RAGNAR! Yes, this is going to be a post all about that crazy two-day, almost-200-mile race that is the Great River Ragnar Relay. So if you don't care about running or adventures, turn away now.

The race starts in Winona, MN, and I rode down there with some running friends on Thursday evening. We stayed the night at my team's captains' house, waking bright and early to get to the starting line. We took photos, decorated our van, and then cheered as our first runner took off. I was in Van 2 (teams of twelve runners are broken down into two vans, which 'leapfrog' each other along the route), so we didn't have to worry about running until later in the afternoon. We stopped at Perkin's for breakfast before heading up to the first major exchange, which would be our van's starting point.

I was the same runner number as last year (Runner 10), which meant I had the same legs of the relay. The course was slightly different, though, so my first leg (which I complained about in my 2010 Ragnar recap) wound up being a mile and a half shorter -- 5.3 miles instead of 6.8. (Here I am, getting ready to run.) That change made a world of difference, as did the temperature (about 10F cooler than last year) and the clouds that rolled in around mile two. I actually ran almost a full minute/mile faster this time around, and I felt good doing it. Somebody passed me right as we turned into the 'chute' for the hand-off, and I tried to dig in and return the favor, but I could feel the gravel shifting under my feet. I decided that taking a spill wasn't worth it!

My second run began around 5:00am, and I hadn't really slept at all. The air was perfect at 55F, though, and I kept the pace up for the entire run. The leg was 3.7 miles long, and I was feeling great a couple of miles in, which excited me, because I knew that a big down-hill would kick in shortly after the second mile. I 'road-killed' several people on this leg (that's a terrible term for passing people in a race), including one girl who had passed me earlier. In fact, I was so determined to catch up to her and then put some distance between us (which I did) that I ran the last 3/4 mile at an 8:30/mile pace, which is pretty quick for me, especially at the end of a run.

The sun came up shortly after that, and my brain decided it was a new day, so I ceased feeling tired. I didn't run my third leg until sometime after noon on Saturday, and it was 4.75 miles on paved paths in St. Paul. I obviously did a much better job of hydrating this year, because I didn't feel as out of it as I had in 2010 (due to a dehydrated, rattly brain). I just tried to keep moving as quickly as I could, and with a mile left to go, my legs were pretty much spent. Fine, except that the course was long (it was supposed to be 4.5 miles), and that extra quarter mile was killer. I relied on my arms to keep my pace up (swinging them to force my legs to move), and I finished strong-ish, with a pace I could be happy with.

We met up with the rest of our team at the finish line, which was on the University of Minnesota campus, and when our final runner approached, we all ran to the end together. And then we ate free pizza, which is the most delicious thing imaginable after running all that way. Almost as soon as I'd had the pizza, though, my brain and body seemed to realize that their job was done -- and that I'd slept only about five hours between waking up on Thursday morning and the current moment, which was late Saturday afternoon. Total meltdown, both body and mind. I just needed a front-end loader to scoop me and my bags up and deliver me home (my awesome van-mates and my mom sufficed).

I'm really happy with my 'performance' this year -- I feel like I truly raced my segments instead of just running them. I think that's why my muscles have been protesting more than last year (and my de-blistered toe doesn't look too happy). It's taken a couple of days, but I'm back to the point of thinking it might be nice to go for a run in the morning, although it won't be the same without my teammates cheering me on!

-- I think this might be one of my favorite iPhone photos yet. Henny is a good explorer, even though our local dog park is pretty boring. The upside is that there are rarely any pesky dogs cluttering up the place, so Henny is free to sniff around without interruption.

-- I started watching Grey's Anatomy on Friday (streaming on Netflix), and it's just been a blur of surgeries and romantic drama since then. I'd always had less than zero interest in the show (too much hype?), but it's hooked me now. I'm actually a little disappointed that it's still on the air, as I much prefer watching episodes back to back instead of waiting entire weeks for the story to continue. I'm only on the second season, so I've got a ways to go, yet.

-- Boring running stuff: Connie asked about running in the Vibrams, especially the calf pain. When I first got my pair, I did about half a mile on the path by my house, and I definitely felt it the next day. That was before I had shifted from a heel strike to a mid-foot strike, though. For about eight months now, I've been striking with the middle of my foot, even while wearing regular, heel-heavy shoes, which I think has built up my calves. So that plus the fact that I'm only running on the grass in Vibrams means that I've had no calf pain since I started using these shoes a few weeks ago. I'm still taking it fairly easy on my IT band, but I've found it slightly more comfortable using the Vibrams, I think.

That donut there (technically a fritter, I suppose) represents sixteen miles. No, it doesn't have the same number of calories as a person burns while running sixteen miles (my god, that would be a big/decadent donut); it's more that after running that far, you stop, brush off your hands (as one should do after any accomplishment), take a shower, and then go get yourself some fried dough. You have to. That wasn't the exact order of my day (there was some lunch first and a bath), but I did manage to run sixteen miles this morning.

I'm training for the Fargo Marathon, which you might remember my mentioning. I'm rather tentative about it, because my quads or IT band or lower back (or, let's be honest, all of those) has been pretty tight lately, which leads to soreness. I'm giving myself permission to bump down to the half-marathon if I need to, but as long as I'm able to train for the full, I will.

Anyway, I went fourteen miles last week (most runners train with one Long, Slow Distance (LSD) run a week, plus whatever other runs they have on the schedule). I'd done that distance once before, but starting today, my LSD runs will set personal distance records every time I complete them. With the exception of step-back weeks, which is -- luckily -- what I have next week. (I only have to run a half-marathon! Woo hoo!)

As I was running today, I was thinking about how strange LSD runs are. The first five or six miles could be any run; you're going slower than you usually would, but it's hard to gauge how the run will go, over all, from those first miles. The next few miles are a bit more telling. Usually, if I'm going to have any pain during the run itself, I'll start to detect it around mile nine. And then, I decided today, the Weird Miles start, maybe after mile eleven or twelve. I can only hope that the Weird Miles take longer to set in the further you go. It's like your brain and stomach and legs have been bouncing up and down for so long that the run takes on a surreal and never-ending quality.

It's not all bad, though. The restfulness (that is, exhaustion) I feel in my body and mind after a good run is like nothing else. I could do without my metabolism going crazy, which makes even my eyeballs feel warm for the rest of the day. What a silly sport. I love it.

My Sunday has been most satisfactory. I had enforced (by myself) no-laptop time in the morning, so I organized my medicine cabinet and bookshelves (simple pleasures, people), and I finished reading a book. I think that brings my February book total to... five? I just signed up to be an Amazon Affiliate, so I'll post about my February reading once I've (hopefully) been approved for that. You know, in case you take my recommendations to heart.

I started the morning with one of the raisin rolls I made yesterday evening. I had thought to make them on Saturday in time for dinner, but then I met my friend Jeanette for coffee at Patisserie 46, where I had a very nice almond croissant. So I didn't have enough time to have them done for dinner, nor did I need to have bread/pastries comprise that many meals in one day. A personal choice. But that meant I was more than ready to have one for breakfast this morning!

I used that same recipe my mom found, and I'm sort of tempted to call it no-fail. 'Cause when it comes to making bread rolls, I have been a yes-fail type of person -- they always come out flat and dry. I would not recommend attempting these if you don't have a stand mixer that can do the kneading for you; the dough is beyond sticky, and adding enough flour to handle it would almost certainly ruin the finished product. But, man. That's some good bread.

I have no recollection of what I did between 11:00am and 2:00pm, besides eating a bowl of cereal for lunch (what? I didn't get to have it for breakfast!). Oh wait, that's not true. I read some more and then thought about mushroom growing kits. So awesome, except that mushrooms give me the creeps. What if they took over the house and suffocated me in my sleep? It could happen.

At 3:00pm, I headed out for a run. I don't usually go so late in the day, but the forecast was sort of shrugging its shoulders and saying that maybe there might be a chance of a little bit of sun later in the afternoon. (It did come out for the last couple miles.) I haven't had a nice, long run in almost a month now, thanks to my IT band, but I guess the stretching I've been doing is starting to pay off. I headed out thinking I miiiight do a slow eight miles (but being a little grumpy about it, because I'm bored with running in the cold). Halfway through, I was feeling really good, so at 6.5 miles, I did an extra out-and-back leg to bring my total mileage up to ten.

I celebrated with Indian food from the freezer, left over from when my folks and I got it from Dosa King. The curry had been my mom's kadai paneer, but I discovered that she'd carefully picked out all the pieces of paneer for herself, so it was just bell peppers and onion when I thawed it out. Still good, though! My parents haven't been super impressed with Dosa King, but I think if you're in the north metro area (it's in Spring Lake Park), it's worth trying. I've always been really happy with everything I usually get.

I hope everybody had a nice weekend, too! Did you do anything fun?

Friday

What an odd few days I've had. I felt like going to the neighborhood diner on Friday for lunch, so I decided I would do that, run a few errands, and then come back home to work and take Henny for a walk (since it was above freezing for the first time in ages). Lunch, check; Mill Ends, check; Target, check; back home -- not check.

My car has been making strange noises since October, and two different garages haven't found any problems. When I got out to the Target parking lot on Friday, though, the car wouldn't move. I got a tow to the dealership via AAA, and the guy in the wrecker said my axle shaft was broken, leaking transmission fluid everywhere. ('They won't be able to say they can't find a problem now!' he told me.) He said it wasn't such an expensive fix, which made me happy.

Cut to two hours later, when the garage found that, yes, the axle shaft was broken, but oh, there's also a hole in your transmission. Something had broken inside and actually shot through the metal casing. Transmission? Now junk. The car isn't paid off yet, so the only solution I can afford is to replace the transmission. Luckily, we were able to find parts that aren't quite as expensive as the initial, shocking estimate, but still. Ugh. (If the car continues to make its weird noise after all this, I'm going to set it on fire and push it into the river.)

Saturday

I decided to sign up for the Securian Winter Run (formerly the Frozen Half-Marathon) last weekend, I think. As I was running it yesterday, I was thinking, 'Wow, this is where I am now? I can decide on a whim to run a half-marathon in a week's time?' I'm pretty amused by my shifting attitude towards races, in general. Last year, when I was just starting to race, I would get very nervous about getting to the right place at the right time, picking up my race packet ahead of time, etc. Now I know my personal rhythm for race day (what to eat and so on), so I don't think about it very much. I was glad I could pick up my packet the morning of, and I was even relieved that there was no medal for this half-marathon.

Instead of a free shirt, the Securian Winter Run gave out mugs, which is what I used in the photo above. Now, I say this realizing I'm complaining about something I didn't have to pay for, but they're kind of extremely boring. Big mug (too big for my daily use), tiny little logo. The race seemed very well organized, as far as packet pick-up, bag-check, and post-race food went. One of the best races I've experienced, as far as that goes, especially considering registration was only $30. But the course was cut short with no explanation. I was on pace for a race-day PR, but they lopped off a mile and a quarter. Really shoddy.

Anyway, I spent the rest of the day eating (awesome falafel sandwich and fries from Athens Cafe in Robbinsdale -- they have some of the best falafel in the metro area, in my opinion) and resting. It was strange, but I had zero muscle soreness (no achy joints, either), which made me realize how exhausted the rest of me felt. I almost wondered if I was coming down with a germ, but I feel totally back to normal today.

