Amy Reinink

First, let me be clear: We’re talking post-run for this one. I’m well aware that chili isn’t the ideal pre-race dinner, and won’t elaborate on the reasons why.

That said, aren’t you finding that colder weather leaves you hungry for hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meals, like stew and chili? Sure you are. You know a salad isn’t going to sustain you all afternoon the ski slopes, or fulfill the crazy, superhuman hunger you feel after a long run on a brisk November evening. Still, you want food that sticks to your ribs, not your butt, right?

This turkey chili is not only wonderfully healthy; it’s the best meal in the history of meals after a fall or winter run. I handed Steve a bowl after a tough Wednesday-night speed workout a few weeks ago, and it transformed him from a shivering, exhausted mess into a warm, well-fed human being. Just imagine the effect it could have on you!

Turkey chili

1 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 lb ground turkey breast
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans V8
2 cans dark red kidney beans
2 tbsp each of onion powder, cumin, chili powder, oregano
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs honey
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Healthy splash of whatever beer you’ve got in the fridge

Simmer garlic and diced pepper and spices in olive oil on medium-high heat until lightly browned. Add ground turkey, and stir until lightly browned. Add V8, tomatoes and beans; stir and simmer until combined. Add brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire sauce and beer; simmer until combined.

Garnish with hot sauce, cheese, sour cream and more honey. Serve with cornbread. Pictures to follow.

Looking for more hearty recipes that won’t make you bust out of your running tights? Check out this list of healthy comfort foods on Badass Fitness. It includes some of my cold-weather standbys, to include sugar-free hot chocolate, pumpkin oatmeal and baked apples, and a few recipes I can’t wait to try, like the Badass Foodie’s Mac N Cheese(It uses butternut squash!).

What’s your favorite healthy, hearty meal?

An impromptu afternoon trip to Black Hill Regional Park in northern Montgomery County yesterday served as a powerful reminder of one of my most effective self-motivation techniques.

The park, located just off 270, is stunning this time of year, with the Eastern red cedar trees circling Little Seneca Lake at the peak of their fall colors. As I flew through the woods on paved trails with a view of the vivid orange sunset over the lake, with nothing but the sound of migrating geese honking overhead to break my state of meditation in motion, I knew I’d call on that moment to motivate myself to hop on the treadmill when the weather’s less friendly.

This week, I’m motivated by thinking about the loveliest places I’ve been lucky enough to swim, run, hike, bike and otherwise be active, and using those images to hype me up to work out in less exciting venues. It’s the workout equivalent of thinking about your “happy place,” and it works wonders in putting a positive spin on an otherwise routine workout.

This has been especially helpful in the swimming arena, as I’m still anxiously awaiting word about my fate in the Bay Bridge Swim lottery, which is ongoing (it closes at 700 entrants; there are 451 as of this morning). I’m not swimming today because I feel pressure to train for a 4.4-mile journey across a major body of water, but because I’m imagining myself swimming in the Gulf of Mexico …

… in the south of France, where I saw an ancient fort every time I took a breath to the right side …

… and off a beautiful beach in Barcelona, where my post-swim fuel was a glass of sangria.

Simply thinking about swimming in one of these locations transports me to a place of relaxation and peace, and makes it just a little bit easier to jump into a crowded lane at Wilson Aquatic Center.

Where’s your workout “happy place?”

In other news, my minute-by-minute journal of Ragnar, D.C. is now live on Washington Running Report’s website. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

I’m going to make a bold statement here: Arctic Ease cryotherapy wraps are the next KT Tape.

Just like KT Tape, I received a free sample of Arctic Ease cryotherapy wraps in my race packet at the Marine Corps Marathon/10K expo. Just like KT Tape, I was skeptical the high-tech, fancy-pants wrap would be any better than cheaper, more traditional treatments.

Just like KT Tape, I misjudged this incredible stuff, and am now officially in love with it.

Arctic Ease markets itself as an alternative to commercial ice packs, bags of ice or frozen peas. It works by absorbing heat energy from the body to cool the covered area, according to its website. The absorbed heat is then lost to evaporation, which makes the wrap cold.

You just wrap it around what hurts …

… and keep it on until you’re done icing. Then, you roll it back up, stick it back in the package, add a few teaspoons of water, and reuse it in two hours. You don’t freeze it, but instead just leave it on your counter to rehydrate itself. Amazing!

