Pizza Dan Runs the Pittsburgh Marathon
Look for me out on the course this Sunday!
Apologies for the lack of pizza news. These past two weeks I’ve been focused on putting on the finishing touches of training for the upcoming Pittsburgh Marathon. Outside of writing about pizza, eating pizza, smelling pizza, talking to people about pizza, running is my other love. And when you think about it running and making pizza follow similar philosophies.
If you’re going for quality, it’s a long term investment. There’s no quick wins in either venture. Preparing strong, sturdy dough that endures the pizza making process takes intention, focus, planning. Each element of the dough is carefully examined and is asked how it helps the pizza grow. Every training run is the same way. What is the purpose of a twenty mile run at an uptempo pace? What about 20 x 400 meter? Those workouts are the water and yeast of a good pizza dough.
Once the dough is mixed, pummeled and decimated, it needs time to recover. Recovery is often overlooked in marathon training and running in general. We were taught early on that you have to suffer for your goal. Pain is weakness leaving the body. If you aren’t exhausted you haven’t worked hard enough. But that’s all wrong. The growth and adaptations happens when your rest. Getting eight hours of sleep a night, stretching, not overdoing it are keys to getting to the start line ready to crush twenty six miles.
As pizza dough rests, it grows stronger. Networks of gluten from where before there was nothing. What was a flimsy pale disc becomes a tough dough that can withstand centripetal force and support a heart heap of toppings. Rest allows us to grow.
Then getting put into a 500 degree oven is the equivalent of cursing to yourself as you trudge from mile 23, the Bloomfield Bridge, through the Strip District and to the home stretch. It’s not easy, but achieving greatness never is. The journey is the reward and at the finish line we are all beautiful pizza pies ready to be eaten by the masses.
If you see me, Pizza Dan, bib number 395 out on the course on Sunday give me a shout. Next week we’ll get back to your regularly scheduled pizza news. Until then, pizza ya later! Download the marathon app to follow along.
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist