Hairy

Even though it's a beautiful sunny day with temperatures approaching the 90's, signs are beginning to appear that indicate summer is beginning to wane. I offer here three examples:

First, honeychrisp apples have stolen the show from peaches in the display in the grocery store.

Second, it is the day before Allston Christmas. With all the new people moving in traffic is terrible, stores are crowded, the rhythm of the city is disrupted and it is, well, getting a bit hairy.

Finally, I give to you, dear reader, the impending harvest of the hairy squash crop from the local city garden plots:

If you look closely you will glimpse an enormous hairy squash dangling from the garden's trellis. All year long I had wondered why the Asian gardeners built trellis-like roofs over their gardens - so much less pretty than the English style plots. Silly me - now I know - because it doubles the area and allows for squash vines to cover the plot, the bounteous squashes and melons hanging like grapes from a grape vine.


p.s. that bike ride - well, it didn't go so well. I did finish despite a hill-induced asthma attack. I confirmed my suspicions that I'm not fast enough to ride with the group by a long shot. But it was very pretty and I met some nice folks. I'll have to think about whether I'll want to join another ride.

No Blog Posts All Summer?!?

Hmm, not very good. There are so many ideas in my head for blog posts, but it appears, after checking out my posting list, that these ideas are not coming to fruition. It's already the end of August, and yet there have been no blog posts since April! Harrumph!

Let's see what we can do about that . . .

Summer Triathlon Update 

After a number of disappointing delays and an auspicious bout of salmonella, I was finally able to get it together to train for a sprint triathlon. I haven't competed in any events yet this season, but have just signed up for the TDD Triathlon in mid-September. It's a bit late in the season, so it might require a wetsuit. Also the bike route is probably a bit hilly - hopefully I'll have a chance to check it out next weekend.

This year's main challenge has been to become a better open water swimmer. And by better, I mean, someone who is willing and able to get in a lake and swim without a panic attack. Luckily, only a short drive away from here is Walden Pond. A totally not-gross body of fresh water frequented by possibly zillions of open water swimmers and triathletes. Also cute toddlers with sand shovels and pails.

I've been meeting up there with folks from eventhorizon.tv and they have all been lovely people, including Tony who is the founder and organizer of the group. I cannot say enough about how transformative and wonderful it has been to train with him and the people I've met through the group's meetups. When I began meeting there in June, it took everything I had to get in the water, put my face in, and try to swim a couple of hundred meters. Today, I still have trepidation about open water swimming (don't even mention a swim in the ocean).  Nevertheless, another swimmer from the group and I struck out across the lake and swam half a mile at a reasonable pace. This is an accomplishment beyond my wildest dreams. If someone had asked me in June - will you be able to swim half a mile by the end of August? - my unequivocal answer would have been no. But, because of the encouragement of the people I've met there, I was able to start to overcome my terrible panic and fear of being in the lake. I'm learning to appreciate the beauty of the color of the water when looking down into it. The confidence that comes from realizing that even if you need a swim break, or took a badly timed breath, it's merely time to tread or float, to splash or even play. It's not a failure, it's just a moment to relax and enjoy your surroundings.

Besides the weekly swims at Walden, there have been meetups at a local track. The group there is cheekily named "The Most Informal Running Club Ever" (TMIRCE) and I can't believe what a great group of motivated and accomplished but supportive people they are. The track workouts are a lot of fun.  As soon as I arrived at my first meet, just after a massive thunderstorm, I slipped on a metal pipe at the edge of the track and fell flat on my butt right in front of the whole group. Way to go, self! Instead of the snickers I expected, everyone very kindly overlooked my unique way of joining in. We sorted into runners of similar speeds and began the workout.

When I was a younger, I competed in a lot of competitive sports. I would not describe the social atmosphere of team training to have been supportive, inclusive or friendly. Later on, I became interested in bike riding, and most of the other riders I met talked only about suffering and crushing other people on rides.  So it's a bit of a shock to have discovered such clearly successful athletes training in a quite encouraging and inclusive social atmosphere. This is actually fun! The workouts are challenging and there are a lot of far more experienced runners to learn from. I will definitely be making an effort to get to these workouts.

Tomorrow is my first group ride with the Charles River Wheelman.  It's twenty-one miles - let hope I can keep up.

Boston Marathon 2012

Welcome to Boston, Marathoners! Happy Patriot's Day. One of the pleasures of living in Boston is having the chance to see the race and cheer on the racers. I arrived early enough to see the national guard and Boston police setting up the race course. It's pretty hot today (about 85 degrees Farenheit) so the governing board allowed for entrants to put off their race until next year. A number of racers stuck with the original plan, though.

1. Waiting for the Marathon 2, 2. Waiting for the Marathon, 3. Washington Square First Aid After waiting and waiting and receiving a handsome cowbell to ring from a local branch of a national bank, the wheelchair and later the handcrank competitors sped by. I thought I had taken a bunch of photographs, but I think they went by too fast. There's just this one:

Then came the elite women - looking strong!

