Amy Reinink

Chia seeds: I’m back. And look out, because this time, I brought my food processor.

After getting lots of tips from readers and fellow runners (thanks, guys!), I decided my next two attempts at enjoying these weird little seeds would involve smoothies and energy bars. So yesterday, I got out my food processor and my chia seeds, and tried the latter.

My bag of pesky chia seeds.

Matt at No Meat Athlete provided this tasty-looking recipe to avoid the “little globs of chia snot” in chia fresca. Also, Nina at Transition Multisport suggested a few bar and cookie ideas in her comments on my chia post earlier this week. I worked with what I had in my cupboard and basically just added the seeds to my own homemade Larabar recipe. Here’s how I did it:

Combine two tablespoons of almonds or cashews, dried cherries and chia seeds, plus five or six dates, in a food processor. Grind into a meal-like consistency. Form into bars. Freeze for a firmer consistency.

Ingredients in my yummy, homemade chia-Larabars.

I’m pleased to report that these were a major success, taste-bud-wise! Chia seeds almost taste like poppy seeds when they’re mingling with their nutty, fruity friends. The bad news: I had a bit of a stomach disaster while running last night—though it’s not clear whether the chia seeds were to blame, or if this was an unhappy coincidence. Next up: a chia-oatmeal “cookie,” with only stomach-friendly ingredients, so I can figure out once and for all whether chia seeds are my friend or foe.

Does this look tasty, or what?

Do you have a tasty bar, cookie or smoothie recipe that incorporates chia seeds? My food processor and I want to hear them!

If you’ve read “Born to Run,” you don’t need me to tell you there’s a higher purpose for chia seeds than growing sprout-like “hair” on a clay sculpture of an animal. In the book, Christopher McDougall describes how chia fresca—chia seeds, water, citrus juice and honey—serve as a “home brewed Red Bull” for the Tarahumara, a tribe of natural superathletes in Mexico who routinely run 50 to 100 miles at a time.

And that’s not where the seeds’ alleged super powers stop. Dr. Andrew Weil discusses the myriad health benefits of chia seeds  in this Prevention magazine column. A Huffington Post story titled—no joke—”Change Your Life With Chia” rattles off even more healthy, almost miraculous, properties.

What runner wouldn’t be curious? I picked up a pack of chia seeds at Whole Foods, and set out to make me some chia fresca.

The more messageboards I read, the more freaked out I got. One runner after another raved about the delicious drink, which they almost unfailingly described as “slimy” and “gel-like.” Really, runners? Aren’t “slimy” and “delicious” mutually exclusive?

I tried this Chia Fresca recipe from the aforementioned Huffington Post story, whose author describes it as “the perfect before-the-gym endurance drink:”

1 cup spring or filtered water
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 teaspoons fresh lemon or lime juice
2 teaspoons honey

Whisk the chia seeds into the water and allow them to soak for 10-15 minutes.

Waiting for the seeds to gel ...

Stir in lemon or lime juice and agave and whisk well. Drink immediately. Makes 1 serving.

Anything is less scary in a CU cup.

Guys, I tried. I really tried. And I almost vomited from the first sip. The gooey, slimy, chunky texture was just too much for me. I’m sure my opinion would be more favorable had a glass been given to me after 50-mile run through the Mexican desert, but in my kitchen before a swim at a DC pool, it’s a no-go.

But as horrified as I was by chia fresca, I wasn’t going to give up on chia seeds. Weil recommends sprinkling them a salad or mixing them into yogurt, and I tried the latter a few hours before my run on Tuesday.

I was too freaked out to eat the seeds knowingly ...

I masked the seeds, which I was now thoroughly freaked out by, with almonds and Kashi cereal, plus some berries and peaches from this week’s CSA offerings.

I kept adding stuff—almonds, cereal, fruit—until I forgot the chia seeds were in there.

I ate it a few hours before my run on Tuesday … and …

The jury’s still out. It tasted perfectly fine, but I’m not sure I felt any pronounced energy boost. My stomach felt a little gurgly during the run, but that likely has more to do with the uber-hilly route and the DC summer heat than the new fuel.

Next up: chia seeds in a smoothie, and chia energy bars, an idea I got from Matt at No Meat Athlete. Matt says he came to try this recipe to avoid the “little globs of chia snot” in chia fresca. Glad I’m not the only one!

Do you use chia seeds? What in the world do you put them in to make them tasty? Is chia fresca an acquired taste (if you tell me you loved it from Day 1, I’ll never touch the stuff again)?

