It's a snow day so I'm gonna need some fortification. Bacon is bakin' and I'm about to grate up a sweet potato to make these latkes (I've made them before and loved them...and I don't usually like sweet potatoes). Later I will tackle the snow head-on with a walk to Sunset Hill and the train tracks (I'll play assistant to Zoe who needs to photograph trains for her photography class). I'll probably need more fortification for the walk back to east Ballard so may attempt to fetch a verde veg burger at the new Red Mill Burger joint by the Locks.

Sweet Potato Latkes, smothered in goodness -- (photograph courtesy of Everyday Paleo)

In February 2011, right after I got my Garmin, I ran a quick 2 miles with the heart rate monitor attached. I was kind of shocked to see how high my heart rate went.

Yesterday, I ran the identical route (and had my Garmin more fine-tuned to do laps and show elevation). Pace better, heart rate better. Honestly, I was a bit bummed that my pace wasn't faster but the first half of the run is all uphill and when I finished up I felt fine, whereas I'm sure that last year's run ended with me red-faced and spitting bile.

Sometime in 2010 my blood pressure had moved up into the pre-hypertensive range which was worrisome. I haven't had it taken since right after my surgery in March 2011. I'm hoping it's more in the normal range again. I'm betting it is.

Running. It does a body good.

It started near the Love River in 1989. That other life; my life in Taiwan. I was brought there by a love affair that turned into a marriage. After the wedding, we stumbled into our apartment overlooking the Love River; we stumbled into a bizarre new life. But I remember little of the Love River or the apartment decorated in bright red Chinese characters (double happiness).

Really, my life in Taiwan as a newlywed was less about making a home for ourselves; less about 2 lovers trying to figure out how to stay in love (we'd figure that out later). It was more about a street, and the food.

Because I didn't speak or read Chinese, living in Kaohsiung felt like living in a dream. Images and sounds completely meaningless. Odd people, rituals, and traffic wherever I looked. Nothing made sense. I was taught to memorize the street name where Robert worked. That way I'd always find him, my only link to anything familiar. I'd catch a cab and blurt out "JianGuo Er Lu", my tones a bit off and awkward. Eventually I'd see the bushiban and I'd tell the cab driver, "zou, zou, zou....hao" and I'd pop out, run in the bushiban, wondering what I should do next. At the beginning I didn't really have a job there, like Robert and the other Americans (Carl, Brett, Tim, Lisa, Kerry). And they were obviously too busy working--teaching English--to entertain me. I made awkward smalltalk with the people in the lobby (you are very pretty; yes, my eyes are green; no, I don't want to have a baby), but eventually that got boring and I'd step out (possibly nudged out the door by a receptionist who grew tired of me). I wouldn't go far, though. Imagine getting lost! Stick to JianGuo Er Lu. Don't go beyond the train station. Browse books full of mumbo jumbo. Try not to get spat upon. Try not to get homesick. Buy some food.

And so I ate. I ate breaded, fried pork on a bed of rice with pickled veggies and a boiled egg. I ate squid burgers and french fries at Lotteria. For breakfast I often ate tomatoes and scrambled eggs from the little place next door. At 7-Eleven my favorite was a microwavable package of seasoned rice noodles. I perfected the eating of Cheetos with chopsticks. I ate pickled eggs, tea eggs, and fried eggs. But my very favorite, purchased at a corner restaurant on JianGuo Er Lu, was Dan Bao Fan. Egg package rice. with a little cup of corn chowder on the side. It felt comforting. Almost like I was home.

As the months went by, those quiet days wandering around Jianguo Er Lu became less memorable. I found myself wondering what I was doing there. I craved tacos. Give me tacos! The street was just another street full of stinky traffic and betel nut spitting vendors. Eventually I bought a plane ticket and flew home--only to find out home wasn't there anymore so I flew back to be with my new friends and my new husband; to walk up and down Jianguo Er Lu and eat its crazy food once again. And to live and enjoy my new life, in a new home--miles away from the Love River.

Funny how things turn out the second time around.

