Philadelphia Zoo

I've been MIA again...my new job has been keeping me tied to my workdesk, but I have hope that at some point in the near future, I will be able to return to some sort of blogging routine.

What a weekend! DH and I spent Saturday with a friend, M and her boys (a 3-year old and a 9-month old) at the Philadelphia Zoo. M's husband has been deployed to Iraq since the little one was born, and she has been raising the kids by herself. She has always been a cheerful, high-energy woman, juggling 2 jobs, then school and 2 jobs, and now plunging headlong into motherhood, but after yesterday, I have renewed appreciation for her strength and stamina.

The weather was perfect; the children were well-behaved and we had no trouble shepherding them through the zoo. Just as we were all beginning to enjoy the day, an unfortunate incident occured. We parked her efficient Schwinn double jogging stroller (loaded with baby food, snacks, shoes and the toys we had bought for the kids) outside the cat cages, under the sign "Stroller parking" and came back 20 minutes later, to find it gone. Disappeared! We split up and combed the area, hoping it had just rolled away somewhere close, but it was nowhere to be seen. While DH and I watched the kids, M went to review the security camera. A man in a white T-shirt and blue jeans was actually caught on tape, wheeling away the stroller! We were asked to stay on till after the park closed, in case the stroller was abandoned somewhere. The park security was alerted, and they rolled off in their carts, on a mission to retrieve the stolen stroller, but at the end of the day, the stroller was still missing.

We stayed on to lodge a complaint, though we were certain, by the obvious lack of interest on the cop's face, that the chances of getting the stroller back were slim to none. Tough luck! By the time we left, it was 7 pm. DH had been carrying the 3-year old on his shoulder most of the day, and thanks to the lost stroller, M and I had been taking turns carrying the baby all day; our arms and shoulders were sore. The boys were exhausted too. Luckily, no valuables had been lost.

We joined another friend for dinner at Banana Leaf, and plenty of nasi lemak, crispy golden fried squid and lychee drinks were consumed. We drove home in a heavy thunderstorm, hoping that the nearly-bald tires would not steer the car into a ditch. Not surprisingly, we came across 2 accidents on Route 1. It was about midnight when we reached home and 5 minutes after that when we gratefully fell into bed.

I didn't get much sleep though, because I had to be up at 6:15 to meet Glenn and Sandy for a run. Since Glenn had mapped the run, I expected a challenging course. I was in no shape for a 11.25 mile hilly run, and my left shoulder and arm were still tight and hurting after yesterday's child-carrying experience. I don't know how you moms do it!!!

Anyway, I decided to take it a bit easy, and when Glenn mentioned that we could walk up some of the hills, I readily agreed. Sandy raced off ahead of us at 7:45; she had to be done by 10. Glenn and I took off a few minutes later. There were 4 major hills on the course (according to Glenn). I beg to differ...some of the "inclines" were hills to me! We did a good bit of walking and still got a great workout. As usual, Glenn had done an awesome job with the course, covering pretty neighborhoods and allowing for water/rest stops at gas stations along the way. We bought water/gatorade at each of the stops. I wished I had worn my fuel belt, so I didn't need to carry the water bottle in my hand. I could have also stowed my camera in the belt and taken pics. I will definitely be doing this course again, and there'll be pics next time. A Cliff shot blok helped me pick up speed during the last 3 miles. We finished by Watchung Lake.

Week's workouts:

Monday: 6 miles

Tuesday: 12 miles + core work

Wednesday: Aquafit + swimming 500 yards
Thursday: 7 miles
Friday: 6 miles (1 1/2 mile warm up; 3 miles at 8:30 average; 1 1/2 mile cooldown)

Sunday: 11.25 miles

Total: 42.25 miles

After a restoring nap, lots of cooking and squirreling away for the week was accomplished today.

