Then, just this past week – ORANGE! RED! The little bulbs started changing shades nearly every day! The beauty above is the very first tomato that appeared 3 weeks ago. Now it’s about 3 inches across and a brilliant orange color! (And this is also Lazarus, the plant I nearly killed when I transplanted into a bigger pot.)

Husky Cherry Tomatoes… now all cherry tomato sized and yellow, orange and red!

More Husky Cherry tomatoes…

A view from above – what a beautiful sight! And perfectly-shaped leaves, as well. What’s odd is that the leaves and stalks impart more of that “tomato” smell when you touch them, than the tomato fruits themselves.

One of the Hybrid Tomatoes, from the plants Jacie and Josh gave me. They should be so proud!

And here’s the whole Husky Cherry tomato plant, which has over 50 cherry tomatoes on it. (Hybrid plants to the right and left of it.) I can’t keep track of how many there are now, as new little pearls seem to pop up every day! I can’t believe I’ll actually be eating my OWN tomatoes in a few weeks!

Going straight for the face.

Monkey was a great choice by P. because of his large, floppy shape and long appendages (let’s not forget the tail!) – which are great for fitting inside the slobbery jaws of a canine.

Monkey reaching out an arm in a desperate attempt to escape…

But Koda has him in a double-paw death grip – pinned to the floor. There will be no escape for Monkey.

The next photo is kinda R-Rated—maybe X?—so, uh, children please leave the room and grown-ups, you have been warned…

Yes, it’s Koda being a dog… with no sense of stuffed animal anatomy. What can I say. It was bound to happen, right? He loves this Monkey and actually takes it to bed with him. We’ll see how long it lasts. He’s already busted open a few seams and strewn some fluffy stuffing guts around the bonus room.

Sixty… I wonder what I will look back on fondly when I’m 60. Emily and I hope that we are still friends and that we will recall these training runs with a sense of enduring friendship, pride, achievement, humor and fun.

Ahhh… friendship and fun. While planning this whole Wildwood ultra run, we had to be very serious about the commitment level, scheduling of training runs, logistics and details. But what we’ve decided to do is to not take OURSELVES too seriously. I mean, what’s the point in running for hours and hours together if you’re not enjoying it? Our adjusted perspective made a big difference this weekend. We ran, we had fun (and I remembered the timer function on my little digital camera!). I also left the Garmin at home – we only needed a running watch to keep the time and not remind us how slowly we run on trails.

And we plan to just keep making our runs more fun (costumes for our Halloween training run?) and less super-serious. (And, No, we didn’t plan to wear matching outfits on this particular morning – it just happened!)

Did I tell you? Emily likes to talk. It’s almost as if when she isn’t talking, she can’t run. I joke that she has two sets of lungs – one for running, the other for talking. I’m less chatty—not because I’m gasping for air (except on those inclines, yes)—but just by nature. Non-running friends ask me what we talk about for hours.

Well, mostly food. For instance, on Saturday we talked about what she ate for every meal while on vacation in Port Townsend… cookie recipes… berry picking… then moral brain teasers… social experiments involving various sized people and food… how it would feel to step into one of the gaping holes in a rotting foot bridge thus cracking your pelvic bone… or how it would feel to wipe one’s derriere (mistakenly) with poison oak leaves… and which misfortune would be worse… good movies… movies that waste two hours of your life… driving from LA to Portland… luxury cars… guys… my tomato plants… bee stings… Emily’s distain for celery and green beans… my intense aversion to cauliflower and brussel sprouts… old college roommates… butting heads with roommates… bulimic sublet-ers who secretly eat your cereal… buying group wedding gifts… running… and then back to food… like what we want to eat when we’re finished running.

How well do you know your running buddies? I know that over the past couple of years (and hundreds of miles), Emily and I have gotten to know each other pretty well. And I have a feeling after 16 weeks of long runs together culminating in the whole Wildwood ultra run, that we will a) know each other even better and b) we will have run out of stuff to talk about more than once. I’ve suggested that she memorize some classic books so that I can have my own “books on tape” read to me during our long runs. She said she’d think about it, but that I may have to be entertained by selected scenes from The Princess Bride.

