Friends

01:29 pm - ha! pathetic is moi
So I've not run but once in two weeks...today I was able to run (more of a jog) and walk for 30 minutes before I damn near died. Since my run two weeks ago was only my 4th run since my injury I guess that 4 run fitness didn't last..hee hee.
Pathetic.

We're going to get a Christmas tree today. Seems early but the next couple of weeks/weekends look crazy so we're going today.

ML fixed herself some lunch today and announced she was going to pick the best tree ever...while the boy is still asleep and could care less.

November 27th, 2009

05:36 pm - Most wonderful time of the year.
Training like I do is a labor of love. I know a lot of people think, "Why bother?" I'm obviously not going to Win. Maybe I can eventually win my age group if it's a small event and not many of the fast folks turn up. But I'm certainly no kind of competitive. So it's love of what I'm doing alone that drives me to keep going. To devote my Tuesday nights to run workouts. To get up at or before 5am on Wednesdays and Thursdays to run (or, in other times of the year, swim). And most notably to get up early both Saturday and Sunday to run. As a result, I almost never sleep in past 6am on any day anymore. (I have to get up at 6am anyway to feed the animals.. this time of year, though, I CAN sometimes go back to bed for a while after the feedings on Sundays, and run a little later in the day, if the weather is cool enough.)

So I actually look forward to the Friday after Thanksgiving, as a day I can sleep in. Even if I sleep in some on Sunday, I can't really sleep well, because I know that I need to eventually get up and run, and if I wait too long, I'll be hungry, and then I'll have to eat, and then wait until that settles before I can run. So my sleep is either nonexistent or iffy on sleep-in Sundays. But today? I could just sleep in. No run. Fed the pets at 6am (thanks, body, for waking up no matter what, with no alarm, to feed the pets), then back to bed. Nothing looming over my head, making me unable to sleep. No chores or duties vying for my attention. Just sleep. The pets even settled back in and didn't pester. It was beautiful. I didn't get out of bed until after 10am.

And then Matt made me go out shopping on Black Friday. I hate shopping and I hate crowds of insane shoppers, and so I always want to hole up in the house on these kinds of days, but somehow Matt, who never wants to go shopping, invariably needs SOMEthing vitally on Black Friday. I think he does it just to torture me.

But it was still a fantastic day. Slept late. Lunch with the guy. We lived through shopping. Tidied up the house. Made lots of good progress on the sewing room cleanup. And now settling in for dinner before an 18 mile run tomorrow morning.

Thanksgiving itself is too crazy with plans and people and Trots and whatnot. This is the day I can truly reflect on how thankful I am for everything that's so fantastic in my life.

(And as a bonus, I still have an entire weekend left ahead of me!)

http://notasgoodasporkcracklins.blogspot.com/2009/11/holiday-bundt-cake.html

November 26th, 2009

porkcracklins

06:26 pm - Holiday Bundt Cake

When I first started this blog back in October 2004, it was at the suggestion of my friend Sheri, whose blog is Pork Cracklins. As I am neither the accomplished cook nor the tech savvy blogger that she is, I named mine "Not As Good As Pork Cracklins". Neither of our blogs has a thing in the world to do with pork cracklins.

Though I do still occasionally blog about cooking, over the years, NAGAPC (or as another friend calls it, "Not as Bad Ass") has begun leaning more and more toward baking. I guess I've baked since I was kid, but it's only been fairly recently that I've paid attention to where the recipes come from and who writes them. I've learned that there are certain authors whose recipes can be completely trusted and whose tastes tend to be similar to mine.

Some of my baking inspirations are:

Rose Levy Beranbaum, whose classic books are some of the greatest baking tutorials ever written, including: The Pie & Pastry Bible (I need to use it more), The Bread Bible (LOVE it!), The Cake Bible (my first "real" buttercreams), and Heavenly Cakes (destined to be another classic).

Abigail Johnson Dodge, who used to be a contributing editor for my favorite magazine, Fine Cooking. The only book I own is The Weekend Baker. "My" two signature recipes are actually hers: Double Ginger Crackles and Chocolate Banana Swirl Cake. Several of my go-to reliable, favorite recipes are hers as well: Supermoist Banana Muffins and Emergency Blender Cupcakes.

