Hot Chocolate 15k

Hot Chocolate 15K
Chip time: 1:31:35
367 of 1154 in age group

TL - Me, Faith & Andrea post-race with adorable mug blow up
BR: Ladies from the Where's The Finish FB group pre-race

Andrea, Faith and I took a girls' trip to the big city to run the Hot Chocolate 15K. This was the first time for this event in Atlanta, although it is a huge race in other cities with as many as 20,000 people combined for both the 5K and 15K. The Atlanta event appeared to have about 7500 people in total. It was the biggest race I had ever attended. I cannot imagine the 20,000 or more I'll be running with at the Princess Half in February.

The Expo
The expo was small and well organized. Navigating downtown Atlanta and paying a fortune to park for 30 minutes sucked. The good people at Publix had a booth promoting, "Europe's Alternative to Peanut Butter" - Biscoff Spread. If you've ever flown Delta or Air Tran, Biscoff cookies are certainly the best part of the flight. I wasn't sure what to expect from Biscoff spread, but seriously I have eaten a quarter of a jar with just a spoon. The chunky spread has cookie crumbles in it. If you like Biscoff cookies, you'll love this spread.

We got great tech sweatshirts (although a bit small) as a part of our race SWAG and for some unknown reason they gave me a tech hat, which I really love. I'm guessing it was because I used a code when I registered, or maybe they thought I'd look super cute in it.

The Race
January in the South is pretty unpredictable. But I don't think anyone thought that we'd be running in tank tops and skirts on January 13. It was at least 65 degrees at 6a and 70 by race time with 80% humidity. Thank goodness it wasn't sunny. I don't mind weather like this in April or May. I'm just not ready for it in January.

We had to be parked in the parking lot by 6:30a. This was almost as difficult as the race itself. After navigating the road closures we got the space we had to pre-pay $10 for. We planned the best we could for this craziness and it all worked out in the end.

Pre-race festivities included a very loud, obnoxious DJ who was trying to get people to Zumba. I don't want to Zumba - not at 6:30a, not ever. We met up with a few girls from our Facebook group pre-run. It is always great to meet in person. Our pre-run pic made us look like zombies. I kinda felt like one at that point.

I learned an important lesson about bringing toilet paper with you. I was able to jump the line and pee before the run because I brought my own.

The course was tough. Very hilly. I was a bit intimidated by it just looking at the elevation map. Running it was another story. It certainly felt like it was all up hill with the exception of the last .3 miles. I was keeping a 9 minute pace through mile six. I was feeling great. I got some Gatorade at the four mile mark, which wasn't planned. I had thought I could wait until mile six and take a gel prior to the the station and be golden. The humidity made stops at every station from mile four on necessary.

At mile seven everything fell apart. My IT band became incredibly painful. I had a choice to make - either push through the pain, knowing it would all be over in 30 minutes or pull back, walk some on the last three miles and hopefully still be able to run in my half on Saturday. I chose to pull back and watched my pace crap out for the last three miles.

I really wanted to run a sub-1:30. It didn't happen, but I feel like my knee was saved for the real goal of my half this weekend.

IT Bands Suck

Week 12: First Half Marathon Training
Goal Total Miles: 23 miles
Actual Total Miles: 20 miles

Yep. Short. No excuses. Just short.

Ok, one excuse. After that awesome long run last week with the pink ladies I couldn't walk on Monday. Yes, I was a bit sore on Sunday after my run, but on Monday it was seriously sore. My week consisted of - rolling, icing, compressing, elevating, stretching and Advil-ing.

By mid-week I was able to put together three short runs at best. I babied my knee so I could run the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta on Saturday. I ran. I didn't run well, but I did run. I'll post a full recap in a couple of days, but needless to say I can say I crossed the finish line without blowing out my knee. I guess that's what you call success.

I really don't know where my running mojo has gone. I think it might be nerves more than anything. Running has really become a mental challenge for me lately. I need to embrace this as a test - a mental exercise.

I Run for Tailgating and Crack Brownies

Latest Workouts: 

Between the Hedges at Sanford Stadium.
Student section is behind me.
1.5 hours before the game.

Thursday: 6.01 mi/56:03
Friday: 3.52 mi/35:32
Sunday: 9.0 mi/1:31:32

My knee is feeling so much better. Anyone with runner's knee will tell you that your knee feels great when you are running, but is incredibly painful when you're just sitting around. I've had a lot of success with Advil 3x a day for the past week, ice 3 to 4x a day, wearing my knee strap on all runs, wrapping my knee in an ace bandage post run for about 3 hours, elevating, stretching and finally rolling.

KC and I enjoyed an awesome Saturday at the University of Georgia to see the Dawgs play the Vols. I love a good tailgate. In fact, I probably like it more than the football game itself. When you live in SEC country football Saturday is an event. The game might not start until 3:30, but you are in a parking lot with your e-z up tent set up, chairs out, tables full and a drink in your hand (bourbon preferably) by 8:30a.

Women of all ages worry about their cute game outfit all week. The boys continue to debate the best set up of the travel DirecTV dish and television that someone sets up so you can watch all the other games while you prepare for your own.

Oh, and the food. I find that it is best to select a tailgate theme. It helps to make sure your tables aren't just covered with chips and dips and no actual food to help soak up some of that bourbon you've been enjoying since 9a. Without a theme you end up with an outdoor version of the Golden Corral. We did BBQ this past weekend. It is traditional. Most Southerners like it. You can dress it up with fixin's like slaw and the sides are easy to make, transport and serve without worrying about giving someone food poisoning by the fourth quarter.

First two layers

And don't forget to plan for the post-game tailgate. Who wants to sit in traffic when you can kick back, have some supper while you watch all the crazy people fight to get out of the parking lot. Wait an hour and you'll have no problem making it out of town - with a full belly.

This week's dessert of the week is my Crack Brownies. You can't eat just one - or two - or three, for that matter. I get requests for these on a regular basis, but I only make them when we will be with more than six people to avoid any left overs coming home with me.

Dessert of the Week: Crack Brownies

Ingredients
1 package of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package of Double Stuf Oreos
1 brownie mix - prepare following either the fudge or cake directions. I like fudge, personally.

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF

Finished product

Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. I use the disposable cake pans because I am always taking these to events and I got tired of losing my plastic wear.
Layer 1: Press in the cookie dough to make the crust. I just flatten it out by hand as even as I can.
Layer 2: Line up the Oreos on top
Layer 3: Pour prepared brownie batter over the top of all of that
Bake based on your brownie mix's instructions.
Cool and cut.

This is a pretty popular Pinterest recipe, but I've tried my own variations on it layering the following together:
Peanut butter cookie dough
Marshmallow cream
Nutter butter cookies
Brownie Mix

Sugar cookie dough
Peppermint Patties
Brownie Mix

Really any cookie dough flavor and just about any candy or cookie would work as the second layer. I've not tried subbing out the brownie mix for a cake mix, but its on my list to try. The key part of this recipe is save yourself one or two because they go that fast! Now go run a few miles so you can have seconds.

Runner's Knee Sucks

Latest Workouts
Sunday - 6.09/59:51
Tuesday - 3.63/32:56

Yep, runner's knee sucks. I guess the best part is it doesn't hurt when you're running. It only hurts when you're sitting still. I backed off my mileage a lot last week with only 9 miles for the whole week. I think that hurt more than my knee. The constant icing, the Advil, the knee brace and a new pair of insoles have seemed to help and I'm not dying this week. I plan to run Thursday and Friday. My long runs are going to be on Sunday until mid-November due to weekend commitments.

I'm getting ready for the Las Vegas Glow Run on October 7th. It's an un-timed 7k with full costumes, beer and craziness. The best part - I'll be running it with my best friend. We've known each other since 8th grade and she lives in Vegas with her handsome Air Force hubby. I'm so psyched!

We are going to dress like Wonder Woman so I'm in full costume preparation mode. The first part of any awesome running costume (IMHO) are fabulous socks. And these Wonder Woman socks - complete with capes - are the perfect foundation for our take on my personal childhood cartoon hero.

As the pieces of our costumes come together, I'll post them here.

I Run for Butter

Latest Workouts:

Brooks Pure Cadence

Wednesday: 5.34 miles/ 51:28
Thursday: 3.54 miles/33:59

I ran in my pink shoes for two days in a row. I don't know if the shoes are the issue or if my feet really hate me. Both? While my left foot (not the movie) seems to be improving in these new shoes, my right foot has gone and shown its ass. The inside arch of my that foot, especially around the ball of my foot and the joint of my big toe isn't liking something. I'm sucking it up and keeping up the ice soaks, taking Advil, and wearing compression socks. I'm not sure there's much else I can do. Eventually it will get better or I'll have to gnaw it off like that guy in 127 Hours.

