Livin' the Dream in Lima

Just some things... and today is Thursday. Thus, Thursday Things . 1.     I woke up at 4:45am this morning and could not fall back asleep. I wasn't planning on a morning run, but when I was still awake at 5:10am, I figured why not? 8.4 miles in before 6:30am... not too often that happens on a weekday. Or any day as a matter of fact. 2.     Last night I baked 8 dozen mini cupcakes, three different flavors. Mini cupcakes are so  cute... my favorite was the mini version of my Monster Cookie Cupcake . I challenged my Business Man to take one down in just one bite (absolutely delicious!) but he wouldn't partake. Such a party pooper. My dining room table last night. Multi-tasking at its finest - Facebook-ing and frosting cupcakes. 3.     Speaking of my Business Man, the night before last night I was making these Tiramisu Cupcakes . (What can I say? It's been a cupcake type of week.) The base of tiramisu is sponge cake. He absolutely loved  ...

Ever had a kolacky ? Or are wondering what the junk a kolacky could possibly be? Well, friends, it might just be one of the most delicious breakfast treats in the entire world. (But I might be a bit biased.) This weekend, I was going through old pictures in my iPhoto this weekend... and stumbled across these delicious treats from the beginning of February. February! How have I not shared these yet? (To be honest, I completely forgot about them...) Several weeks ago, when some friends came to visit, I wanted to make something special for breakfast. But I didn't want to make the traditional cinnamon rolls or scones. (My go-to breakfasts for guests.) Maybe it was because I've fed these friends breakfast before on multiple occasions and didn't want to repeat the same dish. (Yes I'm that  type of person.) So I went searching through a few of my cookbooks, and discovered a recipe for Kolacky . Described as an "Eastern European sweet roll", I thoug...

It's that time again... time to look back at the last couple weeks of training. The past two weeks have been two solid  weeks of training, which is great a confidence-booster for my lil' mind. Two weeks ago was the start of some awesome spring weather. And by spring, I really mean summer. Temps in the 70s & 80s make this runner very happy.  I got in lots of easy miles, plus a 3x1-mile repeat workout. (Supposed to be 4x1-mile.) I also raced the Get Lucky Half on Sunday (with a 1:30:14 PR!), and turned it into an 18-mile long run. Yes, a bit crazy, but fun. Weekly Rundown 3.12.2012-3.18.2012 Mon - 7.6 miles easy Tues - 7.6 miles easy AM plus 4.4 miles easy PM Wed - 3x1-mile with 0.5 mile jog (6:20, 6:15, 6:22); 7.6 miles total Thurs - Rest Fri - 7.3 miles easy Sat - 3.3 miles easy Sun - Get Lucky Half , total 18.3 miles Total - 56.1 miles This past week has gone just as well - another week of mileage in the mid-50s. My main focus was recove...

Can I get an amen for a quiet weekend at home? The last three weekends have been go-go-go , and while it was all a blast and totally worth it, it is so nice to know that I have nowhere to be and nothing to do. Except run, ya know. Can't have a weekend without that. This morning started out with a run, a 20-miler to be exact. This is the second 20-miler of my training cycle, and it went swimmingly well. I headed out with some running buddies around 6:15am. (I know, crazy for a Saturday. But they had some commitments at 9:30, and I'd rather run with my friends!) I woke myself up around 5:30am so I could get a little coffee in my system and have a clif bar. We ended up doing a huge  loop of the Bean Town, running through several areas that I've never been through. Loops through the college in the middle of town, past the grain elevator, past the Ford engine plant, and through a quarry. Pretty neat. At one point, we were getting close to a set of train tracks, and the trai...