And the men, elites and then the first wave:

After about two hours of cheering, I decided to take a look along the route. Just steps from the course, there's a party for the spectators, where I enjoyed a great cover band and an Italian sausage near the Washington Street Tavern. The runners ran down the hill through Washington Square to a drink station.

By 2 pm almost everyone was walking up the hill after the drink station. Every few feet runners stopped amongst the crowd to stretch their cramped legs. Compared to other years, only a few runners really looked to be in good form at this point, with about 3 miles left to go. The race organizers took pains to alleviate the unexpected heat. This is a photo of a tunnel provided by the Boston firefighters to spray water to cool down the runners.

All in all, it was a beautiful race day and I was grateful to have the day off to support the runners. Congratulations to all the participants and finishers!

Spring in Boston

This Week's Recipes: On a Bed of Onions

Many an evening I will spend an hour or two cooking and it's a rare night when dinner is ready in our house before 9 pm. Mr. J (also known as C) likes to say that this is because I am always trying new recipes or new ideas, and that if I would just cook the same things over and over, it would be no trouble. Probably, he has a point. But I enjoy it. And my digestive system is happier if we eat a wide variety of dishes; it gets very sad if I have the same thing for dinner, then lunch the next day, then dinner. So there. Mr. J has been studying like a man possessed (hopefully by SCIENCE since that is what he is currently studying), so we have been cranking up the cooking so he can stay at the library extra late. Thus far this week he made the Gluten-Free Goddess's lovely Mulligatawny Detox Soup while I quizzed him with flashcards. Then I followed up with this surprisingly simple and delicious Yucatan-Style Braised Pork served with a salad and quick refried black beans. (If you decide to try the pork recipe, definitely make the pickled onions, too - they take almost no time and are quite tasty.) Tonight, I added to our stockpile with baked hake. And that, my friends, is what I really want to write about. Over the weekend, when I was driving to none other than the grocery store, I heard a snippet of "America's Test Kitchen Radio." One of the hosts advised a caller that two things always stick: fish and eggs. Which brought to mind a quick and easy fish recipe given to me by a friend. Alas, I can't remember the whole thing, but I did want to pass on this tip: The important part is that you bake the filet of fish on a bed of vegetables. I believe she recommended sliced onions and tomatoes. It being winter, I had today only onions. Works like a charm - oil up yer onions and sprinkle them with any seasoning you desire (or not). Lay the fish on the bed of onions, season as desired and ta-da, there's nothing for the fish to stick to. Plus the underlying vegetables actually taste pretty good. You can just barely see the onions peaking out from under the fish in the photo above. My version was seasoned with salt and pepper and herbs de Provence, the seasoning I always use when I'm in a hurry. I served the hake along with rosemary roasted parsnips, cauliflower, purple potatoes and rutabaga, and a huge green salad. And some leftover sparkling wine. Tomorrow perhaps we will have some stuffed red peppers - maybe quinoa tossed with sauteed curried mushrooms, carrots, beans and summer squash? We'll see....

2012

HAPPY New YEAR Joined with good friends last week to ring out the old, all agreeing that 2011 had been a rough year - for jobs, for health, for family. Looking forward to 2012, which dawned in Boston with a sweet blue sky, lazily adorned with tendrils and puffs of translucent white. Something different this year causes me to briefly pause before I surrender to my usual urge to plan and create expectations beyond my own capabilities and resources. Last year, I was concussed. It was minor, and will not leave any permanent effects. Having occurred just after I resolved to write more posts, it challenged and changed me in ways I never expected. I wasn't ready to write about the experience here - what, about a concussion, I thought, could possibly evoke "the warmth of the sun in winter." But, there was a gift in the experience. My symptoms have been dizziness and foggy thinking when pushed too hard. If I spent too much time in concentrated thought or got too little sleep, the symptoms appeared. If I moved or exercised too much, same story. Usually I view each day as a chance to be productive, believing that with effort and diligence comes accomplishment and happiness. I do not here abandon such beliefs. But in the past two months, I have had to "pick my battles" as it were far more carefully than I've had to before. Choosing to read an extra article or stay up an extra hour meant four hours of quiet rest and contemplation in payment for that effort. An afternoon stroll in turn also meant rest rather than proceeding to write or clean or read. So my frustration that I typically feel in the task left undone has been restrained, mediated by the absolute rule of satisfying the need to rest or I would inevitably be worse, be unable to accomplish the bare minimum of what must occur or of what was most valuable to me. Looking forward to 2012, I have just completed my first small run since the injury. A slight gasp of dizziness passed before sitting down to write. But it reminds me to carry forward the small kernel of joy that has come out of this experience - breath, rest, space, will join me as welcome companion in this shiny new year.