I've been having a very pleasant Sunday so far, at least, and I hope you have been too!

-- Today is Birdy's first birthday! I got her in March last year, but this is the day she was born. For a while (around 8/9 months), I thought she was going to be a big cat, but she's probably more or less done growing now, and she's only a tiny bit bigger than Beany. I weighed all the pets the other day, and both Birdy and Henny are just under 8.5 pounds, and Beany is 7.5 (perfection concentrated in a small package). I was watching 'old' videos of Henny last night, and she's a little chunkier than she was back then (she's gained almost a pound, which is quite a lot when you're that small), but I figure it's winter weight. She needs it to keep warm, and once we're able to walk and explore the whole time, she'll trim right back up.

-- Did I mentioned I registered for the Fargo Marathon at the end of May? I can't remember. But I did, and I've started using the FIRST program to train for it. I learned my lesson about overtraining last year, so I like that this schedule is based on three quality runs a week instead of four or more. It's easy enough to add an extra run if I'm feeling particularly good and full of beans, but I don't want a program that's going to be too hard on my body. Since it's been cold out, I've been running in the afternoon instead of the morning (need to wait for the temperature to rise, whereas I try to beat the heat in the summer). I used to worry about psyching myself out of a run if I didn't head out first thing in the morning, but the thing about not overtraining is that you are always ready to get moving when it's time.

-- I've been going over to my folks' to use their treadmill since I got back from SoCal. It's been stupidly cold here, and even when it's not, the paths aren't in good enough shape for speedwork. I bring Henny with me when I go over, and she just loves playing with the 'big dogs' (they have two 50-60lb lab mixes). I really wish I had had my camera today, because Henny was full of it, trying to get Sasha to chase her around and then running through the house. She stayed there when I was in LA, and I don't know if she behaved like that while I was gone, but she sure has fun visiting the dogs, now.

-- I'm not done talking about pets yet. I took this last night; the animal interaction around here makes me laugh. Beany loves everybody, including Henny, and she'll gently groom her, given the chance. Henny, on the other hand, is strangely wary of Beany, but she really wants Birdy to play with her. And Birdy only has eyes for Beany -- and me, if I'm busy with something and don't really have a free arm to hold her. She's still the baby, after all.

When I decided to come to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks, one of the things I was most looking forward to was running the the mild weather. And I also immediately set out to find a race I could enter, because that's what runners do when we travel. Since I've decided I enjoy trail races more than road races, the Boney Mountain Trail Run was the most appealing. There's a 21k (13.1 miles, or a half-marathon) distance and a 6k (about 4 miles) for... saner people.

Given that hill running is NOT my strength, and that 10k was previously the furthest I'd run on trails, I had convinced myself that the shorter race was the one for me. But as people who enjoy challenging themselves physically will understand, there was a voice in the back of my head whispering about the half-marathon. When I finished the race is Vegas without incident (thanks to not over-training for once), I made up my mind and registered for the longer trail run. I was scared. Terrified. Pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to finish it. But also thrilled.

The race is in the Santa Monica Mountains, with some wicked inclines and steep downhills. The 'feature' of the course is the 4.5-mile climb up Boney Mountain, but focusing on that can make you underestimate the other ascents. Most people wind up hiking a lot of the hills, and I was definitely in that camp. It seems strange to stop running in the middle of a race, but I was all about finishing, not setting a land-speed record. It took me slightly longer to finish than I thought it might, but I never stopped moving forward, even when my muscles were screaming, and I feel extremely proud of that.

I wore a Camelbak (a hydration backpack) for this race -- my second time ever using it -- and it was absolutely vital. I put about 55 or 60 ounces of water in it, thinking that I've never drunk that much in 13.1 miles, but I went through all of it AND two cups of aid station water. All that climbing was thirsty work! I also carried my point-and-shoot camera during the race, because there was no way I going that far up a mountain without taking photos. Since I had to focus on the terrain as I moved, I just held the camera up and pressed the shutter without looking, so a lot of the shots were no good. I put five of them in this flickr set (they're at the bottom, right now).

I could talk about this race mile by mile, but I'm pretty sure that won't be of interest to anybody. What was amazing to me was how I could be absolutely beat from climbing, but then I'd come to a flat portion or a downhill stretch, and I was able to just start running without much ado. The fatigue was all in the specific muscles used for hiking an incline; the rest of me was pretty well preserved. And I didn't have any joint pain thudding down the hills -- perhaps my form is finally coming together.

This morning, I have the expected muscle soreness, but it's really quite a lot better than I was imagining it would be. I'm also surprised by how accomplished I feel. That might sound silly (most people would feel accomplished after finishing a 13.1 miles, anyway, right?), but there's always that drive to be better and faster. But I can't deny that this is probably one of the toughest half-marathons around, and I tackled it. And I didn't fall down a mountain trying.

P.S. -- That stretch of road in the photo above was the only pavement in the race -- a quick mile or so right at the beginning of the race. The rest was single-track or slighty wider fire road. Pretty rough and rocky, most of the time.

-- Birthday cake, Christmas cookies... why not some cheesecake, too? This was left over from dinner on Saturday, and I had it after my ten-mile run this afternoon. You know what tastes really good after ten miles? Well, anything and everything, but especially cheesecake. On one hand, it felt good to get outside today after quite a lot of indoorsiness and sugar this weekend, but on the other... running in the snow is hard work! Even just a relatively thin layer of packed snow makes it more difficult (not unlike running on sand), but I'm hoping it'll just make me all the tougher and stronger by the time spring rolls around.

-- For lunch: eggs and cottage cheese and potatoes! (And lettuce and pineapple... not mixed together, though.) It's one of my go-to meals at the moment. I would have usually had broccoli on the side, but I have to get more tomorrow. I like to eat green veg at lunch and dinner, so it's weird to be out; for dinner, I decided that Whole Foods' green bean chips (fried and salted green beans) counted as a vegetable (they really don't). It was just as well that I wound up having a carby dinner, anyway; vegetables (especially raw) often don't sit well in my stomach after a long run.

-- I'll be spending a couple of weeks in Los Angeles next month, since my friend Alex is house-sitting for her folks while they're on holiday. First, I started looking at vegetarian/vegan restaurants in their area, which had me beside myself with anticipation. Then, today, I realized there are state and national parks not so far away, and that it's going to be (relatively) NICE while we're there (assuming the rain holds off and hasn't already washed everything away). I was practically breathless with my excitement. Obviously, I won't be taking to the trails by myself, but I think I can convince Alex to join me for a few hikes. I remarked to her that we make an odd couple, what with her fondness for sparkles and my desire to climb around in nature until my legs ache, and she appropriately sent me this scene from The Mighty Boosh. So accurate.

-- Rob arrived in Minnesota this week, and on Thursday morning, he gifted me with all the treats I'd requested. Top priority was PG Tips (tea), followed by Revels (chocolate candies), Jordan's Tropical Crunchy Oats (which I irrationally feel are more special than anything similar I could buy here), Hovis biscuits, and Tunnock's Teacakes. The last in that list is what's pictured above, and if you've never had one, it's a (vegetarian) marshmallow on a buttery biscuit (cookie), all covered in chocolate. The package got pretty beat up on the way here, but I managed to pick one that was in pristine condition to photograph... and then decided it was too boring if you couldn't see some of the marshmallow. Smash.

-- A few weeks ago, I was going for a run, and I realized that the new streetlights they've installed on the path obscure from view the fire hydrant that I always used as my 'once I'm there, I'm done' point. I can, however, still see the big metal trash can that's on the other side of the street, but my brain couldn't come up with the right word in the moment. 'Oh,' I thought, 'now I'll have to use that... that... thunderpail.' I have no idea why or how that popped into my head, but I was immediately delighted. I think maybe I was channeling Minnie the Dog, as she always hated the loud noises those trash cans make when their lids are opened.

-- I wonder how many people who read twelve22 also check my flickr photostream. I tend to either read a person's blog OR look at their flickr photos, but there are a few where I keep track of both. I put more photos on flickr than I do here, of course, and sometimes I'm better about regularly uploading things to flickr even if I'm not posting here. I always worry about writing the same or similar stuff here and there (not that it usually stops me), but I figure that most people don't check in on my flickr unless I link to something. Do you?

-- I went for an eight-mile run this morning, although it was really more of a run/walk. Running in the snow, even when it's mostly plowed, is a lot more work than running on a clean path, and it's also less comfortable when I have to wear so many layers. Ever since my injury back in September, though, I've become a lot more forgiving of 'bad' days and less rigid in my expectations for myself. I always feel fantastic after a run, mentally and physically, and those effects don't depend on hitting some imaginary goal pace. I just have to get out there. I also realized today that I spent a fair bit of time this autumn worrying about whether I'd be able to run in the winter. I didn't think I could deal with the temperatures and conditions; I didn't think I was tough enough. So my realization was that I am doing it now. Funny how that can just happen.

The full title of this post should be 'What Happens in Las Vegas Doesn't Really Have to Stay in Las Vegas if It's Not Particularly Scandalous' -- here's one last post about my trip.

Free Stuff

This was a great weekend for the collection of Free Stuff. I have no time for bits of paper and flyers (both at the race expo and the book fairs I've been to, I always wonder what the appeal is of collecting vast reams of printed matter that booths are handing out; some people will pick up anything), but I do like useful items. Namely, things I can eat. Among all the free samples, I also wound up with two bananas to bring home, which amazingly made it all the way back in my carry-on without getting banged up.

I was also rather enamored with the hotel pens (small, sleek, but with a nice heft and good ballpoint), and when we were at the Team Challenge pasta dinner, I helped myself to one that was on the table for filling out raffle tickets. My roommate, Amy, took a picture first of a friend holding up the tickets he was buying ('Here's Adam, doing good.') and then of me with the pen ('Here's Anna, stealing things.'). When we were packing our bags before driving out to Lake Mead, I had to make note of an address, which caused me to exclaim, 'Oh no, I have nothing to write with, because I stole all the pens!'

Food

Being a vegetarian in Las Vegas isn't the most awesome thing. There was a Whole Foods a short bus trip away, but whenever I would have had the time to go there, I was totally exhausted (and usually starving). More than anything else, I was disgusted by the price of eating out in Vegas. It was awful, and most of the food really wasn't worth it. I did enjoy a good veggie burger the first night, and I had some nachos the night after the race which were delicious. I think my favorite thing was the breakfast buffet, despite its ridiculous price. Both times I went, I had a pastry, yogurt with fruit, and scrambled eggs, which doesn't sound like all that much, but it was enough both times to keep me full well into the afternoon. I'm looking into how to get a breakfast buffet installed here at the house.

The Race

So, how'd the race go? Overall, I'm very pleased. After I injured myself in September, I was worried about whether I'd even be able to run 13.1 miles by December. I kept my training light -- two short runs (3-5 miles) plus one long run per week. The result was that I continued to recover even as I started running again, and I didn't injure myself at this race. After looking at my pattern of having great training runs and miserable races, I realized I'd been overtraining, and taking it easier this time definitely worked out for the best.