Dessert of the Week: Gooey Butter Cake

I had a serious boyfriend when I was in high school and his mom baked once a week and made crazy good Tex-Mex. She called these golden bars of gooey goodness blondies, but every blondie recipe I've ever made tasted nothing like what I remember. That was until I tried this recipe for Gooey Butter Cake - bingo!

My research tells me that Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis, MO, delicacy. I almost don't believe this since the the over-use of butter was perfected by Southerners, but whatever. Warning: it is incredibly sweet. Make this recipe if you have company that likes sweets. While they are in a sugar-induced coma you can convince them to do anything for you - like paint your house or clean your cat litter box.

It is also important to have someone to give some of this cake to because you might eat the whole pan, no matter how sick it makes you.

Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients:
1 Yellow Cake Mix
3 eggs
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of melted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
8 oz cream cheese (softened)

Directions:
1. Combine the cake mix, 1 egg and 8 tbsp of melted butter. Make sure mixture is nice and smooth.
2. Press mixture into the bottom of a greased pan. I used 9x13, but 9x9 will work too.
3. Whip cream cheese until smooth
4. Add remaining 8 tbsp melted butter, 2 eggs, vanilla to the cream cheese
5. Once smooth, gradually add in powdered sugar one cup at a time
6. Pour mixture over cake mixture already in the pan
7. Bake for 40 minutes

Check the cake so it doesn't over brown. It doesn't cook all the way through, so the knife test doesn't apply here. It should be gooey. Allow cake to cool before serving or else it will fall apart on you when you attempt to cut it.

Experiment with different flavors of cake mixes or add chocolate or pumpkin to the cream cheese mixture for a different flavor.

Link to Original Source: Gooey Butter Cake Recipe

I Run For Cobbler

Latest Workouts:

It is shocking that my size 10.5 feet fit in anything.
Thank goodness you can't see
how badly I need a pedicure. 

Wednesday: 5 miles - 3 mi tempo run with 8:24, 8:21, 8:13 splits, 1 mi each warm up/cool down
Thursday: 2.20 mi recovery run/ 19:38

I totally shocked myself with the tempo run on Wednesday. I really pushed it and I'm happy with the results. Today, "the plan" said to do 2 mi at 10:25. That's a tad slow for my tastes, although I didn't really intend to run as fast as I did. It was horribly humid out today and after 20 minutes I looked like I had been in the pool.

I'm fighting tendinitis in both of my feet. On my left foot, it's on the top of my foot and runs up the ligament from my outside three toes and up across my ankle. Changing how I lace my usual running shoes has helped the burning I feel in that foot a lot. In my new shoes, the current lacing pattern seems to be putting pressure on a nerve and I'm losing feeling in those toes on that foot.

On my right foot, the pain is in my big toe. I've had tendinitis there before and a doctor has given me a giant shot in that joint before - an experience I'd rather not repeat. The way the joint itself is swollen, it is probably the start of a bunion. It was bound to happen as much as I abused my feet dancing and wearing pointy toed stilettos. I'm using my yoga toes at night to help reposition that joint and it helps some.

For both feet, I've started doing ice baths post-run instead of the usual ice packs. It's not fun. I have no idea how in the world elite athletes submerge themselves in bathtubs full of frozen water on a regular basis. I do think it has been more effective than those blue gel packs. We'll see if I have to go to the doc and get a big needle stuck between my toes again.

This Week's Dessert: Best in Show Blackberry Cobbler
KC loves fruit-laced desserts, so we're working our way though the berry family this month. This recipe would work great with any berries for sure. It reminds me of the quick cobbler my grandmother used to make and I chose to sprinkle the finished product with a little sugar like she used to do.

I doubled the butter in the original recipe because I'm southern and adding butter is never a bad idea. It is weird to put the batter in first and top with the berries and then pour water on top of that, but people who write recipes are way smarter than I am, so just embrace the weirdness. It all works out in the end.

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups blackberries (I used frozen because that's what I had and it worked out fine)
1 cup water

Directions:
1. Preheat an over to 350ºF, grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish
2. Whisk 1/2 cup sugar together with the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Stir in the milk and melted butter until a batter forms. Scrape into prepared baking dish.
3. Add blackberries on top of batter and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Pour in the water on top of the berries and sugar.
4. Bake until the batter has risen and the top is brown - 45 min to 1 hour. Cool before serving.

Recipe source: All Recipes