Emma Coburn - The Runners Kitchen: 100 Stamina-Building, Energy-Boosting Recipes, with Meal Plans to Maximize Your Training

FOR MY MOM, ANNIE

Thank you, Mama, for being an inspiration to me in every part of life, for always cooking incredible meals, for inspiring me to cook, for teaching me your recipes, and for making food a fun, happy, loving center for our family. I love you and cherish every day Im lucky enough to have a seat at your table.

CONTENTS

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I am a professional track and field athlete, two-time Olympian, Olympic bronze medalist, and world champion. A key part of my job is recovering, recharging, and eating. When Im not training, Im usually resting on the couch watching reality TVdont judge!or in the kitchen cooking. Cooking relaxes me and fuels my mind and body. I cook to fuel myself to train at my best and win races, but I also cook to bring connection to my friends and family.

For years, my friends and I would gather every Sunday and have Sketti Sundaybig pasta dinners for 10. Ive included some of the best Sketti Sunday recipes in this cookbook. Those dinners were my anchor through highs and lows of training, injury, and racing. There were lots of laughs shared over a plate of Best Friend Bolognese.

Another constant in my life has been high-altitude training camps in my hometown of Crested Butte, Colorado. At these training camps, we run at an elevation of 9,000 feet every day, usually twice a day. My teammates and I work SO hard at these camps and work up big appetites. After hard workouts, my mom or I will make a massive brunch for the team. Pancakes, eggs, baconthe works. (Dont worry, I included the best brunch recipes in this cookbook, too.) These brunches are where we bond as teammates, we laugh, and we analyze our workouts. They are where some of the best memories are made.

Food has always been a time for conversation, bonding, and love. My mom is an excellent cook. Growing up, every night after track practice, our family of six would gather around the table and enjoy a delicious meal. At these meals, my relationships with my siblings were strengthened and my parents were able to catch up with what each of us had going on. It was a time of inside jokes, friendly teasing, talking about our dreams, talking about our failuresall over a plate of amazing food.

My mom made most things from scratch, and every night was a different dish. She would make meals that, in hindsight, were a registered dietitians dream. Even though my mom wasnt making an effort to be exceptionally healthy, our meals were well balanced. Each meal had veggies, protein, carbs, and fats. There was also butter, sugar, cheese, and fried food, but in moderation. Looking back on it, her style of cooking helped me develop not only as an athlete but also as a person with a good relationship with food. No food was off-limits, but I also primarily ate foods that were good for me and well-balanced meals. There were countless bowls of sugary cereal and bags of Doritos, but countless more salads and grilled chicken and potatoes. It worked. My moms cooking helped me establish a healthy relationship with food from my earliest memories.

My moms cooking was also special because of how she did it. She was always thinking of something new to cook but also moved through the kitchen with ease. She made cooking seem fun and easyof course, once I got to college and had to cook for myself for the first time, I realized it wasnt quite as simple as she made it seem! My mom exudes joy and peace in the kitchen. Our meals as a family reflected that. Our food made us happy and made our minds and bodies feel good.

Whether with Sketti Sunday, post-workout brunches, or meals from my mom growing up, food and cooking have been places of joy, connection, and love. I hope you choose to make some of these recipes and are able to get that connection, too.

Food is what makes running fun. Being well-fueled can make running feel powerful, and when you give your body the nutrition it needs to perform, youre rewarded with strength and speed. Unfortunately, runners often fall victim to false advertising about food. There are a lot of messages out there about what runners should and should not eat. Runners often hear these common myths:

• We must only eat clean to excel.
• We must stay away from any food that has sugar.
• We must limit our carbs to stay lean.
• We have to restrict our calories even when in heavy training.

These myths can lead to chronic fatigue, injury, illness, and anemia, and in women can contribute to amenorrhea (lack of menstruation) and decreased bone density.

As a woman in sport, I have always known that food is my fuel. I know food can build strong muscles, it can make me feel powerful, and it will help keep my body healthy. I have personally always maintained a healthy relationship with food and with my body, but I know that isnt the case for everyone. Many athletes struggle with their relationship with food and with their body image, but I believe that through learning about food and cooking, we can all start to fuel our bodies well.

FIND A BALANCE

No food is off-limits. No food should be considered dirty or bad. There are foods that are healthy and good for you, and there are foods that might not be as good for you. As long as the majority of the calories we consume come from the former, it is okay to have some from the latter. If we are too intense, too strict, it becomes unsustainable. For me, it is all about balance.

The balance is important for training, too. Some days should be intense and challenging, while other days should be easy and recovery-pace. If we push ourselves too hard every day, we wont be able to sustain it. If we try to be on a strict, low-calorie diet, we wont be able to sustain it. Our bodies will break down. We need balance. We need consistency, too. I am consistent in my eating habits; the majority of the foods I eat are healthier foods, and a smaller amount are less-healthy foods. I dont look at food and say, Okay, this is a check in the healthy box; later I will have a check in the unhealthy box, but as a day of eating progresses, my natural cravings will reflect a good balance. If I have a big brunch with sugary French toast and eggs, for my next meal, Ill typically crave some fruits and veggies. Sometimes for dinner I just want a salad, but Ill add protein and a carb and then will have a cookie. Im not counting calories, and Im not tracking what I eat, but over time I have learned what my body needs and craves.