Help Wanted--TONIGHT!!

From Chris Koch, president of TriRochester: "We are always in need of volunteers to watch bikes during the Thursday Night Triathlons. This usually only requires about 1 hour and is very easy. Your duty would be to stand/sit around and act as a theft deterent while everyone else is swimming and running. If you are thinking of taking a rest day, consider volunteering for the night's workout. If you are interested for a particular date, please let me know. We need someone every Thursday until labor day."

Chris

Of Heels and Wheels, Of Hikes and Bikes ...

I ran and rode today, duathlon style. 10.08 run in the AM, including a stop at the garden ...

(to which I returned in the afternoon to pick the remaining peas, some broccoli, some sugar snaps, and the first few green beans), followed by a 20.52 mile bike with Matt (first half into that nasty wind, second half with the wind) at about 5:00 PM, followed by a 2 mile run about 8:00 PM down to the hospital. (Word is getting out ... my husband had a biking accident yesterday--a dog darted in front of the bike, in town, and he went down and broke his arm rather badly. He had surgery last night and is still in the hospital. Is also having a lot of trouble bearing weight.)

On running: you can stop in the middle of a hill and hot have to worry (usually!) about rolling back down the hill. Not so on the bike.

On biking: you can stop pedaling for a brief rest and still maintain forward progress (usually! unless you're going uphill). Not so on the run. Just some of my random, meandering thoughts ...

Congrats to TriRochester's Andrew Becker who won the Water's Edge Tri in Algona, IA this weekend. He was surprised as there were others in front of him on the 5K run, but they were relayers, unbeknownst to him. Congrats! It's Andrew's first win in 8 years of doing tris. (Actually, most of us will NEVER know what it feels like to win a tri.) He said, " The overall male and female winners got 60 bucks, so it covered my gas and breakfast at Denny's Restaurant in Clear Lake, IA." Ha!! He's a pro now. He won cash. :-)

All for now. It's been a very full day.

Updated Graniteman Slideshow

Thank you Arvid Fristad for all the Graniteman Triathlon photos!! I so appreciate having them. I'll have more to add in the next couple of days and will post another update at that time. :-)

Another One Bites the Dust

It's the last evening for All Comers' for 2009. I'm not able to be there this evening and I must say I miss it. Those little kids are so darn cute! They try so hard, run as fast as they can, and make their parents so proud. It's a win/win for everyone involved. Kudos to Laura Lenz and David Sletten for organizing the meets this year. We didn't have even one beautiful summer evening the last six Tuesdays, but that's OK too. We still had fun. There's a pizza party for volunteers following tonight's meet.

This year marks 40 years in existence for the Rochester Track Club. I got an email from the founder, Dwight Pierson, and he plans to be at the club potluck picnic on August 20 and will share some stories about the club's history. Some others who have been longtime members might also be there. Let's have a great turnout! It's at Soldier's Field park this year.

From Paul Christian: Registration for the 34th running of Grandma’s Marathon began Monday, July 13. For the first time in its history, Grandma's Marathon is offering an early registration option that features a $10 discount off of the $85 entry fee. To receive the discount, runners should log onto GrandmasMarathon.com and register anytime between July 13, 2009 and September 7, 2009. In addition to receiving a $10 discount and securing a spot in the 34th annual Grandma's Marathon, scheduled for June 19, 2010, each person who signs up during early registration will receive a package of coupons and discounts from area hotels and attractions.

Rochester Half Marathon and 5K notes of interest: Here's a map of the course. Shirts are technical this year, and sized generously. We need volunteers! Lots of them! Email Jean if you can help out in ANY way. We need you!! I received 8 water bottles/holders yesterday from Fuel Belt as giveaways for 8 lucky runners.

The ending to my Graniteman story: Sunday night, about 9:45 PM after a long day, I unpacked my swim bag only to find out that a bottle of shampoo/conditioner had opened and about 2/3 of the bottle had emptied into my bag. Ugh. What a mess. I guess the upside is that my swim bag is now super clean.

I looked at my run and bike to see how I placed in my age group and overall.

Bike: 45:49 for 15 miles (18/127 overall, 5/39 in my age group)
Run: 23:24 for 5K (19/127 overall, 3/39 in my age group)

(I didn't look at the swim. I already know it isn't good.)

Today's workout: 1 hour in the pool and half an hour on the Stairmaster. I'd wanted to go for a bike ride, but it was raining at the time. Tomorrow.

Yesterday, I dropped off cookies for the "cookie monsters" at the Y at noon. Don Gabrielson and I were in our work clothes. KC thought we needed our picture taken.

So I thought KC, Jim and Gary ought to have theirs taken as well. Looks like they're getting ready to do a high kick routine!!

Ross Hamernik showed up a few minutes later, so we chatted for a while. (I know ... me, chat? Shocking!) Mostly about airplanes and triathlon. ;-)

It's time for me to start thinking about what to enter in the fair this year.

I'm still bound and determined to finally get a blue ribbon for Chocolate Chip cookies. I will try once again. Shaun Palmer says to enter my Snickerdoodles. I will also most likely enter the HyVee Chocolate Baking Contest again. (Last year ...

I won--$35!!) Little did I know that the more comlicated the recipe, the better. I was thinking just the opposite ... So I have to look for another complicated one for this year.

Today I went and picked (tart) cherries at a friends house. He said I could pick everything there was. I picked all the ripe ones I could reach with a 6' step ladder. I'll go back in a few days when the rest of them ripen. They're a boondoggle!! I'm sooooooo happy to get them. I asked Matt if I should make jam and a pie. He said "3 pies". :-)

Tonight for dinner I made a BBQ chicken pizza. Matt and Ted went to a friend's house for wood-fired pizza last night. They had lots of leftover crusts and Jay sent 5 home with them. He gets the crusts from Mr. Pizza. So it was: BBQ sauce, chicken, red onion and mozzarella. Pretty good, actually.

Cooked it in a hot oven on a top shelf. Also made some Brussels Sprouts.

Well, I'm all out of news for today. I think I'll go mow the lawn.

Thought for the day: "Friendship is a cozy shelter from life's rainy days".

Ciao.

Cooking Light Dinner

Delicious food. Beautiful evening outside. Wonderful company and conversation with friends. Life doesn't get much better than this ...

No favorites tonight. Everything was worthy of making again.

It's late. Good night!

Graniteman Photos

I'll add to this as others send me their photos.

LUABC Fundraiser at Caribou Coffee 7/11