Banana + Peanut Butter

I forgot what nine miles is like: hard. The first half is all sweet and lovely, going along at a good clip and looking up at the birds, with a nice little downward slope at the end leading to the beach (the view, too, is worth the push). But what was so effortless going down is excrutiating coming back; that long, gradual uphill through Golden Gate Park is a killer.

Still, I did it, and I'm glad. It's been a bit of a road back this past half-year or so due to injury -- this summer, even, I had to lay off the running for over six weeks, which, to a runner, is nearly unfathomable. I have secret hopes of a marathon next October, but I also know I shouldn't get ahead of myself; to run nine miles today and feel mostly OK, is enough, and I am grateful.

If one of my new year's goals is to incorporate more core training into my daily routine, I should also try to be better about refueling when I finish a run. I'm ashamed to admit -- and Runner's World would surely chastise me -- but more often than not, I come back and unless I've run longer than usual, I rarely eat anything other than quickly drinking a glass of orange juice or water before moving on to the next thing. Today was particularly deplorable: there wasn't much in the house (we were out of my favorite post-run meal of a veggie burger slathered with cheese and avocado) so I tried to satiate myself with a bowl of rather stale organic corn flakes doused with soy milk.

But then, oh then, I dragged myself up the hill to the store, and bought bananas.



I dream about this snack (truly), and really it's the perfect post-run (or post-work, or post-walk or or or) sustenance. Protein in the peanut butter replaces the calories burned, and the potassium in the banana soothes the weary muscles. Plus, oh yeah, it tastes really good. I prefer my peanut butter to be very cold, straight from fridge to fruit to mouth.

This afternoon I brewed a strong cup of Typhoo to wash down that gooey-sticky deliciousness and stretched out my legs, knowing they will be super sore tomorrow. But I don't mind.



See? Perfection.

Also: I am migrating this little blog to http://cucinanicolina.com pretty soon, but there will be fair warning.