It’s not as cold as a bag of frozen peas, but the Arctic Ease website explains: “The optimal temperature for effective cold therapy is above 59° F (15°C). When skin temperatures go below that, tissue damage such as frostnip and frostbite can occur — it’s one of the biggest risks associated with traditional ice therapy.”

Fair enough. It also doesn’t leak a smelly green pus when it’s nearing the end of its life, which gives it a definite advantage over the peas.

I’m not sure how many times my Arctic Ease wrap can be reused. At about $13 for a 60-by-4-inch wrap, this could make a huge difference in whether I buy a replacement once my free sample is tapped out. But for the time being, I’m in love.

Have you tried Arctic Ease wraps? What did you think? What’s your favorite icing method?

We all know pizza is just about the best pre-run dinner around. But when you’ve got a nighttime training run and your office’s kitchenette doesn’t have a toaster oven, your leftover deliciousness can become a soggy, unsatisfying lunch.

I offer this easy focaccia bread recipe as a base for a sort of pizza sandwich, an alternative to the leftover as a stomach-friendly, tasty pre-run lunch. Anything you’d put on a pizza tastes great between two pieces of this bread. Recipe adapted from Fleischmann’s Yeast.

Bake this to go with dinner one night, then use the leftovers for pre-run lunches all week.

Easy foccacia bread

• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast, proofed (Scared of yeast, and bread-baking in general? Read this!)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 2/3 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• Rosemary, other herbs, to taste

This time last year, I thought I’d failed.

I was picking up the pieces of a traumatic Marine Corps Marathon, and trying to make sense of the months of training that led to what seemed at the time to be nothing but heartache, pain and a totally undeserved finish time.

I was devastated I failed to reach my goal time last year. Steve, and the rest of the world, could have cared less about that.

When you hang out with runners all the time, it’s easy to think that anything less than a Boston qualifier is unimpressive, and that anything less than your goal time is worthless. Watching my amazing friends battle through their own Marine Corps Marathons yesterday made me realize all over again what a crazy adventure of a race the marathon is. It also inspired me to train for another myself—but not without keeping the following lessons in mind.

1. If everything goes right on race day, training and previous race times can tell you a lot about your finishing time.

2. There’s a good chance everything will not go right on race day. In a race of any distance, it’s possible to fall victim to cramps, digestive issues, dehydration, blisters and regular aches and pains—or just have a bad running day. Over the course of 26.2 miles, these issues can become major problems.

3. When things go wrong, you can literally add an hour to your overall race time. That means that rather than trying your absolute hardest for four hours, you might be trying your absolute hardest for five hours or more. Then, even after trying your absolute hardest for an extra hour of your life, you might finish feeling conflicted, or even disappointed, about your finish since your time wasn’t what you expected.

4. The rest of the world could care less about your time, and is more impressed with the fact that you simply finished than you could imagine.  I realized this for the first time last year, at a Halloween party a week after the marathon, when my non-running friends’ proud, enthusiastic expressions faded to blank stares when I started talking about my time. I saw it again this year, when I was inspired and impressed by every single runner I saw on the course. It’s normal and healthy to feel disappointed when race day doesn’t go the way you’d hoped. But in retrospect, I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to wrap my brain around the fact that crossing the finish line under less-than-perfect circumstances is a far bigger challenge than running a race quickly (it’s easy to keep going when things are going your way!). Congratulations to all Marine Corps finishers—you’re my heroes!

My 10K performance: The 10K was fabulous—well-organized, fun and maybe a little faster than I expected, despite my plan to jog it slooowly. I finished in 53:56, which isn’t bad considering a recent training hiatus for a broken toe (and considering the actual broken toe). The best part: the finish festival, where we got the same perks as marathoners.

Posing with the "Udder Cream" cow at the finish festival before cheering for the marathoners.

Quote of the day: “You know you’ve been cheering at a marathon too long when …” The “when” refers to “when runners who you cheered for at mile 23 are slightly freaked out when they hear the same random strangers calling out the names on their shirts at mile 25.”

Runners often say the marathon is 20 easy miles followed by the hardest 10K of your life.

Today, the Marine Corps Marathon countdown series focuses on those final miles, and on the techniques that can help get runners through them. The series is based on a chapter from an old edition of Runner’s World’s “Guide to Running,” which advocates visualizing a marathon in manageable chunks during your taper to prepare to run the race in manageable chunks come race day.

