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[Help me run the Boston Marathon!]

Yesterday midday was the St Patrick's Day 5K in Davis Square. It's a fun race with a lot of people and a ton of free beer after. Locals may have noticed, uh, some rain, but a 5K takes well under an hour even if you're just walking fast (and considerably less if you're running), so sure, you get wet, but by the time you're really soaked, you're done and there's beer and stuff.

Alas, that was not the run I did.

Instead, at 8am I ran four times that distance, including up a hill that puts Heartbreak to shame, navigating many unmapped rivers and waterfalls from countless main overflows, along with stretches where the entire road was covered with ankle-deep water. At times the rain and wind were so bad that one of my ears clogged with water. Even going downhill took effort going into the headwinds. By the time we were done (DD must be some kind of saint for accompanying me on this), it took me three tries to get the car started because I couldn't get my hand to grip the keys properly. My *gums* were ice cold. I'm not even sure how that's possible.

A long (long) hot shower later and we were basically thawed, but still physically exhausted for the rest of the day (which made preparing for dinner plans a challenge, but we managed). Even though it wasn't the longest, that was definitely the hardest run of my training so far (anything that makes 12 miles in 10deg seem not too bad is pretty tough).

[Mirrored from my training blog and sponsorship page where I am raising funds in support of nutrition, medical, and fitness research and education at Tufts University.]

So far, this week is going strong despite minor issues. Tuesday morning intervals were tough as usual and I had to stop early due to some stomach upset (throwing up on the indoor track would not be good). But I still got up oh-god-early on Wednesday to do the group run and toughed out the full mileage. As we milled around before starting, someone mentioned they were glad the snow wasn't supposed to start until later. Then naturally about four minutes in, little flakes started coming down, and by the halfway point, we were reasonably soaked (and getting pelted in the face the whole way). Luckily it was at our backs for the return. A few blocks from the finish, I noticed that something seemed to be scratching my foot a bit, so I glanced down to see a not-too-pretty sight -- I'm glad I hadn't looked sooner! I think I need to replace those socks because the elasticity has shrunk to the point that the edge has a tendency to land in the wrong place and cause issues like that.

What's a little amazing is that it didn't seem too bad while I was running, but once I was done, had a banana, etc, starting to walk again was super painful. It was good to get the shoe and sock off.

( Not for the overly squeamish (pic not posted on the sponsorship page since it doesn't have cuts) )

Got bandaids on the way home.

[Mirrored from my training blog and sponsorship page where I am raising funds in support of nutrition, medical, and fitness research and education at Tufts University.]

Last week was my first time back at intervals some weeks. Yep, just as hard as I remembered. I did intervals again on Thursday just to be sure. Whew.

I was out in western Mass last weekend where DD and I did an excessively inclined Sunday morning run. It was at least twice as steep as the steeping climb of the Marathon route. If I'd been biking down that big hill we climbed, I'd have been riding the brakes in fear the whole way. But we made it! And it made for an extra-special leg workout, too, and also made up for the low-ish mileage due to recuperation. The good news is that no horrible pains have returned and I have continued to ramp up my miles with cautious optimism. This this past Sunday (along with DD and Mark), I completed the nine mile around-the-lakes route with no significant pain or issues. Yay!

Of course I'm not yet up to the distances I was doing when the problems started, so it remains to be seen if I can pass that milestone as well. This Sunday will be our next course run and I expect I'll aim for at least 12 so we'll see how that goes. Think strong and healthy thoughts in my direction!

[Mirrored from my training blog (where it was actually posted last week.. d'oh!) at http://run.peace.net. Expect another update very soon. I am still well short of my fundraising goal and welcome all support. Thanks!]

Long story short, I saw the trainer who determined that the issue wasn't dangerous, the sharp pains nonwithstanding. She told me to keep going as I could, which unfortunately was not a lot for the next week, because it always hurt. I ramped up slowly and am now running again, though not as far as I'd like to be. One step at a time.

I even managed to get a few miles in Wednesday night during the snowstorm, which was nothing if not silly. I passed one other runner en route, though, and we gave each other big cheers, which was awesome and totally made it worth it.

[This entry is mirrored from my PMC runner page. I am fundraising for the Tufts School of Nutrition and welcome your tax-deductible contributions. Thanks to all who have already helped!]

