One of the good things about an injury is that it forces you to take a step back and look at why it happened (I did that). Another thing it does is make you miss running! I think I did a pretty good job managing this [emptiness? longing? sadz? not sure of the right word here...] when I was down for the count, but now that I’m out on the roads/bridle path again I remember how awesome it is to run. I’ve been running every other day right now, and let me tell you, looking forward to the next run on those “off” days is awesome.
My official diagnosis from my sports medicine/ortho doc was quadriceps insertional tendonitis with some small tearing, so damage and inflammation to the tendon connecting the quad to the kneecap. To get the knee back on track (literally and figuratively!), I was told to make ice my best friend, keep doing my PT exercises and weights to strengthen the area and cross train if it didn’t hurt. So that’s pretty much what I did, in addition to many visits with Dr. Levine for ART and stim, which were life savers. So far so good, and as is typical for me, am already thinking about future training. After watching some awesome performances at Boston, I’ve been wondering if getting a coach or involved with a running group or team would help me get faster and expand my running horizons a bit. Cost is always an issue (turns out running coaches aren’t cheap and likely won’t accept payment in cupcakes like Coach John did), but it’s something to think about!
quinoa bowls*
In my last post, I talked a little about looking at food as fuel and nutrition as an essential part of any training plan for the strongest running and performance. Lately, I’ve been really into making “one pot wonder” quinoa bowls because not only are they easy and quick to make, but full of protein, vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, antioxidants and fiber. Can’t get much better than that!
You can pretty much use any combination of veggies, a sauce like pesto or salsa, additional protein and cheese (optional) to get a great bowl, like this:
- 1/2 cup dry quinoa
- 1 cup kale, chopped
- 1/4 cup diced onion
- 1-2 cups other veggies of your choice
- 1 tbsp sauce
- 3 ounces lean protein, tofu or beans
- 1 ounce cheese (optional)
Instructions
Cook the quinoa by following directions on the package, and when it’s about halfway through, throw all of the veggies into the pot. They will steam as the quinoa finishes cooking. Once all of the water is absorbed, mix the quinoa and veggies together and throw in the lean protein, tufu or beans, cheese and sauce and mix well. Dump into a bowl and enjoy!
this one is Mexican-inspired – kale, mushroom, string beans, corn, black beans, avocado (added after cooking), tomato and peach mango salsa.
Another version I like is Italian-inspired with pesto and mozzarella cheese with asparagus, tomato and grilled chicken. Delicious and perfect as a post-run meal for optimal refueling.
*maybe other RDs can relate, but every time I went to type “bowls” in this post, I wrote “bowels” instead. #RDProblems