Attack of the Stair Monster!

I want to start this week’s update by giving a BIG shout out to my favorite Californian, Cassidy, for her generous donation! It provided me the motivation to get out there this past week and train my butt off… well starting on Wednesday.

Remember last week when I mentioned that I injured myself on Saturday in an activity completely unrelated to running? Well I pulled a total Janelle moment and fell up the stairs (yes you read correctly, up) and then proceeded to tumble down them.

Let me give you a little back story:

The culprit (aka. The Stair Monster)

I had a killer run on Saturday (in the pouring rain) and then went shopping with my mom and grandma for about 4 hours, so my legs were pretty much useless by the time I was able to finally relax that afternoon. But we have a new issue in our house, how to share the laundry room facilities. Mom has (unfortunately) refused to do my laundry since I moved back home and also informed my brother of the same thing upon his return (well back to The Palace bro). Therefore we have to figure out who gets to use the laundry room and when. My day to do laundry was Saturday. To make a long story short as I was taking a load upstairs and The Stair Monster reached out grabbed me causing me to end up at the bottom of the stairs in a crumpled heap surrounded by my dirty clothes.  

Naturally, the curse words stopped flowing (sorry mom, trying to break that habit), my right ankle was throbbing and I could barely flex my foot. I finally pulled myself together from a partial cry-laugh and managed to crawl up the stairs find some ice and pain killers. A nice, sympathetic mother would have offered to help me finish my laundry… fat chance in my house! Instead she took pleasure in my struggles of hopping on one leg and scooting on my buttocks up and down the stairs to finish it.

Needless to say I was thankful Sunday had already been designated as a Rest Day. I was able to relax and start walking on my foot little by little. Putting shoes on helped a lot. Monday I was supposed to go out for an easy 30 minute run but I decided to give my foot another day to rest. Tuesday I was determined to do a 45 minute run in the morning but once my alarm went off I decided that my foot could use one more day (god given talent to make excuses remember?). But Wednesday and Thursday I was bound and determined to hit the pavement. AND I DID! I’m chalking my determination up to 3 things :

1.  Cassidy’s donation (thanks again girl!)
2. A few packages that I received in the mail:

The Goods

Package 1: My fancy TNT training shirt! I now officially feel like part of the team! 

Package 2: My (pink) RoadID. I highly recommend one of these to anybody who is an avid runner, biker, hiker, etc. 

Package 3: Lululemon Tracker II Shorts… soooooooo comfortable! I highly recommend them if you are willing to splurge a little. 

Bonus Find: My Garmin running watch (yes mother I finally found it)!

1. TNT Flex Welcome/Information Call

During this call I was introduced to my teammates, Flex coach, Mentors, Captains, educated as to what TNT really stands for, but the best part was learning about our Honored Teammate, Ian, and his mother, who I am proud to say is my mentor! Their story is amazing and touched my heart. I may have even become a little teary eyed as Rebecca, his mother and my mentor, was explaining how on Ian’s last day of treatment in the Spring 2009 she completed her first half marathon with Team in Training! What an emotional day for her! 

So, both Wednesday and Thursday I hit my goals: 30 minutes on Wednesday and 45 minutes on Thursday. My ankle is still a little sore but I think I can handle the pain. Saturday’s GTS was 55 minutes this week… and the weather finally cooperated for us! Sunny and a perfect 50 degrees. Minus all the bugs I would say it was a successful training run.

I am hoping all is well on Monday as it is one of my favorite days: Bolder Boulder 2012… BRING IT ON!

This week’s cupcake: S’mores! (A request from my BFF/gf taste-tester Alex).

Cupcake:

1 cup milk 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1 package Pamela's white cake mix

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350

Bring 1 cup milk and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream. Add the milk-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until it's completely combined. 

Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, filling them one third of the way and placing a mini marshmallow (if making mini cupcakes, if baking regular sized cupcakes use a larger marshmallow or multiple mini  marshmallows) in the middle and then fill another third. Bake the cupcakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 8-9 minutes (18-19 if baking regular sized cupcakes). Cool the cupcakes on a rack completely.

 Frosting:

    2 (large) egg whites

    1 cup sugar

    6 Tablespoons water

    1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

    1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 cup miniature marshmallows

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    In a large heatproof bowl (the metal bowl of your electric mixer), combine 

        the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar and salt. 

    Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and 

        heat mixture, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the 

        mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160 F), about 3 minutes. 

        Becareful not to scramble the eggs. 

    Remove the bowl from the saucepan.  Using an electric mixer, beat on 

        medium-high speed, about 2 minutes. 

    In a small bowl, microwave 1 cup mini marshmallows 30 seconds to 1 

        minute, until puffed, and starting to melt.

    Add marshmallows to mixture in electric mixer, reduce speed to low and 

        add vanilla.  Continue beating (on low) until the marshmallows are 

        melted and frosting is completely smooth (about 3-4 minutes).  Use 

        frosting right away. 

    Garnish with shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. ENJOY!!!

Struggle Fest

Struggle fest… the best way to describe my week. It is only week two and I had zero motivation to get out and run. Not good. Here is what my training schedule was supposed to be for the week:

Sun. May 13th	Mon. May 14th	Tues. May 15th	Wed. May 16th	Thurs. May 17th	Fri. May 18th	Sat. May 19th
Mother’s Day 5k	REST DAY	40 min (E)	REST DAY or optional 30 min (E)	Train on a course with rolling hills 40 min (E)	REST DAY	GTS 50 min (E)

And here is what it actually looked like:

Sun. May 13th	Mon. May 14th	Tues. May 15th	Wed. May 16th	Thurs. May 17th	Fri. May 18th	Sat. May 19th
Mother’s Day 5k	REST DAY	40 min (E)	Definitely taking the REST DAY	“Hills?… ya right I think I’ll just sit on my butt.”	REST DAY	GTS 50 min (E)

Needless to say I failed miserably this past week.

Before the race.

However, based on Sunday I was hopeful the rest of my week would be just as successful. For Mother’s Day my family (mom, dad, brother, and myself) ran the Mother’s Day 5K. My bother stayed with my mom, while my dad and I said “see ya at the finish line”. It was a good race, minus all the kids who are oblivious to course etiquette and proceeded to cut me off about 50 times during the first mile on the course. I was tempted to shove a couple down, trip a few, and even contemplated just plain running a couple over (sorry moms I know it was Mother’s Day, but control your darn kids).  But once I navigated through them all it was smooth(er) sailing. I was finally able to settle into an adequate pace and find my own space to run in. The temperature was perfect, mom was happy, and best of all it was our first family outing since my brother returned from Utah! 

The rest of the week did not go so well. I chalk it up to my god given talent of making excuses:

Excuse #1: My main problem my never ending refusal to get up when my alarm goes off at 5:15 to go run. Every night before bed I pump myself up to get up to run but the moment my alarm goes off a few curse words fly out of my mouth, I hit the snooze button, and bury myself under the covers again. Only to be disappointed in myself by the time my actual alarm goes off indicating I better get up to get ready for work. 

Excuse #2: Heat. Yes, call me a wuss. I would rather it be snowing right now more than anything in the world. I thought it would be a brilliant idea to run during my lunch for my Tuesday run. I was mistaken, about half way into my loop I realized that I had stopped sweating and I still had about 20 more minutes to go before I made it back to my office. Not good. I managed to make it back safely but I do not want to experience that again.  Hence why I have been trying to motivate myself to run early in the morning before it gets too hot outside (but we all know how successful I am in doing so).

How do you motivate yourself to get up and run in the morning? Advice appreciated!

My favorite part of my entire week was my GTS on Saturday, despite the fact that I was woken up at 5:15 (how I manage to get up at 5:15 on a Saturday but not M-F is still a mystery to me) by thunder/lightening and pouring rain and compulsively checking my email for 30 minutes praying GTS would get canceled. By the time I got to the trailhead the rain had subsided and it looked like the rain clouds would leave us alone for the duration of our run so I decided to leave my waterproof jacket in the car. Bad idea. About 20 minutes after we headed out Mother Nature decided it was time to DUMP on us. I am talking torrential downpour.  Small rivers started forming along the path, deceivingly deep puddles magically appeared when it was too late to avoid them, and the rain streaming down my face made it difficult to see anything. But surprisingly it was one of the more enjoyable runs I have been on in quite a while. It gave me something to think about other than cadence and how my legs were feeling. And more than anything I was thinking about how to make it back to my car as fast as I could without slipping, pulling a muscle or hurting myself in some way (which I did manage to do later on Saturday, but that is a story for next week if it inhibits my ability to train this week). I end the run looking forward to next week’s training schedule, energized to run every day my schedule says to.

Lesson learned from Saturday’s GTS – have an emergency kit in the car that contains an extra pair of shoes, socks, towel, and extra shirt just in case you get soaked during a run.

And now for this week’s cupcake(s) recipe(s)! I had a work BBQ potluck on Friday and I was in charge of bringing desert. So naturally I brought cupcakes – two kinds to be exact: Margarita Cupcakes with a Tequila Lime Buttercream and Guinness Cupcakes with and Bailey’s Irish Cream Butter Cream.

Margarita Cupcakes with a Tequila Lime Butter cream

CUPCAKE: 1 package yellow or white cake mix 1 small package vanilla pudding mix 4 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2/3 cup water Zest of one orange 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 1/4 cup tequila 2 TBSP triple sec	1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes or until just incorporated. 3. Place cupcake papers in cupcake tin and fill each with batter, about 2/3 full. 4. Bake cupcakes for 17-20 minutes until slightly moist, as tested with toothpick. 5. Cool cupcakes in tin about 10-15 minutes, until completely cool, before frosting.
ICING: 2 sticks softened unsalted butter 2 TBSP triple sec 1 TBSP tequila 1 TBSP lime juice 1 tsp lime zest 5 - 6 cups powdered sugar	1. Cream butter until smooth and fluffy 2. Add all the liquids. Mix until incorporated. 3. Slowly add in powdered sugar (1/2 C – 1 C at a time) until frosting is smooth and easy to either pipe or spread. If frosting becomes too think you can thin it out with milk (personally I used more tequila).

Guinness Cupcakes with and Irish Baileys Cream Butter Cream

CUPCAKE: 1 cup stout (such as Guinness) 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process) 2 cups all purpose flour 2 cups sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream

1.  Preheat oven to 350 2.  Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to a simmer in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. 3.  Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add the stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly on low speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until it's completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, filling them two-thirds to three-quarters of the way. Bake the cupcakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 16-18 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack completely.

ICING: 3 to 4 cups confections sugar 1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup tablespoons Baileys

1.  Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. 2.  When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined. If the frosting is too thin, beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Training Report Week 1: May 6th - May 12th

Here is my training schedule for Week 1:

Sun. May 6th	Mon. May 7th	Tues. May 8th	Wed. May 9th	Thurs. May 10th	Fri. May 11th	Sat. May 12th
REST DAY	30 min (E)	30 min (E)	Rest Day or Optional 30 min (E)	30 min (E)	REST DAY	First GTS! - Timed 5k

*(E) = pace is free from trouble and pain. Time is more important that intensity.

I am not gonna lie, this week has been fairly uneventful in terms of training. The hardest part was finding the motivation to get out there and run each day I was supposed to. But I did it! Therefore I spent the past week getting to know my teammates, reading my TNT information packet, and you guessed it… running! Hopefully next week I will be able to have more of an update on training as the distances and time spent running will be longer.

I would like to give a shout out to Kimiko for providing me with my first donation! Thanks girl!

And now what you all have been waiting for… the cupcake of the week:

Blueberry Cupcake with a Maple Brown Butter Frosting

CUPCAKES: 1 package Pamela’s While Cake Mix* 1 egg ¾ C Buttermilk ¼ C Milk 1 C blueberries	Beat egg lightly and combine with buttermilk and milk. Slowly incorporate into the baking mix and mix until just blended. Toss blueberries with a tablespoon of flour (I used gluten free flour since Pamela’s is a gluten free mix). And gently fold into batter. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
ICING: 1 stick butter 3 C confectioners’ sugar ¼ C Milk 3 T Maple Syrup	In a sauce pan, melt butter at a medium heat until golden brown. In a bowl add browned butter to sugar, then add milk and maple syrup. Beat until smooth. To frost the cupcakes dip the cupcake (upside) down into the bowl of icing and twist. If the icing becomes too thick add a teaspoon of milk at a time until it becomes smooth again.

*I use the Pamela’s cake mix because it is gluten free and I have unsuccessfully been able to find a ‘from scratch’ recipe that I like. But fear not I am always experimenting!

The finished product!

Chicago Bound!

Bring on the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! Yes you heard correct my first ever 26.2 will be in the great city of Chicago, IL on October 7^th! I cannot begin to explain my excitement… and skepticism as I am about to embark on this journey. 

