This has been a very difficult running week for me. The combination of being weary of the gym treadmill and a waning motivation is turning my efforts into an unpleasant struggle. I am counting down the weeks until the weather turns cool.
After 2 days of “fizzle” (Monday-1 mi, Tuesday-2 mi), I finally had a successful 6 mi run on Wednesday, putting me back on track for the week. Thursday marked another okay run, 4 miles, so my plan to run the 11.1 mi Cades Cove Loop on Saturday is a go. John has signed on to be my support crew, a decision that will also provide him the opportunity to get in some bicycle miles.
With a big run on tap, I have been carbo loading. Whether this will actually help my physical performance is an unknown but if I can get some mental mileage, the effort will be worthwhile.
Last night I made an improvised version of “Fettuccine with Tomatoes, Basil and Crisp Bread Crumbs”. The original recipe originated in the Weeknight Kitchen newsletter, published by Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table fame. http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/
The ingredients are simple: fettuccine noodles (I used linguine), cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and bread crumbs (I used dry, it calls for fresh baked). The entire effort took about 10 minutes. While the noodles cooked, I picked tomatoes and basil from my patio garden. Next I whisked the olive oil and vinegar together, added a little s & p and mixed in the sliced the tomatoes (still warm from the afternoon sun) and chopped basil. The mixture was added to the cooked noodles, bread crumbs sprinkled on top and ta da, dinner. A tossed salad could be added but I was too lazy to fix one! Yum, yum!
Tonight was a similar effort, using linguine noodles, adding basil pesto, shrimp and Parmesan cheese. We also added a salad full of fresh vegetables on the side. Happy eating!
