Weekend Recap - Rodents of Unusual Size

Yep - this is my view.  All day.  Monday morning is here again, and it's isn't pretty.  Actually, it IS pretty cute... as kitty goes from sleeping on my feet, to batting at my knees, to pacing back and forth in front of my work screen.  I'm lucky to be working from home today (we have a car in the shop).  After another banner weekend and very little sleep I'm not much fit for human company.  At least, of the professional kind...

It was a big weekend in the Cupcake Tri household.  On Saturday, I woke early and biked up to Gypsy's house.  It is a good thing that I love Gypsy as my very best tri training buddy, because although she lives only just under 5 miles away, she is up one very big hill and down one equally big hill to get to her house.  Living at the bottom of said hill, there is literally no way to leave her house that doesn't involve your quads burning.  So there's that. 

We tried a new adventure - packing up our swim gear in backpacks and biking to a new swimming spot.  I opted for the lighter approach with no wetsuit, since swimming has been feeling a bit "off" for me lately.  I've not had a pool session in several months, and the "cheating" aspect of the wetsuit buoyancy has somewhat impaired my swimming ability (or lack thereof).  Gypsy, however, in terror of the possibility of anything "critter" touching her biked with a full poofy school backpack with wetsuit in tow.

 

Around the 15 mile mark (for me), we reached out new watering hole.  I locked our bikes onto a tree and we shimmied into our swim stuff.  Really, I was wearing a tri suit, so I jumped in the water escaping the hordes of bloodthirsty mosquitos while Gypsy pulled her wetsuit.

Our new (to us) pond was lovely.  Clear and picturesque, with several enticing islands in the middle... if we could only swim that far.  That proved to be my downfall, as I was correct.  Without a wetsuit, I don't swim so good.  Gypsy is naturally a much stronger swimmer, being a competitive swimmer in her youth.  She is great about pacing me.  She tried to show me some recovery strokes (I don't really know how to do breast stroke or anything else).  I gamely did my best but my bum and legs were sinking and I was sucking wind.  Around the time I decided to kick it in and turn around, Gypsy spied a beaver lodge a good 1/2 mile away.

"Is that a beaver lodge??"  Me:  "Yeah...."  Gypsy: "Do they bite???"  Me: "Yes, their favorite food is human flesh...."  Her: "Oh my god I'm leaving!  They can get you because I'm so much faster!"  Gypsy sprints to the swim out, leaving me in the middle of the lake. 

But only for a little bit.  She stopped and waited for me, and I learned that once again, my sarcasm isn't always totally appreciated.  Funny about training with someone - after a while you know eachother so well there's not much territory that doesn't get hauled over - including teasing.  Gypsy is usually painfully tactful about her stronger swimming and running abilities, so her blatant abandonment of me to flesh eating aquatic rodents was that much more humorous....  I decided to NOT share with her that we'd seen a 4 foot beaver crossing the road on our way to the local hiking mountain just last week....

Once safely on land and neither drowned or devoured, the plan was to bike back home.  We ended up taking a wrong turn (my fault), so rounded out the bike ride at about 25 miles total.  It was Gypsy's little's birthday party in the afternoon, so we both switched back to Mommy mode to get all small things ready....

Sunday morning I had to myself.  Rather, I had an hour to myself, and I decided to get a benchmark run in.  It's been a few weeks since my cortisone shot.  I've been running mostly intervals of jogging and walking, but have recently started spacing them out a bit more, and I wanted to see what I was capable of.  My town doesn't really "do" flat, as you'd like for a perfect time trial, so I went to the rail trail - the closest thing we have to a flat space.  It's actually a gentle grade - down and up.  I had meant to do about 2 miles downhill, 2 uphill (back) and then 2 miles down again (turning around), but I got distracted by an extension of the trail. I ended up running 3 miles down at a paces near the 9:30s, and back up at paces above 10.  Alas, I finished the 6.2 in 1:03:42.  Not the sub-hour I was hoping for.  But I did treat myself to an account at Audible.com and started listening to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I am a huge bookworm, and I've been waiting for this title to come in to the library for literally months.  No more - now I get to listen while I run!  Or drive, or whatever.

 

On the non-training fornt, I've had some small successes as well.  I was all worked up by my post about strawberry cupcakes last week, but rather than making cupcakes (not healthy), at my friend Hummingbird's suggestion I spun the craving into some whole wheat almond strawberry muffins.  My kitchen helpers contributed to their creation, and they fed the family all weekend.  I used this recipe, substituting Greek yogurt for the milk (more protein) and frozen strawberries for the fresh.  Next time I make them I'll cut the sugar even more as they were a bit sweet.

 

Little Yoda helps out

Beans 'n' greens, plus baby carrots from our garden

 

I also made dinner both nights, using some vegetable from our garden (the first of the carrots), some peas.... overnight Little Yoda's cherry tomato plants have gone from tiny to Godzilla sized proportions.  I need a good solid afternoon just to try to reign them in somehow, and separate the cucumbers out of them as well.  Which will likely not happen..... anyway cooking and actually putting into place a meal plan for the coming week always feels like a victory.

