Last Run 5 K

Last night I completed one of my goals for 2014 which was to run four 5K races.  My year started with the Freihofer's Run for Women in May, then there was the Boilermaker 5 K in July, followed by the Falling Leaves 5K in September.  By late October I was worried I wouldn't find another run by the end of the year.  [Let me tell you I am super glad I didn't pick a Turkey Trot since we had a foot of snow this Thanksgiving].

Sure enough, one of my many "junk mail" emails delivered the idea to do the Albany City sponsored "Last Run".  So I signed up, but I didn't tell anyone because I was so afraid the weather would be horrible and I'd chicken out.  I didn't want to give advance notice of my failure.  As the day neared I watched the weather forecast with trepidation.  Clear skies were abundant, except for the one day that mattered:  race day.

Yep, yesterday was 34 degrees (that's 2 degrees Celsius)  and rainy.  Not on and off rainy, nope.....steady drops all day.

But I couldn't back out.  Why?  Because I'm alive and well.  How could I not put up with a little discomfort when I had a fully functioning body that could do this event?  How could I squander my own health when so many people can't even walk this distance?  And most of all, when I knew my cousin Cheryl was in Hospice care and she would never run a 5K ever again.  So I did this run for Cheryl and all those who are ill and wish the simplest of health.

I like to run in honor of those I love.

To avoid parking issues, I took the bus downtown.  By the time I walked to the bus stop (which is so ridiculously close to my house)I was acclimated to the rain and cold.  It wasn't windy and with all the layers I was wearing I felt warm and dry.  I got to hte race early and waited with a bunch of other crazy people (1100) to be exact for the race to begin at 5 PM.  Before the race started there was a 10 minute fireworks display that was gorgeous.  Then we were off.  Despite not having run but twice since September, my body felt limber and my breathing fine in the cooler air.  There was only the tiniest incline to start and then it was all flat.  We ran down this section of State Street, which I think of  as NYC like.  Before I knew it I was running across cobble stones and I realized that I was already crossing Lark Street.  A minute later and we entered the park.  For two miles we ran the roadways where the "Lights in the Park" decorations glow.  My favorites were the tree with four colorful birds and the big NOEL sign.  I also liked running under the light bridge and the leaping reindeer.

After the park, it was all downhill for the last mile.  I finished in 36 minutes, which is slow, but like I wrote, it had been awhile since I ran.  I ws still warm and dry (thanks to a semi-water proof jacket) and not at all tired.  I walked another 1/2 mile to catch the bus home where I had tea and bread and jam.

It was a lovely time, but it was lonely.  Next year I have to share what I am doing so that I can run with some crazy friends!!!

The above pictures are not my own and were taken from the web.

I took only one shot because my phone was buried deeply under three layers of shirts.

I went over the river today for no reason except sometimes I enjoy a mindless drive.  While coming across a bridge at a high point, I saw them...the northern part of the Catskill mountains.  And even though these are the mountains I see in the distance everyday I drive into Greenville, it was like seeing them for the first time.  I never knew I could see them from Albany!  Even in Greenville they sit more than 10-15 miles away.  In Albany that is at least 40 miles away, yet there they were in all their snowy glory.

It made me think how many things we miss every day.  Things of beauty that are right there present with us.  Those mountains are visible from the Patroon Island Bridge as you cross the Hudson River, but somehow, I never saw them!  Mostly they are obscured by buildings.  Somehow this makes me think of how in our lives we miss moments, miss beauty, nature, people...all because we obscure them with clutter, noise, work, laziness, and rushing about.

You don't have to search far to find joy.  It's right where you are, it's always been there-waiting for you to slow down.

A Garden A Month

While wandering the yard two days ago I started to really look at my garden spots.  Sure they are dormant now, but I like to inspect each little piece to see where they are at.  I also have a favorite, my alysem.  It usually makes a flower every single month of the year-even in winter!

So here are the garden spots of January:

Lamb's Ear, actually growing.

Every month alyssum

Ivy that is growing and green!

Front bank

Tomatoes!  I still have 4 jars of salsa left!

Living and growing Dusty Miller!

Falling Leaves Road Race

I’ve discovered that when I run I am truly lost in the moment.  Last weekend I traveled to the homeland (Utica, NY) to run the Falling Leaves 5K.  I’d signed up much earlier in the year at the motivation of my cousin Dana and friend Traci.  I need to sign up for races or I’d never motivate myself to get out there and run.