Dorie Greenspan, whose Baking With Julia(Child) should be in every kitchen. But the book of hers I love the most is Baking From My Home To Yours. The first time Carolyn did the Tahoe Triple, I baked Perfect Party Cake to celebrate, and "perfect" truly describes it. In fact, everything I've made from that book is perfect.

Try to imagine how star-struck I was last week when Dorie Greenspan commented on Not As Good As Pork Cracklins about my Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Black Raspberry Swirl! She said it looked "perfect" and that she was glad I'd made it. As I told my marathon friends, it would be like Arthur Lydiard slapping you on the back, saying "nice run"!

You might think that I reacted by baking another of her recipes so soon, but in fact, I'd already made my next cake -- her Holiday Bundt Cake -- and frozen it for Thanksgiving Day. It was all I could do to keep it, not cut into it, and not blog about it. It's moist, dense, fragrant with cinnamon, and studded with cranberries, apples and nuts. Like every other recipe of hers I've made, it too is perfect.

Holiday Bundt Cake, Baking From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

05:06 pm - Turkey Trot 2009 "race" report.
I didn't really plan on doing the Turkey Trot this year. Karen had implied she wasn't going to advise we run it, what with being right after San Antonio and right before a long and hard Saturday run, and I was a little sad because I've done it every year since 2004. Then she said as long as we didn't race it, we could run it as our Thursday run, with a warmup and a cooldown, so I signed up. And as she recommended, to make sure we didn't let ego step in, I signed up untimed, to discourage me from racing it. Yay, another long-sleeved white Turkey Trot shirt!

Met up with a couple of the Team (+Matt) to do our 2 mile warmup, then we all went our separate ways before the race. I needed a portapotty, but hadn't left myself with enough time, so I figured.. 5 miles.. I can deal with it for 5 miles. Since I wasn't racing, I decided to start farther back than I normally would, and got into the chute just behind the 9-10 minute mile sign. With a lot of dogs and strollers and people who looked an awful lot like they intended to walk. I figured I'd regret it, but .. eh.

Gun went off, very, very slowly walked to the start line, then started to run right before the line. And sure enough, my first mile was spent dodging and weaving and ducking and darting. Shoulda started further up. I mean, I wasn't racing, but I still wanted to run my pace. Anyway, that spread out after a mile, and it was fine.

Karen said no racing, but if we wanted to do progressive pace, we could. She said start at half marathon goal pace (HMGP) + 1 minute, then take off 15 seconds each mile, ending at HMGP. For me that would mean roughly:
9:00
8:45
8:30
8:15
8:00

I figured if I felt good, I'd aim for that. But when I started running and was frustrated from the dodging and weaving, I decided to say "screw my watch" and run purely on perceived effort and how I was feeling. So I never checked my pace or tried to race anyone or do anything other than just run and feel good. I did hit the splits on my watch, though, for my records. And my first mile was an 8:59, which, hey, was what Karen said to do. And then.. my second mile was an 8:15. Oops. But the weather was picture perfect, the day was beautiful and running just felt effortless. Even with the hills.

And I just kept getting faster. At one point I saw Lori just in front of me, so I ran to catch her. Right then, Karen passed me, and I picked it up a little to chat with her for a few seconds until she flew off. Then I mentioned to a girl that I'd been leapfrogging with her for a mile or so, and we chatted for a while. I told her about the hill at the end. She just moved here from Houston, and wasn't too fond of our hills. Then I passed Lindy and chatted briefly with her. And then before I knew it, it was the turn for the final nasty hill (thanks, Steph, for cheering me up it!), then a downhill to the finish line, with Matt and Joleen cheering crazily for me. Matt told me to kick it in, I yelled back that I wasn't racing. As I crossed the finish line, I stopped my watch and saw my last mile was a 7:43. Oops. I didn't INTEND to be racing.

Actual splits:
8:59
8:15
8:13
7:45
7:43

Total: 0:40:59 (8:10/mile)

Granted, this was much shorter than the San Antonio half, but it's amazing how different two runs can be. The weather was better, I just felt better right from the start line, and a pace that felt effortless at the end of the Turkey Trot was unachievable during any mile in SA. Runs like today are what make running worth it. And it seems appropriate that I would have such a great run on Thanksgiving.

Dutifully did my 1 mile cooldown, then milled about chatting with so many people I knew, and drank some of Matt's mimosa at the Texas Iron parking garage roof party.

Too bad I didn't run timed! This was my second fastest Turkey Trot, though the course last year was short, so it may actually be my fastest. Maybe I just go faster when I remove all the pressure from myself, because I'm not racing. :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Thank you for.. being you.

11:48 am - sigh
It appears to be in her hands too now...*sigh*
Can't Monday get her already?!?!

I need a nap and it's not noon. Talked ML into going in for a nap, I should join.
We're going to try to go to Kris and Ragan's for a little while today, ML wants to go.
K&R are the kids 'other parents' and all their kids are looking forward to seeing ML and Rob today. It will be nice to get out with all of us together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25th, 2009

builderben

10:38 pm - Smokin' Workout
We did a 4-mile progressive run around a two mile loop tonight (2 laps). I think I nailed it pretty well - at least each mile was faster than the last, and the paces were pretty close to target. The first mile was just a bit slow, the last mile was a just a bit fast, and the middle two were juuuust a bit right. The only negative was that there was a lot of smoke in the air on certain parts of the loop. Someone in that neighborhood was either smoking a brisket or burning a mattress. I couldn't really tell you which. Now my 2009 relay shirt smells like a chimney.

08:45 pm - Notes from the kitchen.
Whew. Done with everything except the stuff that has to be done tomorrow (rosemary fan rolls from scratch and bacon-sauteed green beans). Here's my reflections on tonight's cooking:

- Came home from work and my house was all clean. 5 minutes later, the kitchen was filthy again. I'm not a clean cook.
- I think I made some sort of bechamel sauce, but I don't think I did it well. I think too much liquid ended up cooking off, so it was still tasty, but didn't cover quite the surface area it was supposed to.
- It's amazing how so much swiss chard can cook down to so little final product.
- It's harder to mash potatoes with a potato masher than with a hand blender thingy.
- The contrast between the inside skin of a sweet potato and the potato itself is beautiful.
- Even with a ton of past evidence that my cooking goes much more smoothly if I actually.. prepare all the ingredients ahead of time, somewhere that never happens for me, and I end up juggling too many things that all need to happen at once and it's a either a disaster or very nearly so.
- There's no such thing as too much gruyere.
- Matt needs to get off his high horse with his, "Did you just eat butter?" Yes, some got stuck to my finger when I was cutting off a tablespoon of butter, and I had nothing to wipe it on, so I ate it. You may judge me when you're not licking mashed potatoes directly off the masher, likely ingesting far more butter in the process than I did.
- Mmm. Butter.

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07:14 pm - follow up
The day is not a total loss, ML wanted best friend NR to spend the night so we arranged for her to be here tonight, as a surprise. Wow, how much fun can two 14 year old girls have...damn they are loud and really obnoxious...boys are not this loud, seriously.
Rob, 17 year old boy child, came out earlier and was very glad he had plans that would take him away for the evening. hahahaha.
Bad day...good night.

08:53 am - damned roller coaster
Not a good start to the day, she's in a lot of pain today.
Hopeful this will deminish as day goes on.

November 24th, 2009

builderben

11:23 pm - The Changing of the Guard / Scared Helpless
The first part of this could also be titled "Asics gets too much of my money". Or, it could be titled "Why the heck is Bill spending so much time typing about his stupid shoes, and who cares?" The second part after all the shoe stuff is just whatever it is... a low point in my week... a bit of regret... a "wish I had a do-over" moment...

Anyway, on to the first part. I bought some new shoes today. That itself is not out of the ordinary (in fact it is WAY too common). But I am taking a gamble, and trying something (very slightly) different this time around. I have been buying pretty much the same shoe over and over for the last 4.5 years. Back then, it was an Asics GT2100. They fit, they were comfortable, and they didn't give me any issues. But running shoe companies seem to want to mess with things every year. On this particular model, Asics ups the number by 10 each year.

The 2110's were ok, but they pushed on the back of my ankles in a weird way. I was wearing them when I started training for my first marathon, and as the mileage increased, so did the discomfort. When it was time for new shoes, I had decided that I would try a few other brands and models. After trying on nearly everything else in the store of the same basic style, I tried the 2120's (which were the new model that year), and the ankle issue was gone! Once again, I had shoes that fit, were comfortable, and didn't give me any issues. I thought the issue with the other pair must have been a manufacturing fluke.

The next year the 2130's came along, this time in the midst of training. The sales person said they hadn't changed much except for the color. I bought them without really thinking about it. The ankle thing was back. That time around I ended up buying some inserts that made the shoes feel better and was ok for a while. I managed to find a pair of the 2120's on clearance somewhere, and switched back by the time the race came around. But I needed new shoes again soon after that for the next race, and the 2120's were scarce. My next couple pairs were 2130's with the inserts, but all in all they really weren't that comfortable. I decided once again that I would shop around and see if there was something else I could wear. Half an hour and several disappointments later I walked out of the store with some 2140's, happy as a clam. That was about a year ago, and I've since gone through several pairs of that same shoe. You can see where this is going...

As of today, I can say that the 2150's are true to the pattern. Not only is the ankle issue back, but it happens to be pressing right on an area of my foot I am currently having some trouble with. Coincidence? Probably.. but right now, I think it would turn out to be unbearable to run in those shoes for any length of time. I could probably buy the inserts to go with them, but I don't really want to.

I asked, and they happened to have one pair of 2140's in my size left. I was very close to buying them when I decided since I was already there, I would just try on some other stuff for the heck of it, and (drum roll) I ended up with a different shoe (still Asics though) - the DS Trainer. I think the DS stands for "Different Shoes". The heel is lower and softer or something, and they feel a little lighter. I think it was the right decision, but I reserve the right to go crying out to the internet in a few weeks to find a pair of bargain-basement 2140's and rescue them.

----
Related to the shoe thing by coincidence, but completely different topic, and unrelated to running in the least : On my way to get shoes today...

As I was driving up to the store, I saw a man by the side of the road acting strange. He kept bending over, standing up, taking a few steps, bending over again and so on. It wasn't until I was driving past him that I saw the cane on the ground.

There was no traffic, so I stopped in the middle of the road and got out of my car. I walked around, picked up the cane, and handed it to the man. Looking at his eyes, it was clear that he had a serious vision impairment. He thanked me, and as I started walking back around to get in my car he began talking to me, telling me he needed to go "that way", and asking if I could drive him to Lamar. I'm not in the habit of giving rides to strangers, so I told him that I wasn't headed to Lamar right at that instant. Before I could really say much else, he got agitated and started swinging his cane around, yelling "This is frustrating! You won't help me.. nobody will help me!" Then he turned his attention to someone else walking down the street and started yelling at them. I was frightened - I thought he was going to hit me (accidentally or not) with the cane, so I fled the scene and went into the store.

I felt like an ass. The guy obviously needed more help than I provided, but I let that bit of fear get the best of me. I ran away and went to buy shoes instead. I looked for him when I was coming back out of the store but he was gone. I don't know if he was able to get a ride or what. In retrospect, if I had been thinking straight I would have tried to calm him down and offered to call him a cab. But I was scared, and I wasn't thinking straight. That doesn't really matter, I still feel like an ass.

08:41 pm - I got nothin'.
I had no time to post when I felt okay earlier today. And now that I have a second to sit down, I feel like crap, and there's nothing I'd rather do than go crawl under the covers and go to bed, leaving myself a ton of stuff to do tomorrow morning before going to work.. so that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Days like this are why posting every day is a bad idea.

