I ran through Hell on Halloween

I ran a 5k through Hell dressed up as the Cat in the Hat. It was freezing out, and my time wasn't the greatest (29:18), but I had a lot of fun!

Flourless Chocolate Cake Experiment

9 eggs and 1 pound of sugar. What a cake!

Chocolate Cracked Earth (Flourless Chocolate Cake)

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Tyler's UltimateEpisode: Ultimate Sunday Dinner

Ingredients

• 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
• 1 stick unsalted butter*
• 9 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 cups heavy cream, cold
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1 inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color.

Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs - this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate - then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture.

Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.

While the cake is cooking, whip the cream until it becomes light and fluffy.

Serve at room temperature dusted with confectioners' sugar and topped with whipped cream.

*Cook's Note: Food Network Kitchens tested this recipe after this show was taped and determined that 1 stick butter is the correct amount.

from:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-cracked-earth-flourless-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

Thunderstorms

There was a pretty intense thunderstorm this morning. Probably made more intense by the fact that I was sleeping so the thunder sounded much louder than it actually was. Got up and started cutting up the veggies for my pot roast, and put the roast in the crock pot. Then I decided I should go for a run (I might have eaten peanut M&M's for breakfast). I ran 4 miles on the river trail today. It was still a little wet, but the weather was great. I ran 4 miles in 36:30, which is pretty good for me. It's a good thing I went running when I did because not even 20 minutes after I got back it started thunder storming again. I like thunderstorms!

The whole house smells like pot roast. I cannot wait to have some! Spartan football tonight...and it's on ABC so I can watch it!!! I am super excited!

The whole river trail

I finished the river trail today. I did the north end of it from around the Turner Dodge house, down to Kalamazoo and back. It was around 4 miles. I have ran the whole river trail (from MSU to Old Town) in segments-some of the segments multiple times. The whole thing is just over 6 miles, and I plan to run it all sometime very soon. It was a really nice day for a run

Grand Rapids Mud Run 5K

Mel, Erika, and I ran through mud and obstacles all morning. I had a lot of fun. Official times aren't up yet, but my watch said I did it in just under 43 minutes.

edit: My time was 42:10

Board of Water and Light 5K

I ran it in 28:10 and came in 3rd in my age group. It was on part of the river trail with some pretty big hills. It was pretty hot and humid, and I kinda felt nauseous when I got done. We all got medals, it was pretty sweet!!!

Soup Spoon Cafe

Mel and I went to the Soup Spoon Cafe this morning. It was pretty good.
I bought a 32" TV from Walmart and then I went over to my old house and visited with Becca and her mom. Got my security deposit back! It paid for most of my new TV. I got the tv all set up, still can't get channel 53, but oh well. I just went and ran a mile (8:52) just because I felt like I needed another reason to take a shower. Being all sweaty makes me want to take a shower.

Lathrop to Harrison

Ran along Kalamazoo from Lathrop to Harrison and back. 3.61 miles in 34:45. Now I am starving!

(you can tell I signed up for another race...I am running more often again...) I really need to get new shoes too. They don't last as long when you run.

River Trail part 2

I ran some more of the River Trail again tonight. I went for a run with Marie. I haven't ran in awhile, and it sure felt like that. ugh, I definitely need to start running more consistantly. We started out from her house and ran west down Shiawassee and got on the River Trail heading south. We ran south/east until Pennsylvania and north up Penn back to her house. 3.8 miles in 38:15.

It took me 6 minutes to ride my bike to her house. I definitely need to start biking to work! I just need to start getting up a little earlier.

Foupht Wedding

Kim and Chris are married! It was beautiful. I will post pictures once I can get them off my mom's camera.

Poison Ivy

Finally getting over my bout with poison ivy! It was all over my legs and spots on my arms. I went to Urgent Care and got a steroid shot and two prescriptions. I think it helped it clear up faster than last time I had it. Good thing!

Kim's bachelorette party is this weekend, and I am excited!

Softball tomorrow night!!!

River Trail

I ran part of the river trail today. I started from the house and ran east on Kalamazoo to the entrance of the river trail on Clippert by 127. Then I followed the river trail all the way past Potter Park and to Pennsylvania. Then I ran home through the neighborhoods to avoid traffic. 4.55 miles in 43:27.

Riverbank Run

I did it. I ran a 10K! It was fun!

Then I went to Central and watched Stephen graduate from College!

Racking up the miles

I registered for the Riverbank run 10k last week. Yesterday I ran 6.2 miles (10K) on the treadmill, and I was sore all day at work and softball practice. At least I know I can do it. I do not like the treadmill, but it was raining, or threatening to.

May 8, 2010 is the day.

Today

Today turned out to be a pretty good day, weather wise. I got off to a slow start running, but I went 4.4 miles in 40:50 so I made up some time. Ran 2 miles Saturday. I want to check a trail that goes off of the one I run on, maybe I will do that soon. It's supposed to be in the 70's this week, so that is amazing!!!

Can we stop and pet the horsies?

I went on a 5 mile run with Marie today around the MSU farmlands...We stopped to pet the ponies for a bit. It is hard to start running again after you stop. The weather was perfect though! Well, it was a bit chilly, but still good to run in.

Five Miles

I ran 5 miles yesterday. I hadn't planned on it really. I just kept running...and then kept running. When I got back and logged on www.mapmyrun.com, I calculated I ran 5.02 miles. It took me 48 minutes. Not too shabby. I know I could do it faster next time.

My first 5K

I did it! I ran my first official 5K. The Irish Jig in East Grand Rapids. Worst day all month weather wise... I thought it might turn out kinda warm since it was 60 degrees on Friday, but on Saturday when I woke up, there was almost an inch of snow on the ground and the snow showed no signs of letting up. It was coming down pretty good the whole race, and my fingers were frozen. My goal was 28:30, but I beat that by a minute. 27:32 was my official chip time! Most likely because I had motivation since I was running with Kim for most of the race. I was pretty proud of myself! ...and by late afternoon we had three inches of snow on the ground. Sunday it all melted...haha. of course.

Brownies

I have brownies in the oven. I am doing the applesauce instead of oil/butter experiment. I hope they turn out. I calculated there to be 1250 calories in the 9X9" pan. If I cut them in 12 pieces it's just over 100 calories each. Not too bad. I really shouldn't be worried about it though. I ran 2.7 miles today in 25:10. Outside! I have been running outside for a week now. Last Monday and Friday I ran 3.65 miles on the paths around East Lansing. I did it in 35:40 on Monday and 33:48 on Friday. Last Thursday I ran 1.25 miles in 11:06 (an hour after eating a half batch of cookies and cookie dough...because I felt guilty). I think my times are pretty good. I have my first official 5K on Saturday. The Irish Jig in EGR. It should be fun. I know I can run it, so I am not too worried.

2010

I don't usually do new years resolutions. Actually, I don't think I've ever had one. This year is no exception. Instead, I did a few minutes of thinking and here's a couple goals I came up with.

1. Run a 10k ( if not officially, then unofficially works too since I'm cheap and may not want to pay to run)
   
2. yeah, I guess that was it, sorry.

Heh, so much for that list...