Summer Farmer's Market Quinoa Vegetable Salad
Mix together:
~2 c. cooked quinoa
1 can sliced black olives
1.5 c. blanched broccoli florets
3/4-1 c. blanched green beans, chopped
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/3-1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese (I used bleu parm from Acoustic Farms)
1 tbs olive oil
1-2 tbs salad vinegar
salt and pepper

pretty much everything except the quinoa and dressing came from the farmer's market!

Quinoa Cranberry Pecan Salad
Mix together:
2 c. cooked quinoa
2 sticks celery, washed and chopped
3/4 c. pecans, chopped
1 c. dried cranberries
3 tbs raspberry vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
feta or goat cheese if you have it!

Yum!