Beautiful weekend

I was quite excited this weekend.  First, I was going home to see dad. Second, I had found a race and thought dad and I could do some bonding in the car while driving to said race.  The Mike was going to do a long ride on gravel/"B" roads and enjoy some hours with nature.  We had looked at the forecast and the temps were suppose to be in the high 40s, low 50s.  Sounds like a great weekend day, right?

We set the alarm for 5am, packed and drove to my dad's. Only one small stop along the way.  Dad was asking about the race and I could not find the sheet I had printed out. . . so we looked it up online. I knew it was in the county over the river, west of the big city.  I'm rattling off the address, the Mike's looking that up on his phone, then I say, date: "February 17" and  the Mike and dad both say, "that's tomorrow".  Crud.  I was so pepped for this race, trail run with option to do 3, 6 or 13.1 miles.  Has that ever happened to you?  I was so glad that we checked before heading over. I guess it's a good thing that I forgot that printout at my home!  I had wondered why the race didn't start until 1:30pm. If it had dawned on me that the date was Sunday I would have realized it's so everyone can do Sunday morning things and then go race!

The Mike had a brutal day on the bike. We had both packed for 40+ weather and instead it was barely 30º weather.

Instead, I went shopping with dad to the big city, my first visit to Cabela's, a stop at Trader Joe's for some basics that were on sale (their brown rice pasta is awesome. . . and cheap). My sister's family was home when we got back to the house, as was the Mike (who was trying to warm up from being in the wind for several hours).  We had a great roast that dad had prepared, Gluten Free Pantry bread mix in his brand new bread machine, and a fabulous salad. No picture taken, because we were really hungry!

Sunday, I had thought about getting up for a run before church, but didn't like the lack of daylight and the temperature at that time. Instead, dad, niece and I headed to an auction in a nearby town (which is why, of course, I couldn't do the race on Sunday, wink wink!).  We headed to the auction site, let the niece in on some auction techniques and rules (she's still young) and I headed out for a little run. It was almost 50º!!!! Gorgeous day to be out and the only down part was my MP3 player wouldn't play from the off, so it took me a few minutes to get going.

Two mile point, and a gorgeous view 

Very low river.  Farmers need the precipitation!

I got back to the auction, got my own bidding number and jumped in for some fun.  It wasn't a great auction with lots of wonders I'd want, but I did score an old crock, and we were able to purchase the sofa table niece had her eye upon for only an Abe Lincoln bill!  Actually, dad and I, as well as plenty of others, were shocked at the prices of many every day items. Many were going for just a few dollars off of brand-new cost.  Basic rule of auction buying: know your prices!

We headed back to the house, had a quick meal of salad with grilled ham and cheese on fresh breadmachine bread and then we packed up and headed back to our house.  Yoga alarm came early this morning, and the quads knows they've had a workout!

Winter race, not so bad!

Weekend race 1/20/2013
Entries for biking, running or skiing. This year skiing was canceled due to lack of snow. 

The winter race weekend turned out better than expected. The really  cold weather didn't appear until late on Sunday/early Monday (it was -5ºF Monday morning as we started the car!).  Sunday's weather for the races was a brisk 5ºF with a 10mph wind from the north/northwest.  For the cyclist, marathoners and ultramarathoners this might not have been a good thing. For the half marathoners, it was okay. 

Our course ran on an old railroad bed, now a limestone trail.  We were lucky in that there was limestone rocks/cliffs blocking the wind from us for most of the race. We had a few open areas to cross where the wind might have been horrible at the start of the race, but by the time we were to those points the weather wasn't bothering us as we were heated and just wanting to finish.  

I wish I had taken photos, but I didn't want to take my cell phone out at the start for pics and have trouble getting it back in the holder in the brisk weather.  There were a few moments in the race I thought about taking photos, but the desire to keep the hands covered overruled any desire to capture the photos. 