Dan Bao Fan
(adapted from http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2009/04/omu-rice.html)

2 servings of cooked plain rice
1 chicken thigh meat, cut into bite size
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green peas
2~ 3 tablespoons tomato sauce or ketchup
salt & pepper
cooking oil
4 eggs

1. Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan, sauté chopped onion until transparent. Add the garlic and the chicken and sauté till chicken is cooked. Add green peas, stir through. Add in ketchup, salt and pepper to taste and continue to stir fry. Add in cooked rice and toss rapidly. Dish up and set aside.
2. Lightly whisk 2 eggs in a bowl. Heat up a frying pan with some oil. Pour in the egg mixture and tilt the pan to coat the base. Cook until eggs are almost set but still a little runny in the middle.
3. Lower the heat and spoon half of the fried rice mixture in the middle of the omelet. With a spatula, flip one side of the egg over the rice mixture. Pick up the pan and with the unfolded side, slide the omelet from the frying pan to a serving plate, just half way through. Then, carefully tilt and turn the pan over and the omelet is on the plate. For this step, see the hilarious video clip below.
4. Repeat the same for the remaining portion of the rice. Drizzle with ketchup and serve immediately.

So as it turns out, the WT20s really were black and pink. Hot pink. A little too flashy for me. I also don't really care for the reflective dots on the toe. The WT10s have a funky toe as well (the stitching makes them look a little bit like socks) but I like that they're unique. Both were equally comfortable, the WT10s hug my foot a little more but the WT20s had a little more wiggle room and felt slightly lighter. Both allow for toes to spread; something I was looking for in hopes that it will help my Morton's neuroma.

So which pair passed the jeans test? Both, but still, the pink is too much.

In the end, I picked the WT10s. You knew I would. And based on the below comparison photo (nevermind that the photos were taken at different angles and distances), they make me look skinnier. You know what else? I need to dust my mirror.

I've been wearing the WT10s to work and they feel great. I'm going to take them out for a quick 2 miler tonight--hoping to toughen up my feet, calves and Achilles; spread those toes. Exciting stuff.

BTW, I ended up getting the WT10s at the Born To Run store (co-owned by Barefoot Ted) across the street from REI. REI was totally mobbed and when I finally got help they were out of my size (plus their prices were higher than everywhere else). Don't worry. I still like you, REI.

Mimi Smartypants does a no-delete Thursday blog entry. She's a great writer so her no-delete entries are fun. I'm going to give it a shot only to prove that some people need lots of editing before they hit the publish button.

I have a cool pair of Onitsuka Tigers. They are my go-to day shoe. Casual but not overly so and they're all black and have a minimalist look. I need to replace them due to wear and my first thought was to get a pair of the black (with a bit of blue) New Balance WT10 minimalist trail shoes. (I first saw and touched a pair of WT10s last summer and I've coveted them ever since.) The idea was to wear them mostly in place of the Tigers but to also try them out a little with running. I've done a few recent runs in my Vibram KSOs and had a lot of nerve pain in the ball of my left foot which is a huge bummer so comparing them to other minimalist shoes seems like a good idea.

I dislike shopping and I'm lazy so I looked for the shoes on Zappos (because free shipping) only to find that they don't carry them. They do carry the WT20s but the WT20s look like the uglier, cheaper, sluttier step-sister to the WT10s (whatever with that comparison). Also, the colors = barf. But I'm impatient so I bought a pair of the black and pink (pink? looks red to me) WT20s using up some store credit. They should arrive in a few days. I'm hoping they're prettier in person. I'll wear them around the carpeted bedroom a few times and then I'll probably return them.

Unless, oh, this is silly. Unless I actually go to a real store. A real store that sells WT10s. There happens to be such a store. It's REI and as a bonus it's not far from Bravehorse Tavern so I can buy cute shoes AND drink a beer/eat a burger (or, oh, if I do it on a Sunday I can get the fried chicken dinner) all in one trip! I could buy them and drink beer and eat greasy food and go home and put them on and COMPARE THEM in person with the WT20s. Maybe I'll even make an informative video about it. You know, to help others.

I still haven't mentioned the most important criteria. It's not about fit or trails or toes. It's all about which one will look the cutest with a pair of jeans.

Okay, I failed. I wrote all kinds of stupid stuff that I'm too embarrassed to publish. I edited the shit out of this. End of experiment.

