Happy Birthday Jim!

Chocolate Lava Cake with Raspberry Sorbet and real raspberries!

7 Squared Celebration continued

Chocolate Sunshine & Chocolate Mousstachio Cupcakes!

Dressed for fun!

Veggie Chili!

The Capitol Steps @ the State Theater.

Archives!!

As time allows, my goal is to scan in old photos (and slides?) that are not yet in digital format. Don't forget to look in the archived blog posts listed in the right hand column of this page. I did a 1974 post of some 6th grade track meet photos to show a little of what I hope to share. Stories will hopefully follow.

Morning Deer!!

Crazy Cats

Mooch snoozing...

... with a pink ring on her foot!

Miles licking a cheese puff.

7 Squared Celebration

Jim's birthday weekend!

Yet another failed attempt to travel to Pittsburgh. We have been trying for almost a year now.

Jim reading of exciting local options. The snow made us stay very local.

Mooch was playing "face" with Jim and got hungry.

Zola started off our weekend, Friday after work.  Just a snack and a sip as we watch posturing professors and suck-up students.

Friday supper was a bit of Thai food at Cozy Thai Bistro.

The winter storm was in full swing Saturday but that did keep us from a light lunch at Otto's.

Our favorite waitress and fellow distance runner, Lynda.

Starting with a 10oz Apricot Wheat - Jim's brew of choice. Happy Birthday, Jim!!

Butternut Squash soup and a pretzel!

Shopping for supper at the Wegman's Olive Bar! Some of them are kind of obscene looking!

Not tappas, but a fine little spread for a couple who didn't like what was on the menu at any local Middle-eastern restaurant in the area.

Our Mediterranean meal. Miles liked the tzatziki!

Time to curl up and watch a movie. Birbanto's latest favorite thing to do, sit with his "Frank."

Thoughts from the "Road" - #12811

An Unsatisfactory Start

The huge drifts of snow in January 2010 caused my running schedule less problems than the much smaller ones this year. Last year, darting out for a few laps on a local street easily ate up 20 minutes. Even when it was bitterly cold I got out, started to sweat and was back in and stretching in no time at all. This year has been harder to rally knowing I will be out in the cutting breeze, stepping through icy hummocks and looking for safe places to run for an hour or two at a go.

My right knee is a little swollen from the uneven running-on-beach-sand type workouts I have lately in the deep snow on the bike path. This morning I had a plan to mix it up a little by utilizing Penn State's indoor track at the Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility.

I have been scoping the location out for about a month. Firstly, it was locked because it was the day before classes resumed. I had wrongly assumed that because PSU staff had been back to work for well over a week that the facility might be open.

Next, I went on a weekend when the track had an event going on. I could at least read the track rules and building hours, 8AM until Midnight. Over this period of time, I had unsuccessfully scanned all of the web pages associated with the facility to try to determine when classes or events were being held and if the general public were limited to specific hours.

The day of the track meet there was no one on hand to ask so I spent the next week trying to call for information. No one ever answered the phone so I planned on trying a run there the following week just after lunch. I entered the building for my third time during lunch so it was pretty much abandoned. There were a couple of people using part of the sprinting course within the track so I knew it was open. With no one at the reception desk, I went to change my clothes. When I came out, the desk was manned and I asked about public use. I was told Monday - Friday 8 AM until NOON. I was a little exasperated and shared that I had been trying to glean that information but no one had been answering their phone all week. I asked if I could, for just that day, use the track since it was being under utilized at that moment. I was given the ok with the understanding that I would have to leave if students, a class or a coach needed to use the area. My use of the facility was 20 minutes, not even 2 miles of running, before students began trickling in. At least I got to try out a pair of new shoes before I bundled up and walked across campus to my bus on one of the most bitter cold days this winter. What a lot of trouble.

It wasn't the bitterly cold but the piles of snow and slush that had been a challenge this week so this morning I was ready. I had planned last night to have my gear ready to go when Jimmy-the-Eye started out for work. When he dropped me at the facility @ 7:45 AM, I wasn't concerned if I couldn't get in for 15 minutes. Sure enough the doors were locked but I had warm up clothes over my shorts and t-shirt. I was dressed to run indoors but not yet sweaty so the wait would be fine. I only had to wait about 5 minutes until someone unlocked the door. I asked if I could wait in the warm lobby until the building was open and I was told that the building would be closed all day because of an event. I wanted to scream but thanked the fellow for cluing me in as I hustled off. Even if I changed into my new sneakers and dealt with my back pack banging around, I wasn't dressed to run outside. I chose the closest bus stop to try to get home and missed the bus by 2 minutes. I was forced to call Jimmy-the-Eye for a ride home.

I am trying to get over sulking about it. It seems I have put a lot of effort into this morning for nothing. I am trying to turn it around and make something good out of a bad start. I am like that on runs and races too; if things start off badly I have a difficult time turning it around. I let my head get in the way and it can dictate the mood for a while.

I am having a second cup of tea, finally writing in this blog for a bit, planning Jimmy-the-Eye's birthday weekend as well as my my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. I have a couple of art projects to get into and can revel in completing my taxes. I may not be out in the drifts of snow working out but I will plow my way through the day and strive to have a smile or two along the way.
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addendum
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I did get a shorter more intense run in this morning. I took a round-about route in my studded shoes. Starting with a lap on my unplowed street, a quick down & up our hill then off to return a Redbox dvd to Walmart made it almost feel like I got a run in.

Afterimage 2

Poor RGBisMe had a few technical glitches and his whole wonderful blog, Afterimage, was send to roam freely into the nether regions of cyberspace. All of his hard work and past links are gone but I know in a couple of years it will be even better than it's predecessor. Until then, please visit (and follow if you choose) Afterimage at this link.

April Foolishness

Something I am looking forward to in early April. Double the miles of the race I entered last year at that time is the Capital 10-Miler.

Thoughts from the Road - #11911

Images from Winter Runs

Mile 4/6 on Spring Valley Road, past the horses. I saw a juvenile Northern Harrier near here this day and ran directly under an American Kestrel sitting on a line.

Mile 5/13 today. I 99 passing over the Bellefonte Central Rail Trail which was 6 miles of sloggy slush, the whole way to Waddle and back.

Detail of above.

Buff Brit in a (Wet) White Shirt

We stayed up uncharacteristically late to watch the Golden Globe Awards last evening. The nominated movies and actors we were unfamiliar with far outnumbered the ones we have seen.

A highlight was seeing Michael Douglas present the last award. The man has come through a rough battle with throat cancer and is was moving to see him on the winning side of it.

Claire Danes won an award for her portrayal of Temple Grandin in the film of the same name. Mss. Danes and Grandin were seated together and their genuine reactions were priceless. Seeing the famous autistic woman sitting at the Golden Globe tables was more thrilling than all of the other star spotting (and Jackie Reyes! at The Social Network table?).

Worse than catching 25% of the actors mid-chew in candid shots was Natalie Portman's acceptance speech of Best Actress for her performance in Black Swan. She stood on the stage in a gown of flowing pink icing accentuating her baby bump and blathered about her foul haired fiancé, "Thank you to Benjamin, who is helping me continue this creation of creating more life," as she patting her belly.

Portman, 29, noted that Millepied, 33, choreographed the flick and also had a small role, playing a ballet-dancer character who said he "wouldn't sleep" with Portman's ballerina.

"It's not true!" Portman said, laughing. "He totally wants to sleep with me!"

In total contrast to her lack of decorum, Colin Firth accepted his Best Actor award soon after. We have enjoyed his work for many years. Hearing him speak with intelligence, gentle humor and aplomb made me glad for watching and relieved that I could still respect him as a person and not have it tarnish my enjoyment of his performances. He has recently been recognized for having the look of the moment and we smiled last night that he was again in a smart white shirt.

We have enjoyed Firth's performances since we first saw him as Mr. Darcy in BBC's 1995 mini-series, Pride & Prejudice. Since then, we have started to notice that in many films, he is required to show off his well structured torso in white shirts, frequently wet from some activity or another in the movie. We now have our own "wet t-shirt" game of watching to see when Colin Firth appears in each film in that manner. It adds a new level of excitement watching Mama Mia, St Trinian's, Love Actually as well as Pride & Prejudice. We will have to re-watch Bridget Jones's Diary and are looking forward to his award winning performance in The King's Speech. Who knows, maybe it starts to rain while this well spoken actor gives his performance of the signature speech!

Thoughts from the Road - #11211

Not Now, I'm Doing Math

We used to steal our son's shoes off of his feet on long trips in the car as one of the many ways to fight off boredom and stay engaged. Before Kindergarten, he became obsessed with general math and begged us to give him problems to solve to pass the time. When he wasn't in the mood for playing around and having his feet tickled he would seriously tell us, "Not now, I'm doing math." Math was too important to be interrupted with a frivolous game.

I have never enjoyed crunching numbers and sometime about 8th grade I ended up feeling very stupid when it came to Algebra. I had been placed in a group of students who were set on an accelerated path through Junior High School, we were constantly pushed to enroll in classes that were 2 years more advanced than anyone else in our grade. I did excel in many topics but math was not one that came easily and I struggled to keep up. The track we were on was clearly outlined as a long series of advanced math courses for years. I was relieved at the beginning of my senior year when I had enough math credits accumulated to graduate and could have a year without any math class and take on 2 science classes.

As a runner, I find myself thrust back into doing math more often than I would like. I am not a maniac about bettering my time and don't really keep an eye on my watch for that reason. If I do have to be at a specific location by a specific time, that ends up requiring... math.

As an example, Monday I wanted to set out from home to run 10 miles. I had never run that far in the snow before so I wanted to be generous with the amount of time I would need and estimated 2 hours (my 10 miler normally would be closer to 1:42:00). Because of the snow, I didn't want to have to run the final mile back to my house which is all uphill and a gravel snow covered road part of the way. I asked Jimmy-the-eye to pick me on his way home for lunch at a park that is enroute.

With all of the above information, I needed to figure out when to turn around to make it back to the park close to when he was to pick me up. This required me to see how long it took me to get to the park (about 2 miles into my run) and subtract that out of my remaining time and distance for the return. Then I realized that I had to cut that time in HALF when applying it to my finale 8 or so miles because I would be running that time in both directions. AUGH! All I wanted was to take a run!

On top of all of that, I was carrying water and fuel which I wouldn't need for my entire run. I like to refuel about 40 minutes/ 4 miles into my run and once more at 8 miles. I spent most of my first 4 miles trying to figure out exactly where to drop my water bottle in the snow so that I would be running back past it for my 8 mile refueling. This, of course, required that I had a plan for exactly where/when I would be turning around. My first 4 miles were super-saturated with little math problems. Next time I will plan ahead and wear my CamelBak.

I need to mention that I can't do math when I am really exerting myself so my figuring has to be put on hold if I have any hills to run up. I also need to focus if I share any of my route on roads that have traffic; no math on roads. Loose dogs, tricky footing, wedgies, running snot and any malfunctioning gear will all cause my calculations to be put on hold (at best) or be totally forgotten (at worst). It may surprise you that I can walk/run and chew gum at the same time, I just can't do math.

On the plus side (pun intended), once I have figured out the general length of a route it is much easier to know how to tackle it in the future. Running by a landmark I will think, "Oh, that's my 8 mile point when I start from point X and run route Y," even though it would only be my mile 3 for that day. I don't forget things like that if I have put effort into getting it straight a run or two in the past. I don't want to have to do the math more than once.

It is said, to run a strong race a runner is encouraged to run negative splits. That means for each mile you run it is a good practice to try to run each additional mile a little bit faster than the last. More math. I have been coasting along at a 10 (something) minute mile pace for quite a while. I think I could probably train to get a little stronger but I will be honest, I like working with 10s. The only race I where I had my splits written down, they stayed tucked neatly away in my SPIbelt as I struggled to keep myself moving forward at any pace. For the time being, I will just be glad to run my second half of anything faster than my first half.

Maybe I am becoming more comfortable with the mathematical challenges running has thrown at me. I was pleased to recently realize that I almost naturally run the tangents of any race course. That has not been, however, to make better time nor that I relish Euclidean vectors. I can easily be distracted from doing math but I won't run any farther in a race than I absolutely have to. I'm not that stupid.