It’s hard to remember when it’s early, when we’re tired, when it’s sticky and hot, when it’s not convenient, and when we have to hit the treadmill amid rainy, icky weather, why we work out. I’m struggling with a bit of that today, on my first day back from a whirlwind trip to San Diego last weekend. Yesterday, I’d planned to lift *and* swim today, but I’m already downgrading my workout to fit into a hectic first day back.

But here’s why I’m motivated to not bag the workout entirely: When I have the opportunity to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, ski in fresh powder or run alongside the Pacific Ocean, as I did last weekend (in the latter case), I don’t want to hesitate. I’m motivated by the knowledge that I’m training for life, which can include running on the semi-hard-pack sand in San Diego:

I ran on the beach in San Diego...

...where I enjoyed this view of Point Loma.

Running on oceanside paths in Carlsbad that offer vistas that soothe my soul:

I ran alongside the water in Carlsbad, where the trail offered views like this.

Enjoying fresh fish tacos guilt-free:

Fish tacos and homemade tortilla chips at Cessy's in Carslbad. Yummmm...

And dancing the night away at a best friend’s wedding (don’t doubt for a minute that this is a workout!):

Dancing the night away.

What’s motivating you this week?

I first discovered kale last winter, when I picked some up from the Silver Spring farmers market with great excitement after hearing foodie friends rave about it.

I didn’t get it. I tried steaming it, sauteing it, putting it in soup, eventually settling on a mix of all three to make it palatable.

So when I saw that this week’s CSA offerings included kale, I approached it like a supervillain in my kitchen (As in: We meet again, leafy greens I know I’m supposed to like).

Kale, lurking in the upper left corner of my CSA offerings.

Steaming it, then sauteing it, then putting it in soup all seemed like a bit much to make a food palatable, no matter how healthy it is, so I decided to try kale chips instead.

Here’s how:

Wash the kale, and *dry thoroughly* to prevent soggy chips. Tear leaves into chip-sized pieces. Coat each side of each leaf with cooking spray, garlic powder, pepper and more sea salt than could possibly be healthy, and arrange on a baking sheet without overlapping chips.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Eat. All in one sitting (or maybe that’s just me … ).

What’s your favorite use for kale? Any delicious, runner-friendly recipes you’ve discovered this week?

Answers to two obvious questions the title of this post may have spurred: Yes, I’m aware it’s June, and the first day of summer. No, I haven’t lost my mind.

You may recall that last winter, before I snapped my wrist in half snowboarding, Steve and I secured spots in this year’s candidate class to be ski patrollers at Whitetail, in Mercersburg, Penn., where we’ve spent the past two winters volunteering with the Mountain Safety Team. On Thursday, we attended our orientation meeting in Damascus, Md., kicking off what one instructor joked would be “the longest ski season of our lives,” thanks to Outdoor Emergency Care classes every Tuesday and Thursday night from August 31 through the start of the ski season, at which point we start ski and toboggan training (toboggan=the sled in which we will transport injured skiers down the mountain).

Skiing at Whitetail during last year's "snowpocalypse."

Obviously, we’ve got a while until the first snowfall. But the kickoff meeting made me realize that I’ve still got a looong way to go in terms of getting enough of my strength back to feel confident doing things like hauling sleds. So this week, my desire to be ready to go once the snow starts falling is motivating me to start seriously strength-training again.

I’m also motivated by:

Dumbbell push-ups. As of last week, I’m a proud occupational-therapy graduate (hooray!). At my last appointment, my therapist asked if there’s anything I still can’t do that I’d like to be able to, and I confessed that regular push-ups—the kind that require your wrists to bend at 90-degree angles and support your body weight—are still nearly impossible. His answer: Use dumbbells as handles, which is much better for your wrists, anyway. And man! Does that ever give your chest a good workout! Check out this helpful how-to from Oxygen magazine.

Getting outside. Next month, we’ll head to Pennsylvania for a two-night, pseudo-backpacking trip to the Michaux State Forest. On Sunday, we got our hiking legs ready with a quick hiking trip to Harpers Ferry, W.Va. The steep incline challenged our quads and elevated our heart rates, while the stunning vistas soothed our souls—sort of the whole point of hiking and camping, and even more motivation to stay strong enough to enjoy it.

I'm smiling because we made it to the top.

