Melting!!

It's m-e-l-t-i-n-g ...  hip, hip, hooray!! It was still slippery (and dark ... and cold ... 18 degrees) when I ran to the Y at 5:40 AM, but this afternoon the sun was shining and the snow piles were shrinking! I still have 6' lining the sides of my driveway, but a few weeks of 75 degree temps ought to take care of that! Morning workout: ran to the Y, lifted, and swam. Talked to Bill Nevala at the pool for a little while. I cut the swim a few minutes short and opted for an extra mile on the run home. Afternoon workout: 40 minutes on the bike.

This afternoon my cell phone rang. Unknown caller. I heard, "This is officer ... from the Rochester Police Department." It's amazing how fast, furious and far-reaching your thoughts can fly in about 2 seconds. I was imagining the worst, but wasn't quite sure what. Turns out he was calling about the Fetzer 20K parade permit. Whew.

Here's the text from a Soles4Soles email I received today. I didn't realize it, but Hanny's in downtown Rochester (19 st Ave SW) is a collection point.

No one was expecting it. But we are prepared to respond. On March 11, 2011, no one was thinking about an 8.9 earthquake that would cause a tsunami to hit Japan, home to the world’s third largest economy. Together, we watched in disbelief as the waves flooded inland and moved homes, buildings, and cars like they were toys a child might play with in a bathtub. But the only thing harmless and innocent about this event were the unsuspecting people whose lives have been...for lack of a better word...displaced. I remember when the announcement of the Asian tsunami hit and one shoe remained along the beach. It was in that moment when I decided to get off the couch and do something to help.

Seven years later, we have a proven model that works. Seven years later more than 13 million shoes have been distributed in more than 127 countries around the world. Soles4Souls is poised to respond in ways I could have only dreamed about in 2004. I am saddened by the devastation in Japan and am committed to continuing to monitor the developing effects of this powerful quake. We are fully equipped for an extensive response should the need prove to be as widespread as our partners are predicting.

Shoes protect from disease and provide hope for tomorrow. Whether it’s Southeast Asia, New Orleans, Haiti, Africa, or Japan, Soles4Souls is committed to helping people in the midst of extreme poverty and those recovering from natural disasters by providing shoes that will protect them from disease and provide them a sense of hope for a better tomorrow.

The tragedy in Japan reminds us of the 300 million children around the world who live a life of tragedy and disaster every day. By giving them the gift of shoes, you tell them that it’s possible to dream beyond their current situation and remind them that there are people who love and care about them. Join our response by donating shoes and giving generously today!

If you’re interested in supporting Soles4Souls’ relief efforts, let me encourage you to visit http://www.giveshoes.org/ to find the nearest shoe drop-off location or to financially sponsor a new pair of shoes from your laptop or smart phone. You can also text the word “SHOES” to 20222 to donate $5 immediately.

Situations like Japan remind us just how much we have. Consider sharing your extra shoes and a few extra dollars to help change the lives of people around the world with the gift of shoes.

I appreciate you,
Wayne Elsey
Founder/CEO

Our meal tonight at our Cooking Light get together was another winner. I made a chocolate dessert and didn't eat one.

Me ...

and dear friends.

Laura and Barbara

Margo

Kathryn

Barbara, Diane, Laura

Laura and Mary

I have to say that my favorite thing was Kathryn's Irish Soda Bread with her homemade rhubarb cherry freezer jam.

It's late. I'm tired. Good night ..........

The Trail's End

It's the end of the trail for the snowshoe crew for winter 2011. We had a lovely 2.51 mile hike through the woods on crusty snow this afternoon. I didn't take too many photos today, but here's a great one from Dave Eide:

This was up on top of the hill in a large clearing. Here are a few from me:

Ken (new "shoe-er" with our group), Mike, Ann, Wendy, Elaine, Dave, Shelly

Aaron

The sugar maples had been tapped for sap.

And provisions for boiling it into syrup.

We covered 2.51 miles. It doesn't sound like much, but it's really quite a workout. We then went to The Bear's Den where I had popcorn for lunch. (Didn't have my morning oatmeal until 11:28 AM, after my 10.02 mile run. :-) Spotted Deb Dilling running, Steve Roelofs driving, and someone in a silver SUV on 2nd St SW honked six times. I waved back, but didn't recognize the vehicle. Hello, whoever you are!)

A very Happy Birthday to Ron Giles!!! Here's his birthday treat ... to be delivered tomorrow. I KNOW he'll read this!!

I had a leftover egg yolk so I made a batch of The "Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookie. (Left out the chocolate chips.) Well, they are indeed perfect ... when you remember all the ingredients. This is what they look like when you forget the leavener ... baking soda. I'll just rename them "The Perfect Walnut Shortbread Cookie".

