Fab.U.Lous!

Isn't this weather the BEST? I love it! We went for a nice 6 mile run this morning ... with GLOVES on. The end of June. I had 48 on the thermometer and when it's under 50, I don gloves. Then it was off to the Y to lift and swim. After work I went for a 42.36 mile bike ride. My Salem Corners/Byron/Pine Island loop. Nice easy ride. Very relaxing.

Tomorrow evening, Byron Team R.E.D. meets at the Bear's Den at 6:00 PM. Please join us! It's always so much fun.

Sonja Kranz asked me to post this blurb: The RTC Picnic will be held at Slatterly Park on Thursday August 26 at 6 PM. Bring a dish to pass. RTC will provide table service and beverages. There will be drawings for prizes. It's always a lot of fun ...

I made blueberry jam today.

And another loaf of blueberry bread. Cuz guess what? I left the sugar out of the last one!! I couldn't figure out why it was so flat and bland until I posted the recipe yesterday and finally figured it out. :-) Oh well ...

My free CLIF bar arrived in the mail today:

Finally ... Quarter/quarter slideshow. Sorry for the delay.

Time for other things. Have a good one!

Finally Feeling Fine ...

Finally! A good workout. I've been needing one for a couple of weeks. And this evening, I got it. This morning I ran 10 junk miles. My GPS died at 1.04 miles, so I just ran to where I knew I was 5 miles out and then turned around and came back. I was thinking about doing 1/4 miles but there was no sense doing that when I had no idea what my times were. So this afternoon I ran down to S.F. and ran hills before helping out at All Comers. At first, my legs still felt tired and heavy but by the third or fourth hill repeat, I was feeling really good. So I ran 10th St SW twelve times. Then I ran 9th Ave three times and also felt good. My breathing wasn't labored as it has been and my legs felt strong. I think I've been fighting a cold or something the last week or so. Cough, congestion, etc. Anyway, all good! Noah and Tom Woo and Alex from TriRochester were also cresting the hill. And Andy showed up a bit later.

All Comers.

What a BEAUTIFUL evening for a track meet. Crystal clear blue sky.

Pleasant temps. Low humidity. And the cutest little kids ...

William Strain

These little girls ran in their tutus. So cute!! These meets are just a hoot. There's no way you can be there and not smile. And they just love getting marker smiley faces on their hands. I started doing smileys a couple of years ago and now it's a tradition of sorts. It used to be an "x" and I decided to mix it up as smileys are more fun. :-) Lots of the kids want the smiley more than they do the ribbon.

The latest fad seems to be getting three smileys. :-)

Joann and Dennis Johnson finally got their cookies for the Who Is It? contest in the last newsletter. My bad for taking so long ...

Speaking of RTC News, another issue is now due and I don't really have much for stories. I'd love to have a couple. If you have something for me, please send it ASAP to newsletter@rochestertrackclub.com THANK YOU!!

I went down to the Education Bldg. the other day as I need a background check done. I've volunteered to help coach Joey Keillor's All-City Summer Running Program which kics off next week. Practices are held Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. I'll help out every now and then ... Anyway, right now there are way more coaches than there are participants. If your high school student would like to participate, contact Joey at rochester.running@gmail.com or 282-2747.

Here's a pic of me on my new wheels. :-)

Here is the delicious blueberry bread recipe I've been baking lately:

Blueberry Tea Bread

2 Tbsp. sifted cake flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. chopped almonds

1/2 c. butter, divided

3 c. sifted cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. Combine the 2 Tbsp. flour, 2 Tbsp sugar, cinnamon and almonds; cut in 1 Tbsp. butter. Set aside.

Combine blueberries and 2 Tbsp. of the cake flour; toss carefully and set aside.

Sift remaining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut in remaining butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

In a medium bowl, combine beaten egg, milk, and vanilla, stirring well. Add to flour mixture until dry ingredients are moistened. Add blueberry mixture, stirring carefully. Batter will be lumpy and thing.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the almond mixture. Bake at 350 for 70 minutes or until a test inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool.

Time for bed. Good night. ;-)

Summertime!!

Summertime .... and the livin' is easy. Wow. Isn't this weather GREAT?? I'm lovin' the cooler temps and lower humidity. Yesterday was a great day to work outside. I got the lawn mowed, vacuumed out my car, made Eric a loaf of blueberry bread ...

 and just puttered around. It was great. Morning workout: run to the Y, lift, swim, run home. My legs have been cramping fits lately, and not just while on the roads (running or biking). I'm not sure what all is going on. But I didn't have a cramping episode in the pool, so I was glad about that.

