Test Run

Tomorrow morning is the test run of the LUABC half marathon route.



Meet at RCTC (west parking lot by Olmsted Hospital) at 7:30 AM. We will then run the half marathon route (as much or as little of it as you like). When we're done, we'll head over to Brothers Bar & Grill on South Broadway for breakfast. And a milestone birthday celebration! Muffins were requested ... I made Crumb Cakes. They're like squat muffins. :-) The recipe is from King Arthur Flour. You bake the batter for 15 minutes ...

and then add the crumb topping ...

and bake for another 15 to 18 minutes.

I believe I will indulge in another pancake at Brothers. Thank you Wendy and Megan O'Leary for agreeing to help with food at LUABC. If I find a couple more people, I'll be able to run. :-)

I had my massage this morning at Healing Touch. A one hour relaxation massage. She found some knots in my neck and shoulders and calves. Not surprised. It felt wonderful. Everything was so warm ... the room, the table, the towels. Lovely. I was dreamily relaxed when I left.

This afternoon I went to Michaels to buy a shadow box for my marathon medals (thank you Cindy L. for the info!). I got a black one with a glass hinged cover. They're 40% off.

The medals are:

1) TCM '98, Whistlestop '99, Med-City '00, TCM '00
2) TCM '02, TCM '04, Boston '05, TCM '05
3) TCM '06, Med-City '07, Tulsa '07, Boston '08
4) Grandma's '09, Whistlestop '09, Rails to Trails '09, Zoom!Yah!Yah! '10

For kicks and giggles, I decided to take pictures of all the medals in my shoe box. Here are the half marathon medals. Some of them are pretty colorful.

Boston Marathon gear is now available from adidas. Women's shirts are aqua this year.

From Paula Patterson:

She is organizing a Ride 'n Stride event for Pancreatic Cancer in September. If you're interested in helping to organize it, come to Goonie's Comedy Club 1/25 at 7 pm. Click on the picture above to see it closeup.

Jen had a question about the hours that the RCTC field house is open for running. Here's what it says on their website:

Open Field House Hours

The Field house is open every morning from 6 - 8 a.m. and evenings 5 - 10 p.m. Monday through Friday for your walking/jogging pleasure. Weekends are on a hit and miss system depending on what is scheduled in the field house (see Sports Center Schedule). The city has priority use and there is no charge for jogging/walking.

There's also been a request for the Nutella bread (actually pound cake) recipe. I Googled it and it looks like it's the same one as on the Food & Wine site. Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

My pick for the Vikings/Cowboys game? 27-24 Vikings. Go Vikes!!

Just got an email that my friend Pam is now back in Rochester, returning from Haiti where she was working with a mission there. So glad she is home and safe. She's in my book club. I'm sure we will have quite the discussion during our next get-together on the 27th. I just can't imagine what she experienced.

From Kevin Torgerson:

Fundraiser for Former NCAA DIII Champ Johanna Olson as She Battles a Brain Tumor


FRIENDS, FAMILY, OREGON STATE AND AUBURN ALUMS, COACHES, OFFICIALS AND FANS OF RUNNING! I am forwarding this email and link above to ask a favor - One of our former volunteer coaches here at OSU - JOHANNA OLSON - is fighting her second round with a brain tumor. The first one occurred while she was in college, running NCAA D3 level for Luther College in Iowa. She not only won that battle but went onto to WIN the INDIVIDUAL title - Yes, win an NCAA INDIVIDUAL title - Her senior year in cross country at the 2000 NCAA D3 championships. Can you imagine?? A few years later she moved out here to Corvallis, Oregon to begin graduate work and also among a number of activities, help with our emerging women's cross country and track program. All the while, in 2004 and 2008 qualify for the USA Olympic Trials in the marathon (2:43 personal best!!). This is just the short bio of an amazing young women's journey to this point as you can imagine. She finished her graduate work here at OSU and moved on - unfortunately a new tumor has arrived and she and her family are facing this all over again. This is where we all come in. She is currently in between jobs and health insurance - so she has some increasingly high bills right now. So many folks are working to help support her and her family with this new challenge! IF YOU WISH - Here is what we need help: 1) - GO ONLINE AND DONATE TO http://www.savejohannasbrain.com/ (check out this site no matter what, gives you a flare of her love of life no matter what) 2) - ROAD RACE - If you live in the area and want to participate - We(OSU XC/Track) along with STRANDS (THANKS!!) a local Corvallis business and supporter of running and the community of Corvallis - are sponsoring a road race with all the proceeds going to Johanna - enter the race IN THE ABOVE LINK!! 3) - Lastly - PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO OTHERS FOR US!!! And of course the big one - Send your prayers and best wishes to Johanna and her battle - she is not one to give in and neither are her family and friends!! Thanks so much!

While I've never met Johanna, I know of her. 1) She's a fellow alum of Luther college; 2) I saw her finish TCM a few years ago; 3) I saw her run the Olympic Trials marathon in Boston '08.

Quote for the day: "“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”  --Winston Churchill

Enjoy the warm weather. Toodles.