Not only do I have to worry about training to run for 4 hours and 30 plus minutes (my goal time), I also have to think about fundraising $3,400 as I have chosen to run this marathon as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT).

TNT, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the organization, it is the largest world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. TNT’s mission is to help find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma while improving the quality of life of patients and their families.

An estimated 957,902 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. And another estimated 137,260 people in the United States will be diagnosed this year. The cause of leukemia remains unknown. However, the effectiveness of recently developed treatment methods and advances in research bring us closer every day to finding the cause and probable cure of leukemia and related cancers.

Like I stated before, my goal is to raise $3,400 for the leukemia and Lymphoma Society and finish the race along my best friend Kimiko! 75% of every dollar I raise will directly support research for a cure and provide financial assistance to patients and families struggling with the financial burden of treatments.

Please help me achieve my goal by visiting  http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/chicago12/anothermileanothercupcake and generously donating to the fight against blood cancers. Every bit counts! Oh and BOUNS… donations are tax deductible (tax ID #13-5644916)

Why join Team in Training and not just train on my own?

Fabulous Question! In March of this year I decided to finally make good on one of my goals that I have had for a year or so: to run a half marathon (13.1 miles)! It was an idea that I had been throwing around for a while, so I signed up for That Dam Half Marathon. 

Finish Line at That Dam Half Marathon
 - Cherry Creek Dam

I trained for it completely on my own, which worked for me as I usually use running as a way to relieve stress, but I could have desperately used the support of others who were enduring the ups and downs that training can bring – injuries, lack of motivation/discipline, etc. There were a few weeks during my training that I had no desire to lace up my shoes and hit the pavement. Somehow I managed to make it through and successfully complete the race (13 minutes under my goal time!)! But it was not a pretty finish. Around mile 10 my IT band decided it was done helping me run gracefully. Let’s just say the last 3 miles were a combination of waddling, walking, and the occasional curse word and at one point I even considered crawling. But nonetheless I finished! 

While I was busy training for my half marathon my best friend who lives in Georgia (Run Kimi, Run!) was busy training for her first full marathon! But she went about her journey in a different way than I did. Instead of training on her own she joined TNT to run the Publix Georgia Peachtree Marathon. After the conclusion of both of our races she began to tell me about the great experience she had with TNT, including the support she received from the coaches, mentors, captains, and fellow participants both throughout training and during the marathon. But most of all she highlighted the cause and the mission of TNT (see above). I immediately knew that it was something that I had to get involved with. 

After listening to her experience and attending local information sessions I am now a proud member of TNT! Plus I figured I was going to train for a marathon anyway so I figured I might as well create some good along the way!

My first Group Training Session (GTS) is this Saturday… wish me luck! 

What is Another Mile, Another Cupcake?

Another Mile, Another Cupcake is a way for me to satisfy my sweet tooth without completely derailing my training efforts.  Training you ask?!

I have recently decided to take on the task for training for and running the INFAMOUS 26.2 miles. Crazy I know, but I couldn’t help myself. I conquered the 13.1 back in March and figured I should just take the leap into training for a full marathon, what is an additional 13.1 miles?!?

I have also recently become an avid cupcake baker. I have been baking anywhere from 1-2 batches of cupcakes each week. Now that is A LOT of cupcakes for one person to consume on their own. But thankfully (some days unfortunately – just kidding mom and dad) I live at home with my parents and my brother just moved back home as well, so I have been able to con them to help me consume them. But we are still not able to eat all of them, just look at our freezer….

But now that training is in full swing (149 days and counting!) I have devised a plan: each week of successful (subjective term) training I will reward myself with baking a new batch of cupcakes.

Here are the rules:

1. Must complete the weeks long training run
2. No repeating recipes
3. Bake only mini cupcakes (I’ll feel less guilty that way)
4. Only bake a half batch
5.  Must be gluten free
6. Eat no more that 1 (maybe 2 a day :P)

I reserve the right to:

• Skip a week of baking
• Eat more than one or two if I have a craving
• Make regular sized cupcakes
•  And add, delete, and modify the rules at any time during my training journey. After all this is a work in progress/ experiment!

Rule #1 is the only rule that cannot be broken.  If I am struck with an injury, no cupcakes for me. If I am unable to make a long training run because of a prior commitment or other unforeseen circumstances, no cupcakes for me (however if I am able to make up my long training run, cupcakes for me!).