Wednesday, August 19, 2015

WWU - Seven Miles, Done!

It is really gratifying to run with someone when they experience a new distance.  I realized, as we were almost finished with our 7 mile run on Saturday, that I haven't experienced that dreaded feeling of "I can't do this" that I used to during our long runs. Obviously focusing on someone else has helped shut off that part of my brain and I'm very happy about that, believe me...this was a long time coming.  But getting back to focusing on someone else, Loretta ran 7 miles for her first time ever!!!  She did great - of course it was still hot at 77 degrees, but the humidity was a bit lower, only around 69%, which makes a difference, believe me.  Step by step, mile by mile, she chipped away at the route until we were finished.  It takes a lot of courage to run that far, especially coming back from such a major injury like she had.  I'm really proud of Loretta, and I know CC is, too.
CC, Loretta and me, looking pretty decent for just having run 7 miles!

Afterward, we went to Blue Baker, where we had the BEST DAY EVER.  We recently made a location switch, and the morning crew at the Blue Baker where we've been going are so friendly and fun.  We've been sitting by the window where we can watch the bakers work; last week, we watched them scoop giant balls of cookie dough onto baking pans, and we were all drooling - there's something about raw cookie dough that is just so good! We were joking with the bakers that they needed to put up a sign showing what they were working on, and then next thing we knew, this was in the window:
Pizza Dough - aha!  Love how responsive they were to us! 

We chatted with the bakers for a minute, and watched as a huge rectangle of toffee blondie brownies were cut.  Holy moly, did they ever look good!  Then we saw the manager gather up the scraps, and for a moment it looked like he might be heading our way with them.  We were all "be cool, be cool, act natural" - we tried to downplay our excitement in case he didn't end up coming to our table, but sure enough, he appeared with a wrapper full of treats for us:
 
There was at least twice this much - we all grabbed a piece before I thought to take a picture.  These were amazing.  Toffee blondies, with a crumb topping?  Yes please!

The manager hung around chatting with us, and Cary mentioned how we were drooling over the cookie dough last week.  He said that it was in the mixer, and next thing we knew, this happened:
Ah yes!  A giant scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough!!  We enjoyed it immensely!

Before the extra treats appeared, I'd had a couple of bites of my cinnamon twist, but after enjoying the bonus goodies, I passed along the rest of the twist to Jeff.  I'm sure I still ate more in calories than I usually do, but hey - this felt like a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scenario, and who could turn that down??

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Back to the running.  We had 40 minutes on tap for Monday - Loretta came over and ran with Jeff and I.  The higher humidity was back so we were all sweating like fiends, but even so, we ran at a pretty good pace.  And yesterday, we hit the hills - CC, Loretta and I are still doing a couple of walking hill repeats, but we managed to also do four running repeats, so I'm good with that effort.  We did have an armadillo encounter in the beginning that stopped us in our tracks - by the way, did you know that clapping your hands and shouting at an armadillo will not make it move?  Eventually it decided to go back into the wild - sheesh!

17 comments:

  1. Great job on all your running especially in this yucky summer weather
    can't wait till it cools down some hopefully soon.

    Your treats look awesome too! Alas being gluten free I couldn't indulge
    bummer:( so I shall live vicariously through you!

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    1. I was thinking, as the treats were on our table, how glad I was to not have to eat gluten-free.

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  2. See, I'm the type who would have probably already finished my cinnamon twist and then been mad that I was too full to taste the other stuff... or eaten the other stuff anyway then been mad that I had a tummy ache lol! Nice to see the employees there appreciating your regular business. I swear I want to come run in TX heat and humidity with you just to go to Blue Baker.

    And yes, you can laugh when I say this but it took me a minute to comprehend "hitting the hills" because for some reason my mind thought you ran on a trail. But then you were talking repeats and and I was so confused. I think the armadillo got me.

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    1. Luckily I eat slow, LOL. And believe me, a trip to BB after a stupid hot run makes it allllllll better! ;)

      Our hill is a road, but there's thick trees and vegetation on both sides - hence the wildlife. We've seen deer, raccoons, oppssums (eek), skunks (double eek), and of course, armadillos. I guess because we're out there so early, they are all still up and wandering around.

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  3. That bakery is the best reward for doing that long run! What a great run it was! Good job!

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  4. Wow Shelley, that was a great run followed by a great trip to the bakery. They are really nice to let you taste those things, they sure know how to appreciate their customers.

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  5. I think I run better in organized races/runs because I focus on other participants (especially when there are lots of kids running) and I thank all of the volunteers.

    What a wonderful cafe/bakery! That kind of customer service is totally going to drive that place into a huge success!!!!

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    1. We were at the original BB; there are now three locations, with another one going up in the south part of town next year. They are doing really well, and deservedly so.

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  6. LOL @ your armadillo removal method!

    How fun that your concern for Loretta has eliminated your own worries about yourself!

    And the Blue Baker adventure. Yes, I'm blue with envy :)

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  7. Awesome run and what a fun little reward :)

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  8. Those toffee things sound right up my alley, as does the cookie dough, to tell the truth.
    I think treats taste *the* best after exercise when your body wants the carb rush.

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  9. Those sound yummy! And congrats to Loretta on the achievement!

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  10. Great job Loretta! And I love how concentrating on her let you mind not focus on how YOU had to go.

    OMG - cookie dough will always remind me of one of the first times I met my step-son Joe. He was 10, pretty pudgy. I asked him if he wanted to make cookies with me and said yes! He immediately went to the refrigerator while I got out the mixer, flour, chocolate chips, etc. He came back and said he couldn't find the cookie dough. DOH! He never knew you could make them from scratch because his mom and Tony always bought two tubes of cookie dough from the refrigerator section - one for him to eat raw while the others were baked!

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  11. That place looks amazing, and I love how responsive they were to you! That's GREAT customer service!

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