I spy some progress here. This is my best running year since I started in 2008. It's been slow going for me (I'm not a running god like my husband, apparently) but I'm finally enjoying myself and I think it's becoming a fun little hobby rather than a tedious pain in the butt. As a bonus, I sleep better, my shoulder rarely bothers me anymore, my hips are stronger, and I have tons more energy than I used to.

Notes:
-I actually ran in January and February a few times before I got my nifty Garmin.
-I was hospitalized on February 28th and couldn't run again until mid April.
-I injured my calf working up to my first half marathon in June so had to take some time off before and after the race.
-I rarely wear my heart rate monitor but I should start up again; it needs to get better.
-October was my BEST month for speed, energy, and overall running joy.
-I need to figure out how to get out more in the winter.

More Stats:
Longest Run: 2:24:49 (8/28/11 - 12:51 miles)
Farthest Run: 13.19 miles (6/25/11 - Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon)
Hardest Run: Sunriver Half Marathon (9/4/2011 - 10:35min/mile)

If I remain injury-free and healthy in 2012 it should be a great improvement over 2011. Can't wait!

***

And now the obligatory 2011 running photos

This ankle wrap was my best buddy in the month of May.

Me looking redonculously giddy upon (barely) finishing my first half marathon in June.

My prep the night before the Sunriver Half in September.

Post Sunriver Half with Robert.

Alyssa, Tina, and I before the start of the Goodlife Fitness Victoria 8K in October (sorry about the closed-eye shot, Tina --this is the only group photo I could steal obtain!)

Favorite mid-run photo taken in early November. This is what it's all about.

A few days ago I took a walk with The Dot and The Boy in our neighborhood (Ballard). The Dot, with iPhone in hand, took a bunch of photos. She's been taking photography and from what I've seen I think she has a really good eye; she's a natural. When going through her photos of this particular walk I couldn't help but smile. She did a great job of visually and emotionally depicting our lovely little Ballard.

We celebrated The Boy's 18th birthday a few days ago. He didn't have any special wishes so we ate pizza and played a few games. As for a gift, we ended up giving him a netbook since he'll need something once he goes off to school next year. He submitted his application to NYU today and registered to vote a few days ago (and if you're wondering, I asked him a few months ago who he'd vote for in the upcoming presidential election and he said he hadn't researched it much but he was leaning towards Ron Paul. What?! Fortunately he's got plenty of time to reconsider.)

Okay, one kid raised. One to go. The first one wasn't so hard (notice how I haven't written a lot about Zoe lately? It's...complicated.)

The Boy recently had a school assignment that required him to look through magazine layouts so he grabbed a pile of my food magazines for the project. One of the magazines was Bon Appetit and he came across a tofu recipe and couldn't get the image of delicious tofu in dipping broth out of his head so I agreed to help him make it last night.

PHOTOGRAPH BY Jeff Lipsky - Bon Appetit

Since The Boy doesn't do fish we had to make some adjustments. I soaked dashi-kombu in water and substituted miso for the dashi to make the dipping sauce. Delicious and salty. The Boy strained and cut up the tofu and green onions while I diced the shitake mushrooms (he didn't like their smell) and some kale (in place of mizuna). It was really easy to make and we both really enjoyed eating it. Now I'm curious to try some authentic Yudofu.

When he slurped up the last of the broth from his bowl I remarked at how easy to make and delicious that was and who knows, maybe someday he'll cook it on his own or for a friend. He replied, "No, not really. It was difficult. Tossing 2 burritos in the microwave is easy. I already know that I don't like to cook."

Ah well. Burritos are cheap.

I suppose it's partially because he's relieved to have 2 important college applications turned in (Macaulay Honors - CUNY Hunter and UW) and maybe because this might be his last Christmas living at home, but The Boy is really into the holidays this year. He's been turning on Christmas music as soon as he comes home from school each day (much to the chagrin of his Christmas-tune hating sister) and when we got our tree last weekend he was really excited to put on the ornaments and set up the Hogwart's Express Lego train, er Emerald Night Lego train underneath.

He'll be 18 in a few weeks and off to live on his own in less than a year, possible in a very big city. He's interviewing for a Seattle Public Library job next week that will add more stress (in addition to good experiences) to his busy school schedule if he gets it.

I suspect he's missing, just a little, being a little kid with no worries. Or maybe he just wants to take it all in this one last time before things are different. Before he grows up.