Fueling for Our Long Run

I'm always on the lookout for a good marinara sauce and since we really like spaghetti for our pre-long run dinner it gives me the excuse to try out new recipes.  I found tonight's recipe on Smitten Kitchen and the recipe has apparently made its way around the blogosphere.  When I first read through the recipe, I couldn't but help and agree with some of the comments on the blog.  I was skeptical.

 How can just these three ingredients make such a great tasting sauce?

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions (from Smitten Kitchen)
Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking

Serves 4 as a main course; makes enough sauce to lightly coat most of a pound of spaghetti

28 ounces (800 grams) whole peeled tomatoes from a can (San Marzano, if you can find them)
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Put the tomatoes, onion and butter in a heavy saucepan (it fit just right in a 3-quart) over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to keep the sauce at a slow, steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally, crushing the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat, discard the onion, add salt to taste (you might find, as I did, that your tomatoes came salted and that you didn’t need to add more) and keep warm while you prepare your pasta.

Serve with spaghetti, with or without grated parmesan cheese to pass.

I followed the recipe and the only change I made was adding lean ground beef and hot Italian sausage because Brian and I were in the mood for spaghetti with meat sauce. 

Meat!

The sauce was delicious and rich. The butter was a great addition to the sauce.  It would have definitely been fine on its own.  It is so simple and really easy to prepare.

Sauce just simmering away

Time to dig in

Now we are just staying in and out of the wind and cold. Hoping that the spring storm stays away from 7am - 10am while we are out doing our long run. 

20 Mile High

Brian and I just got back from our 20 mile long run. It was such a good run. The weather was chilly at the start  but we got some sun breaks. There were some pretty nasty headwinds along the way though. Just had to pop in to report our good run. Also wanted to talk about post run recovery, or at least what we do.

Brrrr

The dreaded ice bath is such a necessary evil. Getting in is so tough. There are different techniques that people share online on how it works for them. My first ice bath experience was definitely not the right way for me.  I barely put my feet in the ice water for about a minute, where I didn't even have time to sit down, before I started cursing up a storm and crying asking Brian to help me out and I just couldn't do it. I did eventually sit in the water but not before a few more curse words and crying. The second ice bath I sat down in the tub, then let the cold water start running and then dumped the ice in. It still sucks but it is slightly more bearable than my first attempt.  I also figure 15-20 minutes of pain for a quicker recovery is better than hobbling around for the next two days. I also like to drink chocolate milk and check Facebook on my phone to pass the time.

Forerunner 405

I got a Garmin Forerunner 405 yesterday and we ran with it today for the first time. It is so awesome! It showed me the average pace we were running for 20 miles to help us see if we were keeping our pace. I love it! It is such a great training tool and I can't believe we've been training this long without it. I can't wait to upload the data from our run. I love data and graphs.

Time to go stuff my face with Chipotle refuel!

Blogging FAIL

Here I go again talking about how bad of a blogger I am. I think part of it is I'm still trying to find my voice when it comes to blogging. My initial theme for this blog was to document my culinary adventures. I think in order for me to blog more I need to expand the theme of the blog. I still want to write about the restaurants I try and the recipes I attempt but I think I also just want to write about my life in general. So an all purpose blog if you will. 

My life right now consists of work, running/training, wedding/honeymoon planning, and foodie adventures. So I guess for now that will be what this blog will be about.

Brian and I are currently in Week 11 of marathon training. Our long run for this week is 16 miles, just one mile longer than our longest run to date. So far we are doing well with training and just putting in the miles. One thing we have both noticed that has helped us recover from our long runs is the dreaded and beloved ice bath. What is it you ask? Exactly what it sounds like. You sit in a bathtub of ice cold water w/ ice cubes for about 15 minutes. It hurts so good. Sure, my legs turn shades of purple and red and are cold to the touch even as I'm taking a hot shower afterward but the pain experienced in that brief period of time isn't so bad compared to having sore and tight muscles for the next few days.

Speaking of the next few days, Valentine's Day is coming up. We are planning to stay in and just cook a delicious meal together, which is what we love to do anyway especially on big holidays like this where restaurants are overbooked and overpriced. Which reminds me I still need to find some recipes for our V-Day dinner. 

I still have some restaurant write-ups to post - promise!