Because I couldn't work on speed for the past few months, I let go of any time goals I had had (namely, getting a sub-2:00 half-marathon this year), which allowed me to enjoy the race without pressure. My finishing time was 2:16:30, which isn't the fastest I've ever run the distance (on my own), but it is a personal record for a race (see: history of miserable races). And in my mind, there were two races: the first eleven miles, which were great, and the last two, which were a slog. I had zero pain, which was a fantastic and new race experience, but I just hit the wall, and my muscles couldn't move me along any faster. I was fueling with Gu gels and drinking plenty, so I don't know what happened.

But those first eleven miles are much more important, in my mind. I felt good, and I enjoyed myself. The course was along the strip and very flat, which was nice. I didn't enjoy the bands along the route (this was part of the Rock 'n' Roll series) -- not because of the bands themselves, but because they were so loud that it made running past them quite uncomfortable. But the banks of Team Challenge supporters were awesome. Every time they saw a runner in an orange singlet, they went wild, which was definitely a boost. I saw Andrea, our new region manager, twice (out and back) during the race, and she even ran with me for a short time after mile nine, right when I needed a good distraction from how many miles were still left.

So, in short, I had a great time at the race, and I loved the Team Challenge experience. They run another half in Napa during the summer, and I have no idea how I'd manage the fund-raising again, but I'm sure tempted to try...

-- Pumpkin pie! That's neither pumpkin nor, technically, a pie! I roasted two of my butternut squashes to make soup a week or so ago, which used two kilos and resulted in some leftover squash that I put in the fridge. We didn't have pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving (but we did have zuccotto!), so I decided that's what I wanted to make on Friday. Lo and behold, I had exactly the right amount of leftover squash (420g) to make the Libby's recipe. I used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 (can't tell) and pureed the cooked squash with some of the evaporated milk to get it super smooth. I baked it as recommended in the recipe... just without a pie shell. Yum.

-- I took Henny to an adoption event on Saturday (despite the fact that I really don't want anybody to adopt her), and she totally impressed me. The last time I went to one, when I brought her home to foster, she spent the entire two hours trembling at the back of her pen. She couldn't bear to look at anybody; she was completely closed off. This time, she walked up to sniff people's hands (!) and wagged her tail (!) and was generally adorable. There wasn't any interest in her, though (she was in a pen with a pug that people thought was sooo cute -- I do not get the attraction to pugs!). I guess nobody wants a dark-colored little pig dog. All the more for me to cuddle with.

-- I leave for Vegas early Friday morning! I've managed to not injure myself thus far, so there's less than a week left now. I'm just going to remain completely motionless. We had our send-off dinner tonight, and I got my Team Challenge singlet for the race, which has me all excited. As I was telling some of the other members, I have no real attraction to Las Vegas; I'm just excited about the race -- and the race expo, beforehand. I love me some running swag. I do like going on trips, though, so that's fun. I like packing a bag. And snacks. Love travel snacks.

-- Look at those paws! Birdy is very marbled, grey and orange, especially on her legs. She'll be ten months old in a few days, and I still feel like it's anybody's guess as to how big she'll wind up being when she stops growing. At the moment, she and Beany weigh the same (8lbs), but Birdy has a completely different frame. Beany is slight and compact; Birdy has a tail that looks like it belongs on a lemur. I adopted Beany when she was nine months old, and she didn't grow considerably once I had her (she did become less kitten-ish, though), so there's that. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if Birdy turns into a 15-pound whomper, given how lanky she is. Cats.

-- If I could have three greedy wishes, my first two would be to be able to sleep as long as I want and to be able to run as often and as far as I want without injury. (The third would be for tons of money, obviously.) I'm not one of those people who can stay in bed all morning long. My sleep patterns have been pretty good this year (2009 was terrible), and I'm glad for the usual 6-7.5 hours I get a night, but I could go for a nice 9-hour sleep from time to time. I thought I might try melatonin to see if it had any affect, and it does seem to help me fall asleep quickly (not usually a problem, anyway), but it doesn't keep me asleep any later in the morning. It has, however, turned the dreams up to eleven. I'm an active dreamer, anyway, but I can definitely tell a difference (or have convinced myself I can).

-- Some running things: Two and a half week until Vegas! I'm getting excited, and mainly for things that have nothing to do with the race's location. Namely, it's my first big race with an expo beforehand. Vendors! Samples! After my Monday-morning run, I decided I really needed a new pair of shoes, because I was starting to have little twinges in my feet that shouldn't have been there. I've been running in Saucony Triumphs all year long (a pair of Triumph 6's, then a 7 that ran small so was replaced with a new pair of 6's), but I decided to switch to the Asics Gel Nimbus 12. I wanted to go with a less padded shoe, but I am, in my heart of hearts, a half-marathoner, and I'm going to be training for a marathon starting in January, so I decided I need the cushioning. I went up another half size (so a full size larger than I usually wear) to be able to fit warmer socks in for the winter. Given that, they're only 10g heavier than the smaller Triumphs, so pretty comparable.

-- Alex and I had a magical day in magical White Bear Lake (okay, neither thing was actually magical, but they were nice). Our earlier apple-picking trip this fall was kind of a bust, and Pine Tree Orchard looked so charming when I ran a trail race there a couple weeks ago. The 'u-pick' is closed for the season, of course, but the store stays open all winter long, and we were impressed. I came away with apples, a cider donut for the morning, and gifts. Oh, apples.

-- Speaking of trail races, I bought one of my official photos from last week's race, and you can see it here. It's like I'm happy to be running, right? The trails are just so much fun! This afternoon, we stopped into Tri-Fitness in White Bear, where I had an interesting conversation with the owner until I realized Alex's head would explode if I didn't wrap it up soon. This is why it's so important to have running friends (which I do); runners love talking about running!

-- Answers to Henny-related questions from my last post: I got into fostering by contacting one of the local rescues (Underdog Rescue). I filled out the application on their site and was contacted after they reviewed it. I'm sure there are many rescue operations just like it all over the country/world, and most of them need reliable, safe homes for the time between a dog's rescue and its adoption. Also, Henny is around two or three years old. So it's remarkable how quickly she's made progress in certain areas. Learning to not run away from humans is going to take a bit longer, though!

-- I made some good tofu tonight. I usually use my favorite spices (chili powder, cumin, onion and garlic powders, etc) for flavoring tofu, but today I went a different direction and threw in some curry powder, coriander, sage, turmeric, and a few other things. It turned out pretty good! I always shake straight from the container rather than measure spices; you learn pretty quickly how to eyeball a thing like that. I need to get new salad dressing, though. Whenever I think I'm getting bored of salads, it turns out I just need a different dressing!

-- When I was thinking about the midterm elections a few days ago, I realized that they mean I've been back in the US for four years. In 2006, I tried going out to vote, only to find that I hadn't been living in the state long enough (a minimum of 20 days). Not so, this year. I think that was the only time I haven't voted since I've been old enough to do so, though. Maybe not midterm elections when I was twenty.

-- I'm sad that I discovered trail racing only recently, since it's getting cold out now, and decent races are few and far between. Having done a trail race the past two weekends, I feel like this coming one is going to be sort of empty without it. With the exceptions of August and October (which had two races each), I've run one race every month since March, but I didn't really start enjoying them until two weeks ago. I think part of it was the fun of the terrain, but it was also just that I was putting no pressure on myself to perform. Plus, you have to appreciate being part of a crowd of people who don't mind waking up early on a Saturday morning to stand out in the cold.

-- You know, when I was in Frankfurt last year, I bought some veggie frankfurters (and prepared them almost exactly as above, it turns out!), and I was a little disappointed, because they tasted a lot like the veggie hotdogs I often buy. But now I get these veggie hotdogs and think about how they remind me of the frankfurters. Nice!

-- I ran a 10k trail race this morning. Two races in two weeks? It's not something I would usually do (except that one time I ran Ragnar and then did a duathlon the next week -- that was kind of crazy), but they weren't very long races (for me -- 5 miles last week, 6.2 this week). And they were FUN. I'm officially in love with trail running, and if I had trails nearby that I could safely run (or trails nearby + a running partner), I'd switch over full-time. It's a heck of a workout, too; I don't usually get muscle soreness from running, but trucking up some of these hills really leaves you feeling it. Especially in the butt area.

-- Henny was amusing today. She had to spend the entire morning by herself, because I had the race and then met up with running friends for brunch afterward. I let her play outside when I got back, and she started getting silly, taking off in a chihuahua version of a gallop. I recorded about six seconds of it here; it was very funny to see, considering how reserved she usually is. And later, inside, she had a brief spell of naughtiness: wrestling with the cat tent, biting a rug, tearing a piece of paper napkin (don't know where that even came from) -- all within about thirty seconds. She wasn't actually trying to do damage, so it was good to see her feeling slightly rambunctious.

-- I think I've convinced myself to participate in NaNoWriMo once again. This will be my fifth year (and I've managed to finish the past four times), though they haven't all been in a row. I was hoping to flesh out the plot a bit before the writing began, but seeing as I only have one day left to do that... it's seeming unlikely. Who needs a plot, right?

-- Meet Henrietta. I've been calling her 'Henny'; the woman who rescued her was calling her 'Henri', but people immediately assumed she was a he when I used that name, so I've ditched the 'r'. I'm fostering her at the moment, and it's going to take a lot of time and patience to get her acting like a dog. She's two or three years old and spent her entire life in a puppy mill, and it shows. She doesn't play, and she freezes when you touch her. She does enjoy being petted, though, especially when she's curled up on the sofa. I've never seen the point of chihuahuas, but she's utterly adorable, and I realize now that little dogs are basically just like cats... except they're dogs.

-- Yesterday morning was the Run for the Apples race. It was five miles of hilly trails, and I loved it. I left the house just past 7:00am to get to the race, which wasn't in town, and as soon as I stepped out the door, I knew it was a good day to run. The weather couldn't have been more perfect (cloudy and cool), and I was happy to be feeling good. Considering the terrain, I kept a decent pace, and I felt very strong. I think maybe I've been a trail runner this whole time and just never knew it!

Last week, Yin left a comment asking about my recovery routine after I go out for a run. It's a great topic to bring up, as what you do after running is really important to how you'll feel the next time. The short story is this: stretch and eat. But here's what I do...

When I finish a run, I rehydrate first. I make sure to bring extra water if I've driven somewhere, and if I'm running from my house, my first stop upon getting back is at the kitchen sink. When I run in the heat or go further than five miles, I'll bring sports drink with me to sip while I'm out. There's an problem of hyponatremia in long-distance runners, which occurs when you drink too much water and sweat out too much sodium and electrolytes. So a sports drink keeps that in check while I run, but I usually am thirsty for plain old water by the time I'm done.

My next step is to stretch out. My pre-run stretching routine is fairly short and really just has to do with loosening my knees and hips, but post-run stretching is important! Since I've been easing back into running after an injury, I've been following most runs with this 20-minute yoga flow. It's been really great, as it works the entire body instead of being just a series of leg stretches. I replace the savasana at the end with legs-up-the-wall (like so). Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Running, recommends this to drain the 'used up' blood out of the legs, so that fresh blood can rush in afterward. I don't use any sort of cushion under my lower back, and it lets my spine lie flat and long on the floor, which always feels great.

