Butter or Bodyglide?

Tonight I sat down to watch Julie and Julia after dinner--which made me feel guilty since I ate leftovers instead of cooking a nice meal. I have seen the movie a few times before but when you relate to a film as I relate to Julie and Julia's love of food, it's always engaging and never tiresome.

When Julie rounded her 56th recipe, a thought struck me: I have a food blog, kind of! I blog! Or, I'm supposed to anyway. It took a movie about a cooking blog to remind me that I should blog about my own hobby, running. Ironic. And I'm guilty, again. Actually, one of Julie's funny comments sparked my memory. I think it went like this: "...and I'm sweating, which isn't a surprise because I've been spending all of my time cooking fattening foods instead of exercising." Which prompts me to remind you all of why I run.... so I can eat! But over the past four months I've been guilty of picking up butter over bodyglide. Not really a stick of butter, but guilty pleasure-foods like chocolate or baked goods made with butter. And my pants are tighter to prove it.

Right. I'm going running bright and early tomorrow morning. 10 miles. That should work off the slice of cake I had last night at a dinner party... or will it buy me the extra calories I'll have for Ella's five-course Farmers Dinner Sunday night? Maybe first I should focus on burning off what I gained.

Movie moment: Julie just blogged about having to cook an aspic. Ick. Jello-meat mold? Quite frankly, it looks like my worst nightmare and I'm pretty sure Leah would hate it too. All around bad food, not supported by the Wellness Task Force (unofficially).

So what's up with my blatant lack of blogging anyway? Following the Shamrock'n Half Marathon, I failed to set another plan and when I stopped training, I stopped running eventually. I wish I could say I dropped off to pick up another brilliant, worthy activity like... cooking or learning to cook like Julia Child. But I can't say that. I got lazy. However, today I'm looking forward to 10 miles tomorrow. I joined another running group, this time with SacFit and I'm back on track! They started out the first week with a 7 mile long run so I had to woman-up, like Julia Child dove in to her French cooking class for "professionnels", a little out of her element but with determination!

Movie moment: Yet another a-ha moment! Irma Rombauer (or the woman playing her) is on screen as the author of the Joy of Cooking. I've seen the cookbook on my mother's kitchen shelf, though it's NOT the sole reason my mother is such a great cook. Wait a second, I was at Rombauer Vineyards in Napa on Monday and noticed a shelf of the Joy of Cooking cookbooks. Get out! Two and two together: the Rombauer Chardonnay that I love is the same as (or at least related to) the Rombauer chef who Julia Child loved? Confirmed... and stashed in memory for trivia.

More movie scenes, quotes and hopes to which I relate:

• The political undertones. I won't specify which, this being a work-related blog and me working for a non-partisan organization.
• Pearls and feel-better martinis in the afternoon.
• Brie. "Is that not the most wonderful cheese you've ever tried?" - Meryl Streep as J.C.
• The scene where she almost gives something up because it got difficult and tiring and interfered with other aspects of her life.
• Inability to resist exclaiming, "Yum!" during a really wonderful bite.

I guess I'm still not writing much about running.. but it is not as much fun as cooking or eating gourmet food. However, I do have thoughts on running. And they would be:

• Early morning is the only sane time of day to run in Sacramento in the summer.
• A really good run can be as invigorating to my brain as Julia's boeuf bourgignon is to supposedly everyone's taste buds. It's an "ahhh" instead of a "mmm."
  
• California International Marathon. California International Marathon. Wish I had a close friend or running partner to run it with me. Can I run a marathon on my own? Do I even want to? I told myself this was the year to complete a full marathon and I've told people that I am doing it so I have to stick with it, with or with out a partner.
• Bodyglide helps prevent chafing, at least until I stop eating butter (and I mean all fattening foods) and my thighs shrink back again, if that happens.
  

And tonight's food theme continues... An email from Active.com just popped up with an article on "4 Summer Salads to Fuel Your Runs." Wonderful! I am a salad fiend usually, despite whatever ideas you now have from my butter talk. Salads are especially delicious when it is hot out--the cool, crisp bite is so refreshing and healthy. I caught some slack from a friend recently about how I would miss essential nutrients if I ate a plant-based diet while training. The tips in this article, like adding salmon, solve the issue.

Julie has been through an array of emotions tonight, trying to reach her goal and cook her way through Julia Child's cookbook. She did it! Feel-good movies do wonders for the soul! A really great run or a really great meal can do the same.

BON Appetit everybody! (... and watch the butter.)