We had snow before Christmas and most of the snow is gone, having been melted by warmer weather. Saturday we experienced highs near the 50ºF mark. Obviously this was going to be a big change to Sunday's 5º!  The center of the trail changed from being ice packed to being run bare by snowmobile machines. 

At the start, the volunteer said the buses would wait twenty minutes if any of us decided to give up on the race. Turns out the first mile and a half had very little trail showing and were mostly ice covered with up to four inches of opaque stuff on the trail.  Some of us might have wished to turn around, but we'd have to tell our loved ones we bailed on the race, and, since they were out doing the longer distance bike race, we couldn't fathom doing that.

The ice covered path gave way to the center being clear, or the sides being clear, but never was the whole width clear at the same time.  The tree that last year (on a sunny day) held two bald eagles only had their nest visible this year. Even they weren't interested in the cold weather.   

I discovered that running on packed snow is still easy--the dimples in the snow crust covering allow some traction.  I discovered that when running on terrain as this that I don't pick up my legs and instead do a shuffle--which has made for the quads hurting more than I've had in a while.  

I also discovered that even deer like to walk on the snow.  I assume they made their tracks Friday night or Saturday sometime.  For quite a ways on the trail in the snow packed right side, there were many deer tracks frozen into the snow. Again, thought about taking a photo, but was more concerned with the hands staying covered. 

Photo of race conditions.
This is a  good section of trail, since the center is covered in ice.

I started out wearing my Mizuno breath thermal shirt, topped with an UnderArmour short sleeve t-shirt and my brand new Saucony wind protection jacket (I know, not suppose to wear new gear during a race, but this was needed!)  

New jacket--it's a periwinkle blue/purple

For my head, I wore my balaclava and then a wool buff, as well as taking along my Smartwool ear band.  About an hour into the I took off the balaclava and used just the ear band part on my ears/forehead and then my wool buff as a neck gaiter and I would bring that up to cover my head when I got into the breezy sections.  It worked out well and with my iFitness belt I was able to hook the balaclava onto it for keeping.

I wore two Nike pants, one fuzzy lined tights and one of the heavy and thick winter running pants. I acquired these after a winter race in 2011.

My hands normally get quite warm when I run. I start out wearing gloves and then tuck the palm down and have just the fingers covered, I usually take the gloves off after half an hour.  This time, I wasn't able to do that. I started out with a thin cotton pair of Nike's covered with a freebie pair I got at a race.  After half an hour, I put the freebie pair in the pockets and ran with just the thin Nikes. This worked until about mile 8 or so when I realized the fingers of the gloves were just soaking wet; however, they weren't frozen due to my fingers' heat!  I switched gloves to the freebie pair and finished with those.  The wind pretty much went through them, so I put my hands into fists inside the gloves and ran with the fingertips just flopping all over. I thought that'd probably look pretty hilarious to a bypasser! 

All in all, it was a better than expected race. I knew the muscles would remember how to work and that even though I hadn't run in a few weeks, that the fitness I had would still be there in some form.  I came in 15 minutes or so slower than last year, but considering everything, I thought I did a good job.  (and it's hard to run on ice!)

The Mike finished right on the dot at 5pm.  He had anticipated "around 5pm" for his finish.  Tired and hungry, he got some of the after-race hot wings and then a double bacon cheeseburger with fries I ordered from the hotel's restaurant (that thing was HUGE and no, he was not able to finish the burger).  

1/22/2013 dinner:   

Quick salad -mixed greens, shaved carrot, blue cheese crumbles, tomatoes and 
quick balsamic vinegar salad dressing

Cranberry salsa and curried turkey breasts with baked potato

Core of the recipe is from The 150 Healthiest 15-Minute Recipes on Earth by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., and Jeannette Bessinger, C.H.H.C 

*Disclaimer 1: I picked this cookbook up at yoga last year, and this is the first month I'm actually using it.  *Disclaimer 2: I tweaked the recipe, so I didn't quite follow the recipe precisely. I am listing what I did and then what I left out and the directions are my own. 

