Complaining

Here it is. The complainy post.
Rock n Roll New Orleans is this week, and it's my last chance for a good marathon this year. I have Publix and Boston coming up, but I don't expect either to be much good for me - mostly because I am so bad at hills.
After the Louisiana Marathon in January, I didn't really have a goal for RnR NOLA, but I wanted to PR. I mean, I always want to PR. It doesn't always work out, but generally, that's the plan. The problem is, I have been sick all winter.
I am usually very healthy, so this long, drawn-out cold - it started Christmas Eve and has been off and on since then - is most unusual. I don't know what the cause is.

Is it because I work in a hospital? When I worked in hospital pharmacy before, I was sick a lot. That could be a problem again. I'm constantly exposed to resistant bacteria.
Is it the temperature changes? This winter has been the worst weather, with many abrupt temp fluctuations and lots of warm, wet days followed by cold.
Did I overtrain? Although I haven't been running very hard, maybe I didn't allow myself enough recovery time after races and sicknesses, and my immune system and body are just tired.

Whatever the reason, I am exhausted. I am sick of being sick, and I'm not in prime marathon shape. I missed quite a few days of running, and I didn't do any "key workouts" like marathon pace runs or speed work (we did some with the Varsity group for Monday night track, but I missed some and didn't put in real effort for others). I can tell by how much effort I feel when running that I'm not going to be great this weekend. Running just feels like too much effort: even easy paces. Tell-tale case in point: I felt like I was struggling at The Wall, and my pace was 7:10. I ran 8 miles farther at a 7:15 pace at the last marathon. That doesn't sound like improvement to me! 

Can I still run this Sunday? Of course. And I'll still give it my best. Maybe I can still PR, but I'm not getting my hopes up. The only bright side is that this isn't a race I poured a lot of training into: it was tacked on 6 weeks after another race. If I'd put in 16 weeks of diligent training I'd be a lot more upset!

If you've ever been sick for a race, how did handle it? What changes did you make to your race plan? I think I'm more concerned about fitness lost while sick than actually running sick.

What's your Body Age? Mental Age?

Why is it that I find a comic strip about two old people so apropos of my life?

This could definitely happen in my kitchen.

The sad truth is, hubby and I are getting older. I can tell. Besides our similarity to comic strip old people, we are starting to do things like go to bed early and read the newspaper.
According to a test on WikiHow, which is a reliable font of knowledge since anyone who can wield a keyboard can throw their two cents in, my body age is 20. This is very close to my actual age of 21.
But what about my mental age? I mean, I know I feel old, but do I act old? I decided to create my own mental age test.
Just take your age and add or subtract years based on your answers.

1. I clip coupons:
a. Never, mommy buys all my food for me (-4)
b. ?! You can't clip Groupons, you just print them out (-3)
c. If they are for items I buy (0)
d. Religiously (+2)
e. Every Sunday, and then I tuck them into one of those coupon sorters that are specially designed to slow down supermarket lines (+ one decade)

2. I typically drive ____ mph _____ the speed limit
a. 21, over (-as many years as required to make you 16)
b. 19, over ...duh, if you're going 20 over you can go to jail (-4)
c. 0-5, over (0)
d. 15, under (+8)
e. I don't care what the speed limit is. 35 is my max speed (+12)

3. The last time I ate at a buffet was:
a. Does the school cafeteria count? Then...today at lunch (-5)
b. Does the college cafeteria count? Then...today at lunch (-3)
c. That stupid sushi over-eating fest last year. Mistake. (0)
d. Last Friday over at Picadilly's. Mimi and I always meet there at 4:30 pm for girls' night. (+8)

4. My idea of a night on the town is:
a. Having my parents drive me to the dollar movies (-6)
b. Sorority party!! Complete with high pitched squealing at all hours of the night and sugary drinks in Solo cups!!!! (-4)
c. Booze and live music at a classy bar (0)
d. Wine and cheese in front of Frasier re-runs (+5)
e. Taking the senior transport bus to the casino (+10)

5. Whenever I see kids playing ball in the street, I:
a. Intercept the ball and run for a touch down! (-3)
b. Kind of wish I was playing (-2)
c. Drive around them (0)
d. Tell them to get out of the street, they might get run over, and if they don't I'll tell their mom (+2)
e. Beat them with my cane (+3)

6. My hips:
a. Don't lie (-1)
b. Reflect my love for cheese (0)
c. Are titanium (+1)

7. I take ____vitamins
a. Gummy (-3)
b. Zero - I am indestructible (-1)
c. A multi (0)
d. Seventeen different, including those special fish oil capsules that were buy one, get one free last week at Walgreens (+2)

8. My phone:
a. Is paid for by my daddy (-3)
b. Was the free one that came with the contract (-1)
c. Is touch-screen (0)
d. Plugs into the wall (+5)

So, how's you score? What's your body age? And what's your mental age?

PLEASE HOLD!

I'm talking to you, weather! Please hold for Sunday's RnR New Orleans marathon!

Weather like this in March is kind of rare: humidity only in the 60's and a beautiful, calm, sunny day with a high of 61!
This is ideal running weather, especially considering that we have hit the 80's just last week and that Thursday and Friday are supposed to be hot and stormy. I'm praying the weather holds this week: I already feel sick with this annoying sinus infection; humidity would just compound the misery.
If we have good weather, and if I turn the corner, maybe just maybe...I can go for another PR! Here's to hoping!

Foody Friday: FINALLY a tasty homemade king cake!

I have spent years trying my hand at king cakes, only to be continually disappointed in the results. Usually the cake part is too dry or too bread-like. Finally this year I made one that is really delicious! So here's the recipe, just in time for lent.
Ooops.
Sorry about that. I guess you can make it next year.

