When life gives you lemons, add garlic and olive oil …

It was bound to happen.

First, came the snow days and school closures.

With my children home for two days straight I found myself working out indoors at all sorts of crazy hours to meet my training schedule.

Then the creeping crud arrived as I suspected it would.

Tarzan got it first on Thursday.

It hit me next on Friday night. I woke up with an awful headache and I couldn’t get back to sleep until I took some Tylenol.

Unfortunately, I scheduled to meet a friend early Saturday morning to run 20 miles and I didn’t have her cell number to call or text her to cancel. (I will not make that mistake again.)

I showed up on time and I ran the first 6 miles with her. I knew I was in trouble already because I felt sluggish and not myself with 14 more miles to go. 

We stopped briefly after the first hour to meet up with the rest of the Distance Divas for our weekly group run. While everyone gathered I took a quick potty break. That’s when I noticed how raw and sore my throat now felt — not a good sign. I’m prone to strep infections when I get worn down.

That’s when I came up with plan B. I ran just a few more miles and called it a day.

By the time I was in my car driving home my body began to ache. I went home and slept a lot.

Today I’m still fighting it off. 

I felt a bit better this morning and I even ran a few miles at the gym. I find that a mild workout to clear the sinuses is helpful as long as I don’t overdo it or if my chest isn’t congested. So far, so good.

My throat still hurts and I’m drinking lots of fluids — juice, Gatorade, water, and soup broth. 

When I’ve had an appetite I’ve pulled out the heavy artillery: lots and lots of cooked garlic. I usually add it to store-bought chicken noodle soup or broth to make it more palatable plus medicinal.

Last night I cooked this carrot-garlic pasta recipe (pictured above) that I got from my sister many years ago.  I believe she first found it in a vegetarian cookbook. 

This pasta dish is good for carbo-loading, cold-busting, possibly keeping vampires away and a spousal-repellent unless you feed it to your whole family. Fortunately my family ate it last night so we can fire-breathe on each other today. It’s potent but yummy.  

I do not remember the exact recipe portions anymore as these days I cook it by Braille. This is how I prepared it last night.

8 ounces of penne pasta boiled (also works well with fettucine noodles)
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves of garlic (I believe the original recipe calls for 2-3 cloves but I like it doubled or more.)
1/4 cup chopped carrots
a sprinkling of red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 a squeezed, fresh lemon
About 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

First, saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the chopped carrots for another 3 minutes. Then add red pepper flakes, white wine and lemon juice, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Drain the cooked pasta, then add the carrot-garlic mixture to the noodles. Stir well and coat all the noodles. Then sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and serve.

I figure if life is going to give me lemons right now I might squeeze them, chop up some garlic, add olive oil and saute them altogether to make something decent out of it.

Fortunately, the rest of my week is step-down mileage. Stay tuned and bon appetit!

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Aging is inevitable, but growing old is a choice. Lace up your shoes, and let’s go!

Mileage yesterday 11.25; mileage today: 5; Denver to Boston miles logged: 1,242.50; Miles left to go: 527.50.

2 thoughts on “When life gives you lemons, add garlic and olive oil …

  1. The penne pasta recipe looks and sounds so good! Can you make it even if you’re not sick or don’t have any (known) vampires lurking around? But really, Plan B is “running just a few more miles?” Hmmm, may be time to expand your repertoire to include a Plan C.

  2. Penne pasta recipe is yummy anytime, no vampires required.

    Yes, Plan C — the cease-and-desist order — is always the most viable, smartest option, except when you’re got 500 more miles to run for your blog. Such was my thinking for Plan B.

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