What I do next depends on the length of my run. If I've gone further than five miles, say, (or if I'm just really hungry), I'll eat at this point. The rule of thumb is to eat within an hour of a light workout or half an hour after a hard workout. This is important. I know a lot of people don't feel hungry or might even have an upset stomach after a long run, but you really need to find something you can deal with consuming (smoothies are popular). The way you treat your body after a run will determine how it performs in the future, and you can get away with short-changing it for only so long. I have no problem eating as soon as I finish running; in fact, if I've done over ten miles or so, I don't really have a choice -- my metabolism goes bonkers, and I have to start replacing all the calories I burned. If I drive to a longer run, I'll bring second breakfasts with me, because I know it will take too long to get back home again.

But if I've just gone out for a few miles, I might shower before I eat. I did this a lot in the summer, because I would get so disgustingly sweaty; not showering right away just wasn't an option. (And I needed a cold shower to help me cool off!) Since I started distance running, I've been taking more baths, because they feel great. I'll quickly rinse off the grime with a (very short!) shower and then soak a bit in the bath.

When I was starting to do ten-plus milers, before I corrected my stride, I would be in pain after every long run, so I started running coooold baths. But if you're not injuring yourself (and you should find a style of running that prevents that, obviously!), a warm bath is much better for your body. It gets the blood flowing and relaxes the muscles and sets you up for your next run. (This is another thing I picked up from Chi Running, which is a must-read for form and training tips!)

And that's that! Before I hurt myself (from doing speed workouts, which was foolish), my post-run routine was serving me really well. I was running 13.1 miles with absolutely zero pain or muscle soreness afterward, which is pretty incredible. So like I said, just stretch and eat.

-- I've been wanting a new bag/purse for a while. I was at REI yesterday (getting a refund on the sale price of a jacket I bought almost three weeks ago -- REI is awesome), and I was tempted to buy a new bag, but I didn't want to spend money on something I could make. Instead of starting from scratch, I found the messenger bag I used to use in college, and then I went at it with a seam ripper, reducing it to its parts. I cut out the pieces I needed and sewed it into a totally new bag. The fabric on the front flap was an addition, but other than that (and the thread... and the zipper pull), everything else came from the old bag. Perfect!

-- As sad as I was to miss the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, the weather couldn't have done its part any better to make sure I was happy here in Minnesota. Chris and I grilled pizza on the BBQ tonight and then sat outside until after dark, and it wasn't the least bit chilly. It's not going to last forever, but I'll take it for as long as it does!

-- This morning, I went for my first (very gentle) run since I injured myself two weeks ago. Man, I love running. A relaxed run (when I'm not pushing for speed) opens up my heart and lungs and makes me feel so healthy and at ease. I could have happily gone for eight miles, but I'm trying to ease back in, so I kept it short.

-- Don't forget, you can download PDF versions of my zines for only $2 each! The money goes towards my Team Challenge fund-raising! Super cheap! Super helpful!

Okay, here's something I'm excited about. I've created a few zines in the past couple of years, and it's been fun to share them with people. But it's a lot of work to get them printed out and distributed, so I thought recently, Why not make them available as PDF downloads? And better yet, since I'm still on my campaign to raise money for Team Challenge (donate directly to my fund-raising effort here), all the proceeds will go towards my goal.

I've made two of my zines available as downloads ($2 each), and I decided to do a PDF version of my 2009 Annual, as well ($4). Those are the suggested prices, but since all the money is going to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, it would be great if you were able to give more than that. If not, no pressure! The money has to first go through my PayPal account, so I'll be depositing it into the Team Challenge pot in larger lump sums. Not to worry, though -- I won't be skimming any off the top!

My 2009 Annual is a round-up of my favorite photographs from that year, along with my notes on the happenings and goings on. I broke it down by subject -- the house, gardening, cats, trips abroad, food, etc. The printed edition has been available since the beginning of the year (through Lulu; see the link on the sidebar), but this is the first time it's been available as a download. [40 pages, as 21 spreads]

I made my Grow zine in 2008 -- it's subtitled 'The Story of a Girl, a Vegetable Garden, and Two Anthropomorphic Cats', and that pretty much sums it up. It describes my experience with gardening on a Minneapolis city lot, includes tips and recipes, and has a lot of silly drawings. Most of them of Beany and Booty. [20 pages, as 11 spreads]

I think that My Little Frankfurt Zine is probably my favorite. It really is little in real life (each page is a quarter of a letter-sized piece of paper), and I drew it while in Frankfurt for the bookfair in 2008. It was a fun way to journal while I was actually there, and I still really like the way I played with the drawings inside. [21 pages, as 12 spreads]

I hope you'll be interested enough to check them out, and if you do, I really hope you enjoy them! I appreciate the donation towards my Team Challenge fund-raising goal!

-- I really like the set of animal cookie cutters from Ikea. Hedgehog cookies? Why not! I don't even really like sugar cookies (although I can still say that I like the old Betty Crocker recipe best, and that's what I use); I just like decorating them.

-- I was back in La Crosse this weekend for the Maple Leaf Half Marathon, which Jessie and I both ran. Neither of us was a runner when we were in college, which is certainly a shame, as La Crosse is a great place for a runner to live. The race itself would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't been sick and injured going into it. For the record: running on an injury will neither fix it nor produce a great race time. More evidence to support my theory that runners are 95% stubborness (+ 4% sweat and 1% athletic ability, at least in my case).

-- I mentioned I received a hand-me-down iPhone (3G), right? Despite negative comments I may or may not have made about Hipstamatic, it was pretty much the first app I downloaded (besides what I already had on my iPod Touch). The truth is that it's a great way to take interesting photos with a camera that doesn't have a lot going for it. For now, I'll transfer my snobbery to the Lomo app, although I imagine it doesn't mysteriously drain its battery in the middle of a roll of film, the way my real Lomo does. Anyway, I've started a flickr set for my iPhone photos here.

-- I picked two butternut squashes yesterday. There's one more that I'll pick in a few days, and probably half a dozen that won't ripen before the first frost hits, which is a shame. The vine has done really well, though, and the squashes are plenty big. I'd bookmark some interesting recipes, but I'd much rather have a long-lasting supply of amazing butternut squash soup. Why bother with anything else?

About four and a half years ago, I signed up for the London Race for Life 5K. I had never run a mile (or even a quarter mile) and had no experience raising money for charity, but I tackled both tasks and met my goals, by running the entire 5K and by getting many generous donations. Almost exactly four years after I started training for that 5K, I entered my second-ever race -- the 100% Irish 5K -- and then a 10K, and then I got brave and trained for (and completed!) a half-marathon. That's a lot further than a 5K. And now my fund-raising goal is about to get a lot bigger, too.

There are a lot of races out there to run. As a reader of Runner's World and Running Times, I see a lot of advertisements for races all over the world, many supporting different causes. In July or early August, an info card came in the mail, advertising Team Challenge's participation in the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon. The race will be run on December 5th, and I certainly like the idea of running in Las Vegas at that time of year. But I tend to balk at fund-raising events; asking people for money puts me out of my comfort zone.

This time it's different. Team Challenge is an effort to raise funds for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), and almost exactly six years ago, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. It's not something I tell people about; it's certainly not the most glamorous of conditions (well, it's further along the unglamorous spectrum than most diseases, anyway). But it's something that's affected me greatly over the past six years, something that's made staying healthy extra important and extra tricky.

I feel like I was extremely lucky to have been diagnosed when I was an adult; I can't imagine having to deal with the challenges of the disease as a child. But many children do have to cope with Crohn's and colitis, which is what makes supporting the CCFA and their research so important, in my mind. So I'm taking my fund-raising very seriously. To earn my place on Team Challenge, I have to raise $3,500, and I hope I can blow that out of the water.

So I decided I don't really care about my comfort zone. I'm asking you for money, because I know what a difference the CCFA can make in the life of somebody with Crohn's or colitis. If you would like to make a donation, please visit my fund-raising page. I've started strong, but meeting the goal is still going to take a lot of work. But if I can find 100 people to donate just $25, I'll have done my job. And maybe you can give more than that -- or maybe not, but every dollar counts.

I started running to get healthier and to raise money for a good cause. This campaign seems to bring it all together -- my health, the health of others, a wonderful foundation, and an amazing race. I know it's going to be overwhelming to get to Las Vegas and see so many orange Team Challenge singlets -- to know that we're all in this together!

-- I won't be able to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, and I'll miss seeing my Frankfurt friends and reading German magazines and visiting the Palmengarten and eating a LOT of baked goods. To ease my pain (just a little), I baked up a batch of Brezelbrötchen -- pretzel rolls. I wish they had turned out a little smoother and glossier (I think I should only boil one or two at a time, because I get flustered and -- I think -- leave them in the water too long), but they're very tasty. And if you're a fan of Trader Joe's peanut-butter-filled pretzel bites, just imagine a warm Brezel roll with almond butter. Oh wait, you don't have to imagine. Amazing.

-- I had the almond butter Brezel roll for dinner before heading out for my second Team Challenge run. I promise I'll write more about Team Challenge tomorrow or Friday, but for now I'll just say that I've really enjoyed the training runs. I'm not a super speedy runner, but I am more conditioned than several of my teammates, and being a strong runner in the pack is a nice change! July was a really rough running month for me, but I got my mojo back in August and am more in love with it than ever.

-- The cats are lovable and annoying in (almost) equal measure. That's averaging over both cats. Beany is probably 80% lovable, 20% annoying (and that goes to about 95%/5% as long as she stays indoors), while Birdy is... well, the opposite? But she's only seven months, and Beany wasn't the most charming when she was young, either. Birdy's sort of a jealous cat and doesn't like it when I give Beany a lot of attention. But it's not what you'd think -- she'll come over and try to steal Beany away from me. How dare Beany cuddle with me and not her!

Whew, what a weekend! The photo above has nothing to do with the weekend (it was taken this morning), but you know... post needs a photo. And it did remind me that Lena commented on a different photo of mine that featured ReddiWip, saying that seeing me eat it makes it seem 'not so bad'. It made me think that I should do a 'confessions' post, because there are quite a few processed/fake-y/'bad' foods that I love, and they're in no way off limits! But that's for another post.

Saturday: Woke up, ate breakfast, drove down to Lake Harriet for a training run with Team Challenge (that's ANOTHER post, too!). I'd already fit in plenty of miles for the week and had a race the next day, so I was happy to take it easy. I actually found myself in the position of pacing a slower runner, which is the opposite of what I'm used to! The run got started a bit late, so when I was done, I had to quickly get home, shower, and then go over to The Modern for brunch with Chris and friends.

After I had my fill of banana-nut French toast (my review: meh -- go to Key's and try their cinnamon French toast instead), Chris and I walked downtown so I could pick up my race packet for the following day. Of course, once we were down there and I remembered it was International Read Comics in Public day, we had to make our way to Big Brain to pick stuff out. (I got the first American Elf book, FYI -- I'm a dedicated reader of James' on-line strip.) On our way back, we stopped at the mostly-closed Mill City farmers market, where I bought an ice cream cone -- orange sorbet mixed with vanilla ice cream (made by Sonny's and AWESOME!).

