eat more fruit!

all of my reading lately has led me to the conclusion that i should be eating more fruit and less dessert. in theory i already knew this, but sometimes it takes a few scary statistics to drive it home. this morning i went to a (relatively) nearby organic farm to pick fruit (note: i had been planning to do this independent of any scary statistics. berry picking is so much fun!). this was the first day they were open for the pick-your-own season and the bushes were bending over because they were so heavy with berries.

they gave me a bucket and pointed me to a field. i was enjoying myself so much i just kept going until the bucket was full (5lbs of blueberries!). afterward i went to another section of the farm for red and black raspberries. the best part was you could eat while you picked. yum!

so this is what $20 of fresh picked organic berries looks like. i froze a bunch of the blueberries for future smoothies.

prior to berry picking i also stopped by the farmers market (its amazing how much time you have on saturday morning of a recovery week in training!). lots of greens were to be seen. i'm excited to watch the market develop as the summer progresses and more fruits and veggies ripen.

koshari

i made myself some delicious koshari for dinner this evening. koshari comes from egypt and is a mix of noodles, rice, lentils, a spicy tomato sauce and crispy, browned onions. mine had a little bit of a twist to it though. i ran out of pasta noodles so instead i used mung bean (cellophane) noodles. it looked a little different but tasted great all the same. i used this recipe for the proportions and sauce and now have leftovers for a week.

my body seems to be slowly adjusting to getting up earlier again. it helps that it is light outside at 5:30a, which was definitely not the case in austin when i left. i have been ready for a nap around 10a though, which isn't good when i have seminars and meetings. a major clinical trial for preventing falls in the elderly is about to start in our department and i'm getting to sit in on the meetings. its definitely getting me excited about changes in balance as we age. based on what i see from ultrarunning alone (though i know people who are finishing up clinical trials with it as well), exercise definitely seems to have a role in maintaining balance. i am hoping to be able to explore more about what exactly that role is.

room with a view

i just finished moving into the room i'll be in until late july. the picture above is the view from the balcony at the back of my room. yes, the water that you see is the inner harbor. i'm actually only about 4 blocks from a couple marinas and do shorter runs along the docks.

i made a last minute trip to nyc this weekend to visit rob and britt. i arrived in penn station and went straight to a benefit concert in a loft to see rob and britt's friend's band...and reggie watts showed up to perform next! but that was only friday night. the weekend was packed, but relaxing. we brunched. we walked. we cabbed. i ran. we found a great bookstore. we ate vegan food. we danced with hipsters in williamsburg, brooklyn until 2a. we visited a legit bakery (why are these only found on the east coast?). we strolled in central park and crossed 5th ave through the middle of the puerto rican parade. the only thing missing was eric. i am looking forward to going back to visit with him when he finishes school!

today was my first day at work. i am excited to be (formally) working again. in between taking care of all the fun logistical things, i am going through papers figuring out what experiments i want to do next. partially inspiring my thoughts at the moment is healthy at 100, which i just started reading. it provides an overview of 4 cultures that are known for having elders that live (abundantly) in their 100s. i have been thinking lately that next i may want to focus on elderly populations in general and issues of balance and posture during walking. hopefully i will be able to formulate a few questions to answer over the next couple months!

c & o towpath

this morning i headed west to do my long run on the c & o towpath. it was beautiful and green and unpaved (!). i ran past great falls, many old locks and even more people. i saw the scariest beaver ever (and now respect the attempt mit athletics made a few years ago to have a intimidating beaver mascot), numerous cranes and a very large spider. when i finished, i ate the tastiest fresh peach ever.

baltimore!

last week was an exciting week. fortunately our road trip was much less exciting than the 48 hours before we left and we arrived safely in baltimore on saturday. we spent the rest of the weekend and first couple days of this week on a mini-vacation in baltimore and dc. being in arlington cemetery on memorial day was an incredibly moving experience and definitely made me more fully realize the importance of the holiday.

i am settling into my new place in baltimore. i'm temporarily in a room different from the one i'll be living in for the next 7 weeks, but when i move, i will post a picture of the view...i can see the harbor from the deck outside the room. its beautiful! eric and i were able to sign the lease for the apartment we're renting before he left. we're scheduled to move in there in late july. it will be nice for both of us to move into it at the same time.

i have been enjoying all of the fun things i had forgotten about in the 8 years since i last lived on the east coast--humidity, bob evans, bertuccis, trader joes, farmers markets that are cheap, speeding, proximity to everything. that said, today, my first full day in baltimore by myself, i spent mostly around the house catching up on all of the emails and work i haven't been doing for the last week or so while traveling...like sending preferred dates, etc, to the travel agent who is arranging my flight for my conference in brussels at the beginning of next month and finishing my hiring paperwork so i can be paid when i start my new job!

and in my spare time, i've been studying trails in the area. yesterday i went hiking for an hour in oregon ridge park and drove past loch raven reservoir which is supposed to have a solid 10 mile loop around it. i'm planning to head to the c&o trail on saturday morning for my long run. hopefully the weather forecast is correct and it cools off a bit!