tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18168367981749286792024-03-19T02:33:54.681-05:00EAT AND RUNHelenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-24587316787857314072012-05-08T13:19:00.002-05:002012-05-08T13:19:44.483-05:00Broad Street Run 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Guess what? I paced myself and was rewarded with a good race. I don't think I could've run any better. <br />
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This is what I looked like 6.5 miles in. I was about to "chick" someone. (Thanks to my friend Farrah who took this picture and cropped out the runners in front.)<br />
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With this, I retire.Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-45639099981135498932011-11-23T10:26:00.004-05:002011-11-23T10:33:10.117-05:00CRAMPS (Philadelphia Marathon 2011 Race Report)C.R.A.M.P.S. = Cheung Runs A Marathon Painfully & Slowly (or Positively Splitting)<br />
This pretty much sums up the last eight miles of my marathon on Sunday.<br />
<br />
Marathon day was beautiful - sunny, temperatures in the 50s, slight breeze. Pre-race logistics went smoothly -- bathroom, breakfast, drive, pumped, banana, bathroom, shed layers, national anthem. I found the 3:10 pace balloons in the Maroon corral right away and lined up near them. I was neither nervous nor cold. I felt ready. <br />
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Instead of the gun, there was a countdown. When we started running, the pace felt like my last few marathon pace runs. It felt smooth and easy. I was relieved. I was almost giddy to be running through Center City on this brilliant day, with the view of a sea of bobbing heads in front of me. I felt so alive and so lucky to be part of what feels like a giant parade. Chestnut Street was Philadelphia Marathon's version of First Avenue of the NYC Marathon. It was lined with spectators screaming their lungs out. Awesome!<br />
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As we made our way up 34th Street, I looked at my watch. It read 50 some minutes at around 7 miles. I was right on time. Noah met up and ran a little bit with me shortly after, and when he peeled off, his friends Elaine and Roger were there with an Occupy Philly Marathon sign to cheer me on. I waved to them. <br />
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I kept this steady stride through Fairmount Park and West River Drive, staying on the fringe of the pace group and enjoying the scenery. The half was over in 1:34. I performed a mental check-up. How are the legs? Good, a little tired, not tight. Lungs? Good, still breathing through nose. Stomach? Fine, maybe thirsty, but that's fixable.<br />
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I knew that the Kelly Drive portion would be the toughest. On my last long run, I actually rehearsed my self-talk in this portion of the race. Noah joined me just past the boat houses. I don't even remember what we talked about. All I remember was constantly wondering if I shouldn't have got ahead of the pace group and if I should slow down a little. Looking at the splits after the race, I might have upped the pace from 7:15 to 7:00 when I hit Kelly Drive. But I decided to keep going because I felt fine.<br />
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Then, around mile 17, I got a cramp breeze. Cramps are my crutch in every marathon and I had made a point in my training design to prevent them. So, I knew it won't be "just a breeze." I backed off a little and the pace group caught up to me. At mile 18.5, I got my first Charlie Horse. I ran with it, dragging the cramped up leg with the other until the cramp subsided. At the Wanderers water stop, I grabbed a cup of Gatorade from Bob. It was useless. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ez2c5Bt6QsQ/Ts0Qd7v1FYI/AAAAAAAABMs/n6G--hFVwsc/s1600/imgp4353_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ez2c5Bt6QsQ/Ts0Qd7v1FYI/AAAAAAAABMs/n6G--hFVwsc/s200/imgp4353_2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WRW6e9mFbH0/Ts0Qk0VwebI/AAAAAAAABM0/Vxq9jC_n3X0/s1600/imgp4354_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WRW6e9mFbH0/Ts0Qk0VwebI/AAAAAAAABM0/Vxq9jC_n3X0/s200/imgp4354_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
For the remainder of the race, I got cramps on the calves, shins, feet, and toes of both sides. Serial cramps. Increasing in duration, frequency, and intensity. They reminded me of labor pains. Some of the cramps caused me to limp. In between cramps, I tried to run my normal pace and stride. On Main Street, I started to lose the pace group. I looked for Melissa and Ezra at the turnaround but missed them. They saw me and took the picture below. (Check out the forced stride.) <br />
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I felt like I was dying publicly. My legs and lungs were still strong, I was ready to race tired, but the cramps took over completely. All I could do is continue to put one foot in front of the other.<br />
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I passed the Wanderers water stop at mile 21 on the way back. I waved hello to people and tried to look normal. Then, I looked for Noah, who would run with me most of the rest of the way. He was tremendous - making up stories to tell me, reminding me to breathe, helping me stay up during the most severe cramps.<br />
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I thought about what Betty told me the night before, "Expect something to go wrong. Then you don't have to worry about it." I thought about my mom, who in addition to being a supermom, is also a super grandmom. And Zonker, who I've missed every Tuesday night when I did my long run. I thought about what a privilege it was to be able to run a marathon. The people in my life let me get away with having a full-time job, an adorable son, and time to run. <br />
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Those 5 miles took a while, but eventually, I got within sight of the finish line. People were cheering wildly and I kept hearing my name (thank you, Kelly). But there was no sprint finish. I merely dragged my sorry legs across the timing mats. The time on the clock read 3:15:59. My net time was 3:15:32. The cramps cost me a PR, but you know what? It's done! I'm a marathon momster! Just like having a kid, it was hard and painful and totally worth it.Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-85987233065872153222011-11-19T13:44:00.002-05:002011-11-19T13:59:02.872-05:00Not doing much todayI'm not doing much today. Why? I will be running my sixth marathon tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish, have a good experience, and have a good time, in that order. I might PR but I probably won't. I'm just looking forward to running with a ton of people without a target on my back, with expectations relatively low.<br />
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My training has gone well. I made an abbreviated plan and followed it since mid-August. This plan consisted of 5 days/week of running building up from 40 to 50+ miles/week. Most of the miles were done when Zonker was sleeping, or when we thought he would be sleeping. Each week I did one faster-pace run, one trail run, and one long run that's a run commute. That's the gist of it. No cross-training. For me this is a minimalist plan with low mileage. When I wrote it up, I just wanted to get to the starting line without injuries, to keep my quality time with Zonker and Noah, and to see if doing speedier runs would help me avoid calf cramps late in the race.<br />
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Marathon training added to a very busy Fall. It hasn't been easy to combine breastfeeding with marathon running. But with the help of my mom, who took care of Zonker three days a week including every Tuesday night when we did a long run home from work, and Noah, who ran all of the long runs with me, I'm here, on the eve of the race, in one piece. I'm sitting on a chair, not lifting a finger, dreading both the taper and the end of it. I can't decide what to wear, how I'll feed or pump milk before the race, how and when to take gels, etc. I'm not sure how tough I'm going to be. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to the race, but I am mostly scared of it. I want it done. And then I want to play with Zonker and not have to worry about tiring myself out doing it.Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-13492655986356640442011-05-08T10:41:00.003-05:002011-05-08T10:46:52.247-05:00How Zonker Became Zachary<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDrcnRiRUa3IQhIq_TMM-3l-Nx_UzM4w71EpjMdCjrK3wRAxi2pYOjFryTV7HBW5IdoxvMl9hOUBK3jePwAaleHknbIjuNfrzcfqaMIrbhX76ULZToeKwBur1Vc6mQQhtCxtQ7KUwVsbs/s1600/swaddledZonkre.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDrcnRiRUa3IQhIq_TMM-3l-Nx_UzM4w71EpjMdCjrK3wRAxi2pYOjFryTV7HBW5IdoxvMl9hOUBK3jePwAaleHknbIjuNfrzcfqaMIrbhX76ULZToeKwBur1Vc6mQQhtCxtQ7KUwVsbs/s320/swaddledZonkre.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604371683757890930" /></a><br />So, yes, we named our baby Zonker.<br />Kind of, anyway. <br />The birth certificate says Zachary. That's not really what we call him though. <br />People have been asking us how we came up with the nickname, but truth be told, we had the nickname first. See, we didn't have a very easy time coming up with a name. Even after a full day at the hospital – when Zonker already was a living, breathing human being – we didn't have a name. <br /><br />Except that, early on, we did have a name. Ana. A girl's name, because we were thinking (in the lack of any actual evidence either way) that we were having a girl. So we'd talk about her as Ana. 'Do you think Ana will have my teeth? Do you think we should send Ana to public school or private?'<br /><br />Then it turned out we were having a boy. And the name search went back to the beginning. <br /><br />"How's Sam doing?" Or, "Has Ben been kicking a lot today?" We tried a bunch of names out like that. Aaron, Max, Henry. None of them quite stuck. We did call him Piglet a fair amount, but that's not really a name. I tried to get myself to like the name Abraham, for my grandfather who passed away a couple years ago. But I could never quite embrace it enough. We were scrambling for names, and the due date kept getting closer. <br /><br />Then I got the Doonesbury retrospective for my birthday. And for some reason, I started calling the kid Zonker. <br />And it stuck. Nothing else had, this had. "Has Zonker been kicking much?" "Do you think Zonker will get your eyes?" It just sounded right.<br />I just wasn't sure that I could put "Zonker" on my son's birth certificate.<br />Not Helen – she was sure. "We are not putting Zonker on the birth certificate."<br />So, ok, group decision and I was wary anyway. So we weren't going to name him Zonker. But that just left us back where we started. We never did come up with any other name that stuck. <br />Helen gives Betty credit for this, but for me it was Helen that suggested it – if we name him Zachary, we can call him Zonker.<br />That, then, is the story of how Zachary became Zonker.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-47040805741356073162011-03-30T09:49:00.000-05:002011-03-30T09:49:55.019-05:00Definitely our child<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mh1JhiAnLFI/TZM6g9QoDFI/AAAAAAAAA5o/Cdx9eUylOiw/s1600/IMG_2047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mh1JhiAnLFI/TZM6g9QoDFI/AAAAAAAAA5o/Cdx9eUylOiw/s320/IMG_2047.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Look at those lungs! <br />
<br />
Our little Zonker arrived on St. Patrick's Day. He weighed 6 lbs, 9 ozs and was 19 inches long. We are doing well. He's got big feet, meaty and fin-like (with medium-low arches) . At first we thought that meant he'd be a swimmer like his mom, but then we gave him a bath and learned that he doesn't like the water. If he decides to be an endurance athlete, he will be able to use that innate ability to scream for hours with the look of suffering on his face. <br />
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For those who tuned in to this blog to check out our running, I jogged 3-6 miles a day until the day I went into labor. After the baby "dropped," I actually felt better and could maintain 9-minute/mile pace. Since he was born, I've rested for a week and then have been walking a few miles everyday. Childbirth is *so much* harder than marathons, but I think running has helped me have a quick delivery and recovery.Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-51266281099435103132011-02-27T18:41:00.001-05:002011-02-27T18:44:03.915-05:00Ugly Mudder LBRRDepending on how you look at it, the Ugly Mudder is either the first race of the season, or an off-season race. Either way, it was my first time racing since the Philly Marathon Half-Marathon in November. And it went ok. Don't know that I enjoyed myself as much as I should have, although I finished around where I expected to. It's not a great fit for me, though. It's a hard race, and that's part of it – but there are some harder races that I like more. <br /><br />In part, I find the 11 am ('ish') start time a challenge. When do you eat? But much of it goes back to the fundamental issue I have with racing: I'm a better trail runner than road runner; I'm a natural negative splitter; and trail running favors positive splitting. And Ugly Mudder really favors positive splitting. It's a huge race – 700 people? Maybe 800? On some pretty narrow trails. So even more than most, it's imperative to start out at least ok and get position. But I overdid it, so that I was pretty beat 15 minutes in, knowing that I had around 45 to go. And it's not a very forgiving race. It's some of the same trails as Half-Wit (albeit in the opposite direction), but I'd say that mile-for-mile it's a harder race. Similar hilliness, but trickier footing. And while there are fewer sustained climbs, there are more short but ridiculously steep, no-way-you-could-run-that climbs. So when you're realizing, ¼ of the way in, that you're kinda spent, there's not a lot of opportunities to get that energy back. <br /><br />Unlike a lot of other runners, I did manage to stay on my feet. Even more surprising, I managed to stay on course – which many other runners didn't. Someone – again! - had stolen some of the trail directions, causing mass chaos. I was among the least affected, although among those most affected, some had to run extra, others less. So I suspect that I wound up around where I would have – with some who should be behind me ahead, and some who should be ahead, behind. <br /><br />My goal had been top 35, and I wound up in the high-20s, so, yes, goal achieved. One guy I'd almost caught a few times 2 years ago, then couldn't get close to last year, finished right in front of me. I mean right - I was sprinting at the finish line and he didn't beat me by a full foot. I'd consider this a significant accomplishment, if I didn't know that he'd been part of the group that ran extra. <br /><br />So that's where things stand now. I've had a good off-season, and this was a good benchmark, especially since I won't get to run Tyler. And who knows what's next? Apparently there's less sleep in my future, and that can't help things much. But then, maybe it can – sacrifice a few minutes, chill out some, and enjoy myself more. We'll see.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-66100244900141135722011-02-12T20:37:00.003-05:002011-02-12T22:52:33.559-05:00Running these days (she says) - the good, bad & ugly of pregnant running<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Yes, I am still running. Snow, ice, cold and all. I know I am lucky. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That hip pain I last wrote about is gone thankfully. It turned out to be the SI joint and is common among pregnant women, not just runners. I biked inside for a week and then cautiously returned to running, starting with painful 2-mile shuffles and working my way back to 5 miles of comfortable jogging. I always feel good at the end of a run. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Running is supposed to help ease pregnancy and childbirth. (So far, check.) But based on my blog stalking, I’m running at the upper range among pregnant runners at this stage of the game. So I don’t know if I should run more. No one knows, it depends on the person. I’m just supposed to listen to the body. So there, if you’re wondering what pregnant running feels like, it feels like uncertainty, maybe guilt. Every run can be my last run, every mile can help or hurt for two. This feeling trumps all others, which also includes loneliness (I’m too slow to run with people these days) and jealousy (Everyone gets to run more than me). This is the <i>ugly</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The <i>bad</i> thing about running while pregnant is that I have to diligently empty the bladder and intestines before every run or else I experience great pain. Actually, even if I do, it still feels like I have to pee. I just know it’s a bluff. My bladder is small these days, so if I leave a little in there, every step I take would feel like someone is punching it. Imagine having your full bladder punched 100 some times per minute, and you’ve got the experience of me running. I also have no idea where my intestines are anymore, but they will always make themselves known if I run having underpooped. In fact, the entire abdomen would hurt so much that I have to immediately stop running. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">That’s it, though. Physically, running with almost 20 extra pounds doesn’t feel nearly as hard as walking with a 10-pound dumbbell. My belly sticking out doesn’t affect my balance as much as I thought. I am just slower, about 2 minutes per mile slower than before, and I’ve cut back by 50-60% in distance. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What’s cool about pregnant running is that when I’m out running, sometimes I do feel like I’m running with the little guy, like the two of us are on a little adventure. Like last week, I took him to the trails to experience the serenity and beauty of the Wissahickon and the fun (and dare) of snow running. What’s <i>good</i> about running these days is that I can just do it. It’s simple. Once I’m out, I’m so free. Once the kid comes out though, it will actually be harder to run together, and it’ll be harder to just get out the door at a moment’s notice. That’s why I’m savoring these last weeks of freedom and trying to run for as long as I can.</div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-58163140323899601712011-01-30T14:06:00.002-05:002011-01-30T14:08:35.202-05:00Running these daysWe've been dominating the screwshoes hashtag on Twitter. Helen, Leo, myself – we've got pretty much all the entries. Turns out it isn't a big trender.<br /><br />I'm the only one that's actually been using them. So simple, yet so effective: screw a bunch of screws into the bottom of your shoes, and there you have it: screwshoes. Run on ice, run in slush and snow. As long as you don't sink in too much, you're good to go.<br /><br />Because these days, running means running in snow, running on ice, running through slush. It's a hassle, and it's harder. But overall, that trade-off is worth it. It's stunningly beautiful. Especially in the sun, with the bright snow. Forbidden Drive and most of the Wissahickon's trails are runnable. The trails aren't easy running – or, at least, they aren't fast. They're probably less technical than they normally are though. <br /><br />The snow – even the packed snow – means a softer run, too. This morning was my long run; probably ran 15-16 miles, after running 9 yesterday. That makes this a big weekend for me, but I don't feel beat-up. Tired, yes, but not beat up. This despite the shoes I'm wearing, my 'screw balances,' an old pair of new balances with 400+ miles in them that never had much cushioning to begin with. <br /><br />There's a lot to like about snow running. <br /><br />But I miss running with Helen. <br /><br />I got into this sport with Helen – she's my #1 running partner, and always will be. I'm hoping that somewhere down the line, the little guy she's been carrying around in her tummy is going to become #1a. But right now, it's an in-between period. Helen's doing a good job of running through pregnancy, especially now that her hip's better, so we still run some together. But we can't log the miles together that I'm used to, that she's used to. I know that, as far as pregnancy issues goes, this is small, and that dads-to-be aren't supposed to whine. But I'm looking forward to the day when we can hand the kid off to his grandparents and disappear into the woods together for a few hours. I hope that there's snow then, too.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-28300348641944238482011-01-02T10:48:00.002-05:002011-01-02T18:28:47.601-05:00Last Night's Dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHNt1-wUI/AAAAAAAAAx4/dzy3BZzfC5o/s1600/IMG_1953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHNt1-wUI/AAAAAAAAAx4/dzy3BZzfC5o/s320/IMG_1953.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Last night was the 4th (and possibly final!) Annual New Year's Eve Dinner.<br />
We brought it back to New Year's this year, as some people had problems with the mid-week/work-week dinner last year. <br />
Four dinners and, by my count, four successful dinners! A relief as I didn't feel like we had as many new dishes this year; we've been a bit less creative, I think, in our normal dinner choices. But we've also eaten a lot of new things that just don't work as well in the large dinner party setting (pizzas, mostly, but other stuff as well, like the panisses I made a few weeks ago that were good, but require a lot of last-minute attention). With 18 people showing up, that wasn't an option. Lamb shoulder really is hard to beat for these parties.<br />
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Anyway: last night's menu:<br />
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Vin chaud (aka 'mulled wine')<br />
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Carrot-leek Soup<br />
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Arroz con pollo with olives and preserved lemons<br />
Lamb tagine with dates and raisins<br />
Roasted butternut squash<br />
Chick peas 'maison'<br />
No-knead bread<br />
Soft Pretzels<br />
Green salad with apples and pine nuts<br />
--=---<br />
Chocolate-pecan pie<br />
Pear almond tart<br />
Brownies <br />
Ice creams: vanilla, cinnamon, chestnut<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCYS71pybI/AAAAAAAAAxU/J91p7w28Pmk/s1600/IMG_1959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCYS71pybI/AAAAAAAAAxU/J91p7w28Pmk/s200/IMG_1959.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>I did want to highlight seasonal stuff this time, more than usual. In the past, I've approached this as a time of excess, of doing things that aren't everyday – so, buying strawberries in December, spending more for fancier products, and lots and lots of meat were all part of the fun. Because of that approach, I paid less attention to local/seasonal stuff than I do in our normal meals. But this time, it just seemed to all have nice fall/winter colors: browns, oranges, instead of pinks and bright reds. Large piles of meat, still, but along with squash (a first, I think) and lots of bread.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCZloliJiI/AAAAAAAAAxY/edMDaGgeO0w/s1600/IMG_1948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCZloliJiI/AAAAAAAAAxY/edMDaGgeO0w/s200/IMG_1948.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>The carrot-leek soup is basic, but very good. <br />
Basic here doesn't mean 'easy' because making it involves cleaning leeks, which is a huge hassle.<br />
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And Helen pointed out that even though the soup was good, it probably wasn't worth the complications. I think she's right. As the dinner has evolved, it's moved from more structured to less (witness the disappearance of the palate cleanser course). Probably be best to just have the soup out for people who want it...<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHWQGHg4I/AAAAAAAAAx8/-8oFgPULiPA/s1600/IMG_1956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHWQGHg4I/AAAAAAAAAx8/-8oFgPULiPA/s200/IMG_1956.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arroz con Pollo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The only real weakness was the arroz con pollo. I'd made it before, and liked it – it's a <a href="http://markbittman.com/dinner-with-bittman-arroz-con-pollo">Mark Bittman recipe</a> that I'd jazzed up by adding turmeric, lemons, and olives, giving it a Moroccan flair. I forgot the turmeric this time, though. I'd also tripled the broth and rice in the recipe (with 18 guests, hard not to!). I figured that once the broth reached a boil rice cooking time would be the same, but that turned out not to be the case. Either that, or problems caused by having my ginormous dutch oven off-center on one tiny little burner. So, tasty, but with some crunchy rice and not much color. <br />
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The rest went great. People liked the squash, despite it being squash, which is, well, <span style="font-style: italic;">squash</span>. The chick peas got eaten up, too. It's a standard dish here, probably close to weekly – chick peas sauteed with cumin seeds, chipotles, tomatoes, raisins, and almonds, then simmered in beer for a bit. We don't actually call it chick peas maison, but we don't have a name for it, so there it is.<br />
The lamb is always a big hit. I even served it in a real tagine this time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEJ6sh79JI/AAAAAAAAAyE/qi2LkRmdIm0/s1600/IMG_1954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEJ6sh79JI/AAAAAAAAAyE/qi2LkRmdIm0/s320/IMG_1954.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roasted Butternut Squash</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCaknIYtiI/AAAAAAAAAxk/bAscyD3b7Cs/s1600/IMG_1958.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCaknIYtiI/AAAAAAAAAxk/bAscyD3b7Cs/s320/IMG_1958.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chick Peas </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCaWeXP1RI/AAAAAAAAAxg/e217TOzMv-c/s1600/IMG_1957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCaWeXP1RI/AAAAAAAAAxg/e217TOzMv-c/s320/IMG_1957.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamb Tagine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The biggest hit, though, was probably the pretzels. People really like home made pretzels. I think we made around 30, and they were gone by morning. <br />
They're a great dinner party food, it turns out – even better if you've got kids coming who want to help make them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCbDdTASRI/AAAAAAAAAxw/DKeiwotswwU/s1600/IMG_1947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCbDdTASRI/AAAAAAAAAxw/DKeiwotswwU/s320/IMG_1947.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pecan Chocolate Pie</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHein8ChI/AAAAAAAAAyA/RYpmu9v68xk/s1600/IMG_1960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSEHein8ChI/AAAAAAAAAyA/RYpmu9v68xk/s320/IMG_1960.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brownies</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCa3JEtsmI/AAAAAAAAAxs/f-0qCyyYjVw/s1600/IMG_1944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TSCa3JEtsmI/AAAAAAAAAxs/f-0qCyyYjVw/s320/IMG_1944.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pear Almond Tart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-50684919251246291692010-12-21T17:54:00.001-05:002010-12-21T20:16:43.427-05:00Almond Biscotti<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TREr3IHh0pI/AAAAAAAAAxI/FXdsDJ9Sh_A/s1600/biscotti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TREr3IHh0pI/AAAAAAAAAxI/FXdsDJ9Sh_A/s400/biscotti.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Due to some lingering and major hip pain, I've been doing very little running the last week. This seems a bit different from my usual hamstring issues which manifest in the knees and hips. This is new and causes me to limp even when walking. Needless to say, this is frustrating. Yesterday, I went out for a two hour, six mile walk and still was mopey when I returned. </span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, but my whining isn't the reason you decided to read this post, is it? So, back to biscotti. For the cookie exchange at work, I decided to make 80 some almond biscotti. While this isn't the tastiest batch I've made, these are the most intact, professional looking ones. What really helped this time is (1) having a spray bottle to soften the crust before cutting and (2) using sliced almonds instead of whole nuts. I wish they come out browner, but these are definitely crunchy enough.</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They're not hard to make, but it does help to have a stand mixer or strong forearms (I think you know which one I have) and to give yourself at least two hours. Below is the recipe, which I adapted from King Arthur Flour's recipes for Almond-Lemon Biscotti and Barista Biscotti Bites. As usual, I doubled the salt. If you like things on the sweet side, you might want to use more sugar or add a glaze.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">********************* </span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Almond Biscotti</b></span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour’s various biscotti recipes)</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="ontop" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">6 tablespoons (3 ounces) butter<br />
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar<br />
1/2 teaspoon salt<br />
1 ¼ teaspoons almond extract<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder<br />
2 large eggs<br />
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">1 cup sliced toasted almonds</span><br />
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) one large (about 18" x 13") baking sheet. <br />
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In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter, sugar, salt, almond extract, and baking powder until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs; the batter may look slightly curdled. At low speed of your mixer, add the flour and almonds, stirring until smooth; the dough will be sticky.<br />
<br />
Divide the dough in half, plopping each half onto the prepared baking sheet. Using your wet fingers, shape each piece into a rough log about 12" long, 2" wide, and about ¾" thick. Straighten the log, and smooth its top and sides.<br />
<br />
Bake the dough for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool on the pan anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes. Using a spray bottle filled with room-temperature water, lightly but thoroughly spritz the logs, making sure to cover the sides as well as the top. Softening the crust just this little bit will make slicing the biscotti much easier.<br />
<br />
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Wait another 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into ½" to ¾" slices. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <br />
Set the biscotti on edge on the prepared baking sheet. Return the biscotti to the oven, and bake them for 30 minutes, till they feel very dry. They’ll still feel a tiny bit moist in the very center, if you break off a piece; but they’ll continue to dry out as they cool. Remove the biscotti from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.</span>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-13445020668207548452010-12-20T21:06:00.007-05:002010-12-20T21:31:44.881-05:00Best Runs of the Year – 20102010 has been a good year for running. Helen and I re-ran some classic routes and discovered some new ones. We ran in Philly and New England, we ran in France, and we ran in Morocco. We've now run together in five countries on four continents and, by my count, seven U.S. states. We had some of our biggest adventure runs this year – no monkeys, perhaps, but there were some rather ominous cows, some major climbs, and some serious weather. <br /><br />A good year for running, although I'm not sure I could call it a great year for running. Helen was dinged-up for much of it, pregnant for the rest, with some overlap to boot. This ruled out epic runs like our '08 mountain runs in Provence and Hong Kong, and our biggest adventure journey – a day in the Atlas mountains of Morocco – was a hike instead of a run. And it wasn't a great year for racing. I did PR in the half-marathon, and ran my <a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/10/reflections-on-blues-cruise-50k.html">first ultra</a>; on the down side, though, <a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/04/streak-is-kind-of-over.html">the streak ended</a>, and the last 10 miles of that ultra were pretty dreary. <br /><br />But there were still more great runs than anyone deserves, and it's nice to take the time to relive some of them. So, here they are, in chronological order: <br /><br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/02/birthday-run-birthday-cake-birthday.html">The Abbreviated-Four-Corners-Extended-Cake Run</a><br />This winter was different from previous winters just in the sheer quantity of snow here in Philly. Eventually I'd get tired of it, but at this point, we weren't there yet. Helen and I had planned on running the four corners with fellow wanderers Leo and Pete. It's a daunting run in any conditions, but with over a foot of fresh powder, there was No Way. What was supposed to be 21 miles in around 3.5 hours became 12 in three-plus hours. But what it lacked in speed and distance it made up for in pure fun. And cake!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEg1zHZVdsTgH4nt_eqLCSvpgOXPoRtu2A0dGM_-vr60zCZHBNqLhNfoNVkSHP11nvRTic_v88uazilfSIOqyLjQDpfNdO9zdv3uBI4Toprd8hXzywBN6-Lepx_rRuF-utBA3MxNup3ry/s320/IMG_1286.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEg1zHZVdsTgH4nt_eqLCSvpgOXPoRtu2A0dGM_-vr60zCZHBNqLhNfoNVkSHP11nvRTic_v88uazilfSIOqyLjQDpfNdO9zdv3uBI4Toprd8hXzywBN6-Lepx_rRuF-utBA3MxNup3ry/s320/IMG_1286.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />The Pre-<a href="http://helenandnoah.blogspot.com/">Wedding</a> run<br />This run starts off a good series. This was, in one sense, just the normal Thursday-night Wanderers run. But since it was two days before our wedding, we treated that run as the start of our wedding festivities. got some extra friends to join us, ran in our 'bride and groom' baseball caps... there was even more cake afterward!<br /><br />Running in Nice<br />We did a few runs in Nice, but it was the first one that stands out – running up in the hills above the city, going up in the gardens and the smaller roads in the hills. The conditions, the new scenery, made the run great; but it was also a great feeling being there, the relaxation of the honeymoon, the break in our routines. <br /><br />Running through the Medina<br />The next great Honeymoon Run. <br />We'd had a great hike in the Atlas Mountains the day before. Beautiful, empty, with great vistas. Walking around Marrakesh had been different – exciting but hectic, with pedestrians, donkeys, motorcycles and cars all hustling for the same space. Early in the morning? That's a different story. So Helen and I woke up early and headed out, running free through the streets before the hustle began. <br /><br />Running in Essouria<br />This was the other city in Morocco we visited – along the Atlantic coast. The city itself is quite small, so when we ran we ventured outside of it. We found some roads that followed along the ocean – one was clearly *the* place to run, but the other – a quasi-abandoned quasi-road – that was the fun part. We were brave and went past the cows that were off to the side of the road. The next hear, though, the ones blocking the road – that's where we decided to turn back. A few too many bulls. <br /><br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/06/noah-1-double-trouble-1-but-helen-wins.html">Double Trouble</a><br />This year, we decided to do it up, and do the whole thing twice. Not sure it was the wise thing, but it worked out well for Helen, as she was able to win the long version going away. (We later learned that she was pregnant during the race, but we didn't know that then). I struggled in the last quarter of the race, but I enjoyed the first three quarters a lot, and also enjoyed hanging out in the park afterward. <br /><br />Beartown State Forest<br />Helen and I have been going to Beartown State Forest for a few years, almost every time we go up to Great Barrington. We'd always been trying to find routes to take along the trails and skipping the roads. This time, though, we were wary of doing the actual trails. (I don't remember why exactly – Helen's ankle maybe?) So instead of the trails, we stuck with the roads in the park. Turns out they're *great* running roads. Like a network of Forbidden Drives. We'd been avoiding them the whole time, but it turns out that they might be what's best about running in the park. <br /><br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/08/so-thats-what-it-looks-like.html">Half-Wit Half</a><br />This is an annual. It's almost at the point that it's what I think of when I think of summer. Running through the woods, up and down the crazy hills (and stairs!), trying to stay on course. This was the second straight year that I stayed on course, and the second straight year I age-grouped. It was the first year that I wasn't faster than the year before, and Helen only finished second (I know, right?). I also felt like I left a minute or two on the course, but you know what? That was ok – part of the fun of half-wit is running it, but a lot of the fun is hanging out afterward, sitting around with the horde of other Wanderers. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmU2lsLk-I/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cqk1dM3bwNU/s320/half-wit2010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmU2lsLk-I/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cqk1dM3bwNU/s320/half-wit2010.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /> <br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/09/quasi-marathon-and-some-thoughts-on.html"><br />Stumpy's Marathon</a><br />This wasn't a normal marathon; it was a trail run guaranteed to be "at least" 26 miles, running through the woods in Delaware. It took me 4 hours - I was able to run the first three hours with Bob Reynolds. Keeping up with him for those three hours probably hurt me during the fourth, though – something of a death-march toward the end. I liked the approach, though, and I liked those woods. And I liked the fact that I was able to just go out and run 26 miles and not have to spend two weeks tapering and then two recovering. <br /><br />The Hamlet run<br />During the fall, I'd run home from work once most weeks. It takes some planning, because while I can bring as much stuff *too* work as I want, I try to run home with as little as possible – usually, a few bucks, my keys, my faculty i.d. Leaving my phone at home is easy enough. The course reading is the complication. Sometimes I'll scan something in and email it home; sometimes it doesn't matter, because I've taught the material enough to not have to worry about it. But in mid-semester I was <a href="http://noahunplugged.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/teaching-hamlet/">teaching Hamlet</a> for the first time, and didn't want to go two days without the book. In part, it was for class prep, in part it was just because I wanted to keep reading it. So I put my copy of Hamlet in a plastic bag and ran home – 11 miles – with the book in my hand.<br />The run wasn't great, to be honest – it certainly wasn't one of the year's best. But I've been looking for an excuse to write about running 11 miles with a copy of Hamlet in my hand, and this was it. <br /><br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2010/11/12430.html"><br />Philly Marathon Half-Marathon</a><br />It was a great year for running; it wasn't a great year for racing. But I did manage to PR at the Philly Marathon Half-Marathon, beating my previous time by a minute on a beautiful fall day. <br /><br />Racing-wise, I don't know what's in store for next year. I'm thinking about focusing more on 5ks and 10ks. I've definitely got no plans to race another marathon. <br />But running will have to take a back seat, too... runner # 3 is on his way, but it's gonna take him a little while to get up to speed. For now, I'm thankful for the year of running that we've had, and I'm looking forward to all of the adventures that 2011 has in store.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-52687842474334225162010-11-27T15:19:00.000-05:002010-11-27T15:20:04.460-05:00Turning the PageThis morning's run was cold. Sunny, blue skies, but cold. <br />It was a strange fall; it seemed like the whole time it was fall, it was feeling like it had just been summer. Now, all of a sudden it's winter. <br /><br />It's nice, though, because the weather is cooperating with a whole lot of other changes. It's just past Thanksgiving, meaning that it's Christmas season. I'm finally done my fall racing season. I'm practically done my semester. So it felt good to be out there this morning, running with the wanderers, wearing my tights and gloves and hat and jacket. <br /><br />It felt good to be back on the trails, too. I'd been staying off of them in the weeks leading up to the Philly Half, since you never know when you'll turn an ankle and ruin your race, or else just totally biff, scrape your face up, and ruin your race pics. In those weeks, though, the trails changed; they're not the fall trails of changing leaves anymore, they're the winter trails, with the sun shining through the barren trees. <br /><br />I don't know what this winter has in store, and I don't know what I want to accomplish. It was hard to run in last winter's snow; but I let that dictate my runs too much. It took a while this year – all of spring, part of summer – to make up for what I didn't run in the winter. I could make a point of avoiding that this year. But next year's a bit different anyway, what with the piglet on his way, and the probability that even if I'm running much next spring, I won't be sleeping much. <br /><br />On Thanksgiving morning, we were at the Whole Paycheck, doing some last-minute shopping. I saw some popsicles in the frozen foods aisle. I remembered getting a popsicle on the way up to Great Barrington, how refreshing and cooling it was on that hot summer night. There will be more popsicles, but not for a while, not for a while.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-7982450160914261362010-11-24T23:35:00.000-05:002010-11-24T23:35:25.648-05:00Giving thanksAll of the thanksgiving posts over at my work blog got me thinking, man, my life is so good! I am having a good year. I married my favorite person in May. We then took a vacation in Morocco and France. I have great family and friends, a job that I am good at, and coworkers I like. And now, we're expecting a mini-us in March!<br />
<br />
On that topic, I am thankful that despite all of the tests and worries early on, our piglet is healthy and I am feeling well. Sure, this is the year when I finally figured out how to keep my hamstrings working properly (by swimming), and now I have to cut back (20% so far). But I am still happy to be running. Also, I have no strange food cravings or aversions. So, the eating and running will continue. :)<br />
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And all of this is to say that, I feel so lucky and so thankful, just about all of the time.<br />
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Happy thanksgiving to all!Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-20262722933763958332010-11-22T07:10:00.001-05:002010-11-22T07:10:46.675-05:001:24:30I ran the Philly Marathon Half Marathon this morning. I finished in 1:24:30, which is a new PR for me, by around a minute.<br />I also placed 4th in my age group. This is unprecedented.<br /><br />The time is around what I expected. "Around" - I printed up a wristband last night, and had it exactly at 1:24:30, but I had no idea that I'd hit that to the second. And to be honest, I'm not sure I did – kinda think it was 2-3 seconds slower, but whatever. I'm pleased with the time. It was what I expected, given my training this season. <br />It's not what I was hoping for when I signed up for the race, but given my conditioning, I was pleased with the race – with the time, with my effort, with my approach.<br />My previous PR was at last year's PDR – a half-marathon only race that many people, including me then, use as a warm-up for the full marathon. I had a 1:25:42, or something like that (forty-something). I knew I left a few minutes on the course that day, since I was taking it easy to prioritize marathon training, and hadn't tapered. <br />This season, I wasn't up for another full Marathon; I was hoping to go back and pick up those minutes I'd left on the course, though. Turns out it wasn't so easy.<br />I was putting in similar miles to last year, but just wasn't quite as fast – reps were just a few seconds slower. I wasn't concerned about endurance, having run the Bluse Cruise, but I was concerned about speed. The half-marathon is a good hybrid, it's certainly endurance but you need to run it fast if you want to do well. <br />Although I arrived at my wristband's exact time, race didn't quite go by plan. Was thinking easy first 3 miles, pick it up through mile 10, then lay down the hammer. Instead, I went out faster than I planned, kept it up for a while, then dropped back a bit at around miles 9-10. Still managed to speed up for the last 3. <br />Like I said, it's not what I was hoping for when I signed up. I felt like I had a 1:22-1:23 in me. But today – this season – I didn't. <br />That said, I'm pretty excited about my AG placing. I never imagined I'd place in my AG in such a big race. And I was 82nd overall. I'm a top 5% guy usually; but this is top 1%. Unprecedented. <br />Easy to make caveats: a lot of people doing the full were going faster than me. It's the Philly Marathon; that's the main event. And yes, I've always been a bit skeptical of AG awards. But in a race this big, that matters less. It's still gratifying. <br />And thus ends racing season. Don't know what's next on the docket... Ugly Mudder? Some spring 10Ks? We'll see.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-42418298335127447172010-10-04T08:12:00.005-05:002010-10-04T09:31:53.543-05:00Reflections on the Blues Cruise 50kYesterday, I ran the Blues Cruise 50k. It was my first real foray into "ultra" marathons – a category that includes anything longer than a marathon, from 50ks to 50-milers to 100-milers and up. <br /><br />My main impressions:<br />-It was a beautiful day, a perfect day, really, blue skies and sunlight but cool and breezy.<br />-The course itself was beautiful, along a lake, trails that were usually runnable<br />-The support was great<br />-Toenails, though small, can cause an enormous amount of pain<br />-I'm happy with my finishing time<br />-Ultra running just isn't for me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiqZgbAd2-9CIHFmukriU_cVv2GdvgC4_LpI4nMgjYFVnqbBN45nzbJbfGsg7TB-v9VWJlLr2JohpCpFQfNZxDf8B-NFFpL5x9quqwyVUQYzPDdQrYuhNJBt1bFcQLQMH5mB4Vtcmal7t/s1600/IMG_1787.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiqZgbAd2-9CIHFmukriU_cVv2GdvgC4_LpI4nMgjYFVnqbBN45nzbJbfGsg7TB-v9VWJlLr2JohpCpFQfNZxDf8B-NFFpL5x9quqwyVUQYzPDdQrYuhNJBt1bFcQLQMH5mB4Vtcmal7t/s200/IMG_1787.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524198260030475090" /></a><br /><br />50k translates to 31 miles, which makes sense, since a 5k is 3.1 miles. This course may have been only 30 miles, though, which translated to around 48.3k; Bob Reynolds also ran this with me, wearing his gps, and that was what he had.<br />"Only 30 miles" – it was still a long, long way to run. <br /><br />The race started out well. It's an out and back, on trails that are often nice, frequently beautiful, at times breathtaking. Most of the trails were runable; there were a fair amount of short and really steep hills, which were a challenge (both up and down), but they were never too long. the one real significant hill was at around mile 10 (and then 21, seeing as it's an out-and-back), but that was not quite as steep, a hill that would have been more Wissahickon-like. <br />I started off a bit fast – first mile around 7:30, no way that was sustainable – and then settled into what seemed like a good pace. I hit the turnaround at around 2:02. I knew at that point that I was going to positive split the race, but was hoping for something around 4:10-4:15. Running that far, even on trails, beats me up, so equal effort = positive splitting. <br />I hadn't prepared for the excruciating pain that I was going to have to go through in the second half. I first noticed it going up the big hill at around mile 21. I'd felt something similar the Saturday before, on my weekly long run, and chalked it up to poor sock choice. I tried to run through it, but it would keep getting worse. I took off my shoe and rearranged my sock, which helped for a bit – I'd wind up doing that 3-4 times during the race. At a late rest stop (mile 25) I managed to get some ibuprofen, which also helped for a bit. But nothing that helped lasted. I think that at the last rest stop – maybe 3.5 miles out? - if I'd known how much I'd hurt during those last few miles, I'd have DNFed. Lots of grimacing, yelling, deep breathing till the pain subsided, then starting up with the first ginger steps, till up to running pace, then I'd land wrong and the pain would begin again.<br />That said, I'm glad I finished. Now I've done it – I've run at least one ultra. And my time was good – 4:32. A pretty pathetic 2nd half, but an overall good time. That was good for 19th place out of around 200 runners. I'm usually in the top 5%, but I expected to be somewhere around top 10% for my first ultra. And it was around the time I'd been guessing I'd get.<br />But I don't think that this is for me. I can't blame the venue, can't blame the weather, because I couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know that I can blame my toes - I mean, I can, but I suspect that during most ultras I'd have some issue or another. But 30 miles, 31 miles, even 26 miles – it's just a long way to run. While running that long has the advantage of letting you see a lot of beautiful scenery, and taking this a bit easier, you don't need a race for that. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVrICrZAbz6RaZPFUSgwSJw7ny6pTJVSTIq6vhsiQtT63Taf_qSyXgt2nz6ors2HikOAsU2v0Uw4dYdm0jiu1f2D73pZcFNwZkGcqG-Nt4BLzw0aTWwEwQvKIeTXa0uLrfRkkrQT5PPf-/s1600/IMG_1797.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVrICrZAbz6RaZPFUSgwSJw7ny6pTJVSTIq6vhsiQtT63Taf_qSyXgt2nz6ors2HikOAsU2v0Uw4dYdm0jiu1f2D73pZcFNwZkGcqG-Nt4BLzw0aTWwEwQvKIeTXa0uLrfRkkrQT5PPf-/s320/IMG_1797.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524197694845308162" /></a>Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-5949904657260104422010-10-01T15:23:00.000-05:002010-10-01T15:24:07.289-05:00Ready or not...This weekend represents my first entry into the world of ultrarunning.<br />I'm signed up for the Blues Cruise 50k. <br />50k. <br />That's 31 miles... significantly more running than I've ever done. And, perhaps, significantly more running than I ever should have planned on doing. I might be up to this; I probably am ready; but I'm really not sure.<br /><br />My running mileage has been in the 50s lately, I think – maybe high 40s. I don't usually add it up. My sense is that's a little light for a 50k, but maybe not excessively so. The biking will help. I have two 20+ runs, one the 26.8 mile Trail Dawgs Quasi-marathon. And yeah, that one didn't go so well. At least the fourth hour didn't.<br />I do have hopes that the last miles of the Blues Cruise will go better than the last miles of the Quasi-Marathon. That one I didn't taper for, didn't eat right for, basically tried to train through. I also ran it in running shoes that had long since lost any padding. For Blues Cruise, I'm tapering (probably not enough, but I am tapering), going a few days without booze, and trying to generally get ready for it. I also have my new, new trail running shoes – although there, too, I'm not without concerns. They'll only have around 40 miles on them, if that; the longest run was 19 miles, a run that was supposed to be 22 but which I cut short. I blame the socks I was wearing that day, but still – it'd be nice to know more about how I like the shoes. But then, I ran in my old Cascadias today, and they're done.<br /><br />At least it's rained. The ground shouldn't be that hard. <br /><br />I'm also planning on not going out that hard. It's tough, though – with such a long race, even going fast, you'll be out there way longer than is necessary. Go out to slow, you're looking at more than 5 hours running. That, I may not be up for.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-89473598316721641082010-09-18T14:17:00.002-05:002010-09-18T14:23:08.877-05:00New New Trail Running Shoes, version 3.0This morning I ran 10 miles in my brand spankin' new Asics Trabucos.<br />For me, this is a big shift. I do a lot of my miles on trails, and have a 50k coming up in (gulp) 2 weeks, so I'm counting on these for a lot. They weren't the pair I was planning on getting.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/ASW2597-LNGONX?wid=442&hei=432&fmt=jpeg&qlt=75,0&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=1.1,1.0,5,0&iccEmbed=0"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 442px; height: 432px;" src="http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/roadrunnersports/ASW2597-LNGONX?wid=442&hei=432&fmt=jpeg&qlt=75,0&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=1.1,1.0,5,0&iccEmbed=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />My first ever pair of trail running shoes was a pair of Mizuno Wave Ascends. They were great for around 350 miles, then suddenly weren't very great at all.<br />After that, I got a pair of Brooks Cascadias. Those were awesome. So awesome, in fact, that when those wore out, I got a second pair. <br /><br />That second pair was even awesomer. They were, after all, just as good functionally as the first pair. Plus they were red. Awesome + red = Awesome-er.<br />Anyway, they were awesome enough to get a *third* pair of Cascadias. This involved moving from the Cascadia 4 to the 5.<br /><br />The 5s were awesome, but not quite as awesome. The toebox seemed narrower, which is often an issue for me. Still, they gave me many good runs – including the trail marathon I ran last week. That said, it was clear during the fourth hour of that marathon that it was time for a new pair of trail shoes.<br /><br />I was just planning on getting an unprecedented fourth pair of Cascadias, and I'm pretty sure I would have, but the store was out. So I figured, what the hey, and tried on what they had at the store. And the Asics Trabucos felt pretty darn good. So I took the leap. <br /><br />The 10-mile review: they feel good. I do have some worries, related to ankle turns. They land a little different than the Cascadias, in certain situations. I feel like there are times when I landed with a rock or root or something that was a little high at the outside of the foot, and on the Trabucos, they sort of 'give' a little, where the Cascadias kept everything flat on the bottom. I'm really hoping that I get used to that.