Wednesday, November 9, 2016

WWU - Running, And a Mystery is Solved!

Another long run scheduled, another long run cut short...boy howdy, I am killing it with my half marathon training this season!  Yes, that was sarcasm - but for the second week in a row, my long run was not-so-long.  We had 9 miles on the schedule, but after a long day with the baby shower, and eating food that we wouldn't have normally eaten before a long run, combined with meh weather, we all decided to only run 5 miles.

I'd be a little more worried about this if we were really close to January 15th, but we've got time to build up our endurance.  And I'm still running 2 - 3 times during the week, so there's that.  I know I need to prioritize my long distance runs a little more, and I will; apparently my motivation has not kicked in super strong just yet.  I'm hoping that cooler weather (it's bound to happen one of these days) will give me one of those magical runs where everything feels wonderful and I suddenly want to run for miles and miles and miles.  It might happen this Saturday - we're going for 8 miles, and fingers crossed, we'll see lower humidity and cooler temps and that magical run will materialize.

********************

Switching topics, have you ever wondered how bakeries manage to cut certain items into the same size?  I sure have, mostly because I can never manage to do it with my home-baked treats.  Well, when we sat down at our table on Sunday at Blue Baker, our baker showed us a wheeled contraption, and then brought out a huge pan of frosted brownies:
He scored the tops going both directions, and then used the flat blade in the lower right picture to push all the way through, following the score lines.  Same size, perfect rectangles, ready for sale.

You can see him removing the edges here:
This is where our bounty comes from...
Super fresh brownie edges - YUM!

It's not a bar, but Blue Baker is our version of Cheers, and it's really nice to be welcomed so warmly there.  In fact, I was refilling my coffee cup when one of the staff walked by and said "hey, where's your husband?" - they even notice when some of us are gone!  He was in California last weekend...he'll have to be sure and say hello to her this Saturday.  And hopefully I'll have run long enough to earn a few more of those brownie edges!

18 comments:

  1. You have time to build up your mileage and who knows - maybe you guys will run 9 instead of 8 this week. Actually, IMO, knowing when to hold 'em and knowing when to fold 'em during training is every bit as important as doing the miles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - I'm hoping that going with my instinct will pay off in January.

      Delete
  2. You've got plenty of time, so I wouldn't worry too much - hoping you get some much needed relief from the heat. When I left my house this morning it was 37 degrees! (but it will be mid-50s today so I have my walking shoes on!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! That is really cool with the brownies! Where do you store that thing? LOL

    Don't sweat the shortened run! You have plenty of time, you consistently train, and when it's nicer you WILL want to run more, and will feel better doing it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love a tour of their kitchen - we get to see a lot from the big window where we sit, but it would be neat to get an up close and personal look at all the tools of the trade.

      Delete
  4. Well, I tried to comment from my phone but Google interfered. Anyway, I just said, you probably know that I was more interested in the baking information than the race info :) I agree with the others, though, that you still have plenty of time to get some long distance runs in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, I knew you'd like the brownie-cutting info. Just good stuff to know, right? ;)

      Delete
  5. Struggling with half marathon training myself. Maybe I need more brownies.

    ReplyDelete
  6. If you are running 8 miles by Saturday, you have plenty of time to get to 13 before January. No worries, you'll manage.

    I love your Blue Baker bakery too and now going to clean my computer screen because I drewl over the brownies.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A post -run treat is always essential. If I ever get to TX, I'm going to Blue Baker!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I felt much like you during my last half marathon cycle! One of these days I'm not gonna train at all and just go out there and "wing it"..haha. Yea, probably not a good idea, right?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now moderated to prevent spammers from leaving, well, spam - but rest assured that as soon as I read a real comment, I will publish it. So please, comment away, even though the blog is officially closed. Thanks!