Monday Musings

Suddenly... it's summer! Saturday was such a miserable, cold, blustery day and now I hear that by the middle of the week temps are to be in the upper 80's. And I'll probably be complaining about how hot it is. :-) I must say that it's great to be wearing shorts!

Fellow runner Darlene Duncan married her beau Caleb Nelson on Saturday in an outdoor wedding. Here are a couple of photos from Marilee. What a beautiful bride.

Caleb proposed on top of a mountain in Europe in February, I believe it was. What a guy. ;-) You've found a keeper, both of you.

Ed Maslowski reports: "I did the Albert Lea Tri yesterday (Sunday). Water temperature was 57.4 degrees. Brrrr. Other that that, everything went well." (Whew ... early for an open water swim!)

Judy is running the Minneapolis Marathon on 5/31 (and Med-City on 5/24). And 5/31 is a big day in the life of Judy Weller ... her 50th birthday! (She gave me permission to blog this.) So the marathon organizers have given her bib number 1959 for the year she was born. She says she has a black technical fabric shirt that she will decorate for this momentous occasion. What a way to celebrate a milestone birthday!!

From John Shonyo: "Welcome back to summer (just ignore those frost warnings you have been hearing about): The Off Season Striders Short Season will start off on Saturday, May 30th and go until June 27th. Our first run will leave from Dunn Brothers (north) at 7:30 AM. I have planned out an approximate 10 mile route that can be easily added to or subtracted from. Just to keep everyone alert, we are going to follow a route through Quarry Hill Nature Center's newest section--see attached photo.

As a reminder, we get folks that run at a wide variety of paces: 6 minute/miles to 12 minute/miles. Keeping to our sacred tradition, please join us for coffee after the run."

The latest issue of RRCA Footnotes is available online.

USA Track & Field is conducting a study to determine the effect of pre-run stretching on running injuries. The purpose of the study is to determine specifically if pre-run stretching of the three major leg muscle groups is beneficial for overall injury prevention or reduction. The study is not examining in-run or post-run stretching. Click here to learn more about participating in the National Stretch Study sponsored by USA Track & Field.

I swam and biked this morning. 51 laps in my hour swim. It was a good morning in the pool with few interruptions. I shared a lane with Ironwoman Wendy Nevala for a while.

RTC member Joann Johnson is biking across Minnesota to raise money for MS. Her husband Dennis has MS.

If you'd like to sponsor Joann, here's a link.

Here's a link from Jim Benike about the Bordeaux Marathon from Food & Wine magazine. :-)

I made some muffins this evening. They're delightful.

Banana Bran Muffins

1 egg
3/4 c. light brown sugar
1 1/3 c. mashed ripe banana
1/2 c. raisins or walnuts
1/3 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 c. oat bran or unprocessed wheat bran
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin cups, or use foil or paper baking cups.

Beat egg and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. When smooth, beat in bananas, raisins or nuts, oil and vanilla. Let stand a minute.

Thoroughly mix flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add banana mixture and fold in with a spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Scoop batter into muffin cups. Bake 15 to 25 minutes or until brown and springy to the touch in the center. Turn out onto a rack to cool. (Note: Bake for 15 minutes if using mini muffin cups--makes 36-48, or about 22 minutes for regular muffins--makes 12).

Thought for the day: "Thankfulness is the soil in which joy thrives."

Good night.