By the time we got back to Chris', we'd walked over four miles, and I had been wearing my Vibrams. I made myself an afternoon cocktail, read my comics, and took a nap. Then we went to Holy Land for dinner (okay, this time I mean it when I say I'm done with their falafel -- Big Marina Deli is SO much better). We watched Fantastic Mr. Fox in the evening, and it was charming.

Sunday: Woke up, ate breakfast, loaded up my bike and drove downtown for the Minneapolis Duathlon. I registered for the fun course (1.5-mile run, 11-mile bike, 1.5-mile run) in July, when I thought I might want to get into multi-sport events. In the meantime, I realized I'm a runner through and through and that I hate riding a road bike. So... I was sort of dreading the duathlon, even though it was a short one. I decided last week to just ride my heavy cruiser hybrid (the race was very welcoming to all abilities and bikes), which was a great choice, in the end. My road bike, which had just been to the bike shop on Tuesday, had a completely flat rear tire Sunday morning! Dumb.

Some of my Daily Mile friends were also competing in the duathlon, including my Ragnar teammate Cristy. We had a lot of downtime between setting up our bikes in the transition area and the actual start to our waves (we both did the fun course, which started fairly late in the morning), and it was great to have a running buddy to keep me company! We met up again after the race, at a restaurant downtown that was giving racers free cake and champagne. Best post-race food ever! I had only my phone with me, so those pictures I linked to aren't the greatest, but they still recorded the moment!

The duathlon reinforced my belief that I'm a runner, not a biker, but I still had MUCH more fun than I was anticipating. My biking leg was weak, but I actually did very well on the running portions. It was clear that many of the racers weren't endurance runners; the 1.5-mile legs just seemed to fly by to me, but there were an awful lot of walkers, especially after the biking portion.

I didn't get home until after 1:00 in the afternoon, so I showered and had some lunch. I rested a bit, and then, since my parents had just got home from Ely, I went over to their house to get Chipotle for dinner with them. My mom and I went out for it, and when we were in line to pay, the cash registers froze, so we got all the food for free! Yesterday was just full of free, awesome food.

How was your weekend? Busy or relaxing? I definitely had a lot of fun the past two days, but I actually need some low-key work hours to fit in some relaxing!

The Great River Ragnar Relay: Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. On Friday, my team of twelve runners (see us here) set out on a 193-mile relay that took us from Winona, MN, up to Stillwater, and then over to Minneapolis. Crazy? Yeah. But also ridiculously awesome and fun.

Although the teams consist of twelve runners, they're broken down into two vans, so that while your six teammates in the other van are running, you get a chance to rest. And although I imagine being trapped in that van for the rest of my life as some sort of horrible, mobile purgatory, I couldn't have been happier with my van-mates; we had a great time.

Everybody runs three legs of the relay, and each leg varies in length and difficulty. I was very lucky in that I didn't have to tackle any monstrous hills, but I wouldn't hesitate to say that my first run, a seven-miler that began just before 4:00pm, was the toughest run I've ever finished. Here I am receiving the slap-bracelet 'baton' from my teammate, totally unaware of how miserable I'm about to become. See, it wasn't the furthest I've ever gone, and it definitely wasn't the hilliest course I've ever run, but the sun. The sun! There was not a leaf's worth of shade on that entire stretch of god-forsaken road between Nelson and Pepin, WI.

This run really pushed my limits, and I had to monitor myself very closely, because I could imagine the heat getting the best of me. I walked every time I felt my heart rate get too high, and if it had been a training run instead of a race, I would have quit after just a few miles. But I made it to the next hand-off and managed to surprise myself with the pace, given all the walking I'd resorted to. After two more runners, we had a brief respite in Stockholm, WI, and I waded up to my waist in the Mississippi -- bliss.

After that first run, neither of my other two legs seemed particularly bad. I had a 3.7-mile run at about 2:00 in the morning, which was surreal but enjoyable enough. And I finished with a 4.5-mile run on a paved trail in St. Paul. I certainly looked bedraggled afterward, but it wasn't too bad. At that point, my brain was on stand-by from so little sleep, so I just waded through the miles in a daze.

Our entire team met up at the finishing point in Minneapolis, and when our last runner neared the end, our number was called, and we all ran over the finish line together. It's crazy to think that our little slap-bracelet baton never stopped moving from Winona to Minneapolis -- somebody from our team was always on the go. Even crazier is that we were in that van for just around thirty-six hours (it took us 28:50:00-ish to run the course); it was such an intense experience that it seems like we were together for days. I signed up because I knew I'd be kicking myself if I missed the opportunity, and that's just how I feel -- it was tough, but so, so worth it!

What a wonderful weekend I had! I went swimming in the Mississippi! You can see my other photos in here (currently at the bottom of the set). But I thought I'd talk a bit about motivation + running, etc today, since Kara asked about it.

It seems like a fitting topic, because I've been less-than-motivated this month. Actually, I've been a bit burnt out after all the half-marathon training, but I've allowed myself to take it easy, and I can feel my enthusiasm returning after a few weeks of low mileage.

Make sure you enjoy whatever physical activity you engage in. At this point, my body is conditioned to enjoy running (as long as I'm not injured), because my brain knows the endorphins are on their way. Any sort of physical activity should feel hard if you want to improve, but if you really loathe whatever you're doing, perhaps you should try something else. Biking often feels easier and might therefore be more fun -- and if you're enjoying it, you'll be more likely to keep it up for longer, which means you'll get a great workout. If you're determined to become a runner but find that it's so grueling that you hate every moment of it, you might just be running too fast. You can work on speed later, but you won't get a chance if you give up right away because you're miserable.

Fuel Properly. This probably won't be much of an issue if you're running 5k's and eat decent meals. But as I started upping the mileage, I felt the effect of not making up those burned calories. It's a different story if you're just starting out and perhaps trying to lose weight -- you should figure out the best plan for your body. But if you're focused on building distance and speed (whether it's running or biking -- and probably most other things), you've got to give your body something to work with! Often, when I feel unmotivated to get out and run, it's because my legs are tired and I have no energy. This is something I'm still working on (making sure I eat enough for my activity level), but I know that I feel ten times better if I've really fueled up the day before a long run. And a happy run = more motivation to get out the next time.

Make a plan and set goals. When I first started running, the part I enjoyed most was the feeling of making progress. I followed a plan similar to the Couch to 5k program, and watching my endurance grow was enough to get me back to the gym again and again. This year, I started working my way towards the half-marathon distance (13.1 miles), and having a new 'personal distance record' to shoot for every Friday kept me motivated. I've run a race every month since March, and I feel like that's what keeps me incentivized to get out the door in the morning. At the moment, I'm training for the Ragnar Relay, which has shorter distances (my three legs of the race are 6.9 miles, 3.6 miles, and 4.5 miles), but they have other challenges. So I get a break from being completely distance oriented and instead can work on hills and speed.

That's basically it. Enjoy what you do, have the energy to do it, and make sure you know why you're doing it. If you're a treadmill runner (as I was until this spring) and feeling unmotivated about it, I'd really encourage you to get outside. It's not the perfect time of year (unless you run very early in the morning or can safely run after dark), but running outdoors is a completely different beast from being stuck on a treadmill. And running in the Vibrams is like another sport entirely -- there's always something to keep running interesting!

-- If I sit in the kitchen, Birdy has to come to make sure I don't eat anything that she might want once I've finished. In a move straight out of the cat behavior handbook, she ran in from the other room today and immediately threw herself on the floor and fell asleep. She was actually more soundly asleep right before I took the photo above, and it makes me think it must be exhausting to be a cat.

-- A horrible, no good squirrel stole the last apple off my apple tree this morning. I saw him carrying it across the yard, so I ran outside, and he dropped the apple in order to run up the big ash tree. The only sensible things to do was to lob said apple at the squirrel, which I did, although I didn't hit it. I'd like to think that the sight of the little apple sailing through the air and into the alley at least made the scene that much funnier. If I can't have homegrown apples, comedy will have to suffice.

-- After my half-marathon on the 4th, I was feeling a bit burnt out on running. So I took last week off and dove back in yesterday, feeling pretty renewed. I even registered for the Minneapolis Duathlon 'Fun Course', which is a 1.5-mile run, 11-mile bike, and another 1.5-mile run. It seems like just the thing to get a feel for a multi-sport event, and it sounds like it's casual enough that I can ride Yellow Bike (a 1974 Schwinn 10-speed) without feeling like a chump. My main training focus, though, is for the Great River Ragnar Relay, which is about a month and a week away. Hills, speed-work, and multiple runs in a day. Fun, right?

-- When I signed up for the duathlon, I decided I would make up the cost by spending less on groceries. There are some things I need to get on a regular basis (produce and dairy, namely), but I have a lot of redundant pantry and freezer items, so that's where saving will come in. I like to have options and follow my whims when it comes to food, so I wind up buying new stuff (fake meat, bread, etc) before I've used up the old. I actually went through everything today and made a list of what I've got, so I'll be able to look at the big picture and put together meals. And then, once something's gone, I can cross it off the list. I like doing that.

-- The Twin Cities really got hit with storms last night! We had about five or ten minutes of hail right where I am (the garden made it through without damage) and the loudest cracks of thunder I've ever heard. South Minneapolis (I live on the north side) had flash flooding, and a lot of the major freeways were stopped due to standing water. Crazy times. The cats and I hung out in the guest room, which I tidied up recently. It tends to collect junk that I don't want to put away, so I keep it closed up most of the time. But whenever it's clean, I think it's such a nice room.

-- I bought a road bike yesterday! As soon as I saw this 1974 Schwinn Continental, I had a feeling it was going to be the right bike for me (I've been looking for a little while now). It's just so yellow! I believe Schwinn called the color 'Cool Lemon'. In addition to just getting used to riding a road bike, I'm going to have to learn how to use friction shifters, which seem to be to manual transmission as index shifting is to an automatic car. More skilled required, and a bit fussy, but people who use it swear it's better. I feel the need to shower Yellow Bike with gifts. I might make it some yellow panniers.

-- This morning was the Time to Fly 10k. I was looking forward to effortlessly beating my previous 10k race time, but a downed tree on the course pushed back the start time by almost an hour. By the time the race began, the sun was out and HOT, and my breakfast was quickly losing its staying power. And the humidity! It was like running in a sauna. I shaved off a minute or so from my Get in Gear 10k time, but I was several minutes slower than my personal record for the distance. Next Sunday is the Red, White & Boom half-marathon, though, so I'm just focusing on resting up and being ready for that one.

-- My rhubarb is still going bonkers, so I grabbed a cookbook and went to town. I happened to open Nigella's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, which has a recipe for rhubarb polenta cake. I don't like reprinting recipes, but somebody's already done so here. I halved the recipe and baked it in a 6" cake pan (with a removable bottom), and I thought it turned out wonderfully. Here's a photo of what it looked like inside.

-- Yesterday, I tackled the hilliest portion of the half-marathon route I'll be running in July. I only did 7 miles yesterday, not 13.1, but it was definitely the most challenging part of the course. There's one hill that I often drive over, and I always say that my car gets tired going up it. It's hard to feel like you're even moving when the incline is so steep, but at least I know what to expect now. And running down the other side was pretty fun.

-- Are you a weather-checker? I am; I think I started my weather.com addition when I moved back to Minnesota. It always baffles me how people can move through life with no idea what the week's weather has in store. Of course, I also don't really trust the forecast, which is why checking it so often is important. At the moment, I'm hoping it will decide overnight (or perhaps in the next hour, if it's feeling kind) that tomorrow morning will actually be dry and clear.

-- Apologies for running off for so long! An entire week. Shame on me. I was busy being on boats and camping for the first time ever and generally having a good time.

-- Today! Today I ran a half-marathon. When I set out on my long run last week, I managed only nine miles (I'd been aiming for a minimum of ten), because I hadn't prepared well enough and chose too hilly a route. I returned to the lakes today (and with more fuel in the tank), and it went really well. So put a tick mark next to 13.1 miles. I had to run around Calhoun twice (along with Harriet and Lake of the Isles, once each), and I wound up passing it in my car later in the day, and I very nearly shook my fist and hissed at it. Calhooooun! You thought you could best me!

-- Right after my run (like, as soon as I finished stretching), I had a Thermos-bowl of cold oats (oatbran and rolled oats mixed with yogurt and soy milk and extras), and when I got home and bathed, I made the veggie sandwich of my dreams (above). Actually, it was darn good, but it wasn't my dreamwich. The best veggie sandwich would need to have roasted red peppers. Possibly fried eggplant. (3 Squares in Maple Grove used to have an awesome veggie sandwich with thin slices of breaded eggplant, but no longer. Their avocado sandwich is pretty stellar, though. And they've got sweet potato fries. So, you know, get yourself there if you're in the area.)

-- Alex and I met up for coffee and donuts in the afternoon. Daytime friends! (She went freelance a couple of months ago.) The plan was Wuollet's in Uptown, but they had nary a chocolate-covered donut. As I told the girl working there, I did not run as far as I did this morning to NOT have a chocolate donut! So Alex and I went to the Kowalski's supermarket across the street, where they had Chocolate-Iced Old-Fashioned Donuts. Capital letters necessary. And would you know, there was a Holiday gas station right next door, and Alex and I share a love for their coffee (strange but true). We really hit the jackpot. They didn't just have a selection of flavored creamers; they had them ON TAP. We freaked out a little and enjoyed our perfect coffee and donuts outside. Wonderful.

-- My ankle still isn't 100%, but I went for a test run on Sunday, since it was feeling pretty good (hence my pre-run breakfast in the photo above -- Ezekiel sesame toast with Sunbutter, half an orange, and my daily multivitamin + allergy pill). My foot held up alright, but the humidity! I wasn't prepared for it. I had planned on a five-mile run, and as I approached two miles, I really felt like stopping, but I pressed on. I do a lot of, 'Okay, well at least make it to X miles,' as I run. So I had to at least make it to three miles, and then 3.5, and I was DEFINITELY going to stop at four, but once I'd got that far, I figured I might as well go the last mile and finish what I'd set out to do. I was looking forward to mitten weather the entire time. I don't know how you guys in Florida do it!

-- Still on the subject of my sore foot, I bought some athletic tape today. I've got a couple different ankle braces, but I feel like they always force my foot into a strange position that makes the pain worse. As an experiment, I tried a 'mini' ankle-taping this evening, by apply two strips under the arch and two around the back of my ankle. It was a little bit amazing: instant stability and much more comfort, without having my entire ankle wrapped up. I'm going to bike tomorrow instead of running, but I'm hoping the tape will do the trick on my Friday run.

-- It's been hot here. And so humid. We're talking temperatures above 90F and 80%+ humidity. Not exactly what one is expecting from Minnesota in May. My house gets warm, but I don't really mind, as long as I'm just sitting around and working. Give me shorts and a fan, and I'm comfortable. Because Birdy was born in January, I keep imagining her total confusion over the current weather; she's never in her life known it to be so hot (not, I suppose, that Beany spends much time thinking back to past summers). To amuse myself, I put an ice cube in the cats' water bowl. Birdy's almost got it!

-- Ants! I've long maintained that my front yard is really just a big anthill, and 'tis the season for sugar ants to come into the house. Do you have any favorite ant remedies? I've never had cayenne pepper do anything, but garlic will sometimes repel them. I don't really want to put out poison trap thingies, because the cats are bound to play with them. I should get a pet anteater and keep it out in the yard; nip the problem in the bud. Where can I adopt an anteater, and what are the Minneapolis laws about keeping exotic animals?

-- Here's an interesting (yet inconsequential) either/or question I thought of the other day: Would you rather be a talented athlete who loves to stay active and fit or have a deep understanding of finance and a passion for investing? I'd have to say the first, because I already like running and biking, although I wouldn't mind being speedier at both of those. And I don't have many expensive tastes. Except that I insist on using a brand new toothbrush every day. Just kidding! But if I could (and it weren't an environmental disaster), I would. Probably.

-- Second Spring, anyone? We had a really nice April, but May got off to a very chilly and damp start. The sun has returned, now, and the temperatures are very agreeable. I sat on the patio after breakfast today, which was slightly bittersweet. When I started my morning patio routine last summer, Booty always joined me, because he just wanted to sit in my lap and enjoy the sunshine and breeze. I did wind up letting Beany out today (with her harness, but no leash), and she behaved herself, although she still required more attention that Booty ever did.

-- Yesterday was the Northside Street Race 5k, right in my neighborhood. I'd entered it ages ago, and I was determined to have my ankle feeling good enough to run it. I did (finishing in 28:23, according to my Garmin, which isn't my best time ever, but it's good given the conditions), but I think I bought myself another week off running for doing so. Grr. I'm hoping I'll be able to bike to burn off my energy; a non-running Anna is a restless and irritable Anna, otherwise.

-- Erin, a friend from school (we've known each other since we were five!), and her boyfriend, Brent, were in town this weekend, so I met them for lunch at Brasa. The restaurant is always well reviewed, but they're pretty meaty, so I've never been. But! They have a wide variety of vegetarian side dishes, so their three-sides-and-a-bread meal was a perfect choice. I went with crispy yuca (!!!), yams (good, but nothing special), a romaine/mozzarella salad (tasty), and cornbread. I'll definitely be going back there, and it was fun to catch up with Erin. Hooray for friends and food!

Today was sort of all about the running, so apologies to people who couldn't care less. I made my own version of the typical pre-race dinner last night, with soba spaghetti and a vegetarian 'bolognese' sauce. I used Morningstar burger crumbles, homegrown/homemade tomato sauce from the freezer, zucchini, onion, and herbs (I used my own basil, but I just realized I should have used thyme and oregano from the garden instead of the cupboard).

It seemed to do the trick! I woke ready to run the Get in Gear 10k this morning, even though it was raining from the start. My mom played race chauffeur, which was very nice (I get needlessly worried about parking in busy areas), so I had somebody to wait with before the race started. Here I am, looking rather skeptical beforehand. I had a water resistant windbreaker on, but I took it off right before I had to start running. So I was soaked after just half a mile, but at least once you're drenched, it can't get any worse. No point in avoiding the puddles when your feet are already soggy.

The course seemed not too bad -- a few hills, but only gentle inclines, and generally flatter than my usual path around here. My Garmin time was 1:01:58, which puts me JUST under a 10:00/mile average, which was fine. Well, actually pretty good, but I feel a bit 'meh -- I'll do better next time' about it.

It feels good to get an official 10k under my belt, but I'm already in a half-marathon-training mindset. I'm running a 5k in May, another 10k in June, and the half in July. Who knows what craziness will follow. And even though I'm training for distance, I'm also working on getting my 5k time down every Wednesday.

I mentioned this on twitter, but I thought it was interesting that my most recent 5k time is roughly seven minutes under the average for this year's Get in Gear 5k, but my 10k time was about a minute slower than this year's 10k average. This makes sense to me -- more people participate in the 5k, and a higher percentage of them are likely to be new (or non) runners. I wouldn't be surprised if, as runners get faster and more experienced, they stick to the longer-distance races. (Incidentally, my very first 5k, in 2006, would have been a couple minutes slower than the average.)

My most recent 5k time (around the neighborhood) was 28:37, and I've been thinking that 25:00 minutes would be a good goal to work towards -- maybe not by next month's race, but generally. What's strange, to me, is that if I'd run today's Get in Gear 5k in 25:00, I would have been in the top 30 female finishers (and it was a big race!). That would be pretty incredible, yet it seems like an attainable goal, given time. (At 28:37, I would have been 102nd out of 1157 women.)

Anyway, suffice it to say that I'm pretty much in love with running right now. When Julie and I got coffee last weekend, we were talking about this crazy sport (she's run multiple marathons and half-marathons), and I said, 'You know, I've been saying for years that I would never run a marathon. It's just too much.' And she replied, 'You're totally going to run a marathon, aren't you!' And the answer is... yeah, probably. But let's see how the half goes, first!

Combining two of my favorite past-times today: running and being greedy. I actually have two mini reviews of recently-bought running accessories, in case you're interested. I'll put them in the 'extended' entry, so just remember to click through to that if you want to read my thoughts on the Garmin Forerunner 305 and Bondi Bands.

But first -- the greed! Well, it's more like a list of 'gee, I wish I had...'s.

-- More running shirts. I've made do with the running clothes I've got, but as I run more outside and in nicer weather, I'm discovering what items would be most useful to have. When I ran the 100% Irish 5k, I got a nice Asics technical tee; I love the fit and cut of it. I haven't been able to spot the same sort of basic-quality (ie, under $20) running shirt on-line, but I'm going to check out some real shops soon. The Asics shirt and a kid's LFC jersey that I got in college are my two favorite tops to wear running, and the only ones I have that are breathable. I wish I could run in tank tops, but the few times I have, my armpits have chaffed. Sexy! Does anybody else have that problem?

-- More running shorts. I've got two pairs of shorts: one cheaper pair from Target and some Adidas ones that my mom decided she didn't like. She wore them in the pool for a while, I guess, because I thought they were supposed to be grey, but I realized last week that the inside of the waistband is actually navy! (They look better as grey shorts.) I have one pair of stretchy, lycra-y shorts that I wear underneath, because then I don't have to worry if the looser shorts ride up as I run. It would be nice to have shorts cut for running that maybe wouldn't do that, but I definitely need more stretchy shorts, regardless.

-- Running tights or capris. For cooler mornings. I've run in fitted yoga-style capris several times, but they don't really stay up. Having to hitch my trousers doesn't make me look like a serious runner!

-- A running skirt? I might have to roll my eyes at myself every time I wear it, but they're cute.

-- More protein powders. I have second breakfasts after my runs (since my pre-run breakfast is light, and it's good to refuel soon after), and smoothies are the best for me on long-run days. I picked up a couple packets of Spiru-tein powder, which comes in loads of flavors, and I enjoyed a smoothie/shake with vanilla soy milk, frozen banana, and cookies'n'creme powder on Monday (photo above). I wish I could try more of their flavors, though!

Hm. I'm sure there's more. But I'll leave it at that -- don't forget to read the rest of the entry for my thoughts on the Forerunner and Bondi Bands!

-- I think Minneapolis is such a good-looking city (well, as far as cities with predominantly international style architecture go). I'm sure there's an element of 'thinking your own children are the cutest' going on, but I can't help feeling happy when I catch a glimpse of the city from a good vantage point.

-- I watched Coco Before Chanel last night. It seemed like various esteemed internet individuals gave it high marks, and I think they were right to do so. There's something I can't quite put my finger on when it comes to foreign films (I'm talking mainly subtitled French and German films that I've seen in the past few years). They're just so simple and contained, in a way, but very good. Not the usual over-the-top-ness of Hollywood, and free from the trendiness that seems to dominate the American indie scene. Perhaps that has to do with many of the films I've seen (Coco avant Chanel, Das Leben der Anderen, Die Fälscher) being set in the recent-ish past instead of present day. I dunno.

-- The bad part of my long runs is that they leave me sore for a day or two afterward. It's to be expected, and it's only sore muscles, not actual injuries, but I want to get out and run now (Saturday morning, as I write this). It's so sunny and fresh outside! I've been waking up earlier to get my runs in while it's still cool, and I'll have to keep getting up even earlier as it becomes summer. Alex commented about the July 4th date of my half-marathon, and that was actually one of my biggest worries about picking that particular race. It starts at 6:30, though (egad!), so it shouldn't be to bad, temperature-wise.

-- You know what's the best feeling? Realizing it's only Saturday evening (I wrote this post in pieces) when it feels like a Sunday. A whole bonus day of weekend! And it should be a good day, too. I've been striking the perfect balance between being social this weekend and also having selfish 'me time'. Today, I brunched it up with a great group of people (and had a plantain pancake!), did a bit of this and that, and then returned home in the evening for dinner and relaxing. Tomorrow, I'm planning to bust out a couple quick miles, read the paper, play in the garden, and then I'm heading out for coffee with Julie. Lovely.

-- How perfect does homemade yogurt look in an old jam jar? So perfect. I usually wind up with just over a quart of yogurt when I make it myself, so I put 3/4 of it in an applesauce jar and the other 1/4 in this. It would be ideal if I could eat it right from the jar, but the heaps of puffed cereal I like to add would never fit. (Those are tinned peaches in the background, by the way. Just in case you were wondering.)

-- Birdy fell into the bath again, but only her back half. I don't usually like baths, but I've had two in the last couple of weeks, just because it's seemed like a relaxing thing to do (maybe sore running muscles are subliminally making me do it). The thing is, baths are so boring, but I've discovered they're much more interesting with cats around. Will they fall in? When will they fall in?

-- I made a new batch of Banana Cran-Bran muffin tops (that's the original batch in the photo, but it has the recipe) today. Except after I stirred the dry ingredients in with the rest, the batter seemed much runnier than the first time. I'd used maple syrup instead of molasses, and it was thinner, so I thought that might be the problem. I baked the first tray (I only have one muffin top pan, which has 6 cups, so I have to bake the batch in two rounds), and they looked just fine, but a bit flatter than the first time. That was when I realized I had forgotten the bran. It was only my inspiration for making them in the first place, after all! I added it to the second pan, and luckily I know people who won't mind eating a Banana Cran-Notbran muffin top.

-- Running! Look away now if you couldn't possibly care less about running. Because I was busy/away this weekend and Monday morning, I had to wait until Tuesday to run. Usually, two days is the longest I go without a run (and sometimes not even that, if I decide to run at the weekend), and I could definitely tell the difference when I got on the treadmill Tuesday morning (boo, rain). My body was so happy to be running again! Who'd have thought.

-- In more running news, my Garmin Forerunner 305 arrived today. I remember reading about these little GPS units in Runner's World UK back when I started, and I knew they were for 'real' runners. I ran on a treadmill and never further than 5k, so I would never need a Garmin. (Not, of course, that people who run 5k or less aren't real runners, because they are, as was I, but the judgment we pass on ourselves is always the harshest.) So getting this feels like proving to myself that I am a real runner. And if that weren't enough, I signed up for my first half-marathon today! It's on the Fourth of July, and I'm looking forward to it. Oh, me? I'm just in training for a half-marathon. No big deal.

So, yes, I went out for a run yesterday morning and didn't come back until I'd done 6.2 miles (10km). I was skeptical beforehand, fairly convinced that six miles would be grueling, since the two miles I ran on Wednesday had been draggy. But I made sure to eat well the night before and added some raisins to my toast in the morning (not, I'm sure, that they really made a difference, but you know...), and the run went really well. As I build up the distance, fueling up properly is making a noticeable difference.

I'm sure I've written before about how I got started with running, but in case you haven't read it (or I'm imagining things), it all began with the London Race for Life in 2006. I wasn't at all athletic when I decided to sign up for it, and I used this Runner's World UK schedule to train. It starts with one-minute intervals, and that was honestly the longest stretch I could run. Every time I finished a workout, I thought there was no way I'd be able to make it through the next one, and yet I always did (eventually). I trained on a treadmill and only had a few disappointing runs outside before the race itself, which I was able to run start to finish. Success!

After I moved back to Minnesota, I fell into a pattern of running at the gym during the winters and then quitting once it got nice outside, because I had better stuff to do (and didn't want to be stuck in a gym when it was warm). So, for several years, I had to basically start from scratch each November, which meant I never had much of a chance to work on my speed or any sort of endurance past three miles. It was very frustrating to hurt my ankle this January, because I'd just gotten to the point of running 5k on the treadmill, and the month I had to rest did away with a lot of the work leading up to that point.

But when I got back to my target 5k time in February, I signed up for a few races, and that prompted me to get outside and run -- I didn't want the shock of 'real' running when the first race rolled around. Because I've always been a treadmill runner, I didn't really get why running outside would be all that great (it's harder, after all), but I swear it's been as revolutionary to my running as that first Runner's World training plan. I've picked up quite a bit of speed (well, relative to my moderately slow-ish pace), and it's definitely mentally easier to run for an hour outside rather than in a gym. In fact, I don't really think about entire lengths of time before I head out now -- just distances and the minutes per mile.

Running isn't easy; even if I go out for a two-mile run, the pace is significantly faster than it would be on a longer run, so I'm just as breathless by the end of it. But I actually enjoy it a lot. I like my days off, but I still sort of wish I could get out and run. I feel like there's a real element of 'if I can do it, so can you' to this. I was not a runner before 2006. I'm being completely serious when I say that those 60-second intervals were horrible, horrible, awful when I started. I was not the tiniest bit fit and would have said that running was just something my body wasn't built for, but here I am now. I can run for over an hour, and sometimes I play air guitar while I'm doing it.

So, yeah, my run went well yesterday. I'm taking a little break until Tuesday, but it was the sort of run that makes me want to get right back out again, just for the thrill of it. And I'm actually thinking of signing up for a half-marathon this summer. Dear Anna of January 2006: Some day you'll think that running a half-marathon sounds like a good idea. It's a crazy world.

What to tell you today? How about a few updates on all the usual stuff.

-- Running: No running today, because it's rainy and windy (and because I don't have to run all the time. That meant I could have my 'old' pre-run breakfast, which I've decided is too heavy these days. I needed that coffee to pick me up, considering how grey and dark it was/is outside! BUT! Yesterday was a fine morning, and I went out for a four-mile run. It was great. Running outdoors has really helped me pick up the pace, even though I expected the opposite. My last mile yesterday was probably one of the fastest I've ever run; I was annoyed at having to wait for so many cars at the intersection (luckily the only 'real' intersection I have to cross, thanks to the parkway), so I really pushed it the last half mile.

-- Cats: Birdy has been taking amoxicillin for her red, floppy ear, and I'm pleased to report that it's no longer floppy! The vet said she might have been 'pulling' it down because it was sore, but I'd never seen a cat move her ear like that on purpose. Perhaps he was right, though, because it went back to normal pretty quickly. Thank goodness. I paid for two pointy ears when I got her at the humane society! Birdy is starting to understand what 'c'mere' means, and she continues to be a cuddly cat, both with me and with Beany. They are both most excellent.

-- Food: I finished off my puffed rice 'Smacks', so I made a new batch with puffed kamut. It's even crunchier than the rice was, and I really like it! I also finished off the last of my last batch of homemade yogurt. I usually hold some back to use as starter for the next round, but I bought a quart of plain Dannon Naturals to eat over the next few days and then start homemade yogurt anew. My homemade stuff was getting sort of grainy (but not bad -- too much acid, I guess?), so I'm happy enough to start over again.

-- Other stuff: I watched The Thin Man last night, which I'd been wanting to see for several months. How can I become more like Nora Charles? I reckon I need to A) stumble into a large inheritance, B) start wearing much more fabulous dresses, C) up my alcohol tolerance by a factor of ten, and D) work on my snappy one-liners. So, you know, basically learn to be a different person. My hair's the right color, though.

I ran two miles yesterday and had my five-mile run scheduled for Friday. The only problem was that it's supposed to rain on Friday, and I really wanted to run outside (4.5 miles on the treadmill nearly killed me with boredom last week). So I decided last night that I would go to bed early (-ish, like 12:30) and wake up while it was still cool outside and do my five miles a day earlier than planned. And I did! (No joke; I despise April Fool's Day.) The trick, I think, is to go with my lighter breakfast (pictured above), but to make sure I wake up early enough. I have second breakfasts when I get back from my run, but I don't get too hungry in between.

Using running as a handy segue, this post is all about my greedy, material desires. Not so you can all go out and buy me things (no, no, I insist -- put your wallet back!), but just for the fun of it. I actually keep an Amazon wishlist for myself, or I'll forget exactly what it is I want. Silly, slippery brain.

-- Garmin Forerunner. See, that's the segue between my running and my greed. This little gadget is a GPS unit for runners, basically. I currently use gmap-pedometer to map out routes of a particular length, but that means I'm stuck with that route once I set out, if I really want to get in a certain number of miles. And the Garmin gives extra info, too. It's neat. I want one. This is probably the first thing I'll buy if I come into a bit of surprise money.

-- Dharma Logo T-Shirt. I'm not a huge fan of Lost, the way that some people are; I love the show, but I don't go to forums and wildly speculate on the end of the series, or anything. But I like the idea of having a Dharma Initiative t-shirt. People in the know would know, but it's not your typical logo shirt.

-- Barney Butter. Because I love it so. I've got about a third of my last jar left, and I think I'm going to have a short respite once that's gone, just so I can buy a jar of Sunbutter (which I had at my friend Katie's house once, and it's gooood). But Barney Butter and I are life-long pals, now.

-- Vanilla Stevia Drops. I bought chocolate stevia drops a while back, but that's less versatile than vanilla would be. I'd actually like a big jar of unflavored liquid stevia, because I use it to sweeten my oatbran and yogurt, and all those little packets of the granulated stuff is a waste of packaging.

-- Immersion Blender. I'm surprised I don't already have one of these, aren't you? It'd be really handy for making soup. And tomato sauce. Not SO many uses, but it would work vastly better than a traditional blender for a few things, and that would make it worth it.

-- Luna Cookie Dough Protein Bars. My feeling from the blog world is that nobody likes the new Luna Protein bars as much as I do. I think they're amazing. Yes, they taste like a protein bar, but, uh, that's what they are. But the chocolate is good, and I think the nougat is darn tasty. More, please.

