Friday Thrive

Friday Thrive

Happy Friday! And to all of my local Seattle area readers, happy start of rainy season! I say that with an edge of sarcasm, of course, since it feels like last rainy season just ended. 

Every week, Friday Thrive rounds up some of the highlights from the week – interesting articles, running advice, runner accomplishments, and life tidbits. This week I’m still relishing the weekend’s vacation to Orcas Island – especially that last bit of sunshine before the rain! 

Travel

Our weekend trip to Orcas Island was stunning. Most of what we did was walk and explore – at the narrowest part of the island, you can walk from coast to coast in 1.5 miles. From the coast, youl can see the remaining islands of the archipelago, mountains (including Mt. Baker), and even Canada! 

Friday Thrive

Read

A couple weeks ago, I lamented the cessation of the Sweat Science column at Runner’s World – the only feature on their website I regularly read. So you can imagine my excitement this week when its author, Alex Hutchinson, revealed his new location – OutsideThe Sweat Science column will now cover not just running, but other endurance sports – backpacking, cycling, etc. 

I appreciate Hutchinson’s nuanced and sane approach to the science behind endurance sports and his practical takeaways. His article “Are Endurance Athletes More Susceptible to Diabetes?” examines the claims of the High-Fat/Low-Carb trend that endurance athletes develop insulin resistance and high blood sugar. The theory is that endurance athletes consume a lot of sports drinks, which contain sugar, and therefore causes diabetes – no matter how much an athlete trains. 

It’s a really interesting article, especially if you have wondered about switching to a lower carb diet. Quite to the contrary of the extreme claims, Hutchinson points to research indicating that endurance athletes have higher insulin sensitivity -meaning their bodies can better process insulin. Not every athlete processes carbohydrates equally: “the links between diet, training level, and blood sugar were far from clear: The athletes with the highest blood sugar weren’t necessarily eating the most carbs or exercising the least.”

Taking the middle road, Hutchinson suggests adapting your carbohydrate intake, especially sugar intake, to your activity level. There’s no need to take a gel on a short 45-minute run and then chug a recovery shake afterward, but you shouldn’t jump on the latest diet bandwagon – especially if you are training in endurance sports.

Celebrate

This was another awesome weekend of racing for many of my coaching clients!

Janelle ran a strong race on a very humid day. While she didn’t PR (humidity is rough racing conditions!), she ran a time that was faster than her goal half marathon time when she and I started working together in January. 

Aimee ran a 10K PR and finished first in her age group! 

Kirstie ran a 5-minute half marathon PR!

Jill ran a tune-up half in preparation for her goal race in a few weeks! 

Chaitali ran a tune-up half as preparation for her first marathon! 

Drink

I’m usually a beer and wine drinker, not a cocktail drinker… but I couldn’t resist the cocktails we found on the menu at the Madrona Bar and Grill on Orcas Island. The drink in the lowball glass featured Scotch whisky and ginger beer and was absolutely delicious (and, thankfully, did not pack too much of a punch). 

Friday Thrive

Eat

Seafood is a dining staple on Orcas Island – and for good reason. Since Orcas Island is in the Puget Sound, near Canada, seafood is fresh and plentiful. We had clams with our dinner the first night there – buttery, fresh, delicious clams. My mouth is watering just looking at this picture! 

Friday Thrive

All the food on the trip was amazing: goat cheese vegetable omelets for breakfast at our resort (Rosario Resort), salmon and goat cheese sandwiches for dinner the first night, garlic truffle fries, and a mushroom and greens sandwich on multigrain from a local bakery (Brown Bear Bakery) that was utterly amazing.  

[Tweet “Eats and drinks at Orcas Island, weekly #running reads, and more in this week’s Friday Thrive via @thisrunrecipes #travel #runchat”]

 

Do you like clams/shellfish?
Do you like cocktails? What’s your favorite drink? 

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10 Responses

  1. so I have an allergy to calamari which keeps me away from certain types of shellfish, I never want to experience that rash I developed from calamari ever again! I’m safe with shrimp and lobster but that’s it. I’m still so glad you had such a nice weekend away! Looks beautiful.

  2. That cocktail looks delicious to me. I’m more of a cocktail girl or maybe wine, not a beer drinker at all. It sounds like you had some amazing food on your vacation too- I love seafood and remember having an amazing crab omelet when my husband and I were in Seattle. It was different than the crab omelets I’ve had here, too. Glad that Alex Hutchinson is writing for another magazine now… it seems like Runners World in general has gone downhill greatly in the past few years.

  3. I like cocktails, though I’m usually too lazy to make on at home 😛 One of our local restaurants makes a cardamom rosemary grapefruit cocktail that is delicious.

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