Boy, you people actually run? I'm not sure I remember what that is this week. Nothing today for me, as it was total downpour early on. It was still drizzling at the beginning of DS's first-ever track meet through the parks and rec department. He ran more than I did - he was one of only two boys in the 7-8 year old division who signed up to run the 800m. He had to take walk breaks, and finished well behind the rest of his heat (mixed in with 9 and 10-year-olds), but he finished. Even after being totally thrown off by people cheering - he has some unusual sensory reactions to people cheering for him. I am very proud of him for taking on the longest race there and not quitting, even when he was uncomfortable and tired.
20,000 miles behind me, the world still to see.
0.75 miles to thy gym, 7.25 K on the TM, and 0.75 miles back home, making my 6 easy that I had planned for today. Plus doing the math is definitely helping to keep things interesting.
Unfortunately I wiped out on the way to the gym on bad pavement and my phone's screen stopped working. Fortunately, I was able to get a new phone for $20.
I also made it out to the school where I had gotten lost and ended up taking a taxi earlier in the week, and this time I made it by bus + on foot.
And I ate way too much good food. I was just thinking about how this would be an easy time to maybe take off a few pounds, and I think I probably will, but today it was all about the food!
For lunch I had a typical Costa Rican breakfast. It was vegetarian, and had all of the things I like:
That's "gallo pinto" (a version of rice and beans), corn tortillas, an egg, some cheese, and fried plantains. And enough to feed an army, or at least somebody in marathon training! I didn't eat it all, but I managed to eat most of it.
Then I met the other chaperone for a "cafecito" and got to have some of that tasty bread I've been eyeing! And this I did finish.
I didn't eat this next thing, but I took a picture anyway. World cup fever is so high here (they are currently as far as they've ever been in the tournament) that you can now order and eat the Costa Rican flag to support the team. You should do this because it's not enough just to buy the official (or unofficial) jersey, buy little and big flags, drive around with a giant flag, purchase horns, and have a parade at your school in support of the team. Oh, and if you're a radio DJ, you can sing along to a song about how great it was to tie 0-0 with England, as part of the lists of wonderful accomplishments the team has had.
0.75 miles to thy gym, 7.25 K on the TM, and 0.75 miles back home, making my 6 easy that I had planned for today. Plus doing the math is definitely helping to keep things interesting. Unfortunately I wiped out on the way to the gym on bad pavement and my phone's screen stopped working. Fortunately, I was able to get a new phone for $20. I also made it out to the school where I had gotten lost and ended up taking a taxi earlier in the week, and this time I made it by bus + on foot. And I ate way too much good food. I was just thinking about how this would be an easy time to maybe take off a few pounds, and I think I probably will, but today it was all about the food! For lunch I had a typical Costa Rican breakfast. It was vegetarian, and had all of the things I like: That's "gallo pinto" (a version of rice and beans), corn tortillas, an egg, some cheese, and fried plantains. And enough to feed an army, or at least somebody in marathon training! I didn't eat it all, but I managed to eat most of it. Then I met the other chaperone for a "cafecito" and got to have some of that tasty bread I've been eyeing! And this I did finish. I didn't eat this next thing, but I took a picture anyway. World cup fever is so high here (they are currently as far as they've ever been in the tournament) that you can now order and eat the Costa Rican flag to support the team. You should do this because it's not enough just to buy the official (or unofficial) jersey, buy little and big flags, drive around with a giant flag, purchase horns, and have a parade at your school in support of the team. Oh, and if you're a radio DJ, you can sing along to a song about how great it was to tie 0-0 with England, as part of the lists of wonderful accomplishments the team has had.
This whole post is so awesome, Zel! You are so lucky to experience all this. And looking at all this food makes me really hungry. I could live on just rice, beans, corn tortillas and fried plantains. Along with some papayas and bananas con leche (I can't remember how we say bananas in Spanish?). I hope you did not hurt yourself in that fall!
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
I could live on just rice, beans, corn tortillas and fried plantains.
Are they like fried bananas? I tried those once and was not impressed.
They look like bananas, but they are not mushy when fried, like a banana is. They also do not taste the same. They taste more like fried potatoes. I have no idea if the plantain is a fruit or a vegetable? I guess it's considered a fruit, because I think it grows in a tree, like a bananas. But I don't think it ever tastes sweet. Maybe Damaris and Zel can tell us?
The plantains that you get in the US are just not the same as the ones down here. I always bite into them, and they dry my mouth out and are hard to swallow. These ones were soft (not mushy, but tender) and very very sweet.
I am pretty sure that they are all in the banana family, but not sure of the specifics. Around here, there is some version of banana in everything. There were green ones boiled with the beans I had for lunch, for example. For lunch today at my house, it was rice with the beans and green bananas, along with an eggplant dish of some sort, and that was served with a side of chayote (don't think it has an English name). Yum.
Former Bad Ass
They are green plantains. Salty. Nothing like bananas. Ripe plantains are sweet but harder than bananas.
Damaris