Bouncing Back & The Burger Recipe

I don't want to jinx myself but I'm going to put it out there anyway.  I'm back baby.  At least I *think* I am.  Yesterday was long run day.  After taking over a week off running, going through some A.R.T, knee taping and working on strengthening my hips, I was jonesing to get out.  I was just like a kid at Christmas.  I couldn't wait to get to bed on Friday night so I could get up Saturday morning and run.

Thursday I had some A.R.T work done on my quads.  It wasn't pretty but I couldn't believe the difference it made.  To make sure I stayed limber, I went to a hot yoga class on Thursday night.  I woke up Friday morning feeling like a million bucks.  I had NO knee pain when I went up and down the stairs.   WOOHOO!  Bring on Saturday.

Saturday morning was really chilly.  I layered up, opting to wear my Zoot thermal compression capris, along with my compression calf sleeves, topped with a pair of New Balance wind stopper tights.  I figured the compression capris would help keep my knees somewhat in alignment.  Definitely a good call.  I did my prescribed exercises as a warm up before I headed out the door.  As soon as I hit the pavement, I started smiling.  It took me a little while to get into a groove.  My legs didn't start to feel good until about 6km in.  My pace was steady.  I certainly didn't have it in me to push the pace and that was ok as my goal pace for today's run was 5:12 km's.  My plan was to do the 29km that I skipped last week.  I had my phone with me in case I decided I needed to cut the run short and had to call in the sag wagon.

yeah, it was THAT flipping cold.

 I'm happy to say, that didn't happen.  There were a few unpleasant moments but they came and went fairly quickly.  I actually felt really good until about 20km and then the fatigue started to set in.   My hamstrings were especially tired.  Probably because they were actually working for a change, ha ha.  I did the same route I did 2 weeks ago.  When I mapped it out, it said it was almost 31km but when I ran it, I actually had to add on to make it 30km so I figured if I did the same route, minus the add on, I'd probably come in close to 29km.  The closer I got to home, the more I realized that my Garmin must have malfunctioned or lost it's signal on that previous run because I was actually going to be over 30km.  Sure enough as I got up to the house, my Garmin ticked over to 30.21km without me even doing the add on!  WTH??  So of course, I had to go back and re-map the route that I actually ran two Saturdays ago.  Turns out I actually ran 32.65km.  Guess that's one 20 miler in the bag!

Pretty good come back run!

I spent most of Saturday afternoon horizontal on the couch.  I am happy to say that my knees were actually feeling pretty good even after 30km.  My calves on the other hand, really need some work.  Good thing I've got another PT appointment scheduled Tuesday morning and I'm thinking I may actually head to a hot yoga class this afternoon.

A couple of you have asked for my Umami burger recipe.  I thought I had it nailed but I still feel like there is something missing.  Despite that, I'm going to share it anyway.  I may try using fish sauce in place of the anchovy paste next time I make them.  That might be the missing ingredient.  And I may add a just bit more garlic powder.  If make them and decide to add / subtract anything, let me know how they turn out!

Umami Burgers

1.5 lbs of extra lean ground beef (I think that's how much I had, not 100% sure though)
1/3 of a large sweet onion, finely chopped
1/2 of a portobello mushrooms, finely chopped & sauteed
1/4 cup of ground flax seeds
1 egg
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp of anchovy paste
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
a pinch of salt
pepper to taste

Mix everything together and form into patties.  Toss on the grill or in the frying pan and cook to desired done-ness.  I like mine medium rare.

This recipe made 7 decent sized patties that I wrapped up and froze. 

Enjoy!!

Do you have a favourite burger recipe?