It's already time for another Cooking Light get together tomorrow night. On the menu at Mary's house:

Appetizer of choice (Margo)
Bread of choice (Kathryn)
Lemon Broccolini p. 84 (Laura)
Spinach, Endive and Tangelo Salad p. 128 (Diane)
Guinness Lamb Stew p. 112 (Mary)
Chocolate Dessert of choice (Renee)
Wine (Barbara)

I'm not a lamb fan, but I certainly will try some. And I gave up chocolate. I guess it's going to be heavy on the veggies for me.

Bill Nevala posted on Facebook that the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon has a 4 hour 30 minute cutoff. Yikes. That's really an aggressive cutoff time. I have a feeling there are going to be more than a few disappointed people at that finish line. Bill ... you can do it!

Yesterday I was on the phone with a gal from Verizon. She said that the change I was requesting in my phone service would raise my monthly bill by $30. I said that the website indicated it would be $20 and the gal I spoke to on the phone the previous evening also said it would be $20. She said, yes it was $30. It was going from $90 to $110. Go figure ... New math??

Good night all.

Tough Going

The plan for the morning was a 23-mile run. I knew yesterday that there was a wind advisory starting at midnight last night. Well, WINDY it was. And then some. Unbelievably winds from the west. And chilly. About 20 degrees at the start and I'm not sure what the wind chill was. But it might not have even been in the single digits above zero. We started at 6 AM with a 3-mile loop. Then back to the RAC at 6:30 for a 4-mile loop. At 7:15 we all gathered in the lobby of the RAC ...

only to find out that for the first time ever there were no volunteers to staff the water stops. So the plan was 4 by 4-mile loops for the planned 16-mile run. Some headed in the general direction of Mayo H.S. but I didn't want to run 8'ish miles to the south and east only to have to run 8'ish brutal miles to the north and west. I just didn't have it in me. I contemplated doing the 4-mile loops and started with that plan. Then I needed a pit stop, so I stopped at the Kwik Trip on 11th Ave NW. Pit stop #2. (The RAC was #1.) My hands were cold, so I headed toward home ...

for different gloves and a face mask rather than a neck gaiter. Pit stop #3. It was REALLY hard to get going again after being in a warm house. Then north on County 22 to the Kwik Trip there. The stretch up and over Historic Hill was especially cold. It was link a wind tunnel going up the hill, and totally unprotected from the wind going down.

Can't you just feel that cold wind??

Pit stop #4. Then east on 7th St NW and finally up to McDonald's on the frontage road. Pit stop #5. North on the frontage road to 41st St NW and onto the IBM Property. Pit stop #6 behind a huge tree. Back to the RAC via Valley High Drive. Pit stop #7. Out for one more mile after chatting with Trevor. WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THESE PIT STOPS?? I'd been pretty vigilant about hydrating yesterday given last Saturday's difficulties, but this was ridiculous. I guess it was the combo of cold air and cold water (I also got a drink at every pit stop) that made my bladder react like this. Needless to say, this run took a while (4:04 for 23.4 miles).

On Facebook, I mentioned that this was the toughest 23.40 mile run EVER. After thinking about it (and getting lots of comments), I've decided that it actually wasn't the toughest 23.40 mile run ever. (I'm actually feeling good, though my legs are tired.) Two other runs that come to mind that were tougher (and yes, longer): 1) Grandma's marathon 2009 (brutally hot and injury issues. I barely made it to the finish line for that one. UGLY. 2) Boston Marathon 2008. Injured knee that forced me to walk beginning at mile 16. Not one more running stride the whole marathon as it caused shooting pain up my leg. Stop in medical "tent" at mile 18. 25+ stops in the port-a-potties. Blood blisters. UGLY. Really UGLY. So ... I'd rather run in today's cold and wind than heat or pain. Had a delicious bowl of oatmeal upon my return home. Along with a 24 oz. Diet Coke. :-)

Here's some of the weather data for the day ... peak wind gust was 53 mph. Very windy in the early AM when we were running.

It was nice to have George from St. Cloud run with us. I neglected to take a photo this morning (my bad) but he's on the left in the photo below with good buddies Travis and Monty (who's in Mexico ... lucky stiff).

George, Travis, Monty

Called Matt today. He's in SC for a bike race. He rode the criterium today, his first. He said the course was a 1K loop and the race was faster than he'd thought it would be. He finished in the middle of the pack. GREAT job. Tomorrow he's got a 40K road race. GO Matt. :-)

Remember to set your clocks ahead tonight. Tomorrow I think I'll join the Snowshoe Crew at 12:15 (first bridge). Could be the last hurrah for us for the season. :-( But that'll mean that the snow is disappearing. :-)

Made some banana bread this afternoon.