 

In the afternoon yesterday we met Legos and her gang at a local state park for swimming and kayaking.  We had hoped to get in an open water swim practice, as Legos is doing her first sprint triathlon, the IronGirl, this coming weekend, but it was too windy and wavy and the part of the park that it was allowed in was closed.  So we did regular swimming with the kids and kayaked around.  My little guy learned to paddle and is actually pretty good for a 5 year old.  I think I see kid kayaks joining our fleet in the very near future....

 

Little Dude paddles the Jedi into the sand

Practicing setting up our tents in the side yard

 

Next week, if I can survive the massive piles of work between me and then (oh and that little sprint tri I have going....) the family is travelling to Lake Placid for a few days.  My coach is racing IMLP and I decided to take the opportunity to gather together a bunch of our friends and call it a high school reunion.  There's the promise of lots of hiking, rafting(?) and other outdoor adventures with the littles, so camping and hiking training continues on! 

 

I truly feel like I could use one weekend for the kids and their stuff, one weekend for my big training workouts, one weekend to catch up on house stuff (like the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes), and one weekend to catch up on work.  Maybe even a day to relax....

 

But none of that is occurring, so.... how was your weekend?  Any tomato tips?  Favorite recipes?  Because I'm gonna need them!

Strawberry Firecrackers - Kid Tri Recap & Cupcake Recipe

The Sunday of the holiday weekend was a busy one!  My day started bright and early with open water swim practice with several training buddies.  Getting self out of bed early is never a strong suit of mine, but beautiful summer mornings (and good friends) always make it worth it.  The peave of the water didn't last long though, because the next stop for me and Gypsy was the Quaboag Plantation Triathlon!  We didn't race the adult portion this year, both being tired from the NE Trifest a week prior, BUT our kiddos were still all for crushing the kids race!

 

With my little athletes.  Yes, I wore last week's race
 shirt in case anyone wondered why I wasn't racing myself!

So... out of the water, back in the car and grab the families to head to the race start.  Mercifully, the kids race didn't start until 11, so getting there at 10:30 was plenty of time.  The kids got their race tats (which was adorable, since there were no assigned numbers.  The volunteers just asked the kids each what their favorite number were!).  Set up transition (my and Gypsy's kids wanted to be together), took a billion photos then the kids wanted to play at the beach.

 

 

Difference between adult and kid tris - adults "warm up" in the water.  Kids splash around at the beach and refuse to come out, even though their race is starting soon.  lol....

 

I love this photo of Gypsy, who ran with her 4 year old the whole
time.  Go mommy go!!

Transition set!!!

For this race, the "swim" is mostly a run through the water.  The kids were divided into age groups, with my kids in the 4-6 AG going last.  My little girl was the first our of the water for her group!

I had volunteered, so I took up a position with a few other adults at T1.  The bike ended with a downhill and turn into the actual transition area, so after a few kids wiping out last year, the organizers decided to let the kids just ditch their bikes at the bottom of the hill and run from there.  What that meant is that there were several of us yelling for the kids to stop, helping them off their bikes, unclipping helmets, sending the kids running and then pulling the bikes into the grass and off the road in time to catch" the next kid.  A little tricky, but doable and way better than skinned knees!  I was happy to be one of the parents helping instead of standing in the middle of the road and/or run path getting in the way!



Jedi telling my son, coming on the bike, to "Go see Mommy!!!"

The run portion was 300 meters around a field.  Since the kids were mostly done coming in on their bikes, I sneaked over to cheer on my kids, who both ran and finished strong.

My little girl arguing with me on which way to go. 
Even during a race she argues!  She sure can run tho!

The kids were so proud of themselves - they really did amazing.  It was so much fun to see even super little kids (as in, three years old) finishing with their parents.  Gypsy's older racer even lost her shoe while running, but sprinted the finish anyway (shoe in hand) rather than let a boy behind her pass her.  True grit! 

This wasn't a USAT race - the kids could use training wheels, floaties, etc.  I definitely think that more "serious" races have their place, but as long as everyone is being safe more informal kid tris like this are a great way to get kids exposed and excited about the sport!

In red white and blue PJs for the fireworks!

The rest of the day passed in a blur - after the race we had less than an hour to get back into town for the parade.  My mom surprised us by joining us for the day (yay Gramma!) to take in the festivities.  The fireworks were excellent as usual, and we tucked in two incredibly tired and happy kids that night.

Since it's summer, since we went strawberry picking last week, and since it's been a while since I shared a recipe, I wanted to put up the recipe for our famous (while we were in business!) strawberry cupcake recipe.  Perfect for this time of year - enjoy!

Summer Strawberry Cupcakes

Add caption

 

• 3 cups AP flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sugar
• 1 1/2 stick butter at room temperate
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup fresh strawberry puree

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients. 
2. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until smooth
3. Beat in eggs (one at a time) and vanilla until incorporated
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl in 3 batches, alternating with the strawberry puree.

