Spain

This summer, my wife and I decided to spend our summer vacation in Spain, well, at least part of our summer.

We didn't plan it, but we ended up visiting the 4 most populated cities in Spain; Madrid, Malaga, Valencia, and Barcelona.  What I mean to say, is that we didn't pick these cities because they were the most populated.  We flew into Madrid, so it was a no brainer to stay and visit a few days.  We wanted to see Seville, Granada, and perhaps Gibraltar, so we picked Malaga as a base camp  for those places.  Ironically we didn't go to any of those other places because we kept plenty busy in Malaga, and Seville and Granada just got too damn hot!  We chose Valencia because we thought public transport would get us there - we ended up taking a plane.  Barcelona was on our must visit list.

We stayed a couple of nights in Madrid overlooking the plaza mayor.

They were having a big event celebrating the UEFA Champions League Final.  A lot of English folk were in Madrid, even more than usual, due to the two teams being from Liverpool and Tottenham (London).

I really enjoyed the Jamon, and there was a lot of it.

We tried a "Spanish" omelette, and it was quite tasty.  The omelette was like a frittata with potato and onion. We had this in the morning in a local market - its like a big warehouse with lots of little shops facing internal walkways.  Sitting nearby was a fellow having a beer, and another with hard coffee.  Never too early in Madrid I suppose.

Of course I ran in Madrid.

The other three cities were on the southern coast.  In Malaga we had Paella.

We visited the Alcazaba and Castillo Gibralfaro, where we found a little museum and these miniatures!

Every Spanish city has churches.

We enjoyed some fried seafood.

 The Spanish are very into having tuna on their ensalada.

And I ran...

We went to a couple of cave complexes in Malaga, and took a hike in the nearby hills.  We got to visit a pueblo blanco.

We then went to Valencia.  We had to take an early taxi to the airport to catch a plane that flew us from Malaga to Lisbon, to Valencia.  They made me check my bag on the second plane.  In Valencia we rented bikes and saw this impressive edifice (Opera House).

Valencia diverted its river after a 1957 flood, and transformed the old riverbed into this awesome park where we road our bikes and I ran.

We only stayed two nights in Valencia, and I think in hindsight I would have subtracted a couple of nights from Malaga to add to this wonderful city.  In addition to some more Paella, and the best Italian dinner in Spain, we had a snack of "Fartons" and "Tiger Nuts" drink.

Our final destination of note was Barcelona. Here I ran, ate, and saw some cool scenery.

These last 3 items we saw while on our E-bike tour.  

We spent our last night back in Madrid, puttering about a hotel near to the airport.  

Other than this last night we rented places through Airbnb.  My favorites were the first place over the Plaza Mayor, and a top floor flat in Barcelona with  a wonderful, very large roof-top terrace.  In Malaga we had a private roof-top terrace, but its view was no good, and access was via a stair-well.  The wifi didn't extend that far.  Not so Barcelona, the terrace was basically a porch out the glass doors of the living space.  We had easy access, an expansive view of the city including La Sagrada Familia, and wifi!

We didn't rent a car.  In addition to the aforementioned plane trip through Lisbon, we took trains: Madrid to Malaga, Valencia to Barcelona, and Barcelona back to Madrid.  We used the bus, a couple of taxis, bikes, and our own two legs to get around.  We may return to Spain in the near future and spend a couple of months enjoying the Spanish lifestyle to it fullest.

A little bit

I'm in Malaga, Spain.  It's  the last month of May, and I  feel like I  haven't completed much.

I finished rebasing  the Romans and Carthaginians. I started a game of "To The Strongest."

I assembled and painted some Soviet T34s.

 I'm also basing up some Russian  infantry.

I invited some friends  over for a game of Rommel. Ten player games just take too long.

I really need to get something  done.

Of Pizza and Dumplings

Pizza

I've been making a lot of pizza.  I mentioned the spelt flour that I've added, but here is another new grain.

Kamut flour turned out not to be that great for creating a crust as it made the dough too fragile, at least in the proportions that I have tried so far.  However, it is a great flour to put on the pizza board in order to slide the pie into the oven.  It will take awhile to get through 4 pounds of the stuff!  Stretching the dough out.

Veggie pizza!

A variety of cheeses.

The before and after shots.

Finely ground black & white pepper with an equally ground up tiny dried jalapeno pepper is the key to an excellent sauce.  The jalapeno peppers are the same ones I use for my Kim-chi.

Dumplings

I was feeling nostalgic for chicken and dumplings.  In my youth, the dumplings were made with quick breads, but I was thinking, "why can't I make them with my wild dough?"  So I gave it a go using my usual pizza dough recipe of 210 grams of flour (Kamut, Spelt, and Organic white in equal proportions), 150 grams of filtered water, 40 grams of fresh starter, and 8 grams of salt.  After developing the dough overnight, I portioned it out into dumpling sized chunks, and let them rise.

 After rising for about 3 hours.

Plop them into some cooking chicken soup.

And served...

The dumplings where open airy, just the way I wanted them, but the flavor match up was off.  It did not go well with this watery soup.  So the next day I used the remainder of the soup and turned it into a creamy sauce using a roux and some whole milk.  The resulting sauce was poured over the dumplings.

This was excellent!  It was delicious. I wish I had saved more dumplings for this treatment.  It was also an excellent example of how to transform a mediocre meal into an exquisite dining experience.  The next time I will shape and separate the dumplings a little better, cook them separately in some water, and make a chicken gravy for them. Bon appetite!

Part 2 of Rommel Game Videos

I returned to my gaming table today...

