Wow, the Londoners were fast!
sabaray, do you peel the eggplant before roasting or do you leave the skin on?
Wash the eggplant and leave the skin on. Stick it with a fork a whole bunch (scientific there) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Turn it so it roasts evenly. Depending on the size it might take a bit longer. When it’s wrinkly and soft, take it out, cool it for 10 minutes, scalp it and cut it in half. The skin should peel right off.
I know, more than you wanted to know!
“I know, more than you wanted to know!”
LOL, just the perfect amount of info! Turning my oven on. 
Many thanks!!!
@sabaray: Big eggplant eaters in this house. Will try it your way, thanks.
Big, big thanks on the Nike Air Zoom brand for my daughter. The doc recommended continued icing, a little ibuprofen when necessary, and inserts. The Nike Air Zoom Structure 19 is what I got her, and even with no inserts for the last two days of her workout and training she has had no pain!
To you, Sabaray. =D>
Yum, Sabaray. Your eggplant salad sounds delicious! Glad to hear the Plated box looks good. I can’t wait for your review of the cooked meals.
Holy buckets London Marathon–so fast for so many miles.
I did a short 2 mile run this morning, took a walk with H, and picked blueberries. The farm opened for u-pick today and the place was mobbed. It’s great to see such a diverse group of people out enjoying a gorgeous sunny morning, harvesting and snacking along the rows. I’ll freeze a bunch and maybe get back again this week. Blueberry whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for lunch.
Well thank you Waiting - I’m glad your D is feeling better. It’s no fun to run when things hurt! The Structure was the first pair of shoes I was fit for - good stability.
@dmd77, Your Body is Your Barbell by BJ Gaddour is the one I posted about before, I think. It’s a pretty good primer for those new to body weight training or trying to understand what body weight training is all about, its benefits, some of the principles of progressive training and progressive overload and how they can be applied to training in the absence of external resistance. Focuses on progressions of 8 basic exercises. Then there’s also Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy by Bret Contreras which goes into things a bit deeper, has more exercises and would be a good resource for someone with with some experience with bodyweight training. I would start out with Gaddour’s book and if you find that it really wets your appetite, then get Contreras’ book.
Hope everyone has had a good weekend
I was in bad pain all day yesterday but I’m feeling very good today. Even managed to help around the backyard (taking advantage of the good weather!)
My weight seems to have stabilized and my appetite has greatly decreased. I’m halfway through my prednisone tapering so I’m hoping everything gets even better as I keep going down. I’ll still be on a low dose but I should continue to notice a decrease in the side effects
Giving myself permission to skip yoga this afternoon (even though I love that class). Walked 5.5 miles this beautiful afternoon.
My favorite way to eat eggplant involves thinly slicing it, breading it, pan-frying it, covering it which cheese and tomato sauce, and baking it. Pretty sure this method undoes whatever health benefits there are from eating eggplant.
There’s a park west of Boston in Waltham called Prospect Hill Park. The north side of the park used to be used for downhill skiing, so it is quite steep - the bottom part averages about a 20% grade for the last 1/5 of a mile or so.
DD and I climbed that hill 3 times today (okay, she climbed it 4 times in the time it took me to do it 3 times), and walking around the rest of the park brought our total elevation gain to over 1000 feet. It’s a lovely place to hike and some of the views are incredible - it’s just about the highest point around Boston, and provides an unimpeded view all the way to the city.
I may not be able to walk tomorrow…
I’d like a round of applause, please. I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes (total, without resting between) (other than to change apparel as needed) this morning doing these three things: swam 500 yards, biked 11.7 miles, ran 3.1 miles. While I did these things, it was sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, windy, cold, warmer, windy. My dog helped me with the running part but I was on my own for the rest of it. That was my most intense scheduled workout before my sprint triathlon in two weeks–it was a relief to get through it!
However, it left me in need of sartorial advice. I wore tri shorts and a tri top. Added a jacket for the cycling. The shorts were fine but the tri top rode up and somehow stayed wet for the whole bike ride so that I was COLD … We’re likely to get rain for the tri so I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I’m leaning toward a thin tank for the swim and a wool top over that before the jacket. Any advice would be appreciated.
Finished up 4 hours of yard work at our vacation house–mostly raking branches that came down in the winter and pulling out nasty vines. At the end, H and I had a huge pile of stuff to burn–I have pyromaniac tendencies because I loved watching the sticks and dried vines go up in smoke. I even went and did more raking so I could have more stuff to throw in the burn pile!! Also did 30 minutes on the elliptical when I got up. Did get my steps today.
For people who want to run the Boston Marathon and can’t qualify, you can get a number/bib as a charity runner. My D wanted to run with her boyfriend (now husband) who did qualify. She joined Team Tufts (both were students there) and was part of a training group and got lots of great support and coaching. The one thing that keeps people from rushing in to do it is you have to raise money for the charity and turn it in before the race. I don’t remember the exact amount that D had to raise but it was probably $2K–this was in 2004. GThe $$ went to the Tufts Medical School and Children’s Hospital. There is a whole group of charities that do this.
I just heard a story on my local NPR station about a 72-year-old woman who was the last finisher in the Boston Marathon–took her 9 hours!
Sabaray–give us a report on the Plate meal options.
^^^Great idea for charity.
You beat me on the yard work Bromfield - I only did 3.5 hours! H can stop whining that he “had to cut the grass again” - because I did it today- among other outside tasks.
Today was our local big running event of the year - The Glass City Marathon. You can also do a relay, a half or a 5K. I have done the 5K before but didn’t sign up this year. The 5k route is SUPER boring - clearly the other races have the focus here and the good routes! But, went out this evening and did my own 5K in my “glass city” neighborhood!
I think I got enough steps for the WEEK today! Back to sitting on my desk tomorrow!
Bromfield - I’m also a firebug. My parents never had a problem getting me to burn papers back in the day. Still can’t believe we used to do that. Everyone in our small town used to burn their combustible trash.
I also did yard work today. Outside cleanup at the office plus putting out deck/porch furniture to surprise my wife.
Thought that was going to be it for activity but then running guilt set in. Went to the track for some easy warmup. Then busted a :69 400. Want to start timing intervals so I was happy that I was able to run a fast one. Shut it down after that because I’m still pretty sore from yesterday’s AlterG workout.
I think the charity amount is much higher than that now. That is not something I would ever do. If you are going to run Boston, you need to do it as a qualified runner.
The Boston marathon sets a minimum of around $4k, but the individual charity can set a higher amount, some ask for as much as $10,000. And if you don’t raise it, you pay the rest out of pocket.
Some of the charities were reporting 10+ applications for every bib they had. Your kid has a better chance of getting into Harvard.
“I think the charity amount is much higher than that now. That is not something I would ever do. If you are going to run Boston, you need to do it as a qualified runner.”
Yeah, that’s the same thing my husband said when I suggested he do it with a donation. I guess it misses the point.
For Bus (my little sister suffers from bunions, so I know a bunch about them):
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/bothersome-bunions
Found this article, too, but they severely limiting choices to a couple of brands.
Sabaray, thanks for the eggplant salad tip. It was a hit, so Mr. sends his compliments.
While the eggplants were roasting, Mr. mowed the lawn, and I scrubbed half of our ginormous stone deck and washed all of the patio furniture, too. Apparently, mowing our yard is equivalent to 8,000 steps, while 1/2 of deck is only 5,000. I supplemented mine with mall walking to pick up my hemmed dress and pants at Notdstrom.
Thanks, Bunsen. Interesting articles! Got those two pair of shoes on my list to try.