Memorial Day in Boulder County is very exciting, no matter which camp you belong to. For some it means the BolderBoulder 10K marathon which is the largest citizens' road race in the US. For others, it means peace and quiet as the crowds have all converged in downtown Boulder to run, jog, walk and even cartwheel the 6.2 mile race. For a change, we were with the crowds. We trained precisely 3 times. Once, we went into mountain lion activity zones, saw 5 deer leap past us and then wondered how far away the cats might be! The next time we went the opposite way into downtown Louisville and saw deer there, too. That session got wiped out by a freaky windstorm that had us scurrying into Old Louisville Inn for shelter. We ended up eating dinner instead of completing our training session! Another time, we just walked around the neighborhood and realized that there is a fairly large prairie dog preserve not too far from us. The most we walked must have been 4 miles in 2 hours. Most of the kids in the neighborhood usually run the race in 60-75 minutes. I wondered whether we would even complete half the course.
We were in the last few waves of walkers flagged off at just past 9:06 am. We had to reach the intersection of Walnut and Folsom by 10:45 am. That was 9 km or a little over 5.5 miles in 99 minutes - much less than 2 hours. If we didn't make it there, we would not be let into the CU Stadium for the celebrations. I figured we'd make a quick exit at that point - beat the crowd at getting out of Boulder. But, wait! We made it! Yes, we managed to stay ahead of the course cutoff guys and gals and we made it into the Stadium. We saw the parachuters come down and land safely on the turf. A big Phew!, especially if you know about the accidents from Memorial Day a few years ago.
I was so proud of my daughter! She walked the entire 10K! For someone who had barely managed to walk 4 miles in 2 hours, she did exceedingly well! My body is still aching but she played all day thereafter at the various neighborhood barbecues and I just wished I could crawl into bed and sleep forever!
There were two barbecues going on at the same time - both were at our immediate neighbors. I took turkey meatballs which I made using the same recipe as my Turkey Burgers. However nothing at the barbecues was quite like the barbecued shrimp we had on Friday to celebrate a friend's new job. What was mind-blowing was just how simple the recipe was.
Barbecued Shrimp
- 2lbs of large shrimp, shell-on (about 25-30 count)
- Wishbone Italian dressing
- Pour Italian dressing over the shrimp so that each shrimp gets a good coating of the dressing
- Marinate for about 60 to 90 minutes
- Sprinkle some pepper on the shrimp and skewer them
- Barbecue on hot coals until cooked - usually about 5 minutes each side
That's it! The shrimp was moist, tender and very delicious! This is my friend's recipe and this post is a huge shout out to her as she begins a new phase in her life on June 1 when she returns to working in an office (as opposed to from home) and that too, in clothes that are not pyjamas! Congrats and Best of Luck!