Comeback Sunday 15K (ish) and Butternut Squash Risotto

Since I had to send my Garmin FRW60 back to Garmin’s headquarters to get repaired, I had to wing it with this run. I should have been running the Team Challenge 1/2 marathon for Chron’s and Colitis so I decided to run a 15K in its honor.

This is only the second time I’ve run this distance; after the Boilermaker and my stress fracture, I haven’t run more than 8.5 miles. It was nice to be able to pound this out.

Thanksgiving’s 8.5 mile run took me 1:16:37, so I figured if I ran the same route but added 8 minutes to my time (to be safe) I should be right at or around 15K.

It was COLD today so although I woke up at 7 I didn’t set out for my run until 11:30. I wanted to let the sun do its job and warm things up a bit, so I ate at around 8-8:15 to be sure that I had enough time for everything to settle before I ran. Just before I took off, I downed about 4 oz. of my Black Cherry Just Cherry juice and took off. I added .6 miles off the bat by running an extra loop around the park by my house and then continued to run the same loop as last week (I also ran 2 extra blocks at the end to ensure it was at least 9.3)

I felt great except for the fact that it was so cold. It took me about 2.5 miles to warm up since there was a bitter wind that cut me down to the bone. By the middle of the run, I was running away from the wind and it warmed up a few degrees so my fingers stopped feeling like they were going to fall off. (Didn’t I leave the Northeast to get away from this crap? It was 39* with a wind chill of 32, and it snowed yesterday. WTF?)

At around 50 minutes in I ate about 100 calories worth of raisins. I’m not sure if these really did any good for me, since I ended up kind of getting a little bit of a stomach ache from them. Nothing major, but enough for me to notice.

Long story short, after sprinting the extra 2 blocks from where I ended last Thursday, I looked at my MP3 player and it said I had been running for 1:24:56. This includes slowing down for the ice on the sidewalks and having to wait to cross the street at a light. Not bad. I ran the Boilermaker in 1:31:16, but it was VERY hilly. Like, 8 miles all uphill, and that’s not an understatement. I’m not ready to say that I’ll PR next year but this made me feel good about how far I’ve come since July.

When I got home I pounded a small glass of milk and I think this is where my problem started. I’ve been trying really hard to figure out what’s been making me gassy and bloated after my long runs and right now I’m blaming the milk. (Warning: TMI coming) I have been so bloated and extremely gassy, and the milk has to be the culprit. So now I know that milk is not a good thing for me to drink as post-run recovery fuel and raisins might not be the best way to get calories while I’m running.  It’s a game of trail and error my friends.

Now it’s time for my CrockPot recipe of the week: Butternut Squash Risotto

I’ve never had risotto before, so when I found a recipe in my Fresh Vegetarian Slow Cooker book I thought it would be worth trying. The recipe called for 1/4 white wine and 3 3/4 cups of broth but I didn’t have a bottle of wine open. And it also called for dried porcini and cremini mushrooms, which I didn’t have, so I subbed the squash instead.

In my CrockPot went;

• 1  1/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1.5 cups butternut squash, dice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

1. In a pan, sautée the onions for about five minutes.
2. While they’re cooking, put the oil and rice in the CrockPot and stir to coat.
3. Next add the onions to the CrockPot, along with everything else but the parmesan cheese.
4. Cover and cook on high for 2.5 hours.
5. Open the CrockPot and stir to check consistency. It should be thick like porridge.
6. Add cheese and stir once more.
7. Eat. Enjoy.

SOOOO good. I can’t believe I’ve never had risotto before! After reading some reviews of CrockPot risotto, it’s apparently not as good as the stovetop kind where you slave over the pot, but I think it’s awesome. Yum!

Have I mentioned that I love my CrockPot?