NM: part the dos

Monday, 20 April
Got up to watch the marathon at Henry's house with Tom and Jesse - very fun spectating! It was interesting to hear Henry's comments on race strategies, and the different psychologies behind the male and female lead packs. I went for an easy run around the neighborhood afterwards, to check out UNM (very pretty) and run around the golf course (a classic run around here apparently). It was nice (but warm) and I only got marginally lost at the beginning of the run.

Later I went on a 20 mile bike ride or so (very easy) with Loren, who is really cool. We talked about a lot of interesting things and the scenery was just awesome. Nice bike paths too! Like the river trail, but prettier. Checked out the mountains and the Rio Grande. It took about 1:40.

Tuesday, 21 April
The hill. I wanted to take it my own pace (easy) this morning to get myself loose and ready for tonight's track workout. I did 5 of the hill (in a row), which felt way better than Thursday because 1) I took it really easy, and 2) I'm adjusting. I just tried to run it like Henry does - perfect form, slow, strong. I thought about my form a lot, and practiced really driving up at the top, which I think will help for my 1500. After I did my 5 (HR at the top = 185), I did drills and strides (4). I think my form is really improving on the drills, so I'm feeling good about that. FYU, my HR was about 160-175 on the warmup/cooldown. Legs felt really good afterwards.

After breakfast I went to pick up Demar at Henry's place, because he was getting a massage. Henry made me Kenyan tea which was awesome. Similar to Indian tea like Vibha's mom makes it, but very very sweet. I felt relaxed afterwards and amazing. Demar looked like a wet seal all covered in massage oil.... but watching Henry work on him blew my mind, he was like a surgeon or something. Demar said it was amazing. I'm a little jealous.

PM: track workout. Robby's suggestion:
3 x (300 then 200)
2x 200
2x100

57 (1:07) 35 (2:57)
54 (1:16) 36 (3:16)
53 (1:15) 36 (6:45)
33 (2:38)
33 (3:41)
16 (2:09)
16
30 minute cooldown, 1st mile barefoot

So, the 300s were a little faster than I wanted and the 200s a little slower. The rest was brutally little - between the 3s and the 2s especially - it was hard to jog across the field to the start again. The straight 200s and 100s felt fine, though. Afterwards I thought I was going to throw up pretty much all night.

This was a great workout for 2 reasons, 1) the times were solid, and 2) the effort was really intense; I got myself pumped beforehand and was really ready to hammer it. I felt focused. I am getting nervous about my ability to sub-5 it at Oxy.

Workout suggestions for the track on Thursday?

Wednesday, 22 April
Easy run, my lower legs are feeling a little sore today, just like last Friday. Wanted to take it a little easier and longer than I did, but ended up running and chatting with one of the Dukes' friends who works at Sandia. It was a little brutal, but also probably partially because we were up at 6500ft (it's 5300ft here). My stomach still isn't feeling normal today.

Thursday, 23 April
AM: I decided to make the house crepes, so I didn't go to the hill today. Instead, I jogged easy by myself around the neighborhood, ending up at the grassy park right by the house (the "Southwest North Field") and did some barefoot running (a little less than a mile) and some strides (4 good ones) and some drills (about 10 minutes, also good quality.) My legs felt really good afterwards and I feel rested and fresh for tonight. Now I just have to take it easy for the day, and get ready for the track tonight.

I think I am going to do a ladder with plenty of rest, to work on quality stamina, since I've done some speed on the track so far. This could be rough up here. Jesse suggested a potential workout is 200/400/800/1000 (?)/800/400/200, and I'm thinking equal (or plenty) rest. If things go well I might want to finish up with some strides or short stuff like Tuesday (200s and 100s), but we'll see. I also may abort on the 1k depending on how the volume feels. I realize this would be 3800 hard for 1500 prep, which may not make a lot of sense.

Friday, 24 April
Drove back from Albuquerque to Pasadena. Stopped in Flagstaff and ran a couple of miles, which felt good (even though it was at 7.5kft+) The observatory was really pretty. The running really helped me stay focused on the road, I think. I also stopped in Kingman and did some drills in the parking lot of the truck stop (much to the amusement of the locals). The final stop was in Claremont - it was good to be in a familiar place to roll out a few miles on local turf (the "North Field East" at Harvey Mudd). I was pretty wiped out by then.