Ingredients:
For cake:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 2 Tbs bulk)
2/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/8 cup butter
1/8 cup sour cream

1 cup skim milk

2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
5  to 6 cups flour

For filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
zest of one lemon or orange
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1 or 2 Tbs milk or juice from orange or lemon used for zest

For frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 - 2 teaspoons water, milk, or juice from orange or lemon used for zest
If you like more frosting, double this recipe. 


For decorations:
Colored sugar or sprinkles
For baby:
One plastic baby

I decorated my cakes with mauve, green, and gold - the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Sort of. So sue me, it's hard to make purple using liquid food coloring. 

Directions:
Dissolve yeast, butter, and sugar in hot water. When foamed, add remaining ingredients except flour and mix well. Add flour in increments until dough forms. It should be thick, hard-to-stir dough but a little too moist and sticky to knead. Stir 100 times. Let rise in bowl (covered with damp towel, in a warm place) until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare filling: mix dry ingredients; add melted butter and mix. Should be crumbly. Add milk until it's thick but slightly spreadable.
Divide dough in half and flatten each half into a rectangle. Spread each piece of dough with filling, roll it up, then flatten it a little. Twist a few times and form into an oval, sealing ends.
Allow to rise for 45 minutes, then bake in 375 F oven for 35 minutes.
While still warm, drizzle with glaze and decorate if desired. Hide the baby. The person who gets the baby in their piece has to buy (or make!) the next king cake. Or they just choke to death.

Note: If using colored sugar, it will adhere better and the color will be richer if it becomes slightly damp. The best way to do this is decorate while still warm, then transfer to an airtight container like a cake carrier. The heat will create just enough steam and condensation to do the trick - you can, and should, uncover the cake after just a minute or two. In the pictures above I skipped this step, which is why the colors are a little on the pastel side. 

Make your own long run fuel

Fact: I am far too cheap to waste $3 worth of Gu on a long run.
Problem: I get hungry. Also I hit the wall all the time, like a dummy.
Solution: Make-your-own-fuel out of crazy cheap ingredients.

You can use either oatmeal or leftover white rice. I think rice is generally a better choice, because it is lower in fiber, but quick oats (rather than old fashioned) work, too.
If you are using oatmeal, cook some up and let it cool. I usually just add some water and microwave it. Try to make it kind of thick.

As it cools, stir in a little maple syrup or honey and some white sugar - more than usual; you want this super sweet to add calories. Yes, I said add calories, I'm going to diet hell.

I put real maple syrup in because I love syrup and I hate oatmeal and I'm trying to cover the taste.

Then scoop it into tiny snack baggies. I put too much in mine because I didn't want to waste baggies (CHEAP), but it would be better to put about half as much so you can eat it all in one sitting. Once you open the bag it gets pretty messy and it's hard to re-close.

To eat, just open a corner and squeeze - like a gel. Only messier.

If you'd rather use rice, it works better if you mash it up a little, and go easy on liquid sweeteners since rice isn't as absorbant. I use rice when I have some leftovers sitting in the fridge.

In the summer, I forego sugar altogether - I replace the calories by bringing Gatorade - and I use salt in the oats or rice instead. I sweat so much in the New Orleans humidity that the only way I can keep my blood pressure at an adequate level is by upping salt. I like the taste better, too - sweet can be tough to take during a hot run.
What's your go-to fuel for long runs? Races?
I actually brought oatmeal for two marathons, one of which was a fairly fast 3:36 (the other sucked, don't ask), but recently I've switched to just gels.

Happy Mardi Gras! (Late)

This pictures are from David's parade on Sunday. He rides in Thoth. We weren't actually in New Orleans doing Mardi Gras today because, eh, too many tourists.
That's why this is late...I didn't get around to posting until Wednesday!

Pic from here

DAvid's float's theme was Royal Street: the Krewe's theme this year was Streets of New Orleans

Dorky costume

And of course he threw me the good stuff. 

You know what is astonishing? A city as corrupt and disorganized as New Orleans can put on weeks of parades for many thousands of people with relatively no glitches. And if you are unfamiliar with Mardi Gras, this isn't just a few floats and some dance troops. This is 33 parades (just inside New Orleans proper, not even counting Metairie, the Westbank, and surrounding areas) with many floats, half the streets shut down, all the marching bands from all of our high schools, and thousands of "throws" being hurtled into crowds that include babies, teens, families, drunk people, and criminals. The entire series of events is accompanied by a city functioning as an open bar.

I don't know how we do it.

Back to the third generation!

Remember my dear sweet hubby replacing the screen on his old ipod so I could use it? Well, it's finally ready for use!
It turns out that once you open these suckers they don't really like to fit back together. So we did what anyone would do: smeared epoxy in the seams and clothes-pinned the pieces together until the glue set. I'm hoping this has created a water-resistant seal. It definitely isn't pretty.

If you look closely you can see an errant smear of epoxy.

I had to buy a new armband, since the third generation is square and my first generation was rectangular, and I got this Griffin model for under $4, shipping included. It was new in box WITH a pair of ear buds! Yay Ebay! Unfortunately, it's pink. I know I am a girl and therefore obligated by the contract I signed with our culture in utero to adore pink, but the truth is, there are very few shades of pink I like. Hot pink is distinctly not one of them. However, as you might have noticed, I care more about being cheap than looking good, so pink it is!

So...how much did this repair job cost?
1 replacement screen: $27
1 tool to open ipod, which we didn't use: $6 - but we returned this as we were able to use other tools to get the job done.
1 tube of epoxy: $5 - but we already owned this.
1 new armband: $3.65
13 man-hours of labor at my asking price, to pry apart the front and back pieces*: $702

So there you have it. A new ipod costs a $160. This one cost $743.65.

*I think Apple should make our troops' body armor.