Gruel in action, snack after the Spring Classic duathlon in Portland. After three legs of running, biking, and running again, Retrogrouch finished in the middle of the pack for his age group. Not too shabby for a first timer! Even more amazing, given that he’s only been running for a year or so. Check out that calf!
The leather saddle stands alone.
I had to capture the post-race eats, of course, which Retrogrouch calls “sugary crap.” He had a point.
I had escaped the sun (!) to sit under the tent and read my book on anorexia in literature. Naturally, I was distracted by the candy strewn about on all the tables. This horrible blond woman, whose aggressive, hypermasculine husband was one of the early finishers, walked into my shot. I said, brightly, oh, I’m so glad you’re here so I can include your strawberry shortcake in my photo! She shrank away, so as not to associate herself with the dessert, saying “you want to take a PICTURE of that?”
Well, yes. They serve candy, big hunks of honey-wheatish bread, HFCS peanut butter and jelly, cookies, whipped cream, shortcake, and Genuine Muscle Milk (“contains no milk”) as a reward for exercise. I think that’s worth documenting and pondering. What does it mean that we’re encouraged to eat foods we otherwise demonize as a reward for socially acceptable behavior?
Evolve? I’m pretty sure I’d rather be primordial. No offense.
They did have a form of gruel for people like Retrogrouch, though, steelcut oats with craisins. He partook in this delight after finishing his own gruel.
Suffice it to say that I opted instead for a big, delicious bowl of bun bo hue at Pho Dalat down the street from the race venue. “Dingy like an old Denny’s,” a Yelp review accurately notes, but excellent and unusual spicy beef pho with brisket, tendon, and thin slices of pig’s blood cake in a pork broth, with accompaniments of Thai basil, cilantro, lime, jalapeno, bean sprouts, and shredded cabbage.
Beautiful, sunny Sunday in a great city. Happy Easter from Portland!
Culinaria Eugenius 