Saturday, 25 April
Easy run with Ian at the Oxy track. Barefooted it for a while (2 miles?) then put on some shoes. Man, that's a nice surface to run barefoot on! My right foot has a little sore-ish blister-ish spot on the botton between my first and second toes, just like when I did all the beach barefoot stuff in Fiji. Legs feel okay, but my left calf/shin muscles are really sore and tight, especially on the inside. Kim gave me a wicked massage (it was so painful - wow.). She said to keep a special eye on things, because it is common for this type of soreness to lead to shin splints.

Sunday, 26 April
Okay, so I know I'm supposed to be taking it easy, but instead I ran up Brown Mountain today. It was just too tempting. I promise to take tomorrow off. I think I might be addicted to trail running right now... like I really couldn't talk myself out of the run today with logic. The price I paid was my calf/shin (left one) hurting up at the top of the mountain, and then just ginger-footing it back down. I am going to heat and roll and ice today, I promise.

The run was really nice though.

Also, my mileage this week is over 50 - even with the two little days (driving back and Saturday). So it's time to take it easy.

Off to NM!

Monday, 13 April
Ran a modified Madre with Susan (we went down to the end of Lombardy first). It was about 6.5 miles at a solid 7.45-7.50 pace. I really don't think my easy days used to be this fast, did they? Felt good! It was good to let Susan rant about her job, because I know I always rant to her about stuff. So it was a good role-change. Perfect start to a big day of getting my stuff together for tomorrow!

Tuesday, 14 April
Thank goodness I remembered to bring my foam roller.

So I decided my easterly journey was a good opportunity to test out the trail waters in Claremont. I did a mountain run (74 minutes, I'm rounding up to 10 miles here because I was working pretty hard) called "mountain top" or something like that, anyways it was out for about 38-39 minutes and then back. I did some strides and drills afterward. The run felt great and so was the burrito that followed.

The drive is going well, but I didn't make it out of Claremont until much later than I expected so I realized that I wouldn't make my proposed campground by sundown. So I decided to press on and try and make it to Flagstaff and get a motel room. This was a good idea as it's pretty windy out. (Incidentally, I wonder how much wind is okay for the bikes on top of the car - I was very worried about this.)

About 60 minutes from my destination, my legs got really crampy. (Right IT band in particular, as usual.) Ugh. So that's why I'm writing this entry instead of sleeping right now, because I just dug out my nasty emergency ibuprofen from the glovebox, which I had to hack into pieces because it had all solidified into one mess. I'm waiting for that to kick in. Fortunately I packed my foam roller so I have that too. Hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep soon!

It turns out Flagstaff is at elevation - about 7k feet. It was even snowing a little bit when I rolled in to town! I'm going to go for a trail run in the morning (easy, gotta keep an eye on the miles) to capitalize on the altitude. Sweet! Also I'm going to wear my HR monitor. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, 15 April
So it was snowing and hailing this morning when I got up so I decided to go hit the road instead. Let's just say I ended up parked on I-40 for 5 hours while it was stopped due to high winds (!). And yes, I had taken the bikes off the roof and stuffed them in the back seat. Yes.

Anyways I did some drills and strides on the center median to get loosened up while I was waiting around for the road to reopen. I'm sure this delighted the onlooking parked cars and trucks. I also peed behind a rock that, let's face it, didn't conceal anything. But what are you going to do?

When I made it to Albuquerque (finally) I drank a beer and did a short little 30 minute shlepp around town with Robby so that my legs wouldn't be totally dead. It was a good idea because I'd been sitting all day. Also, my hip flexors are sore from Tuesday I think. Yikes!

Thursday, 16 April
AM: Met Henry Rono this morning! He's coaching Robby and his homeslices, so I got in on that action. We did a classic hill workout - slow uphill working on form and such, but I think it was a bit harder for me than it should have been, since I was running with the men and the altitude and such. My HR was ridiculous at the top of the hill. I only did 4 of them hills (3 and a break and then one more). I jogged and did some drills in between. The hill was very steep and about 150-200m long. I was glad I was not expected to carry on any part of the conversation, because I would not have been able to.

PM: Los Dukes were doing 5x1000 on the track with 1:00 rest, so I decided that a distance I could hang on for that pace was 300... so that's what I did. The tons of rest was really key, because my leg speed felt fine, but it took me a while to get my breath back at the end of each interval. I did 3x300, then 600, then 200. Times (with rest):

[55 (3.55), 54 (2.43), 54 (3.43), 2.07 (?), 35]

Although the 55 I think was really equivalent to a 54 because I started way out in lane 3. They were all in spikes, and I cooled down barefoot (about 15 minutes, 1.5 miles). All in all, considering that I'm kinda tired, and I ran really hard this morning, I feel good about this effort. Also, one of the runners who's really good told me I look really scary (I think he also used the word "buff" or "muscular") and serious. I was taken aback by this, I'm not sure if it was a compliment, but I wanted to say that I really was enjoying myself a lot! I like running on the track, and I like running fast. So yeah, if I look scary, I guess I can deal with that. I was having a good time. Also it was really windy, but I didn't notice it at all.

Friday, 17 April
Took it real easy today, which it turns out here doesn't feel easy at all. I think I was running maybe 8 minute miles the first 35 minutes, and then slower after that. The 8 minute pace was not conversational at all! My legs felt okay though. The gang turned to add on 2 miles to the 7 mile run and I decided that was too much - I'm already at 40 miles for this week, so I don't want to push it too much, especially given the altitude and overall intensity. I did some drills and 3 strides Peter-style afterwards and that kind of made my lower legs remember that they were sore, so that was bad. Also I got really cold after we stopped, so that kinda sucked.

We're having a party tonight for Henry because he's getting his US citizenship today. I think that's pretty special actually. I think I'm going to make an apple pie to go with the American theme.

Saturday, 18 April
Easy out and back at the Rio Grande. Very pretty trail - flat, sandy (but packed, it rained last night). Nice sunny morning, perfect temp with my long underarmour shirt and shorts, gloves and a bandana. Quiet farm area around the river, with trees and steam and fog and the mountains up in the distance. Very nice. Did some short drills afterwards.

I started out with Demar, Robby, and Dani, but only stayed with them for about 15 minutes. I think there's a steep cutoff where my breathing gets under control - I felt decent sticking with them, but once I was running on my own, it was SO much easier, even though I wasn't shuffling. I think intensity wise it felt like 7.30-8.00 pace (breathing a relaxed 2-in 2-out, slower than tempo but not as slow as 3 in 2 out). Similar to a pace I would keep with Susan on a similar run. But, I have no idea how far I actually went - Demar and Robby thought they went 10 and I could see them when they turned around, so I couldn't have been more than a mile back, right? 9 seemed generous when I looked at my pace (that would be like 7.40s) but seemed to make sense if they really went 10... so who knows. It definitely was a 9 mile effort, so I'll put that.

I felt good though, it would have been nice to run even a little bit longer, but I'm going to ride my bike today (it's SO nice outside!) so I'll leave it at that.

Sunday, 19 April
This is officially the biggest week I've ever done. I'll have to check, but I think my previous biggest week was in Denmark when I ran 54 miles (okay, so that week I also biked some, so they may be equivalent, but I'm not counting that.) I *did* jog an extra long cooldown today so that I could hit 60, but I felt really good the whole time so hopefully that still counts as not *too* crazy.

We did a 3 mile cross country fundraiser for one of Robby's friends, who is taking a group of doctors and med-students down to El Salvador. It was a pretty challenging course, lots of ups and downs (but not major hills/downhills). First mile was mostly uphill, and then the second and third miles were pretty fast. I did the course easy for a warmup, and on the line I hooked up with some other gals who would be running about my pace (which I guessed on - somewhere sub 8-min miles I thought.) Anyways I went out EASY per Henry's advice, and ran a 7.38, then ran 7.14s for the second 2 miles. My basic strategy was to work the downhills and keep my breathing under control on the uphills. It worked out okay, especially since I was running with a super duper strong gal who kept the pace even for me.

Anyways, then I did a long cooldown including lots of grass and a mile and a half barefoot. Great run! And hooray on my big week - my legs feel great too.

Homestar Running (and biking)

Monday, 6 April
Reconnected with the team today, which was awesome. We did a short little hybrid of Palomar/Huntington, but we didn't run super easy.

Tuesday, 7 April
Rode down to SB on the Waterford. Rode really easy, it took a little less than 8 hours ride-time. Ian joined me for the first few hours on the river trail, which made the going a lot easier. I remembered from the last time feeling like the day was very looong - like a long time to be in my own head. But, this time I felt much better. Partially because the weather was nicer, partially because of the company, and partially because I knew the route. The fact that it was an hour shorter ride also wasn't a bad thing! Anyways, after not touching a bike for 5-6 weeks to be able to do that ride was a good feeling.

