I'm in!!

Received a call from Holly Ebel at the Post-Bulletin as I was leaving to do Community Food Response ... my Holiday BonBon recipe made it to the cookie contest finals! Hooray!! I have to have a plate of them at the P-B office at 7:30 AM on Friday for a photo shoot and taste tasting. Send those positive baking vibes my way!

It's not a great photo, but yesterday's Walnut Boule turned out pretty well. I was hoping it would have more of a crackly, artisanal crust but that's OK. It's good with the black raspberry jam. My favorite part? The heel of a loaf. Especially if it's still warm, with butter on it ... Land O'Lakes unsalted, of course. Nothing but the best.

This looks like a rather interesting mode of transportation. With the apparent direct drive and no brakes, I'm not sure I'd want to go screaming down Northern Heights Drive on this thing (very steep hill with a stop light at US Highway 63 at the bottom)!!




With the latest model (2140s) now available in my very favorite series of shoes (asics 2100 series), the 2130s are now on sale at Running Room for $69.99. That's a great price. Sizes are limited. Get them before they're gone!

From Judy Weller: The Optimist Club will again be holding the Frozen Goose 5K (fun run/walk) and 10K (timed) as part of Winterfest. It will be February 7 at the University Center. Look for an entry form in the December RTC News.

From Mike Schmitt: Trek is sponsoring a new Women's Triathlon Series. If I wasn't so swimsuit-phobic I might actually try a tri!

The Fetzer 20K is still 5 months away, but I'm starting to try to line up sponsorships and some advertising. I have an idea for a T-shirt design. We'll see if they can work it up for me. As always, they'll be long-sleeved, good quality Ts. Hope to see lots of you there to kick off the RTC racing season come April.

I've been a 2 day/week runner for the most part since my 2003 back surgery (herniated disc). I really need to run a good race sometime in the not to distant future so I get some self-confidence back, so I'm going to try running 3 or 4 days per week and see how it goes. I know I need to get back to doing hills, speedwork, etc. come spring time in order for my times to improve. I'm going to put the Securian/Winter Carnival Half Marathon on my race card and hope to have a better performance there than I've had lately.

Well, that's all I know for today. Time to curl up with my book.

Thought for the day (from a birthday card): "It's the friends we meet along life's path who help us appreciate the journey."