Sunday was one of our long runs on the course, starting in Hopkinton all the way to Wellesley. While weather had been a concern, it turned out to not be too bad, since it wasn't very windy, the sun was out, and the temperature was at least 20 degrees. (Okay, I know I'm losing my mind when I start describing 20 degree weather in positive terms.)

My feet were pretty cold when we started due to waiting around for too long, but they warmed up within a couple of miles and in short order, I took off my arm things (I don't know what else to call the awesome disembodied sleeves I have) and eased up on the headgear. I wasn't very high-energy and lagged behind the group, but whatever. Although it's not always the case, I like to say that I come in last so that you don't have to. Plus I had DD along to keep me company. (He's in much better running shape than I am, but he's also not really training, so has it in some ways easier and in some ways harder.) Still, I was having an unexpectedly hard time.

Then somewhere along the way, my left foot started to hurt. Of course, pain while running is to be expected at times, but it was hurting pretty badly, radiating to various places. I finally slowed to a walk hoping it would pass, and it faded a bit after a while, but as soon as I tried running again, it flared and I knew it wasn't a good idea to limp the rest of the way in. So with a heavy heart, I bailed and got on the bus, having done only about 10.5 miles. (I think use of the word "only" before "10.5 miles" is a sign that I may have already lost my mind.)

The worst part is that my legs weren't even particularly sore; I had plenty more in me. Injuries really suck. I have an appointment to see the trainer this week and we'll see how it goes. Thusfar, I've managed to avoid collapsing into tears and only cried a little once. (I wish I had a pair of crutches because it'd be much faster than the odd shuffle I'm stuck with now to avoid too much weight on the foot.)

Anyway, I'm trying to avoid being totally down right now. This is, after all, the time when marathon hopefuls traditionally start seeing issues pop up, and there are a number of folks on the team rehabilitating. I have a guess as to what is wrong, but we'll see what the expert says.

On the up side, I just passed the $1000 mark for fundraising, so am approaching the halfway point! Thanks again everyone.

[This entry was posted to my official runner page this past Thursday, January 28. From now on, I'll be mirroring entries when I post them. There are also plenty more over there from before, which you're welcome to go read. And of course, donations are still welcome and appreciated.]

The weather hasn't been all that bad the past couple of weeks, except for the annoyance of all the ice and snow on the ground. Last week's rain did a nice job of washing it all away. Today I did ~8 miles starting from home, but hooking in with the usual around-the-lakes route and it felt good (and safe) to actually be able to use the now-clear path and sidewalks rather than the shoulder.

Naturally, that couldn't last. The snow began, of course, while I was running, and by the time I returned home, I was soaked to the skin. (On the up side, running eight miles in heavy snow makes it very easy to catch lots of flakes on one's tongue.)

Then tonight was a lecture on assorted training topics, and while I biked over, we were hit by a snowsquall. Visibility was quite suddenly cut short and the combination of factors made the roads extremely slippery, which I noticed both in myself and watching cars and people slide around, so I walked the last few blocks and arrived late looking like the abominable snowman, albeit much shorter.

By the time I headed home, the roads were once again clear but the temperature had dropped and winds gusted so hard that I had to pedal the last downhill to my street instead of the usual coasting.

At this point, it's below freezing, will continue to get colder, and the forecast doesn't go above 32 until *Wednesday*. This Sunday, of course, is one of our special long runs on the Marathon course. I'm starting to wonder if we are cursed!

[I posted this back on January 11 at my official runner page but have decided to start mirroring posts here because there's no way to get a feed from there. Given this weekend's weather and the fact that we have another long run on the route planned for Sunday, it seemed especially apt to start with this entry.]

Signs it might be too cold to run:

= Coach starts out with a few words on how to recognize frostbite.

= At the water stop, the water is frozen and the cups of Gatorade are slushies. [And they were only poured minutes earlier.]

= You don't notice the bloody friction abrasion on your ankle until three hours later when your body has finally warmed up enough to feel pain. [The sock came clean but my sneaker still has the tell-tale stain. I should maybe take a picture.]

On Sunday, we met with the John Hancock team for a long run along the marathon route. I ended up doing 12 miles with a very nice woman from Hancock named Fran. Thank goodness for Fran! The run was hard enough, being my longest so far and on the heels of inconsistent training over the holidays, and the company was invaluable.

And it was COLD! Under 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) when we started and *maybe* as high as 15 by the time we were done. Insanely cold. We saw other people running on our way to Wellesley and I thought to myself, "These people are nuts!" Well, it's true.

But hey, I did 12 miles!

I know some of y'all also love the place, so you might be interested in today's Groupon: $10 for $20 worth of stuff at the Garment District. (And you can apparently buy two of them.)

I don't get the deal unless 199 other people buy in, so go get one. :) See ya there.

[ETA: Numbers achieved, so the deal is on. It's still available if you want in, though.]

Current Mood: let's go shopping

My wishlist is pretty simple since it consists of one item: donations to Tufts University in sponsorship of my marathon journey. It's even 100% tax-deductible!

Training is especially challenging right now between the natural obstacles of cold, dark, and snow, and a certain other stressor keeping me up at night. The last couple of weeks have not been great for my progress and I need to turn that around starting today. A month ago I had no doubt that I could do this but right now I'm much less sure. Asking for support when I lack the requisite confidence is terribly difficult, but I have to do it and that's part of the challenge. I can hardly express my gratitude to those who have already helped.

( Click for a picture of me after last week's Jingle Bell Run. Yes, that was the outfit I wore for the race (minus the medal, which we got at the finish line). )

So, anyway, that's my wishlist. Well, that and Dominion: Seaside.

Since you won't be able to leave the neighborhood, anyway, you might as well come out and cheer the Jingle Bell Run! It's a great time, with a big party in Davis Square and thousands of runners in costume. You can check out the route map. I know a lot of you live on or within a block or so of it (I'm looking at you,

barodar,

gilana,

desiringsubject,

veek,

plumtreeblossom,

unferth,

ron_newman,

vibrant_abyss,

bluesauce,

uberjay, wow this list is getting long so I'll stop now, but there are more!) so it's not much of an effort.

I'll be running with

anomie666, who is doing his second ever 5K! Woo! (One of us will be a chubby runner who looks sorta like Santa and the other one is Matt.) I keep saying I''ll run it at his pace whatever that is, but in my head, I'm slightly worried about keeping up with him, especially trailing four feet of Santa hat. But I think it'll work out. :) (Other folks I know are also running it, but since they never want to run with me, they don't get shout-outs. :P )

The race starts at 11am and proceeds relatively slowly for a 5K because of all the costumes, but even the walkers will finish in an hour, so plan accordingly.

I thought my last post on the subject would be the last haul, but I was happily mistaken. Thanksgiving weekend, Steve let us known the fields were still open and there was plenty left out there, so JV and I headed over. Mark was going to come, too, but he'd run nine miles with me that morning and couldn't walk. So we gave him a pass on that one.

Weather was perfect for picking. We started in one of the satellite fields where frosts had pushed the giant turnips up to the surface, which made for blissfully easy harvesting. We could have brought home a truckload of turnips if we'd had a truck (and a reason to take that many). The field also had fennel, mustard greens, and arugula, though the latter two were already too bitter for my personal tastes. Back to the main fields, we found the pumpkin patch and rummaged through to find plenty, dug up carrots, parsnips, beets, and leeks, cut broccoli, chard, and purple caabbage, and found some of the sweetest lettuce ever. Steve also gave me some mushrooms he'd foraged. All in all, an absurdly productive afternoon.

Upon returning home, I took a long, hot shower and headed to a massage party with the intention of doing nothing but (possibly) getting worked on. Unsurprisingly, that wasn't exactly how it went down, but I had a great time and look forward to the possibility of more of the same.

Meanwhile, I still have plenty of veggies to deal with and have already signed up with Steve for next year.

The week has flown by and tomorrow is Thanksgiving and my birthday. I apologize if I gave the impression of things being disastrous in a way that they were not and are not. (I'm guessing I did so based on some of the expressions of concern I've received since then, which I very much appreciate in any case. I do like that people care, but I don't want anyone worrying needlessly.) Holiday plans are proceeding apace and at this point I seem to have sixteen people coming for dinner. Meep! And even more for dessert, to which y'all are still quite welcome. (Let me know if you need details.)

Yesterday I gave blood and this morning I ran four miles. It felt a bit strained but I don't know how much of that was after-effects of donation, how much was starting at 7am (which is too early for that much activity), and how much was the cramps. Grr, argh. Today I will see if I can dig up any potatoes from the garden, get whatever else I need from the last farmers market of the year (boo), and get going with cooking and cleaning.

Tomorrow morning I was thinking I'd run along with the Tri-Gobble for fun, but I'd rather do it with someone. Any of y'all doing this one? Or want to? I'm looking at you,

anomie666.

I've never been very good at wishlists (I don't expect gifts from anyone, anyway), but if anyone would like to do something nice for me (and for others, and for yourself via tax deduction), you should know that the reason I've been getting up at ungodly hours to run is that I am training for the 2010 Boston Marathon. Okay, yeah, I said it. The Boston Marathon. I will talk a lot more about it in the coming months. To be honest, you may have to remind me to talk about anything else. By necessity, it does become a bit of an obsession.

As with all runners who don't have a qualifying time (which I obviously couldn't since I've never run a marathon before, and also the qualifying times are much faster than I can possibly run), I need to raise a fair bit of money in order to participate. I am running with the Tufts University President's Marathon Challenge. The money raised by our team will fund important research at the Tufts School of Nutrition and all donations are fully tax deductible.

I've been blogging my training for the past couple of months at my runner page, though I suppose I should mirror that someplace else since there isn't even a way to get an RSS feed as far as I can tell. So there's my bit of self-promotion for the day. I appreciate your support whether it takes the form of donations, equipment loans, training company, words of encouragement, or something else. Extra big thanks to those who have already donated. Feel free to pass along the link to anyone you think might be interested. That link again:

http://run.peace.net
(Which redirects here if that link isn't working for you.)

To everyone I won't see tomorrow, have a great holiday!

=o= From the New York Times, ten years ago, a trans classical pianist with a 25-year successful career came out and found herself unable to get work. Watch the video, too.

=o= For the font geeks, an interesting and informative analysis of the fonts/typefaces used in Mad Men. Even *I* noticed the problematic church flyer, but that was fairly fleeting. :)

=o= One of the greatest players in baseball, Ichiro Suzuki is damn sexy and has quite a way with words, "Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength.> Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out." He could certainly get to first base with *me*.

=o= Coinstar is doing a promo where if you redeem $40 for a gift card, you'll get another $10 gift card free. Even if you don't have change at home, it could be worth going to the bank to get a few rolls of quarters to take advantage of this.

=o= It's hard to imagine a more heated debate than the question of which shaker is for salt and which for pepper. But can anyone really argue with the words of the The International Guild of Professional Butlers (cited in the second comment)?

Oops, Week 20 was in October and I somehow never got around to posting this. Better late than never and all that.

( List back here )

Dried: maitake
Froze: arugula pesto, vegetable stock
Canned: applesauce
Fermented: sauerkraut, ginger carrots

As always post-share season, Steve invited us to come and harvest from his fields. Due to scheduling issues (and also being sick), I unfortunately had to miss that, but I did send along some apfelwein with Mark and Jonathan, who did get out there both to help and to pick.

Things they brought back include lots of pumpkins, butternuts, lettuce, spinach, carrots, turnips, beets, leeks, broccoli, chard, and whatever else I'm not thinking of. All together, several metric buttloads worth of food. Yay! It's sad for the season to be over, but I will be working by way through these fall crops for many more weeks, which is a nice bonus. I also still have some things to harvest from the garden, including kale and carrots.

I will try to recap the 2009 farm share season in a separate post at some point and also recap my harvest/preserving season in general. There is still plenty to be done with the latter, though, and more evil plans being formed. I mean good. Very good.

Meanwhile, could anyone out there accompany me to CostCo along with a membership card in the next day or two? I can potentially ply you with various goodies.

Is there anyone local who doesn't yet know about my show that opens tonight? If so, I apologize for not mentioning it sooner, but I kinda assumed y'all had heard. Either way, my show opens tonight! Come see it! Bring your friends! Four performances including tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 8pm as well as Saturday at 2pm.

Enter the Somerville Theatre and step into a day in history. You'll be the audience for a live recording of the Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour, which may just get interrupted due to Martian invasion. It'll be War of the Worlds: The Fall of Boston! With the musical stylings of ENSMB! Come early for all the pre-show fun which will include both scripted and improv greatness.