It was nice to get a good meal from my mom when I arrived, and to see my parents was really great. My dad said my quads looked good in my biking shorts! (I pointed out that I got them from him - he works out at the gym a couple of times a week and has awesome natural quads, with the split down the middle! And he's only 65! )

Wednesday, 8 April
Decided to take it easy today, so I swam for 30 minutes. It was actually pretty fun! I like the new bathing suit (one piece). It was also nice to get some good lap-swimming tips from Justine.

Actually, I feel a lot better today after my big ride than I did the last time I did this ride. I wonder why? Maybe those extra 15 miles really did something to me last time, or the stress of not knowing the route, or something. But last time I remember being tired, hungry, and sore. Today, I felt good actually. None of those things in particular.

Thursday, 9 April
Ran down Lacy with the team, and did some quicker stuff (5 minutes at maybe 7:00 pace, a couple of 200s) but mostly just jogged on the grass in order to let my legs continue to recover from Tuesday, and to prepare for a big workout date with the Doyle lab tomorrow.

Friday, 10 April
Computrainer workout. 3 on 1 off increasing the on @25W from 150 to 225W, then 2 on 1 off at 250, 275, and 1 on 1 off at 300W. Then 4 intervals to failure, averaging maybe a minute or two somewhere ramping up or ramping down around 275 (max 325W). Felt really crappy during this part - my body is not used to intervals at all! Then staircase down with 3 on 1 off from 175W down to 100 watts.

The point of this workout was to get my blood oxygen saturation levels. I wore a pulse oximeter on my finger (which was a little bit of a burden, since I had to keep my hand relaxed to get a good reading, which meant that I couldn't grab the bars on the failure intervals). Note, the best reading was from my right index finger.

If I was sitting and chilling, the reading was 98%. During riding, it would fluctuate; during an interval it was mostly between 94 and 96%, and during rest it would first dip below its "on" level and then rebound up to 96-97 or even 98%. The lowest it got was 89% (Dan said this was the lowest reading he'd seen). I wish I understood why it got lower after I stopped the interval - I guess my muscles were in oxygen debt and would suck it all up or something?

So yeah, this was pretty intense. It's going to be awesome when we get the gas exchange setup!

Saturday, 11 April
Got about 5 hours of sleep after drinking wine all night, then got up to go for a run with Susan. Not a recipe for a good workout, necessarily, but I decided to jump in anyways. The plan was to run to 35 minutes hard; we did 10 minutes warmup and then stepped it up (I was feeling pretty gross). Route. We were conversational but hard until about Lacy park, when we picked it up. 30 minutes in, we got to the bottom of Old Mill and Oak Knoll. Susan said we'd go up to Hillcrest, and we started up the hill. I was really feeling badly at this point, but I looked at my watch and I thought, well, 5 more minutes... so I pushed through the hill, and crested up the top, and counted down the seconds.... at 35 minutes we were at Hillcrest & Hillcrest Pl (25 minutes in @ 3.5mi) and I was on my very last bit of juice.

At this point, it occured to me that maybe Susan had meant 35 minutes tempo - not 35 minutes total - and that we might actually have 10 more minutes to go! I pleaded inside my head for Susan to look down at her watch... but no such luck. I barely managed to get out the words "Do we have 10 more minutes?!", to which, of course, she said yes.

I thought I was going to die.

I can't remember the last time I felt this bad in a run - it was like the feeling I get towards the end of a 1500 race or a 600-800 track interval where my vision was tunneling in, I was dizzy (kind of like 2 Wednesdays ago at the track but not quite as bad), my stomach was churning, my breathing was irregular, and I had a cold sweat. It was bad news bears. Usually when I get this, I just keep telling myself, "I only have to endure this for 60 more seconds", except this time instead of 60 seconds, it was 10 minutes.

So I had a freak out and Susan helpfully pointed out that our breathing was matched - first time for everything I suppose - so I tried to stop complaining. I just took it one minute at a time. Soon we had 7 minutes left, then 5, at which point I thought "okay, this would be 1200m left". The fact that it was flat was really helpful actually. When we got to Arden @ Wilson, I insisted we go straight - I just could not face the uphill. That's how bad it was.