Time to call it a day. Ciao.

This 'n That

Morning workout: run to the Y, lift, swim 2400 yards, run. Nice chats with Willie in the Fitness Center and Leslie in the pool. I forgot to mention a little tidbit about yesterday's Progressive Run: during the fourth mile, I stopped at the porta-potty at the fire station and thought I hit the stop button on my Garmin. But maybe I hit the lap button. In any case, my Garmin kept running so I had to start that mile over. I was .61 into it. :-(

Tomorrow's LONG run is going to be interesting. There's a wind advisory starting at midnight and the worst of the winds (40-45 mph) are supposed to be in the morning. Wonderful. Wanna see the route? Check Dan's Blog. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead an hour before you go to bed tomorrow night ...

Tom Williamson passed along this photo. His daughter gave him this display for his marathon medals. More options are available at Athletic Displays.

Found at Wal-mart ... the Hershey's Speedy Bunnies.

I buy these for the 2-mile awards each year. Usually at Fleet Farm, but they didn't have them. Fun for runners. :-)

I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies today for various reasons. I put the first pan in the oven and after 3 or 4 minutes it dawned on me that I hadn't put in the vanilla, salt, baking soda or baking powder. So I quick took the cookie sheet out of the oven and sure enough ... no leavener. They were on there way to becoming little hockey pucks. They weren't set yet, so I scooped up the cookies on the pan and mushed them all together (I'd not put chips in these 9 cookies so there was no melted chocolate involved) and put the lump in the freezer to cool down. When cool I added it to the rest of the dough along with the missing ingredients and baked it off. It worked. Without thinking, I broke off a piece of one and put it in my mouth. (I'm not eating chocolate.) When I realized what I'd done, I spit it out. I didn't swallow. :-) All good.

Lunch? Yogurt with Honey Bunches of Oats and a piece of bread.

This evening I decided to make a loaf of steel cut oat bread so I'd have a little more substance to my meal before tomorrow morning's slogfest.

It's delish. Especially with some of my raspberry jam. I also roasted some more asparagus and made a salad.

Enough for today. Enjoy your weekend.

Good night ...

Quiet

I had a pretty quiet day today. A nice lunch with Julie at Noodles.

A little afternoon nap. Lots of puttering around the house. Got Reichel Foods to again sponsor the Fetzer. They're donating apples/caramel dip and pita chips/hummus, just as they did for Lace-Up. THANK YOU Nikki from Reichel. :-) I still need LOTS and LOTS of volunteers. If you can help out on April 9, please email me. I still need LOTS and LOTS of runners. If you want to run, registration info is on the RTC website. I also updated the Fetzer website today. First time using the "cmsdesk". Pretty intuitive. All good.

Morning workout: Just couldn't get up for the 5 AM Progressive Run so I went over there by myself later. It was just an OK run. My legs were, and are, tired. Hence a swim will be in order tomorrow. The wind was cold and the refreeze treacherous in spots. I almost went down 3 times. Saw Joann Johnson walking. Anyway, mile 1: 3 seconds fast. Mile 2: 9 seconds fast. Mile 3: 2 seconds fast. Mile 4: 1 second slow. Mile 5: 1 second slow. Mile 6: I gave up. Didn't have it in my legs. I did 2 loops around the lake, so got in about 10 miles. Hammies are tight. Speed isn't there. Truth be told, I think I'm in better biking shape than running shape. I don't think it's going to be a PR-type year for me this year. But that's OK.

Good news: Matt and friend arrived safely in SC after driving all night. Prayers answered. I don't really miss not eating chocolate. Good tunes. My laptop wouldn't even get to Windows yesterday the first 3 times I tried. It would just freeze and beep. FINALLY, it came up. And ... my mouse now works AND I can download photos successfully. And the VERY annoying little "USB malfunction" pop-up box has disappeared. Apparently the USB issues have been solved. Good news.

Something I discovered on Tuesday at the track ... my new 100-lap watch does indeed allow for 100 laps. :-) BUT ... it only has a 10-lap memory. :-(

Supper ... you guessed it. A salad. I never tire of these. I didn't have room in my tummy for the other half of my Noodles lunch. Maybe tomorrow.

Temps are forecast to be 45 tomorrow. Sweet.

Good night.

Wrung Out

I've had an emotional day today. And it didn't help that Matt left this afternoon on a road trip to SC for a bike race this weekend with a friend from his WSU. It's his first major drive like this and they're driving through the night. I pray that they arrive both there and back in MN safely, and of course that the bike race goes well. He's doing a criterium race on Saturday which he hasn't done before. EVER. That makes me nervous. Then a road race on Sunday. Once a mom, always a mom. Even when they're 22 (and 24).