Miles 20 and 21 take runners across the I-395 bridge and into Crystal City, where they’ll run a quick out-and-back into the city, turning around at the 23-mile marker and heading to the finish line — and the hill at the Iwo Jima Memorial before it.

It may be helpful to break this part of the race into three portions: the bridge, the two miles out and back in Crystal City and the finish. The bridge is a long, boring hill just when you need a flat, spectator-filled city street. Imagine yourself running hard, posting evenly paced splits and even picking up the pace a little, focusing on your breathing and your form.

Happily, the end of the bridge means the start of Crystal City, where the course is flat and the sidewalks are packed with throngs of spectators. Lots of local running clubs set up through here, and offer snacks like gummy bears and pretzels. My favorite fan last year—the grim reaper, who held a sign declaring that “The end is near.” (Sadly, no photo!) Imagine yourself drinking this in, waving to spectators, giving high-fives to little kids with outstretched hands. These people are cheering for you, and the excitement in the air is palpable, because the end is, indeed, near.

The final stretch is—well, it’s another boring stretch of highway with a steep .2-mile hill at the end. Here’s the part where you dig deep, and remind yourself of the months of training you’ve put in. These miles are tough, but you’re ready for them, because you’ve trained hard and raced smart. Imagine yourself running strong and steady to the finish, where you’ll use up your last bit of energy on the short-but-steep .2-mile hill before crossing the finish line and picking up your finisher’s medal.

This is actually the exact route of the Marine Corps 10K, which I’ll be running on Sunday. My is-it-broken-or-is-it fine toe still hurts, but running for the past couple days hasn’t made it worse. Sooo, Sunday should be interesting. After three and a half weeks of no running, the challenge might actually just be finishing the 10K. Wish me luck.

And if you’re running either race on Sunday, good luck!

Other installments in this series:

Marine Corps Marathon countdown: visualizing miles one through five

Marine Corps Marathon Countdown: visualizing miles five through 10

Marine Corps Marathon Countdown: visualizing miles 10 through 15

Marine Corps Marathon countdown: visualizing miles 15 through 20

What motivated me to finish

These miles are often the tough ones.

Miles 15 through 20, or 18 to 21, or any combination of the numbers after the middle but not quite at the end of a marathon, often require the most mental sustenance to get through. The Marine Corps Marathon countdown series, which breaks down the miles of the marathon for pre-race mental preparation, tackles those miles today.

The series is based on a chapter from an old edition of Runner’s World’s “Guide to Running,” which advocates visualizing a marathon in manageable chunks during your taper to prepare to run the race in manageable chunks come race day. Here’s what the book has to say about the late middle miles: “This is a tough segment for many people. You have been running for at least two hours, yet you still can’t smell the finish. See yourself digging down, working hard, holding your own and starting to pass others.”

Marine Corps Marathon runners are lucky: This chunk of the race takes them on a big, glorious loop around the National Mall. A runner couldn’t ask for better eye candy than memorials, museums and other sights tourists travel thousands of miles to glimpse to keep from thinking of how much of the race is left.

One other treat during this stretch: Runners can pick up some Sports Beans at the aid station at mile 19. Sweet!

Stay tuned for the final installment tomorrow. Previous installments:

Marine Corps Marathon countdown: visualizing miles one through five

Marine Corps Marathon Countdown: visualizing miles five through 10

Marine Corps Marathon Countdown: visualizing miles 10 through 15

Next up in the Marine Corps Marathon countdown series: tips and tricks for mentally preparing for miles 11 through 15, when runners start to head through Potomac Park to Hains Point, then turn around to head back into downtown DC for a loop around the National Mall.

It’s part of an ongoing series leading up to the marathon, and it’s based on a chapter from an old edition of Runner’s World’s “Guide to Running,” which advocates visualizing the race in manageable chunks during your taper to prepare to run the race in manageable chunks come race day.

Today’s exercise: Imagine congratulating yourself for finishing the long downhill through Georgetown leading up to mile 10, which means you’ve made it through the race’s two significant hills (there’s the quick, .2-mile ascent to the finish line, but we’ll worry about that later). You still feel great, though you’re working a little harder now. You’re holding your pace, and are excited about the half-marathon point near Hains Point. You’re enjoying the bucolic park and water views on Ohio Drive, and are looking forward to looping back into the city. You’ve taken in plenty of water and PowerAde, and can grab a Clif shot just before the 13 mile marker. You’re feeling calm, confident and strong.