Ingredients: 

2T Honey Mustard (I didn't use)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp allspice

1 T orange zest (I didn't use)

salt/pepper to taste

1 boneless skinless turkey tenderloin (2 pounds or 900g) 

      (I used turkey breasts from the grocery store, two per package, I'm not sure of the weight, but it would have been two very large chicken breasts in size.  I think it would have been about one thanksgiving turkey breast total)

Salsa: 

2 c (200g) fresh cranberries (or 1 bag 8ounce frozen, unsweetened, thawed).  I used half a bag of fresh

1 large navel orange, peeled & halved

1 small jalapeno, stemmed, roughly chopped, optional (I used half a small can of diced chilies) 

1/4 cup (85g) raw honey, or to taste 

Directions (mine) 

Preheat oven to 400ºF. I put 1/2 T of olive oil in the bottom of a roasting pan, then added the turkey breasts. I mixed the turkey seasoning in a small bowl (cumin, curry, allspice, salt/pepper) and rubbed it on the turkey breasts. I covered the pan in foil, then put the lid on the pan and baked for 40 minutes.  (Turkey should registere 160ºF.  I took the pan out of the oven, uncovered the turkey and let it rest while prepping the salad. 

While the turkey was in the oven, in a food processor mix the "salsa" ingredients. I pulsed until pretty much just small pieces were visible.  Slice or shred the turkey, serve the salsa on the side. 

Crazy runner or crazy weather?

I haven't gotten back on the horse, or the treadmill rather, for any meaningful runs in this new year.   

Now, I'm starting to panic a little.  We signed up for the Triple D which is this coming Sunday.  The snow bike portion goes through three towns which start with D, hence the name. The run is a half marathon run on a former railroad bed trail system with wooden bridges. Last year I did this as a fun run and it was great in that it wasn't as bad as I was frantically anticipating.  I took pictures of the scenery, the bald eagles, I walked on the wooden bridges instead of worrying about slipping and sliding on the frost. Did I mention we only had a scant 2" of snow last year and it happened the week before the race? Turned out the snow wasn't bad, since it only was deep in a few places along the protected trail.  

THIS year, however, the forecast is not very nice three days out. We don't have much snow left on the roads now from eight inches we received before Christmas. However, the high is suppose to be 20, the low 3 and  strong winds are being called for as well.  I know most of the course is protected by limestone walls and trees, but there are several areas of openness  where the body would get wind exposed. 

What to wear, what to wear, what to wear. . . and I'm not even worried about a date!  

How to keep the feet warm? 

How to keep ME warm?


 

End great and interesting 2012

We spent our end of 2012 in the great city of San Francisco. The package was long purchased and dad said to "go and travel while you still are young and able".  Great words from a great man. We've been planning this trip since I won a race entry back in February via this great blog (he's an ultra runner and it's amazing to read what he does, and has overcome, as well as the photos he posts on his page). 

We flew in on Saturday, and boy, were our arms tired! (ha ha, groan).   We missed the heavy downpour of the evening and had a great drive to the hotel.  Sunday, after visiting Alcatraz in the rain, we ate at a place at Pier 39 found via the  "FIND ME GLUTEN FREE" app on the phone.  I love this app. If you don't have it, it's a great tool to find places, rate them, leave comments. You can even add new businesses you've reviewed!  WIPEOUT Bar & Grill  is the name of the place. Kind of a place we would have thought of for Hawaii and not the cold bay area of San Francisco.  The french fries are in a dedicated fryer and they use canola oil (in case you have a soy allergy).  We ordered the Garlic Fries (from the menu, "Crispy fries tossed with fresh garlic, herbs and tossed with parmesan cheese".  While it's not the best idea to dive into fries you're not sure you'll survive, it was well worth it in this case and I was fine! 

