Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Read Online Free PDF

soccer and even cooking. But I hadn’t read anything about multiple sclerosis. I knew all I needed to know about it. Angela and Greg didn’t say anything to the social worker—they were shy, anyway, and I think they were scared. I didn’t say much either. No one in my family talked much about things like that. What good would it have done? What would it have helped? I had learned by then that all the whys in the world wouldn’t change what was happening to my mother. I didn’t start crying or anything, like some of the other kids there. My sister just stared at the social worker. My little brother, who was already becoming a handful, kept tugging at me, asking when we were going to go back to the paddle boats. He was a badass even then.
    The truth is, I don’t remember feeling much at that moment. It was like, “Mom has MS, tough luck, that’s the way it is. You just keep going.”
    Lentil-Mushroom Burgers
    For any reluctant vegan who worries that nothing will ever replace the taste or texture of a juicy beef patty, consider the lentil burger. It might not matter so much that lentils are an excellent source of protein, that they are one of the fastest-cooking legumes, or that they are consumed in large quantities all over Europe, Asia, and Africa (even Idaho!). What will impress you is how tender, juicy, and “meaty” they taste. I grew up grilling over campfires, and I know burgers. These are as delicious as they come. Sometimes I’ll even take a few patties with me on long training runs and races.
     
1
cup dried green lentils (2¼ cups cooked)
2¼
cups water
1
teaspoon dried parsley
¼
teaspoon black pepper
3
garlic cloves, minced
1¼
cups finely chopped onion
¾
cup finely chopped walnuts
2
cups fine bread crumbs (see Note)
½
cup ground flax seed (flax seed meal)
3
cups finely chopped mushrooms
1½
cups destemmed, finely chopped kale, spinach, or winter greens
2
tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
3
tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2
tablespoons Dijon mustard
2
tablespoons nutritional yeast
1
teaspoon sea salt
½
teaspoon black pepper
½
teaspoon paprika
    In a small pot, bring the lentils, water, parsley, 1 garlic clove, and ¼ cup of the onion to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 35 to 40 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the lentils are soft.
    While the lentils are cooking, combine the walnuts, bread crumbs, and flax seed in a bowl. Add the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and paprika and mix well.
    Sauté the remaining onion, remaining garlic, the mushrooms, and greens in the oil for 8 to 10 minutes, then set aside. Remove the lentils from the heat, add the vinegar and mustard, and mash with a potato masher or wooden spoon to a thick paste.
    In a large mixing bowl, combine the lentils, sautéed veggies, and bread crumb mixtures, and mix well. Cool in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 minutes or more.
    Using your hands, form burger patties to your desired size and place on waxed paper. Lightly fry in a seasoned skillet, broil, or grill until lightly browned and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Extra uncooked patties can be frozen on wax paper in plastic bags or wrapped individually in aluminum foil, making for a quick dinner or wholesome burger for the next barbecue.  
    MAKES A DOZEN 4- INCH DIAMETER BURGERS
     
    NOTE: To make the bread crumbs, you’ll need about half of a loaf of day-old bread (I use Ezekiel 4:9). Slice the bread, then tear or cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces and chop in a food processor for 1 to 2 minutes, until a fine crumb results. The walnuts can also be chopped in the food processor with the bread.

4. “Pain Only Hurts”
    TO ADOLPH STORE AND BACK, 1990
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
—LAO-TZU
     
    It turned out those secondhand skis would take me places.
    I liked sports but had avoided the school teams in middle school. Only twelve of us had graduated from the sixth-grade class at St. Rose, and even though I would have liked to play