A German Spoiling attack.

Second tactical phase, the elite Panzergrenadiers and Panther company spring into action.  I failed to mention the Germans had the armor advantage over the Hellcat and inflicted an additional hit that ended that tank destroyer company.

The Americans held onto the square, barely.  Now they use the position to attempt to take the objective.  The odds were not with them...

With just enough operational chips, the Americans activate a second tactical phase...

The Germans reorganize their defenses.

I got a chance to use the "Gap in their lines" tactic...

This game could go down to the 16th turn.  I'm not sure if there is much interest in finishing the videos.

Some Rommel Videos

I set my gaming table for Rommel using my homemade mat.

I rolled for terrain as called for in the rules, and then generated it randomly, and placed it randomly.  Here is a video of the set-up.

The scenario called for a fighting withdrawal by the Germans.  There were 5 objectives for the Americans to capture.  These objectives disappear over time.  So the Americans are in a bit of a rush to capture 3 as soon as possible.  They gobbled up the first one on the first turn.  Here are videos of the first three attempts.

Second attack: the Germans were able to use some tactics to hold on.

The third attack: with just enough op chips to launch a third tactical phase, the Americans take the objective.

Conducting three tactical phases for a turn was expensive.  The Americans were doing some maneuvering that I didn't cover in these videos.  This gave them a shot at a second objective.  Here is a video covering a little of that maneuvering and the German response.

My final video, of the first attempt to take the "second" objective.

A Deeper Look at Training

So that right hip thing turned into a good and proper injury.  I took almost a week off from running.  I looked at my Kindle copy of Hanson's Half-Marathon, and saw that this could potentially interfere with my ability to have a successful training cycle.  I started casting about for other, shorter training programs. 

Obviously Hal Higdon's web page came to mind.  It's a 12 week program, which would give me up to 2 weeks more of no to easy running.  That 2 week window shrunk as I tried to recover and get back into the Hanson's plan before it was too late.  I wasn't convinced the Higdon plan would work, simply because it looked too easy, and too simple.

I had just finished reading an inspirational running book: "Older, Faster, Stronger" - Margaret Webb.  A good read, but no training plans.  It gave me hope that I still could achieve some fairly significant improvements in my times, despite my advancing age.

In looking for another book, my eye was drawn to "You (Only Faster)" - Greg McMillan.  This was a pure training book, and one that tries to personalize training for you.  It had 12 week training programs.  It actually has 8 week training programs that you can tack onto 4 week modules.  With my 2 week window gone, and my hip just starting to feel like it could handle training again, I went with this program.

I finished Greg's book and I bought another running book: "The Science of Running" - Steve Magness.  Greg's book started me thinking about how to tinker with training.  Steve's book opens the mind to all types of new possibilities.  It made me want to find out what my Lactate threshold was, and I hate the idea of anything that draws blood.

I'm sticking with the somewhat generic training plan that Greg McMillan provides.  I now have an idea as to the "why" for each of the training exercises.  I'm definitely paying attention to what works for me, and what doesn't.  I'm pretty sure I'm a slow twitch type of runner, not a pure "endurance monster" as Greg labels them, but maybe a "Combo Endurance."  I won't know without that Lactate threshold test.

All this rain has been great.  I was so tired of living in a drought.  However, the wind and rain has played havoc with my outdoor training.  I began the first of my race specific training weeks, which included "cruise intervals."  I did these 10 x 1km repeats at a 7:20 pace, but it was on the treadmill.  Hopefully this type of pace will hold in the outside environment.

I gave up 2 a day runs.  Too many runs might be one of the reasons for my injury.  I really like that second cardio workout though.  So I bought a device to re-purpose my old off-road bike into an indoor trainer.  It needs to be indoors because of rain, wind, the speed needed achieve true cardio, and almost no bike paths in town.  So now I'm cross training.

It works great, and I can watch Netflix/Amazon while riding.

Of Spelt, the Painting Table, and Training

First post of the new year, hopefully I can manage at least one per month this time.

Running

I just finished the third week of training for the Silicon Valley Half-Marathon.  Pace has been good, but recently my right hip started acting up, so perhaps I am pushing too hard.  I will eliminate doubles until it gets (hopefully) better. 

Some sub-8 miles during a 3 mile tempo run:

Today I managed an 8:05, 7:53, and an 8:03.  All have so far been under the 8:12 pace called for in Hanson's.  I've modified Hanson's.  The tempo runs fall on Sundays if the plan calls for an easy run that day.  On Friday I run short repeats and do hill sprints.  Wednesday remains devoted to interval/strength training.  On weeks were a "Long Run" of moderate pace is called for, I will move tempo to Friday and find somewhere else to fit hill sprints in.  So far 150 miles for the three weeks.

Culinary

I've recently picked up some Whole Spelt flour.  I resurrected my Levain and made some pizza with it.  

 My son was home for dinners, so ham and pineapple was a must.  Even Poppy was interested.

 I cured and smoked a pork loin.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture.  A single one of these is enough for three dinners for my wife and I.  For the third one, I felt the call of potato au gratin.  I focused my attention on a rich and complex sauce first.

 Then I cubed an assortment of Russets, Red, and Yellow potatoes.

 Mix them all together and bake for an hour and a half.  It looks like too much sauce, but it was soooo good!

 Wargaming

I finished enough Union soldiers for a battle of Altar of Freedom or Field of Battle 2.

 The Pendraken figures have a good variety of poses.

 Some cavalry and command stand.

 A better picture of the artillery.

These 28mm Front Rank figures took longer to paint.  This is a French cavalry unit.