Seattle - my fair city

Saturday dinner

dru — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:22:50 +0000

I went riding as I do most weeks to buy vegetables at the Vietnamese grocery shop in Downtown. It was a beautiful warm (for early Feb 55+!) day in Seattle. I rode my carbon bike for the first time this year. I have been riding my cyclocross bike for most of the winter so far. I felt good and it was a most beautiful day.

I first started by climbing up to Phinney for a cup of delicious Lighthouse coffee, then down to the International district at the Vietnamese store.

I got Radishes, Eggplant, Cauliflower, Guava, Pears, Beets, Cilantro, Shallots.and Bell Peppers.

On the way back I purchased at the Indian grocery store a big coconut, some Sounth-Indian snacks, curry leaves,mustard oil,grains and spices. I came home and contemplated cooking for a bit and took this picture.

Look at all the things that came out of my back pack! I broke the coconut for the milk which Cam and I usually like to have before dinner.

I made a Radish Sambar with two full skillets of Eggplant and Cauliflower Stir fry and a Carrot-Beet salad. I also broke the coconut for the milk, I will grind it tomorrow (I did not need that for cooking today). It was vegan today with no milk or dairy products.

I first started the brown rice and lentils in the Pressure Cooker

The Radishes and Shallots for the Sambar are being stir fried in mustard oil.

In goes the Tamarind juice

I needed two simultaneous frying pans for making all of the egg plant and cauliflower that I purchased!

Out comes the Brown Rice and Lentils which cook in their own stacked vessel simultaneously in the Pressure cooker

Add the cooked lentils and cilantro – Sambar is done

Grate the beets, and carrots, garnish with oil-burst mustard seeds, and add lime juice plus salt to taste – Carrot salad is done

Then shower and eat at a stylishly late hour of 8:00 PM. Blog about it and retire for the night. I will going on a group ride tomorrow.

Crane Charities and Courage Classic

dru — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:33:36 +0000

I am writing about something I am very proud of, and applauding my company – Crane Co. for – their generosity in donating to the Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation. Several of us from Crane have been riding the Courage Classic over the last 5 years and raising money for the Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation in support of abandoned and abused children in the Sate of Washington. Today, Crane Co. donated $5,000 to this worthy cause.

Over the last 5 years our total contributions to Mary Bridge exceed $17,000, raised through generous donations from our colleagues at Crane Aerospace, many personal friends and relatives. This seems small in comparison to the daily contributions made over 20 years by the Mary Bridge staff, who care for the children in need. Our helmets off to them!!

Here is a special video compilation tribute especially made for the kids, Mary Bridge, donors and volunteers who help our kids in need. This 9-minute video covers the 5 years 2007-2011 during which we have done the Courage Classic.

We hope that you will join our team once again in 2012 in the Courage Classic Bike Ride and raise funds to help our Children!

Balance board

dru — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:12:26 +0000

I finally gathered enough courage after almost a week’s respite to rest (and avoid the snow) to go out and run today. The pain came back, but not as bad. I stretched before and after and put in some time on the balance board. I wore my new Rapha merino wool jersey today. Here is a picture of me with my new jersey before my run.

Here is a movie of a short section of my balance board routine. The balance board is a disc with a hemisphere attached to the bottom. It takes a little getting used to. Once you have is mastered, it is a great strengthening exercise which can be a lot fun to do. My Mom’s bear is intently watching on!

The Incredible Snowstorm of 2012

dru — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:55:47 +0000

Seattle, our fair city, experienced an incredible snowstorm that brought us to a standstill for 2 days. There was a lot of working from home over the last 2 days, but also found time to walk down to Gas Works Park for sledding. Here are some pictures and some movies of our experience.

This family made an ingenious sled with a cardboard box that comfortably seated 2 kids!

More Running News

dru — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:57:45 +0000

It snowed today (Sunday) in Seattle, it was very pretty. Cam and I went to Gas Works Park with our sled to take a few runs down the hill.

During my evening run on this snowy day, I felt a sharp pain in the back part of my lower inner leg (Calf muscle?) as I was finishing run loop around green lake. I sort of walked/hobbled/ran back home. I guess I strained by Calf muscle? I iced it and took a couple of advil. The pain seems to be gone but it still feels tender. I guess I will continue Rest Ice Compression Elevation (RICE) today and hope for the best.

What can I say, it is a occupational hazard, although it looks like could have prevented it. The symptoms seem to indicate that I strained my calf muscle as I was finishing my run. I remember that I ran extra hard to finish with a good time, I did not drink enough water before I started and insufficient stretching as well. I read that these are all causes for calf injury. I will now know to be a better runner!

I ran to Green Lake Outer Loop and to Fremont for Mexican Food on Friday, Jan 13th. Carrying Burritos, Salsa, and Frijole in your jogging backpack is interesting .. No spills!

Velospace Running Team?

dru — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:44:10 +0000

Some of us from the bike-to-work team (Chandru, Tim, and Dave) went for a lunch-time Run on the Interurban trail and returned on 13th Avenue. It was delightful and the weather was beautiful. There was some talk of making this a weekly run, watch out, this could catch on!

Here are our stats from today.

New Year’s Half-Marathon – My personal best

dru — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:52:50 +0000

I started the New Year with a half-marathon today. I had a lot of encouragement from Cam before even I started, reminding me that I tend to imagine things to be more difficult than it actually turns out to be. Here is me trying to do a running pose, it looks more like boxing!