If you haven't yet heard the civil warning, you must listen to this.

Just realized that I hadn't posted last week's (Oct 13-14) pick-ups. Oops. Well, due to sickness and such, I haven't gotten all of this week's yet (but will later today), so I guess I'm not technically behind yet. So without further ado.

( Week 19 )

Frozen: basil pesto
Canned: tomatillo salsa verde, apple sauce
Fermented: fennel kraut, sauerruben (huge batch)
Dried: maitake mushrooms, roasted beets, beet chips, beet green powder (yep, beets three ways)

Meanwhile, I've got a Halloween party tonight and have made zero costume plans. Argh. What should I wear that involves only things I already have?

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to Toad last night, but I heard it was a great show. If you're still looking for plans for tonight, I suggest the house concert at my place! Great music, and I hear some guests are even bringing beer and wine. (We'll supply some as well. :)

( Details repeated back here )

As always, I sigh at the transition to fall crops and the coming winter. I refuse to even think about the clocks changing.

( Week 18 )

Dried: apples, more apples, cilantro, dill, mushrooms, potatoes (specifically, raw purple potato chips!)
Fermented: sauerruben (with star-shaped slices for fun and one beet for color)
Froze: arugula pesto
Canned: applesauce

I also went to the Topsfield Fair with Mare, Jay, and DD. We had a great time and there are some fun pics. Back home, I made a list of all the food the four of us ate there. For the record, we were there for a while...

( Click at your own risk! )

Parker drop-offs started back up last week with a fabulous haul as per usual. Then I had some people over for games and was literally canning until a few minutes before start time. Lack of sleep made me an insufficient host, but luckily my guests managed to make up for it by helping themselves to the drinks I was too fried to remember to offer and also with nummy cookies. Mmm... cookies...

I was out on the Cape these past few days (which is why you may (or may not) have noticed my absence locally this weekend) so there's still a ton of food to deal with. But ah, it was lovely there and I wish I could have stayed for another week. Unfortunately, when I got home all I could do was run upstairs, grab my script, and jump on my bike to get to rehearsal, where dinner consisted of potato chips and candy and I probably would have been better off not having any of it but I was so hungry. Even so, it was a tremendously fun session (best one yet) and I'm really looking forward to the big shoe.

( Anyway, onto the veggies of the week: )

Yes We Can (we also dry, ferment, etc):
Canned: tomatillo salsa verde, hot pepper & onion relish
Dried: dill, cilantro, maitake mushrooms, apples
Fermented: sauerkraut, kosher dills spears (having been gifted with some pickling cukes)

I also finally de-crocked the ton of pickles I started fermenting a ways back. Unfortunately, there were a large number of hollows which I should have caught beforehand, and I should have just speared all of them, but timing was bad. In any case, what survived the triage is quite good (and the garlic, omgyum!), but there are a lot of them. I guess I could can some but it seems a shame to wreck 'em that way. Who wants pickles?

Last week, Parker Farm said that due to this year's horrid conditions, shares would have to be canceled for the rest of the season. I was, of course, quite sad over the news, but given the situation all over the state, it wasn't entirely surprising. A few days later, Steve changed his mind and announced that, with some small changes and understanding that hauls would likely be smaller, things would, in fact continue. Yay! Too bad he didn't just start out by saying there'd be no drop-off that week, which would have saved an assortment of annoyance on various sides.

Ironically, despite that, last week was the biggest total haul of the year, because my share partner and I went out to Red Fire on Monday to harvest and came home with a metric buttload, then I helped Steve a bit at the farmer's market Saturday which yielded as much as I could carry on my bike. A lot of CSA members had stopped by to say hi and offer support. It was good to see. And because Steve is awesome, he sent us all home with extras.

( Week 16++ )

And on the food preservation front:
Canned: tomatillo salsa verde, more tomatillo salsa verde, roasted red pepper spread
Dried: tomatoes, apples, apple powder, oregano, parsley, rosemary, green & yellow beans, mushrooms
Froze: blackberries

I hope everyone who went for it had an easy fast (mine wasn't too bad).

Today there was horrible news on the farm share front that I'm not going to get into right now because I'm too distraught. I get way too emotionally invested in my produce. So for now, this is all about last week.

1 lb red tomatoes
2 lbs green tomatoes
2 lbs apples
1 bunch giant turnips
4 green peppers
2 bunches radishes
2 cucumbers
1 bunch mizuna
1 bunch arugala
1 bag baby lettuce
--
1 bunch kale
1 bunch lettuce
8 oz mixed baby lettuce
2.5 lb red peppers
2.5 lb potatoes (I took purple)
8 oz carrots
1 winter squash (spaghetti)
1 bulb garlic
2 tomatoes (1 big, 1 small)
--
1/2 peck apples

On the preservation front:
Canned: peach jam, slices peaches
Pickled: radishes
Fermented: confetti mix of shredded carrot, turnip, and beet
Froze: roasted tomato sauce
Dried: cantaloupe, honeydew, tomatoes, tomato powder, oregano, sage, chives, parsley, rosemary

Current Mood: mopey

Good haul this week, along with some unlisted extras for helping out.

( Week 14. Nice Melons. )

And on the food preservation front:

Canned four pints of dilly beans, four quarts of pears, and one quart of extra light pear syrup.

Froze more roasted tomato sauce, broccoli, blackberries, and arugula pesto.

Dried more tomatoes, wax beans, peaches, grapes, sweet peppers, jalapeños (and jalapeño powder), eggplant (and eggplant powder), and husk cherries.

So it's the morning after and boy, do I hurt. I don't even know where to begin in dealing with it other than to take some ibu and wait for things to feel better. Besides the blister on the ball of my foot that I dealt with during the race (note to self: get serious socks), I discovered last night that I had two huge blisters at the back of my heel, covering quite a large area and sticking out over a quarter-inch. I'm baffled because it's the same foot I'd already been dealing with, and I did feel there was *something* going on, but I thought it was just the sock bunching slightly, yet I failed to notice it en route. Probably just as well. I lanced them last night, and there was so much there that the result was a fountain spraying a foot into the air. Sadly, no video.

Walking hurts. Bending hurts. One calf is a brick, the other rubble. Coming down the stairs was pretty bad. I have some odd chafing on one arm where it rubbed against the inside seam of the t-shirt. And I'd totally do it again, and will further do my best to recruit some of y'all as well. Had I actually trained properly, I'm sure I wouldn't be quite so bad today, too.

I'm still sorting through all the comments on yesterday's posts. FYI, when I wondered if anyone was reading them, it wasn't because I didn't think anybody cared. It was because I couldn't actually check myself (I was posting via SMS), so I simply didn't know if anybody was there. It was a beautiful Sunday, after all, so I couldn't assume folks were at computers, especially starting at 7am. I ended up calling Mark a couple of times, who read us the comments over the phone. It was inspirational (and often amusing) getting them en route, so big thanks to all! :)

Big appreciation also to my teammates. Luba was a trooper, pushing it to the halfway point despite clearly hurting. I'm still really glad she was there for as long as she was. And of course,

anomie666, the center of our team and master of the long walk, without whom the rest of us probably wouldn't have gotten a mile in. He probably could have done another 26.2 after we were done, too.

I'm really glad to have done the Marathon route so I have some familiarity now, but I find it sort of odd that it passes so little of interest. There is so much cultural and historical awesomeness in eastern Mass, but the route manages to avoid pretty much all of it. I wonder why that is.

Weirdest sight of the day, which had nothing to do with the Walk, was a nearly-naked guy with a long white beard (he was wearing something that looked like a loincloth) driving by on a scooter. One of my favorite things was the "20.8" flag on a house at the relevant point. I wonder if they keep that up all the time.

Lacking a "limping around in pain" userpic, Treadmill Cat will have to do.

We sprinted across the finish line! I couldn't have done it without Matt, but he totally coulda without me. Thanks.. Whew.

Passing Fenway (Sox won). So close I can taste it. Or that might just be sweat. Aiiiii!!

Thru A-B into Brookline. Ah, civilization. We are now well into the pain portion of our program. Got water with ice! Frabjous day!

Neverending Newton. So close yet so far. The 5milers have jumped in- we hates them. Someone collapsed by the last rest area.

L'Chaim! This is where, in Apr 08, I quenched the thirst of one Lance Armstrong, who is smokin' hot in person.

Escaped Wellesley, in Newton. Have struck Green Line - more seductive than commuter rail.

Lunch break. Luba got on a bus (tempting!) so it's just me and Matt. Wonder if anyone is reading these.

Halfway. Hope I can make it. Thinking about loved ones lost to cancer and those who survived - a much bigger number.

Just over 1/3 of the way there, in Natick (est 1651). Feet are feeling it.

Passed through Ashland into Framingham (inc 1700! Who knew?). Local residents starting to get up and lots more cars on the road.

If this was a 5K, we'd be done already. Mellow pace. Many miles to go.

At the start area. Got our shirts, now we find coffee.

I've decided to change formats and start posting the full share hauls. It's a better reference for me that way and more useful for people curious about what comes in, especially in conjunction with the new tags.

Week 13

1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch cilantro
3 onions
1 bunch carrots
6 green peppers
1 head broccoli
2 lbs tomatoes
2 lbs green tomatoes
2 lbs apples
1 lb peaches
--
1 winter squash (I chose spaghetti)
2 eggplant
2 hot peppers (poblano)
1 lb cukes
2 lbs onions
1 lb summer squash
1 lb yellow wax beans
2 lbs sweet peppers
1 bunch kale or collards (I took the latter)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
--
3 lbs peaches
1 melon (honeydew)

In addition, due to my helping out all afternoon, I ended up with even more extra bonuses, including many peaches, tons of wax beans, more cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, winter squash, melons, and a huge bunch of kale. Whew!

This week, I've dried more tomatoes as well as pear slices and also froze: blackberries, green beans, roasted eggplant, and the best tomato sauce ever. I could have canned the sauce but I didn't want to acidulate and even moreso, didn't want to boil it to hell. I'm grateful for plenty of freezer space which gives me that option. I'll be making more sauce and it's so good that I'm tempted to buy bulk tomatoes to make even more. Will ponder.

I still plan to can, and besides the peaches and pears, I'll also do dilly beans, which is pretty much the easiest, fastest canning recipe ever, so I might as well try it since I've got all those beans. I'm thinking of getting out the juicer and funneling the pear abundance into some pear cider.

And speaking of putting food by, if you're interested in organic bulk ordering, ( read behind this cut )

Yields are really kicking into high gear everywhere and this week's take was just fabulous. Also, I recently added new CSA-related tags including individual tags for each year as well as each week number, which means you can click the latter to see what the yield was every year on a given week if you're curious how things compare season to season.

( Week 12 )

The garden is also producing like mad, and I am once again open to trades if other people have different things in abundance (or an alternate offer). Things I have to swap include: kale, blackberries, grapes, apples, and basil. Let me know if you're interested. I'm also making sundried tomatoes, including harvesting a friend's garden and then keeping some of the results, and am open to more of that sort of thing.

I've spent quite a bit of time today (while doing other things) listening to and watching assorted tributes to Ted Kennedy. It's been quite interesting because there is so much I didn't know (I've only been in Mass for ten years). Hearing people's stories and listening to bits of his speeches has been quite inspiring.

Listening to some of the broadcasters, especially the ones on television, is a bit less so. My favorite line so far:

Obama praised the man elected to the Senate when he was just a year old.

I knew he was one of the youngest Senators, but still...

I can't post today without a nod to Ted Kennedy, senator of awesomeness, but others have already better said everything I was thinking. Rest in peace.

--

That said, could folks use some dairy?

~~3 qts half-and-half~~
* 2 quarts heavy whipping cream
~~2 quarts light cream~~
~~2 pints heavy cream~~
~~1 gallon (minus ~1 cup) whole milk~~
~~2 cans whipped cream~~
~~18 organic brown eggs~~
1 open (but full) jar caramel (flavor) topping

* claimed
- picked up

I was away during Week 10 so I don't really have a list of what's what for that one. Red Fire was fairly similar to this week, it seems like, and Parker had a woefully small package, but that worked out reasonably well for me. (And because he's that kind of awesome guy, we may be getting an extra week at the end to make up for it.)

( Week 11 )

Meanwhile, the garden has been producing tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, assorted herbs, more kale than I can eat right now, and of course, lettuce, which finally bolted. I could also start harvesting onions at will, but they should also keep in the ground. At some point I'll need to dig up a potato and see how those are. I also planted some falls crops including cabbage and purple carrots and will be planting new lettuce soon as well.

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