Two miles at dusk.  Gorgeous weather conditions.  That is all. 

My Little Sis and I started the month off right, with a 2-mile fun run/walk this morning.  She is a teenager and not a runner, so we agreed to run certain segments (for me), and walk the rest (for her).  But hey, she sprinted on her own through the approach to the finish line, which made me proud, but I didn’t go on too much with praise, lest she rebel and resolve never to do it again.  It was our third fun run together; our second time to do this one, and I’m plotting our next at this very moment.

It was a gorgeous morning, which doesn’t explain the noticeably smaller crowd of participants compared to prior years.  But definitely a fun morning.  Race food at the finish line was the standard orange quarter, half banana and chunk of bagel, plus a big 32 oz bottle of Hydr8 Premium Sports Drink.  I chose the red “Fruit Punch” flavor, drank a few sips and brought the rest home to my frig.

Starts in two weeks!

I have a deadline to meet today for work.  Actually the deadline was last Monday, and now this is my extended deadline.  I’m trying to finish a [very boring] annual chapter.  The weather is sunny and finally warm.  I was due to run 9 miles yesterday, but due to the looming deadline, I postponed my run.  It will be today, followed by a bit of lake kayaking.  For the last month, we have had Spring on the weekends, and Winter during the week.  Not just a chilly day here and there, but record breaking cold and snow.  Then at the end of last week, the meteorologists assured us that Spring weather is here to stay.   But now they say Wednesday and Thursday will be cold, with a chance of snow.  No! NO! NO!!!

My lilies don’t look good in snow and sleet.

Janathon blogs:

http://notmuchofarunner.wordpress.com/  This is a fun one.  Plenty of regular updates, and a killer picture of waffles.  I am hungry now, yet I find myself without a waffle maker or any delicious maple syrup in the house.

http://jctongue.blogspot.co.uk/?view=magazine  No updates since January, but nicely done for that month, with neat pictures and reports.

http://thedharmata.com/ Lovely reflective blog about running, walking and yoga.  Even the “April Fool’s” entry didn’t destroy the peace radiating from this blog.  I love the Erie Canal pictures, having made my one and only trip to the Niagara area exactly one year ago.  Very nicely done.

http://joggingjenny.wordpress.com/  Fun jogging updates and pictures.  She stopped blogging at the end of Janathon, but not before greeting “Fabruary.”  I love it.  Definitely “fab.”

http://jovialgnome.wordpress.com/ Only a couple of blog updates since Janathon ended, but this blogger is definitely committed to fitness.  And sheep pictures.  Visit this blog for the sheep.  A lot of them.

http://iswimmer.wordpress.com/ This person is promoting Swimathon this week.  I can’t swim.  I’m an egg beater in the water.  So, I’m in awe of swimmers.  And what this swimmer/blogger is doing with Swimathon is very cool.

Boston is a long-time pipe dream for me, so I watched with emotion this week, the tragedy, the evil, and the heroic.  Then this morning I was able to do one little thing.  Our local running community and a radio station held a one-mile run/walk for Boston.  All proceeds went to the One Fund Boston.  It felt good to do something.

And, some more Janathon blogs.  It’s been awhile.

http://findahappyplace.posterous.com/  She didn’t get far with Janathon blogging, but with all of those lovely photos of knitting, sewing, needlework, and quilting works in progress, I’m completely overlooking the Janathon thing.

http://www.love-hate-runner.blogspot.com/  Quit Janathon in the middle, with an announcement even.  But is still running and is training for a marathon.  Go for it!

http://runningdutchie.wordpress.com/  Nice running discussion and pictures of shoes, running magazines and other running things.  Inspirational mileage numbers!

http://deniseisrundmt.com/  Fun posts about running, mileage, running gadgets, healthy delicious-looking food, and lots about container stores.  Interesting!

http://onthevector.com/  Workout summaries, lamenting the time change to Daylight Savings (I hear ya), healthy food discussion and more.  Nice!

http://audiofuel.co.uk/blog  Audiofuel is awesome!  ‘Nuff said.  I have one of the Audiofuel marathon training music bundles, and I love it to pieces.  The blog is full of interesting and helpful fitness information, too.

Tonight I was going to make a batch of Chocolate-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothies to freeze in individual servings.  I peeled the bananas and broke them in pieces and put them in the blender pitcher.  Then I measured and added the peanut butter.  Then I grabbed the chocolate syrup and realized it was almost empty.  Bananas turn brown when they have been peeled, so I had to somehow finish making the smoothies or throw out the banana-peanut butter mixture.  I make my own chocolate syrup because I like to control what is in it.  So, making up a quick batch would be easy.  The recipe:

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part cocoa powder
• 2 parts water
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Combine sugar and cocoa powder in a sauce pan, and stir until the two dry ingredients are well combined.  Then add the water and turn on the heat to medium-high to high.  Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves, and then intermittently after that.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then let it softly boil for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in a tsp of vanilla if desired.  Let cool and serve or store in the refrigerator.

To make the chocolate syrup, I first grabbed the sugar canister…and saw that I was almost out of sugar.  There were just a few tablespoons of sugar in the bottom of the canister.  So, I grabbed the sugar dispenser from the counter thinking I’d get some more from the dispenser.  It was nearly empty, too.  How did this happen without me noticing it and putting sugar on the grocery list?  I don’t know, but between the two containers, I was able to compile 3/4 cup of sugar.  So, with that I measured out 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and stirred it into the sugar, added the water and turned on the heat.  I stirred the mixture until the sugar had dissolved, and then walked away to do something else until it started boiling.  Moments later, I heard the hissing sound of syrup boiling over onto the burner.  I caught it before it was a cooking disaster, but it did add a cleanup job to what started so innocently as an easy pitcher of smoothies.

The smoothies are now made and in the freezer.  The stove is cleaned up and all dishes in the dishwasher.  There is a lesson or two in all of this, but nothing anyone reading this doesn’t already know.  Including me.  Sigh.