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07:04 pm - 53...ouch
My birthday is today and it's been a great day! First off the new medicine they gave ML for nerve pain yesterday has really helped and today she was up and around alot. We laughed, we went to lunch at Hyde Park Bar & Grill, we talked about Christmas plans and all-in-all it was a grand day.

Met with admin and teachers today...I'm soooo pleased with the plan they have. Again, a grand day.

About to put my jammies on (yes it's only 7pm but I'm 53 today!) and go snuggle and watch some lousy television with Bob and the kids...well with ML, the boy child is at a drama production.

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leahruns

01:27 pm - Beautiful day for baking
I should be at the grocery store right now but I just can't quite bring myself to go yet. It will be a zoo, and I hate to go to the grocery store in the first place.

I spent the morning baking the things I could (pumpkin biscotti and pumpkin pie) and finishing up the school-related stuff I needed to do before the holiday arrived. So I've put off my run as well. I had intended to just bust out a road run from the house...but it's so beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to just "get through" a run, and that's what running on the road felt like. So I'm treating myself to St. Eds as soon as I get the grocery store checked off the list. The old carrot before the horse, if you will.

This weekend was Bandera. Friday was a nasty day in Austin but I kept telling myself that that didn't necessarily mean it was nasty in Bandera, which is about 3 hours west of here. As I drove that afternoon, it kept raining and the sky was overcast. It wasn't looking good, and I worked to psych myself up for muddy slogging and being cold and wet. I pulled into the park and drove to the Lodge where the group was staying, where I was greeted with the news that the rangers had closed the trails. WTF?!? A couple of years ago during the monsoon summer they only closed portions of a couple of trails (except for the time the park actually flooded and they made everybody leave); I was incredulous that such a drastic action had been taken over 3 inches of rain. Oh, well; the plan changed: hang out and assess when we woke in the morning.

The morning was absolutely gorgeous! The #8 trail was open, and we splished and splashed and mucked through it (and a good bit of running down the park road, yuck) after a late start and a delicious breakfast. In fact, we christened the #8 trail "Biscuits and Gravy" because that's what we "8". Har har...trail runners like to name stuff and often times, I don't remember all the names, but this one will stick with me. After noon, the rangers opened up several other trails, so we hit a lot of the #5 trail which goes around Sky Island and the Three Sisters and the #1 and 1B loops, which hit Ice Cream Hill. For that second loop, I had Johanna as company and we had a great time. I took it really, really easy so that I got plenty of on-my-feet time without beating myself up. The sky was about as blue as a Texas sky can be, and there were butterflies everywhere. I love Bandera on a beautiful day.

That night, we had a big dinner in town and cooked s'mores around a camp fire. The last couple of times I've been out at Bandera, there's been a burn ban and you couldn't have an outdoor fire so this was a welcome change. Oh, I love a campfire! The stars were beautiful until suddenly clouds blew in and completely hid everything.

Sunday morning was an overcast day with wetness in the air. But the rangers had opened up yet another trail, so we were able to do a short loop on #4 and it's offshoots, which encompasses most of my very favorite spots in the park (Cairn's Climb, for example). And we ran the trail counter clockwise, so I got to run down Boyles...my absolute favorite thing to do there, bar none. It was a good run if short. After cleaning and packing up, we had a big breakfast at the OST Diner in town and then hit the road back. I was home around 2PM.

I am looking forward to being back there in December for Bunmart and then for the race in January. My hope is to PR the 50K out there, which on one hand seems like a no-brainer...but Palo Duro has made me gun shy with goals. In any case, I will love the time on my feet there.

November 23rd, 2009

04:02 pm - I don't plan to get out of bed on Friday.
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by this week, so I decided to write down all the things I needed to do so that I didn't forget anything, and could plan out when to do what. And I think that just made me MORE overwhelmed. But I brought it on myself, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Ask me if I still feel that way Thursday around 1pm.

Monday night:
Make dinner
Make banana muffins
(Maybe make applecake?)
Get kitchen into more usable state
Do laundry
Tidy house in preparation for cleaningfolks on Wednesday

Tuesday:
Work all day
Run home from bus stop to be home when my ride gets there to take me to my run workout
1 mile warmup, 4 hilly miles at marathon goal pace, 1 mile straights and curves, 1 mile cooldown
Come home, shower
While waiting for Matt to bring home dinner, prep swiss chard
Make applecake if I ran out of time to make it Monday night
Go to bed as early as possible, because..

Wednesday:
Wake up at 4:30am to get in 5 mile run before work
Work all day
Come home and make mashed potatoes and swiss chard and sweet potato gratin
Make dinner
Get out all dishes and linens and whatnot for tablesetting

Thursday:
Wake up at ?am and make roll starter, so it can rise for a few hours
Prep green beans and chop onions
Go do Turkey Trot at 9:30am
Be social for a very brief time afterwards
Come home, shower
Finish rolls
Make green beans
Bake gratin and mashed potatoes
Set table
Coordinate rest of meal arriving around 12:30
At some point hopefully, eat
Collapse

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02:07 pm
Not a good day, tried going to school and had to come home with pain that gave her nausea and the dry heaves.
Phone call to doc for more pain mgmt input.
Monday the 30th is a long way off.
I've never been good with roller-coasters or patience.

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November 22nd, 2009

builderben

10:11 pm - A Prize and a Surprise
The Prize : A while ago, one of the coaches (who goes by Geezer) posted on the message boards with a contest - whoever could post the best story about how he got his nickname would win him for a long run - to get water, carry gels, whatever. On a whim I posted an outlandish story involving members of Black Sabbath and old junior high math teachers. He decided it was worth a run which we ended up doing yesterday - a 20 miler on the first part of the course. I didn't make him carry my gels or get my water (though he did insist on the first cup), but we talked a lot, and I certainly appreciated the company. I like to meet new people and hear their stories. Bruce was also in our small pack of runners - it was good to see and chat with him again. The run just sort of flew by and we were finishing up before I knew it.

Intermission : After the run there were people handing out caffeinated water outside the store. What? Again? I remember in college for about a year there were three or four companies all trying to sell caffeinated water, and then they all seemed to disappear. I think that my roommate was their biggest customer at the time. He would buy the stuff and make espresso with it. When one of the guys handing out the bottles offered one to me, I jokingly asked him whether they had any that was a bit darker, warmer, and from Guatemala. He gave me an odd look and said "Noooo....." all trailed-out like that, and kind of with a rise at the end. I thanked him, declined the water and moved on.

The Surprise : I arrived at home, said hi to the family and proceeded directly to the much-needed shower. Towards the end of my shower I heard some rustling in the bathroom. I assumed that it was just a stray child since they often show up in our bathroom when the shower is in use to pound on the shower door and shout random things. There was no pounding or shouting though. When I got out, I was delighted to find a fresh cup of Guatemalan right there on the counter, and instead of cream.. eggnog. It is like she was reading my mind. I got Ben to join me in a short chant of "Mommy Rocks" a few minutes later.

http://notasgoodasporkcracklins.blogspot.com/2009/11/nannys-victoria-sponge.html

porkcracklins

12:24 pm - Nanny's Victoria Sponge

The other day, the pin in my tilt head KitchenAid somehow worked its way out. I mentioned it to my oh-so-handy husband, so that he could put it back in. What I didn't say was, "Please might you do it as soon as possible, so that I may use it if I wake up in the wee hours of the night and want to bake a cake?"

I used it anyway, figuring that the horrific noise the broken mixer made would be enough to wake him up so he'd fix it for me. But it didn't and he didn't.

The resulting cake is Nanny's Victoria Sponge, which I knew as soon as Three Many Cooks posted, I'd be baking as dessert for a Sunday dinner.

As it turns out, tonight's dessert is also Gary's de facto birthday cake. While tomorrow is his 55th birthday, tonight is the night that Eric, Monica, Mike, Sandy and Doris will join us around the dinner table. Happy Birthday, Gary!

06:00 pm - today rocked
Great day pain wise. Seriously what the hell? This kinda day makes one think all of this bullshit is just a bad day...the odd manifestations that this shit has, swelling, discoloration, etc...they are not evident today...pain yes but not so bad.