I literally could not believe that I made it that far after I felt SO bad with 10 minutes to go. It just shows that I don't usually push myself hard enough! Because I DID make it, and we did over 5 miles in that 35 minutes. So if this mapping was right, we were pulling 7 minute miles on varied terrain (downhill at the beginning, uphill in the middle). Any thoughts on what this would be equivalent to on the track? I would guess at least 6.45s. It was hard.

What a hard workout - and a good opportunity. I got to overcome a really difficult mental spot, do my longest tempo run in a while, rock out with Susan, and all after only 5 hours of sleep, a hard workout the day before (on the bike), and lots of beverages the night before. Yessss.

Sunday, 12 April
Tired today from another long night out on the town. (I gotta train for this.) It was really nice today, and I kept meaning to take Jamaal 2.0 out for a ride, but I didn't get around to it. In the end I decided another day off would be good for me, because I'm going to have a high volume week next week in the 505.

Back in town.

Monday, 30 March
Traveling...

Tuesday, 31 March
Traveling and then back home. My legs were much less swollen thanks to a crucial tip I got to plantar flex my feet and clench up my calves to pump blood back up my legs... it worked!

When I got back, I was all tired and grumpy and messed up, but I decided I had to do a run for my own sanity. I just did an easy 30 minutes with my legs uberdead (Susan said my blood was pooled in my legs, and that's why they felt like that.). Feeling "bletchy" all over.

Wednesday, 1 April
Spent most of the day chilling and doing errands (my debit card info was stolen... d'oh!). Then did a PM track workout with Susan (awesomeness). Henry joined in the stroller - what a good track baby!
1200 tempo - 96/94/91, then maybe 90 seconds rest, then
800 (84/86)
600 (85/39)
400 (81) with very minimal (1-2 minute) rests. There were some rough spots (very dizzy on the 400 - scary!) most notably on the 800 (the 84 was a pleasant surprise, but the second lap felt long) and the last 200 of the 600 (where I picked it up - this hurt).

I did the 8/6/4 in my spikes, and they felt fine. My form was weird feeling, I think this is just from not running for a little while (and not being on the track, or in spikes).

Thursday, 2 April
This run was a little longer than I thought it would be, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. We waited until low tide and then my dad bike-paced me on the beach all the way down to Torrey Pines. We came back on the streets b/c the tide was coming up. I got a little tired around an hour in, but trotted in just fine (82 minutes total, about 9.5 miles). My quads were really tired by the end, but on the upside my calves are feeling totally fine. I guess the barefoot stuff over my vacay really paid off! Fun run.

Friday, 3 April
Prerace (!?!). I did 35 minutes out in the lagoon, with the only hitch being a highly active bug that flew into my eyeball. Well, that and the fact that my lower quads are hella hella sore. I'm hoping this is from Wednesday and not yesterday, because if that's true, I'll be fine tomorrow. If not... well, no worries. It'll be fun regardless.

Saturday, 4 April
PP Invite. Ran a cool 5.14 (84/89/84/56) in the 1500. Legs were still sore today, but not as bad as they had been yesterday (lower quads mostly sore). Calves still 100%, so I guess I didn't need to be worried about that. Race plan was to push the third lap, since that was traditionally a difficult part for me. So, I was happy to see that 84 split.

The 89 wasn't as bad as it looked; I think I'd slowed down at the end of the first lap, and then Stephanie gapped me in a beaut of a move I was happy to sit back and watch. There was quite a large spot in front of me in the 2nd lap, which I kind of just tried to be patient about and watch, and keep the other Caltech gals in contact with me.

When I got to the third lap, my plan kicked in, and then I got down to business. I'd forgotten how quickly that race goes! I mean... all of a sudden, it was 600m to go, and I was thinking to myself, "holy crap, I can't waste any more time!". So I worked on the gap. By my usual kicking-spot (350m to go) I was pleased to see that there was a huge bunch-up of folks right in front of me. I hopped them coming around the turn and then tried to get my position back on the straightaway, passing a few more coming around the final turn.

Simultaneously I saw Anna from Pomona in front of me, and I heard Ian say "she's a good one to get" by which of course he meant, "now is your time to avenge all those cross-country races she's served your ass by 5 minutes!". So I playfully turned on the jets to make a decisive move going around her - I didn't want to give her wiggle room to chase me down. It worked out okay. But don't feel too proud on my account, she was fading and didn't even try to get me.

Anyways, good times, especially after having a lot of doubts. I had fun, ran a great time considering, and was in good control the whole time. I'm looking forward to doing some more track workouts!

Sunday, 5 April
Off, resting up.

Stop: Dubai time.

Monday, 23 March
Flying to Dubai. I actually didn't get too bored, although partly because I am becoming addicted to poker on my ipod. I guess it's good I have no money or internet access to play for reals. Dave is a good poker teacher! I can't wait to play with him again when I get back.

Tuesday, 24 March
It's becoming apparent that I will not be running in Dubai. Not only is the weather and air quality dismal, but there is hardly any open space whatsoever. And, even if there were, I don't think I would feel comfortable going out (alone) in my running shorts, and even if I did, I think getting lost here would be very, very bad.

So, I'm not going to feel guilty about it. I can catch up on my training when I get back. I'm just going to enjoy stuffing myself at every opportunity with delicious, delicious food and enjoy my expanding bod.

In other news, I think I'm going to do the 1500 at PP invite, just for fun. I will probably run badly (out of shape, rusty with racing, jetlag). But then again, Megumi always says the best races sometimes come when there's no pressure and you're just having fun. I'm planning on going all by feel and trying to race as much as possible - a mental exercise!

Wednesday, 25 March
Things I have done so far:
shopping - bought a cute Indian outfit to wear out with Vibha's family. The shop owner thought I was too thin. Good thing I've been stuffing myself constantly.
malls - there are tons of malls here that are massive, including the...
Emirates mall - we went to see indoor snow and skiing, it was freaking insane... I did tobogganing on this rickety bobsled thing and I could not believe how dangerous it was. That of course made it really fun. The valet outside featured a Bentley, Lamborghini, 2 Ferraris, a Porsche...
Dubai Museum - this just convinced me it's insane that people live in this crazy-inhospitable desert.
Watched an Indian movie (Aloo Chaat) which was fun, because the subtitles turned out to be in Arabic, and so Vibha had to translate for me. Very cute.
Went to an Indian cultural event at the Laljani's club. Very cute (dancing mostly).
Discovered Atlantis - the hotel, that is. It's the giant one on the man-made island shaped like a palm frond. It made Vegas hotels look like a rural Maine B&B.
Bollywood clubbing (we were the best dancers.)
smoked shisha in an Arabic restaurant
Played Ellen for Vibha (helped her buy a whole bunch of new clothes).
Went for chaat (snacks, see below...)

Eating Log:
Overall eating with my fingers is improving, but I have lots of trouble with liquidy things (palak paneer, and anything with peas...) stuff here is really oily, even the stuff that isn't fried, but it's hard to keep the portions under control, because everyone is trying to stuff you constantly. I like how all the food here is really packed with different flavors; food at home is going to seem real bland when I get back.

chapatis - I'm getting better at making these, I need more practice though
cabbage fry (amazing)
bindi aloo "ladyfingers" (type of okra) with potatoes (such a good flavor, way better then southern fried okra) (bindi = okra, aloo = potato)
gajar ki sabji - there was a savory carrot dish that was super, duper rico and amazing.
kadhai chicken - creamy chicken curry (mild) the chicken was so tender and the sauce was sweet and delish. Only made in a special kind of pot (kadhai = special kind of wok with a round bottom)
dates - we got these as a mall snack. Some were honeyed, some were covered in chocolate or caramel, some were with nuts... all were devoured.
imli (tamarind) fries - these were actually made from potatoes, but flavored with tamarind and served with onions, green onions, tomatoes.... very very flavorful, like a punch in the tongue
dahi puris - tiny puris, but filled with yogurt and boondi (chickpea flour but fried), spices, parsley garnish, tamarind chutney
Arabic food - shaorma (chicken) and hummus, familiar tasting but better than average for sure.
We also had an Arabic quesadilla thing which was really interesting, the cheese was fluffy and the bread was kind of like a crepe.
pani puris - tiny puffy puris filled with lentils and boondi, into which you spoon mint water and spicy tamarind right before you pop it into your mouth. yum.
kachori - deep fried bread kind of like the stuff around samosas, covered with beans, spicyness, and lentils, then covered in spicy tamarind and mint chutney. this definitely got my nose running...
raj kachori - this time you take a full-size puri, put bhalla (from cooked yogurt) inside, then aloo (potatoes), then lentils, then cover in mint chutney and tamarind, then fill bowl with yogurt and cover in boondi and crunchy bits. this thing was my mount everest - so freaking huge but SO delicious. it was spicy, sweet, and creamy all at the same time in perfect proportions, while also being warm (from the lentils, etc) and cool (yogurt), and crunchy (puri) and soft (potatoes, yogurt). mmmmmm.

