Rise and Run

Introduction

There is something special and sacred about mornings—that is, when we slow down long enough to enjoy them. A mountaintop sunrise, a steaming cup of joe, a new beginning. Still, before we started dreaming up this book, we were as guilty of “frantic morning syndrome” as everyone else. The year we wrote this book (2020, RIP) didn’t improve matters. But once we began the research and interviews, once we really started listening to our own advice and committed ourselves to early runs and better morning nourishment, writing this book transformed us. We hope reading it has the same effect on you.

It’s stating the obvious, but the best part of the morning is—ding!—breakfast. For runners, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many runners eat two breakfasts—a small and easy-to-digest snack before an early run, and a hearty “second breakfast” for recovery afterward. No wonder it’s the most talked about meal among athletes (“I’m dreaming of pancakes after this run,” “My breakfast totally fueled my long run,” “I just ate breakfast and I’m already hungry again,” and on and on).

If you own any of our other cookbooks, you know that breakfast is near and dear to our hearts. We talk about the importance of fueling both before and after a morning run. The idea for Rise & Run began with our Superhero Muffins, featured in our previous two books, because we’ve heard that
you make them every single week. One fan wrote, “Every Sunday we make a double batch,” and another said, “It’s the only breakfast we eat before school. Quick, with no fighting from my kids.” They’re so popular, in fact, that we felt we needed to give readers more. In the pages that follow, you’ll find Dark Chocolate Banana Superhero Muffins (page 90), Yam Spice Superhero Muffins (page 103), and all-new savory variations: Pesto-Zucchini (page 75) is Shalane’s new favorite, and Everything Bagel (page 77) is Elyse’s.

We didn’t stop at muffins, though. In addition to twenty-four indulgent and nourishing new Superhero Muffin recipes, more than twenty inspiring weekday power breakfasts, twenty-five memorable brunch recipes, over a dozen snack recipes for when that second breakfast has worn off, twenty hydrating drinks and recovery smoothies, and even ideas on dishes that can double as dinner, this book is also a take-back-the-morning manifesto. We want your first hours in the morning to be delicious, active, and inspiring.

To that end, Rise & Run gives you the tools to establish a morning routine that can positively impact your whole day, including advice on how to get a great night’s sleep; how to clear your head of news, work, and other goblins so you can focus on the here and now; how to avoid injuries; what warm-ups and exercises are best done in the morning; plus—bonus—a training manual filled with running advice from one of America’s most decorated distance runner (pssst, that’s Shalane), with a special section on how to train for a marathon (pssst, Elyse is training for her first one and needs all the help she can get). There’s even advice and recipes devoted to how to recover from Shalane’s training programs!

We tapped everyone we know in the health-wellness-fitness space to ensure this manifesto isn’t just our good opinions but is truly built on the backs of experts, people like Shalane’s physical therapist and mental-health coach and Elyse’s longtime yoga and meditation teacher. You will see their advice—from how running helps anxiety to when to rest with your legs up the wall—peppered throughout these pages.

Writing this book meant committing to slowing down and appreciating the simple things in life—taking the time to heal our bodies or linger over freshly baked bread in order to truly absorb our own lessons. And, of course, going for extra-long adventurous runs with friends. And so, in the end, what we hope to inspire within these pages is a commitment to eliminating “frantic morning syndrome” and a return to prioritizing health and happiness over stress and busyness.

We know hundreds of lives have been transformed by our Run Fast. Eat Slow. series—because you tell us in letters and tweets and Instagram posts and reviews. We really can’t get enough of those. Your mail tells us we’re striking a chord, that we’re onto something. Well, Rise & Run is the next “something” we’re onto. We believe it’s the best collection of breakfast foods for athletes ever compiled, with inspiration to start your day with a morning run, whether that’s two miles or twenty. And, like everything else in the Run Fast. Eat Slow. family—nutrient-dense whole foods, healthy fat, listening to your body, avoiding restrictive diets—it’s meant to be a forever habit. We want this to be yet another book that never leaves your counter. Waking right isn’t a fad. It’s a way of life.