The Long Run

Spikes Q&A: If I Wasn't a Runner I Would Be...

Recently I had a chance to speak with Steve Landells of Spikes Magazine about my passion for film and what I would be doing if I hadn't become a professional runner. Check it out (link is below). http://www.spikesmag.com/features/shannonrowburyonthebigscreen.aspx

My Aunt's Ice Cream Cookie Recipe

In 2008, I contributed a recipe to The Runner's Cookbook: Winning Recipes from Some of the World's Best Athletes, a cookbook benefiting the Ryan Shay Memorial Fund and the Jenny Crain "Make it Happen"Fund.

The recipe I submitted (Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches) was created by my Aunt Susie, who was a dietitian before she died of Ovarian Cancer in 2002. I have many fond memories of playing around in the kitchen with Susie -- as she experimented with recipe ratios she would also teach me how to eat well and find the foods that would best fuel my body.

Recently my dad forwarded me a link to the blog of someone else who has been enjoying my aunts ice cream cookie recipe. Although Jessica made her post awhile back (Food for Fun: Shannon Rowbury's Nutty Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches), her "Holy Delicious!" exclamation in response to the recipe put a big smile on my face. 

In case you're interested in a sweet treat, I have copied the recipe below. Don't be intimidated by all the verbiage. The recipe is actually quite easy, I am just a detail oriented person...

Nutty Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

 

My Aunt, Karen Sue Hovde, created this recipe several years ago. She died of Ovarian Cancer in November of 2001, but her cookies are still one of my favorite desserts. You can eat them with a tall glass of milk, or make them into ice cream sandwiches, which we do every Thanksgiving in memory of Sue.

 

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup butter at room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 cup all purpose flour, sifted

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips

2 cups chopped walnuts

½ cup shredded dry coconut (preferably unsweetened)

 

Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt (vanilla is good)

 

Directions:

1. Cream together the vanilla, butter, white sugar, brown sugar and egg until well blended and smooth in consistency
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl then add to the egg-sugar mixture and blend well
3. Add the chocolate chips, walnuts and coconut and blend well
4. Use a small ice cream scoop to make uniform cookie balls.  You can bake whatever you want to eat now and freeze the remaining cookie balls for later

 

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Put cookie dough onto ungreased cookie tray
3. To make dense, chewy cookies, bake for approximately 5 minutes then take cookie tray out of the oven and drop it on a hard surface.  This will cause the cookies to “collapse” as they are cooking which makes them more chewy
4. Continue this process every 5 minutes until the cookies are browned and the middle of the cookie looks ready (it shouldn’t look raw in the middle).  The cookies normally take about 15 minutes to bake in our oven

 

To Assemble Ice Cream Sandwiches:

1. Let the cookies cool completely
2. Place one small scoop of ice cream on top of one cookie
3. Place a second cookie on top of the ice cream and gently press together until the ice cream is evenly distributed between the two cookies
4. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and place in freezer for a few hours until ice cream hardens

Bay Area Long Runs & Brunch: Golden Gate Park Loops & Green Chile Kitchen

Recently David Torrence and I started our long run at Beach Chalet (1000 Great Hwy), a restaurant and visitors center at the Western end of Golden Gate Park. This is a nice starting location for runs because there is a ton of parking along the ocean and the downstairs portion of Beach Chalet has a bathroom and a water fountain. Since it is a visitors center, there are also lots of maps, visitor information pamphlets, and a cool scale model of the park. Beach Chalet also has a restaurant upstairs and a beer garden downstairs, in case you want some food or beverages post run. I was amazed how many people were already frequenting the latter at 11am on a Sunday morning...

I mapped out our run on USATF's Running Routes. The description is below: Beach Chalet Short & Long Loops

For our run, David and I picked out two loops, both of which were about 4 miles long.

-The first loop is an elongated lollipop. It goes along JFK Dr. and then snakes around Chain of Lakes and the Polo Fields before heading back to Beach Chalet.

-The second loop follows the perimeter of the park. We started out going south along the great highway. When we hit Lincoln Way we stayed on the dirt trail that parallels the road (heading east). We cut to the northern edge of the park on the dirt trail along Transverse Dr. and then headed back towards the ocean (west) on the trails bordering Fulton St. When we hit the Ocean we took the Great Highway back to Beach Chalet.

-Add on: Since David and I wanted to hit 10 miles for the day we decided to add on along the Great Highway, which has a dirt trail along the side of a bike path.

Brunch:
Green Chile Kitchen
1801 McAllister
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 440-9411

For bunch, we headed to Green Chile Kitchen in San Francisco's NOPA district (North Panhandle). The restaurant moved to it's current location a few months ago, and although I had never been to the previous space, I loved the vibe of this one. The dining area is big and open, with lots of natural light and handsome dark wood tables, some of which are communal.

The Green Chile Kitchen serves New Mexican inspired food, which I thought was appropriate given our upcoming trip to Albuquerque for USATF Indoor Champs. In keeping with it's New Mexican theme, upon ordering each patron must decide whether he/she want the more tangy green chile or the smokier red chile with their meal. I went red when I ordered the breakfast burrito with soyrizo. The eggs inside were light and fluffy, and the potatoes tasted like potatoes, not grease. My meal was good, but David's looked better. He ordered the "blue corn flat breakfast enchilada plate," which was a mouthful both literally and figuratively. All those adjectives and nouns added up to what looked like a tortilla sandwich stuffed with eggs, beans, cheese, and a meat choice. It was topped with chile (your choice) and on the side were beans and posole. Not sure if the posole could compete with Tony Sandoval's (Head Track Coach at Cal), but it sure looked tasty. We also tried some of their Mexican hot chocolate, which we spiked with some coffee. It had just the perfect amount of spiciness. All the food is organic, sustainable, and locally grown as well. I would definitely recommend this place!

