Buddy System

Today my brother in law was kind enough to come over and run with me. As I've mentioned before, he's a much better athlete than I am, so it was definitely generous of him to scale down his workout to my pace for my five mile run. Granted, he did a bike workout prior, and ran two miles to my house, and then two miles home afterward, but still...

It was good to have someone to talk with (although I wasn't talking much toward the end while gasping for oxygen, more listening) and someone to offer me advice. He also has a pretty sweet Garmin thing that keeps track of route and pace, and I could see our run on the web afterward and relive the pain and worse pain. Being one for math (i.e. a giant dork), I like seeing the metrics of the run.

During the run, I pretty much knew I was going to go faster than usual. My brother in law was awesome at letting me set the pace, but still I subconsciously tried to up the pace so I wouldn't slow him down too much. Besides, when you're socializing, time goes faster and you don't focus as much on the pain.

For the first mile and a half we went out (according to the website) in under a nine minute mile pace. That is way fast for me, and the site even has us going a moment at a 7 minute mile pace. I don't remember falling off a cliff or finding a skateboard, but apparently I did. We then kept it at a 9:00 - 9:30 pace (outside of a second where I stretched out a cramp in my back) right up to the point of the run that really sucks, the uphill mile. As it turns out, the hill is a mile and a half long, and has an elevation delta of 100 feet. Not much of a hill for some, but for a big lumbering beast like myself it is quite a strain. The pace drug down to 10:30 to 11:30 a mile at this point, and then my legs gave out on me and I needed to walk for two stretches. After the walks, though, we made great time - 8:45 to 9:30 pace for the last mile, mostly downhill of course. Overall I did the course seconds under a ten minute mile pace, which is quicker than I've ever run it, and I pushed myself harder than I normally do too. Good run all around.

Big problem today was the heat. It was 77 or so and we were in the sun so it felt warmer. After months of running in the 40s and 50s I thought this would be quite pleasant. It wasn't. Note to me: you live in Texas dork, it's going to get much worse.

Tonight for dinner I made an Indian poached Red Snapper. Made some jasmine rice (170 calories per serving) as a side dish - confession, I really goofed it up somehow - and then sauteed some red onions, spinach, and shredded raddichio in a teaspoon of sesame oil with ginger, tamarind, a touch of agave nectar and a pinch of curry powder (about 100 calories a serving). Then I prepared the fish as follows:

1 lb red snapper filet (400 calories)

2 tbsp chopped onion

2 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp sesame oil (120 calories)

1 cup light coconut milk (240 calories)

1 cup stock

1-4 tbsp chili paste, as you dare

1 tsp tumeric

1 tbsp soy sauce

good handful fresh curry leaves (find them at a local Indian market. Do it now. They are awesome.)

pinch of fresh cilantro

In a tall sided pan, soften ginger, onion, and garlic in oil, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, and let the flavors incorporate for a while, 10 minutes or so. Add fillet skin side up, poach for 6 minutes or so, flip, and poach for another 6 minutes (depending on the thickness, poke to test doneness). Remove from poaching liquid and reduce until it is thick, and then pour over fish. About 400 calories per serving.