Breakfast of Champions

Something happened today that never happens. I grossly underestimated how far I ran. Usually I think to myself "Oh man, I've already run for half an hour, I must have gone two or three miles", only to find that I've been running for 10 minutes, and not even close to a mile. Today was a different story. I stepped outside and decided to run to the Charles (which I never do since it's a little far, but I was feeling ambitious), instead of running through the little suburb part of town that I usually choose. It was early, around 8:30 when I set out, so the campus part of BU was relatively...sparse.

I crossed a foot bridge and just started running down the bike path. I went all the way to Mass Ave and kept going. The sun was blazing, so the shade felt cool, and by the time I got back to my apartment (about an hour later) the temperature had reached an even 90 degrees. I ran for most of the time, but it took me so long because every once in a while I would stop and admire the city, the hazy skyline, the trees, the grass, a little floating dock out in the water...the squirrel scratching at the ground while laying in the dirt by the side of the path who quite possibly had rabies.

I took my time in the shade, but when it was time to head home and I had to run on a gradual incline up Commonwealth Avenue surrounded by the sun and hot cement, I really powered through. The sun was blazing down on me, and I was dripping with sweat, so I have the über-hot tan from my ankle (where my sock ends) to about six inches above my knee (where my shorts begin). Not to mention the racer-back tan (which beats the sunburn I got in Haiti while wearing a dress that had a crocheted back).

So how did I run that far? I entered the points where I began and ended on a map, assuming it was two miles, maybe three. It was five an a half. UM...WHAT?! Usually I give up and return home half way to the Mass Ave bridge, so what did I do differently?

In the book Born to Run, which I've referenced now about a hundred times (read it already!), the author goes to see a doctor and she asks him the question, "Have you ever had salad for breakfast?" Um...no, because nobody has salad for breakfast. Salad is not a breakfast food. But it does make a lot of sense...why not get all your servings of veggies and greens for the day first thing, and get it over with? So here's what I did:

I made this quinoa thing last night, and the beauty of quinoa is that it tastes good hot, cold, or room temp. So I cooked it in veggy broth and had it warm for dinner, then put the left overs in the fridge. I put in a bunch of raw veggies (yes, I know tomatoes are a fruit, and cucumbers are questionable, but for the sake of simplicity, they're vegetables), and mixed it with a light dressing I made with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and a little garlic. I found these beautiful huge ripe tomatoes at a farmers market, so I put those in, as well as a sliced cucumber, and I even threw in a yellow pepper that I learned how to slice. Turns out peppers are really tasty when they're raw as well, and the scent brings back really nostalgic memories: One of my first memories is laying in my pink canopied bed, waking up from a nap to smell my mom cooking in the kitchen. It was always something with peppers, and so whenever I smell peppers cooking I think of that. Same thing with smelling tomatoes and fresh vegetables, since we had a little garden for a while.

Today I threw the mixture of quinoa, raw veggies, and lemon dressing on a bed of greens (which included spinach), and had a delectable and unintentionally vegan breakfast. One of the best things about a salad breakfast is you can run almost right after...you don't have to wait for anything heavy or meaty to settle. Running after a meatball sub, not fun. Running after a salad, fun. It's simple, really.

So you might be wondering what that weird drink is behind my yummy colorful salad. In the book that I've been referencing all month, the Tarahumara tribe has an amazing diet that keeps them as lean, mean, running machines. Their diet is largely based on corn: corn tortillas, corn beer, etc, which makes sense, because if you're running everywhere, you don't want extra fat on your body, it just wouldn't be efficient. But they also eat a lot of chia seeds (yes, as in cha-cha-cha chia...pet). So, I bought some to try out, and man are they weird. I read somewhere that if you soak them in water, they turn a little gooey and you can even make a gel out of them. Then I found a simple recipe that I made...one spoonful of chia seeds in water, mixed with lime juice and some honey. It was oddly refreshing once I got over the texture, and I felt an energy boost right away. Goodbye coffee. Hello strange slimy-textured little seeds that I'm still trying to acquire a taste for. I almost want to put mint in it to make it a quasi-mojito-esque-energy-drink. I'll keep experimenting. You can throw chia seeds on a salad, into quinoa, anything really...for a crunchy nutty taste. A quarter cup is 150 calories with 5 grams of protein, 11 grams of dietary fiber, and 13 grams of carbohydrates...and when you're running you want to burn carbs not sugars...so bingo. Breakfast of champions. 

