Up and down. Repeat.

7 miles. 5 hills.

There is something about hill climbs and there was certainly of a symmetry in this run.  Now that it is done, I feel ecstatic, proud and so glad I went out tonight.  But in it, well, that was a different story.

I went out planning on doing 7 miles.  After I did the first loop and it was exactly 1.4 miles, it worked out perfectly that 5 loops would get me to 7 on the nose.

The first loop I ditched my water and left it the trunk of the car and went out for a second loop.  In the second loop I was trying to convince myself to only do 4 miles.

In the third loop, I kept thinking, only 2 more left. You signed up for a hilly marathon, remember!

It wasn't really until the last loop that I was really, truly present in the run and realizing that I just spent the last hour waiting for these last 10 minutes!

I guess just like there are runs that make you realize how wonderful life is, there are also runs that remind you just how much of a climb life can be, and if you can be present, really, truly present, you can see how strong and how far you've come even if it takes 5 times of the same ups and downs to get there.

And there will always be water on the trunk of your car when you need a break.

Bikeless-biker update: No sightings yesterday or today.  But I have 2 bikes, a helmet and a U-lock ready to pass along!

People are Awesome.

About a month ago on a Friday afternoon, I was riding my bike home from work when I got to a unmanned police car and barricade blocking the road. Uh oh. I had no clue how to get home any other way, so cautiously, I went around the blocked road on my bike. It turned out the road was closed to cars because there was a bad accident and power lines were down.  Passing by the crashed car, I prayed that the person (one car and a telephone pole) was ok.  NSTAR was there and carefully waived me on.


Because the road was closed, I got to do something I don't normally get to do.... 

When I bike to and from work, I see the same bike commuter on the other side of the busy road we ride every time. We've passed each other for months, and recently we started waving and greeting with smiles every time. Without fail, I see this guy.  I don't bike every day, but based on the fact that I see him every.single.time, it is clear he does bike every day.....unless miraculously we are on the very same schedule.  


But on this particular day, the day of the bad accident, there were no cars or traffic between us, so we stopped in the middle of the road to chat.   


That is an odd feeling being in the middle of one of the busiest roads with no cars in sight.  


It turns out, he bikes everyday because he doesn't have a car, he came here from India just 4 months ago and his wife & 2 kids family will be joining him in a couple months. He commutes to the town I live in and I commute through the town he lives in - the exact opposite sides of a very busy road.  It was cool to chat with him when I normally wouldn't be able to. 


After the road block day, we were back to waving in the morning and afternoon. 

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, on my ride in, I saw him walking in nice clothes, not all sweaty as if he'd been biking in the heat like me and he was near his work place.  I waved and yelled, "You got a car!?" But on the ride home, he was walking again, this time well further down the road. Clearly, he didn't have a car.


I yelled, "Where is your bike?" 


"It was stolen." He yelled back. 


"Oh NO!" I yelled riding by.


He was still waving with a smile. 


sigh.

Here, this man moved half way across the world, saving up for his family, and his main form of transportation was stolen. 


This part of the story would make me think, "Wow, people suck."  But wait. 


I happened to be telling this story as our legs were burning during what felt like an hour long wall sit durign our afternoon workout when someone happened to know a guy who has several bikes that he works on and she emailed her community and we have a bike ready for this guy.  


See.  People are awesome. 


Now it is up to the logistics.  We will find a way to get this bike to this bike-less biker. 


We are figuring this all out, but this one act, this generosity and connection and simple thing just really made my day.  


Hopefully soon I can report back that I am waiving to my bike-commuter friend on the other side of the road once again.

Sah-weet! Sweet Potatoes 3 ways!

I love sweet potatoes. An they are just so easy to make, serve, store and so good!. Here are three of my favorite Sweet potato recipes - from hardest to easiest, but all quite tasty and worth it!

Sweet Potato & Arugula Salad.
Dressing:
1/4 c canola oil
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 t dijon mustard
1 t turbinado or brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t red pepper flakes

Salad:
2 c bite size pieces of sweet potato
2 T apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
1 T canola oil
salt & pepper
1/4 lb pancetta (I used bacon....mmmm bacon!)
5 c arugula
1/2 c. slivered almonds, toasted

In a blender or food processor, combine all the dressing ingredients until emulsified.

To make the salad: preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the apple cider, oil, salt & pepper. Place on baking sheet and road of 10-15 minutes, or until tender, but not overly soft. Set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the pancetta or bacon until crisp.

In a large salad bowl, combine the the roasted sweet potatoes, pancetta or bacon, arugula, and almonds. Drizzle with the dressing and slightly toss.


Sweet Potato Rosemary Soup (Recipe care of Seth, Tracy & Sasha, age 2, who very much approves!)
Makes 8 Servings

1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups vegetable broth
4 cups cubed organic sweet potatoes, about 2 pounds
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup low-fat milk

In a large pot, saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 30 seconds. Add broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, 25 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in a blender until smooth. Be careful as liquid will be hot. Return puree to pot and stir in pepper, salt, rosemary and milk. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until hot throughout.

I added an onion with the garlic and that was tasty too!

And of  course the easiest of all....roasted.  These are easy to store in the fridge, they freeze well and make such a great snack.  I love them cold, skins and all. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes.

Cut several sweet potatoes in half length wise, quarter if they are big ones.

Coat with olive oil or canola oil, lightly salt and roast in a 400 degree oven until tender. (about 1/2 hour).

Done. Easy potato peasy.

I make these about once a week or so.

Drool.

A Big Hunk o' Pasta Love.

I forget sometimes just how easy it is to actually throw leftovers together to actually make something decent I look forward to eating. And is food, real food!

Since I've been biking more to work of late, PB&Banana sandwiches have been my go to lunch - easy to make the night before, not much to carry in the bag and I don't have to leave the safety of my desk after a sweaty run to go to the microwave to heat up.  Oh and they are just so darn good.

But a girl can only eat so much PB&Banana sandwiches before her hips start letting her know.  

Sorry Elvis. 

So tonight as I was about to put away our left over pasta (on sale for $.77/box!) dinner, I had a thought.  

I *was* going to wait to get some Italian dressing at the grocery store tomorrow, but thought....wait. 

I have olive oil.  vinegar.  I bet there is something I could do with that. 

yup.  

Grabbed some chives from the garden, a little salt, a little (pardon me do you have any) dijon, a little pepper and whisk and ta da!  

Pour over pasta.  Wait!  There's more.  Add some of the spinach on sale today and we have our selves a lunch tomorrow!  

YES! 

Anndd.....I just remembered we have a conference, with catering. for lunch tomorrow. 

Ok, so lunch on Tuesday then.  Save the PB&B for Wednesday.

baby, I would run to you

Why does one's mouth taste like metal?  I really ought to look that up.