Happy St. Pat's Day!

Another beautiful day!

5 "runners" showed up for St. Pat's Day green M&M cookies at the Y at noon. 2 were obviously not running at noon! But that was just fine with me. I'm happy they made their way down from Mayo just for a couple of my cookies. ;-) Pictured are John Shonyo, Ross Hamernik, Jim Martinson, K.C. Reed and Jim Benike.

Jim Martinson turned around early and Jim B., K.C. and I ran the Mayowood trail out to the 2 1/2 mile nail in the tree. There are various markers along the trail that most of you probably never knew were there ... like a metal '2' house number impaled into a tree by the community gardens. :-)

The trail was not without it's wet and muddy spots. But it's much better than ice!

Another sign of spring ... the greenhouse going up in the parking lot at Hy-Vee. We'll be gardening before you know it. Can't believe March is already more than half over, actually.

This is why we're going to be picking up trash at 5:30 PM on Wednesday. This is the worst I've ever seen it. If you'd like to help out, bring your own gloves and meet at the parking area across Broadway from Snappy Stop. Bags provided. Sometimes we even go out for some food afterwards ...

I went around the golf course one additional time (to get this last photo, actually) for a total of 7.22 miles. It was wonderful to be running in shorts and a short-sleeved top. Love. It.

John Shonyo asked me if I'd be Secretary for the Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer committee. I agreed. :-)

ROCHESTER TEACHER HONORED FOR LIFESAVING RESPONSE
Andy Brownell KROC-AM NEWS
A John Adams Middle School teacher will be honored at the start of this evening's meeting of the Rochester School Board for coming to the rescue of a student. Representatives of the Rochester Fire Department will present a Citizen Life Saver Award to Allison Benike. The sixth grade Social Studies teacher sprang into action when the student began choking on a jawbreaker on February 27th and performed the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the piece of candy. (Note: Allison is an RTC member and a very nice person!)

From Jim Mason: He found this very nice blog entry about the Chester Woods Trail Run (June 6 this year--I'll be there again, for sure!) and this as part of the post: "Another lady in the parking lot offered me a fantastic homemade M&M cookie. Mmmmmm!" :-)

Also from Jim, a before/after thread on the Runners' World forums, complete with photos. Some amazing transformations, for sure. Thanks for sharing, Jim!

At the recommendation of Kyle Kircher, I got a couple of Triathlon Training books from the library today: Triathlon 101 and Triathlete Magazine's Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon. I can use all the help I can get. Finishing is the name of the game!

I made a new "springtime" recipe for dinner tonight. Yummy. Totally yummy. It's a risotto. The deal with risotto is you have to be able to dedicate about 45 solid minutes to continuous stirring. Turn on the radio or TV while doing this one! It's totally worth the time.

Creamy Risotto with Asparagus and Peas

2 cups Arborio rice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced onion
8 cups chicken stock
1 pound asparagus (cut into 2' pieces, bottoms discarded)
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a deep pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent. Remove the onion (leaving the oil), and add the rice, and saute for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until the rice is translucent. Att hes ame time bring the chicken stock to a boil in a separate pan.

Add the hot broth to the rice about 1 cup at a time, stirring until it's absorbed by the rice each time. After 6 cups of the broth has beena dded, check the rice's texture; it should be soft, but still firm in the middle.

Stir in the remaining broth until the rice is creamy but still firm. Add the peas and asparagus along with the last cup of broth, cover the pan, and cook gently for 4 minutes. (It didn't say what to do with the onions ... I added them here.) Turn off the heat, uncover the pan, and stir in the cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

All for now. Toodles!!