Leslie (a running/bicycle enthusiast like me, (she is a better rider/runner) rode along side me for some of the way and made me forget that I was actually running! I am sure this helped increase my average pace a bit. Here I am with Leslie with her New Year’s costume encouraging runners along the way. She was not running today as she is recovering from an injury. She was riding on her bicycle. I hope to do some of my rides/runs with her this year.

It was a low key affair compared to the fanfare of the Seattle Marathon from Nov last year. I bested my own performance by shaving off another 2 minutes from my time. I finished at 1 hour 56 minutes and 5 seconds.

Another unique feature of this run was that I used my Saucony Hattori “almost barefoot” shoes that provides virtually no support to the runner. The idea is that the foot provides critical feedback to your body when running and you automatically adjust your running style to be “light” on your feet and not to be a “heel-striker”. I have been running with these shoes a lot, but this was the first time running an “official” half-marathon. At the end of long runs wearing these shoes, the top of my feet hurt just a bit for a day or 2, but my knees, legs, joints and tendons seems to fare a lot better.

I am now back home and looking forward to a nice hot bath in our new house!

The run is organized by a “low-key” runners group call First Call Running Club and they hold marathon, half-marathon, and 50k running events throughout the year staffed by volunteer club members. You have to be a self-sufficient runner with water, food etc. for the most part. They do serve some hot food, hot chocolate etc. at the finish. I even got a medal for finishing today! My official standings are below:

Mens Half
———
Overall standing was 14th out of 38 competing. In my age group 50-55, I placed 2nd!
I did better than 14 people younger than me and got defeated by one person older.

01. 1:28:05 49 m 13.1
02. 1:31:27 48 m 13.1
03. 1:33:17 47 m 13.1
04. 1:38:02 34 m 13.1
05. 1:38:06 47 m 13.1
06. 1:40:27 45 m 13.1
07. 1:48:52 52 m 13.1
08. 1:49:27 46 m 13.1
09. 1:51:09 49 m 13.1
10. 1:52:26 36 m 13.1
11. 1:52:26 30 m 13.1
12. 1:52:34 31 m 13.1
13. 1:53:00 41 m 13.1
14. 1:56:05 50 m 13.1 Chandru Narayan
15. 1:57:23 48 m 13.1
16. 1:57:58 49 m 13.1
17. 1:58:42 45 m 13.1
18. 2:02:14 63 m 13.1
19. 2:02:26 30 m 13.1
20. 2:02:51 34 m 13.1
21. 2:03:21 31 m 13.1
22. 2:03:42 47 m 13.1
23. 2:04:48 57 m 13.1
24. 2:05:38 33 m 13.1
25. 2:08:52 45 m 13.1
26. 2:10:57 37 m 13.1
27. 2:13:49 53 m 13.1
28. 2:24:21 22 m 13.1
29. 2:24:40 43 m 13.1
30. 2:27:19 53 m 13.1
31. 2:35:55 46 m 13.1
32. 2:42:27 53 m 13.1
33. 2:46:19 38 m 13.1
34. 2:51:05 63 m 13.1
35. 2:52:40 54 m 13.1

Cabbage Coconuts Eggplant Ginger Ladies Finger Celery Carrots and Shallots

dru — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:31:44 +0000

Took a ride to Vietnamese market to purchase Cabbage, Eggplant. Coconut, Ginger, Pears, Cilantro and Neem leaves. All this for New Year’s day lunch I am cooking tomorrow!

The spices here include Fenugreek, Asafoetida, Turmeric, garnished with Neem leaves and Cilantro

Here are some other pictures of other vegan meals made recently.

2 Lakes Run – Lake Union and Green Lake

dru — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:43:35 +0000

My first Run after my return from Mexico. I felt good today after not feeling well for the last 2 days. I went around Lake Union and then Green Lake with the steep steps climb on Blaine and also steps at the Stadium on Green Lake. I did this run with my “Barefoot Shoes” Saucony Hattori. My feet hurt a bit, but not bad. I will see how I do tomorrow! A nice calm day in Seattle with a slight drizzle and not too cold. A very different feel than running in Mexico!

Mexico Vacation by the beach – Puerto Vallarta – Part 3

dru — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:00:20 +0000

We then went to visit our neighbours from Wallingford who happened to be vacationing in Mexico as well! They stayed at a lovely condo on the ocean in Sauylita about 20 miles NW of our resort, also on the Bay of Banderas, but at the northern point. We took a slow local bus there, the green Compostella, it took almost 2 hours. After spending a nice afternoon with them, they were a party of 10, we caught an express bus on the highway, the return trip took only 20 minutes.

The bus dumped us on the highway, no where near another bus stop, at first we didn’t know where we were. We walked along the highway to an exit ramp and walked back to the resort, it turned out fine, it was a pleasant walk.

For me, this has unexpectedly turned into a spa vacation with lots of running (150+ miles in 2 weeks!), time at the hot tub, sauna and steam room as well as lovely excursions in the afternoon to explore. We went to downtown Puerto Vallarta 2 more times, here are some pictures from that trip.

One of the many favorite things about this trip was getting coconuts from the city workers who were trimming the coconut trees at various locations during our morning jogs. We drank the coco aqua right on the spot and sometimes brought extra back to the resort. Cam did this first, when she was jogging on her own and the workers gave her a coconut for ‘mister’. Here is a video when I had my turn carrying two cocounuts.