We're Off!!

Soon we'll be saying that. We're leaving tomorrow morning to avoid the expected traffic delays in Duluth due to road construction ... and the marathon. It will be nice to get there early, get our packets, and then enjoy the rest of the day. The weather is still holding ... pretty nice for a marathon. 50's for a low. 70'ish for a high. Decent!! I've got my bag all packed. That's the least of my baggage ... I've got all this food and fluids, a fan and other miscellany.

I had a marathon baking day today it seems. I want my peeps to have their sweets and treats ... peanut butter cookies (with and without chocolate chips), oatmeal raisin and loaded (chocolate chips, both semi- and bittersweet, toasted pecans, ground pecans, oatmeal). And some blueberry bread which I have yet to try but am looking forward to. The recipe is from a cookbook that I picked up in Maine. I still owe cookies to quite a few people for the Who Is It? and Where Is It? contests in the last RTC News. Yikes. I better get on that right quick when I get back.

My friend Kim sent me a picture of her quilt named Tortilla Soup. It won third place honors at the Minnesota Quilt show last night in the applique category. Kudos Kim!!

Laura reports that they gave out 454 participation (purple) ribbons on Tuesday, which is phenomenal. The weather turned out to be wonderful for a change. Just a reminder that next Tuesday is the All Comers' mile. I'll be there. I can pretty much assure you that I won't be running another 5:56 however. This "course" isn't nearly as fast as Nicollet mall.

Well, I've got a bike on hold at Roch Cycling & Fitness. I want to talk to Deb again and she's working tomorrow but that won't work for me. So I'll stop in next week and chat with her. I talked quite a while today with Charlie Tri about the whole package ... bike, pedals, shoes, water bottle cages (he said the $50 ones would really impress my friends ... but I don't think I need $100 worth of water bottle cages. :-) Speaking of shoes ... here are my old shoes from 1984.  They have wooden soles. Equipment has come a long way, baby ...

Charlie laughed when I told him about them (and I'm not sure he believed me!) I'm sure I'm old enough to be his mother. :-) And here are my 25-year old biking clothes. I really need to update my wardrobe. :-)

Whew ... as I write this it's positively steamy in this house. I didn't turn on the air today, as I'm not a big fan. But with the storms brewing out there, and the oven running for a few hours, it's downright sultry in here. Anyway, back to the post.

From Seth Couenhoven at Thuro Bread: "Attached is info on the Grand Opening of our retail storefront. Located next to Izzy's Ice Cream - 2036 Marshall Ave, St. Paul. We are offering FREE Thuro Bread (breakfast bars & sourdough bread) with coffee, an izzy scoop or kombucha tea! Saturday June 26th from 8am - 6pm. hope to see you! seth"

Just a reminder that the Running Room challenge is July 21 at 6:00 pm. And it's free. You get a technical fabric hat. All you have to do is show up and run or walk for 20 minutes. How easy is that? Register online. I did.

Here's some info on a new race being put on by Twin Cities in Motion:

Twin Cities In Motion, the organizer of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, and the Minnesota Twins are teaming up to bring runners and Twins fans together for a worthy cause!

Come run and support the community! Runners have the chance to race across Minneapolis, contribute to the Twins Community Fund, and watch a fine baseball team play in its new home. The Twins Territory 4K, present by Twin Cities In Motion is a great way for a group of friends to get hard-to-come-by Twins tickets and celebrate fitness.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Start time: 7:00 a.m.

Registration:

$49, Includes a commemorative race T-shirt, finish line food and beverages, and a ticket to any one of three Twins games against the Seattle Mariners (availability on a first-come, first-served basis). A portion of the entry fee will support the charity partners of the Twins Community Fund. Race participants can buy up to two additional game tickets at a special Twins Territory 4K price of $24 each. The 2010 field limit is 2,000 registrants and registration is online only. Click here to register now!

Weekend game schedule:

Friday, July 30 vs. Seattle Mariners, 7:10 p.m.
Saturday, July 31 vs. Seattle Mariners, 3:10 p.m.
Sunday, August 1 vs. Seattle Mariners, 1:10 p.m.

Note: Seating areas available Right Field Bleachers, Grandstand, Home Run Porch View, Pavilion, Batter's Eye, Left Field Bleachers, and Skyline Deck.

Course: The race starts near the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. It will run past Gold Medal Park, the Guthrie Theater, the Mill City Museum and the scenic banks of the Mississippi river. The route will take runners through the North Loop neighborhood and the Historic Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis before ending at Target Plaza, the doorstep of Target Field.

Out of news. Happy weekend to you all! I'm bringing my laptop so I should be able to post a few pix and a little bit about all the goings-on from Duluth!!

Toodles.