Monday we awoke and went for a small run together.  We ran from the hotel to the Pier 39, took some pics of the sea creatures hanging out, then ran on to Pier 7 where we had a fabulous view of the Bay Bridge (which is my favorite to view of the two bridges).  Mike headed back to 39, and I continued further south along the way, spying the only water fire station (formed after the horrible event) and then a Christmas tree farm. I acquired a small twig of a tree and we had the scent of an evergreen in our room for a bit.  On my way back to the Pier I stopped at the Ferry Building (below), a building still standing after the quake/fire of 1906 (link to Wikipedia article with the building at the front of the photo at bottom of the page). I love this building and am so very happy that the city man who wanted to tear down the building in 1906 was over-ruled!     

WHY did I need to stop at the Ferry Building while I was out for a run?  For the Mariopsa Bakery store front! Gluten free options overwhelmed my senses.  Their cinnamon rolls are fluffy, light and full of flavor with just the right amount of glaze, the fruit filled small pastries (like poptarts only better than those ever were!), oh, and the cheese danish! Come on, when was the last time you had a cheese danish full of flavor and gluten free?  Wow. We had some for breakfast this day, then I went back a few days later on a run and got more things for that day and for the next day's breakfast. We had a quiche bought on Thursday, warmed up by the hotel on Friday for breakfast.  YUM!  The Mike was loving all these fresh products too.  

Ferry Building from the F Streetcar

Christmas decorations near Financial District

We took in the sights of the city via foot, walking up some of the steep hills the city has to offer.  We enjoyed cable cars and streetcars as a way to see many parts of the city.   We toured a Liberty ship from WW2 that still is in working condition and is taken out in the bay a few times a year. The ship even returned to Omaha Beach/Normandy in 1994.  The sounds of the engines and some video of the engines can be seen in the Titanic  movie! We'd heard of Liberty ships before, but didn't really understand them. They were civilian ships loaded with food and other necessities with only a small crew of Navy personnel to arm a few guns.  

Middle section of a panoramic shot of the bay. . . the flag was flying in the wind.

The 26th we decided we wanted pizza for dinner, so we looked at the  "Find Me Gluten Free" app.  We went to Tony's Pizza Napoletana  in North Beach. Mike recognized the name from Food Network (and we haven't had cable in about six years!) It was about a half mile from the hotel, so we had a nice walk there and back as well.  When we arrived, there was a 90 minute wait, so we hiked up to Coit Tower while waiting. Beautiful panoramic views of the city and Bay Bridge at night.  We managed to take probably the worst route up to Coit Tower. . . it was about a 50º to 60º, if not more in some spots climb on the street, and I was glad corsets and pointy shoes were no longer required for women.  We came back down, just as gingerly as the trip up, walked around North Beach and received a phone call after only 45 minutes that a table was ready for us.  THIS Pizza place is THE place to go for GF Pizza in North Beach area.  We dined outside in our sweaters, coats and under a heat lamp, but the evening was great.  Mike had a New Yorker pizza, thinner crust and larger slices while I picked the topics for my GF pizza. They don't make the crusts there, but they are still fabulous.  Ricotta cheese on a pizza is now a must. It's fabulous and creamy and YUMMMM!  If you go, have "The Bitter Truth" adult drink as well. . . 

Union Square Christmas tree.

I ran up to Coit Tower the next day to get some daytime photos from the top and can say that the route I chose this day was a little less steep.  Afterwards, I headed to downtown/financial area and managed to see the flock of red headed birds that fly around  the City. They took off in flight just as I started recording them on the camera.  Boy, was that loud to listen to in the hotel room!