Oh, and great news! I did a little experimenting with duct tape. That stuff works great! My big toes were very happy. I’ll be stashing a roll of this.

This weekend I’m heading out for 3.5 hours of solo trail running (my faithful buddy has Portland Marathon pacing duties). I pray the mental demons keep to themselves. I’ll be thinking of (and missing) all the fun the Hood to Coast runners will be having. But I’ll be happily sleeping in my own bed come Friday night.

This weekend I spent 3 hours up on Wildwood. I started from Birch Trail, ran Wildwood Trail almost to Pittock Mansion, doubled back and passed the Birch/Wildwood intersection, continued onward to Firelane 1, then turned around returning to Birch. The weather was perfect and the forest smelled of fragrant pine needles. I had good stretches where I felt strong and effortless… but also bad patches, despite regular injections of sugar and carbs (Clif Bloks and Gummy Penguins) into my system.

I enjoyed most of the three hours of solitude – only the sound of my own breathing and footsteps. But during those bad patches, the self-doubt started to creep in,“I must seriously be out of shape because this 3-hour run is really working me over!”
“Maybe you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.”
“Maybe you CAN’T run all of Wildwood.”
“What if you can’t even make it through the 16-week training cycle!?!”

Nothing like self-doubt to wilt your confidence when you’re only 2 weeks into your training! But then again, maybe a healthy dose of self-doubt is good. It squashes any delusions of grandeur – tempers any over-confidence I may have had.

Maybe I’ve fallen into the over-zealous newbie mistake of “too much, too soon.” In the 8 days before and including that run, I’d logged about 35 miles of trail alone… and before that, 8 weeks of pure road running (including two road half marathons), since my last string of trail runs. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a factor. Trail running is a lot tougher than road running and I am officially getting schooled out there!

It will only be by God’s grace that I am able to complete the ambitious training schedule I’ve laid out—and ultimately—if I am able to complete all of Wildwood. I’m really hoping to not be limping (or crawling) to the finish. But then again, waking up and being able to run everyday, is a gift from God, so I need to remind myself of that. Some people can’t even get out of bed without help. Others wish they could ditch their wheelchairs and walk on their own two feet. And some can only run in their dreams. I don’t mean to be sappy or sentimental – but I think I do take the ability to run for granted sometimes.

I am hoping that after the next two weekends’ long runs (a step-back 2-hour run, and then one ratcheting up to 3.5 hours), my body (and bruised psyche) will be in better shape. I’m wondering how long the adaptation process takes. How many weeks will it take before each long trail run feels like a hard effort and not like I’ve had my quads handed to me on a platter?

Trail Notes:
On the upside, I wasn’t sore at all the next day (what’s up with that?) and my new trail shoes (Nike Zoom Structure Triax+ ESC) are tons more comfortable than my Salomon XA Pro 3D. I just need to deal with some callouses on the outside of each big toe. Does anyone know some good duct-taping methods?

For liquids: carrying two water bottles is turning out to be a better option for me than the side-shifting Camelbak I normally use – no chaffing, no worrying about the bite-valve falling off, no sweaty back, and the ability to carry both Endurox and plain water. On the fuel front: Gummy Penguins, fruit leather, Clif Bloks and peanut butter-filled pretzel nibs all seem to be working fine in my over-sensitive gut. More trial, less error – all good stuff.

Oh, and a sincere thanks to those who have offered their advice, tips and experiences to me! It means a lot that you’d take the time to share your thoughts!

Send Karen your advice, or even questions for her to pose to our experts, by emailing runoregonblog@gmail.com.

On Saturday, we took him to the Farmers Market at PSU. It was a wonderful day to be outdoors, milling around, taking it all in. While P parked the car, we saw the long line for Pine State Biscuits and figured we might as well get in it, because P and I like to eat their biscuits whenever we come to Farmers Market. Pine State is such an iconic Portland breakfast, it was fitting for Dad to try it while he was visiting, too.

Perry went for the McIsley: Cream top buttermilk biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, pickles, honey and mustard ($6).

