Yesterday and Today
That would be yesterday not in the long-range, historical sense, but yesterday as in the day before today (and today not in the larger, metaphorical sense, but as in plain old March 21). Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Hey, that could be a song. Nah, would never catch on. Anyway. Yesterday I went up to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park for the weekly LMJS fun run. I'm consciously taking it easy from now until next Sunday, the day of the half marathon that I've so cavalierly committed to. So I figured I would run about 6 slow miles as I watched the rest of the pack disappear in the distance. Didn't happen. Instead, I ran with my new running friend, B. I'm pretty sure his natural training pace is about 9.5- to 10-minute miles, but he kindly slowed down for me. The result was that I ran probably a minute per mile faster than I would have on my own--and had a great time! My run couldn't be described as "taking it easy," but for now, anyway, I don't seem to have suffered any ill effects.
At the end of our 6-miler there were bagels, Gatorade, and even a cake. The cake was there partly to cheer on the club's marathon and half-marathon training groups, who have been running together many consecutive Saturdays in preparation for the Oakland Running Festival (the same race I'm signed up for). The cake also commemorated three club-member birthdays. Too much fun was had by all.
Today, then. In the interests of not overdoing, I decided to ride my bike for an hour along the Bay Trail. It's a mild day, and the trail was very busy by the time I headed out around 10 am. I rode south from the Berkeley overpass, out to Powell St. in Emeryville, and then back. To tack on a few more miles I continued north along the trail to Gilman St. before turning around.
I'm afraid I can't remember when I wrote about the upcoming construction of three big sports fields along the trail near Gilman St. Maybe 2006? 2007? (If anyone knows how I could search my own archives, feel free to share that knowledge.) Anyway, at that time I wrote that I was happy to see fields being built (hooray for playing ball, any kind of ball) but worried about the hundreds of red-winged blackbirds who were about to be evicted from their habitat in the name of physical fitness.
Well, it's now nesting season, and today as I neared Gilman St. I saw and heard dozens--sadly, not hundreds--of these wonderful, noisy birds. They've traded trees for power lines (see those dots / birds above), but do seem to be thriving. I hope many of the ones nesting in the area before the fields were completed were able to move to another equally hospitable neighborhood.
Not much in the way of nesting sites on a soccer field. But much in the way of a healthy game or three. Such is the bittersweet march of progress.
So has gone this day. When I arrived home I was struck by the rather bedraggled appearance of our valiant pear tree. Amazingly, this stick-like thing, undoubtedly a relative of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, generally produces a respectable number of crispy Asian pears in the course of a season.
I've been thinking a lot about food lately, partly because this month's Runner's World has a particularly enticing section on food. Grains! Greens! Groovy!
Food has also been on my mind partly because I've been making an effort to spend less on groceries and draw more from the resources that lurk in the home fridge and cupboards. I often ignore what's right under my nose in favor of the latest shiny Safeway thing. For lunch, then, I says to myself, self, I says, what is already around that will feed the noontime beast? The answer: a whole-wheat bagel, three tablespoons of leftover pizza sauce, a scrap of low-fat cheddar and another scrap of soy "cheese," scallions, mushrooms, cold broccoli from last night's dinner, a big fat carrot. Put the cold veggies on a plate, pop the laden bagel in the toaster oven (8 minutes at 350). Carbs! Protein! Green and orange veggies! Aaaaaah (cue the lip smacking).
At the end of our 6-miler there were bagels, Gatorade, and even a cake. The cake was there partly to cheer on the club's marathon and half-marathon training groups, who have been running together many consecutive Saturdays in preparation for the Oakland Running Festival (the same race I'm signed up for). The cake also commemorated three club-member birthdays. Too much fun was had by all.
Today, then. In the interests of not overdoing, I decided to ride my bike for an hour along the Bay Trail. It's a mild day, and the trail was very busy by the time I headed out around 10 am. I rode south from the Berkeley overpass, out to Powell St. in Emeryville, and then back. To tack on a few more miles I continued north along the trail to Gilman St. before turning around.
I'm afraid I can't remember when I wrote about the upcoming construction of three big sports fields along the trail near Gilman St. Maybe 2006? 2007? (If anyone knows how I could search my own archives, feel free to share that knowledge.) Anyway, at that time I wrote that I was happy to see fields being built (hooray for playing ball, any kind of ball) but worried about the hundreds of red-winged blackbirds who were about to be evicted from their habitat in the name of physical fitness.
Well, it's now nesting season, and today as I neared Gilman St. I saw and heard dozens--sadly, not hundreds--of these wonderful, noisy birds. They've traded trees for power lines (see those dots / birds above), but do seem to be thriving. I hope many of the ones nesting in the area before the fields were completed were able to move to another equally hospitable neighborhood.
Not much in the way of nesting sites on a soccer field. But much in the way of a healthy game or three. Such is the bittersweet march of progress.So has gone this day. When I arrived home I was struck by the rather bedraggled appearance of our valiant pear tree. Amazingly, this stick-like thing, undoubtedly a relative of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, generally produces a respectable number of crispy Asian pears in the course of a season.
I've been thinking a lot about food lately, partly because this month's Runner's World has a particularly enticing section on food. Grains! Greens! Groovy!
Food has also been on my mind partly because I've been making an effort to spend less on groceries and draw more from the resources that lurk in the home fridge and cupboards. I often ignore what's right under my nose in favor of the latest shiny Safeway thing. For lunch, then, I says to myself, self, I says, what is already around that will feed the noontime beast? The answer: a whole-wheat bagel, three tablespoons of leftover pizza sauce, a scrap of low-fat cheddar and another scrap of soy "cheese," scallions, mushrooms, cold broccoli from last night's dinner, a big fat carrot. Put the cold veggies on a plate, pop the laden bagel in the toaster oven (8 minutes at 350). Carbs! Protein! Green and orange veggies! Aaaaaah (cue the lip smacking).
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