Saturday we headed to Muir Woods, leaving in the morning just like the Nat'l Park man at Fort Mason suggested.  Here we are below at one of the many batteries (former military lookouts) that dot the coastland of the Golden Gate entryway. Muir Woods is a beautiful place full of redwoods that the area is known for. . . interestingly, the area was owned by a family who then donated the land to the US Gov't for a park in order to prevent a logging corporation from taking over the land! We drove down to Stinson Beach which is the starting place for the famed Dipsea Trail Run. [The trail itself was closed at the Nat'l Park.] The sun was shining and the wind was NOT blowing when we were at the beach. It was a beautiful day there and so different from the city of San Francisco just an hour away!  

From the northside of the Golden Gate area at one of the many military batteries

We tried to get to Point Bonita light house in time to see it open, but we missed it by ten minutes or so.  It's a light house you have to travel through a tunnel and then across a suspension bridge to visit! 

Sunday we drove out of the city to head to Woodside and the trail run--my first ever.  Eeek. Okay, it really wouldn't be that much different than a regular run, right?  My first thought of running was, "Can this lady go any slower on a downhill?"  

Then,  "Wow,thankful we went to Muir Woods yesterday so I got the sightseeing of trees out of my system".  

Other thoughts included:

"Wow, the elevation guide was not kidding on this race. It is all uphill".  

"These are gorgeous woods. I am so glad I won this race earlier this year" 

"Hmm, this switching back and forth on the same hillside reminds me of that scene from Dances With Wolves except with more trees".  

"Yeah, my GPS is off (from the canopy of woods/trees) if this is the turnaround spot" 

"WOO HOO it's all downhill from here, GO!!!!"

"Catch that lady, catch her, reel her in, reel her in." (done!) 

and then, "WOW, this downhill stuff is fabulous!". 

Final moments of my race and the purpose for the trip--finishing the Woodside 17km trail run!

After completing Mike was letting me know I didn't need to talk so loudly. I had no idea what he was talking about, but tried to whisper.  We went to Buck's in nearby Woodside for brunch for this hungry runner.  Great food there and after we were done eating, my ears popped. Wow. How loud had I been talking?? Afterwards we enjoyed a drive through the area, taking 84 to Pacific Coast Highway 1 and then north to the City. We drove through areas that probably never see dryness, to areas that looked like eastern Colorado which rarely sees rain.  We stopped at several beaches along the way, getting our  legs, feet and shoes soaked by a small surge of water at one place.For New Years evening, we dined at a Brazilian steakhouse (most are gluten free or at least the majority of food is gluten free).  This one advertised fifteen types of meat which are brought out on skewers by servers who wait for you to give them the "green light" to offer more meat. There's a huge salad bar as well for your balanced diet. 

Great ending to an interesting year.  Fireworks over the Bay. 

Happy running and exploring in 2013!  

Finding peace. . .

It seems to me that my legs should be all powerful at this time of year.  I've learned to not have my last race in October,  whereby my training then goes kaput just in time for the holiday(s) feasting.  This year I've learned that sometimes, you can't train all the time and take what you can, when you can, when it comes to living life. .  . 

However, this year, November and December have just gone by in a blur--so much more so than usual.  Weekends dashing (is a five hour drive ever dashing??) home to see my parents, see my mom with her limited time left with us, and trying to stay healthy in order to maintain the body.  I think my training was pretty on course through the beginning of Thanksgiving week and then it just fell apart.  Since then I've been trying to get sleep, trying to get enough to function and train when I can.  I got a run in Thanksgiving Saturday (when we did the holiday at my parents' place) and some during that next week. Two of mom's sisters came to visit, along with one of my cousins and her daughter.  It was a huge family feast. . . and no matter how much you try "not to stress" you're always going to stress at the holidays  am I right?  How many people really manage to never stress over anything at the holidays. . . I'd like to meet those who can!  Really, I'd like to know their secret!   Did I mention dad acquired a thirty pound turkey. Yeah, I was freaking on that a little. . . and then just decided to de-construct the thing to bake it, in two separate roasters.  Then it was done at 9am and we just put it in two crock pots with all its juices soaking in and making it sooo good and juicy. It probably helped a lot that it was a locally raised turkey (by one of dad's sister in laws). YUM!!!