Thank You, Caballo Blanco

It's impossible to talk about running without bringing up Caballo Blanco (White Horse). One day, this white guy from Colorado just kind of appeared in the Copper Canyon to live and run with the Tarahumara. The name he went by was Micah True (his real name is Michael Randall Hickman), and he founded a 50 mile Copper Canyon race in Mexico, to highlight and celebrate the Tarahumara culture and their love for running. Sadly, however, one morning he set out for a run and never returned. His autopsy later revealed that he died of a heart condition: cardiomyopathy, where the heart becomes enlarged. Before the autopsy was released, his friends who joined the search and found him by a river noted that he looked like he had taken a fall, and perhaps went to the river to get some water, but then suffered the dropping temperatures of the night.
Scott Jurek, one of the top ultrarunners in the world who knew Caballo Blanco said:

"That's something Micah stressed and lived every day, and he showed people that running is fun," Jurek said. "Tapping into old ways of living and breathing on this planet and just being immersed in the beauty of the world around you — that's really what he was about."


If you haven't read the book "Born to Run" yet, I highly suggest you do so before reading this article to get a more in depth look at Caballo's life, but it does give you a good idea of who this amazing man was: Caballo Blanco's Last Run.

leathermansloop.org

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“Think Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless… When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”

The quote above is Caballo Blanco trying to give a lesson in running to the author of "Born to Run". I finished the book last night, and feeling especially inspired  by the gorgeous weather outside, I decided to go for a run. The book is great, it not only covers the life and culture of Caballo and the Tarahumara, but the road to the race in the Copper Canyons, the type of nutrients and diet you should have as a runner, techniques you should be using when you run, running theories, what kind of ultramarathons exist and who wins them, how we evolved to be runners, and even how to run down a wild antelope. So today I started with thinking easy.

I set out today running slow..."people do their slow runs too fast and their fast runs too slow", comes from a page in the book. Usually when I start I'm just thinking "run, run, run...this sucks...this really sucks...I'm too hot...getting tired...slowing down...walking". So I ran a little slower today, took smaller strides, and the area in which I usually slow to a walk, I passed by. I kept my back straight and my feet under my hips, my head up, and I kept going.

The book also covers theories delving into the culture of barefoot runners, an entire breed of runners out there who are completely against running shoes. The book also goes into how bad running shoes are for you based on one principle: shoes weaken your feet, one of the most important body parts to doing any physical activity, and with weak feet comes a plethora of running injuries. Basically, think of a bridge with an arch. An arch is self supporting, but if you start supporting the arch from the sides, it becomes weaker. That's what happens when you have arch support, heel support, and any sort of cushioning in running shoes. There was even a study that showed that people who ran in cheaper sneakers ($40 or less) had less injuries than those running in shoes that were $90 or more (sorry Nike, but your running shoes apparently are doing more harm than good). It also showed that older shoes are better to run in than newer shoes (Sorry again Nike, turns out you don't have to replace shoes after a certain number of miles).

Now, I don't recommend barefoot running in Boston due to broken glass, lots of cement, and god knows what else you'll find on the sidewalk. I did, however, find a playground where there were way too many little kids, but next to it was a completely empty fenced in baseball park (but the diamond was almost gone due to grass). The grass in the shade was still damp from raining the night before, but it was pretty lush in most places, and not too sandy or covered with roots in other places...so I ditched my socks and shoes and did a few laps. To be honest, I don't know how long I ran, or how many laps I did, I just kept going, and when I realized that I didn't feel tired or like walking, and that I felt liberated, I actually smiled. I freakin' smiled while running. WTF!

I started with the speed that I could run easiest at, and now that's where I'll start next time (oh hey, kind of like practicing). Then I'll start thinking light. Then smooth. Then I'll be fast.

I know I'm not on the road to the Badwater Ultramarathon, but today was the first day in which I actually felt that I was enjoying running.

What a breakthrough.

Leadville Race Series and the Badwater Ultramarathon

Has anyone ever heard of the Leadville Race Series in Colorado?