Toor dhal curry

Avarakkai (hyacinth bean)

Brussels' sprouts

Potato and methi (fenugreek) leaves

Shenandoah National Park

Hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July. We had a lovely time. It felt a little rushed, but any vacation with 7 people, each one with his/her own agenda, is bound to feel rushed. The weather was perfect, and fortunately, the mad rush of traffic was non-existent. So, all in all, a great time was had by all. I'd love to go into detail, but to spare you a lot of reading, I am going to let the pics do the talking.

We stopped at Baltimore harbor on Friday, en route to Virginia. The harbor was pretty and colorful...we watched the ships as we furiously licked on rapidly-melting icecream cones.

We took a peek into this submarine from Pearl Harbor days.

Shenandoah National Park has breathtakingly beautiful views.

The hike on Saturday did not go as planned; the White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run trail was longer, steeper and more strenuous than we had expected and most of the group consisted of novice hikers, who decided to throw in the towel after 5 miles.
We got a taste of Southern hospitality as an incredibly kind gentleman, Kevin offered us a ride back to our cars.

The highlight of the trip was jumping into a cool pool on the hike and getting a free waterfall massage.

The scariest moment was noticing a huge rattlesnake on the trail, just a foot or so behind DH.

We also spotted 2 bears (luckily we were safely in our cars when we saw them).

The only running I did last week was 6 miles on Monday and 10 miles on Wednesday. I've missed my routine and am looking forward to logging in the miles this week.

Rafting on the Lehigh Gorge

Whew! I've been caught up in a whirlwind the past few days. I've kept an eye on Google Reader and I know life exists outside my crazy world, but I'm not a speed reader and I have had absolutely no time to catch up on your lives. I have a lot of news though, so please allow me to ramble on...and I promise, I will be up to speed on all the news and gossip within the next 2 weeks.

Some of you may remember my announcement that I was losing my job. Well, I have good news to share...I've found another one. This is my last week in my old job and there's tons of handing over to do; not to mention prepping for my new job. But it's all good and I'm definitely not complaining.

And a lot of the busy has been fun busy. It has been awhile since DH and I went white water rafting, but our previous trips have been very enjoyable, so when a friend Raj, invited us to join him and his 2 friends on a rafting trip on the Lehigh River on Saturday, we readily agreed. I was the odd woman out, but the guys kindly agreed to count me as one of the boys.

DH and I had a busy Friday evening buying supplies for our upcoming camping trip, followed by a late evening at a friend's place, so by the time we hit the sack, it was 1:30 am. You can imagine the curses that were uttered when the alarm went off at 5:20 am. Things brightened soon enough; it was a pleasant 2-hour drive to Jim Thorpe, PA, and I asked myself why I don't wake up early more often. I can't say enough about early mornings....the sun rise, the birds, the trees, the clean air. Somehow, things are less complicated in the mornings.

At Pocono Whitewater, we had just enough time to gulp down a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and get our life jackets on. We had decided not to carry lunch...we would feast after the trip.

While DH and I were out to have a good time, Raj and Partha were fiercely competitive and determined to prove that they were the best amateur rafters on the river that day. Kartik on the other hand, had one goal...he was determined not to fall off the raft and return from the trip in one piece. They had all rafted together before on a different section of the same river. DH and I had rafted on the Hudson previously with Class III and IV rapids, but we had been accompanied by a river guide (I happen to think the guides are a sight for sore eyes...I must admit, I've had fantasies of becoming a female river guide, just so I could ride the rapids by day and hang out with the hot male river guides by night...OK, I better stop now, in case DH decides to read this). This would be a different experience...Class II and III rapids...we would man our rafts ourselves; but there would be a couple of guides, floating in kayaks beside us.

Raj and Partha came up with the strategic plan and we were assigned our seats. Partha was appointed leader of the team, so he would sit in the rear of the raft and call out instructions. DH and Raj would ride in front, while Kartik and I would sit between them (perceived as the safest area of the raft). The thought crossed my mind that I should feel offended by this clear gender discrimination (Kartik, as I mentioned, was keen on remaining in the raft at all times, so this seating seemed to fit nicely within his plan). But, I was there to have fun, and I didn't really care where I sat. The boys could have their bulging egos.