In the “don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone” department: Last week, I learned that my regular pool, the Takoma Aquatic Center, would close for the summer for renovations. It was a flashback to a year ago, when my beloved pool at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda was razed, wrecking my routine and threatening my training schedule. Heartbroken, I immediately started searching for other pools near my home—until DC’s Department of Parks and Recreation announced my pool wouldn’t be closing, after all. It’s like the swimming gods were testing my motivation, and I passed.

My beloved pool at the Takoma Aquatic Center.

Taking things one bird at a time. Last week, my work to-do list, plus my running and swimming training goals, left me feeling a little overwhelmed. This great analogy of Anne Lamott’s about taking writing one small step at a time brought me back to earth: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said. ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'”

What’s motivating you this week?

It’s been nearly four months since my surgery to fix my broken wrist. As of earlier this week, I’m an occupational-therapy graduate, meaning I get six hours back every week (three appointments per week, each of which takes two hours from door to door). I’m thrilled to report that, when I used my first therapy-free hours for a mid-day swim session, I managed my first normal workout of 3,000 yards since the wrist break—just swimming, no kick sets!

My early post-surgery swims felt like I was working with one arm (my left, unbroken one) and one rake (my stiff, weak right one). But this swim felt gloriously smooth, easy enough for me to take for granted all the tiny motions in my hand and wrist that propel me through the water. Here’s the workout that helped me get my groove back:

1,650 warmup, starting slow, picking up the pace each 500 yards

Three X 200 IM, two X 300 free, alternating.

Six X 25, no breath

In other news, I want to pass along two victories:

1. I hope you’ll forgive this gratuitous self-promotion: I won second place for online news/features in the 2009 DC Society of Professional Journalists Dateline Awards! It was for a story I wrote for the Center for Public Integrity about alternative septic systems, The “soft underbelly” of development? Alternative septic systems a troublesome fix for rural areas. I know this has nothing to do with running or swimming, but runners and swimmers need wastewater management systems, too (plus, I promise it’s more interesting than you think!).

Here’s what the judge had to say: “Here’s an example of a “who knew” story that has real quality-of-life and dollars-and-cents implications for a pretty substantial area. People who buy pretty houses for a pretty penny don’t always think much about what happens when they flush or do a load of laundry. Some people with alternative septic systems have found out the hard way that their systems are not only high-maintenance and costly to fix when a problem arises, but their use also could have an effect on drinking-water quality in some cases. The fact that there’s no licensing requirement for septic-system installers just adds to the eyebrow-raising this story prompts. Good visuals made this story easier for real people to understand.”

Aww! Thanks, judge!

2. I also succeeded in making kale chips! Enjoyment of kale has eluded me until I roasted the leaves at 350 degrees after coating them with cooking spray, garlic powder and sea salt. Expect a full post, with pictures, next Wednesday. Also, don’t expect to see any kale chips at my house—you better believe I ate those puppies in one sitting.

Before all the monkey business with my wrist started, I was on a quest to find more runner-friendly recipes—those nutritional power-house meals that taste delicious and sit easy in the stomach for upcoming workouts. I’m revisiting that goal now, and trying a new regular feature sharing whichever of these recipes, with an added twist: They’ll also involve whatever goodies I get in my weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share from Norman’s Farm Market.

Last week's CSA included lots of squash—perfect pre-race fuel!

The first week’s edition isn’t a recipe so much as my new go-to lunch before an evening run. I enjoyed one of these tasty little pitas before the Clifton Caboose 5K last Saturday, and found it was enough to fill me up for the afternoon without sitting like a rock in my stomach come race-time.

I started by cutting a few summer squashes into chunks, sprinkling them with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder, and cooking them in a grill pan …

… until they were criss-crossed with grill marks …

… then, stuffed them into a toasted, whole-wheat pita. Suggested additions: red pepper strips (totally not in season; sorry, Michael Pollan!), tomato paste (thanks for the idea, Angela at Oh She Glows!).

My pita was so delicious, I couldn't resist taking a few bites as soon as it was ready!

Unnecessary disclaimer: I’m not a nutritionist or a chef or anything; just a home cook and middle-of-the-pack runner with a finicky stomach.

Another unnecessary disclaimer: I admittedly don’t have the whole stomach-friendly thing down just yet, as illustrated by my ill-fated decision to snack on almonds and cashews at 5:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon, leading to a puketastic 7 p.m. group run.

Which runner’s-stomach-friendly foods and recipes are you relying on right now?

We lined up for the Clifton Caboose 5K on Saturday evening just as the kids’ 1-miler was finishing. The first little dudes to finish tore down the road, red-faced and wheezing, using every last bit of energy in their little bodies to propel themselves toward the finish line. They weren’t thinking about the humidity, or the fact that it was raining, or how their legs were tired from the hilly course, or whether they’d net a PR. They were just running their little hearts out, and when race volunteers handed them blue finisher’s ribbons, they grinned like they’d won the lottery.

Could there be any better motivation? By the time the 5K started at about 6:30 p.m., I felt I had little choice but to try to follow suit, shedding my expectations and internal trash-talking and just running my little heart out.

First, a little background: I found this friendly race in the adorable, historic town of Clifton, Va., through Race Director Gary Anderson, who found this blog after suffering a nearly identical wrist break, wrist surgery and post-surgery recovery to mine last February. Anderson invited me and Steve to Clifton months ago, back when I assumed my wrist break would be a distant memory by June 12.

Posing with Gary Anderson in front of the big red barn post-race. No splints or casts in sight!

Can I tell you how wonderful this little race was? Pre-race packet pickup and the post-race party took place in a red barn owned by the Clifton Betterment Association, giving it a comfortable, small-town feel before the race even began. Saturday was a steamy day with thunderstorms in the forecast, but the only rain to speak of was a slight drizzle before the race.

Anderson warned us before the race that the out-and-back course was hilly and challenging, with a long uphill on the way out, a steep one right before the turnaround and some rollers on the way back. He was right on all counts. But it was also lovely, on a quiet, leafy country road with scenery pretty enough to take one’s mind of the uphill. And having been warned, the hills weren’t too bad—just bad enough to be glad you train on some serious quad-busters.

Like any out-and-back course, it was fun watching the speedsters zoom by after the turnaround. And despite its small size (I think I recall volunteers saying about 400 people ran the race), there were some speedsters, with the winners holding sub-six-minute-mile pace.I finished in 24:30 (gun time; I clocked 24:19)—not my best time, but far from my worst, especially considering the weather and the hills. Steve wasn’t in the racing mood, so in a rare treat, he ran with me.

The best part of the race is the charming post-race party back at the big red barn. Post-race munchies mostly consisted of vats of fresh fruit, which I loaded up on. Steve headed for the keg of Sierra Nevada—not bad for free beer offerings, no?

Big vats of fruit=heaven after a hilly race on a steamy night!

I was having so much fun listening to the band playing inside the barn and chatting with the lucky residents of this cool little town, I almost missed it when my name was called during the awards ceremony—I’d won my age group! I immediately put my medal around my neck, grinning like I’d won the lottery. Anderson joked that I now have some hardware to go with my hardware, referring to the titanium plate in my wrist.

Biggest surprise of the night: hearing my name called during the awards ceremony for winning the 30-39 women's age group! Hard to feel too bad about running 24 minutes and change when someone gives you a medal!

A friend who saw my photos commented that it looked like the most charming athletic event she’d ever seen. I’m inclined to agree, and plan to return next year. You know—to defend my title and all.

Post-race party at the big red barn.

Other motivators: Though I wasn’t quite confident enough in my swimming to tackle the 1-Mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim Sunday, which I’d signed up for pre-wrist-break, I did swim a 3,000-yard workout Sunday without working in any kick sets—and it felt great! I also got a boost from running well in the heat and humidity—a major confidence-booster before I start training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend.

What’s motivating you this week?

Don’t you love the start of a new training cycle? Your training plan looks all perfect before you begin, not yet marred by skipped speed workouts and abbreviated long runs. Motivation abounds, and just the thought of your goal race is enough to get you out the door to run, or to make you choose the heavier dumbbells at the gym.

A couple weeks ago, I signed up for the The Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon. I’m in that phase during which I’m in love with everything about this Labor Day weekend race: flat and fast, highly organized, not too far from home. I’m daydreaming about hanging out with my running buddies at the post-race party, and about spending part of the long weekend at the beach. My first marathon was the Country Music Marathon in Nashville in 2007, so I’m well familiar with the slick, highly organized format of the Rock ‘n’ Roll race series—it might be crowded at the start, but I’m already looking forward to the well-stocked aid stations and ice-water-soaked towels at the finish line.

The race finishes at the beach. How cool is that?

The only downside I can forsee is the potential for unforgiving late-summer heat on what looks to be a largely shade-less course. But there will be plenty of time to worry about that when the honeymoon phase is replaced by the sinking dread of reality.

Starting at the end of the month, I’ll be following my beloved FIRST plan, in which I run only three days per week, but run them hard; swim or cycle at a decent intensity level for at least 30 to 60 minutes two or three days a week; and take one or two days off. My running days will consist of a tempo run, a speed workout and a long run.

