Acclimating to the Heat : Week 2

In other news...I ran more than 30 miles this week!  And there was much rejoicing. 

M: 8.17 /1:03:53 / 7:49

T: 4 / 31:10 / 7:47

W: 7.17 / 54:47 / 7:38

R: 5.56 / 39:25 / 7:05

F: 4.7 / 35:41 / 7:35

Sa: off

Su: 4.7 / 35:37 / 7:34

total : 34.3

Overall, not a particularly fast week, although Thursday's run was more than satisfactory in that department.  But I do believe that mileage is more important than pace at the moment.  If I want a true long run before my race on the 23rd I better get it...yesterday?  No time yesterday.  I'll give myself til Wednesday, but I'm not sure I'll be able to fit it in.  If I can get a whole bunch of 7-8 milers in the next 10 days I'll settle with that.  Or I'll settle with whatever I have the time/energy for, as usual.  Any time I make a real plan in the weeks leading up to a race something happens to mess it up, so I'm not going to make an official plan.  

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

The Cream Cheese Cookies I made on Sunday were so delicious, I just had to whip up another batch!  This time, I added some cocoa powder...can't ever have too much chocolate!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies

4 tbsp butter

2 oz cream cheese

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1+ tsp ginger powder

3/4 tsp vanilla

2+ tsp cocoa powder

1 egg

1/2 c wheat flour

1 c flour

handful of craisins

handful of mini chocolate chips

bake @ 375 for 10-12 minutes

These cookies hold their shape very well while baking.  The tops may look slightly under-done when you take them out, but they will firm up the rest of the way while cooling on a wire rack.  You don't want to over-bake the cookies, or the bottoms will burn.

I received a bottle of Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye Whiskey for my birthday.  Cracked open that bottle this evening and tried it with the cookies.  Perfect match. 

Acclimating to the Heat

Summer weather has finally arrived in Greenbrier County!  Summer running is my favorite, but every year as the winters get longer and the springs get shorter, I have more trouble adjusting to the warm weather running.      Last week, my runs were mostly shorter and slower, as my body is getting used to the warmer temps.

5/27 - 6/2

M: 7.17 / 52:25 / 7:22

T: 2.29 / 17:49 / 7:46

W: 4 / 32:00 / 8:00

R: 4 / 29:59 / 7:29

F: 5.87 / 43:47 / 7:29 w/Josh

Sa: 4.7 / 34:12 / 7:16

Su: off

week total : 28.03

Some pictures from the week:

Cream Cheese Cookies

I went to a crawfish boil today and needed something to bring.  It seems that cookies are my go-to thing to bring at this point, because they are so quick and easy and there are so many possibilities.  Also, because it is one of the only things that I always have ingredients for...

So I took out the butter and threw it in the mixer to soften for a bit, and noticed the cream cheese I had in the fridge, that needed to be used before it turned all sorts of pretty shades of blue and green.  So I decided to substitute cream cheese for the vegetable oil I usually put in cookies.  I'm not sure exactly how much cream cheese I used, but it looked like a bit more than the amount of butter I used, so I'm going to guess 5 or 6 tbsp.

One of the best things about these cookies (other than the fact that they taste good) is that they hold their shape really well while baking.  I hate it when my cookies spread really thin in the oven.  I always chill the dough before baking it, which helps, but every now and then it fails.  These cookies held their shape so well, the first batch was burning on the edges before the center cooked.  So, I smashed the cookies on the second tray before baking them.

The cookies come out with more of a cake-y texture than a cookie texture.  

Perfectly soft, chewy, and yummy.

Cream Cheese Cookies

1/2 stick butter

5-6 oz cream cheese

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 c wheat flour

3/4 c flour

mini chocolate chips

bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes

Talent Show and Field Day

I am in love with my camera and the pictures I take with it.  The best part is, many of them are "by accident."  The joy of a digital camera is that you can take hundreds of pictures without worrying about wasting film.  The more you take, the better chance you have of getting that perfect photo.  When it comes to kids, you can set up a shot all you want, but the best pictures are always going to happen by luck.  You have to just keep pushing the button and hoping to catch that perfect moment.  If you wait til you see it, it will be gone by the time you get that button pushed.  There were so many moments and facial expressions that I tried to catch yesterday, some of them I got, and some of them I didn't.  But some of the best pictures I took were when I just started pushing the button over and over.  I didn't have any idea what the results were until after I got the pictures on my computer and had a chance to really look at them.  This is especially true of the pictures I took outside at Field Day.  The sun was so bright, I could barely see what I was doing.  Really, all I could do was point, attempt to focus (even though I was so blinded I couldn't really tell), and shoot.  I used auto-focus occasionally, but I really prefer not to.

