5 Tasty Ways This Top Chef Is Fueling His Way to a BQ – runnersworld.com
5 Tasty Ways This Top Chef Is Fueling His Way to a BQ runnersworld.com
Maydan DC chef Chris Morgan has run since college weight gain hit him hard. When he started running, he discovered a new passion and let him guide him to …
While cooking and eating have always been passions for Washington, D.C.-based chef Chris Morgan, it wasn’t until he started running that he realized that food could be delicious and make him feel good.
The co-owner of Maydan, a Middle Eastern restaurant that was honored as a 2018 James Beard Award semifinalist within its first year and a half in business, has always been a active foodie. There was brief gap in college when Morgan partook more in late-night pizza than exercise, but he came to terms with his not-so-healthy habits while studying abroad in Barcelona as a junior in 2009.
“I wasn’t unhappy, but being in Europe where everyone is in shape was motivation to get my life into gear,” Morgan tells Runner’s World. “That started with eating healthier and being active.”
To jumpstart his wellness, he started running. He had no interest in racing; he just wanted to lose a few pounds. He watched what he ate and made changes periodically, and slowly he arrived at sustenance enlightenment.
“Running helped me with food, and food helped me get in touch with what I’m putting into my body,” Morgan tells Runner’s World. “But I love eating too much to diet. People who don’t eat bread, God bless them. That’s my life force.”
Ultimately, running wasn’t what led him to becoming a chef instead of pursuing a different career with the business degree he obtained from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. But running did help him organize his life as he made the transition. Though he had bouts with over-indulging during late-night romps that are common in the food industry, running helped him stay on a healthy path.
“The presence of drugs and alcohol and unhealthy lifestyles are a sad reality [of the food industry], and for me, this is a way around it,” Morgan says.
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As he rose in ranks, he opened up his own place in D.C. in 2017. The high-stress environment at the restaurant, where he sometimes works 18-hour days, consumes most his time and his mind. The only chance he has to unplug is his run, which he does six days a week. It’s then that he gets his uninterrupted thinking done.
“I come up with new dish ideas while running and think about dish ideas,” Morgan says. “Running is a super helpful exercise to slow my brain down to focus on one thing at a time. I’m also way more energized after my run than the days I don’t run, which helps in the kitchen.”
After going a long stretch without racing, Morgan recently competed in the Parkway Classic 10-Miler in D.C., where he clocked a 1:06:00 (averaging 6:36 per mile). Inspired by his short-distance success, the 31-year-old is now gunning for a later this September at the International Peace Marathon.
Marathon training will add new challenges in his weekly mileage, but he knows one thing for sure: he’ll definitely be fueled for the race. Before he sets off on his inaugural training plan, we asked Morgan to share his favorite creations that fuel his runs. Scroll through the gallery below to see his five favorites: