Torture

Today was an off day. No exercise. Zip. Nadda. Nothin'. And it was torture. I staffed a water stop for the run from the RAC instead. It's so hard standing by, watching, while everyone else is doing a long run. I would have loved to have been out there putting in my miles. But I was a good girl and rested my legs for the Human Race 8K tomorrow. (Tom Woo, who is also racing, showed up at the RAC saying he was only running 14 miles! Way to taper, Tom. :-) Anyway, I was also glad to be able to help out on the other side of the water cups for a change. I threw a couple of extra hats and a headband in the car for some reason. Good thing. Andy came in after his front-loaded miles saying his ears were frozen. I had just the solution for him ... :-)

I don't know whether the application of petroleum jelly was in my job description though! That's Dan Strain who was having "issues".

The route today included Merrihills, which is part of my regular Monday hill route. I do my repeats on Lenwood Drive. If anyone would like to join me, let me know. I usually leave about 6:00 or 6:30, but would sure be willing to switch it up if someone would want to run it with me. Hills make you strong ... Randy M. sounded mildly interested. I hope. I saw a few friends in the RAC entryway while I was waiting. Deb, Wayne, and I can't remember the other two. Then it was off to Brothers for breakfast. Sorry to those that didn't get a cookie. There were a few disappointed runners in the parking lot.

I certainly hadn't earned a walnut pancake, or even a plain pancake. So it was oatmeal with raisins for me.

Here's a little funny for ya: Roger ordered a Brothers' Omelet which is pretty loaded. Ham, bacon, veggies, hash browns all included in the omelet. He gave me a little piece of it which you can see to the left. Anyways, it's a pretty good-sized meal and he didn't finish it. Not too long before we all left, his wife Joyce called to ask when he was coming home. Why? She wanted to go out for lunch. It was pretty funny ... :-)

On the way home I stopped at Hy-Vee. They were having a Saturday sale. Red sweet peppers were 88 cents which is a bargain. They were nice and big, too. I've tried the store brands of lots of things. Some I buy again, some I don't.

Two of my favorites at Hy-Vee are their oyster crackers (I don't know what it is about them, but they're my fave .. great flavor and they're thin) and their brand of Honey Bunches of Oats. I like them better than the "real thing" actually.

I made some oatmeal raisin cookies for tomorrow. River Runners Paul and Rick say that that's their favorite cookie. And I want them to be happy. :-) And well fed.

The race starts at 1:20 PM. Please send positive, fast-running, vibes my way. I get really nervous before I race. Weather sounds perfect. 50's and plenty o'sunshine. So at least I won't be fretting about that.

This afternoon, I made some updates for Sharon on the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon website. I talked to her yesterday and she's going to come down from St. Cloud to volunteer for me at the Fetzer. What a sweetie!! Also, Roger Heil is going to run Wobegon. So it's 4 of us for sure now ... Andy, Roger, Trevor, and me. It's going to be flat, fast and super FUN!!

My Boston Marathon race packet arrived today. 3 weeks from Monday is the big day. It's going to be here before I know it.

I had an unusually large number of hits on my little blog yesterday. Must have been the Team R.E.D. adventure on Thursday evening. Here's a little sneak peak at what might be up next for the Girls of Team R.E.D. That's all you're going to get before the premiere.

I made pasta for supper. It was DELISH. New concoction. Whole wheat fettucine ...

sauteed butternut squash (using the fond from the chicken) ...

a bunch of garlic (6 cloves I think--I love garlic), green onions, chicken, reduced-fat feta cheese and a little of the pasta water to loosen it up.

That and a salad, and I'm stuffed.

That's all the news for today. Tomorrow will certainly be a bloggable day. And I look forward to it. Wish me luck!!