In case you're one of the six remaining runners on the planet who have yet to read Born to Run, allow me to explain.  The Tarahumara are "the running people" on which most of the book is based, a Mexican tribe of superathletes who run 50 or 100 miles at a time for pure enjoyment, seemingly without effort.

The Tarahumara diet is described in some small detail in the book, with repeated mention of two staples — pinole and chia seeds.  The author relates a few stories that ascribe almost magical qualities to these simple foods, and though he is prone to hyperbole, I found myself intrigued enough to do some research and try making them on my own.

Once you're done here, check out my collection of more recipes and posts about natural food for running on Running Fuel page.

Pinole recipe

Pinole seems to describe any of a variety of forms of parched or roasted corn, ground into a flour and combined with water and some spices or sugar.  It can be made into a drink, an oatmeal-like paste, or baked to form a more-portable "cake."  Here's a recipe I made using regular cornmeal; you can change the proportions and spices to suit your taste.  You can get organic cornmeal at iHerb.com, using coupon code RAZ652 to get $5.00 off your first order.  Or, you can get pinole at Amazon.com.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cornmeal, ground as fine as possible
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar, honey, or agave nectar
• chia seeds (optional)

Toast the cornmeal in a skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until it turns light brown, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl, mix in cinnamon, and sweetener or other spices, and desired amount of water (see below).

You can add a lot of water to make a drink of it, but I found this kind of weird because the corn didn't dissolve.  If you add just a few tablespoons of water instead and mix, you get an oatmeal-like consistency that can be eaten with a spoon, or even out of the palm of your hand on a run:

Alternatively, you can bake the paste at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes until it has the texture of a brownie.  This more portable form would probably be ideal for carrying on a long run, and a good alternative to sugary energy gels.

I found the flavor of the pinole to be surprisingly good.  I mean, this isn't some delicacy; the Tarahumara presumably eat it because it's cheap.  But with some tweaking of the spices, I think pinole might become a long run staple for me.

Chia fresca (iskiate) recipe

Chia seeds (yep, the same ones used in Chia Pets) have enjoyed a surge in popularity recently among health-foodies.   There are many purported benefits of chia seeds, and legends abound about chia seeds reviving struggling athletes or warriors, with small amounts sustaining men for long periods of time.

As for buying chia seeds, I get white chia seeds at iHerb.com.  White chia seeds, also called salba, are an heirloom variety, so they're the closest thing you'll get to what the runners and warriors in the all chia legends were eating.  BONUS:  Use the coupon code RAZ652 at checkout to get $5.00 off your first order at iHerb.com.  That's half the cost of the chia seeds!  Alternatively, you can get your chia seeds on Amazon.com.

Chia seeds have the interesting property that when they're left in water for a few minutes, the water begins to gel.  Supposedly this is helpful in digestion, and I'm wondering if somehow chia could be used to make an energy gel.  (I'll let you know if I perfect that one.)  For now, you'll have to be satisfied with chia fresca (or iskiate), a popular drink made with chia seeds, water, and lemon or lime.

Ingredients:

• about 10 oz of water
• 1 Tbsp dry chia seeds
• a few teaspoons lemon or lime juice
• honey or agave nectar, to taste (optional)

Stir the chia seeds into the water; let them sit for about five minutes.  Stir again, and let sit for as long as you like.  The more it sits, the more gel-like the seeds and water become.  Add citrus juice and sweetener to taste.

I found chia fresca to be a refreshing drink for the morning, and I swear I got an energy boost from it.  (But the placebo effect can be strong with me, so try for yourself.)  I really don't like the gel consistency in the drink, so I haven't let the gel set for very long.  I've heard adding chia seeds to smoothies works well too.  Here's a YouTube video where you can see the gel in action:

Not into the gel?  You might like homemade chia energy bars, a drier way to get chia in your diet.

And don't forget, check out the Running Fuel page for more natural sports nutrition posts and recipes.

Related posts:

1. Chia energy bars
2. Sweet-Tooth Friday: Raw Chia-Carrot Cake
3. iHerb.com shopping spree!