Rocky Mountain High

Recent reports about the wildfires near Denver got me reminiscing about our recent visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. A beautiful place and one of my favorites. A few pictures from our weekend...

"First 48" pose or "Scott needs to work on his jazz hands" pose

Sending prayers for family, friends, and strangers dealing with the fires.

-M

My Running Journey...

The first race I ever ran was a marathon. How does one get the 'bright' idea to run a marathon without ever running a race before? Well, I guess there could be plenty of reasons. For me, it was my divorce.  That was over four years ago and, what seems like, a lifetime away. At the time, I felt like my whole world had fallen apart. All those plans just crumbling, leaving me holding the pieces trying to figure out what to do next. In those moments, it felt like I could either completely self-destruct or try to turn a bad situation into something positive. About that same time, a good friend talked to me about running with Team in Training (TNT).  The more I thought and researched TNT, it felt like the right decision. Raise money for a great organization, meet new people and, oh yeah, run. I'm not going to say that during that time there weren't moments of self-destruction, but one can't get too wild and crazy with a 16 mile training run looming over them.

Those of you who know me know that I am not athletic by any stretch of the imagination. The closest I got to sports in high school was one uncoordinated year of tennis.  Thank God running doesn't involve any fancy equipment or I'd be screwed. Team in Training was a great experience overall. In just 4 short months, I went from a couple miles here and there to 26.2 freakin' miles. It took me almost 6 hours, but I did it! In hindsight, I should have stuck with the half marathon as I started to unravel around miles 16-18. I chalk it up to inexperience. Will I ever run the 26.2 distance again? Yes, but I have some work to do before then. :)


That was early 2009 and since then I have run:
Half:
Olathe 1/2 Marathon
Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon - PR 2.07. 34
Indianapolis 1/2 Marathon
Rock the Parkway 1/2 Marathon

15 K:
Cerner

10K:
Hospital Hill
Catalina

4mi and 5K:
Trolley Run
Girls on the Run 5K x3
Some others I can't remember...

Admittedly, my training for these events was mediocre at best. I've operated under the complete not compete assumption. I complete the training runs but don't usually time myself. I'm a true runner's nightmare. Last fall after completing a race with minimal training, I began having trouble with my left hip. A couple doctors and one very talented chiropractor later, I'm back walk-running smaller distances.


As we say in our house, "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself....girl."

The injury forced me to stop and evaluate my running over the last couple of years. I missed being able to lace up and hit the pavement once I no longer had that option. Now that I'm starting to get back to it, I feel like I need to take a step back, return to completing smaller distances, and work on my conditioning. Tempo runs, easy runs, and interval training, ready or not, here I come (first step is figuring out what all of that means)! It's probably going to be a bumpy ride (knowing me this is almost a definite), but I think it's important if I want to be a runner that lasts. More importantly, I need to not lose sight of the reasons I love to run. 

In a recent issue of Runner's World, there is an article about running with the Amish. In his article Bart Yasso quotes one of the runners:
"I love the serenity of running alone as well as the fellowship of running with a group," one of the runners wrote to me in an e-mail. "I realize that every step, every breath, and every PR is a gift from God." 

This is how I felt when I ran for TNT and it's how I feel now that I'm coming back from injury, but somewhere in between I lost sight of it. I hope future writings about my running will help keep me honest. Lucky you. 

I know I have good running friends out there...any training tips? Such as how do I get my butt out of bed to run at 5:30am with the time change - Ugh.

Now that I have managed to reference Ice Cube AND the Amish in the same post - my work here is done. 

-M

Let's Twist Again...

Whenever I see a recipe that calls for yeast I usually run like hell.  The stress of pouring that little packet in warm water and waiting makes me crazy. I'm terrible at waiting. Is the water too cold? Is the water too hot?? Is it foaming up yet?? Did I just kill all those little boogers??!! Gah! Basically, it takes pretty tasty looking pictures to convince me to risk it. Enter Alton Brown's recipe for Soft Pretzels and a little of this....

Ms. Liquid Encouragement says, "You got this girrlll!" <finger snap>

I find that everything gets better with a good glass of wine (or mediocre $10 wine from TJ's). So, with that, the Ms. and I got our BAKE ON.

Sometimes you just gotta punch dough in the face...

I followed Alton's recipe but substituted with gluten free flour (Bob's Red Mill), Earth Balance (instead of butter), and Olive Oil (instead of egg). I imagine they would be great made with whole wheat flour as well. If you've never seen Alton Brown on TV before, he's a little mad scientist meets chef.  Just the kind of kookiness I find endearing.

I thoroughly enjoyed dropping these babies in boiling, baking soda water before popping them in the oven. Fifteen minutes later I had these...

The Ms. and I do good work.

Whether paired with a yummy dip or just eaten plain, these were delicious!

On a more serious note, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Scott's mom has been through a couple surgeries and my uncle passed away Tuesday night. If you pray, meditate or send out the good juju daily, would you add our families to your list? It would be much appreciated. I hope you all get in some good family and friend time this weekend...maybe even some extra X's and O's. 
-M