I’m not entirely sure how he opened his mouth wide enough to take bites out of that tower of flaky, buttery, fried, gooey goodness…

Dad had a buttermilk biscuit smothered (drowning?) in sausage gravy ($5). I think you can only indulge in this sort of snack when you’re on vacation… or if you’re training for a Iron Man Kona.

My own plate was unremarkable – I just wanted a buttermilk biscuit with a piece of fried chicken… and some jam… and honey butter. At first I thought I’d go for broke and get the Heart Attack on a Plate – The Reggie: a buttermilk biscuit sandwich with fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy. Yeah. But the thought of running 50 miles to burn off such gluttony persuaded me otherwise.

Gorgeous, beautiful produce!

Brandywine Tomatoes and Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Dad picking out some plums.

Of course we had to hit up the Stumptown cart for custom drip coffee. I was hoping that the coffee would still be super hot after dripping into the paper cup during the brew… and it was!

Yay! Can’t complain with a hot cup of Stumptown in your hand, and Pine State biscuits in your tummy.

Saw these strange orange things at one of the booths. Found out they are called Lobster Mushrooms. They are huge, tumorous-like growths that can be found on the coast of Oregon.

Dad watching a chef doing a demo with the Lobster Mushrooms – sautéeing them in olive oil, garlic, shallots, Thyme and Marjoram.

They were actually quite tasty. The Lobster Mushroom is quite meaty and sturdy enough for cooking nicely in a pan. The harvesters were selling them for $12/pound.

Besides Farmers Market, drinking a lot of coffee and getting a lot of reading done, Dad got to join our Small Group for our fourth session of The Truth Project, watch David rehearse and tape his Next Food Network Star entry and enjoy a slice of David’s Pecan Pie.

He went to church with us… and between services saw me working in the church café (which looks more like a prison cafeteria – according to P)…

He enjoyed meals at Biwa, Sinju, La Provence, Baker & Spice; watched aliens in District 9 and ate pizza afterward; generously gave me a shopping spree at Costco and met my running buddy, Emily; checked out Tigard Library; helped me collect Koda from the vet and…

…became Koda’s new bestest friend (at least while Dad had a handful of treats). The week went by fast, but we have a lot of memories (and pictures) of our time together. I’m glad I was able to spend the time with him. I’m sure this week will be one I treasure for the rest of my life.

Diary of an Ultra Virgin… also found here on the RunOregon blog.

I’ve decided to train and run my first Ultra Marathon – all of Wildwood Trail… all 30+ miles in one shot. There! Now I’ve put it in writing… somewhere in public. Now I have to commit. The more I wrap my mind around the concept of running over 30 miles, the more rational the idea seems. I remember, ten years ago, when I decided to run a marathon, running 26.2 miles seemed like a pretty crazy idea to me, too. But 21 marathons later – the marathon is an old friend.

So why run all of Wildwood? Because it’s there… because I want to find out if I can… because I’m bored of super long runs on city streets and the trails offer magnificent variety. I have run every mile of the Wildwood, just not in one continuous run. So that will be the challenge. I’m also hoping to share the experience with you, posting thoughts about the journey – the good, the bad, the ugly.

I would consider myself an average, middle-of-the-pack runner, with average, middle-of-the-pack finishing times – and a base of sub-2 hour half marathon finishes – so I have my work cut out for me. I have 16 weeks to train with my partner in crime, Emily. I have 16 weeks to work out some crucial details – like trail shoes that will keep my feet happy, a Camelbak that won’t chafe, and what to eat that won’t have me popping Tums or pulling over to hurl every few miles (I don’t have an iron stomach like my running partner). I have 16 weeks to focus my mind and come up with rebuttals to the excuses my brain will throw at me at mile 18, 26.2 and 29.

I’ll be out on the trail this weekend and will let you know how it goes. I’m also calling out to all you experienced ultra marathoners – help! I can use all the advice, insight and tips I can get! How do you train? How do you prepare? Do you have any words of wisdom for this Ultra Virgin?

