Ode to Weekend Getaways

Over the past few years D and I cultivated a love for the Weekend Getaway.  Of course, we enjoy longer vacations as well, but it's nearly impossible for us to coordinate matching periods of leave from work for more than a few days a time.  Earlier in our careers it was a little easier, but these days we've become the grownups and don't care to be gone too long.  Hence, the well-suited long weekend.

We can usually eke out a day on the front or back end of a weekend, making a nice 3- or 4- day trip.  It's the perfect amount of time for a little sightseeing, and due to the quick turnaround it's fun to prioritize our weekend itinerary.
 
Sometimes we've added in racing events, as in Austin this past April when we took a three-day weekend for a friend's wedding and the Statesman Cap 10K:

Sweaty and freezing back in the hotel...but what a great finish line view!

Or, the Salt Lake City Marathon a few years back...when we visited family friends and enjoyed the race, too.
 
We've even done weekends in Hawaii when D was stationed in Korea, ski weekends in Taos, and lots of Denver trips, hiking in Nederland, a cosmopolitan foray in DC, concerts in Seattle, touring in Atlanta, beach trip in Fort Lauderdale, deep sea fishing in Corpus Christi.  Sometimes I think I could write for those airline magazines..."3 Magical Days in Clarksville, Tennessee!" Yup, we've been there too, for the Clarksville Rotary Annual Metric.
 
The weekend away requires careful and flexible planning.  Dan usually picks a place to run or exercise.  It's my job to pick out a restaurant or two that I'd like to try (Nando's in DC most recently - after I'd read some blogs about it!), then we take turns selecting a few sights to see - museums, concerts, botanic gardens and the like. 
 
Long gone are the days of suffocating the weekend with nonstop activity and minute-by-minute scripting.  We go for the dim sum version and aim to do the unique activities we otherwise can't, when at home.  It's probably not the best value, but we try to use our hotel points and airline miles for these quick trips.  It suits me well as we are both homebodies - after a few days away we start to miss Nugget (our main source of discussion/my main source of worry when we're out of town) and pine for our tiny home, with all our things crammed in it.  It's just that the novelty of a hotel or AirBnB wears thin in a few days no matter how much fun we're having.

So maybe not every vacation from work has to be monumental - the quickturn, not too far from home, is a nice break from quotidian routine.  Just long enough to enjoy a new place, without missing Nug too much or breaking the bank!

Next up, Montreal?  Or some where in New England?  It's fall and maybe time to leaf-peep!  I also hope to recover in a few weeks, and maybe prepare for fall racing...no rushing it this time, though - learning has occurred :)

March, in like a lamb and out like a lion

Did you find all your Easter eggs last Sunday?

We didn't, because we woke up to layer of wet snow!

Snow - then church, followed by tasty brunch at June's with friends.  Our same Christmas routine.  We are so blessed to have great friends, full healthy lives, and good food to enjoy.  D is also a local celebrity at June's, and he's never left without a hug from June herself.  The fantastic holiday buffet and festive atmosphere are tops and we passed three easy hours enjoying the company of our friends, (who we don't see often enough, despite the fact they live close by, that happens too often, doesn't it?) totally impervious to the bustle of others out for Easter brunch.  Afterwards, D and I returned home to our latest project:

We took a gamble on Veranda Charm and won!

That's our living room, re-painted (well, the half above the paneling) from an oatmeal/porridge/okayu color to that calming pale gray/blue Veranda Charm.  I was worried that the color would be too dark in a north-facing room, and our marriage too tested by a DIY, but we finished the whole thing in about 90 minutes.  Thank you, tiny living.  We both feel soothed by the color and I refer to it as our "spa room" now.  Not a bad under-$50 project.  Under $30 had we not bought rollers, sponges, brushes and masking tape, drop cloth etc.  We had fun and amazingly no horrible paint accidents (one flip flop may have been accidentally veranda-charmed, but it will live to see another foot, so that doesn't count).  

You can see D re-attaching our coat hooks in the photo, and please ignore the mess on the left as it waits to be re-placed once the paint dries.  D's new rule for tiny living is "nothing in the house that's not beautiful or useful" which he thinks is SO FUNNY.  I am sure he gleaned it from a baitclick solely to pester me when I come home with bags of sale candy, boxes of pens, nests of yarn, pounds of tea.   Don't get him started on the over-stuffed shoe crate either.  He just doesn't understand that some running shoes have sentimental value, before working themselves down the hierarchy to retire as lawn-mowing attire.  

Speaking of which, it's almost lawn-mowing season, isn't it?  Though March ended with snow, April has been breezy and mild, and the grass, the few blades of it left among the dandelion/poison ivy farm, creeps steadily upward.  Nugget loves the scent of springtime and as part of her pre-dawn toilette she tells the whole block exactly how much. 