Study the course map for more information.

Check out visualization techniques for miles one through five here.

Click here for visualization techniques for miles six through 10.

A few other cool resources: The marathon has an awesome-looking app that lets friends and family track you from their smart phones Also, if you’re worried that some of the ouchies you’ve incurred over 26.2 miles might be something more serious than just muscle soreness, the Washington, D.C., physical therapy office Sports and Spinal Physical Therapy is offering free post-Marine Corps Marathon injury clinics. Runners can register for the clinics by contacting SSPT at info@ssptdc.com or 202-463-7611.

Speaking of injuries, it turns out I will not get to see the doctor about my weird, maybe-broken toe before the Marine Corps 10K on Sunday. But for the first time since I whacked my toe, hard, on a planter three and a half weeks ago, I ran yesterday—and it felt OK! The new plan is to jog the race on Sunday, and just see how that goes. I’ve got a doctor appointment next Tuesday, so if anything goes awry on Sunday, at least I’ll be able to attend to it quickly after the fact.

Welcome to the second installment of my five-day series of visualization exercises leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon. They’re based on an old edition of Runner’s World’s “Guide to Running” that suggests using every training run leading up to the marathon to visualize a chunk of miles on race day. Last year, I found that doing so leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon really helped me enforce positive imagery and ward off pre-race worries.

Today’s exercise: Visualize yourself running miles six through 10 of the race. You’re settled into your pace, and are running comfortably, taking in water and posting even splits. You feel strong and rested, and you know you’re going to have a great race.

For Marine Corps Marathon runners, this means a somewhat steep uphill through Georgetown miles six and seven, but then a long, lovely downhill miles eight and nine. You don’t mind the hills, because you’ve trained for them, and you know you’ll enjoy a flat course the rest of the race. And Georgetown is so pretty with its tony shopping district and immaculately maintained brick rowhouses, you have plenty to take your mind off the incline. Toward the end, you’ll get to run by the Lincoln Memorial with its steps filled with cheering, sign-holding spectators from top to bottom—truly one of the most moving experiences of my life.

Stay tuned for visualization techniques for other sections of the race, or see previous installments here:

Marine Corps Marathon countdown: visualizing miles one through five

Check out other tips and tricks from my experience last year at the links below:

Spectator’s guide

How to avoid Marine Corps Marathon taper tantrums

The ultimate Marine Corps Marathon playlist

What motivated me to enter

What motivated me to finish when the going got tough

Also, check out The Washington Post’s Marine Corps Marathon 2010 guide. It includes mini-profiles of inspiring runners, featuring a woman who trained for the race while undergoing chemotherapy.

As promised, today begins a five-day series of visualization exercises for every day leading up to the Marine Corps Marathon. They’re based on an old edition of Runner’s World’s “Guide to Running” that suggests using every training run (or stretching session—it IS taper week) leading up to the marathon to visualize a chunk of miles of the actual marathon. I wrote (and used!) these posts leading up to the marathon last year, and hope they help other runners break down the journey into bite-sized pieces.

Today’s exercise: Visualize yourself running the first five miles of the race. You’re feeling strong, letting other runners whiz past you — you’ll pass them later. You’re feeling good, even able to chat with runners around you.

Can't you just feel yourself running through the famous arches at the start?

For Marine Corps Marathon runners, this means the first mile through Rosslyn, the second and third miles on a slow uphill climb on Lee Highway/Spout Run, and the fourth and fifth miles in Georgetown. Runners can picture themselves stopping for water at mile 4, running evenly paced miles as the first section of the marathon rolls by.

Study the course map for more information. Tune in later this week for other installments in this feature, and check out other tips and tricks from my experience last year at the links below:

Spectator’s guide

How to avoid Marine Corps Marathon taper tantrums

The ultimate Marine Corps Marathon playlist

What motivated me to enter

What motivated me to finish when the going got tough

Also, check out The Washington Post’s Marine Corps Marathon 2010 guide. It includes mini-profiles of inspiring runners, featuring a woman who trained for the race while undergoing chemotherapy.

In other news, I wasn’t seen at the doctor yesterday for my weird, possibly broken toe, which I’m hoping will be OK for the Marine Corps 10K this weekend. Apparently, I’m better at running than I am at negotiating with insurance types. I have another appointment on Wednesday, and will be praying to the paperwork gods until then.