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ChiRunning

April 30, 2008 by brianglass

I recently picked up a book called ChiRunning at my local bookstore. I have been practicing Taiji for several years now, though I haven’t attended classes in several years. I’ve been afraid that I’m diverging from where I should be because of lack of corrections from my teacher. Hopefully in the next year or two I will go back to school.

Taiji is an ancient (i.e. traditional) Chinese martial art and exercise. Meld that with the most fundamental and oldest form of human exercise in existence and you have ChiRunning.

I thought it would be interesting to see how application of Taiji principles to running would affect my marathon training. I am about 1/3 through the book now and already it has revolutionized my running. Running used to be a chore and 30-50 minutes of unpleasantness. Now I actually look forward to my runs and miss running on my off days. What used to be difficult now feels almost effortless.

As far as the book goes, the first four chapters seem a bit repetitive and there to just increase the page count. They could be compressed into 1 chapter in my opinion. It matters not. The techniques Danny presents starting in chapter 4 are well worth wading through the first 4 to get to.

This book is a must read for anyone who runs, even if you’ve never done Taiji.

Posted in books, exercise | Leave a Comment »

Life Expectancy

April 30, 2008 by brianglass

I’ve been meaning to post about life expectancy since a friend asked me about it recently. Now I don’t have to. Bryan has posted an excellent analysis of the situation.

Posted in foodosophy | 2 Comments »

Keeping it Fresh

April 9, 2008 by brianglass

No, I’m not talking about keeping food fresh.

For me, staying interested in something can sometimes be a struggle. For me it is important to keep things fresh and new in order to hold my interest. That sounds odd coming from a blog about tradition as it relates to food. Yes, I want to follow wise traditions in my cooking, but for me that means learning new things (we’ve been too familiar with unwise traditions).

So how do I do it? Well, I don’t always succeed, but I have a simple technique for keeping things fresh. My family isn’t too thrilled about it because they are not adventuresome when it comes to food. But I attempt to try making 1 new thing per week, or at least every other week. If we decide we don’t like it, I don’t make it again. If we do, it gets added to my repertoire.

Last week I tried whipped sweet potatoes. These are essentially mashed potatoes with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. I threw in some salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and milk and I really liked them. Nobody else did and so I probably won’t keep them in my repertoire.

Posted in foodosophy | 4 Comments »

Marathon

March 18, 2008 by brianglass

Now I’ve done it. I have payed the big bucks to run in the Chicago Marathon. That pretty much means I’m committed.

I’ll be working on a way to continue my weight lifting in addition to my marathon training program. My goal will not be to gain muscle, but to maintain what I have gained over the last year or so.

One thing is for sure, diet will play a huge role in my training program. I’m starting to think now of how to get more liver into my diet. I’d also like to get some water kefir grains to make hydration drinks.

The race is in October. I’ll be posting about my discoveries and progress along the way.

Posted in exercise | 1 Comment »

Expensive Food

March 7, 2008 by brianglass

Most people I know decide what food to buy by comparing prices. If you have two chickens of equal weight and one costs $1 more than the other, the cheapest one is by and large the one that gets purchased. A chicken is a chicken, right?

Even many of the people who purchase organic foods spend the extra money not for a better chicken, but for the absense of synthetic chemicals.

What most Americans overlook is the issue of food quality. There is a difference between the $6.80/lb sirloin steak I buy from my farmer, and the steak that costs less than half of that from Wal-mart. While yes, the steak straight from the farm doesn’t have the bad chemicals or growth hormones, it is also grass fed, which means that it is drastically higher in omega 3 fatty acids, CLA, and a list other nutrients too long to list. Likewise, organic vegetables aside from being free of pesticides have also been shown to be as much as 30% higher in various nutrients than conventionally grown produce.

The fact of the matter is that your body wants and needs these things. Most people don’t notice an immediate difference in how they feel or how their body operates and so figure why spend the extra money. I’m here to tell you that it does make a difference over time. It requires consistency.

We are willing to spend money on expensive homes and cars, sophisticated home theater systems, clothes, lawn-care, computers, jewelry, and $5 Starbucks coffee, but we are unwilling to spend a little extra on the food that goes into our bodies. As long as it tastes the same who cares, right?

Your car will last you maybe 10-15 years. Your home theater system will be obsolete in 5 years. Your computer will be obsolete the day after you buy it. Your clothes will be out of style next year.

Your body will be with you for a lifetime.

Where should you spend your money?

Posted in foodosophy | 5 Comments »

Dad’s Stuff and Junk

February 29, 2008 by brianglass

stuffandjunk.jpgEvery few weeks I make what we call Dad’s Stuff and Junk for Saturday breakfast. It varies from week to week depending on what I have on hand, but usually goes something like this.

Dice potatoes into half-inch cubes. Saute rosemary and garlic in butter, lard, or olive oil or a combination of those for a couple minutes and then add the potatoes with salt and pepper. Close the lid for 10 minutes and then take it off and turn the potatoes. Leave the lid off and fry for another 10 minutes.

In another pan, saute onions in butter until soft. Add ham, bacon, or sausage and cook until done. Whisk some eggs together with some cream, salt, pepper, and just a bit of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Dump the eggs in with the meat and cook until done. Add some chopped tomatoes.

Combine everything and mix it up. Add some grated cheese if desired.

UPDATE (6/28/08): Here are some recent improvements in this dish. I use stainless steel pans for all but the eggs.

For the potatoes, set the pan on medium-low (about 2.5-3 on a scale of 1-10). I generally use a combination of butter and olive oil. Make sure it is preheated before adding the potatoes. Cook with the lid closed for 8 minutes and with it off for 8-10 minutes depending on how crispy you want the potatoes.

For sausage, saute on all sides on medium-low until browned and there is fond (the brown stuff) stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add butter and onions and season with salt and pepper. The liquid that comes out of the onions will help to deglaze the pan. If there is still fond stuck to the bottom toward the end of cooking, deglaze with a little water or just a tiny splash of dry red wine or stock.

Cook the eggs separately in a non-stick pan with some butter. Add some of the chilpotle to both the eggs and the onion/meat mixture.

I use whatever fresh herbs I have on hand. Generally that’s rosemary and thyme. Sometimes I use oregano. Chives and/or parsley makes a good garnish.

Posted in breakfasts, cooking | 3 Comments »

Food Fun

February 23, 2008 by brianglass

p1110134.jpgp1110135.jpgIf you want your kids to eat your cooking, sometimes you have to make the food fun. For breakfast this morning we had fried leftover mashed potatoes, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, orange quarters, and Gouda from Holland.

Posted in breakfasts, family | Leave a Comment »

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