We look forward to our next 10K and I have toned down my mileage respectively.  I am a busy bunny at work and with knitting and sometimes, at the end of my day (which starts very early) I just need to go home and not run.  Most days I do, but I'm getting better about tossing out garbage miles and replacing with other things that grownups do, like work, study independently, further my career, steward the profession, you get it.  I really don't need to do everything everyday, do I?

Cutie among the fruities....pattern not my own - Henri from Ravelry

This weekend we'll run I'm sure, and we caught the spring itch to paint the kitchen now!  It's nice to have this little home that we can revamp in a matter of hours.  I'm very task-oriented (in small chunks, puhleeze) so a room at a time suits me just fine.  

I'm getting excited for our upcoming TX trip and for morel season.  D already spotted mushroom hunters in the woods yesterday - no fungi however.  My gut and the lack of may-apples tell me it is just a few weeks too soon...though tomorrow I want to check on our secret spots from last year.  Not that I found any mushrooms, but it's never too early to oversee my terroir.  

Happy weekend!

See?  I put all that yarn to good use!  This guy also from a Ravelry pattern.

Spring cleaning...'bout time I dusted off this blog!

What have I been up to lately in addition to ignoring this blog?

Breaking 1:45 in a half marathon last weekend, that's what!

And completing my 20-mile trail race in late February (though with less impressive results, IMO).

The Psycho Wyco 20 miler...well, I did it but I lost a little love for the trail-racing process.  What a great race day - late February and 60s and sunny with no precip in the preceding weeks?  Great conditions!  All of my worry over inclement weather gear was for nothing.  Good thing I procrastinated the purchase of any...still procrastinating in fact. 

The first 10-mile lap went well.  The few wet/muddy parts were no match for my new Balega socks which saved the day with such a dry, cushioned ride.  On the second lap of the race, I lost a little interest.   I was lonely and I felt as though I were just pounding out miles in single-file in packs of random strangers along a 10-mile lap.  Maybe I was just too familiar with the course, having run those same trails while training?  I don't know.  Just not as fun as I expected, though I can't really complain about a beautiful day in a beautiful park.  Really not every day can be magical run-nirvana, but it can still be a great day, and it was.  Also, I have never seen better aid stations or support crews.  I felt well taken care of -- a truly top-notch production, which is standard for the Trail Nerds. 

Also, I love the hoodie and super cool race medal with a spinning tornado!

Hoodies for everyone!

I did take this trail race opportunity to eat real food while running.  I hate gagging down gels and I get real sick of stuffing little bags of gummy candy in my sports bra, which is a sweaty tacky mess by the time I want a lickie/chewie.  The night before the Psycho Wyco i made some frozen peanut butter energy balls (no recipe needed, just scavenged ingredients from my tiny kitchen) which D loved and tested thoroughly.  I am not much for peanut butter, but with ground oats, pretzels, dates, honey, and just a little peanut butter to bind it all in little balls, I had a nice compact treat for me on the trail (and for D at the aid stations).  Of course, the aid stations were so well stocked that I would've been fine (and likely overstuffed) even without my homemade fuel.  Still, it was a fun project and I'm glad these treats provided a more palatable alternative to normal race "foods."  And as a bonus, I suffered no GI emergencies as a result.  That can be a real issue for me and hence why a lot of my training is on treadmill or in vicinity of facilities. Bummer indeed.  Pun intended, bien sur.  At this point I think I just need to get some bentyl. 

After trail running so much this winter, I missed the almighty road race.  I know, I know, it's a completely different gestalt but I am in love with asphalt's ability to test my training and my mettle and really challenge the clock.  I do not reach that happy I-can-barely-hold-on-to-this-pace-and-yet-here-I-am-holding-it-while-the-miles-whiz-by feeling while on the trails.  For me, the trails are pure fun/playtime and that's the mindset I should've embraced at the Psycho Wyco.  The road?  Well, that's where I see if my horsies can still take the age group. 

Last weekend I ran the Ray-Pec Lucky 13.1 Half Marathon in Peculiar, MO.  How could I pass up a race in a town with such a cool name?  Actually, after the 20 miler I felt trained up and ready for a nice road race half and the most convenient one happened to be sponsored by the Raymore-Peculiar High School cross country team.  The price was right, and my training was right and the weather cooperated too - gorgeous 55 degrees and light rain.  Perfect recipe for me to break the 8:00 pace, which I finally did after years of banging my head in the wall about it.  Nice that my time allowed to me win the age group, but the two ladies who finished overall ahead of me were like for reals light years beyond.  Maybe one day, that'll be me, when I drop 10 pounds and find a less all-encompassing job and stop knitting, and cease watching Acorn TV while eating Cheetos...lol...NEVER is more like it :)


The chip-timed course started at the high school with a lap around the track and then departs into the rolling hills of farm country.  It ends with the same lap around the track and at the end there is mac and cheese, fruit, raffle prizes, and an "old as dirt" cake for the 72-year old gentleman who was this year's most senior participant.  I hope that's me someday.  He finished in the low 2H area I believe.  Dang.  There is also a 5K race option.  The turn around was along the same course as the 13.1.  Some real quick kiddos out there, in both the 5K and the half!

The high school sports teams provided nice aid stations along the out-and-back course.  It's always refreshing to see high schoolers acting so courteously and with such pride in their school and community.  Man do I feel old having written that!  Anyway, I felt like Peculiar would be a nice place to live and raise a family (or chickens and dogs, also known as "family" in my world) not to mention a nice place to break 1:45.  

Remember all this blather?  Well I tossed training plans out the window long ago in order to de-regulate a little.  My go-to workouts have been like this:

• Long runs of ~10 miles or so at a chill pace.  Boring but necessary for endurance.
• Speed work: 6 or 7 miles of warm up mile/ half on 3:30 or faster, half mile at 4:00 or faster x 4 or 5 sets/cool down mile.  These are my favorite days.
• Tempo runs, done properly. Embraced, but not beloved.
• Hilly runs of about 5 miles done for mental fortitude. 

In other recent events, work is going well.  I got promoted, so that's cool.  In my free time I have been knitting a lot and tried using cotton yarn for the first time.  What was I waiting for?  It's lovely to touch.  It feels solid and American and resilient and doesn't stretch :).  I'm currently working on a washrag for the dog.  Yes I know, a hand-knit washrag for my dog.  It's just that she likes being lathered in the bath, and I don't want to use our hand-towels on her.  She abhors having water poured over her and yet loves to be scrubbed, so for $1.77 in Walmart cotton yarn I will aid in her bathtime compliance while keeping D happy that we don't share bath towels with a floor-licker (The dog.  Not me).  Long-haired short-legged dogs in muddy Kansas spring get bathed, often.  So it goes. 

Easter is around the corner and I am ready for Spring....though yesterday it snowed!  My neglected bulbs have prospered and popped up in huge patches and are unfettered by the chill so we enjoy some lovely blooms.   

I have two trips to Texas coming up (one for work and one for a wedding/follow on 10K, but as a workaholic they will both be mega-fun of course).  Unfortunately my medical mission trip to Haiti for April was cancelled.  I'm bummed and annoyingly out some $$ but it wasn't meant to be.  I am frustrated as I feel like I could have made a difference there -- yes, in a small way, but so important to me (and how I view my professional and moral responsibilities) and to the orphans we planned to treat.

Yesterday D and I finally had the chance to eat Korean food at Hyundai Korean restaurant in Leavenworth.  Boy oh boy -- good authentic bibimbap.  The restaurant appearance may dissuade you but be not afraid, the food is top notch and took us back to all the time we spent in Korea.  The huge portions may intimidate you (D couldn't even finish his) but be sure to make room for kimchi and all the little banchan sides that accompany your meal.  Prices completely reasonable.  

We love bibimbap in all forms but I suspect we will have it hot-pot style next time.  They also feature my other favorites of standard Korean fare- jap chae, bulgogi, khalbi.  Luckily I am going to take some leave to Korea this fall to visit friends, and for now this restaurant makes me miss them a little less.  The building is redolent with the scent of the land of the morning calm which I think crucial to any amazing Korean dining experience.  

We also enjoyed browsing in the attached Asian market.  I picked up some jasmine tea from China and wanted to grab piles of sweets too but Easter is next weekend and we have a pastel candy explosion in our house right now.  It's for Easter baskets for my coworkers, I swear!!

 In other news, I got my bangs back.  Finally feel like myself again.  The Division finally made its way into our home so D feels like himself again now too.

Happy Easter and enjoy your spring running.  I am looking forward to longer days, and sweat and shorts.  Sending lots of love your way:

So...yeah...maybe I was having a rough last mile and D suffered the wrath...SR-71s for everyone!!  Carefully displayed without any other witnesses of course.  This remains a favorite photo of his and may or may not grace the fridge at home :)

Christmas time and other favorite things

We've had some lovely days here...

 

 
...and done some Christmas preparation at Fulk's Tree Farm where I caught this 4-footer white pine, last Saturday after we ran the muddy North Ridge in Weston:

 

And Nugget even followed the rules, as much as she would've liked to become one of Santa's Lil' Helpers:

 
The tree lights sure brighten the entire tiny house:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

I've been indulging in the Acorn TV subscription free trial on Amazon now that we cancelled Netflix...does anyone else watch Doc Martin and imagine living in his perfect village?  I sure do...though I'd rather he not be my GP!  The way I see it, trade the Missouri River for the cliffs of Cornwall, and there you are, Leavenworth is Kansas' version of Portwenn.
 
Among other unbearable quaintnesses, we've a tea shop walking distance from home, next to a knitting shop, yoga studio, various restaurants and bars, and cupcake shop.  How this small town supports such enterprises is a mystery to me, but I won't complain.  D and I support local shops frequently, and hope lots of others do too.  We don't just buy twee nonsense in town -- our title company is downtown, our major appliances all came from Dolsberry Appliance and local contractors did all the work on our house, apart from the 150 feet of privacy fence that D built by hand in 2 weeks, after work and on weekends.
 
Last week, after our office Christmas party at Ten Penny restaurant, some galpal workmates and I walked a few blocks to The Queen's Pantry as we delayed our return to the office...how had I missed this wonderful place before?

The entryway is full of delicate china tea sets, displayed amid all sorts of treats and sweets from the UK.  Further back, an entire wall of shelves houses large jars of tea, with canister samples for sniffing each and every blend (which I did, tyvm). There is of course a corner set aside with Styrofoam cups and thermos for tasting the day's featured tea.  Boxed teas are available too, and just about any tea-cessory you'd like - cozies, towels, balls, jams, marmalades, tea cakes, fruit slices, sugar tongs.  I even spied Marmite and Colman's mustard for those of us who prefer our treats savory. 

The teas are grouped by red/black/white/green with some set-aside novelty blends featuring additions like marshmallow and chocolate chips...which I really don't like in my tea at all, but might tickle the palate for others.

Can we take a moment to talk about tea?

I have lots, of all sorts.  My ol' reliables are Yorkshire Gold, Darjeeling and Lady Grey.  I like spiced teas in the colder months, like Twining's Christmas Tea and of course Constant Comment.  Green tea is nice at work late in the afternoon when I wish to avoid too much caffeine.  I've convinced myself that it aids digestion, and it reminds me of all the time I spent in Japan and Korea years ago.

Lately I've been warding off the evening chill with the tisanes I just purchased from Queen's Pantry.  My favorites are Lemon Souffle Rooibos (creamy and lemony just as it's named) and a highly aromatic Men's Herbal Brew (yeah, yeah, so maybe I call it Men's Urkelgrue) which tastes mostly of anise, lemongrass, ginger with a pleasant cardamom (or pepper?) bite, nestled in a base of rooibos as well.  Isn't it funny and sad that after all these years I can pretty much quote every episode of the Office by heart?

And here is me not starting down the path of discussing gender-specific tea (fairly, they do sell a Women's Herbal Brew) so all you SJW can have a nice cuppa and calm down right about now!

I've enjoyed red teas for years and the new ones I picked up are pleasant excursions from the typical vanilla-dominated blends.  The rooibos are not truly teas, and have no caffeine, so I allow myself to drink these teas by the pot!

Only 938709858364+ more teas remaining from Queen's Pantry for me to try...


A tea Snellen!  I love it so much I can't bear to use it as a tea towel yet!

Though I haven't visited the Leavenworth Yoga Co-op or yarn shop (for fear of overdosing on downward dogs and skeins of merino) we've ordered cakes from Karma Cakes on several occasions.  I declare them the best bakery in town and at reasonable prices, too.  You can't go wrong with a bake shop that decorates freshly-baked cupcakes with not just homemade frostings but cookies and candies too.

If you don't have a local tea shop, feel free to support mine and order online!

After all these tea parties I've been having, D and I cure our cabin fever and run the trails in Wyandotte County Park weekly as we prepare for the Psycho Wyco.  It's lovely to run in the chilly rain and just yesterday in the late afternoon, after work, I tested out some more variations of my winter gear plan.  I wore shorts (yes! this was a good move), my old trail shoes, a base-layer long sleeve shirt with zippered collar, a looser, fleecier middle layer with thumb-holes, and a light zippered jacket.  For 40 degrees in mild rain and minor winds, with the addition of a hat (the one I'm wearing in my tree-catching picture) it was perfect.  We ran one of the hilliest and muddiest segments of the race path yesterday and I could moderate my temperature well with zipping/unzipping/donning/doffing.  Learning has occurred!

Today we are off of work for the rest of the day and planning to run some errands before heading to midnight mass.  I'm not sure where we will run today.  D got called in to work at 1 am this morning and so I'm trying hard not to wake him. 

Tomorrow is Christmas brunch out with friends. 

It's a lovely day here, as long as I stay away from streaming news and thinking about work too much.

The sadness of the whole world weighs heavily, but Christmas gives us all hope that maybe this won't always be so.  I'm ever thankful for the blessings in my life and I wish the same to you.

A Merry Christmas to you and yours!


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Pose running method...

I'm doing the clinic for Pose running this weekend...still in progress...hence my lack of mileage updates...I don't know if I love it...the evidence in its favor sure is plentiful...what do you think?  Why am I cranking my hamstrings 180 times a minute...I don't know about this...I don't know that anything was wrong with my running style before...it all seemed ok and now over the past 2 days I'm told that that's not so...what is the what...who is John Galt...more to follow when I cage my thoughts!

Rudolph Red Nose 7.2M

Last weekend was my first (and only, likely) race for December.  I ran the Grinders High Noon Saloon Rudolph Red Nose 7.2 Tuff Miles race, here in Leavenworth.  I ran with L last year (brrr!), and loved it despite the wind and chill.  This year D and Nugget accompanied me to the start and then went on a lovely walk through downtown Leavenworth and the Riverfront and left me to run while they then headed for home.

Over the last few months, the previous establishment here (High Noon Saloon) closed, and then opened recently as a re-imagined Grinders franchise.  I was worried that the race wouldn't be offered this year due to changes in the management and ownership, but a week before the race, I spotted a sign in town advertising the event.

My goal like last year was to run in under and hour, and also to run more quickly than last year.

I had nothing but luck on my side -- warm sun, high 50s, just the faintest of breezes.  The course starts at the restaurant and travels south through the VA campus, around the duck pond, and back to the restaurant.  I love that it's such an odd distance - tough for the typical 5K crowd, and a bit of a stretch for the 10K weekenders too.  It's so much fun too because it starts eponymously at 12:00 sharp.  What a nice change, to sleep in for a run for a change!

The field of runners was so small this year, well down from about 100 last year, but the race director acknowledged that advertisement had been last minute due to uncertainty in the continuation of the race this year.  I was just so pleased that it reappeared for the 7th year.  I am so thankful to the management of Grinders for deciding to continue to support this in cooperation with the Riverfront Community Center.  It's a great Leavenworth race, and the course is hilly -- challenging for sure.  The overplayed joke is that "it's Kansas, no hills here!" and that joke my friends is still not funny!

The roads are low-traffic, and scenic, and since it is largely out-and-back there aren't too many race volunteers needed throughout the course to direct runners and traffic.  I love that all ages show up, to include my new race friend, in his 80s:

RFCC's photo of us...he's totally trying to get away from me :(

So many people wore Christmas-themed costumes!

And so many wore the cute shirt.

And others were comfortably attired in elf, kangaroo (Leavenworth's sister city is Wagga Wagga Australia, of course!) costumes and Rudolph himself made a royal appearance for pictures among us plebeians.

I had a great race, and as often happens, I luck out at smaller events and win a FOF!  I came in just under 57 minutes which makes me real happy on this rolling course.

I beat my time from last year, met some really nice runners, and am overall very impressed with Grinders.  I hadn't been there since it reopened, and the interior is much brighter and more inviting with the renovation.  I'm looking forward to our upcoming Christmas party there.  The menu looks delicious, and I will attest that the post-race pizza was fantastic, though I am always swayed by 1. free food and 2. any post-race comestibles.  I'd eat asphalt and bobby pins if that's what was offered.  The High Noon food and atmosphere are highly praised by friends of ours and I hope Grinders High Noon is here to stay, especially if they continue the Rudolph Red Nose 7.2M every year!

How's your winter racing going?  I love our Indian Summer...but know it's unseasonable!  I'm sure next year will be far colder but I am looking forward to this race again already.

Inclement weather gear test 1...of many, it seems

Among the so many things for which I am thankful, I got to try out my bad/wet/cold/snowy/rainy running gear yesterday. 

The first real day of cold and wet Kansas winter weather started Thanksgiving morning, at almost exactly the moment we left our house to walk Nugget.  Not 100 yards from home, the soft rain turned cold and fierce as westerlies gusted and chilled us to the bone.  The rest of our walk became a run and Nugget, Eskimo fur and all, willingly complied with an abbreviated walk.

We waited all day for the weather to improve so that we could run outside.  It didn't! 

Instead I drove to Weston for a quick 5K with the hope that the trees would shelter the running path from the rain and more forceful blusters.    I plan on running the Psychowyco in February, so why not try out my cold/wet weather plan starting now?  I figured. 

February weather around here could be anything, so I'd best prepare!

Well, my plan sucks.  My "rain jacket" is apparently only a wind breaker.  My running tights are seemingly water-absorbent, practically sponges!  Not so nice on a cold day.  Luckily I have enough flesh on my thighs that they rarely get cold.  My thermal Under Armor turtleneck overheated me.  The turtleneck part felt like a garrote, and I wished I'd worn instead a shirt with a zippered collar or even just a short sleeve shirt.  Cheapie knit drug-store throwaway gloves?  Dual purpose...if you want the dual purposes of keeping your fingers wet and extra cold.  My hat - fleece beanie (an old PT hat)  kept my hair dry, but I was too hot a mile in and taking it off left my scalp to suffer an ice-mop of hair.  I need something breathable yet water repellent.  So, limited luck yesterday.  I wish I'd worn my running sleeves, a short sleeve shirt, and an actual rain jacket (I don't have one).  The leg sponges at least prevented water from dripping into my shoes, but a more technical/evaporative fabric would be nice. 