A reminder of why I like FIRST: The training plans are designed by two exercise physiologists and marathoners who noticed their marathon times got better, not worse, when they trained for triathlons. I first tried it leading up to the National Half Marathon on March 21, 2009, and I ran my best time by several minutes. More importantly, I crossed the finish line uninjured.

In their helpful and entertaining book, Runner’s World Run Less, Run Faster, the FIRST guys suggest the following paces:

• Track repeats should be run at 5K race pace or slightly faster. No problem; that’s what I’d be doing already … if I were currently doing any speedwork.
• The long run should be about 30 seconds slower than your goal marathon pace. Which I would totally be doing … if I were currently doing any long runs.
• The tempo run should be “comfortably hard,” 15 to 45 seconds slower than 5K pace. This means I’ve got to start picking up the pace to somewhere between 7:45-minute miles (ha!) and 8:15-minute miles.

Runner’s World also offers some helpful translations in its three-days-a-week half-marathon plan, which follows the spirit of the FIRST plan with fewer specifics to wrap your brain around.

Have you done the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon before? What did you think? Anything you wish you’d known before the race?

We headed to our group run last Tuesday just a few hours after getting off a plane from Tampa. It was a hilly route, and after two weeks of birthday fun, vacation workouts (swimming in the Gulf for 15 minutes is the same as 3,000 yards in the pool, right?) and an Indian wedding (just *try* to tell the aunties from India you’re full), I was dragging. Steve had looped back around to ferry me up the last major hill of the route, looking a bit bedraggled himself.

My "workout" one day in Florida consisted of a few laps along the shore of an island in the Gulf.

“Turns out cookies and brownies and ice cream aren’t the best training foods,” he grunted. Had I been able to breathe, I would have grunted in agreement.

It’s not like either of us thought stuffing our faces with rich, sugary foods and squeezing in halfhearted 30-minute runs was a winning strategy for speed and endurance. It’s just that it’s stunning to see how quickly you can go from feeling awesome and in shape to feeling like you’ve gained 20 pounds in samosas alone (which would have been worth every ounce if this were true, by the way).

But I didn’t spend long feeling bad about this. Training, like anything else in life, has its ups and downs. Taking it easy for a few weeks every once in a while—hopefully, on account of weddings and vacations rather than traumatic injuries—gives us the motivation to crank up the intensity all those other weeks. That’s why I’ve decided to not only accept, but embrace, my recent slackerdom, even as I get back into the swing of my regular routine (which includes hill and speed workouts, and not celebrating 3 p.m. with my daily piece of leftover birthday cake).

In that spirit, this week, I’m motivated by:

• My rough but fun 10K on Sunday. My finish time at the ZOOMA Annapolis 10K on Sunday was perhaps my worst 10K time ever —likely a combination of the heat, the hills and my decision to take a second piece of the chocolate wedding cake with cookies ‘n’ cream icing (trust me: you would have, too). But it was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a race, once the whole “running” part was through, thanks to free wine and a crew of good running buddies. The longer I run, the more I appreciate having a good time rather than running one.
• Another fun race in its wake in the Clifton Caboose Twilight 5K this Saturday. Race Chairman Gary Anderson, who regular readers know suffered a similar wrist break to mine last February, saved me a spot in this race back when running was a faraway post-surgery dream. He described the course this way in the Clifton Connection newspaper: “It’s a little hilly and fairly challenging. It’s also very scenic and, I think, one of the more unique races in the area. It’s a twilight run and, being out in this rural area, it’s quiet and peaceful.” A little hilly? Challenging? Ah, well—at least it involves live music and free beer at a post-race party in an old red barn.
• More ups and downs in my future, in the form of hill training. After ZOOMA, I vowed to renew my commitment to improving my performance on hills. Soon after, I got an e-mail with tonight’s group-run route that included the phrases: “hill workout” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” (gulp)
• A new training cycle. I’m officially signed up for the The Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon on Sept. 5! I’ll start training using my beloved FIRST plan to train for it starting the first week of July.
• A new plan for posting on this blog. I never really found my way back to daily posts after being unable to type post-wrist surgery. My new plan is to post here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with Motivation Mondays and runner-friendly recipes making weekly appearances. Thanks for sticking with me through the past few months of sporadic updates (such as posting a Motivation Monday on a Tuesday). I’m happy to be back on the wagon now, in more ways than one.