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Dear runners,

It is almost too late, but let me wish you all the best for the New Year. I wish you a healthy and active year, and hope you will stay injury free.

In this newsletter, you'll read about:
- AJC activities resumed
- Entering a race anyone?
- About running and food

AJC activities resumed

Just a few words to remind you that the core stability on Mondays (12:30 - 13:30 in the yoga room) and Run4Fun on Thursdays (12:00 - 13:15) has resumed. For a complete schedule of the training, please, consult our website.

Entering a race anyone?

Maybe you already took some resolutions for the NEW Year. If not, let me suggest one (more -_^). What about entering a race? What about Schoorl (10K, half-marathon, 30K), on the 8th of February? Or the famous CPC on the 14th of March? And it is still time to prepare for the Rotterdam marathon on the 5th of April (or Utrecht on the 13th of April or Leiden on the 17th of May).

About running and food

Those of you who know me, probably know that I love to cook, eat, and share recipes. After 4 years of running, I slowly adjusted my diet to running. With my husband, we recently answered a few questions for a German running magazine (trail) on that topic. Here is what came out:

About us and how we came to trail running and nature multi-stage races?

We are French, 35 years old, living in Holland. We began running late, in our early thirties. Starting at that age, you have to acknowledge that you're running for your own pleasure and forget about any kind of performance. We are more interested by the practice itself than our race results. We started running when settling in the Netherlands four years ago. It was a way to discover the surroundings (on the extensive bicycle road network) and the rest of the country by participating at village races (mostly 15km or Half Marathons). Becoming vegan was part of a slower process, which started years ago by ruling out animal products one by one. But it really started when Christophe went teaching in Singapore and realized that he was lactose intolerant. There we discovered both vegan gastronomy and trail running. Running in though conditions (30°C, 100% humidity) in the equatorial rain forest was like being a child again, having fun splashing our shoes in mud puddles, jumping from stone to stone or over a stream. On the other hand, running in those conditions taught us very quickly that we would have to embrace new approaches and ways to combine our passions for cooking and running. After that period, we became vegan and started our quest for trails!

We run at least 5 times a week, averaging 70 km per week. We train whole year round, with a peak in spring/summer/beginning of fall when the weather conditions are better.

What about living in the Netherlands for trail runners?

Holland is heaven for international road races. Almost each one of the "big" cities propose a world-class marathon (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Leiden...). There are also great "old classics" organized year long in every part of the country (Egmond Half Marathon, Dam tot Dam, Seven Hills Run...). But let's face it, it's a pancake flat and very densely urbanized country, that's not suitable for trail running. Trail Running is almost not existing at all. Even finding the right shoes is a though challenge, so when it comes to run trails, we have to travel! Our one and only "nature and hilly" training spot in The Netherlands is the forest and dunes in Schoorl on the North Sea.

Combining Travels and Running

A great way to meet people, discover new places, enjoy nature from different places on the globe while running. So the past years, we've been in Malaysia, Singapore, (as well as Hong-Kong and Borneo for Christophe), but mainly in Europe. We started by small week-end "escapades" to run European capital's half and full marathons (Berlin, Roma, Firenze, Copenhague-Malmo, Stockholm, Geneva, Nice-Cannes...).

In addition we went for running holidays (longer stays of a week or so) in France (Oléron island in South West of France near Bordeaux, Esterel coastal mountain range in South of France near Saint Raphael, Font Romeu at the altitude center from the French Pyrenees), in Switzerland (Swiss Jura Marathon), Norway (Raid des Trolls). We did also two memorable trips, one to Africa in Iten, Kenya (3 weeks training at Lornah Kiplagat's high altitude training center), one to San Francisco (running in the Marin Headlands Nature Park from the Marin County).

This approach leaded us to multi-stage trail races, which is both a revelation and by far the races that we enjoyed the most. We did the "Swiss Jura Marathon" in July 2007 from Geneva to Basel (7 days-stages, 175km and +5000/-8000m, namely the light version of that particular event) running on the edges of the Jura middle Mountains in woods and around lakes, the "Raid des Trolls" in July 2008 in the fjords of Norway (on Aurlandsfjord and Sognefjord in 6 days-5 stages, 155km, +7000/-6000m) and the Corsica Coast Race in November 2008 along the coast of Corsica (7 days-6 stages, 160km).

We're looking forward to 2009, even if everything is not yet defined. We know for sure that we'll run the Stockholm Marathon (end of May, followed by a week of nature running on Aaland's islands) and the Swiss Jura Marathon muti-stage mountain race again (in July) and train as much as possible in the dunes of Scheveningen (near by the place we live) or Schoorl.

Is a vegan diet suitable for trail runners?

Well, based on our personal experiences the obvious answer is indeed yes! As soon as we switched to a well balanced whole-food plant-based diet, we both experienced great improvements in our overall health (not mentioning that cutting off dairies changed Christophe's life, instantly stopping its recurring sinus pains and skin allergies). One of main benefit we experienced so far, is about endurance and recovery, both on a daily basis to cope with the training and the usual business of a working day and to recover after a though race.

