Friday, July 25, 2014

Can Buckeyes grow in the desert?

It's been forever since I used this medium to post anything.. but after moving west 3 weeks ago..several people have asked lots of questions about what it's like.. and FB isn't friendly to wordy posts.. so here goes nothing..

The drive out wasn't bad at all.. Surprise #1.  We both thought it was going to be awful..since our dogs aren't the best in the car.. but really other than having to stop every couple of hours.. they did great.   They settled in each night at the hotel,  no accidents in the hotel room and generally just traveled like they did this all the time. Who knew?

The house I rented.. totally doing everything over the internet is wonderful!  Surprise #2.
I hung up my bird feeders in the front yard and within an hour I had birds and hummingbirds!  The house is perfect.. and in a really nice neighborhood.  To put this into Cincy perspective.. Surprise AZ is geographically similar to where Monroe sits in relationship to Downtown Cincy...
Front yard.. 
 Back yard.. notice all the rocks!
  The desert landscape is good and bad..  No real yard work to do.. but the rocks get HOT every afternoon and the dogs can't even go out to the bathroom without me running out to hose down the patio.. At least until Sept.. when the weather should change.  
  
The views are amazing.  Everywhere you drive you get to look at scenery like this.  This is about 1/2 mile up the street from my house but gives you an idea of what its like to just drive around... 

     But .... there are a LOT of people here, and the snowbirds haven't even returned.   We understand from everyone we talk to that in a couple of months it gets crazy... with lots of senior citizens returning from up north... who only drive 20 MPH.  NOT looking forward to that.
Which might explain another strange thing about this city... There are grocery stores EVERYWHERE.  And not just grocery stores.. every kind of store is repeated it seems like every 5 miles.  Paradise Bakery,  which is basically Panera's out here is as common as Starbucks.   And I googled this.. I have 14 (soon to be 15) grocery stores within 3 miles of my house.  Including 2 Fry's (aka Kroger).  BUT.. and here is where I have been spoiled,,, most of these are small and old looking. I have to drive 5 miles (OMG)  to get to the Fry's Marketplace store which is like the Harpers Point Kroger.  Most of the others kind of remind me of what IGA was like in Cincinnati. 

Oh and about that DRY heat.. It's great.. but it's still hot.  Before I got here all I heard was Yeah... but  it's a dry heat.  And once you get used to this low humidity..which takes about 2 days..you can't imagine how you ever lived some place where 70% humidity was not uncommon.  But when the temperatures go up to about '110 and the sun is relentlessly shining (because there is no cloud cover.. we don't get rain!)  you just can't be outside in it.  Which was a little depressing.  Because you see I just left an area where we were all holed up and inside until almost MAY because the weather had been so cold and nasty.  We were just getting out and enjoying the outdoors,  going to farmers markets on the weekend,  planning things to do outside.. and now guess what.. I'm in hibernation mode again.  Farmers markets shutdown here from June 1st through October 1st.  Everyone plans things to do indoors. So I'm patiently waiting to start to really enjoy the area I moved to.   The mountains are taunting me. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Little Rock Marathon or Pringles and Pancakes

So.. we just got back from Little Rock.  What a neat town!  Lindsey did the Full Marathon,  I did the 1/2... Yes I love the t-shirts that say.. I'm only half crazy...

Riding home from these events we always take time to reflect and figure out what we loved and hated about each one.   Little Rock , you should be proud.. we really couldn't find much didn't like~!

The drive down was a bit iffy,  as we hit snow squalls off and on . but Lindsey drove down so I got to be a passenger and enjoy the views.   Or what I could see of them.  We headed down Friday and drove to Bowling Green KY,  and then got up Saturday and arrived in Little Rock to head over to the Expo.

The Expo was very nice.. good vendors,  and I picked up a new T-Shirt that I"m in love with . The company is called. Fellow Flowers  I loved the message.. because I'm really good at finding excuses for things..

This has to be one of the friendliest.. low pressure... achievable venues for anyone who wants to run a marathon.  In order to be walker friendly.. they allow an early start time of 6 am..  Which over 100 walker/runners took advantage of..  This is so nice for anyone who does a 6+ marathon race.  Rather than coming in at the end of the pack... with little crowd support and normally no food left.. They were coming in with the 4 hour marathoners.  WHAT A NICE IDEA!  Lindsey took advantage of this for 2 reasons.. one.. no pressure.. If you normally do a 6 hour marathon.. and the cut off is 6 1/2.. and you have a bad day.. it can be stressful to say the least....  Also since I didn't start until 8.. this meant that I only had to wait about an hour for her to be done.. and we could get in the car and head back home a couple of hours to make the next day's drive easier...  (You can't sit in a car longer than 2 hours after running this much without having to get out and move...)  Oh and when you do get out .. you look like you are 100 years old for the first 10-15 steps...

