HOPE

Geese standing on the ice:

. . . . . HOPING FOR SPRING!

Glorious Spring on Gateway Trail

Best day of the year!!
Gateway Trail: 8.6 miles today

Lots of polite bicycle riders sharing the trail
Runner Dude was out there meeting us coming and going... Always so energizing!
Spruce, pine, cedar
Oaks (red, white and burr oak), birch, poplar, cottonwood, hackberry, maples, ash, large & small leaf linden

Ferns, berry bushes, wildflowers I can't name...
.. AND

DANDELIONS!!
We were hearing at least 2 different bird songs all the way, and when we ran past ponds, the frogs.

Truly, there is no snow on Gateway.

Good Bye January

The minus 40 degree wind chill of earlier this week moderated into a mild just above freezing afternoon today and we were out running and walking in the neighborhood. Hello February.
Oh I know we will have much more snow and fluctuating temperatures. But it was mighty energizing to be outside in a lighter jacket.. without freezing my bones.

Love to Run Love to Run: Mantra for a Thursday

Love to run love to run love to run ... my feet sing, breeze in my face (well, from the community club circulating fan), and my heart monitor registering a respectable 155-160. Not running as fast as I would like to be, but I'm pushing now. Seniors don't have a lot of years to waste... but it is fun... I'm having a good time... running.

This afternoon we all ran outdoors: spring is a joy to cherish. Love to run.

A pileated woodpecker... that big lovely black one with red on it's crest... came dining on the suet right outside our living room window this afternoon.

Some of our friends have returned from the south (people friends, as well as birds) ..sure sign of spring.

This is a lovely day... for today, we can proclaim this the best day of the year. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Running for Our Lives

What a day for running! Fifty degrees in the late morning, sun shining, snow melting.

Runner Partner and I did a 10K (6.2 miles) on the track at the community center... and then ... oh joy of spring .... We did another 10K up and down the hills of the Legion neighborhood. .. So nearly a half marathon for the day.

Runner Dude ran too.. All outside miles, mostly Legion.
Then We Three finished up last night’s spaghetti and spinach lasagna.

Spring Ahead for Running; Anti-Cancer Cooking

We two are, sort of, following Runner Dude’s training plan. All 3 of us go to the Community Center, and for the convenience of it, we all spend about the same amount of time on the track. In the time he takes to run a mile, we two can do a K. On Sundays we go over after 11:00am, missing the shouting of the Jazzercise leader in the gym. Today we did a 5K while Runner Dude ran 4 miles. That’s how it goes all winter when we don’t run outside. It has been great to “run with him” for 4 or 5 months.

On the other hand, we are looking forward to some pleasant “running outdoors” weather .... a whole summer’s worth !

We are all training for that May marathon. It won’t be enough to train the same amount of time that he does; we will need to train somewhere near the same number of miles. We all will be doing the 26.2 in the race.

On Tuesday, he will be doing his long run outdoors, and we will make our first trek of the spring back to the Legion neighborhood. He will be running occasionally with his good friend Jim and also joining the Woodbury running group. I am lucky to have my Sweet Running Partner. Good luck to us all!

“Turkey Curry” sounds like some kind of oxymoron to me, but that recipe was on Yahoo this week: turkey tenderloins (whatever that is), sweet onion, ginger, and sweet potatoes, cooked in reduced fat coconut milk. The accompanying vegetable dish was carrots, cauliflower and zucchini cooked with a tablespoon of honey.
Each of the pans had curry powder stirred in. I made my own curry powder with turmeric, coriander, pepper, fenugreek, cumin, ginger, cloves, and caraway, roasted in a dry pan on the stove.

We eat just about every vegetable we can find, along with various kinds of beans, and chicken, turkey, buffalo, beef and pork. Plus salmon and another kind of fish each week.
If dessert... it is only fresh fruit... Bananas, apples, oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, melons, avacadoes. All difficult to "eat local" in Minnesota. (Sorry.)
No sugar .... some people say sugar feeds cancer.
I guess I knock myself out with cooking healthy, varied, interesting food... plus shopping for ingredients, and cleaning up the kitchen disaster afterward....but the Sweet Beep is a fabulous cooking partner and inspiration, and the variety keeps me engaged and inspired ..... What the heck, “interesting” is more fun than boring is. The Runner Dude is a joy to cook for: he eats everything I try.... says it is good, unless it is really totally inedible ........

And what if all those vegetables and proteins help fight down the light chain myeloma.

I like having Daylight Time in March. Spring tends to wake me earlier in the morning. But for some reason, a long nap worked particularly well this afternoon.

Friday, I slipped on ice in our driveway and did an instant body slam on the black top.... just a slight bruise on my back where my hip bone hit, but I have felt just a bit shook up all over today. Well, a good warning to watch my step when we are out there doing our long run and shorter runs this week.

Today has been lovely, the best day we have ... let us rejoice and be glad!!