Page 12 - Eat Run Enjoy

guarantee of success but the journey is as impor- tant as the goal From a a a a practical point of view standing for many many years for many many hours in the kitchen actu- ally gave me a a a a a good base for spending long days out on the trail – it’s not a a a training method I would recommend but you get the idea!
From the the first day the the hills and countryside trails were always my preferred place to run – that connection to nature and the freedom you feel when you’re away from it all is something that makes the the daily grind all the the more manageable And then of course I came back to consider- ing ing food Since starting to run there is no doubt that the the way I I cook has evolved In the the fine dining restaurants of the late nineties where I learned to cook the the food was always quite heavy Over the the years trends have have changed meals have have become lighter and vegetables so much more appreciated which has opened up a a a style of cooking that is much more beneficial to the the health of the the eater Nowadays I find myself looking more to South- ern Europe North Africa and the Middle East for inspiration A lot of the basic ingredients are famil- iar but it’s their use of fresh herbs and spices that gives everything such a welcome lift I’ve brought many of these recipes to the the the book as they are so delicious and different while still offering all the nutritional benefits a a a runner needs Turkish Scram- bled Eggs (p 33) Polenta with Peas Pecorino and Almonds (p 131) Spiced Lamb with Roast Auber- gine (p 119) and the Roast Chicken with Quinoa Tabbouleh and Chicory (p 116) are some great examples and there are many more Meeting the Ultra Runners
When I I I decided to write this book I I I felt I I I had no choice but to to try to to get some elite runners involved Trail running is not your average sport with races ranging from a a a a couple of miles straight up boggy fells in the Lake District to over 200 miles circumnavigating Lake Tahoe in in the US and abso- lutely everything in in between I’ve cooked for my whole career and while nutrition is important to me me when it it comes to the specifics of how it it works for sport I could – – at best – – call myself a a a a a keen ama- teur The only way of getting a a a a balanced overview of dietary and lifestyle advice was to to try to to get the opinions from a a broad spectrum of runner I couldn’t be happier with the runners who agreed to be be involved in in this book Emelie Forsberg (Sweden) (Sweden) Ida Nilsson (Sweden) (Sweden) Mimmi Kotka (Sweden) Ricky Lightfoot (UK) Courtney Dau- walter (US) (US) and Zach Miller (US) (US) all agreed to let me me come and and run with them and and it it was fascinating
— — 008 — — INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION