Pork and sweet potato stew

While reading another runner's blog, I stumbled upon a recipe for cuban-style sweet potato and pork stew. So I decided to give it a go.

I threw the ingredients into a crock pot and let them simmer all day, which made my apartment smell ridiculously good.

The original blogger claimed it was the best thing he'd ever made in his life.  Well... my guess is that I either used the wrong kind of peppers, or the original blogger has some seriously defunct taste buds, because this was far from the best thing I've ever had.

Stevie seemed to like it, though she preferred adding sour cream to it.

Thus concludes another episode of Scott's cooking corner.

Still running

Still out pounding the pavement in four and five mile increments.  

Still living above the fire extinguisher shop. 

Still taking awkward self-portraits for the blog.

Some things never change.

Post five miler

Movie Monday XXXVIII

Depending on the time of day, or your current mood, this could either be one of the dopiest videos you've ever seen, or one of the most inspirational.

Various running clips (many taken from other videos I've posted on here) are mixed with inspirational music and inspirational film quotes.  Spoiler: there's a lot of Rocky in there.

Another pushup challenge

I try really hard to be modest.  Honestly.  Because really, talent is always relative.  Unless you hold a world record in something, there is always someone, somewhere, who is better than you are.

I may have run a BQ marathon and won a few local 5k's, but on the other hand, I'm not going to compete in the Olympics any time soon.  I could be a jerk and belittle people who are slower than I am, but those Olympic athletes could do the same exact thing to me.

Stevie and I went to Ben's last night for some pizza and beers.  A friend of Ben's was there, and we somehow ended up on the topic of pushups.

Ben's friend: I can do, like, 30 pushups.
Me: That's cool.
Ben's friend: Can you do pushups?
Stevie: Scott loves pushup challenges!
Ben's friend: Let's do it!

There are plenty of things I'm bad at, mind you.  Giving pedicures.  Liking John Mayer.  Speaking Finnish. But doing pushups is not one of those things.  I am really good at pushups.

So I considered my response carefully.  "You've just entered the dragon's lair, my friend," and "You're about to enter a world of pain, son" entered my head as possibilities.  After a dramatic pause, I finally settled on...

Me: Are you sure you want to do this?

Just another Saturday night pushup contest

I'm in the middle, and Ben is in the background inexplicably doing situps.

(I won.)

2012 Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Another year and another medal from the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, formerly the Philadelphia Distance Run.

Stevie and I headed over via PATCO at 7am, and we were in the starting area by 7:30.  Saw some others who were not impressed with Paul Ryan's marathon lie:

I hadn't run more than 5 miles all summer, so I wasn't expecting to PR today.  I know I said that last year, but I was pretty intent on taking it slowly and enjoying the atmosphere this year.  When I started out, though, I felt sluggish and slow, and I was worried that I was in for a long, painful race.  By mile 5, however, I found my stride, and felt ok for the rest of the race.  I ran just under an 8 minute pace and finished in 1:42:38.

Afterwards I met Stevie, my dad and Debbie, stood in a fountain with my free beer enjoying the sun and music, climbed a statue, then headed home for lunch at the Bread Board.

While I was far off of my PR, I didn't exactly push myself, and I was struck by how easy it felt.  My original goal for this fall has been to train like crazy and qualify for Boston, but since school started recently that goal has gone out the window yet again.  I would still like to run the Philly Marathon in November, however, and the ease with which I completed this race makes me wonder how little training I can get away with for it.

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Expo

Tomorrow is the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, so today I headed over to the Expo with Stevie to pick up my race packet.

Most big city race expos are like big running carnivals, and today's expo was no exception.  Started out with a photo op:

Browsed the merchandise, got several pounds of free food, was disappointed there was no free MGD this year, then tried my luck doing pull ups at the USMC stand:

                     

I did a total of 11 pull ups and earned myself a Marine Corps water bottle.  4 more would have earned me a hat, 9 more a T-shirt.

Tomorrow I run 13.1 miles.  I haven't run more than 5 all summer.

Deutsch

One of my students admitted to reading my blog on a regular basis.  I briefly wondered if I should be worried about the content I put on here, but decided that the values I tout (hard work, literacy, healthy eating, etc.) easily trump the occasional shenanigans.

So... thanks for reading.  And one more thing:

Movie Monday XXXVII

Watch U.S. Olympian Nick Symmonds run a 5:15 in the beer mile.  Do I even need to say anything more about this?

Don't try this at home, kids.  Unless you have a track in your backyard.

A New Hampshire Wedding

Bates friends surround the groom

Another summer, and another wedding at which Tahsin and I end up being each others' dates.  He has already told me he wants to be my date at my own wedding next spring.

Tahsin just completed his first ironman in July, and was the first Bangladeshi to ever do so, which I plan to write about soon.  While talking about future races, he mentioned that he is doing Boston in the spring, as the company he works for has ten numbers set aside for employees.

Me: Man, I would love to do Boston.  I'm still working my way towards it.
Tahsin: Do you want a number?
Me: What?!
Tahsin: There are about four extras.  One e-mail right now and you're in.

It was astonishing to me that something I've been dreaming about for so long, something I assumed could only be achieved through months of blood, sweat and tears, could suddenly be accomplished through a few taps on a smartphone.

I thought about it briefly but turned him down.  I'm still kind of obsessed with qualifying again, you see.

VP Candidate Lies About Marathon Time

He tried to play it off as simply forgetting a few details after the passage of time, but the fact is that Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan blatantly lied about his marathon time.

In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, Paul Ryan, when asked about his personal best marathon time, stated, "Under three, high twos.  I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Only problem is, in the only marathon he's ever run, the 1990 Grandma's Marathon, he finished in 4:01:25.

When called on this lie, he stated, "the race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin - who ran Boston last year - reminds me that he is owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three.  If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three.  He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight."

Why lie about something that is so easy to fact-check?  And almost as egregious as lying about a marathon time is mixing up the past participle of "to run."

Run For Tony 5k

The Run for Tony 5k is a race that's been going on for as long as I can remember.  It's sponsored by The Taproom Bar and Grille in the town where I teach, meaning that I would get to race against a number of my students last night.

Only one of them beat me.

It was hot and humid and I finished in 20:46, probably my slowest time in years, which is proof of just how much I drank and ate while in Europe and Florida this past summer.  So naturally I filled up on free beer and pasta right after the race.

The Proposal (mine, not the crappy movie)

Man proposes at the 2005 Boston Marathon

I had thought about the proposal for months beforehand.  Watched marriage proposal videos on YouTube. Tossed around ideas with friends.  And for a long time, I considered proposing at the end of a marathon.

Most of my friends balked at this idea, warning me that proposing while sweaty and gross and half delirious wasn't the most romantic option, and most reminded me that marathoning is my thing, not Stevie's.    They agreed that if we both finished together, that would be one thing, but this wasn't likely as Stevie has no interest in running marathons.  Only one friend loved the idea, saying that the wedding is usually about the woman, so the proposal should be more about the guy.

My reasoning for a marathon proposal was that enduring a marathon before proposing was kind of romantic, in a test-of-wills, prove-my-worthiness, earn-the-right-for-your-hand-in-marriage kind of way.  Does that make sense?  I also knew that the thought of proposing would give me much needed inner strength in the latter miles.

I ended up proposing in Florida because I did want to incorporate more of Stevie's interests.  She grew up in Florida and loves the beach, and the particular beach where I proposed is one she's been going to since childhood.  I also knew that she only gets to see her family for a few weeks out of the year, so I wanted them to be able to celebrate with us directly after the fact rather than find out on the phone.

Stevie: It was perfect.

She said yes

A few days ago I proposed to Stevie in a private moment on the beach in the Florida Keys, which we reenacted the following night:

While reenacting the moment for the photo op, her family waited patiently as the outer bands of Isaac whipped up a frenzy of wind around us, spraying champagne and flinging hair everywhere (my hair is just a mess in this picture).  We then drank a lot more champagne back in the hotel room.

And regarding the proposal, I'll give you a hint as to what she said.

Running in a tropical storm

I follow almost every run with pushups and situps.  Here's me doing pushups by Stevie's grandmother's pool after running in Tropical Storm Isaac.

I ran for 30 minutes, and between the down trees on the sidewalk and the ankle deep puddles everywhere, it felt like one long steeplechase today.

Running in Florida

Running this morning in the Florida Keys as Tropical Storm Isaac bears down on the region.  It's threatening to turn into a category 1 hurricane before making landfall in the U.S., but so far has only produced a little wind and mottled skies in our region. 