The beauty in vegan cooking, as we approach it, is that it's very easy and fun to prepare! Quick (15-20 minutes to fix a meal), easy to digest, very nutritious (lots of long lasting energy together with vitamins and minerals you need for recovery) and most importantly delicious and rewarding after a tough run. (here insert mindmap on vegan easy as a child game)

On daily basis, vegan food is simply fun. It is a kind of game where we try to combine all possible colors, textures and tastes. Everything is possible when you cook with plants only. You should not be afraid to try strange associations. In most cases, it will turn out a nice surprise. Try to mash the flesh of a baked aubergine with a cooked banana for example. You'd be amazed what a wonderful dessert it makes. The aubergine delivers a great mousse-like texture while the banana provides tastes and sweetness. Beans are wonderful in desserts too. I do a delicious chocolate brownie with black beans or a moist and tender lemon poppy seeds white beans cake.

We enjoy a whole-food plant-based diet, so we cook a lot and we almost never buy processed or all-ready cooked food. We get our fruits and vegetables from the local market. We buy soy milk (looking for water and ONLY soy beans around 8 to 10% as sole ingredients) and oats at the supermarket nearby. We rely completely on the Chinese community for fresh tofu, tempeh, spices, seaweeds, beans, pulses, lentils, seeds, nuts and many more. We get the rest (rye, buckwheat, kasha, quinoa, spelt) from an organic shop. We do our own soy yogurts and soy fresh cheese, we grow sprouts and have a little tiny garden for fresh aromatic herbs, different varieties of salads, tomatoes and a few more vegetables.

Daily eating habits of a typical week

We use a steam oven for most of our cooking. For a fully plant-based diet, we found it to be one of the best appropriate way of cooking, because it preserves perfumes, flavours and most nutriments and vitamins. We rely on seasonal fruits and vegetables from local markets, so our ingredients greatly differ from one period of the year to the other. But there are some basics!

Always a powerful breakfast to start the day! It would usually include a multi-fresh-fruits compote (whole fruits with the skin, roughly mashed), that we eat with soy yogurt or soy milk (the soy milk curls in contact to the compote, making a delicious cream coating the fruits). In addition to that we eat a kind of porridge cooked with the fluids coming from the fruits during the steaming of the compote. The porridge is mainly based on oats, but we change ingredients depending on the season (it could included flax seeds, nuts, mashed bananas, buckwheat or quinoa grits, glutinous black rice, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot, tofu, chestnuts, ginger, lavender, dry fruits and spices). As said, it is steam cooked, blended and allowed to rest overnight to set. The result is yummy, sticky, bulky: a fabulous ever changing porridge.

On week days, I bring a lunch box to work. It contains leftovers from the previous night dinner or specially cooked meals. It includes lots of vegetables, some raw, some cooked, typically steamed or wok stir-fried. Then I add vegetable burgers or balls, or piece of vegetable pie, or quiche or tofu-based frittata, or baked tempeh. Some days, I'll also take some home-made crackers or pan-cakes or muffins (either savoury or sweet). The whole is spiced up with toasted nuts and/or sprouts. I never forget to take along a home-made soy yogurt and fresh seasonal fruits as snacks during the day.

For dinner, depending on the season, we'll rather have a salad or a soup and some more steamed and/or stir-fried veggies. We try to keep it light in the evening to have a good night of sleep. The meal is always opened or closed with a sweet touch such as soy yogurt with wheat germs or fresh fruits (grapefruit, orange, melon, kiwi).

With our previous experience from marathons or trails, we realised that we don't really have to change anything in our food before a particular event. Our vegan food habits provide us naturally with a lot of long lasting energy. It's like we would be carbo-loading every day. So there is no need to increase anything on that side. Moreover, vegan food is easy and fast to digest. No difficulty for your stomach to take out the good nutriments. And you'll get rid of the extra stuff (mainly fibers) very quickly (usually within a day) so that you can run the race light and free.

Vegan Food on Running Holidays or Multi-stage Trails

As much as we can, we try to organize Running Holidays (about a week or so, during which we'll run every day) or to participate to Multi-stage Races. For this kind of intense day to day running exercise, food plays a key role. But we found it easy to adapt our daily plant-based diet to this context. If we have planned a multi-stage race, we inform the event organizers beforehand and provide each time a detailed list of ingredients we need.

When you run hard every day, not only do you need to run but also to recover. As days pass, your whole body gets tired and so does your stomach. It is more and more difficult to digest and to maintain a normal transit. In those circumstances, our feeding becomes very functional. One function is to provide hydration. The main contributors are tea, water, fresh fruits and vegetables. Another function is energy loading. We do not really change our eating habits there, we just add a higher proportion of complex sugars, such as those found in whole grains, legumes or beans and fruits. Yet another aspect is recovery and for that, we need proteins and minerals. We count on oats, soy products, lentils and nuts. Finally, an interesting factor in multi-stage trail races is lucidity. You can not switch off your brain, put on the cruise control an continue running like an automate. You need your brain to make decisions such as where to step on and carefully following the track marks. You can get such kicks of lucidity by eating dried fruits (especially apricots), dark chocolate (no milk of course) or fresh fruits such as oranges.