After a short walk through Lehigh Gorge State Park (one of the guides, Nate, encouraged us to use the facili-trees (LOL! sorry, I had to mention that; this is the first time I've heard it)), we carried our raft through a narrow creek into the river. The ice-cold water of the creek made the river feel like a heated pool. We cast off. Partha took his role as leader very seriously, obligingly jumping off the raft at one point and holding it secure, so the other rafts could catch up. When all the rafts were in the water, we took off again. Despite all our strategizing however, we all seemed to have different ideas of how to keep the raft going, so it was not long before we hit our first rapid and turning back, we saw that we were one man short...our leader, Partha was standing in the river, hands above his head, clutching his paddle. He was picked up by another raft and safely delivered to us a little while later. But our coordination issues did not end there. We were all paddling in different directions and knocking our paddles against the others'. Kartik was seated smack-dab in the middle of the raft, his feet securely burrowed into the sides of the raft, his paddle barely grazing the water. After a few encounters with rapids, water filled our raft almost to the top. The "water-proof" bucket we had been provided with to keep our lunches and water bottles, floated in the pool of water, jabbing Kartik and me in the legs.

We came across another Class III, which plummeted Partha into the water again. After this little accident, a river guide was assigned to our raft. The boys' egos were bruised. They did not like the idea of a river guide telling them what to do. But I was secretly relieved. Maybe this would help our coordination a bit. Brittany was a new guide and though she knew her stuff, she allowed the boys to feel like they were still in control, so all was well. When the raft got stuck and we sat perched on a rock high above the water, she helped us get it back in the water. We grazed our bottoms on several rocks, but no major accident occured.

We stopped for lunch, and Kartik (the only one in our group who brought lunch) generously shared his water-soaked but tasty lunch with us. Back in the raft, a swirling rapid sent him flying into the water; a full stomach probably made his concentration slip and his foothold loosen. To his credit, he didn't panic at all and returned to the raft, unscathed. DH was dumped in the water, too...and by this point, he was so used to seeing people fall in the water, that he relaxed completely, even pulled his goggles over his eyes, as if he were going on a snorkeling trip. I was starting to feel a little left out!

The last half of the trip was smooth sailing and we functioned like the perfect team. We dodged rocks and maneuvred rapids with ease and grace. At the end of the gorge, the other teams were beginning to pull their rafts onto the shore, but our raft had other plans. It dragged us into the current, despite our valiant efforts at pulling away. It took a lot of muscle to break free and reach the shore, but we did it eventually. We had beers and a sumptuous meal to celebrate. Unfortunately, I have no pics to share...we only got prints. I have pics of my rainbow-hued bruises, inflicted by the battering ram of a bucket. But after the un-pedicured toenail pic in one of my recent posts, I figured you'd had enough of my bruised body parts.

On the way back...

Home of The Office

We stopped at a friend's place in Easton. I love that pretty, peaceful town.
Here are some pics of the thunderstorm on Friday night. It developed from a bright and sunny 90 degrees to dark and menacing over a few seconds. What drama!



Here's my workout week (last week stretched from Tuesday to Monday):

Tuesday: 6 miles (very slow)

Thursday: 16 miles (9:45 per mile)

Friday: 5 painfully slow miles - this was my first 90 degree run this summer. Good practice for the NYC Half in August, but my, what a scorcher!

Saturday: whitewater rafting

Sunday: 6 miles (slow, recovery run (recovering from the rafting trip, that is))

Monday: 6 miles (Though I am strictly not checking my pace, this turned out to be a sort of progression run, averaging 9:20 per mile)

Total mileage: 39 miles

Have a good week, all...the long weekend beckons!