Bricks and Bowls

I am officially signed up for Lobsterman 2010. It's crazy! Olympic distance triathlon? No big deal. At least it better not be after nearly an entire year of training. Enter the first session: I biked for five miles and ran for almost one. The problem: I forgot to take off my helmet after dismounting the bike and jogged a quarter mile without noticing and was forced to carry it the rest of the way. Foolish rookie mistake.

I also had trouble breathing. Since I've been landing on my fore-foot, I have not worried about breathing - in fact, it comes that much more naturally. Really, a wonderful thing. After getting off the bike however, bricks truly did become a different animal: I was strapped for air and the generous swig of water I downed in between sports left me feeling quesy and with a rolly stomach. It was that strange, uncomfortable feeling where one wants to burp and clear their throat but can't because the body needs oxygen. I'll get better though.

So let's go backwards: during my lunch today, I watched Castaway. I haven't seen this movie in a long time and given my frequent viewings of Man vs. Wild I was intrigued to see how many survival techniques were employed by Tom Hanks' Chuck Noland. Turns out, quite a bit. I digress. Lunch was organic! It was also painfully simple; macaroni and cheese. Annie's from BJs that B-May picked up yesterday.

Quite good and not overly filling. I had milk to drink and snacked on three cookies we made with applesauce instead of butter and a whole wheat flour. As B-May says, there are only so many things one can do to change a cookie. Lesson learned.

For breakfast, I ate a meager bowl of Oats and Almonds from Hannaford before my misadventure of a brick. Afterwards, I sat in Popovers for a couple hours and in the course of that time, had an egg and cheese sandwich on Texas toast instead of a bagel with an orange juice. And then I couldn't resist a cup of coffee. Organic Bali!

Last night we hung out with some work friends and snacked on two fish tacos with chips and guacamole and a Corona at Dos Amigos Burritos in Dover. For dinner, B-May made me this delicious stir-fry of veggies with a bed of rice. Excellent dinner! I just didn't eat enough and had the appetite for fish tacos.

BUT LAST NIGHT, before I forget we saw Christopher McDougall speak at UNH. He's the author of Born to Run the mantra of my running cadence. As one audience member pointed out, it's not about the barefoot runners nor the fore-foot strike: the book is about loving running as a natural activity, the one pursuit that connects all humans. Good speech and the Q & A session was even better.

For lunch at work I had the leftovers of my dinner I made for B-May. It was, as promised, the Southwest stir-fry. It was served in a bowl and thus forms the theme of this post. Here's a picture:

Now that I'm back from the past, I am off to have dinner with my parents. We're thinking "Radici" in town. Hooray!

Weeks from Serious

Good evening,

I am far from a professional blogger. I have no photos to share and no appealing itinerary of foods. I will say that I ate well but am in no way capable of accounting for even the good stuff. That will have to suffice for a sorry excuse for my departure from the regularity of blogging.

Yesterday, B-May and I went to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival. It was sort of insane. I have never encountered so many vegetarians in one place. And they were all in that one place - we're talking wall-to-wall people. I sampled some wonderful foods, slurped a terrible green mixture that I should have refused and pocketed a number of coupons and interesting brochures. We were joined by friends, Dave and Chelsea and later ventured into Cambridge for some beers at the Cambridge Brewing Company and then for dinner at Veggie Planet in Harvard Square. See the theme there?

Not all of the vendors were preaching vegetarianism but most were. Some were trying to hit passers-by over the head with messages on loving all animals and just eating plants. The punk-rocker in me wanted to spite them for taking such a close-minded view. I don't often get to experience the other extreme (opposite the folks sipping porter on Beacon St) but it was not the happiest nor most positive series of encounters. This is not to say that people were hostile because they were not. Rather they utilized every square inch of the soapbox provided to them by the festival to let their messages ring among the crowd. Most vegetarians though seemed just as selfish and cheap as myself and skipped out on the fanfare for the free food.

On an exercise note, I ran 6.5 miles with a buddy always good for introspection on Friday. We kept up a good clip and did a decent lap of Newcastle before breakfasting at Colby's in town. Enter a slew of breakfast staples: chocolate chip pancakes, home fries, and scrambled eggs plus one radical: veggie sausage for a wonderfully filling post-run meal. I haven't run since but I rode my bike to work today and that was cold but worth it.

I am about to cook a warm supper for B-May who is feeeling slightly under the weather today and it looks to be a southwest chili fettuccine or something of the like. I didn't have all the ingredients I hoped for but am confident I can make do for now.

I guess that's it for now, I'll make a conscious effort to photograph it and keep up - strike that - begin, the good work. OH! Before I forget, I'll be signing up for the 2010 Lobsterman that I saw Brad compete in this year. I am officially entering into the sport of triathlon. Sweet!