<br /><br />I don't think that this is because the Trabucos are a stability shoe – because, despite what some websites say, I don't *think* that they are a stability shoe. Some shoe guides have them listed as such, but Helen saw no signs in the shoe itself; I saw no signs on the Asics site that they're made for stability. They seem, over all, not unlike the Cascadias.<br /><br />Like the Cascadias, they have a decent heel, which I like, even though it's out of fashion among trail runners. The toe box is a bit wider, which I also like. Padding seems a little harder than the Cascadias, but not a lot. <br /><br />It's hard moving away from something that works, but for now, I'm optimistic. My biggest worry? I should have gotten last year's model – the Trabuco 12. Didn't think I'd ever go with such an unlucky model number. But here it goes...Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-66384882959229497452010-09-12T17:21:00.001-05:002010-09-12T17:25:25.454-05:00A Quasi-Marathon, and some thoughts on strategyI ran in the Trail Dawgs' Stumpy's Marathon this morning – a no-frills affair through some nice woods outside of Newark, Delaware. <br />I didn't fully race it, and it's not fully a race. It's a supported run, with no real clock, no sign-up, and no guarantees. It's a free race and, while they like pointing out that you get what you pay for, it's a pretty good event. They had a bunch of rest stops, and did a decent job of marking a pretty complicated course. Bob R drove down with me, and I ran with him for the first 20+ miles. He wore a GPS, and had the route at 26.6 miles. Or maybe 26.8 – I forget. <br /><br />It took me just under 4 hours. I break down the race like this: first two hours were fun; the third was difficult; the fourth hour was a brutal death-march. I didn't walk (with the exception of some steep climbs, where it was a good choice), but was really feeling the pain. <br />For the first three hours, I'd tried to run with Bob, even though I know that he does a lot more long-distance training than I do. Seemed more pleasant to run with someone, and it was good to have help finding the mile markers. For the first two hours that was easy enough. The third was a struggle. By hour 4, he left me in the dust.<br /><br />It made me think more about the races I've done recently: Double Trouble, Half Wit, and this quasi-race. I'm ok with all of my results. The one that most disappointed me was half-wit. That was the only one where I'd made a conscious choice to negative split. The thing is, though – even if it cost me some time, it was the one event where I really felt like I finished strong. <br /><br />Positive Split, Negative Split... there's a lot that makes sense about positive splitting a trail race. I'm not sure that my positive splitting cost me any time in Double Trouble or today (or that I should care much about the time today). But it's hard to deny that it makes me enjoy the running less. <br /><br />My next race – a real race – is the Blues Cruise 50k. That'll be the farthest I've ever run. I'm thinking I should start off slower.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-36503960512915733542010-08-19T21:36:00.004-05:002010-08-19T22:03:46.894-05:00Water Ice, Water Ice, Oh How I Love TheeAs a native Philadelphian, I grew up eating Water Ice.<br />And yes, as a native Philadelphian, I do call it "wudderice." <br /><br />For those not familiar with water ice, in consistency, it's a bit like a more solidified and frozen version of a slurpee. As such, it's a member of the all-important "sweet and cold" food group, which is not yet considered one of the major food groups by everybody, but it is by me.<br /><br />Readers of this blog know that I love ice cream, and I love sorbet as well. But a water ice isn't really much like sorbet, or granita for that matter. In sorbets and granitas, you're really trying to get at the essence of the fruit. <br /><br />Water ice is always fruit flavors (or almost always, anyways). But it's not the all-natural, essence of the fruit treat that sorbets and granitas are. With water ice, you have to be willing to embrace the artificiality. Those colors sure aren't natural. And not all flavors work. The sour cherry that I ordered once didn't. But then, water ice isn't really about having a wide variety of flavors, for me. It's about having a few flavors and doing them right. And by 'a few,' I really mean two: lemon and cherry. Although if you want to only have lemon, that's fine, too. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.slashfood.com/media/2008/06/water-ice-being-scooped.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 425px; height: 334px;" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.slashfood.com/media/2008/06/water-ice-being-scooped.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Most people who pay attention to this stuff consider John's Water Ice, in Bella Vista, the best in the city, and it only has four flavors: Lemon, Cherry, Pineapple (which I tasted, it's pretty good) and, for some reason, chocolate. That said, I'm not sure that I think that John's is All That. Two factors here: first, John's doesn't have the ice chunks that plague many water ice places. But the flip side of that is that it's a little liquidy. I don't like the ice chunks, but I'm willing to accept them as the cost of a water ice that's more solid, less liquidy. Second: most of the water ices I've had are pretty similar in quality. So I don't see it as worth it to go all the way across town to go to a particular water ice place. I'm happy with the ones that are nearby. <br /><br />When should you eat water ice? Any time is good, but – this won't come as a shocker to anyone – it is best when you're hot. It's especially good when you've been exercising. Towards the end of a long bike ride, perhaps, stopping and having a water ice and then feeling nice and cool on the last few miles home... isn't that what summer's all about? <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">photo from slashfood.com</span>Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-88887640151185566572010-08-16T14:43:00.002-05:002010-08-16T14:43:55.694-05:00What a Half-Wit looks like<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmUzD2tBuI/AAAAAAAAAwE/hW2qEdSHEi8/s1600/half-wit2010-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmUzD2tBuI/AAAAAAAAAwE/hW2qEdSHEi8/s320/half-wit2010-2.JPG" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmU2lsLk-I/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cqk1dM3bwNU/s1600/half-wit2010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TGmU2lsLk-I/AAAAAAAAAwM/Cqk1dM3bwNU/s320/half-wit2010.JPG" /></a></div>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-90385032615485882802010-08-14T19:31:00.008-05:002010-08-14T19:57:00.520-05:00So THAT'S What It Looks LikeTomorrow is the Half-Wit Half Marathon.<br />In the past I have criticized this race some, but really, this is one of my favorite races, one that I look forward to a lot, one that Helen and I plan around.<br /><br />My <a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2008/08/half-wit-race-lbrr-proud-of-helen-of.html">main </a><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2007/08/half-wit-trail-race-noah-beats-helen.html"> criticisms</a> in the past came from going off course the first two times I ran it - for reasons that I thought were avoidable by better signs and better volunteer placement. Nor does the RD make the course available ahead of time. It's a trail half marathon, and while I do think it's pretty close to the distance, it's not like these things are USATF certified. I'm not sure that an official map exists. <br /><br /><a href="http://positivesplits.blogspot.com/2009/08/half-wit-half-long-belated-race-report.html">Last year</a> was the first year I was able to run the race and not go off course. I paid attention, tried to remember what I could. I also got lucky some. But as this race was approaching this year, Helen suggested I look on-line, that maybe someone had posted a GPS file of the course.<br /><br />She was right! A few people had, and I was able to look over the course some. And my main reaction?<br /><br />I had no idea, none, that it looked like that.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4mlOMCq10x-B992kKYhjUc05OdR0q5SmN720it__trAUqTL6dtGbPXi6HcDxjIsu3bGZLnaj_jku7ie3NSGTqtTzQKkvNKzePCCAGYUITSXzeiht0Xm1DMT3OnhyphenhyphentC2J90hODfcOMRTZ/s1600/halfwit.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4mlOMCq10x-B992kKYhjUc05OdR0q5SmN720it__trAUqTL6dtGbPXi6HcDxjIsu3bGZLnaj_jku7ie3NSGTqtTzQKkvNKzePCCAGYUITSXzeiht0Xm1DMT3OnhyphenhyphentC2J90hODfcOMRTZ/s320/halfwit.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505433874991136146" /></a><br />It's a really long, narrow course. Who knew? <br /><br />Running in the Wissahickon can be disorienting, but I know its boundaries. And it's got the creek running right down the middle. Without knowing the roads around the half-wit course, I just had no sense at all. <br /><br />Will this new-found knowledge help? I'll find out tomorrow.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-10670921520945667622010-08-04T19:21:00.001-05:002010-08-04T19:31:53.669-05:00Feast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Noah and I had a lot of fun shopping at the Great Barrington farmers market and the Guido's and figuring out how to make new things in an unfamiliar kitchen.