There are seven races, some on foot and some on bike, that occur in the mountains of Colorado every summer. This town went from being one of the richest mining towns, to one of the poorest (the molybdenum they mined was no longer needed after WWII), but with the crazy idea of hardcore ultra-marathons through the mountains brought hundreds of adventure seekers, athletes, and even the Raramuri (see last post). The Leadville Trail 100 is a 100-mile ultra-marathon (a distance of 4 back to back marathons) with the lowest point being 9,200 miles above sea level, to the highest point being 12,600 feet. Runners suffer altitude sickness, lack of oxygen, and hallucinations. All are required to check in at each of the 11 aid stations to make sure they aren't getting dehydrated, and make sure they have enough water and nutrition. The race occurs on trails, rocky mountain roads, and even through streams, through daylight, and by flashlight at night. Food and water are given out at stations along the way, and you have a 30 hour time limit to complete it.

So how did I stumble across this amazing race? Through this book I'm reading about running. If this race isn't physically exhausting already, I can only imagine the mentality it takes to complete something like this. Training takes years, and 250 of the 850 people who sign up don't even make it to the starting line because they get injured in the training alone. The trick is to stay positive, but not naive...after all you're running 100 miles through the steepest hill climbs, the dark woods, water, and nightfall. It's so insane, you'd have to be crazy to do it...and many are, but they do have one hell of a time.

"His love of life shone through every moment". Joe Vigil, a running coach who has coached the finest Olympic runners to victory followed the Leadville races to see what the Tarahumara (Raramuri tribe) secrets were to running long distances. He didn't find any secret running techniques, or see them do anything different from other runners, but he noticed one thing: they were having a blast! "It wasn't just how to run; it was how to live, the essence of who we are as a species and what we're meant to be...What if you could run for decades and never get injured...and log hundreds of weekly miles and enjoy every one of them...and see your heart rate drop and your stress and anger fade while your energy soared? Imagine crime, cholesterol, and greed melting away as a nation of Running People finally rediscovered its stride". As the human race, we were all runners based on our need to survive, but we have stopped running with the development of civilization. The trick to running is to think...positive, and really enjoy yourself.

www.leadvilleraceseries.com

www.leadvilleraceseries.com

www.leadvilleraceseries.com

And if you don't think Leadville is tough, maybe the Badwater Ultramarathon will appeal to you. It's a 135 mile suicide marathon that goes from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in California. Instead of sky high altitudes, you start at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere...85 miles below sea level. Just compare the names of two landmarks in both races: Hope Pass in Leadville, and Furnace Creek in Badwater.

There are so many different reasons as to why people run, especially as to why people run through places like Death Valley. Here are some people who ran last year:

And then there's me, with my measly couple of miles I run every other day. I've been trying to enjoy it, but the last time I ran, it was drizzly and cold...the mist turned into a chilly rain and I got soaked, only to return home shivering, wet and feeling like a wimp. Then again, I'm comparing myself to these great athletes who have made running their art. There aren't a lot of comparisons I can make right now between super athletes and being a musician, but in a way, musicians are micro-athletes. We don't run hundreds of miles (although playing through entire symphonies can feel like we did), but we practice for hours a day, refining our technique, enjoying ourselves and life, and sharing what we accomplish and learn with others. The audiences are our finish line cheer leaders, as we jump through musical hoops doing amazing things with our breath and bodies.

Okay, that might be romanticizing things a little bit, but maybe you see my point.

Anyways, it's almost the end of the month, and I've got a great new idea for June...but in the meantime I'm going to keep up this running thing. Instead of forcing myself to like every stride I make, I'm just going to let it happen. I love being outside, and I love exploring new places, so maybe I'm on to my own personal running breakthrough. 

Small Step Forward...

...Giant leap backwards. That sums up my run for today, although under the circumstances, I'm surprised I was able to convince myself to actually put on my running gear (after finding it of course...I had some people over for an impromptu hang out, and in order to make it look like I didn't live in a pig stye, I threw mounds of clothing into my closet with reckless abandon).

Lets start from the end of yesterday. I met two of my clarinet buddies to go to this restaurant Taco Mex in east Boston, which served delicious Mexican and Salvadorian food in copious amounts. It was here that I had my first encounter with a Margarona (see image below). I also love eating ethnic food, because a lot of the time it's healthier, and they don't use much dairy, however eating a large amount of anything is bound to cause you at least some discomfort.

