A Very Good Day :-)

'Twas a very good day. I'm happy when: 1) the house is clean and tidy, and 2) it's full of friends. And that's what today brought. About 35 showed up for the Polar Bear (Fun Run) and Lunch. Officially, the fun run was cancelled because of the frigid temps. Considering that, I was very pleased with the turnout. And it was fun to see a blast from my past--Dave Duncan. (On the left in the photo below.)

He's been MIA waaaaaay too long. :-) Also in attendance was my friend Kathy Carlson from the St. Cloud River Runners, my other running club. She fit right in and I was so glad to have her there. That's her on the right in the photo below.

Just a few braved the temps and actually ran: Dave P, Roger, Pete, Katherine, John R. All in all, a very successful morning.

 

Emails had been flying for a couple days regarding running both yesterday and today. Some decided to run inside before coming for lunch, and Dan and Trevor decided to run outside after lunch and I decided to join them. Dan had decided to run 13.1 yesterday and another 13.1 today. Well, I'd already put in 1.5 hours on the Stairmaster this morning, so I probably should have reconsidered, but I really wanted to run. So run we did. By about 10.5 miles into the run the guys were about a city block ahead of me. My legs were tired (no surprise). They ended up running a couple of extra cul-de-sacs and we finished at about the same time. I was toast. And I'm going to try really hard to take it easy this week before the marathon. It's so hard for me to taper. I just hate it. The temperature was a balmy -6 when we finished. Actually, it wasn't bad at all and I was a little bit overdressed. I had 3 layers on and that felt like one layer too much. At one point Dan said he'd finally figured out how to get me to slow down, or something like that: get me to wear enough layers that I can't move, and get me on a cardio machine before starting the run. :-) Such a funny guy. Actually, he had an extra gear today. The guys ran well. Afterwards, they came in for some lunch leftovers. While we were sitting there, Dan spotted the 8-point buck that wanders the backyard.

Then I sent them on their way with some cookies. I really want all the sweets out of this house now. I was pretty successful pawning cookies off on people before they left.

Just as they were leaving, Dave Morrill stopped by.

He purchased the 6 dozen cookies I'd auctioned off as a Christmas gift for his sister and her husband. They will be getting a cookie shipment each month. I think I'll start with the Neiman Marcus recipe using m&ms for most of the chocolate. It's my standby recipe, but it's a good one. She'll get the recipes too.

This week I need to make cookies for Dick Daymont, director of next weekend's Zoom!Yah!Yah! marathon. Every runner and volunteer will get a cookie. There are actually more volunteers than runners. I'll make a selection of cookies: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, m&m, and Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chunk is the current plan. Possibly Oatmeal Raisin if I need a few more.

Amy was telling me about a delicious-sounding recipe from Cooking Light that she'd tried. Butternut Squash Lasagna. This is definitely on my "must try" list. I even have a butternut squash, and some provolone in the freezer. I need to get the spinach and ricotta, though.

I had a couple of requests for my calico bean recipe today. It's on my recipe blog (http://ramblinrecipes.blogspot.com/) on the main dish page.

Being it's early January, I'm thinking I should make a few resolutions/goals for 2010. Here's what comes to mind:

• Get more sleep. 5-6 hours per night over the long term isn't healthy. I pretty much spring out of bed each morning with a things to do list for the day just waiting to be tackled.
• Learn to say "no" when appropriate (especially to myself). Much as I'd like to, I can't do everything. (This goes hand in hand with my first resolution.)
• Take a day off each week (or two) from exercise. This will be really tough. (This goes hand in hand with my second resolution.)
• Not be such a packrat.
• Try an Olympic distance triathlon. (Notice I said "try". I'm still not convinced I'll not end up getting hauled out of the lake on a kayak ...)
• Run a marathon I've never run before. (Barring some unforeseen circumstance, that will be Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon on May 8.)
• Run a 3:35 marathon.
• Visit a state I've never been to before.
• Read a book each month. Get back to reading the newspaper every day.
• Say "thank you" more often.
• Say "I love you" more often.

Well, it's been another full day. In keeping with my resolutions, I think I should get myself to bed earlier than I have been. That being said, I need to wrap up this post.

Quote for the day: "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin

Here's to 2010.