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah made this beets and tomatoes salad. He roasted the beets in the oven himself. This created a red mess in the kitchen, but the dish was well worth the trouble.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was not terribly creative with desserts, but couldn't pass up the peaches at the farmers market. The only thing new to me is that for all the cobblers and crumbles I've made, I've never made a crisp before. So, I wound up making a peaches and berries crisp. It was tasty and perhaps a little too sweet for me. It also broke the household record for eating desserts - it took us 3 days to finish it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I made this "grilled shrimp tapas" on the cast iron skillet with just a little bit of oil, salt, and garlic. Yum!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TFn_VKVgtAI/AAAAAAAAAvo/_jUd0mjogfg/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6ea5WiBWgP4/TFn_VKVgtAI/AAAAAAAAAvo/_jUd0mjogfg/s320/IMG_1754.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah made these stuffed squash blossoms and pappardelle pasta. These squash blossoms are now my favorite thing. They are stuffed with mushrooms, onions, bread crumbs and gruyere cheese and baked.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Helenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00035587617794390755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-51031726075666840342010-08-04T09:44:00.002-05:002010-08-04T09:49:24.437-05:00Isn't this what *everyone* does on vacation?Arrive late Friday night.<br /><br />Saturday: long run in <a href="http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/bear.htm">Beartown State Forest</a>; dinner in town; movie<br /><br />Sunday: 30-mile bike down to Connecticut, up through the valley; short run in the 'hood; home-cooked dinner of pasta, stuffed squash blossoms, gambas a la plancha, beet and tomato salad with fresh mint, peach and berry crisp<br /><br />Monday: long bike ride (Noah) and a run in the 'hood (Helen); dinner at the <a href="http://www.route7grill.com/">Route 7 Grill</a>.<br /><br />Tuesday: one last run in Beartown State Forest; burrito lunch; schlepp it on back to Philly.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-49604367324396859302010-07-07T19:11:00.004-05:002010-07-07T19:17:17.062-05:00Which is the bread, which is the butter?A busy last few days of running and biking. On Saturday, met up with the usual Saturday Morning Trail Run down at Valley Green. Some guys were running the four corners; I wasn't up for all four, but did join them for two. <br /><br />Sunday, I got out on the bike, and did the most recent version of the bread and butter loop. It wound up around 75 miles. <br /><br />Then Monday, the Third Annual Green Ribbon Trail run – the fourth-of-July tradition of running someplace that isn't the Wissahickon, with the guys that I usually run in the Wissahickon with. <br /><br />And I realized, a few things have changed in the last year or so. To start, a few things have happened to the bread and butter loop over the last year or so.<br /><br />The bread and butter ride is the one that I developed, bit by bit, when we were still living in C-Hill. It was a 65 mile route that included a 35-mile out and back, which was ok, and a 30 mile loop, which was pretty awesome. No surprise: I called it my bread-and-butter because I would do it so often. Sometimes it seemed like I rode it most weekends, at least when the weather permitted. One winter, the weather permitted pretty much through December. That was fun. <br /><br />Moving to Mt. Airy meant that the route got longer. This alone would have knocked it up to around 70 miles. <br /><br />I added on a few more miles above that, because I found a nicer way to start the route. It's now closer to a loop; there's only around 5 miles that I do both ways (and even that's avoidable, if I want to do a few miles on route 113). And the additions are nice; more woods, less traffic, and a section that goes through Evansburg State Park. There's also a section on this odd trail that goes under the powerlines. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxm_nBk39u2ez-8wf5IB9JfFxBit_5Ak2ndNDoyd5jpOp4M_QGHgvakNKFSD1GW1gYfM5K3G3e-m7-_LEcR1P3qG09CxA6zidGeKy2gff5vBfACOjg0bHvqUz79UXS43WuIF3b1rQoCiN/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-07-06+at+7.45.19+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxm_nBk39u2ez-8wf5IB9JfFxBit_5Ak2ndNDoyd5jpOp4M_QGHgvakNKFSD1GW1gYfM5K3G3e-m7-_LEcR1P3qG09CxA6zidGeKy2gff5vBfACOjg0bHvqUz79UXS43WuIF3b1rQoCiN/s320/Screen+shot+2010-07-06+at+7.45.19+PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491322083116072146" /></a><br /><br />But the biggest change to the bread-and-butter route? I just don't do it that much anymore. <br />This was only the second or third time I've done the whole thing since the start of spring. It's hard for me to get out on my bike as much as I'd like. The little jump in mileage, from 65 to 75, doesn't help; but mostly, I think it's my shift in focus. I'm running more, I'm biking less. I'm ok with that. It's just so much easier to lace up the running shoes and head out. I can run in the 'hood, I can head down into the woods. I can run by myself, with Helen, with other wanderers... For a bike ride, there's just so much more planning involved, and so many more limitations. So many roads that are un-fun to ride on. And I like riding on the path, but it gets old. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the 12-mile run on Saturday – that felt pretty easy. Familiar paths, familiar faces. It felt more familiar than anything I've been doing on the bike lately. <br /><br />That said, the ride on Sunday was a lot of fun. Especially the part going through the woods out by Swamp Creek, alone on the road, with the sun shining through the trees. That was pretty awesome. It usually is.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1816836798174928679.post-26330929218684171722010-06-27T21:00:00.001-05:002010-06-27T21:00:45.185-05:00Noah 1, Double Trouble 1; but Helen wins 2-0!Helen and I - along with a bunch of fellow wanderers – headed out to run the double trouble trail race today. <br />The course is a 15k loop (9.3 miles) through French Creek State Park. You can either do the single trouble (15k), which is one loop – and what we ran last year – or you can be really really dumb and do the 'double,' making it a 30k, aka 18.6 miles of trails. And heat. Trails and heat. Rocky trails, at that. <br /><br />Last year, Helen had been kind of leaning toward doing the double, and I talked her out of it – so it made sense for us to go back and do it this year. She won the 15k going away last year, and I was pretty sure she could have won the 15k and the 30k. (It's a weird race that way, where you can double dip for the awards, if – like Helen – you're fast enough).<br /><br />Since we were in for the long haul, Helen and I ran the first loop together. Until she started to peel away in the last mile or so. I crossed the finish right after her (you go through the chute then back out). We didn't know it then, but she was the 3rd woman through the chute, and the second to head out onto the 30k. We stayed together for the first mile or two of the second loop as well. At that point, I was feeling really good. We ran pretty conservatively on the first lap, and I felt like I was in good shape. <br /><br />The trails themselves are pretty tricky. It's not quite as steep as the Wissahickon, but the hills are as big, if more gradual. But it's the rocks there that are tough. I don't know if it's rockier than the Wissahickon, but the rocks are somehow more jagged, tougher to land on and to avoid. We both twisted our ankles last year and while we managed to avoid that this year, it took some effort. <br /><br />That said, yeah, I felt really good early in the second lap. I started off on my own to take advantage of the extra energy. To me, it felt like a normal trail run – just me, out on the trails, relaxed, keeping up a good pace. My plan was to be conservative for the first half of loop 2, and then speed up in the second half. <br /><br />But when it came time to speed up, I just didn't have it. <br /><br />I'm not sure what it was exactly – the heat, the build up of the attention to footing, the dehydration – but I started having trouble. The first thing that hit me was that I was screwing up my footing. In trail running, even on normal trails, that's a problem – so it was a worse problem with the rocky trails. I ate some more gels, I tried to focus better, but it kept happening. That last four miles or so were tough. I think I was around 1:18 for the first loop; the second loop was around 9 minutes slower. <br /><br />One more mile, and Helen would have caught me. Maybe even sooner than that. She finished in the chute right after me – in first place! And *much* more refreshed than I was. <br /><br />So, congrats to Helen for bringing home some more hardware. I brought some home, too - 2nd in my AG on the 30k. I don't think I've ever been 2nd in my AG, so I'm pretty psyched about that.Noahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15250021545389838165noreply@blogger.com2