Pasta Alternative - Chicken Phό

Everyone knows how important it is to fuel yourself before a big race. For runners, we do carbo-loading. I know a lot of racing groups that love to come together and have “Pasta Parties” the night before a race. Understand the importance of a fuel rich and balanced meal of carbs along with other nutrients; typically 50-55 percent complex carbohydrates, 20-30 percent protein for your muscles, and 20 percent fat for energy and vitamins.

I love pasta, but it can feel so heavy. If you’re like me, sometimes you just need a little exotic flare in your meal plan. I’m, of course, using the term “exotic” very loosely here.

So what is a good alternative to a typical Italian pasta dinner the night before? Vietnamese Noodle Soup!

I ran “The Relay” back in April 2011 (Yes, this is how long overdue my posts are) and invited some of my teammates to have dinner and stay the night. I cook, but pasta just sounded SO boring to me. Enter: Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. I love Phό! If you think about it, phό might be the most balanced meal, perfectly suited for a pre-race meal. For one, this meal is soaked in broth so why you’re fueling, you’re also hydrating. The broth is made from chicken, rich in electrolytes (yes, I mean sodium). Chicken breast is a great source of lean protein, perfect for building strong muscles. And finally, the rice noodles are as carby as you can get.

You can go out and get phό at a local Vietnamese restaurant but I don’t like to take risks right before a race. Plus, you use much better ingredient (meaning sans the MSG) if you make it at home.

Here is a recipe I used from Steamy Kitchen with my own little twists.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 whole organic chicken (4-5lbs)1 whole onion, unpeeled and cut in half3-inch chunk of ginger, unpeeled
(A) Broth spices

2 tbl whole coriander seeds

4 whole cloves

2 whole star anise

2 tbl sugar (or rock sugar)

2 tbl fish saucesmall bunch of cilantro stems only, tied in bunch with twine
(B) Accompaniments at table

1 lb dried rice noodles (about 1/4″ wide)

2 cups bean sprouts, washed & tails pinched offcilantro tops – leaves and tender stems

1/2 cup shaved onions
1 diced green onion

1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges

Sriracha hot sauce (optional)

Hoisin sauce (optional)

sliced chili

Directions:
Roast the ginger and the onion. I put the ginger and onion right on top of the grates of my gas burner stove. A grill can work, too or Steamy Kitchen suggested baking it in the oven. I personally like it on the grill or gas burner because I like the char and I think it gives the broth more flavor. It’ll only need 15 minutes of roasting. Turn it for even charring. After 15 minutes, take it off an let it cool, then proceed to skinning the ginger and onion. Slice both into good sized chunks, easy for fishing out later.

While the ginger and onion were charring, I toasted all my spices. Again, I think this brings out more flavor. Throw the star anise, cloves, coriander seeds and cilantro into a dry frying pan and toast over medium heat for 10 minutes occasionally turning the spices. Get ready for a nice smelling kitchen!!

In a large pot, fill with water and boil. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, butcher your chicken. Make sure you’re carving out the thigh, breast and drum sticks. Get all the meaty goodness out. With the remaining bones and carcass, chop into 4-5 large chunks and break into the bone wherever possible. This will just give the broth more flavor. When the water boils, put everything in except for the breasts and boil for 5 minutes. You’ll see brown “stuff” begin to surface. Fear not, it’s from the bone marrow. Drain and rinse the chicken completely clean with COLD water. Wash the pot and fill with 4 quarts of COLD water. Boil, then put back the chicken and this time add the breast along with all your toasted spices, ginger, onion and ALL of ingredients (A).

After 15-17 minutes of boiling, remove the chicken breast, thigh meat and drumstick meat and cool. After cooling, shred meat with your fingers or fork and set aside. This is the meat you’ll serve with the noodles later. With a large spoon, skim the surface of any impurities (brown stuff) in the broth. Skimming every 20 minutes ensures a clear broth. Simmer a total of 2 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning with more fish sauce and or sugar.
Strain the broth, discard solids. Prepare noodles as per directions on package (but don’t boil too long or it will become too soft when you add the hot broth). Ladle broth, add shredded chicken breast and soft noodles in each bowl. Have (B) ingredients set at table for each person to add to their bowl.