desserts -
gajar (carrot) ka halwa... amazingly delish (carrots are very different from ours though)
rasagolla- this actually was not very flavorful. From Bengal - kind of a bland, fluffy gulab jamun.
kaju katri - cashew based flakey treat, covered in silver foil. this is one of vibha's favorites. it is delicate and creamy and has a great texture.
petha - candied gourd, very sweet!
ras malai - sweet milk with soft cheese, pitstachios, almonds. very delicate tasting.
kulfi - ice cream made by reducing milk to a thick syrup (similar tasting to sweetened condensed milk) and adding saffron, pitsachio, almonds, green cardamom. It was really satisfying and perfect after something spicy.

Also we have been drinking fantastic delicious chai... it is so simple yet so elusive to make. My mouth waters when I think about it and when I wake up in the morning I feel so lucky that I am about to drink it (Vibha's mom is serving us like queens).

More from Down Under

Monday, 16 March
This was unexpected and awesome; I ran with Dave today! We'll see if I destroyed his knee or not. We had a lot of fun at the beach today sunning and then we went running in the park for maybe 4.5 miles. Legs feeling okay.

Tuesday, 17 March
Went on maybe a 3 hour hike with Dave in the Blue Mountains. It was really cool, and there was TONS of stairs, like an insane amount, and they were all crazy treacherous. So that really worked my calves and hip flexors. Afterwards I got myself out for maybe 30 minutes in the bustling town of Katoomba (very quiet actually) which unfortunately also does not have a track. Are there ANY tracks in Australia?!

Wednesday, 18 March
Back to the city today to see a play at the opera house. It was pretty neat. Then I went for a run around the University of Sydney, again looking for a track. They had swimming, field hockey, rugby, cricket... and no track. G-damn. I did find some sweet grass to run on though, so all was not lost. Feeling kinda tired, Dave and I need to take it a bit easy tomorrow. Not worth it for the impact on my running and the grumpiness. Also, I need to make more of an effort to get the run done in the morning I think.... that would probably help.

Thursday 19 March
Off, drove to Port Awesome.

Friday 20 March
AM:
Ran on the beach to see if One Mile beach really lived up to its name. Not so- my guess was that round trip was about 1.7 miles. Ran relatively hard and barefoot. Surprisingly easy to run in my new one piece bathing suit! Does this bode well for a potential triathlon someday?

PM:
Wanted to do a hugely ridikalus beach run, but I got a bit of a late start so the tide was coming up and I had to turn around early. This was the most surreally beautiful run of my life. Imagine a pristine beach with no one on it; blue ocean as far as you can see; and just off the beach is 30k of sand dunes, also stretching in front of you as far as you can see. It was amazing, see if you can google image search Stockton Beach or the Worimi dunes. Totally nuts.

Literally after the first 10 minutes I only saw a couple of 4wd trucks and a fisherman. I went out for 30 minutes until the tide made me nervous that I was going to be slogging through dune on the way back. It was really disorienting because there was no sense of scale and no landmarks to judge distance by. On the way back there was quite a headwind, so I had something to fight. I then did 20 more minutes a bit easier in town, for a little over 80 minutes total. I think I did about 11.5 total today.

Saturday 21 March
Surfed for about 2.5 hours at Anna Bay. I was planning on running afterwards but surfing actually wore me out. I think walking the board out was tiring, as was the jumping up. It was super fun and I want to go again! I was scared I would suck at it and get frustrated, but they gave us big boards that were easy to get up on and the waves were a good size. Me and Dave owned it. There was a sighting of blue bottles in the water, but I didn't see them. Are they the same as portugeuse man-o-wars?

Anyways afterwards I was le tired and so we napped on the beach and then I drove us back to Sydney, staying on the correct side of the road (whew!).

Sunday 22 March
Off, was planning on doing a last big run at the park today, but Dave and I got mad drunk last night with some new Australian friends and so we got up really late. Did a beach cliff-top walk from Coogee to Bondi instead. It was very pretty and a good send off for Dubai.