Some basic vegan recipes

For more plant-based recipes, check Kecily's Culinary Chronicle (in French) from our blog.

Recipe 1: Quick home-made Oat Milk

Ingredients:

50g of small/quick oats for 1 liter of water

Preparation:

Sprinkle 50 g of quick oats in 1 liter of water. Mix well. Warm up on low heat until it comes to a simmer. Cover and gently simmer for 20-30 minutes, whisking from time to time. When cooked, blend thoroughly. Done. You have your oat milk.

Alternatives:
- For a more delicate texture, you can remove the bran by filtering it off through a cheese cloth. But the bran is good and adds some depth to the milk, so we leave it in most of the time.
- You can also adjust the consistency by adding a bit more water to get a more fluid result. We like our oat milk quite bulky, so we leave it as it is.
- You can flavour your milk with any spice, making it sweet with cinnamon or vanilla or chocolate. A savory version can comprise turmeric, pepper, paprika, cumin seeds or whatever you like and it will make a delicious base for a sauce.
- You can use you oat milk as replacement for milk in any recipe you like, such as custard creams or cakes.

From milk to firm-porridge: an amazing thing with home-made oat milk, is that if you double the amount of oats (namely 100 g per liter instead of 50), and allow it to stand at room temperature in a dish overnight, you will get a firm custard consistency that you can almost cut into pieces.

Recipe 2: How to sprout seeds?

Ingredients: You can sprout almost every seeds, beans or nuts, each providing a specific taste and flavour:

- Small aromatic seeds sprouts (from fennel, mustard, Basil, leek, radish, fenugreek): Very tasty. Even strong. I use them to spice up a dish. Use very little amount.
- Legumes (lentils, mungo beans, chick peas...): Crispy when raw, they soften when cooked and are easier to digest than if not sprouted. They make delicious spreads, burgers, crackers and soups.
- Cereals (spelt, quinoa...): Same use as legumes.
- Oleaginous plants (sunflower and sesame seeds...): Work well in sauce or sprinkled over dessert.

Preparation: All you have to do is soak the seeds overnight. Then you have 2 options.

1- You can let your seeds grow in a jar (moist but not immersed in water), rinsing twice a day with fresh water. This method is ideal for cereals and legumes. Sprouts will generally be ready within a week or so (only 3 days for quinoa) and the whole sprout is edible. Try with organic chick peas or quinoa, it always work.

2- For small aromatic sprouts or oleaginous plants, the best is to place cotton or several layers of kitchen paper in the bottom of a dish, distribute the soaked seeds evenly on the dish, watering twice a day to keep the cotton or kitchen paper just moist. Sprouts will be ready to eat within a week. They will look like baby plants standing up. You just have to cut them off the cotton and eat. Try with basil or alfalfa. Simple and reliable.

Recipe 3: a typical Post-run comfort food with roasted vegetables and garlic in coconut milk

Ingredients:

- Some root vegetables such as turnip, carrots, kohlrabi, celery, sweet potatoes to which you can add some more juicy vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines, zucchinis, onions, pumpkin. In a word, any veggie available at the season you're doing the recipe.
For a first try go for a medium size sweet potato, 300 g of pumpkin, a medium size kohlrabi, 2-3 carrots, 2 red onions and 1 small aubergine or a red pepper.
- A whole garlic head.
- A can of coconut milk
- Spices

Preparation:

You cut the veggies in equal size cubes, toss them in a deep dish, season with salt, pepper, turmeric, bay leave, rosemary. Pour some coconut milk over the veggie and mix until all veggies are nicely coated with coconut milk. Cover with a plastic wrap. Set aside in the fridge for at least one 1hour, ideally overnight.
Preheat the oven at 170°C. Cut off the top of the head of garlic and remove the papery skin, reserving the skin on the cloves themselves. Place in aluminium foil, drizzle with coconut milk and wrap. Place on the baking sheet with the veggies.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until everything is golden, soft, and well-roasted. Allow garlic to cool a bit before opening the foil package. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the head and reserve the paste to serve along with the vegetables.
You can either eat the vegetables as such, or blend everything with some more coconut milk and vegetable stock to make a soup.

Recipe 4: another post-run classic, a spiced bread

Ingredients:

- 400 g rye flour
- 20 g ground flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon backing powder
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- pinch of cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground star anise
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch pepper
- seeds of 1 cardamom pod
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 50 g peanut butter
- 300 mL orange juice
- 150 mL soy milk

Preparation:

Preheat the oven at 200°C.
In a first bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (from rye flour to cardamom). In a second bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together (from vanilla to soy milk). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the mixture into a backing mold and bake for 40 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on a grill.

For the committee, Cécile