Sunday, May 17, 2009

Long Pond Iron Works State Park

When I was little, vacations often involved overnight train journeys. My mother would cook puli sadham (tamarind rice), mutton fry and coconut thuvaiyal (chutney), boil a few eggs, and wrap them up in aluminium foil. In the train, my brothers and I would fight for window seats, then settle ourselves as the train pulled out of the station, eagerly drinking in the moving landscape. Barely half hour into the journey, we would approach my mother, her face buried in a book, the worries and cares of mundane existence already forgotten. My mother would look up smiling, and know exactly what we were after. We would soon be munching, the tanginess of tamarind rice perfectly complementing the spicy mutton fry and thuvayal, and before long, every morsel would disappear.

This weekend, DH whipped up a perfect puli sadham and delicious mutton fry. I contributed the thuvaiyal. Perfect comfort food, eaten by Greenwood Lake,
after a short hike at Long Pond Ironworks State Park.The water was cool and refreshing. As we ate, we spotted a water snake, that would rise above the water every now and then, then disappear again. Every time it rose, it got a little closer to us. Disturbing. Enough to dissuade us from taking a dip and finish our lunch in a hurry.

On Saturday, my 10-mile run with the group was going really well, when into my sixth mile, a pain started developing on my right foot. A completely new pain, that vanished when I slowed down. I was able to complete the run at a slower pace; but after the run, walking was painful.

We had friends over on Saturday, and we checked out the local Greek Festival. It was more like a food festival and we left several gyros, souvlakis, kabobs and baklavas later, feeling like stuffed grape leaves. It was a scorcher of a day and the chilled mythos was very welcome. Greek beer rocks! No pics, unfortunately.
The week's mileage total is 28.
I awoke this morning with a swollen, painful foot. The pain is a 3-4 on a scale from 1 to 10, bearable but annoying. Oh well, it still could be a lot worse. I was overambitious (euphemism for stupid), trying to tackle a huge hill, just over a week after the half-marathon. And I should be doing my long runs a lot slower. I need to temper my goals and my training. I can do that. I have to remember, one day at a time. It's time to tune up the breast stroke again. And back to core training. The gym will be seeing a lot of me over the next week.

How was your weekend?

23 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

guess the gym will be seeing a lot of the both of us :D Wow. hope your foot is ok. The story of you and your siblings on the train was great... sounds like a great memory.

Mica said...

Looks like an awesome time...minus the snake!

Sorry about your foot. Hope it feels better soon.

J said...

I do not like snakes in water!

Be careful with that foot. I have had similar pain in my foot and I got new shoes and it stopped hurting. I wore the old shoes for a random run and the pain returned. It was in my foot and it was just an achy feeling. Not sure if this is totally similar to yours but just wanted to let you know! Hope it feels better soon!

Bee At Work.. said...

Even I remember similar train journeys with all the sadams (tamarind, lemon, curd) your post brought back all the memories. The food looks real appetizing. DH seems to be a great cook as well!!! Beautiful scenery for a peaceful break..have fun...

zzz said...

Oh I love puli sadham and your blog brought back some lovely memories of my youth. My mom always made puli sadham,& lemon sadham. Good Luck with your swimming.

Lindsay said...

glad you were able to pull out the full 10 miles, but stinks about your foot. hopefully you can figure out what it needs to feel better fast.

Heather said...

Looks like a fun weekend. Hope your foot heals up and stays pain free!

Anonymous said...

Glad you had a nice weekend. Take care of your foot!

Erica said...

Thats so fun- what a cool childhood memory! I bet your mom loved that you guys looked forward to her treat!

Abby said...

Ugh, I'm sorry to hear about your foot, but it sounds like a great weekend otherwise - I love greek food!

Felice Devine said...

What a great weekend! Those pics are terrific and I can really picture you and your family on the train. I loved your description!

teacherwoman said...

Looks like a great time... minus the snake. YUCK!

Beth said...

Good luck with your foot. Maybe ice it? That always helps me. The food sounds wonderful, and I love the pictures.

Marlene said...

Those views look awesome - except maybe the snake. *shudder*

I hope your foot is okay!

Scheri said...

I hope your foot is feeling better!

I love the pictures. It sounds like a wonderful weekend!

Ravi said...

Good post and pics.
The Puli saadham with boiled egg looks very yummy!

After reading your post, I am now tempted to visit this park.

Amy said...

Love Greek festivals, but ashamed to admit I've never tried Greek beer! Do you have one that you recommend? And you make me crave an gyro!!

Foot pain is not good...please take care of yourself and stay away from hills for a few days if you can!

Jason said...

hope the foot heals quickly and does not turn into anything else.

Sarah said...

What great pics! That snake looks scary...I am terrified to snakes and would never have even been able to get close enough for a picture. :) Hope your foot is feeling better!

Ali said...

I need to eat before I visit your blog .. it makes me hungry!

TLC for that foot, hope it feels better

X-Country2 said...

Snake aside, that looks like a fantastic trip. Just the perfect spring vacay.

I Run for Fun said...

Amy, the only Greek beer I've had is mythos, which is apparently a lager from the second largest brewery in Greece. I must say, it was pretty darn good!

lauren said...

oh no! just read about your foot - hope it feels better soon. I loved the story about when you were little and love the pictures of your hike!