Baking for a Finish Line

11.3.15

I try not to let too much of my personal life seep into this blog. While it may morph into more in the future, right now I like what it is. Cute outfits.  Delicious recipes.  However, when you embark on something that takes so much training and time in your life, you can’t just ignore it. As I’ve mentioned briefly in previous posts, I’ve been training. And on November 1st, I ran the NYC marathon. It was amazing and painful and surreal and incredible and overwhelming and emotional and beyond rewarding. Now sitting around (very sore) the days after and thinking about it, it’s difficult not to be brought to tears thinking of the thousands surrounding you running along, and the thousands around cheering for you to make it to the finish line. There was a point I wasn’t sure I’d finish. But I did. I compiled a list (that may belong somewhere that reaches a wider audience) about the ten things I didn’t expect or believe or know before I started.  And people should know. This is not a post where I’m like “Everyone should do a marathon!” No. I strongly urge most of you not to.  It is a life commitment that takes a lot of your time and even if you feel great afterwards, in a mental holy-shit-I-did-this,  your body feels like it will fall apart.  And chill out, I still baked something to go with.

If you don’t care about my experience or the truth bombs I’m about the drop all over this piece, please move along to the baked goods and outfit I wore after I felt like a real person again, no hard feelings. Otherwise read on. And if you think I’ve had long posts in the past, hold on to your butts.

 

The Top Ten Things You’re Not Told About Running the NYC Marathon

1. They DO NOT care about the time you signed up for your ferry to Staten Island
   My friend and I were adamant on getting to the ferry on time since we specifically signed up for 7am.  Well guess what.  It was packed, and they opened the doors and tons of people crowded their way onto the ferry and they looked at no one’s bib and then they closed the doors for the 7am ferry. Without us on it. We waited for the next ferry without issue. So get there in time, but don’t fret if you’re running late.

2. The journey to the starting area takes WAY longer than you think

   With a 7am ferry and a 10:40am start time you’re like ‘whoa I will be sitting waiting for hours.’  No you won’t.  The ferry is not a short ride. At least 30 min.  Then you get on a shuttle bus that takes about 40 minutes.  Then you are dropped off in the main hub where you check bags, poop, stretch, etc. By the time that happens and you make your way to the color coded ‘village’  for your start corral, I bet you have 30 min or less before you have to be at your starting point.  We almost missed my friends corral closing because we took our sweet time. It goes by very fast.  Pay attention to your time.

3. Do not worry about waiting in line for hours to do your business, there are a MILLION port o potties!

   I know I feared missing my start or corral because of insanely long bathroom lines, which I’ve experienced at previous races.  NYRR has got this shit (literally) covered.  There are SO MANY places to do you business before you get to your starting point, many of them having zero line at all.  *And the best advice I received is to bring some TP with you!!! You never know when the bathroom you chose is plum out. And we all know what you need to accomplish in there, it’s not pretty. I brought flushable wet wipes and was the envy of all runners surrounding me*

4. Besides humans, you will dodge trash and discarded clothing the ENTIRE race

   The entire time you have to be aware.  Aware of the Swedish guy that’s going to literally push you out of the way to run faster than you (true story), aware of the thousands of paper cups everyone is grabbing full of gatorade or water, which will  be thrown constantly to the ground, aware of the gloves and arm warmers the ten of hundreds of runners ahead of you don’t need anymore. Just be aware.  It could be a brutal trip.

5. You will see people get hurt, go down, or be taken care of ferociously by medics and you must keep running and not let it emotionally psych you out

   Within mile ONE a runner seized up and was carried to the side of the bridge by good samaritan runners while a bunch more created a circle around them all to make sure no one else got hurt.  It was scary, and jarring and your momentum is going so you can’t stop, and there’s already too many cooks in the kitchen so stopping wouldn’t help anyway. You have to breathe, send your thoughts to the heavens and hope that person is ok…..and keep running.  You have to not let it get to you and start thinking that it could be you, or what happened to them or replay it in your head, cause it can be very easy to do.

6. Your playlist is for shit

   I created an epic playlist that was over 5 hours long, full of Britney and Nikki Minaj and Beyonce and the Hamilton soundtrack and I listened to about 1/4 of it.  There is so much live music throughout the course, and people are cheering for almost all of the race, you just don’t want to listen to music, you want to listen to the crowd. And when you get to the last few miles and you’re willing your legs to just keep going and FINISH ALREADY, listening to music just makes you angry.  Keep your playlist for the bridges that never end with zero spectators. *Also having music on makes it very hard to hear friends and family calling your name*

7. Once you cross the finish line, you will walk almost another mile before you can escape into the outside world

   You’ve finished! You can’t believe it! Then — OH SHIT stop running a heard of people making baby steps are in front of you!!!! You have to receive your foil poncho, your goody bag and then split off to fancy poncho side, or baggage pick up side; and you’re doing it with 50,000 exhausted runners who just finished too, no one is moving fast. You finish at 66th street, walk up to 77th to exit the park, and then walk BACK DOWN  on Central Park West to 72nd to get out of the gates.  It’s even further up the park if you checked a bag. Prepare your family to give you a good 30-40 minutes post finish line to actually make your way to them.