If I'd been out longer than a 5K, my feet would've been soaked and frozen, but that's not usually bothersome to me.  On a side note, I do look forward to a new pair of trail shoes.  My old ones are torn and tread-bare and won't hold up much longer.  I want to branch completely away from the Mizuno family and see if I am happier in a Saucony trail shoe, just like I am for my daily runners (the Kinvara 6).  I committed to the Kinvara 6 even more and bought a second pair last week ($79.99 - a great discount!) while in DC.  I did go for a half size larger which I think is a better fit for thicker winter socks.  I am exceptionally pleased so far.

Anyway, thank you Kansas for the upcoming opportunities to try out winter running gear over and over again!

I retuned home from Weston a soggy chilled mess and prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner, planned at a friend's home.  D does not involve himself in the kitchen much so he snuggled up to finish The Man in the High Castle and I made a walnut cranberry pumpkin seed salad, which seems so insufficient, and so to compensate we brought lots of wine.  And a hostess gift of our halibut, sure, it's not customary, but it is darn well received! 

I hate when a dinner party host says to "bring nothing but your appetite!" because then I am left to scramble and demonstrate not only my lack of creativity but also precisely how poor a cook I am.  My friend is tres gourmet and I ogled the Viking appliances as I helped her/got in the way in the kitchen.  This was our first gluten-free Thanksgiving experience and it was awesome!  It doesn't hurt that my friend is an amazing chef who's been dealing with true celiac for years, but I could not tell that any of the items were gluten-free and we ate too much of everything, exactly as one is supposed to do.

Today it's even colder and the overnight freezing rain sealed our cars, steps, porch in a slick glaze.  Nugget slipped down the back staircase as she scurried out for her morning pee-pee, no worse for the tumble, but we don't plan on going many places today just in case the roads stay icy.  Well, we rarely venture out on Black Friday anyway.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and is ready for winter running season with at least a little more luck/preparation than I! :)

Wyco Lake Park Trail Run: Veteran's Day Fantastic 4 Miler

Poppies for remembrance!  Allow me to remember citing the source, here

 It's that most beautiful time of the year - fall- when mornings in east Kansas are chilly but full of sun and skies still baby blue.  There was a crunchy frost on the grass (and windshield!) this morning when D and I left home for the Trailnerds' Veteran's Day Fantastic 4-miler at Wyandotte County Lake Park.

Here we go!

 We've run with this troupe before at the saucy Mrs Robinson Romp 10K in March.  Today the Trailnerds again held a fabulous event.  The part we liked best is how the race is fuss-free and still so organized.  Registration is a breeze, the course is well-marked, the participants (human and canine) well-mannered, and the spectators full of cheer AND cowbell.  I like that these trail races are intended for runners of all abilities and ages:  young kids, older kids, middle-aged kids, and some kids who might even be members of the AARP.

The special event today was Veteran's (and public servants) Day.  For any EMS, police, fire department, current/former military, the race was FREE!  For all others, just $15!

To me the very spirit of America is that of intrepid volunteerism, which our public servants live out each day, no matter the austerity or dire nature of the situation.

Why not toast to them and those we remember with a 4-mile run?

Today's course started in the trails of the northeast corner of the Wyandotte County Lake, following the curves and the hills surrounding the reservoir.  Though the park is just one hill from I-435, it feels a quiet and peaceful world away.

View of the trail - from across the lake

View down the spillway

 D and I are same-day registration kind of people.  We arrived about 3 minutes before the start (still up for debate is who's to blame for our late departure...hint: it's not me) but we had just enough time to register and sprint to the start line.

The one thing I don't like about running (or riding) on hilly single-track is getting stuck behind a long line of runners.  It's a dicey maneuver to pass people (no matter how much verbal warning you provide) and I tripped a few times, losing footing on the shaky, slick, muddy hillsides, amid roots and rocks of all sizes.  Fallen leaves and dappled sunshine further obscured a clear view of the footpath, so I was glad I wore my old trail shoes.  Oh woe is me, to run on a perfect day in a beautiful place....

Immediately after taking this picture, D asked if I wanted my thighs in the frame....(????)

I guess he'll let me know how comfortable the couch is in the morning

Just like last time, we eagerly anticipate the race photos.  D likes to do silly poses and mostly I wonder, "there was a race photographer?  He didn't capture my snot rocket, did he?"

Many thanks to the Trailnerds volunteers, again part of why America is just so great.

Special places: Kansas City

D won't admit it but among his other hobbies, he loves botanical gardens, museums, long walks with the dog and so we had a few weekends full of these new enjoyments!

First, we visited the Overland Park Botanic Gardens.  For $3, you can stroll the grounds, hike wooded trails or meander well-groomed gardens, walk your dog, and enjoy a treat in the cafe.  We loved it.  Certainly not as extensive as the Denver gardens, but with great fall colors and late-summer blooms.  We plan to return in a few weeks when the mums (so many mums!) are blooming.  Imagine these colors, intensified in real life:

Not for snacking!

One of the last days of summery weather!

Ahh, now that looks like the fall!

Last weekend, after the Botanic Gardens, we crossed the wide Missouri for the Weston Applefest...a festival, which we both noted, had few apples and many many people.  Regardless, we had a great lunch at the Tin Kitchen where I ate the Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwich with 24H slaw.  It's the best pulled pork I've ever had.  Afterwards we stumbled on a Polish pottery shop just around the corner from the restaurant.  I always associated that pottery style with homemakers and SAHMs and military spouses but I found for once that the pattern absolutely suited my taste.  The price tag, not so much, so we left empty handed.  D says we can buy Polish pottery once we visit Poland and not a minute sooner, but I can get Weston pottery in Weston if I want.  I see his point...sigh.

Later in the weekend, we took our first-ever trip to Ikea.  Based on the number of cars in the parking lots we both dreaded a crowded tangle of shoppers inside, but instead we moved freely from store corner to corner and floor to floor thanks to the well-planned layout.  Everything there is about efficiency, isn't it?!  I imagine we'll use an Ikea design and storage aesthetic when we build our tiny accessory dwelling unit one day. While fun to look at and imagine the possibilities (storage!  bunk beds!  everything with umlauts!) it just doesn't suit our style these days, and we aren't exactly looking to over-stuff our small home any further. 

Last night we dined with friends at Tin Kitchen (yes, again!) where I ordered the same pulled-pork sandwich.  Afterwards we sauntered around the corner to the Weston Irish Festival, held annually on the grounds of O'Malley's, a great pub, brewery and restaurant with an interesting history of bootlegging, prohibition, and architecture.  This brewery, established in 1842 by German immigrants, eventually contrived itself as an Irish-style pub and remains a Weston landmark, with several levels of underground caverns creating an intimacy in the lively and rowdy bar setting.  D and friends sipped on cream ale and an adult version of root beer, and we sat in the grass listening to some great Irish bands in the cool of an autumn evening in western Missouri.  I can't drink much alcohol these days - absolutely never during the week and maybe once a year.  I just can't seem to function the next day even with a small serving of alcohol.  A decade ago this was definitely not the case and I remember fondly that late-night liquid carb-loading rarely hampered the next day's events!  Polish pottery and now alcohol intolerance...oy my youth how it dwindles... :)

On Friday we went to Joe's Kansas City BBQ (formerly Oklahoma Joe's) because it's supposed to be the best barbecue in the region, if not the country.  The gas-station-cum-restaurant's been featured in many of those Food network show-off clip shows and I think the President (or many presidents!) have eaten there too.  I'm not much for pork ribs, but D pronounced them "amazing" and I agree, the tender meat slipped right off the bone without the usual tooth-snaggling fight.  Sadly, my pulled pork and brisket plate was barely warm to the taste, salty, and the pulled pork a tad mealy while the brisket was overly fatty.  Other disappointments include the bland "spicy slaw" and the highly-praised fries which were far too salty for my taste.  Sure, it's BBQ and not haute-cuisine, and I fully admit I prefer Carolina-style over KC-style blends, but I can't see why this place earns such high marks for other than the ribs.  

Next time I'll skip Joe's for Jack Stack (KC) or Rudy's (TX).  Still, it's a must to eat at such a renowned establishment at least once while we live here, and our friends who agree with a tepid review suggest we try Q39 or Gates next once we've lost our salty, greasy barbecue bloat.  

Sauce-covered and sated we next visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, a place we've been before.  It feels like an old friend each time we return.  There were some new works of art on the lawn (which we previously skipped due to inclement weather) where we disoriented ourselves in a glass labyrinth meant to evoke man's discombobulated journey in these modern times, and enjoyed the cornucopia-like heads:

I bring horns and fruit

I bring just fruit

I would like us to sign up for art classes, but D's not so keen...he likes to paint fences and walls and our deck, and not so much the representations of them.  This visit, his favorite exhibit was the knights and armor on the far side of a cloistered abbey, and I liked the outdoor sculpture garden.  I really enjoy seeing squirrels and birds and people interact with the art in a natural, relaxed setting.

Earlier in the weekend I ran a local 10K and I placed 2nd overall for the women, but I had a mind-numbing race.  I can't get over this hamstring tendinitis so every step I take is a footfall of frustration.  My lungs and heart feel good but due to pain I can't push myself as I'd like.   I am not one who expects running to be pain-free of course but this is different, and it's been around about 18 months, and I don't like it.  Unfortunately at this time I can't stomach the idea of taking a hiatus even though rationally it's the wisest thing to do.  I think my brain would suffer such a break in routine.  

After reading this over I notice that I've eaten far too much barbecue recently and so I'm sure I'll be running again later today to sweat off the stupor.

Here's another snapshot from the Overland Park Botanic Gardens...aren't the colors really something?

Brew to Brew 2015 etc

Last Sunday D and I ran the Brew-to-Brew relay...well, sort of...

Due to last minute personnel changes and the looming thunderstorms, our team slimmed down to just the two of us, and we decided that a 44+ mile relay for two on a Sunday wasn't a great idea - especially with D leaving town early the next morning, so we relayed with each other for a few legs.  Other teams appeared well-prepared with cocktails, vans, uniforms, signs, boundless cheer, but we had fun anyway despite our low-key approach.  The whole Brew-to-Brew framework is low-overhead - only 2 race bibs per team (starting and finishing runners only), no t-shirts, no medals, no aid stations other than port-a-potties, which I thought a great way to demonstrate that this relay is truly all about supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Success.

We still had a great time and I enjoyed running the hilly and somewhat lonely roads of horse-country Kansas.  Afterwards we treated ourselves to Panera for lunch.

The only way to describe spring weekends in northeast Kansas these days?  Petrichor.  Fancy-fancy.  But so apt for such a rich scent!

Today is rainy (and smells delightful) again too.

Luckily there have been a few weekdays without rain, so I've started cycling my work commute.  I used to say, "I biked to work," (explaining my tardiness, overstuffed backpack, sweat, and excess of spandex) but that means "motorcycle" to most - something I have never done, and am thoroughly pleased that D got out of his system a decade or so ago (not that there's anything wrong with it!).  I'm lucky to have a short commute (12 miles) and biking is a nice break from beating up my hamstring even more.  It's painful, sure, but the worst part is the inability to get any real power on the left leg.  This nagging unstretchable heavy twinge is my steady running companion and my wish is that cycling more will help.  I'll report back!  I also enjoy the fact that I save about $1 per day every time I ride to and from work.  Yes, I invested in an expensive headlight and tail-light at Santa Fe Trails Bicycle Shop, but my improved mood at work and home and my glee at saving the environment 12 miles of petrochemicals makes me just so self-righteously happy :)

My new favorite activity this week is morel mushroom hunting!  I learned last week that mid-April means morel mushrooms start to appear in the woods of Kansouri.  Nugget and I tagged along with some coworkers (aka experienced mushroom hunters) and scoured the woods of a nearby state park.  

The bounty - obvs not mine :)

 I didn't find any myself (hence my love of the hunt vs the find), and Nugget just found ticks (which she's been stashing in her fluff) but I resolve to try again.  It's a huge subculture (we could probably just call that "culture") here - the internet is filled with mushroom cams and maps and fungi forecasts!  Morel recipes fall off the printer tray at work all day.  Oh, and the rumors of the value of these spongy fungi -- while anything priced by the ounce is probably too steep for me, it's exciting to think about foraging for a pot of brain-like squishy gold popping up under mayapples and along the rootlines of old elm trees.  Maybe I'll take a lesson from the French their cochons and train Nug as a morel-hunting sidekick?  I think I just heard her sigh...

This is the best place to stand to gather max ticks, Mommy

When it truly pours outside, I focus on my new woodworking hobby, thanks to Ana White (DIY heroine).  She said, "let's build something!" and I sure listened because she seems so cool.

After my raised garden bed success, (the radishes are looking great, tyvm, and the dill is sprouting nicely too!) I figured, oh, why not make a 6'+ long console table to squeeze into our tiny crooked home that is already overburdened with furniture, dog toys, running shoes and [now] ticks?

Eye pro and triple-flanged ear pro, yes, but plz ignore the shaky saw set-up

D heavily encourages new hobbies that distract me from my other hobby of picking nits, so with plans from Ana, a miter saw, a bunch of wood, the help of Home Depot, and lots of youtubing for "pocket holes without a jig," I'm working on this:

What, your workbench isn't an old couch, cardboard box, and a grill?

 Once the rain stops today, it's time to add the top, run a few miles to relax, then sand, and sand and sand.  I just bought a random orbit sander this morning and am excited to try it out.  I planned to sand it by hand but I can't handle amount of eye-rolling I got in response :)

The smell (and presence) of sawdust has replaced our dank basement funk and the muddy damp floor really ties the room together.  Enticing, eh?  Well, we've really improved the place, many of the 400 million spiders have left nice comment cards and said some really nice things about the table too.

There's a fairly high chance that we won't be able to get the console upstairs or through the doors.  I mean, I'm good at tetris, but honestly - no hyperbole - the table is only 2' shorter than the width of the house.  And I think it weighs about the same...here's hoping my innocent hobby won't lead to structural damage :)

Enjoy your weekend, the joy of spring, and happy running to all.

October-planted bulbs, ingredients: rain and faith