Fruit of the Freeze

The first real freeze of the season sent me scrambling to gather in my poblano peppers, banana peppers, and green tomatoes.

The poblanos were tossed on the grill and roasted over the flames.  After blackening the skin on all sides, I peeled, seeded, and sliced them and put them in the freezer to await some pizzas, enchiladas, and chili.

The banana peppers and the green tomatoes became pickles.

Actually, I added onions instead of peppers in the green tomato pickles, plus a little celery seed.  It will be a couple of weeks before I know if they are any good.

Humble Beginnings. Again.

When I talk about how I began running 6 years ago, I most often talk about how my journey to becoming a runner began with being humble enough to start where I was and not worry about how slow or awkward that seemed to be.  I worry a lot about what others think anyway, and shuffling, red-faced and jiggling, down the sidewalk in my neighborhood was mortifying if I let myself think too much about it.

But I didn't let myself think to much about it.  And from that humbling start, I grew to love my running and to be pleased with the way it changed me: my attitude, my willingness to take other risks, and the (smaller) size of my pants.

And now I find myself back at a humble beginning.  Again.  Now's not the time for the story of why that's the case. Suffice it to say that my running has been completely sporadic for a while. As I started planning a reasonable training schedule for a half marathon in March 2011, I had to face the fact that it meant starting with a weekly total of 6 miles.  Just 3 2-mile runs.  That's not the runner I've been for the last several years!  But I have a choice:  Be humble enough to start where I am, again, or dwell on what I've done in the past and buy bigger pants.

So I'll pull on my running shoes in the morning and do my 2 miles with joy.