Later that night, I decided it would be fun to have a few people over, to hang out, chat, and have a few drinks. Why not? We had some really tasty beers that I had brought back from the liquor store down the street, and I thought about getting snacks, but I felt as though I would explode if I tried to ingest any more. I also stayed up way too late again, but there was something to be said about hanging out in the quiet solace of the roof watching the cloudy, misty sky get brighter (but don't tell my landlord).

So then I slept in, and of course had an achy head and other hangover symptoms. Until now, I had been noticing that when I go for runs, I've been running longer distances, slightly faster, and walking less. Today was not that at all. I started out slow, got slower, and eventually walked a bunch. Even though it's been on and off cloudy, I was outside for the short time that the sun was, and I was in a little park, running through trails and nature. Since a hangover is usually your body's way of saying "Hey, some water would be nice", I chugged about three glasses of water before I went...and I should have waited a little longer to leave. The last few blocks of my run, I noticed I was running faster, not because I wanted to improve my mile time, but because I really, really, REALLY needed to use the bathroom.

So, I don't recommend ever running with a hangover.

I do however, recommend taking a run or leisurely walk through Hall's Pond Sanctuary:

And even the smaller, but equally nice Knyvet Park.

Guess I better start the day. I don't work until this weekend, so tonight I will be frolicking through the beautiful Harvard Square to visit one of my favorite restaurants with a good friend of mine who just happens to be in town. 

Motivation and the Raramuri

“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving.” – Maurice Greene

Lately, I've been reading a really great book about this elusive tribe that lives somewhere in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. So far, all I've found out is that they are called super-athletes, they can outrun cheetahs, and they have a two day 400+ mile race once a year (a champion once ran 435 miles). They are referred to as the Tamahumara tribe, but their real name is the Raramuri (meaning 'Running People'). Running has stayed part of their culture that they've been able to preserve by retreating farther and farther into the mountains as they are threatened by war and environmental destruction. 

I mentioned the book in my last post, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I've read a few chapters before running the past couple days, and already I feel inferior. My one to two mile runs that leave me winded and exhausted, compared to a two day long race that equals the distance of almost 17 full marathons back to back. I know there is always room for improvement, but it goes far beyond even the most talented marathon runners and olympic athletes. What's even more amazing is that they don't warm up before the race, and wear shoes on their feet that barely classify themselves as shoes. It's truly amazing, and I encourage anyone to read it. 

On another note, I skipped running yesterday partly because my legs were a little sore and partly because I may or may not have gone to bed shortly after the sun was up. I also had to work my first dinner shift which had plenty of running around, but all calories burned were replenished later at the Salty Pig, the Copley equivalent to Kendall's Champions or Tommy Doyle's. 

I did run today, though. I've found a few noteworthy running routes, through these little back roads that are literally right across from my campus. You would never know it, but there are all these cute little neighborhoods with adorable little houses with lovely gardens and lawns, right across from my school. Running through these streets, you feel as though you're in a little suburban community instead of a big city, and most of the houses have these big gardens, and everything is in bloom (and very fragrant). It works nicely for shorter runs, as I don't have to run all the way down Commonwealth just to cross over to the bike path along the Charles (which is lovely, but time is of the essence. My Nielsen concerto arrived yesterday and I've been wanting to practice it since yesterday). 

I need to mentally and physically prepare myself for tonight's shift...the notoriously busy graduation weekend. Until then, I leave you with one of my new favorite songs. 

And I'm Back!

I almost forgot that I did this whole blogging thing for a while there. Finishing up school was hectic to say the least, with papers due, final concerts, and my recital (Oh, may I just say, I got all A's. That's pretty much never happened before). So now, I have started the thankless job of being a server again in the restaurant biz, and so far it hasn't been that bad. Then again, I'm only three days in, with a bunch of time off this month to play a gig. Oh hey, that's the other thing. I'm premiering an opera at the end of this month in Boston (if you're interested in supporting the arts, or buying a ticket, leave a comment and I'll let you know how you can help). We also got invited to play at the Fringe Festival in NYC (and you know how much I love spending time in that city). I've used way to many parenthesis (sorry).

End of the year festivities were excellent and super fun. No, I didn't participate in any boat cruises or brunches or group activities with the school, I prefer doing my own thing, and I also hate crowds. I'll sum it all up in photos:

First and foremost, the pinnacle of all my hard work this year. Works by Gershwin, Poulenc, Berndt, Bedoya, Debussy, and Prokofiev. Please see my professional Facebook page for complete information and recordings! :)  

A friend caressing the 6-pint "Tower Beer" which you can get at Cambridge Brewing Company, a local brewery located in Kendal Square which I would frequent while working as a server in that area. You need to try their Amber...'nuff said. 

The fantastic four at our second bar of the night, right down the street from CBC is Mead Hall. They have amazing craft beers on tap and a huge menu with excellent price points. I had a sour beer, a new favorite, refreshing beverage. I also had a Jack D'or by Pretty Things, another local brew.

 Speaking of sour beers, I don't have a picture but if you're ever in Brighton and feel like walking a bit from any public transportation stop, you need to go try Publick House which is a bar right up my alley, since I love those obscure little hole in the walls. I went on Cinco de Mayo with a good friend of mine, and it was probably the only bar that was pretty empty that night, since the usual favorite (Sunset) was super crowded with obnoxious bros and biddies.

We had our final chamber music jury of the year. This trio has been together two semesters, and we're thinking of going on three, to prepare repertoire for a recital early next semester. We played all sorts of stuff, from Shostakovich Waltzes, to the Saint-Saens tarantella, to a Trio from Rio, and also threw in a little bit of jazz. Also, I think we're a pretty darn good looking trio there.

Then there was a surprise birthday party for a fellow trumpet player, complete with cupcakes, banana bread, snacks, and lots of alcohol. Brass players really are the most fun. I contributed a six pack of Shocktop and a large La Fin du Monde, which I am cradling here in this picture that I took with one of my best new friends. 

This best new friend also showed me and incredible Brazilian bakery that is literally right around the corner from where I live: it's called Padaria Brasil Bakery, you know how much I love anything Latin American. We had ham and cheese sandwiches, with freshly squeezed OJ (and I mean fresh...like squeezed just for my order 2 minutes before I took a sip). Then I brought home two big chocolate balls covered in sprinkles, because there's really no other way to describe that...and we shared a slice of pineapple cake. It was a bit of a dairy overload but it was SO WORTH IT.

Then it was Mother's Day and I went home to Rhode Island for a fun-filled Saturday of gift shopping, flower buying, and relaxing around the house, and a fun filled Sunday where we went to a clam shack by the ocean and had a wonderful time with the women in my family (the men were there too). 

My Mother's Day gift was opened later that day, probably the fanciest BYOB ever brought to a clam shack, but hey. Working in a seafood restaurant has given me great taste in wine, and it also complimented very well the clam cakes and lobster roll that then I had. 

Truly the happiest by the ocean.

Made it back to Boston on Sunday in time to see one of my all-time best friends. She was playing a gig at Tufts, and for the first time in almost a year I found myself getting off the Red Line in Davis Square, where I used to live, and found this awesome apartment full of musicians, celebrating the end of their year. There was a room in which nobody was in at first, full of instruments. It was only a matter of time before someone picked up a Keytar. Then someone picked up a guitar. Then bass. Some awesome chick sat down at the drum set, and a composer took the piano. Someone busted out a sax and BOOM. Impromptu jam session. 

And one of the more recent fun things was free bowling night at Kings, our fabulous Monday night tradition that's been going on now for about three years. What's better than getting together with friends, having a few really awful beers in a can, and bowling? I'm even getting better, I even got a few spares last time. Something finally clicked. 

So this is how the blog situation is going to go. I left off writing about running, it was almost the end of the month, so I'm going to start back up with it until June. Running around a restaurant doesn't count, although it burns ample calories, which are then restored by an after work beer or two...or twelve. I'm not really looking forward to running, and actually, as I'm writing this I'm trying to think of more things I can say to procrastinate. It sucks and it's hard and I really don't like it, but I've already committed. So with that said, here begins the first day of the rest of the month. The blog is back up, and I'm ready to go. Although maybe I should clean my room before I go for a run...
I also just downloaded a book on my Kindle which I'm very excited to read (through library loan...yes, you can do that). It's called: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.

Topical.

And...

If you are by any chance interested in listening to my recital, I've got most of it up, so click here!