It turned out to be a family thing.  Race day was cloudy with intermittent drizzle.  It was about 10 degrees, so it was cold when I arrived in downtown Utica.  I knew it would feel good once we started.  Also running that day was Dana’s husband and daughter.  Her youngest was participating in the kids’ fun run.  Before the race I looked around for my cousin Tim and his wife, and sure enough they were there too! 

But the best surprise was when my cousin Kim showed up unexpectedly.  Her husband had just had some surgery the day before and I wasn’t even sure if she had signed up.  But there she was all of a sudden, sneaking up behind us!  This was Kim’s first 5K.  She’s been the most religious exerciser out of all of us for sure.

The race started soon after she arrived and immediately we took off fast.  There were only about 800 people running, which seems like a lot, but is not really.  So it was pretty open from the start.  I ran fast my first kilometer, but reminded myself to slow up in the middle so I would have energy to go as fast as possible at the end. 

This race to me felt so spiritual.  I had a big happy smile on my face the whole time.  We ran up Genesee  Street past all these Utica landmarks.  Maybe it all felt like the ancestors were watching, I don’t know, but I felt light on my feet.  As we came up on this apartment building, a woman was out on her balcony watching.  I looked up at her and waved like I knew her and she waved back.  That’s what I mean, it felt so much like our souls had connected.  There wasn’t much of a crowd watching, there was too much drizzle.  So having any spectator felt good.

Right after seeing the woman and her beautiful soul, I thought of my cousin Dan and my eyes got all misty.  It was hard to tell that mist from the rain, but I took deep breaths and got back into the moment.

My legs felt great the whole run, only my lungs hurt some from breathing so deeply.  At the end, I ran as light and fast as I could, but it was slightly downhill on wet pavement, so I was careful too.  I finished at 31:39, which is not my personal best, but is really respectable given I don’t practice all that much.  I felt all energized after running and so I took off up the sidewalk to find Kim.  I wanted to cheer her on.  I ran with her a bit until she got near the end and then I headed inside for treats.

My reward at the end was Hemstrought’s half moon cookies!

And knowing I ran with family, and I finished well!  Lots of fun!

Groceries

Here's what $ 80 bought me today.  I'm not sure if this is good or bad.  I had made out a menu ahead of time and also made a list that I stuck to.  My goal is that this lasts easily for 2 weeks given what I already have at my house.  I don't buy nor eat much meat.  Buried in that pile is a pound of turkey burger which I will be making into a meat loaf next Sunday.

$ 80 of food

Things I will make from the pile are a Buddha Bowl (it's couscous and spinach with a bunch of veggies), a carrot salad with chick peas and feta, a breakfast casserole that I can make into ready to eat pieces and freeze.  Some of these items are for snacks over the next two weeks.  Many will go towards breakfast.

I try to make a main meal for lunch and then have something more simple like a salad at dinner.

I bet if I put my mind to it I could go three weeks on this and all the food already in my cupboards and freezer.  Want to see me try?  I'll start by listing some of the "stock"  I have and then the menus to support them.

In the freezer:  Two servings of chicken (enough to create 6 servings of a meal).
                      One serving of shrimp (enough to create 1-2 servings).
                      4 veggie burgers, and several veggie morning sausages.
                       Peas, corn, spinach, asparagus, onions and peppers
                        brussel sprouts
                       Peaches, blueberries, mixed fruit
                       One loaf of bread

In the cupboard:    6 cans of various beans
                               1 can chicken
                             4 large cans of tomatoes
                             3 cans tomato sause
                            2 boxes of cereal
                              4 things of rice
                             4 things of quinoa
                              couscous
                              a pound pasta
                               9 snack sized bags of smartfood popcorn

In the fridge:         18 eggs
                           3 litres milk
                              big bag spinach
                             feta, parmesean, cheddar cheeses
                              10 yogurts
                              two peppers
                                lettuce
                                various dressings and marinates
                                olives
                               carrots shredded
                               parsley
                                10 individual packs of hummus


Wow!  Making the list was eye opening.  When you have that much food, it's time to get cooking...not shopping.  I've no doubt I can do 3 weeks.

Here's this weeks basic menu outline:

Week One:  Breakfast = cereal
                    Lunch = gnocchi with shrimp and asparagus
                     Dinner- salad with tuna, feta, a few olives and my garden fresh tomatoes

Later in the week I will make the carrot salad and eat things like an egg fried in a diced tomato base, tomato and cheese sandwich, a buddha bowl.

Week Two:  Breakfast Casserole
                 Lunch = meatloaf and brussel sprouts, snacks of yougurt
                  Dinner= could be any of the following: salad, yogurt, eggs, cereal, hummus, buddha bowl, quinoa                   with beans....etc.....


Week Three:  Breakfast:  There are still eggs and veggie sausage to eat with fresh tomatoes
                      Lunch :  Quinoa with chicken
                         Dinner (see above)

As always, there is smartfood, cheese, hummus, fruit, yogurt and bread with peanut butter and homemade jam to snack on.

So here goes nothing!  Three weeks, no grocery store!  Wish me luck!
                       

The trip to New Hampshire and Maine 2013

The Group!  21 years after college graduation.

 It’s now become an annual tradition to meet up with my former college friends in the summer. This year we went to NH to meet up with Matt and Kelly’s family. They all have children and so together we numbered 13.  The kids look forward to this so much.  It’s great that they all get along, but for those few days, they act like they knew each other daily.  Now that they are older, I enjoy chatting with them also.

Our adult conversation this year was about food, frugality, house, a little bit of politics, social media, and health.  Kelly, as always, astounded us with her simple ability to be “Mom”.  She baked two pies from scratch!  Yes, she made a homemade crust!!!  I really should have taken a picture. 

Children learn from their parents' behaviors!  LOL!

Our first day we ventured to a farm where they had really cute little animals.  There was a calf that kept seeking attention and head scratches like a puppy.  Then there was the cat on the “mossy shingled roof”.  I learned there are chickens that lay colored eggs.  They are nicknamed Easter Eggers.  We also walked around three corn mazes and created lightsabers/ swords out of corn stalks.  And yes the kids are all budding nerds.  They spent a chunk of time coming up with fake song titles for a fake band.  Amanda brought her guitar and they created a parody of a 1Direction song that rivaled Weird Al’s (naw, it was way better than Weird Al).  Jack, Bridget and Kevin were more than happy to share their love for Dr. Who (now I really have to watch/catch up).  At the farm we had ice cream that was so good I may never be the same.  I had raspberry with chunks of brownies in it…a perfect marriage!

#Hashtag

We ate well!  Matt grilled, we had pizza, there was homemade pie.  I brought peaches from my tree and now Vinny is in love with peaches and wants a tree for their yard.  We all garden.  K & M has 6 acres.  We ended up taking a two hour walk to the bog and the creek that borders their property.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  I’d be there every day if I lived there.  However, let’s face it, we all take the beauty of our own locations for granted.  That’s why I wrote the Loving Albany post (w.i.p). 

Finally, as if it wasn’t special enough to reconnect with people you lived with 20 years ago (as if it’s only been like 5 years and not more…I love picking up right where you leave off).  We saw a meteor shower.  I just laid in the driveway to get a better look.  The sky was so clear that you could see the Milky Way.  I saw about a half dozen “shooting stars”.  It was more amazing than any planetarium, that’s for sure. 

The kids said Katniss!  I said, "Katniss at 43!"

On Monday I left for Dover, NH.  My great grandmother Mary Cunningham grew up there (she was born in Pennsylvania).  My first stop was the library so I could look her up in the city directory.  After searching the wrong years, I found her in 1909.  She was listed as a border at 41 Forest Ave., and a worker at the Velvet Mill.  Her brother John, worked at Cocheco Falls Millworks which is used differently these days.  Dover was once a textile mill city, but unlike some mill cities that have decayed over time, Dover is an attractive small city.  I walked around there for well over an hour.  I barely remembered to set the Map my Walk Ap on the phone so I could see where I’d gone on the map and how far.  

41 Forest Ave. 2013

I walked to 41 Forest from the center of the city.  It wasn’t far.  I’d like to think that in some ways I was tracing the steps my great-grandmother walked on her way to work.  As I crept up on Forest Ave. I wondered if time would have changed the street, but most of the houses in that section were from about 1860-1890.  They were older, but well maintained.  So I really wasn’t surprised that the house was still there.  As you can see in the picture, they added a porch and other additions to make it look bigger and it looks quite different, but it’s the same one.  

