Simmering Soup

"We encourage all athletes not to rush the process of becoming their best; to know that mastery takes time. Go slower, arrive sooner is the ultimate paradox of athletic accomplishment." - Warren Scott, MD sports medicine and accomplished runner.

Right now I am sitting at my desk with muddy shoes, wet running clothes and a slight pungent smell that is all around me. I kind of like the smell of my own sweat...

This is my first post run blog entry, which almost didn't happen because originally, I was supposed to go the gym today. After a long day at the office and a prior night of little sleep I should have gone straight to the gym and not home onto my couch.

I woke up at 6:30pm, which was the exactly when I was to meet an old friend. My friend came over and we went to McDonalds. I will admit, not part of my goals or a "marathoning" lifestyle but I guess it reminded us of when we were younger.

I knew that by the time we finished hanging out and she left my apartment the only type of exercise I could do was run.

My friend is really sick, so when we got back to my place from McDonald's I thought that it would be nice to make her some homemade vegetable soup.

I must digress for a moment. Over the holidays I was able to catch up with my dad's twin sister. She grew up on a farm in Norther BC. She has owned several successful restaurants; currently she owns one on Vancouver Island in Duncan. On Christmas Eve I talked to her for about 45 minutes about the secrets to making good soup. This is what she emphatically told me.

"The secret to every good soup is the broth!"

Donna's Vegetable Soup
Part1

In a large pot on medium heat pour two table spoons of olive oil. Dice 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 leek, 1 carrot, 1/2 a sweet potato, 1 stick of celery. Place in pot and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Add 8 to 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45min. Let cool. Strain and throw away vegetables (you have the good stuff in the broth). What you have left is delicious broth. Take half your broth and freeze it.

Part2

With half you broth add 1 diced carrot, 1 cooked and diced piece of chicken, 1/2 a diced onion, 1 cup of noodles, and one diced stick of celery (if there is something else that you think would taste good add it, its hard to mess up soup). Bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes. Don't forget to add salt and pepper. Most of all enjoy.

I gave my sick friend some soup that she took home. As soon as she left, I got dressed for my run.

I live on the west side of Vancouver. Sometimes there is less traffic here than in the sleepy town of Chemainus where I grew up. This makes it a great place to run, but this is Vancouver and you can bet that at 8:30pm in January it will likely be raining. This, in combination with the fact that I was sore from my two hour run on Monday and hour run yesterday, did not have me thrilled about putting on my running shoes. I decided to make it a short run (30 min) and take it really easy, which got me out the door.

This is the first time that I have gone for a run and come home to soup on the stove that I made myself. It tastes pretty good!

Resolution: Even if you put bad things into your body, take care of yourself with nutritious food.