Last weekend, my Business Man & I headed to Chicago for a lil' weekend getaway with our friends Adam & Sarah . They live right  downtown - a block from Millennium Park - so we were right in on the action. And no joke, there's a lot of action on St. Paddy's Day downtown! We kicked off Saturday morning by watching them dye the river green. (And no, I don't know who "they" are. Hehe.) There was a boat that let off this highlighter color dye off the back into the water, and then a second boat that came behind it and stirred it all up. It was pretty neat.  It was kinda hard to see because people were lined up 3-4 deep, but a cute lil' old man took pity on me and asked if I'd like to step up to the front. Why of course, thank you grandpa-man.  After the dyeing of the river, we headed over to watch the parade. That lasted all of about 15 minutes. It's a little hard to watch a parade when all you can see is the back of the people...

Whew! What a busy  weekend! The fun type of busy, the best type. As I mentioned in my last weekly recap , my Business Man & I headed to Chi-town this weekend to partake in the St. Patty's Day festivities and to run a lil' half-marathon on Sunday morning. We had an absolute blast, and the race was the cherry on top to the weekend. (For me, at least.) The inaugural Chicago Get Lucky 7km & 21km  started at Grant Park right on the lake, and ran down the lakefront path on and out & back course. Who could have a bad run when your view is this?! The race didn't start until 9am, which would have been pretty awesome for March, weather-wise, but the freakish weather we've been having meant that it was pretty hot. The first 7 miles or so were into the wind and not too bad, but once we turned around with the wind at our backs, you could definitely feel the heat.  The race was pretty small (for Chicago) - about 375 half-marathoners and 800 7km runners....

Did you celebrate Pi Day today? We most definitely did in my classroom! We played a few games, had a contest to see who could memorize the most digits of pi, and of course we ate pi(e). In my last period class, we took the celebration outside and actually drew the first 100 or so digits of pi on the sidewalk with chalk right outside the school. For the next few days, anyone who walks in the building will have to walk right on top of pi. Who says math class can't be fun?! Hard to read from the sun... but it's the start! 3.14159... Some rather creatively decorated digits of pi - polka dots & checkerboard. Love it! --- So... how about a pi(e) recipe for Pi Day? Pin It I've got another recipe featuring Girl Scout cookies - a delectable no-bake  Thin Mint Pie . Crispy cool minty crust, with a cheesecake filling loaded  with chopped Thin Mint cookies.  To check out the recipe, click on over to the Rays Market  blog!  I am excited t...

So today totally felt like summer. Besides that whole I-had-to-work-today  thing. No worries guys... only 50 days of school until sweet, sweet summer. Not that I'm counting. Seriously! Today was 72*F and sunny! I met a friend to run this morning, and we had an awesome run. But then the weather was just perfect after school so I had to head out again. First double in quite some time... college perhaps? (We used to do 2-a-days every Tuesday & Thursday.) We even broke out the grill tonight... and grilled up some BBQ Chicken Quesadillas. Another twist on a classic. Charred to perfection. Just some grilled chicken breast, monterey jack cheese, Sweet Baby Ray's, and leftover caramelized onions. And a bit of cilantro. YUM! I'm thinking we'll have another variation on these 'dillas tomorrow night... buffalo chicken, perhaps?  In other news, can anyone guess what important holiday is tomorrow?! Hint hint - I'll be celebrating with some of this . And...

Let's look back over the past few weeks of training... they've been quite interesting. Two weeks ago, I had an involuntary cutback week due to my lovely right foot. (And the peroneal tendinitis causing me loads of pain.) I actually thought it was a stress fracture, so after seeing the doc and finding out it was only  tendinitis, I was pretty ecstatic! I took 3 days completely off to help with the inflammation and then I was able to get back into running pretty much pain free. I have been wearing the boot all day at school so that my foot doesn't have any unnecessary pressure/pain during the day, and I am thinking that at the end of this week I will be done with that. I've been feeling pretty good! Anyways, I ended up with 40 miles for the week, including an  awesome  18-miler before my foot went all crazy! That run was a great confidence boosting run... I averaged 7:56 pace outside.   Weekly Rundown 2.27.2012-3.4.2012 Mon - 8.2 miles easy Tues - 18....