Ristorante Lombardi - New Menu Item

Newly added: Tomato Bisque

After being sick all week, I treated myself to some really good food in Freeport. To my pleasant surprise, in addition to the Signature Soup,  they have added a new Tomato Bisque to the menu.  A little more subtle taste and less artificial than other soups of similar nature, by comparison.  Quite delicious, it is creamy, and fresh and a perfect evening soup (or rainy day soup, or light soup). Served with the special bread (I had the Avocado and Tomato Sandwich - on Wheat), it made a satisfying dinner.

Behind the dining and serving area, there is a place for board games or just general ruckus, you can look through what they have available, or bring your own, or they have some downstairs in the lower room. Did I mention they also have internet access, but you have to get the password from one of the owners. Tonight there was a game going on that had the main Chef and the rest of the crew laughing, along with the guests, with such intensity that I could stop, I started to cry, and my chest started to heart, but that wouldn't get me to stop.  It continued for a few hours. 

At the end of the evening, I was short on the bill so I volunteered to help with the dishes. It's not tucked away like some other places so it wasn't a completely unpleasant task. One can do dishes but be adequately engaged in the conversation around the cooking area. Before that the last call was made, and the night staff was preparing pastries for the following business day. I left shortly after.

Summary: If you're sick, go get soup at the Ristorante Lombardi.

Foot work

So the intellectual curiosity overcame me. Partly because business has kept me of the road work / treadmill and it was time to get back. Partly because I read Barry's blog entry on barefoot running. Partly when I first ran track back when I was a teenager, there was an article about one of the premier barefoot runner, a woman marathoner from South Africa (Zola Budd), and in high school I had tried it (very) briefly. It wasn't an absolutely new idea to me, but just the same I had no impetus to give a go until recently.

Today, I gave it that go. 3 miles at an easy pace (at the beginning of training it's my practice to do heart-rate training first, then speed work later, but that's just me, what do I know? I don't have a trainer anymore). I noticed a few things.

1) while I had paid attention to my stride previously, it was almost like a heightened awareness of my stride when going barefoot.
2) my cadence seemed to be faster. I attributed this to my stride being shortened so as not to reach with my foot, and land on my heel. This is one of the points that pro-barefoot runners make, it's better on the ankle and knee joints.
3) there is less temptation to land on your heel. It seemed more 'natural' to land on the balls of my feet when running barefoot, than even when I made a deliberate effort to run on the balls of my feet when I had my running shoes on.
4) for some reason, my knee didn't give me a problem. Since I was 19, it also took some warm up to loosen up my left knee. That didn't seem to even be an issue when running barefoot.
5) my biggest concern prior to running was my ankles. This proved to be poorly founded. No concern whatsoever. The ankles seemed stable and painless.
6) the biggest concern is something at end of my list: callouses (or lack thereof) on the bottom of my right foot. For some reason my left foot had no problem with this, but I could tell my right foot was tender. I imagine this will alleviate with time.
7) something that surprised me is that I had a more difficult time 'pulling' with my leg (i.e. making a deliberate effort to flex my hamstring in order to propel me forward, this in direct contrast to reaching or extending with the quads.) I'm not sure what to think of this, but pulling actually facilitates better form for me. We'll have to see with time.
8) I want to do it again! It felt more natural and free. With grown callouses, it will be even better.

I'll give it 3 days per week at about 3 miles for the first 2 weeks (remember, heart-rate training), then advance to 6 miles. When I introduce intervals, that may be a different story, but we'll see. That only means that you pick up the pace every 2 minutes, no big deal.

Let's see how things go in 2 weeks. (Don't forget to hit the jump on the title.)

Page 8

Read this book!

For some time, I had been eying this book since seeing it on John Howe's blog shelf some time ago. Well, I received this book for my (recent) birthday from some friends here in Maine, I finally had time to sit through some of it. I went through all the drills that I have learned about good readers (since I'm kind of mediocre), eyeballed the Table of Contents, reviewed the reviews, and flipped through the pages as I got ready to read. I'm only on page 8 and I had to get up and walk around.

If you know me, I'm not very emotive (sometimes) when I'm concentrating on something, and I've been accused of having a stern poker face, but every once in a while, when I'm studying for a lecture, or a talk, or reading something that has depth to its implications, because of a novel thought, I get up and walk around and think. If I am speaking to someone on the phone, they can probably tell by my voice that I have stood up, and am pacing the floor, enthusiasm unhindered. Almost emotive. This happened a lot when I first read the book Steps to Christ (and incidentally, still continues to happen).

But another thing I find interesting is cognition. Meta-cognition. The way we think. And the way we think about the way we think. "Think" meaning the verb, to process intellectual and emotional information (yes, that includes all you Feelers out there.) But with that in mind, you can imagine how curious I was to finally get my hands on this book and the find the time to sit and digest it. 

So I'm reading this book, and within the fraction of the first story, the implications are tremendous and far reaching. They have an intrinsic application to various aspects of life (in the vernacular, people usually say, "Man, that is deep!" when in fact they mean this phrase.) This is an amazing book, and I RARELY use this word, except when meeting people or things that dumbfound me (in a good or bad way). But in fact, this book is AMAZING.

The pace is easy, but substantial. The information is practical and feelings compelling. The stories are real and some of the names have not been changed. The idea of connecting the mind (the hypothetical construct with which we find ourselves AWARE - i.e. the software) and the brain (the physical construct that allows electrons to move and signals to be carried - i.e. the hardware) is put forward to the reader in such terms that one's interest is generated, not just for the science, but for the stories. The stories of the real people with real problems, and the possible solutions that can be brought home to every day life. Because we all use our minds and brains. Without which the heart can pump, but not feel. The body can exist but not live.

And it makes you wonder that kind of wonder that is sparked with the words, "What if ..." where possibilities are endless and horizons are open. Like getting a car (and driver's license) for the first time, or lots of money at a candy store (ok, a fruit stand) and it feels like anything can happen. This is called hope.

And it gets you up off the bed (where you're reading) and makes you pace and think, maybe aloud. And realize with a quirky smile, you're only on page 8.