Then a run on December 1. I know that for sure. . . then I went to my sister's in her town, where we had a volunteer function to do at 'high noon' so it really split up the day.  Then we "dashed" to my parents. Visited mom in the nursing home. Oh, how dad was trying to tell us on the phone, but he just couldn't say the words that would make what we saw so real.  if only. . . the two words whispered throughout the world probably more often than anything other, including, i love you. . . if only we had known what daddy was trying to say when he called us.  If only my sisters and I knew he had all called us within twenty minutes of each other on Friday. . . if only. . . .I'm so glad mom's other sister came to visit her that day, December 1.  It was the last night of normal sleep I'd have for quite some time. 

The mama, April 30, 2011.
 Six days after heart surgery, four days before her massive stroke,
and she was kicking my patooty at Boggle.
You want to play the board. . Go ahead,  your three minutes start NOW!.   

5:20am, the phone rings. I get up to answer it and it disconnects. . . get back in bed, phone rings again. not good news to be had my mind tells me.  I answer one line, my sister the next. I tell dad we have the phone. . . then I go tell dad that we'll drive with him to see mom, that she has little time left. It was so foggy outside it took all three sets of eyes and our brains remembering the route to know where we were.  Fog thicker than pea soup. . . visibility only fifteen feet in most areas. Dad came to a complete stop on the road and inched the truck forward to the intersection so we'd know where to turn.   Oh, I know there were those above watching out for us that day (and my mind goes to a 4-H friend who was killed in a car accident on a foggy day like this, I think of S often, and more so on these foggy days].   

We had forty minutes or so with mom before she passed away. Her suffering from cancer,  that came out of nowhere, and a diagnosis less than three weeks before,  was at an end. Our pain of going on without her was beginning.  

A whirlwind day this day,  then driving to my sister's house in the fog late at night. I woke up at 3am, after less than three hours of sleep, and drove home.  It wasn't very foggy on my drive home.  I was able to get a doctor's appt changed to Monday instead of Tuesday. Tuesday I went for a run, longer than I had planned, but my body was so in need of an outlet. I'm sure I looked a sight to those passing by as the tears came. The next days were a whirlwind, more travel, meetings, etc. . . and nights of three or four restless hours of sleep. 

Not surprisingly, I got a cold/slight congestion of some sort and then took the running easy (read, nonexistent) and started hitting the Zinc vitamins.  Mike got bit by a dog out riding his bike Saturday (first time ever, and sadly, the dog's shots were expired by seven months), and we went to the ER when we got back home. . . at 1am, so yoga on Monday was out (at 5:30am) last week. Yoga at the end of the week felt so good and relaxing and just what I needed in a small dose.  

Sunday evening I went out for a run just before dark.  I took my headlamp and ankle reflector (from Road ID) and wasn't too scared of the darkness at it fell, the peacefulness of the evening, contemplating the universe, why things happen, letting the mind wonder here and there. . .and then the geese came swarming into the lake and the quiet was extinguished. I went to yoga yesterday morning, and thought I'd go back in the evening to make up missing four classes. Today, my body is thanking me for NOT doing that. . .the yogi pushups have my arms in a tizzy today!  Back to a run tomorrow. . . . and I wonder how I'm going to do a 17k on December 30. . . in the hills, mountains, of Cal-i-for-ni-aaaaaaaaaa

2009 the mama and me. . . we went to a baby shower, then did some road tripping to this
nature center (which was later flooded in the big one of 2011,
and then went to the big city of KC, MO for more shopping. . . the mama, she loved to road trip:-) 

In the words of my wise papa. . . travel and see the sights while you can.  

Bless all who have come before us, who have taught us so much while sharing their lives with us. No matter the length of time they were with us, we learned something from them each and every day. 

Running for my sanity

Disclosure:  This will be a sad post.