41 Forest Ave. @ 1909

After I ate my packed lunch of cold pizza (I was traveling frugal with a cooler in the trunk) I headed over to check out a rail trail I happened to spot on a map.  Imagine my joy when I discovered it was not only flat, but paved.  I strapped on my roller blades and spent about 30 minutes skating along what used to be the trolley line.  It was gorgeous!

The  Mill at Dover.

The view down Forest Ave.

I got to York, Maine by 2 in the afternoon.  It had been nearly a decade since Maine, but I’d been there over five times.  I drove past the ocean, just soaking it in before finding my way to Footbridge Beach.  Footbridge Beach is my favorite place.  There is a big parking lot and an easy walk to a large open beach that isn’t lost at high tide.  I hung out there for several hours before checking in at my hotel.  Then I headed to York to wander around the silly shops.  I ended the day on the beach while eating my fish taco. (I have a thing for fish tacos….it’s borderline obsessive).

 

My sunset view

This is a real picture of Nubble Lighthouse.
 It was dusk and this photo looks like the whole thing is a miniature doll house.

The rocky beach at Wells, ME.

The next day threatened rain (the previous days were so summer perfect you think that we custom ordered them), but it didn’t.  I went to Wells Beach for old times sake, and it didn’t disappoint.  I sat in my chair and drank a morning coffee while watching the waves.  Then I eventually went rock hunting.  I gathered a few good ones for the garden.  I got some at Kelly’s too.  I love having a little piece of the trip to see every day. 

On the way home I stopped at Kittery Outlets, something I’d never done before.  I needed new sneakers and found they had a Saucony outlet, so that was easily done.  Then I continued down Route 1 to Portsmouth and found Cool Jewels.  I have several funky necklace piece from there.  This time, I found earrings and a wall hanging.  Then the trip was done [cue the sad sobs] and I had to drive the tedious three hours back across the Mass Pike to Albany.

I think it kinda looks like a bear.

What did I gather from the trip?  A sense of love and family among my friends, peace from the ocean’s waves, and connection with the ancestors.  

Atlantic Ocean @ York, ME

Life is Good!

Peach Fest 2013

“Millions of Peaches, Peaches for free…..”  This was a song from the mid-1990’s!  Why these guys sang about peaches perplexes me to this day.  The peach is definitely a sexualized fruit, so I’m not sure if the singer was overwhelmed by the fruit or women!

I, on the otherhand, was most definitely overwhelmed by the fruit.  My 5 year old peach tree came into maturity in the middle of August.  It was late this year, as where the peaches at her parent orchard, Fix Bros. (south of Hudson, NY).  However, late or not, once the peaches are mature, it’s a speed race to pick them and prepare them.  I call it peach fest! And yeh, if you know me, you know that I'm a little obsessive about the tree and the fruit.  I'd wanted a peach tree since I was a little kid, but we never had luck growing one at my parents' house.  So, what can I say, I'm living the dream!

Peach Fest 2013 officially started Thursday, August 15.  Mom came for a visit and we picked from the tree in my yard.  There must have been 20 pounds easily that day.  Mom said, “you really think you need to go to Fix Bros?  You’ll have plenty from your tree.”  I was aghast.  Of course we had to pick at the orchard.  I was making jam!

We went to Fix Bros on Friday and tried to not get too many, but the trees are low to the ground and the peaches are enormous, and it’s just too easy.  We ended up with 45 pounds of the beauties.   It took less than ½ an hour to get the job done. 

Enter peach madness.  I spent the next several days sorting and culling the peaches from my tree.  There was probably 20 more pounds coming from her alone.  Once the peach is ripe I boil them until their skins pop off.  They retain an incredible amount of heat!  I lost a little feeling in my fingers peeling so many hot ones. 

I made a pie, a crisp, ice cream…..I froze 17 containers from my own tree.  As I write this, I need to boil up some of the remaining Fix peaches to freeze.  I also made 27 jars of jam!  It’s not quite over, but it’s dying down.  What fun.  Peach Fest 2013.  

The pictures sometimes tell the story better:

Point of reference.  Me and the tree after planting in 2008.

2013.  That's a 4 foot ladder under the tree.

Sorting the ones from my tree.

Green to go!  The sorting process! 

Hot peeling pain!

Wait!  There's MORE??!?!!

Yeh, 45 pounds more from Fix Bros.

Better make something and eat them daily!

Peach ice cream!

Peaches over angel food cake!

Jam!

New Canning Pot

Prepped jars await.

The process.

Just some of the frozen.

25 jars of joy.

What's left!