-- Nikon 28-80mm Lens. The Quantaray zoom lens I got with my first Nikon SLR is pretty middle-of-the road, and the rim around the lens got a big chip taken out of it last year (it doesn't affect its ability to take photos, but it does affect my ability to look like a person without a manky lens). Having seen the huge difference in quality between my Nikon 50mm lens and the Quantaray, I'd really like a Nikon zoom, too. I'm open to lens suggestions, though. Nikon users: have a favorite zoom lens that doesn't cost and arm and a leg?

So, it appears that that's everything I'm currently lusting after. Not so grand, really. Well, there was no button on Amazon for a sleek, old Jaguar. But other than that... What's one things that's currently on the top of your wishlist? Think you'll get it anytime soon?

-- Happy Passover! I'm not Jewish, but I was rummaging around the cupboards before dinner, looking for something starchy to try to settle my stomach, and I found an unopened box of matzo mix. How could I not make matzo ball soup? So I did, for the first time ever. I made a simple veggie broth with Better than Bouillon concentrate, and it could hardly have been any easier.

-- My stomach needed settling because I've had very mild but persistent heartburn ever since I ate lunch. I think it's probably a case of too many cups of tea, because I can't think of what else it would be. I don't get heartburn very often, and it never sticks around this long. Waaa. I keep thinking, 'More water!' No. 'More pretzels!' No. 'Try more water!' The matzo did help, but only for a bit. Sigh. It'll be gone in the morning.

-- According to my running schedule, I only ever have to run three miles on Mondays, but today I wanted to try for four. I've been doing my long runs at the gym, on the treadmill, so that I won't have an excuse (too cold/too sunny/too cloudy/too windy), but I'd like to have some experience running longer distances on the ground before the Get in Gear 10k. So that's what I did today. Four miles around my neighborhood, and faster than I would have done it at the gym. Running has SUCH a large mental component. If I set out for two miles, I'm tired after two. If I aim for four, that's what I can do.

-- How exciting is it that it's light outside after dinner? It's like gaining a whole new segment of day for doing useful things. I went to Target this evening, to look for the cute little multi-card reader that their website says is in stock at my location. Well, I couldn't find it, and I'm not sure the girl working at the electronics counter knew what a card reader was. Sad. I've had my current USB card reader for over five years now, but it's got to the point where I have to carefully hold it a particular way as I open files, or the connection will be broken. I suspect all I really need to fix it is a soldering iron. And to not be afraid of soldering irons.

-- I think I'll do a cat-centric post tomorrow. So stay balanced at the edges of your seats for that.

P.S. -- Right after I posted this, I decided I was fed up with the heartburn, so I dissolved 1/2 tsp baking soda with 1/2 cup of water and glugged it down. There was a moment when I thought I was going to be sick (which would have solved the problem, I suppose), but then voilà, heartburn gone. Simple is best.

Ack! There are too many things I want to post about! I did so much during my computerless weekend (until now, obviously), so I'll tell you about the interesting bits here. Other, non-weekend-related stuff, will have to wait for its own post(s).

-- After I got the box of VitaTops to review, I started to really enjoy incorporating them into my meals, so I was sad when they ran out (well, I have two chocolate-y ones left). I was going to order their Super Sampler (and I'll probably still do that, eventually), but I got a case of the I-can-do-that's and wanted to try to make my own muffin tops. I used the muffin top pan that had been gathering dust for the past few years (I wiped it off, first) and created Banana Cran-Bran muffin tops. Recipe here. I came up with the recipe by altering one on the package of wheat bran, so the first time I made them, I used all whole wheat flour, as it called for. They were not good (my WW flour might have been a bit stale, too), and I threw them away. But instead of giving up on the recipe altogether, I tried it again with all purpose flour and buckwheat flour (that's why the color looks a bit unusual). Amazing! I love buckwheat flour, and the banana + molasses = the perfect amount of sweetness without any refined sugar. I might use honey next time and see how I like that.

-- I went to Victory 44 last night; it's right in my neighborhood (and there isn't much else!), so I can't believe it took me this long to try it. My dining partner and I went for wine and dessert, which meant that we split their dessert selection platter. It was decadent, and it was good. The music was entirely too loud, but that's the only nit I can pick. I'm looking forward to visiting for lunch some day to try their 'real' food. If you ever find yourself in North Minneapolis, check it out.

-- I woke up this morning from an overnight sugar crash. I was starving hungry and had a terrible headache (and no, I wasn't hungover; I had only one glass of sparkling! German! white wine). And the craziest thing happened. I thought to myself that what would really make me feel better would be to have a light breakfast and then go for a run. I could almost taste the cool morning air from my bed. So that's what I did: ate a piece of almond butter toast, strapped on the ol' running shoes, and hit the parkway. And, would you believe it, I ran the fastest two miles I've ever run. Felt great afterward.

-- While I'm on the subject of running, I should mention that I ran this exact same loop on Wednesday and felt terrible the entire time. I think, from now on, pre-run breakfasts will be light (but calorie-dense) and will NOT include coffee. I had tea with my breakfast this morning, almost an entire cup, and it seemed to sit much better.

-- Today marked the first post-dinner evening constitutional of the season! I love going for a leisurely walk after dinner, so I was very happy. Tulips and other early-spring bulbs are starting to come up all over my neighborhood, and the lawns are already looking greener. It's spring!

Hooray! My first race of the season done -- the 100% Irish for a Day 5k. The race started at 9:15 this morning, so I tried to go to bed slightly earlier than usual. I turned my light off at half past midnight, but because I hadn't taken any Benedryl (I didn't want to wake up feeling groggy), I didn't actually fall asleep until 1:00, and even then it was quite patchy sleep, because the inside of my head was so itchy. And when I did sleep, I dreamt about running (and all the things that might go wrong -- and also one dream about a kitten, which had nothing to do with the race).

So I rolled out of bed at 7:30 this morning, got dressed, and made myself a light breakfast, because there's no way I can run without eating first (but I knew I wouldn't have as much time as usual to digest, so I couldn't eat what I usually do). I didn't even make coffee -- just had a few sips of tea with my almond butter toast and cantaloupe.

The run was around Lake Harriet, and I expected getting there and parking to be much more of an ordeal than it was (my mom drove). We wandered around a bit, took a photo, saw some crazy outfits, and then people started lining up for the 5k. There was a decent crowd, but it moved along pretty quickly.

Thanks to all the strange running dreams I'd had the night before, the race itself now feels slightly unreal (that might also be due to my starting and finishing the race all before I'd typically be out of bed). I hit mile one at exactly my training pace, and I was a little behind at the second mile, so I must have kicked it up a notch, because I wound up finishing more than a minute under my target time. There was never a question of whether or not I'd run the whole thing, but I would have been a little disappointed to run it more slowly than I'd hoped, so I'm very pleased with the result.

Now I can really settle into my 10k training for the race near the end of April. Running, whee!

-- I had a really, really nice weekend. In fact, I pretty much achieved a perfect Saturday: I woke up, showered and got ready, went out to brunch at the Seward Cafe, sat around and chatted for four hours, drove to Edina to meet up with Rob (who's in town!) and Heather, and we drank coffee for quite a while. Heather had to head home, so Rob and I walked two doors down from the coffee shop, and I had falafel for dinner. That's a perfect Saturday. Eating and then sitting around having interesting conversation until it's time to eat again.

-- I ordered the buckwheat pancake with fruit and yogurt at the Seward Cafe. The last time I got it, the yogurt was in the middle of the pancake, with the carefully-sliced fruit artfully fanned out around it. I brought my SLR this time to get a better photo, but when I got my plate, the fruit and yogurt had been slung on top haphazardly. It made me laugh. It was outstandingly delicious, though.

-- On Sunday, I went to Half Price Books and found two Elvis Costello CDs for under $5 each (Spike and The Juliet Letters). I've amassed so many of his albums in such a short time recently that I haven't been able to fully appreciate them all; I've listened to Blood and Chocolate a couple of times all the way through, for example, but it hasn't really sunk in yet. It's the obsessive side of me kicking in (wanting to have every album I come across), but there are worse things to obsess about.

-- I've been exclusively using my Bialetti to make coffee in the mornings, but when Alex made the best coffee ever in her French press, I decided to give my own another chance. I've always followed the rule of using two tablespoons of grounds for every cup of coffee (which I think is technically considered to be six ounces of water, not eight) and using water that hasn't yet come to a boil. But yesterday (and again today), I dumped in three tablespoons and turned the kettle off as soon as it boiled. So good.

-- I do not like when Beany appears to be keenly watching something under the baseboard heater, as she was doing a moment ago. On a similar note, one of the guys in my acting class said he saw a rat in the school theater we gather at. A rat! I wish I would have seen it too.

-- Today I did my three-mile run outside. It was very grey and cloudy, and I had to run into the brisk wind during the first half, but I still finished just under my usual pace and didn't keel over, so it was a success. My first 5k of the season is on Saturday, and I'm excited! I even bought a copy of Runner's World (the UK edition, because the US issue was all about weight loss), which I will now return to reading.

Hello, friends! What a beautiful day it was -- an amazing week, really. I think we're supposed to get a couple days of inclement weather soon, but it's been warm (around 40F) and is supposed to stay that way, so I can't complain. I was outside with the cats this afternoon, and I realized I've probably never taken a picture of the (slightly crooked) weather vane on my garage. So now I have! I'm going to ramble on about running now...

I took a walk yesterday; I'm not really sure how far I went -- it took fifty minutes, but there was a fair amount of carefully navigating icy patches. With that and my outside run on Wednesday, my quads were still the tiniest bit sore this morning. Funny, that -- I never get tired legs from running on a treadmill, but tromping around outside obviously works them differently.

So I was a little bit nervous about my first long run in my 10k training schedule (technically, I started it last week, but the first 'long' run was three miles, which wasn't new to me). Especially since my 2.5 miles on Monday (on the treadmill) had felt sort of off. As if I were running with my upper body instead of my legs, if that makes any sense. But, despite my quads, I could tell as soon as I started running this morning that everything felt great. I finished my 3.5 miles feeling like there was still fuel in the tank, which is fantastic.

Having a definite training goal is nice -- I love having something to work towards. But it's also the tiniest bit stressful. I generally go pretty easy on myself, psychologically, when I get on the treadmill. I'll have a distance I'm aiming for, but I tend to say, 'But if I only do two miles [or whatever], that's okay, too.' I'll almost always still run the originally planned distance, but it's nice to have that out if I'm just not feeling that particular run. But now, with my long runs once a week, I feel like I have to make each one count. Never mind that I can always just try again the next day!

I'm really looking forward to running longer distances in the future. Quitting every summer has meant that I never really build up endurance, which also means that I've not really been able to improve my time -- and I'm pretty slow. So I want to run year-round from now on and try to make real progress. It's the only exercise I really enjoy, but I only enjoy it when I run regularly.

After today's successful run, I'm starting to see the sense in incorporating weight training for my legs. I'm going to brunch tomorrow morning, but I think I might hit the ladies-only gym afterward, bust out a quick mile on the treadmill, and then use the weight machines (it's less scary doing that with only ladies around, see). It's true -- I like this so much that I want to indulge in a semi-spontaneous trip to the gym.

One last note: I read something on the Runner's World website about the age-old question, 'Am I a runner or a jogger?' -- if you worry about the distinction, you're a runner.