Sunday evening we gathered at John and Lucy Shonyo's beautiful home in the country north of Oronoco for a Lace-Up Against Breast Cancer get-together. What a nice evening. The skies cleared in time for us to enjoy the evening on the deck.

 John is a beekeeper.

Last night, I went with some friends down to Harmony to have dinner at Quarter/quarter, a restaurant owned and operated by chef Stephen Larson.

It was a lovely meal.

I've gotten 94 miles on my new bike and have decided that I need to try another saddle, so that's on the agenda for today. A stop at Roch Cycling & Fitness.

I've noticed that the blackcap raspberries are starting to ripen. Yum! They're DELISH!! Brings my average pace down during a run, though. :-)

Gotta run. Later!!!

Putting Grandma to Bed

It's time to finally put Grandma to bed. And it's a week late. My apologies. Let's get going.

I believe when I last posted about the marathon last weekend, we'd arrived back at the apartment and cleaned up. Then we headed down to Canal Park. We met up with Ron Giles at the tent.

After some trash talking, he got a mini loaf of chocolate chip, walnut, banana bread. :-)

but we all enjoyed the sounds of gb leighton. The afternoon crowd is pretty subdued.

When things at the tent shut down for a couple of hours, we made our way to Old Chicago for some food ...

and fun.

Also at Old Chicago were blogger Julie from Maple Grove along with her husband.

Then 'twas back outside. Andy ... BE CAREFUL!!

These guys from Thunder Bay (Dr. Doug and Mark) were walking by. I started chatting with them.

I think they decided they were having fun. :-)

I returned to the tent, only to be CARDED. I told the gal ... I'm 49 years old!! She said she was sorry but that she needed to see an id for everyone. Argghhhh...at least my purse was in the truck. So I headed back toward the parking lot and met up with Tom and Randy on the street and told them of my "situation". They walked back toward the truck with me. About 2/3 of the way there, I asked for the keys. Guess what? No keys. Tom Woo had the keys and he was somewhere else. So I called him. No answer. Called Andy and told him of my "situation". They agreed to come find us with the keys. Well, it took a while and we all ended up standing around the parking lot taking care of my "situation". Short story long, or maybe long story short, I got my id and went back to the tent and went into the same entrance I'd tried to enter the first time. I asked the gal if she wanted to see my id. Guess what? She recognized me and apologized "for before". She said she mistakenly though she needed to see all ids, but didn't. Arghhh!!! Well, that's the way it goes I guess...

Back at the tent, we met up with Doug Kurtis.

He's got quite an impressive running resume. He won Grandma's twice. And I think he was over 40 both times. He's also ran an enourmous number of sub-2:20 marathons. Anyway, google him for more info. There was also mention of him in the Duluth Tribune on Sunday after the race.

Mitch and Marni (they're engaged!) met up with us there ...

as did Pete Martin.

And Noah and Emily.

Tom O' was ready to have fun!!

And I guess Bri and I were too. :-)

We listed to gb leighton until the place closed down at 1:00. Probably a PR for all of us.

I had designated myself as the driver. So with help, I navigated our way back up the hill to St. Scholastica where we found ourselves locked out of the apartment building at 1:15 AM. Oh my ... I buzzed the operator and got someone from security to let us in. After some more funny moments, which are not bloggable, it was time for all of us to crash and attempt to recover from all that had gone on during the day.

I think all of us would agree, and many stated as such, this was really a memorable and fun weekend. Definitely one not to be forgotten. :-)

Closing this chapted on Grandma's 2010, Ramblin' Renee ... is signing off.

Hey there, hi there, ho there!!

Just a quick post for now...

Beauty of a summer day today. A good crowd gathered at the RAC this morning for the kickoff of the 2010 fall marathon training season.

Dan S. and Randy M. ...

are now in charge of the course and water stops. Their inaugural run went off without a hitch I'd say. There was a good crowd for the steamy 7 AM run to and around Silver Lake. Peg and Wally Arnold were spotted at the south side of Silver Lake setting up for a race.

Someone said Get Your Rear in Gear is what I believe I overheard. I got in just over 10 miles and I was ready to be done. There were treats to be consumed afterwards. And then breakfast at the Crown.

Later in the day I got in a 20 mile bike ride.

VERY hilly. But good. Very good. I was sweating like a piglet under the intense afternoon sun. I'm thinking I need to change up my saddle. I have some issues ... On tap for tomorrow, a 9 AM 30 mile EASY ride with Trevor, Randy and maybe lovable Matt. :-) Although I think he mentioned wanting to watch some Formula One race on TV at that time. We'll see.

Well, time to put the chicken on the fire. Literally. Yum.

Talk at you tomorrow. Ciao.