Arm Warmers out of Socks

Sale socks from Target are exactly what I have been looking for to make these arm warmers.

Long Run in the Snow Success

I reviewed how my snow studs did on an initial light run but wanted to give them a real trial over a much longer run. Today was the perfect day, the cold temps had kept the bike path snow covered and the day was a sunny one.

The biggest challenge was psyching myself up for going out into 22° weather for 2 hours solid. I keep telling myself that I know I got out no matter the weather or temperature last year but that was 30 minute work outs maximum when I started the Couch to 5k plan. Now that I look at it, the first few weeks were only 20 minutes each work out. I worked up a sweat but was in and showering soon after that.


I shivered and puttered around until 10:00 this morning and finally pushed (and shoved and kicked) myself out the door. Armed with a couple Gus and a new Cucumber Mint Nuun tablet for my water, I had a lot of gear to juggle in my very cold hands.

This run was probably 85% on packed or 2" - 3" fluffy snow. The bike trail over the weekend had been well used and there were even some icy patches that I make a beeline to, no matter if it was on a hill or not. About 10% of the run was on clear road and 5% was on snow covered gravel or dirt. I logged over 10 miles and surprisingly made a little bit better time than I had expected. Running in the snow takes some effort but the studs on the shoes really were amazing. I didn't ever slip and I only lost one stud from one of my heals. I didn't miss it, thankfully, on any of the descents.

Because I overestimated how long it would take me, I was left with quite a while to stretch out and wait for Jimmy-the-eye to pick me up. This is when the cold kicked in as I walked around the park and tried to stay in the sun. When I got home I saw it had only warmed up to 25°. I was grateful there was very little wind today.

I am thrilled at how good this 10 miler felt. I hadn't logged that distance in over a month and I am not feeling too badly after my shower. I like the possibilities the snow studs have opened up for me but will still be glad for warmer weather.

snow studs

We finally got a substantial snowfall to justify my winter running project. With Miles' help, I screwed in some 1/4" sheet metal screws into my oldest sneakers. I have decided to mutilate my oldest shoes since Yaktracks Pro do not come small enough for my size 6 New Balance 758's.


After an easy 2.5 miles on many different surfaces I returned home to find I had lost one outside stud. The remaining ones showed no wear even though half of the running had been on slushy or just wet road surfaces.

They handled best on snow pack where tires had driven on the 2" of unplowed snow. They were also really nice on unshoveled sidewalks with 2" - 3" of fluffy snow. I was able to get a nice grip to keep moving up a 3° - 5° incline and felt just as confidant descending the same route because of the studs on my heals.

The surfaces I felt less confidant about were the wet roads where I wasn't certain if the studs might cause me to slide if I would pick up speed. The snowy trail I was on was just more difficult to navigate because of the added effort to get through the snow. I will say the same for the hill with road grade gravel.

I look forward to trying them again when I have a few ice patches to test out.



Birbanto helped me with the follow up shots.

Thoughts from the Road - #1611

Take Me Away

Take me away from the cares of the day.
Let my pumping legs make me all sweaty
and muscles burn with the demands of a run
and forget all that's pointless or petty.

Take me away from my worries and fears.
Help me burn off all that limoncelli.
My breathing and pace so unbearably fast
I can't think of her break up with Kelly.

Take me away from the pressures and stress.
A long run builds up my muscle tone
and for a moment forget others' endoscopies,
thyroid tests and kidney stones.

Take me away from the sadness and doubt
if only while I'm running hard.
A run is my daily treatment and cure;
psychotherapy for the avant-garde.

My Runniversary

Today is my runniversary. Last year on this date I started the Couch to 5k program. I ran 2.1 miles that day at a 14 MM pace. I graduated the program in about 9 weeks and have gone on to run 860 miles to this day.This is me at "the horses" (about 2.1 miles in) on my last run of 2010. The total run was a 5 miler at a 10 MM pace. It was the last run of the season with jingle bells on my shoes.

Today I went 3 times as far as last year on this date. This year I hope to log at least 1,000 miles total.