The Perfect Taco

Saturday's long run was fantastic! I went 9 miles from Pelham & E. North St to tooling around the neighborhood behind Eastside High school and back. I just extended my 8 mile route from last saturday. I think this basic route might be flexible enough to float me through until the Swamp Rabbit trail is finished around the first of the year. But wait, the best part is:

It only took 1:31? I felt like I was floating more than running. No pain, nice long strides, and very little walking. This was considerably easier than the 8 mile run from last week that was basically the same route. That's a pace of 10:03 burning 1273 calories. That was amazing. the 9.5 mile run in raleigh was over a 14 min pace, then last week's 8 miles breaking in the new shoes was a 11:50ish pace, then back down to 10 mins here? are you freakin kidding me? It felt good, it was a nice cool day, there was a good breeze blowing around, and my lungs just felt right. I was over 3 miles in before the sweat even broke through my shirt. Wow. I've got the route up on Map My Run if you want to scope it out.

Then Wifey made the Perfect Taco for dinner. After I called it the Perfect Taco about a dozen times, she told me rather flatly that she knew what she was doing when making the recipe. I'm going to share it, as this is the most desirable balance of macro and micro nutrients.

The Perfect Taco:

• 1 package ground turkey (about 1lb)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 packet taco seasoning

Brown turkey, add beans & seasoning and simmer. This mix can get a little dry if you don't keep a close eye on it. Then toast hard taco shells, make some homemade guac and serve with these toppings:

• Organic salsa
• fat free sour cream
• homemade guacamole
• lowfat Mexican Blend shredded Cheese
• Baby spinach
• Cilantro

Did you know hard taco shells are better than soft? The white flour in soft taco shells ups the calorie count way to make it much worse than the fat content in hard shells. Plus the corn in hard shells adds a little more fiber. And homemade guac will use fresh Avacado (I don't know how she makes the guac but it's f'in fantastic) which has a very beneficial fat. So the only fat in these taco's is good for you. The ratio of carbs and protein is perfect runner's fuel, and the dark leafy greens and herb adds a good fiber count. Thus, the Perfect Taco. Make some after your next long run.

Of course, Wifey also did her 9 miles on saturday at the gym. And then she stuck with the plan and did her 3 mile recovery yesterday. I suckered myself into 4 hours of yardwork instead of a recovery run. A couple of trees fell down in the vacant lot next door and one of them came across my fence. So I had to bust out the chainsaw and have some fun. While I was at it, I did some work on the roof and ended up ripping down all of my gutters. We're about to redo the outside of the house with a fresh coat of paint, new roof, and some siding repair. Gutter removal was the first step. So I'm going to get my 3 in today instead of taking a rest day.