Ran 5 this morning.  My brain feels like it is running in mud today.  need to snap out of it and get rolling.

What a great weekend of running and racing for so many folks around here!!!

We sure are one healthy bunch of people.

Way to go - love this bunch

Swapped my long run from yesterday to today. 10 degrees F. drop from 78 to 68. Long run done, Check! Remind me not to run on narrow roads in the dark on school days past the school bus depot. Today's run was crazy with traffic. Pace bunny is now in my review mirror after a week of back and forth. I just love wetlands Jay

Great time in the Crim, Dave59, regardless of the conditions! What AG are you in? I agree that it's those rollers coming in on Court Street that really wear you down at the end. My PR was several years ago on a particularly cool, non-humid day. If I had run it this year in 1:33 I'd definitely have been very happy about it. Also good that you could run & finish without much prep, TomS. As it's been noted, the hills are really only hills for total flatlanders. Now you've got me inspired to run it next year for "old times sake."

Ran 6 HHH this morning, which was just the way I like it. It was actually a bit overcast when I started out and I was looking forward to a cool if humid run, but then the clouds cleared out after the first mile and I was glad I was going to be running past the library so I could stop in and refill my water bottle.

 

No rum today 

Oh come on, Joe, it's five o'clock somewhere, right?  

Jay - it's unfortunate that it has to come to that, but it sounds like you have given him all the chances available.  Some folks are just obstinate.

No run for me today either, just 30 minutes or so of weights and core.

tet, nice tri with AG win.  Steve, good job in your trail half.

Nice long runs for Jay, Holly, stumpy, Mike, and starr.

This morning, it was in the low 60s and there was just a light breeze.  I did 6 miles at an 11:02 pace.

At the Crim, I got to talking with another guy who, like me,  is no longer a youngster.  In discussing our relatively good health for our ages, he said his doctor told him, "If everyone was like you, I wouldn't be driving a Porsche."

Shortly, we will be off for our weekly babysitting privilege.

A good day and good running for all.

TomS

On Saturday I skipped the local crazy distance race.  I got up late and would have had to rush to make it plus my feeling was that my quads could use another day off.  Yesterday I resumed running and I sure had a lot of pep!  I ran my standard 10 mile route but at about a 45 second per mile pace faster than usual and I was not pushing it.  Maybe those quad exercises actually helped after giving myself time to heal up from them!

Swiss chard:  While I am waiting for my database to reformat I figured I would discuss cooking Swiss chard given how many people earlier said they hate the stuff.  As I mentioned earlier the three big stewing greens are kale, Swiss chard and collard greens.  Of the three, Swiss chard is in some ways the trickiest to deal with.  Kale is a bit sweet which helps when making it part of a dish, just tough as nails unless you treat it first.  Collard greens tend to have a pretty standard set of cooking methods associated with it that makes it easier to deal with (even if the creative options seems somewhat limited).  Swiss chard is naturally bitter and the stems are really tough.  What to do?  It is not called a stewing green for nothing!  While I have seen salad recipes that use it raw (just be sure to pull the leaves from the stems, chop them up and let them soak in acid, like lemon juice, for a bit prior to serving) I think Swiss chard works better when cooked down.  Like kale if you try to use Swiss chard all by itself that is unlikely to be a big hit and why I think many people here say they hate the stuff.  One of my favorite Swiss chard recipes is called Farrow with Braised Greens and you can find it on my Allrecipes page.  It is from the Wall Street Journal of all places!  In this recipe you cook it down with garlic, onion, red pepper and lemon peel.  These ingredients are designed to mellow the chard's bitterness.  But, the chard is not served alone even after all this cooking down.  No, you combine it with farrow, pistachios, ricotta cheese and pomegranate syrup.  (I find that huckleberry syrup and similar ones work just as well).  The farrow gives the dish some texture as do the pistachios.  Plus both add their own nutty flavor.  The cheese is another ingredient to mellow all the flavors in this dish together as well as give it a sense of richness.  Last but not least is the syrup.  Kale has a bit of natural sweetness.  Chard does not.  So the syrup makes up for that!  Need a simpler recipe?  Try http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Swiss-Chard-with-Raisins-and-Almonds-241474 or in English Swiss Chard with Raisin and Almonds.  The raisins here substitute for the syrup in the farrow recipe to add some sweetness and the almonds give the dish the nutty taste and crunch the pistachios did.  The recipe also includes some smoked paprika to add both heat (instead of the red pepper) and helps hide the bitterness of the greens a bit.  It comes out great!  Want to mix up your own recipe?  Just follow these rules and you should do fine:  Cut the leaves off the stems.  Stew the leaves so they soften up.  Add both a sweetener (raisins, syrup, cranberries, whatever). a bit of heat (your favorite pepper or chili) and some crunch (either a nut or a grain with texture, brown rice might even work).  There, done!  At least give it a try before deciding Swiss chard is off your diet!

Not for nothing, TC, but you can cook cardboard with garlic, onions, and red pepper and all those other goodies and make it taste decent. 

although I will admit to really liking the "greens and beans" at my FIL's favorite Italian restaurant.  I think they use escarole, though.