I started running in 2009 and felt so free, something that I'd been missing for a long time with my health problems.

Last year, April 2011, The Mike and I were in the central part of the state for a bike race for him, a 320 mile  journey, with a couple checkpoints and his wallet for food at convenience stores.  . . I saw him off at 4am (or is it 5am?) and then went back to the hotel and got up later for a run.  It was a great run too, some hills, some crushed limestone walking path gravel, and some concrete.  When I got back to the hotel I had a missed call from dad:  Mom had another heart attack, a pretty bad one and was going to have open heart surgery.   He suggested we not come home, since surgery was going to be soon-- the next day on Easter Sunday. . . mom is never one to want to "announce" she is ill.  I called my siblings and then waited, went shopping, went to church to pray and then went back for the vigil that evening. I even called the race coordinator to see how The Mike was doing.  The next weekend was nephew's confirmation on Sunday and we drove to see my mom on Saturday. She was still in the hospital due to a blood clot in her left arm.  She was looking great and perky. We played BOGGLE. She kicked my butt in those matches!

The Mike took some pictures of this, which is fabulous, since ten days later she had a massive stroke leaving the left side of her body without movement.  We headed over to see her again (we keep telling her she doesn't need to go in the hospital for us to visit!), running for relief, for thinking, for meditation, for release, for sanity . . . 

One of these runs was near the hospital. I went out early on Sunday morning for a run, beautiful weather.  As I headed out, I realized I had left my whistle/flashlight in the hospital hotel, but figured I'd be fine. . . I ran to the Old Market and was almost back to the hospital when a car drove by, stopped in the center of the five lane road and street harassed me. The car went on, I went back to running and then the car came out from a side street, did a U-turn in the road. I sprinted across the road and then we were at a standoff. I realized exactly where I was then and I took off sprinting for the fast food places just over the top of the hill.  I also picked up some gravel rocks in case I needed weapons. . .I've never gone for a run without my whistle again!

Last fall, dad broke his leg in a freak accident.It would be the first time in thirty years he was not on the combine at harvest!  He had been visiting mom every day in the nursing home and this break (through the high waters of the 2011 Missouri River flood, through road construction, through miles separating them) and him being in a rehab unit meant that they wouldn't be seeing each other for a while.

Dad was able to drive on this road, before the flood, an hour each way to see mom in her rehab unit;
after the flood the detour took an hour and half each way.

I was blessed one weekend with springing mom from the local nursing home (only half an hour from their place) and delivering her to dad at his rehab unit (an hour away). Oh my, the sweet love on their faces at being reunited was amazing.    Even though they weren't suppose to be left alone, I left them alone in dad's room. He had the call button nearby if needed and I was outside the room.  Mom was so perky after seeing him. She had to have been frantic in the nursing home knowing but not knowing what was going on with him.

Picture a photo here of a woman in a wheelchair leaning forward grasping the hand of her husband she hasn't seen in weeks, the husband laying in bed with his leg bandaged all up, grasping her arm. [I forgot to ask dad for permission to post the photo, so I won't, even though it's a very sweet photo].


Dad brought mom home in May.  He's been caring for her every day. They have had drive-in date nights with DVDs as they retire for the evening.  They have excursions to the big city for treasure finds at the one of a kind stores.  He's always been a pretty good cook, and he's become a master at the crockpot and loves it.


Three weeks ago mom was eating less and sleeping a lot more, so he called the doctor and they said to keep an eye on her and to call in a week if she's not better.   They admitted her last Monday for tests and sent her up to a city hospital (one they hadn't been to in the last year or two!) and did more tests there.  Run, run, run for some understanding and peace and thinking and .  . . .

We drove over and saw them this weekend. Dad had said things didn't look good, he didn't know everything yet, but that she has advanced metastatic cancer.   Dad's a mess, of course.  Mom is eating like a bird, maybe a quarter cup of food at a meal, maybe a cup of food if she's feeling good.  I went for a run that morning, it wasn't a good run in time at all, but it was for the body and to help it deal with this stress.  