Today when I was shoveling 3.5" of wet, heavy snow ...

I just about lost it. Crazy, I know. Its just snow after all. But I was having a little pity party I guess. I wish I had a snowblower this winter. I was tired from heaving shovelsful of wet, heavy snow 6' in the air (that's how tall the piles STILL are next to the driveway) for over an hour and a clump of snow dislodged from a crabapple tree and unceremoniously landed right on my head. But I didn't start crying (I kind of wanted to). I just kept at it one scoop at a time until it was done. My back was very tired. I can't wait for winter weather to move on out for good.

Workouts. Today, 2 hours on the Stairmaster, one mile run and all that shoveling. Yesterday, 10 miles on the indoor track (including 10 x 400 and 2.5 tempo miles, going around the walker who always seems to need the inside lane) ...

Before

After

then a 2400 yard swim ... (chatted with Judge Kevin who was in the next lane. On leaving, he said, "Have a good swim, Champ." I just had to chuckle. :-)

then an hour on the bike.

Quite a workout, but I felt good. Felt good on the Stairmasater today, too. Tomorrow morning, the Progressive Run will take place in Rochester, at Panera South at 5 AM. Also, Team R.E.D. will be meeting at Beer Bellyz on Civic Center Drive at 6 PM. More info on the Team R.E.D blog.

Last night, Matt and his friend Katie (another WSU music ed student/grad) performed at the open mic at The Viking Lounge. They hadn't practiced, but I thought they did great. Most importantly, they had fun. They played some Snow Patrol, Coldplay and Ke$ha.

Yesterday evening was "Social Night". We moved it from Beetles to Brothers this month. In attendance,

Mike, Erin, Andy

Roger

Jim

Paul and Liz

We had fun, and shared lots of laughs (as usual).

Saturday morning options from the RAC: 6 AM, 6:30 AM or 7:15 AM. With the 6:00 AM start, the plan is for a total of 23 miles. At 6:30, about 19. At 7:15, 16. My friend George from St. Cloud will be joining us at 6 AM. :-)

I'm really ready to wrap up this day. Good night.

Slow News Day

Really not too much to report on today. Morning workout: ran to the Y, lifted, swam a mile and a half, ran home. Legs felt pretty good. It felt really nice to be in the pool after about 10 days off. Had a nice swim and the time passed quickly. It was also quiet in the pool, which was nice.I used a latex cap from a triathlon instead of my usual silicone cap which lets too much water into my ears. What a nice change. I'm going to keep using it. It's bright red with white SCHEELS on the side. 6 PM workout: Week 4 TriRochester bike workout. NOTHING makes me work up a sweat like those workouts. My quads scream for mercy. I love it.

Here's a Tom O' pic of me from snowshoeing yesterday. What a (fun) workout.

A few chose to limbo under the tree.

News from the BAA: The Boston Marathon start will have 3 waves this year, with about 9,000 in each wave. Nice. Wonder which wave I'll be in ... 3, maybe 2 is my guess. It's based on qualifying time. Mine was 3:33 which is probably in the slower half of the pack.

Tuesday at 10 AM, Charter Main Street has The Bear's Den gift certificates for half price. Don't dilly dally. If you want these half price deals, you almost always have to be on the second they're up for sale.

I think I'm going to give up chocolate for lent. I'm not Catholic, but I see the value in giving up something I enjoy for 40 days. This would also eliminate most cookies I bake from my diet. (BTW: I've really slowed down on the cookie baking this year compared to last.) My metabolism seems to have come to a screeching halt since I turned 50. I haven't changed my eating habits, I work out A LOT, but I feel like a blimp. I gotta do something. Maybe eliminating chocolate will help.

Supper: roasted broccoli ....

and a salad. I was at Sam's Club this afternoon and bought one of those roasted chickens. I've never had one before and it looked good. And Matt can help me eat it. :-) So I chopped up some of that and put it on my salad.

This afternoon at the office, I uninstalled the hard drive on my old computer so the tower can be recycled (virtually for free) at Best Buy. Not sure what we'll do with the hard drive. Best Buy said they used to drill a hole through the middle of them but they don't do that any more. You have to uninstall it yourself before bringing it in.

Don't forget ... tomorrow at 6 PM at Brothers. I WILL bring cookies. :-) I believe there will be some hill running going on at 5:30 PM, indoor track between 5 and 5:30 PM if you want a workout. I'm planning on going to the track in the morning. Matt and a friend are going to perform tomorrow evening at the open mike at The Viking Lounge. I'd LOVE to stop by. His friend Katie is going to play the ukelele and she wants him to play the piano. Fun.

Well, that's it for today. Ciao.