Bay Area Track Club Press Release

Today the Bay Area Track Club (BATC) made it's first official press release, formally introducing the club to the world. The BATC aims to support elite & emerging athletes, while also promoting health & fitness in the Bay Area. For more information, check out the full press release: http://bayareatrackclub.com/article/post/show/id/19-Elite-Athletes-and-Coaches-Unite-to-Create-the-Bay-Area-Track-Club

Help the Virgin London Marathon Pick their Soundtrack

"Music and Motivation" is working alongside this year’s Virgin London Marathon and running music producer AudioFuel to encourage runners to vote for their favourite running tracks. They know how much runners love music, and they think having a soundtrack chosen by athletes around the globe is exciting. The songs selected will make up this year’s ‘soundtrack’ for the London Marathon, which will be later available on iTunes.

If you have a spare moment (or are looking for a distraction), post your favorite running tracks in the comments box below or submit your nominations by the 1^st of February to 

http://www.musicandmotivation.com/motivating_run/top/10.html. 

Happy running!

Season Opener Indoor Mile in Albuquerque

This weekend I took a quick trip up to Albuquerque for the 2010 University of New Mexico Lobo Opener, where tested out my legs at altitude and burned off some early season rust. I competed in the Mile race, placing 1st in a stadium record time of 4:34. 

Full meet results are listed here: http://www.golobos.com/sports/c-track/stats/2009-2010/resultsloboopener2010.html

A video of the race is below, courtesy of Flotrack. 

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Sir Francis Drake doorman runs marathons

As I skimmed through the SF Chronicle this morning, I was pleased to see this photo on the front page of the Datebook section. The Q&A celebrates Tom Sweeney's 35th anniversary as the St. Francis Doorman. As a runner, I LOVED the title: "Sir Francis Drake doorman runs marathons". Running is such a universal sport! As for Sweeney, at the moment he is getting ready for his 22nd marathon (he already ran the SF marathon on full uniform, which is awesome). He does his training runs in SF, often at night after work, and he is a Sunset District native like myself! If you see him around, give him a high five for me. :)

Corre!, A New Book By German Silva

 

I just got word that German Silva, 2 times winner of the NYC Marathon and the amazing man that helps Team Cook when we train in Mexico, published a new book with Kees Kooman entitled CORRE! I have not yet had a chance to read it, but I am told by his wife Miranda that both Leo and I are in it. The book is written in Spanish and offers advice to runners of all levels. 

Bay Area Long Runs: Polo Fields Long Run Bolota Version

With the New Year in full swing and many resolutions wavering, I thought I would share some of the fun long runs and brunches that the Bay Area Track Club athletes have been enjoying. 

This Sunday we had a group of 10 athletes running in Golden Gate Park, including Treniere Clement who is now with Team Cook and is visiting from Knoxville, TN. Our usual meet up location in Golden Gate Park is at the Polo Fields parking lot located on the Southwest end of the Polo Fields. Running in Golden Gate Park is usually a case of choose-your-own-adventure, since there are many dirt trails criss-crossing all over the place. For this run, we let Bolota set the course. I have mapped out our route on USATF running routes (link below). All of it was on dirt trails, some of which were small, some wide, and in the case of the Great Highway section, some shouldering a bike path. 

Although San Francisco is a big city, if you venture out to the Southwest quadrant of it, there are miles of dirt trails to choose from. While the routes may not be as wild or adventurous as those in Marin (North of SF) or Huddard Park (South), there are some beautiful ocean views and some areas where you really can feel removed from it all. The other thing I like about running in Golden Gate Park is that I am never too far from a water fountain, a bathroom, or, if I am running alone, from safety. 

Here is our sunday long run route.

Polo Fields Long Run Bolota Version: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=343620

After running, we always treat ourself to brunch. It's a nice reward after a hard effort and a great way to continue conversations started on the trails. Today we discussed recent developments in the BATC, including our team logo and photo ideas for a club calendar. We did all this at Cafe for All Seasons, located on West Portal Ave. West Portal is where the Muni comes out of the tunnel and has many great restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops, as well as a music store, movie theater, and even a shoe cobbler. The other great part about this area is that it is never too hard to find parking. 

The food at Cafe for All Seasons is great. I called them as soon as we finished our run, and they were able to set up a table for 10 by the time we got to the restaurant 20 minutes later. They do Sunday Brunch very well and it is my favorite time to go there. The ingredients are always very fresh, the flavor combinations are delicious, and on Sundays they server complimentary muffins when you sit down (so of course I love it)! This time around I had a "hash" consisting of salmon, shiitake mushrooms, and asparagus, topped with poached eggs. It was a little pricey, but I was very pleased. 

The restaurant doesn't have a website, but you can call for more info. 

Cafe for All Season

150 West Portal Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94127

(415) 665-0900

John Cook on Some Training Specifics

In the last section of his talk at the USTFCCCA Annual Convention, Coach John Cook discusses general strength training, weight training, and cycling in ancillary exercises. 

John Cook on Some Training Specifics

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack