Brunchin'

Post-Race LBJR Oven Brittle

Sometimes I like to go out for a brisk 9.3-mile run, then come back to the condo and prepare brunch for all of my runner friends. After that, I like to spend about an hour hunched over the mess in my oven created by a naughty batch of Little Brown Jug Rolls. There's nothing like crouching at oven height after a nice long run, stabbing at burned, baked-on food with a steak knife. This may become an annual ritual: Run the Heart Mini, Host a brunch, Clean the oven.

Background: While baking, the LBJRs overflowed in the oven, resulting in a crusty brittle of cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, milk & vanilla pudding. I thought I was being really smart by doubling the recipe for the "goo" and baking a batch of 36 Jug Rolls - rather than the 20 called for in the recipe. I guess increasing the rolls by 80% requires commensurate baking pan capacity, which, sadly, I didn't account for. Lesson learned.

As my friend, Jody, put it, "At least your oven will smell nice." True.

Click here for results from the Heart Mini.

Heart mini 5k from our window

Runners in the Heart Mini 5K - taken from our window.

Songwriters, hear my prayer.

Please come up with a new anthem that can be used to inaugurate sporting events. If it is specific to running/marathoning, even better. Something is wrong with the world when "Let's Get it Started" and "Start Me Up" are the only two songs played before every football, baseball, hockey, basketball, wrestling, softball, cricket, jai alai, gymnastics, rugby, soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, bowling or handball match.

Now the Flying PIg Marathon is offering runners the chance to vote on these and 8 other horrendous songs to hear at the starting line of the 10th Flying Pig Marathon.

Seriously? Eye of the Tiger? Life is a Highway? WTF? Who decided to revive Tom Cochrane's career? Why not throw in the Rocky theme while you're at it? (In all sincerity, I'm surprised the Rocky theme isn't an option.) Needless to say, I have been feverishly writing in options from my personal running playlist. Maybe someone at the Pig will download one of my tunes and take pity on runners who have been bleeding from the ears at the sound of the aforementioned songs. Have mercy on our souls.

Please - something different, something with depth. Something that speaks to reducing your body to a salty, limping, panting, dry-heaving mass in the name of enlightenment. Bonus points if you mention hitting the wall and busting through it. Something sentimental like, "I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all." It's a stretch, but you get the idea.

That said, I hereby initiate a contest to develop a new "Sporting event kick-off anthem." Please submit songs to me ASAP. I can't offer a meaningful cash reward, but I'll do my damnedest to get the Pig to debut the song at the start of the 10th running of the Flying Pig Marathon. It will be legendary. Imagine all the people...
Or something like that.

Amen

The calm after the storm

My blogging schedule pretty much mirrors my workout schedule over the past month. I'll admit I haven't been taking it too seriously. Well, last week, Dan and i were in Sarasota and ran the half marathon. It's been a while since I ran a half, so my expectations weren't too high - I figured I'd finish in 2 hours or more. Once the race got started, I felt great - the course ran along the water and I watched the sun come up over the bay. So, i finished in just under 2 hours, which completely boosted my running confidence again. So, the next goal is the Flying Pig Half. Next step: find a 6-week training plan and post here.

Fast forward to this weekend in Cincinnati - 12 inches of snow and ice. My memories of running in 60-degree weather dissolved as blizzard-like conditions conspired to keep me inside. Saturday and Sunday=TV, TV, computer and more TV. I scraped off the car this morning and headed to the newest Urban Active in Bellevue. It was the perfect time to go to the gym - I was probably one of ten people in the place when I got there. I walked on the treadmill and watched the river (photo above), did some core work, did some arm work, then jumped in the pool and ran back and forth in the water. Topped it all off with about 15-20 minutes in the sauna, where the 160-degree temps shredded my edition of Runner's World, but reminded me of summer. The whole experience was very calming and therapeutic. One complaint: UA really needs to turn down the volume of their gym-rock. On a Sunday morning, you just don't want Aly and AJ all up in your face, but that's another blog entirely.

Dan is in Austin this week, so I will probably be Urban Activating in the mornings and/or evenings. Bellevue's UA is a nice gym. I'll probably go there instead of Florence.