What you have now is a delicious bowl of steamy, full of carb, nutrient rich, chicken phό!

When 5 Miles is Not Just 5 Miles

Distance: 5.66 mi (18.05 total miles this week)
Pace: 9.35 min/mi (Avg weekly pace: 9.86 min/mi)
Location: Raley Field to the Capitol building to midtown and back
Week Locations: Treadmill, my neighborhood, El Dorado HILLS, See above

The Relay, or what I'd like to call 200 miles of running bliss, is less than a week away. You might have seen some variation of it. There usually is one in every region taking you from different terrain to different terrain, touring the state. Some crazy person decides they want to assemble a team of 12 people to go two sleepless, non-stop running days only to end with a buffet of room-temperature beer (unless you have a fantastic cooler), is how it gets started. The race I'm doing promises to be an absolute eye-candy route from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. The team to look out for? Team "Trans Fatty Asses." That should give you an idea of the mis-fits our team is made of and the sense of sick humor we have. No, I exaggerate. We are a pretty diverse group of runners ranging from sub 7-minute milers to folks like me and I couldn't be happier with the team I've gotten.

So this is what I'm training for. I'm Runner 3 rounding out legs 3, 15, and 27. I'm not so worried about leg 3 or leg 27 (though leg 27 comes after 2 days of no sleep), but leg 15 is rated as a "hard" leg. Although not far in distance, the leg has me climbing 225' in 2 miles then descending 480' in 4.5 miles. Even though this falls far short of the 1000'+ climbs a couple of my teammates have to endure, I am new to this hill thing. With the exception of the Lake Tahoe Iron Girl Triathlon I did last year, I climb all of maybe 30' running around the Sacramento area? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frightened. But more than frightened, I'm excited! I'm excited for the opportunity to train for this unfamiliar challenge.

Team "Trans Fatty Asses" Van 1 decided we wanted do some hill work this past Thursday. When asked how many miles we should do, I bravely said 5 miles and got a look of "are you sure?" And this is where I learned that 5 miles, is not JUST 5 miles. You see, the Fricks live in El Dorado Hills and the name of the city is quite literal. I can't tell you how low we descended and then how high we climbed but the muscles I worked doing it, I did not know I had. We were running in a man-made trail dodging branches and jumping rocks. It was one of the most fun and also most challenging runs I've done.

We were rounding up the last mile of the run when Mr. Frick and I started chatting about how to improve our pace and he mentioned something about running hills. Naturally, I did what any 20-something would do and Googled it. You see, I've tried a lot of things to improve my pace, from mediocre strength training, to forced cross training to running intervals but I've been stagnant around this 10 min/mi pace for my long distance runs. My leg 15 can best be described as a mixed hill. The ups will challenge my calves, posture, coordination and endurance. While fatigue will undoubtedly set in, the downhill is where I have to worry about strain and injury. It is in downhill running that the runner will experience the most impact to their body, thus increasing the strain on your ankles and knees. Paying attention to my posture by leaning into the hill and my opening my stride will get me through. And the opportunity lies in learning to run efficiently (a term we economists love to hear). Remembering not to use all my energy and fighting the uphill will allow me to take full advantage of the downhill, which is what will improve my pace.

This race will be an adventure. I don't think I'll ever experience anything like it again (even if I do this race again) because of all the unknowns. I'll keep my phone on me and will tweet about the entire team's race just to give you an idea. Follow me @cristina_wong.

Credits to Brian Mac Sports Coach and Coach Jenny of Runner's World for the training tips.

The hills are my best friend...

16-minute TED Talk - Christopher McDougall

A friend of mine shared this video that I just had to pass on. I love what this guy has to say about running and how our bodies are made for running. I love the connection he makes with running and freedom. I just have one issue, though. I have a thing with my feet. I could never do barefoot running only because I cannot stand the feeling of "things" touching my feet. My feet hate textures. I hardly even walk barefoot in my house. I ALWAYS wear socks. Yes, even when it's 106 degrees F in sunny Sacramento. I want in on this, I really do...but...