I've been in Florida for almost a week and it's been - you guessed it - hot and humid here, not bad conditions for drinking a rum cocktail by the water, but less than ideal for running.

My average run as of late has been 30 minutes, followed by the usual situps and pushups and whatever other exercises I can glean from nearby trees and roof overhangs and the like.  I would love to run longer, but that might have to wait for better conditions.

Marathon in Florida

I'm in Florida visiting Stevie's family, and we've all taken a side trip down to the Keys for a few days.  While tracking our progress on the drive down this afternoon, I was pleased to note that one of the Keys is named Marathon.

Running with Suze

After traveling for most of the summer, I'm trying to get back into a routine (before I am ripped right out of it again by going to Florida), so I went for a run around the Cooper with Suze this morning.  We met at 8am to try to avoid the heat of the day and knocked out three and a half miles while catching up on our summers.

When we finished, I brought out my jump rope and did three minutes, and after Suze left, I did another lap around the river for a day's total of about seven miles.

Running while traveling

I'm finally home after a month and a half on the road.  The trip went down like this:

1. Flew to Dublin, spent three days with a couchsurfer.
2. Flew to England, spent a week with various friends.
3. Flew to Germany, spent roughly two weeks with friends and in hostels, mostly in the company of Stevie, all over the country.
4. Overnight train from Berlin to Budapest, changed to a train to Belgrade, spent three days in a hostel.
5. Overnight train to Bulgaria.  Spent the day in Sofia, overnight train to Istanbul.
6. Spent one week in Istanbul, five nights in a hostel and two nights with a couchsurfer.

While obviously not the focal point of my trip (beer, museums, and all things German might vie for that spot), running played a big part in the trip, and I can tell you with certainty: running while traveling is not fun.

I hate to complain about anything related to the trip.  Believe me, I feel blessed and humbled on a daily basis that I have been able to see so much of the world in my life, and continued to do so on this trip.  Being on the go, removed from my daily routine, crossing borders, listening to the strange sound of foreign tongues, meeting new people with such different views on life... these are but a few reasons I am passionate about traveling.

But keeping up any kind of fitness regime is certainly challenging.  At home I have many set routes to follow, but on the road I'm mapping out a new course every few days.  Getting lost while out running is constantly on the back of my mind.  At home, when I finish running, I can hang my clothes to dry and immediately take a shower.  On the road I might have to stuff those sweaty clothes into my pack and not take them out for twelve hours.  At home I can wear new running clothes each day and wash them when I need to.  On the road, due to attempting to pack light, I may wear the same shirt over and over, each time crusting it with even more dried sweat, and I'm never sure when I'll be able to do the next load of laundry.  At home, I have a more predictable schedule.  On the road, I'm never sure if I'll be able to fit in a run in the first place.

With a half marathon coming up in September, and a pair of marathons later this fall, it was imperative that I keep it up somehow during the trip, and despite the difficulties, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

On the night train to Bulgaria

Running in Turkey

Running in Turkey has been significantly more challenging than other places, given how hilly/crowded/hot it is here.  But I'm still doing my best to get the runs in on the road.

Went for a 30 minute run with my couchsurfing host Süphan on the Asian side of Istanbul this morning.  She had to bail after a few minutes, and I did the rest on my own through her neighborhood, trying not to get lost.

And here's a much better picture of Istanbul, taken at sunset the other night while crossing the Bosphorus by ferry:

Sunset over Istanbul

Running in Serbia II

Another run here in Belgrade.  30 minutes out and back, mostly along a pedestrian route, so much better than my first run here.  The second half was all uphill again, though.

I really didn't want to go running this morning.  I was in a small room with a very loud snorer last night, then finally switched to the bean bag in the TV room, but had to suffer the comings and goings of people all night.  Obviously I didn't sleep well.

But tonight I'm boarding a night train to Bulgaria, and tomorrow night I'm boarding another night train to Turkey, so I may not be able to run for a few days.  I knew I had to run this morning whether I wanted to or not.

Istanbul will be my final stop of this trip, and I'll have a full week to find running routes and get some training done.  Then I head home for a week, then off to Florida to visit Stevie's family.  It's hard to keep up training while traveling, but it's a decent price to pay to be out in the world and experiencing so much.