Also it is not too late to get in on the iPad Raffle. If you would like to buy a ticket please follow the directions below:
- Go to PayPal.com
- Fill in the blanks. Our payment email is janelle.brunke@gmail.com. Use "Personal" tab; followed by "Gift" OR "Payment Owed" option.
- Send money!
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me!
Week 14 Re-cap
Week 14 started out by recovering from llama backpacking and easing myself back into society... its amazing what 4 days in the wilderness, sleeping on the ground can do to a person. I have never cherished my pillow top mattress or a hot shower so much.
My main task of the week was to rehydrate myself and restore a normal diet, and then maintain both of those things. After being in the mountains without my water bottle (or my binky as my mom likes to call it - the thing literally goes everywhere with me) for 4 days I was dehydrated. I forced myself to drink up there but when you have to do your business on the forest floor, one kind of tends to avoid consuming excess liquids. My main worry was that I would be under hydrated for the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon I was participating in the following Saturday.
GTIS Race Report:
The night before I was actually proactive and set out all my gear that I needed to take with me to the race and managed to get to bed by 10 pm. HUGE accomplishment for me. Normally I am scrambling the morning of trying to find my watch or fuel belt and consequently yelling at my parents, demanding them to tell me where they hid them only to realize they are laying on my floor in plain sight. But this time I was going to the race solo. For some reason no one in my house wanted to get up at 4:30 am with me and make the trek to Idaho Springs... imagine that.
When I arrived at the starting line I positioned myself in the middle of the 2 hours 15 minutes and 2 hours 20 minutes pacers (races that provide pacers are now my new favorite thing). Since my goal was to beat my previous time I figured this would be the perfect spot to do it from.
The first two miles were incredibly slow. The course was too narrow for the amount of people trying to navigate it. Around mile 3.5 I was able to catch and pass the 2 hour 15 minute pacer! Woot! At mile 5 I started consuming nutrition and continued to do so every 2 miles after that. At mile 11 I looked back and noticed that the 2 hour 15 min pacer was right on my butt... totally discouraging. I thought I was doing great, but clearly I had lost a lot of momentum and was slowing down considerably. But I reminded myself that my only goal of this race was to beat my previous time. Even if it was by a second. And I did! By 37 seconds to be exact!
When I got home I promptly slept for what felt like forever and then made myself a much deserved treat... Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. WARNING: These are not for the diet conscious individual.
| 1 bag Pamela’s chocolate cake mix 1 egg 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened ¾ C peanut butter ⅓ C granulated sugar ⅓ C powdered sugar | 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Make Pamela’s mix accoring to recipe on back of bag 3. In a large bowl, beat egg, cream cheese, peanut butter, and granulated sugar until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar until mixture becomes smooth and creamy. 4. Spoon 1 (level) TBSP chocolate batter into each cupcake holder, then evenly spread 1 TBSP peanut butter filling on top. Repeat layers until cupcake holder is ⅔ of the way full. (I would recommend using ½ TBSP - ¾ TBSP of the peanut butter filling. They were a little heavy using a full TBSP each time.). 5. Sprinkle with top with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. 6. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. |
Week 15 Re-cap
Week 15 was a recovery week from the GTIS half marathon - light, short runs to get my legs moving again. Which were supposed to be followed by a nice 15 mile run on Saturday. Sadly I did not make it out, but I think I had a pretty good excuse(s):
- a going away party for a friend moving to Paris. I miss you Michelle!!!!
AND
- A birthday party for my BFF who came all the way from Georgia to celebrate :) (for which I made cupcakes - see below)
“Fake” Funfetti Cupcakes
These are super simple to make. And nobody could tell the difference between gluten free and regular funfetti cupcakes. Right Kimiko?!
Since there is no pre-made gluten free funfetti cake mix I had to get a little creative. And creative by no means should be taken as hard. All I did was take a bag of Pamela’s gluten free white cake mix, mixed it according to the direction on the back (I also added a tsp of vanilla), and then added ⅔ cup of rainbow sprinkles (make sure you toss them in some flour so they don’t sink to the bottom of the cupcake liner). Bake, cool, then enjoy!
18 miles for week 18!
This was a brutal week. It was the first time in a long time that I actually hit every single mile that I was supposed to. This means that I made it out on every training run during the week AND did my long run on the weekend (aka. my legs hate me right now).
Somehow this week I managed to convince my brother into accompanying me on my long run. Which for those of you who know my brother is surprising. The only way to get him up that early on a weekend is Mother Nature decided to dump 2 feet of snow in the high country. But being the good brother he is, he sacrificed his Friday night to rest up for his sherpa duties on Saturday.
Sherpa Duties included:
- Carrying enough water, gatorade, and Clif Shots to last me the run
- Making sure I consumed Clif Shots every 45 minutes
- Ensuring we were on the right path
- Making detours at random gas stations to find salt packets when I started to cramp
- Riding ahead, buying ice, and creating an ice cold version of Hell, said to supposedly help with recovery (see below). Never again.
Having him along on my run was actually a blessing in disguise. For the majority of the run (until I hit a wall... mile 14) he paced me in a sense.
Anybody out there want to accompany me on my 20 miler this Sunday? Riding from my house to Elitch’s!
As my TNT coach keeps saying... with only 25 more days to go my full time job from here on out is staying on top of my hydration and nutrition intake. I am getting more excited every day and cannot wait to cross the finish line in Chicago!! GO TEAM!
