Half-marathon #2

My second half-marathon came and went and I’m still alive! Training was much easier this time around, and while I can’t say the race was “easy,” running it was much less difficult than the first time. Having my brother next to me for almost the whole race was definitely a highlight! I really wanted to keep up with him this time (last time he left me at mile 5) but again we weren’t destined to finish together. His leg cramped up at mile 11—as he says, “it’s all fun and games until mile 11”—so I pulled ahead. Typical twin syndrome: I’ve won one, he’s won one. ;)

The weather was absolutely perfect for running, and I enjoyed the new course. We started at the Seattle Center, ran down to the International District, over to Lake Washington and north to I-90, then over to the waterfront on the viaduct (awesome view) and back to the Seattle Center. The only bad thing about coming back up the viaduct was having to dodge runners who kept stopping to take pictures.

Mark caught me at the finish line.

After I finally found Richard after the race—I assumed we’d finish together so we never discussed a plan of how to find each other afterward in the thousands and thousands of people—we went to Portage Bay Café for brunch. And man was it the best brunch I’ve ever had.

Finishers!

#8: Make sushi

I mentioned this event on Facebook but forgot to post it on here and update my 100 List! We made a foray into the world of homemade sushi all in the name of… a baby shower. My pregnant friend Samantha loves sushi but hasn’t been able to eat it for a while (obviously) so we thought it’d be fun to have some fishless sushi rolls at her shower. I wanted to do a test run though to guarantee success the day of the shower (you know how it goes – you try something new the day you need it and it’s a disaster). I didn’t quite know what to expect; I’d heard that making sushi was difficult the first time around and that rolling it correctly takes some effort. So I bought a bamboo rolling mat at an Asian grocery store for about $4, watched two instructional videos on YouTube, and gave it my best shot.

And what do you know, it actually worked! We used salmon, cucumber, avocado, a bit of cream cheese, and sesame seeds for our first attempt, but I only used cucumber, avocado, and sesame seeds for the shower sushi rolls. There’s definitely a flavor difference between homemade rolls and those found at our favorite sushi place (Umi’s Sake House in Belltown) so I’m convinced there must be some secret ingredient that normal people don’t know about. But for homemade sushi, I thought it was pretty good and fairly easy. Rolling the sushi takes some concentration to make sure you don’t roll in the plastic wrap or squish out the sushi innards but the process was much easier than I expected. The possibilities are endless!

Weekending

1. We snapped this picture while on the Highway 520 bridge this weekend – the bridge was closed for boat traffic so we were stuck on it for about 10 minutes. It was a beautiful day to be stuck on it though! Everyone was out of their cars and wandering around the bridge, taking the opportunity to hop in the opposing lanes and take pictures.

2. We visited Carkeek Park on Saturday for some sunbathing on the Sound. Carkeek is north of Golden Gardens and just as beautiful, but considerably less crowded. We took a picnic lunch and books and made an afternoon of it. Lovely day! And see those mountains in the distance? We're going backpacking there on a three-day trip in August. I can't wait!