Yoga and Running

Distance: 2.96mi
Pace: 9:19 min/mi
Location: Treadmill at the clubhouse gym

There are many perks to working at Intel. One of those is the company's emphasis on "work/life balance". Thursday was the Health and Wellness Fair at the Folsom campus and among the day's many seminars was a Yoga and Meditation class. I had taken a couple of yoga classes before but this was the first time I'd seen it coupled with meditation. It makes complete sense, though. Yoga makes you focus on yourself, on your breathing, on your balance and control. All this prepares your mind and your body for meditation. Now I know I'm about two reincarnations away from being a master Yogi myself, but I was able to gather that yoga and meditation requires mindfulness. And so long as we're on the subject of mindfulness, I wondered if yoga can help me be more mindful about running.

So I decided to do a little Google research. As it turns out, yoga really can compliment running, well. What I found was something that my body had known all along but my mind had missed. I never realized how the tens of thousands of steps pounding on pavement, or worse, on concrete, can create some real imbalances for my body. This repetitive motion of lifting my legs and feet off the ground only to thrust it forward a yard or so, forces three to four times my weight of impact on my feet with every step I take. This repetitive motion of fast steps that I love was tightening and shortening my muscle so much that without opposing movements, my skeletal system was out of balance. This of course leads to kneeaches, backaches and sometimes even headaches.

Enter Yoga. Yoga forces me to focus on my body and what is happening to my body; and if I am aware of the impact I'm putting on my body, I'll know where rebalancing is needed after my long runs. As I become more aware of my body, I'll also be better prepared to respond to the messages my body sends to me during my races to prevent injury later on.

Okay, so that's enough of the new age stuff. On to the physical benefits. Yoga is also a great way to cross-train (something I have a lot of trouble with, but more on that later). Practicing yoga helps to balance strength, increase range of motion and coordinate your breath. It remains to be seen how much yoga will play a role in my training but I believe in its benefits. I also feel a whole heck of a lot better after every time I do it.

Namaste.

Credits to "Yoga Journal" and "Running World" for this self discovery session.

Why am I running and why are you reading this?

Distance: 4.04mi
Pace: 9:10 min/mi
Location: My neighborhood

I'd like to start my first post by telling you a little about myself. Well, back up. Let me start by telling you what I am NOT. I am not a runner. You will never see me wearing the No. 1 bib; I won't ever place in my age group let alone stand on the podium for overall best; Boston marathon? only in my wildest dreams. My legs are short, my feet are flat. I am not a runner, but I love to run.

I am a golfer, a tech geek, I love to cook, I love to eat. I spend my 8-5 drumming up new marketing campaigns for businesses and IT decision makers, and flying to different cities to talk about data centers and cloud computing. But I LOVE to run. I love to race.

I started off my race season this year by running the Shamrock 'N Half Marathon in Sacramento. This is not the first half I've done. In fact, I did the same race last year, too. I also participated in a couple of 10Ks and my very first sprint triathlon last year. I had a much better season last year. Shamrock 'N Half 2011 was not pretty by any means. I remember approaching mile 12 and seeing that Mile 12 sign come closer. As I ran towards it I started to cry a little. Then I stopped and I cried a little more. I remember saying to myself, "I can't take another mile of this sh*t!" It is at this point I have to thank the baby blue jerseys of the Running For Rhett running team or I might have quit right then and there. The inspirational messages on the backs of this running team were what picked me up to finish the race. One fabulous lady and I wish I had caught her name even clapped as she jogged past me and yelled "C'mon you got this! Almost there! You can do this!" Thank Grilled Cheesus for the energy that is always present at these race events and the encouraging words of complete strangers.

I've never had such a hard time with running. By no means am I a running pro, but I used to run better. Which brings me to why I'm here and why you're reading this. A friend suggested that I write about running. If I write about it, I might be more thoughtful about it, and if I'm more thoughtful about it, I might get better at it.

As I go through the season, I will jot down my thoughts about running. I'll review any race events I participate in and if I learn any great tips for novices who are not runners but love to run, I'll be sure to share it here. And on occassion, you may find amusing babble that has absolutely nothing to do with running but is fun to read anyway.

Ready, set, start...