So I drove over and dropped her off at 5:30 (Yawn)  and got a great parking place, close to the finish.  I stayed in the car with the heater running and listened to a book on tape and chilled until 7.  Then walked over to join the porta john line (short.. there were TONS of them)  and then over to River Market.. a downtown indoor market that kindly opened its doors so we could stand inside.. out of the cold and wait for the start.  And here is where the title of this post comes from.   I grabbed a stand up table to hang out at and was soon joined by a few others who just wanted a place to put down their things and hang out.  No problem.. Great time to chat with others.   The topic of race nutrition came up because one of the women was  using safety pins to apply four zip lock packages of Pringles to her clothes as race food... ???  I have never seen this done before and got a good laugh from it..  she said wait.. I'm not as bad as him.. pointing to her friend.. who reached in his pocket and pulled out a package of pancakes!   Hey whatever works .. right?

The day turned out to be sunny and temperatures eventually got to the mid 40's.. pretty much perfect .  Yes a couple of the streets that were shady and windy got a bit chilly.. but we both got sunburned!  Wonderful crowd support... great music on course...  water stops were wonderful..  plenty of appropriately spaced porta-potties...  good post race food (we didn't stay for the post race party)   and probably the best race medals you could EVER wish for  (unless you run Ultra's..  belt buckles are pretty dang cool)... And Yes Lindsey's medal is bigger than her FACE!

Way to go Little Rock.   Great way to start of 2013 and you have set the bar pretty high for all the runs we are planning for the rest of the year. 

Thursday, February 28, 2013

I NEED to vent....

It has been a while since we have posted on this blog...  Why?  for me an injury had sidelined me.. and all I did was bitch about how frustrated I was and who wants to hear that?   You might not want to read this either,  but I need to get this out.. and writing sometimes helps.

Some of you may know that we foster animals with the SPCA.  We have had several pregnant cats and their subsequent kittens.  We have lost a few babies..illness,  the runts.. I get that.  It comes with the territory of dealing with street cats that often come in pregnant and SKINNY!

But 11 days ago we brought home Momma and her 5- 1 week old babies..Mom was a gorgeous calico who  within 24 hours showed signs of an upper respiratory infection.  2 babies also started sneezing.. 3 days later.. mom was really sick  and the 2 babies were also not doing well.   We upped the dosage of antibiotics in the hopes that the babies would get some through the milk.  Mom stopped eating.  She had full blown pneumonia.
Between force feeding this poor thing ,  trying to supplement the babies with KMR,  giving steam baths to try and open up her breathing... we spent quite a bit of time with these poor cats.. Last Sunday I would have told you Mom wouldn't last the night... but somehow she managed to pull through and by Monday afternoon started to eat a little and groom herself..  the first time in almost 7 days..

 Kittens..it became  a losing battle. So far 3 kittens have succumbed. ,  and I'm returning Mom and the 2 babies to the shelter today.. I'm pretty sure they will humanely euthanize the remaining 2..  Momma hasn't given any milk for several days..  The babies are so congested they can barely breath.. and choke when trying to give them any supplemental feeding.  They are so tiny..    So they will do what the can to finish up Mom on antibiotics... Spay and put her up for adoption.   She is a sweetheart and someone would get a wonderful pet...

I'm not sure if I can do this again...and yet.. they always have another one that I could take.. and I know in my heart that we saved this one cat.. she would have died.. along with her babies...

If you have a pet.. PLEASE Spay and Neuter... My garden is no place for another kitten burial...

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Foodie Penpal Reveal Day

The Lean Green Bean 



So this month for Foodie Penpals I was paired with Blogger Tania who did a fabulous job selecting some awesome vegan goodies.  First she sent a great questionnaire aimed at finding out more about my food preferences and why I joined the program.  Then once the box arrived I could totally tell she really thought about her choices and I really appreciated how careful she was with selecting only vegan options.  So here's what was in my box:


Lots of great snack and lunchbox items: raisins, pita chips, and seaweed snack chips.  I also told Tania I love trying local items and she included a bag of local coffee and some local hot sauce that I will surely try.  But my absolute favorite item was these super cute Little Soya soy sauce packets in the shape of fish...I mean so cute right! I can imagine countless lunches of homemade sushi or Thai lettuce wraps being accompanied by these little fish guys - thank you Tania you did an awesome job Foodie Penpal!!







If you are interested in joining Foodie Penpals here are the details:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for October, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Chances to Help

I wanted to post a quick message for anyone that might be interested in helping two awesome charities that mom and I totally support. 

#1 - I will be running my 8th marathon in Philadelphia in November and decided to run it as a charity runner for Girls on the Run.  This is a fabulous organization that creates after school programs for girls in grades 3rd-8th that feature exercise, promoting healthy body images, and team work.  I was a coach for a local site last year and was blown away at how much the girls grew in just a few short months.  If you would like to learn more about this great organization and possibly help me in my fundraising here is a link to my page: Girls on the Run Fundraising

#2 Another vegan marathon runner has decided to run the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas half marathon and is also fundraising for the ASPCA.  She has created an awesome raffle with great prizes (including a vitamix!!!).  So if you are interested in joining in here is a link to her post: Vegan Weightwatcher Raffle



Thursday, July 19, 2012

Make it By Midnight - Race Review

A perfect example of how an idea can seem perfectly sane...5 months previously... In February,  after a long training run in the freezing cold,  Lindsey and I were sitting around bitching about the cold and surfing the internet looking at potential races for the spring.   Somehow... Lindsey finds this race in Macon GA,  the weekend of my 54th birthday... which is in July.. and it sounds great..  Gated community,  you run 4- 6.6 mile loops for a full,  2- 6.6 mile loops for the 1/2 marathon.  The bonus.. the whole idea is you can start whenever you want after 3pm... you just want to try to finish by midnight!  Bonus number 2.. it is a very inexpensive race to run and they have cute T-shirts and pretty unique medals.  Sign us up!

Fast forward to summer 2012.. we didn't plan for the kinds of heat and humidity that have been hanging around the mid west this year.   So planned weekend long runs of 12 or 10 miles,  got cut short to 10 or 8..  Week day runs got supplanted by workouts with the Mason Manta swim team... great cardio.. but not great preparation for the hills and humidity awaiting us in Georgia...

So we left Cincy on my birthday, Friday the 13th...duh..duh..duh....(horror movie music...)   Had a great trip down to Atlanta.  Got to hookup with Dan and Rami and see their new Condo (SWEET DIGS!)  and on Saturday morning,  we ran around Northern Atlanta to the REI store and hit up a Running Spot store.  Then went to Revolution Doughnuts to get an amazing Vegan Coconut Cake Donut and a cool coffee mug - then picked up some Vegan Cupcakes at Dulce Vegan Bakery (the Chocolate strawberry were amazing!)  and had their excellent Chicken salad sandwich.   The baked goods were safely tucked away in the cooler as a celebration of both the completion of our run,  and as a birthday treat for you know who!  Hell yes we run to eat!

Revolutionary!
Then we drove the hour and 1/2 down to Macon and checked in to our hotel to relax for a little while.   The race director had sent out an email reminding everyone to throw time goals out the window..  plan on running / walking slower than you ever had before because it was hot and hilly!  See elevation profile below... yes it felt just like you were constantly climbing up or down stairs!

 Lindsey thought she would be okay starting around 5:30 and we left the hotel about 4:45 to drive the 20 minutes over to the race venue.  Sat in line to get through the guard house at the community and then drove to their clubhouse where the race would start.  We got out of the car and the humidity was like walking through water.  98% according to the weather channel.. and no breeze.. I mean..NONE!  92 degrees out when Lindsey started her run.. I headed back to the hotel to hang out and await her text message on when we could hook up for the last 2 laps.

She text-ed after the first loop was done, and I could tell by the time.. she was moving slow.  But then not too much longer she sent another saying she just passed 10..what!  I was still lounging around in my pj's ,  so I pulled on my race clothes and jumped in the car to drive over as well.   I didn't have long to wait before she headed down the hill to where the start line was..looking like a drowned rat .. she was ringing wet.    Her only comment.. "This sucks..Put on bug spray".   Off we went around 8:15.   We headed away from the clubhouse to make a quick run by the lake.  The only view of the water that you get during the race.    I tried asking a few questions,  but I could tell from talking to her that she was in a little trouble.  She wasn't making sense when I'd ask questions,  she was laughing and staggering off the road some.. okay.. time to walk for a while.   Good decision as we started the first of many long climbs this race has to offer.  I think you forget that Georgia is that hilly , we have all read the signs on 75 for Stone Mountain... We made it to the half way point in the first loop,  and the ladies at the aid station were ready.   They were handing out water,  gatorade,  salt,  pickles,  pretzels..   I opted for salt and ate about a teaspoon straight out of the cup. It tasted wonderful!   Lindsey went with pickles and pickle juice.   It worked for her too.. after about 10 minutes.. she started feeling better and was able to run again. By now the sun was going down and we had to go on flashlight power.   They had given us handheld flashlights in our check in bags,  so I started with that.  It worked... kind of..  but since I was carrying it in my hand the light moved around a lot,  and I had to keep pumping the flashlight handle to keep it powered. Plus , when we got back to Cincy we realized I was doing it wrong..so that was why the light kept dimming..Duh.  I switched over to a headlamp for the last loop... which added a different issue.

This neighborhood had about 3 street lights ... so when it got full dark...it was DARK and noisy!  Cicadas ,  crickets,  bull frogs and barking dogs ... but you couldn't see past the light that was coming from my forehead.  Moths, mosquitoes, and gnats kept flying into my eyes to get to the headlamp.. Great.. I think I ate a few bugs.  Every time I tried to talk to Linz,  I about blinded her by turning my head lamp right into her eyes. On the plus side.. you really couldn't tell how far you were in the loop ,  or how far you had to go,  because you only had the circle of light to head towards.. so you just kept moving.  (Go into the light... All are Welcome..)    One more stop for more salt and pickles  and we kept plodding along.    2 other racers passed us saying 40 minutes to get 3 miles done...  Lindsey knew by checking her watch,  we weren't going to make it.   We had to walk the uphills and could only run the down hills and the flats,  and even those we had to slow down for ,  because she was still a little shaky and the pavement was uneven enough,  that we both tripped in the dark a couple of times.   Not worth face planting, so we just stayed steady and finished up a few minutes after midnight.  


Neither one of us wanted to stick around and socialize or eat,  we just wanted to get back to the hotel, pull of our soaking wet clothes and socks,  take a shower and cool off in front of the air conditioner... besides... we had birthday cupcakes waiting us!  


This definitely was an unusual race.   They limit the runners to 150 registrations and only 116 showed up this year,  and since everyone starts a different times,  you are often running on your own for long stretches.   We were both glad we had each other for company when it got dark.   There were 5 houses that provided encouragement throughout the route whether it was little boys in lawn chairs cheering us up a hill,  or little girls handing out glow stick necklaces,  or the family that handed out the most delicious frozen grapes,  our pickle juice stop,  and the men who dragged a freezer out to the street corner with the longest extension cord.. to hand out cups of ice cream!   But other than these amazing people..  the rest of the neighborhood was quiet and did I mention DARK.   
I know, I know... who thinks to run in Georgia in July????    But     we definitely made some memories on this one!   And I got a shirt.. and a medal.. and a Tiara.. damn it!  And yes I was tired in this picture..

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Foodie Penpals Reveal Day

The Lean Green Bean


In a random hour of computer surfing I came across this great website last month, where a blogger has organized a foodie exchange between over 1,000 people.  I decided to join this growing exchange and signed up for June.  I sent a package with Cincinnati favorites to a very nice gal, Tiffany in Texas, and I hope she enjoyed the goodies.

I was super excited when my own package came from Kiri, also a fellow Ohioan, and opened it to find a whole host of vegan friendly goodies including a bag of quinoa (one of my favorite grains!), a fruit leather (great item for packing lunches or traveling to marathons), and a coconut/chocolate bar that I will definitely be trying soon.




But the most intriguing item was this jar of sesame "candy."  Kiri explained that she loves international foods and that this product, while labeled candy, isn't your traditional American candy bar.  I had to try some and found it to be a very fun treat.  Put on a spoon it had a somewhat powdery consistency but when you placed it on your mouth it melted and had a great pistachio and light sesame flavor. 

Finally she also included a box of Teatulia teas that was a sampler of several flavors.  While I haven't tried them all I did brew up a cup of the Peppermint and loved it!  Mint teas are my favorite evening treat and this blend had a great minty fragrance and strength. 

Thanks again Foodie Penpal Kiri!!

If you are interested in joining Foodie Penpals here are the details:
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.