During the Talent Show and Band Concert yesterday, we were treated to an amazing display of talent from quite a few students.  And the weather was typical Field Day weather : hot and sunny.  No matter how rainy and cold the forecast was, is, or will be, it is always blazing sunlight on Field Day.  It works out fine though, the kids play on the swing set, have a picnic lunch, do fun activities, eat ice cream, and then get hosed down by a fire truck.  What kid wouldn't love that?  The only thing that saved me from being soaked by students was the fact that I was carrying a camera all afternoon.

I took over 900 pictures yesterday, and would love to share so many of them, but here are some of my favorites.

TALENT SHOW

A kindergartner singing with one of our after-school staff. 

Mid-air, right before chopping those blocks in half!

This 8th grader has his 3rd degree black belt for Tae Kwon Do.

Kindergartner singing while accompanied by her dad.

Slam Dunk!

FIELD DAY

A farewell dousing for an 8th grader.

 So many things going on in this photo, I love it!  

They were supposed to be transferring water cup by cup from one bucket to another.

What a gorgeous day!

Speaking of photography, I just got my yearbook, and it is full of wonderful moments that I captured this year.  I am so grateful to have this camera and to be able to capture so many precious moments.  Not to mention how awesome it is to experience all those moments at this school.  Hard to believe I am finishing up my 5th year here!  There have been so many ups and downs, but these kids are amazing and I love them all!

Chocolate Cake with Cherry-Guinness Topping

I bought some fresh cherries at Kroger the other day.  So when I was thinking about what kind of cake to make for my friend and I's double birthday party, I thought about Black Forest Cake.  Yum.  I found  cake recipe online somewhere and made the chocolate cake part, then I made a cherry sauce out of the fresh cherries and some Guinness.  I don't like whipped cream, so I omitted that part of the Black Forest Cake ensemble.

THE CAKE

2 1/8 c flour

2 c white sugar

3/4 c cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 c milk

1/2 c veg oil

1 tbsp vanilla

mix together the dry ingredients, then add the wet

grease and flour a 9x13 pan

bake 350 for 45 min

THE TOPPING

2-3 cups fresh cherries, pitted

3/4 c Guinness

spoonful of corn starch

large spoonful of sugar

throw it all in a pot and bring to a boil, cook until thickened

cherry blood...all over my kitchen

I put on an apron to save the white dress I was wearing...but somehow nothing ended up on the apron.

This cake was super-awesomely delicious.  Best Birthday Cake I ever made myself.  

Also, the only so far, but that's beside the point.

It was so delicious, I had some for dinner last night. Before I ate my real dinner.  

I couldn't wait til after for dessert.

Appalachian Power Festival Run

This was the first 10k I've done that wasn't the Lewisburg Chocolate Chase.  The Lewisburg course, described as "gently rolling" by those of us who live here, is considered quite hilly by everyone else.  The Festival Run I did this past weekend was run almost entirely on the Roanoke Greenway, which is very flat.  It's a paved biking/walking trail along the river.  The only small hills in this race were two short bridges within a mile of the start/finish line.  The race was an out-and-back.

I was not particularly impressed with race management.  There was no bag check, and since I was travelling alone, I ended having to run with my car key in my hand.  My shorts have a small key pocket, but my car key is much to big to fit.  I wasn't too pleased about that, but there are worse things that running with a giant car key in your fist I suppose.  I run with my house key in my hand all the time, but I prefer not to worry about such things in races.  Anyway, that wasn't so bad.  The more disagreeable part was that the race started 15 minutes late because they didn't have water set out on the course.  The race was supposed to start at 8, so I was ready on the starting line before then, and they waited until 8 to tell us that the water wasn't set out and that we would be starting 10 minutes late.  10 minutes later they said they still weren't ready.  I don't personally really understand the need for so much water out on the course, but I guess it's a good thing to have.  I kinda feel like people should be able to survive an hour without water...but that's just me.  Mostly, I just can't stand it when races start late.  I strongly dislike standing on the starting line for extended periods of time.  I want to just go run already!

Once the race finally started, it took about a mile for people to settle into their strides, and at that point, I did not pass anyone nor get passed by anyone for the rest of the race.  First place female was in sight ahead of me until she kicked stronger than me in the last mile, but she was not close enough for me to catch.  I could have surged and caught up to her earlier in the race, but I didn't feel like I would be able to keep up after wasting the energy on a surge.  So, I chose to run what felt like the best I could do.  I did finish under 40 minutes, which was my goal for the day, and gave me a nice PR from my previous 10k PR of 40:25.

I finished 2nd place female and 9th overall.

After the race I wandered around and took some pictures of the festival/car shoe while waiting for the awards ceremony.

Last week:

M: rest

T: 3.48 / 25:40 / 7:22

W: 5.23 / 41:02 / 7:50 w/Jim early in the AM

R: 3.9 / 28:10 / 7:13

F: rest

Sa: 10k / 39:47 / 6:24

Su: rest

total : 18.81

A light week, but it was all I had the energy for.  It was my last week of teaching for the year, but it was a full week, and my energy is gone.  I am definitely ready for summer break!  Just field day and odds and ends for this week, finishing with closing chapel on Friday.