8. You should know EXACTLY where your family and friends are to cheer you on, or you will never see them

   There are three colors in each wave and they are roped into separate sides of the street for the first 9 miles of the race. I missed my dad and husband in their first cheering spot because we didn’t finalize on a specific place they’d stand.  And because of my color, I was veered to the right of the street, and they were on the left.  Still have no idea were they were. And nothing is worse than not only running 26+ miles than doing so AND constantly swiveling your head from side to side loosing focus on the run while you strain to find the people you love in a crowd of thousands.  I knew where the rest of my friends were and the second spot my husband and dad would be and saw ALL of them. Be specific so no one has to work harder to be encouraging than they have to.

9. Your pace is for shit

   Well not totally.  But kind of. In the beginning of the race and other certain very constraining parts, you are stuck with people so close to you, passing them up is actually impossible.  During training, I was pacing 8:30 -9:15 minute miles depending on length of run and how I felt. I was at a 10:40 pace for large potions of the race because I simply couldn’t get around people. Trapped.  And then once mile 20 happened I was hurt and had to slow down and walk for parts here and there……and on that note

10. You will finish. You don’t know what your body will do. Listen to your body. You are not here to win the marathon

    Have you grown up training for this? Are you Kenyan? If the answer is no to these, then relax, your only goal should be to finish, not to CRUSH IT or to blow past everyone through the journey. You’ve agreed to do something that our bodies are not really supposed to do. Out of nowhere, around mile 18 my right ankle started to hurt, and it gradually got worse and worse.  I tried to soldier through it, and started stopping fully at water stations every mile to drink and rest for 30 seconds.  But it was bad.  My body was shutting down, my leg muscles were tightening, and the pain in my ankle made me want to sob. But I kept going. And the angel volunteer at mile 23 who rubbed my legs with packs of ice and told me I could do this and said I was doing great (whether or not that was true), was amazing. I had to walk a little here and there. At mile 22, I honestly felt like 4 more miles was impossible. The volunteers are angels who are full of positivity and encouragement and I do NOT know how they do it for hours upon hours.  Your friends will cheer you through.  You family will cheer you through.  The one million spectators will cheer you through. And somehow your legs will work when you see the sign for mile 25 and you won’t stop running. 

I was on the brink of tears from for many miles of this race.  There is an overwhelming feeling that takes over when you realize what you’re a part of. Thinking of doing another one seems laughable right now.  But who knows, I could be crazy twice in my life.

Hobbling home, my fellow runner, Ellen and I had made arrangements to meet friends at a bar that evening to celebrate.  I had to wear something comfortable. So I wore this.

The nice things about a printed sweater, and something as bold as animal print is it just does the work for you. So when you are in a rush, or don’t want to think about it too hard, a great print will pick up the slack. This H&M sweater is up to the task. And pulled it off nicely if I do say so myself.

Throwing on an older pair of black skinnies that are super broke-in made life easier post race.

And I’ve been wearing these loafers everywhere this fall.  They’re my throw on and go shoe. Not the most support (and don’t wear them in the rain), but they go with pants or tights, they’re comfy, and this tan color literally will go with anything in your wardrobe. And after the race, the only option was flats. ONLY. OPTION.

 

H&M sweater / H&M black skinnies / H&M camel loafers

I wanted to make something healthy. And then I wanted to make pancakes, but then went back to making something healthy.  I delved into the world of homemade granola, and what an interesting and full of failure world it is.  A common problem seems to be actually getting the bars to hold together once you bake them.  A problem I encountered twice, and have yet to rectify.  So did I make granola bars? No.  Did I make absolutely delicious granola? Yes.

Just like the marathon, you have to just go with what you’re given and roll with the hamstring tightening dried fruit punches.

My choice of granola ingredients

I finally had a nice bourbon and spiced apple cider after staying away from the booze leading up to the race.

I’ll be back soon with something totally unhealthy and delicious!

Fall Granola

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup oat flour (just throw oats in a food processor until fine powder)
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 2-3 cups dried friuts and nuts of your choice
• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 6 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp water

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• Coarsely chop dried fruit by hand or in food processor so pieces are more manageable to mix
• Throw all dry ingredients (including fruits/nuts/seeds) into large bowl and gently toss with a fork or spatula
• Mix wet ingredients (except almond butter) in a separate bowl and whisk with fork
• Pour wet ingredients over dry and add almond butter (heat slightly if desired to make it easier to pour/mix) and use rubber spatula to mix thoroughly
• Pour into 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper, and sprayed with cooking spray
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until slightly brown around the edges
• Allow to cool completely before breaking apart and enjoying

P.S.

*This recipe originally involved butter, which I replaced with coconut oil, and could be the reason it didn’t hold together as well. However, even though the bars were imperfect in their structure, the were perfect in taste
*The parchment paper liner makes it a lot easier to get the granola out by using it like a sling, and just picking up the paper by either side and lifting. No mess.
*My 3 cups of fruits/nuts/seeds was broken down into: pumpkin seeds (1/3 cup), chopped pecans (1/3 cup), flax seeds (1/3 cup), dried apricots (3/4 cup), dried apple (1 cup), dried cranberries (heaping 1/4 cup) – the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating this, I tried to take it more in an autumn direction flavor wise and came out a winner

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen