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.