I also have a new understanding of the Bible parables about farming and planting, now that I’m trying to “produce fruit” in my own garden. The real world actions of establishing deep roots, watering, growing, pruning and “being fruitful” have new meaning. As The Gardener, I yearn for my little plants to grow, be healthy and produce fruit. In the same way, I can see a glimpse of how God, the Master Gardener of my life, yearns for me to grow and also produce fruit – as in spiritual fruit for the Kingdom of God. Anyways, I just wanted to mention how sometimes these little everyday things in life get my brain thinking about spiritual stuff…

My Husky Cherry tomato plant is the most prolific of the bunch. To date, it has 20 tomatoes on the vine! And it’s also the tallest plant. I wonder how many tomatoes it will yield…

My Green Zebra heirloom tomato plant looks a bit sickly and withered, but somehow, managed to grow this one beautiful zebra-eque tomato. There is only one other tiny little pea-sized tomato starting to show. I was really hoping to have a number of these exotic-looking Green Zebras to eat.

These two tomatoes are on the plant I now refer to as Lazarus – as in the plant that I killed and it came back to life. I think it’s growth was definitely affected by my careless mistake, but it’s hanging on and trying to yield fruit.

Week 6 progress snapshot. As you can see, the Husky Cherry is reaching beyond the top of the cage. The others are doing pretty well, considering they were the little 5-inch high seedlings I started with. When I walk around the neighborhood, I try to not be jealous of other people’s robust vines, heavy with already-ripening tomatoes. I guess I’m learning patience as well.

Economic downturn be darned, we are not about to stiff our lovelies when it comes to prezzies. We just have to get a little more creative. That said, we didn’t inherit the crafty gene. So we won’t be gifting handmade cards, knit scarves or things that come from—whatsitcalled—a sewing machine.

But who wouldn’t appreciate a special treat baked with love? SweetWares—a brand new shop from the folks of Baker & Spice—is stocked with everything needed to bake your first cupcake, muffin or opera cake—mixing bowls, pans, copper cookie cutters, gourmet ingredients (Scharffenberger chocolate, pure extracts), pretty sanding sugars and sprinkles, plus cake stands perfect for displaying homemade goodies. We also loved their collection of Bennington pottery, French provincial linens, aprons and books (always 25% off the cover price!) for the aspiring pastry chefs in our lives.

Positioned to be a community resource, SweetWares will also offer classes in their soon-to-be-completed demo kitchen. But go ahead and stop in now, because expert advice (like how to get that chocolate soufflé to rise) is free!

SweetWares
6306 SW Capitol Hwy.
Portland, OR 97239
www.sweetwares.com

We wanted to be a ballerina when we grew up—simply for the costumes. They were oh-so-pretty, and we wanted to be seen twirling around in them, on stage, in the limelight. (Shy? Not us!) But the instructor told us we didn’t have a “dancer’s body” and that we should pursue other things. Needless to say, we pin our shopping addiction on her.

That hasn’t stopped us from coveting the gorgeous threads that drape the lithe and toned. We nearly twirled into Matisse, finding it possible to quell our disappointment with dance-inspired apparel that we can wear in the real world. The boutique—which re-relocated to NE Broadway—focuses on simple designs and quality, and fluid fabrics for layering and comfort (think distressed silk and cashmere). We admired one-of-a-kind dresses from Gary Graham and pieces from Betsey Johnson, Nougat London and Free People. They also carry unique accessories, jewelry and a line of handbags handmade here in Portland.

So while we can’t quite pull off Martha Graham’s arabesque, at least our wardrobe will be right on pointe.

Matisse
2424 NE Broadway
Portland, OR 97232
www.matisseboutique.com

The days flavors included Basil… Cardamom Rose… Meyer Lemon Mint… Chocolate Chip…

Check out the exotic flavors!

More flavors: Strawberry-Lime Sorbet… Vanilla Sour Cherry… Coconut Toffee… Brown Sugar Ginger Snap…

I had Meyer Lemon-Mint Sherbet and Cardamom Rose Ice Cream. It was ambrosial! I have never tasted anything quite so exquisite. Seriously! Their mastery of herbal infused flavors was impressive.

G eating ice cream with me again – Lemon-Pistachio on a hand-rolled cone. She claims I made her eat ice cream more than she had all year. Enjoy!

And that concludes my eating tour of SF… for this trip. But I’ll be back! San Francisco has so many wonderful things to eat!

Ici Ice Cream
2948 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
www.ici-icecream.com