I may not be fast, but I get the job done.

This past week was pretty uneventful. About the only exciting thing that happened as the Bolder Boulder!

The Bolder Boulder probably has to be one of my favorite events to participate in. Maybe it is the camaraderie of the 50,000+ people that descend upon Boulder, maybe it is that it takes place in one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S. at an altitude of 5,430 feet, or maybe it is the atmosphere that surrounds the whole day. It truly is an event. One of those that you stay for the entire day to cheer everyone on as the cross the finish line in Folsom Stadium, including the men and women who fight for our country and run the entire course in formation all while carrying the United States flag. It is truly moving. And then you sit there and watch in awe as the elites take to the course and complete it in half the time it took you to finish it. This year the top male finished in 29:54 and the top female in 33:06. INSANE!

This year was unlike any other: perfect weather, good friends, and most of all I had a plan: pick a pace and stay with it. I have found that whenever I run with mass amounts of people I get caught up in the hype and take off sprinting toward the finish line. Only to crash about a mile and a half into the course. This time I decided that was not going to be the case, and I was (semi) successful (and still a little confused - my the statistics my Garmin captured did not match the ones that the Bolder Boulder captured, but I am going to use theirs. Maybe I didn’t start it soon enough, maybe it is just a little special... who knows.). My plan consisted of running a consistent pace of a 9:30min/mile. And what do you know when it was all said and done that is exactly what I ran! Woot woot! Here are my splits (and thoughts):

Mile 1: 8:52 → “Slow down J, you are only competing against yourself. Don’t get caught up in all the hype (look at my watch)...oops!”

Mile 2: 9:24 → “Find your grove!”

Mile 3: 9:48 → “D@*n hills!! But hey I am half way there!”

Mile 4: 9:33 → “Just keep running, just keep running!”

Mile 5: 9:28 → “Crusin’! Only 1.2 more miles!” (this was the only downhill part of the course)

Mile 6: 9:54 → “Who is  the genius that thought it would be fun to include a hill at the end of the course (cursing at them under my breath).”

Finish: 59:05 → “Thank the Lord for all the people in Folsom cheering me on... now where is my beer (and then promptly reminding myself that I cannot drink beer... grrrrrrrr)!”

Overall I managed to stay within my threshold, and to me that is success! While it was not a super fast pace (I probably could have challenged myself a little more), I got the job done and ran the race that I wanted to. I am not training to be the fastest, I am not training to be the best. I am training to accomplish a goal that far fewer than 1% of the population will ever do. And to me that is all I need to know! 

About the only other note worthy event is that I officially purchased my tickets to Chicago for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! For some reason it has made me so much more jazzed about this whole experience. Maybe it is the fact that there is no backing out now... no way am I going to let a plane ticket go to waste! 

In addition to to purchasing my ticket I for the marathon I also booked my ticket to a good friends wedding in Chicago in July (yay MC (and Emily!)!). While I am there I will have the ability to run part of the course (hope I won’t get lost!). It will be a bummer to have to run for 2 hours and 50 minutes before the wedding ceremony, but there is nothing like a little experience on a course before the big day to give you an edge. A serious nap and a does of caffiene should do the trick to perk me right back up though. 

Like I said not much exciting happened to me this week... so here is this weeks cupcake:

I am not going to lie to you... this week I was not the baker in the house. My mother kind of stole my thunder, but I cannot be mad because she made some incredible Rum and Coke Cupcakes! Can you tell that I prefer the spiked cupcakes?!?!

CUPCAKE: 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cups Coke 1/2 cup Captain Morgan’s 4 eggs	1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees 2. Combine dry ingredients 3. Add wet ingredients, beat on low for 30 seconds 4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes 5. Bake for 20-25 minutes (9-10 min for minis) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
FILLING: 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1 lb powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 tablespoons Captain Morgan	1. Cream butter 2. Add half powdered sugar, and beat 3. Add vanilla and half of Captain Morgan rum, beat until combined 4. Alternate adding powdered sugar, and Captain Morgan, until filling is desired consistency & taste
FROSTING: 1-1/4 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup water 5 eggs whites 1 lb (4 sticks) butter, unsalted and softened 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp dark rum*	1. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and water and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar 235º-240ºF. 2. (While sugar is boiling) place egg whites and whip on low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to medium high and whip until stiff. 3. With the mixer running, add your brown sugar syrup slowly into the beaten egg whites in a steady stream. Continue beating on high speed until the mixture has cooled down, about 3 minutes. 4. Keep the mixer running and add butter 1 tbsp at a time. Add vanilla and rum. (Don’t worry if the butter cream starts to look curdled. Just keep beating until buttercream is smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.)

Let the cupcakes cool before you fill and frost them. For added color and texture zest lime over the frosting.