Last week one of my siblings called. It's not good. The doctor said of one hundred people, only fifty might live to see the Christmas season. Obviously, not a good night, nor a good sleep.  I woke up at 3:30 and could not get back to sleep. I thought of how I could get ready and leave the house without waking The Mike and where I'd leave a note so he'd know where I was.  In the end, I didn't go for a run then.  I got up at 6am with my alarm and got ready for a run, but I was so lethargic and tired and it was wicked foggy outside, that I decided to do some yoga instead.  I didn't do a lot of yoga, but I did some. .

The fine line between exercising and working out and maintaining one's health.  Exercising after four hours of sleep or so with stress on top may or may not be a good decision. Today I decided against it, since I was feeling pretty worn down already.

Love the one you're with, love the ones you have in your life while you can, honor their wishes and memories after your face time is over.

I wrote this last week and have to say that I haven't run that much in this last week. Part of this is due to wanting to get my sleep in order to keep my body healthy. I know, I know, running will help too, but my body needs quality sleep. It finally started getting it on Sunday, after a week of three or four hours of sleep nightly.  The Mike now has a cold and I'm trying to avoid that with vitamins, teas, and sleep.

Run happy and run for sanity. Get out and RUN. . . tomorrow for sure, maybe tonight after errands.

Race, Meatballs and pumpkin pie, not together of course.

November 3rd I entered the local Veterans Day event.  I've done this race the last two years as well and it's a great event put on by the local race director. He is awesome at what he does, and has over a decade of experience behind him in directing, and more as a racer. . . plus, he uses common sense when organizing a race.  

This race brings out many people from the community, although only about three hundred participate.  We even have the high school NAVY and Marine ROTC join in the fun. 

I was so very excited when I finished under 30minutes, with a gun start. When I got home, my watch said 29:09 so I may have actually been a sub-29 had it been a chip timed race (his 13.1s are chip timed, the 5ks aren't)

I was so excited with that information that I didn't even look, until The Mike pointed out, that I was also in the TOP HALF of the racing group too! It was quite wonderful to be in the top 50% for a change! 


This past weekend I made meatballs. .  Half cup meatballs that I bake on parchment paper. YUM.  I didn't have any bread crumbs on hand, so I used rice krispie cereal. Now that they offer the gluten free variety (they took out malt to make it GF), it is less sweet, so it's almost like bread crumbs/rice crumbs!  I smashed those in the package with my rolling pin and then continued to make the meatballs.  1 pound each of hamburger and pork sausage, 1 onion diced or minced (depending on how much work you want to make it) 1 egg, parlsey, pepper and parmasean cheese. Sometimes I add some garlic too, but not this time. 

These are great put on top of spaghetti, sliced for layering in lasagna, slicing for a sandwich, or for eating by itself.  

After I found this recipe, I found a 'meatball' scoop at the local kitchen shop.  I figured a half cup scoop would be good for meatballs or ice cream scoops!



Sunday I attempted to make an egg-less refrigerator pumpkin pie/custard.  I used the recipe on the back of the evaporated milk tin.  Let's say, um, it wasn't to the liking of the people in this household. I tossed out the custard and, still craving a custard NOW and not next week for Thanksgiving, I made pumpkin custard last night.  

I just use the recipe off the pumpkin can.  I was following the recipe for a two pie batter, and I remembered to halve everything except the eggs. I still put in all the eggs. Oops. 


Curious as to what would happen, I peaked in the oven.  I had made a souffle of sorts! 

IN the heat of the oven.

After dinner of pasta, marinara sauce and meatballs, we had our mini custard containers of pumpkin custard. I completely forgot to take a picture before we ate those. . . MUCH better than the no-bake. I think this is definitely the way to have pumpkin "pie" without the fat from a crust in between the holidays.

The pie after cooling.