 

Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full and bake at 350 for approximately 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out clean.  This recipe is very consistent and rises well.

 

After completely cooling, top with strawberry buttercream (regular frosting with some strawberry puree added).  Also great with lemon buttercream.  You can further decorate with sliced strawberries (if eating right away, or with fondant or marzipan strawberries (as pictured).  Enjoy!

Merry Christmas - Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Merry Christmas everyone!  I have many ambitious post ideas floating around in my head, like a recap of 2013, a list of my favorite triathlon toys, but I am way too mellow after my 5:00 am boot camp strength class and run with Gypsy to do much more than sign on to wish everyone a very happy holiday.

I will get to all those longer posts, but for now let me share a new recipe we tried for our family holiday baskets: Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark from one of my favorite bakery blogs, Brown Eyed Baker.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

• 2 cups of good-quality caramels (we used Werther's soft caramels)
• a bag of pretzels
• sea salt
• 1 16 oz package of milk chocolate chips

Spread parchment paper over a baking sheet (make sure to use one with an edge - you do NOT want to scrape caramel off the bottom of your oven).  Unwrap all the caramels (little helpers are great for this).

Space out the caramels evenly on the parchment paper, and put in a 350 degree oven until they melt.  You can use a spatula (buttered) to spread a bit if needed.

Sprinkle sea salt over the melted caramel, followed by an even layer of crushed pretzel bits.

Top with the chocolate chips.  You can use any kind you want - we liked the slightly sweeter milk chocolate to offset the salty caramel.  Put back into the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.  

Once chocolate is melted, remove and spread (if desired).  You can press whole pretzels into the top for a decorative finish.

Use a large knife to cut the COOLED bark into squares.Enjoy right away, or wrap up in cellophane for gifts!

________________________________________

Lest you all get the wrong idea, it hasn't been all bark-making around here.  Though the number of Christmas cookies I've consumed this week is truly shocking.  For real.  I must stop.  And I will riiiiiight after Christmas.

My workouts of late:

Wednesday: 35 minute bike trainer

Thursday: 2.5 mile run, FIT strength class

Friday: 1000 yard swim, 2.76 mile fast finish run

Saturday: Total Immersion class, 5 mile long run

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 35 minute hill run in the pouring icy rain outside my office

This morning: FIT class and a 3.55 mile run in Gypsy's oh-so-hilly neighborhood.  Best way to start the holiday!!!

Enjoy this time with you loved ones, be safe, do what brings joy to your hearts, and don't eat too many cookies everyone!!  

Merry Christmas from my Family to Yours!!!

Recovery and Recipe: Jingle Jumbles

Remember a couple of days ago when I said that, despite my entire family being struck down by the stomach flu, I was holding on?  Famous.  Last.  Words.

I'll skip by the part of yesterday that involved a very quick exit from my office, a tense stop at Target for saltines and fruit snacks for my little guy who was also sick (now that is true parental devotion - being sick in a public bathroom rather than disappoint a sick child), and what had to be the longest commute home ever, followed by the entire rest of the day too weak to move.

Kitty was deliriously happy
with the electric blanket

This morning I had already taken a vacation day.  The original plan was to hit the gym, then take the kiddos to a nearby botanical garden for their holiday lights display, and catch up on some of the zillion holiday-related projects I am trying to accomplish in the next 19 days.  But who's counting.  That didn't happen.  Instead I am resting, trying to be somewhat productive (I don't do "still" well), and generally alternating between climbing walls and collapsing in a heap on the couch.

Birdseed ornaments.  My son has a new "photo face" -
I hope it passes quickly

We did manage to make some birdseed ornaments to hang outside for our feathered friends, to roast the extra turkey breast we bought post-Thanksgiving sale, and to make some Christmas cookies.  The latter 2 were at my insistence.  As seems to happen every week by Friday, the only thing in our refrigerator is frosting and eggs.  Buttercream omelets just don't cut it, especially with a family recovering from the stomach flu.

The cookies I made are one of my favorite holiday cookies, from the The Cookie Bible, by Publications International, Ltd.  It's one of those cookbooks produced by big manufacturers like Kraft and Nestle, which tell you that you MUST use only their brands in all the recipes.  But nonetheless, it is our cookie bible.  This recipe has all the great flavor of gingerbread (my favorite) without all that fussing around with rolling, cutting, and decorating into an army of tiny men.

Jingle Jumbles - Easy Gingerbread Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/.2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries (optional)
• granulated sugar

Cream butter and brown sugar together.  Add molasses and egg and beat until smooth.  Sift all other dry ingredients together (except raisins), and add slowly to the wet ingredients.  Beat on medium speed until everything is mixed.  Add raisins, if using.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.  Shape chilled dough into golf-ball sized balls and roll in granulated sugar (this is a great job for little kids).  Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are brown but middles are still soft.  I recommend with eggnog and/or coffee.

_______________________________________________________

So tomorrow is the first day of my Total Immersion swim class at the Y.  At 8:00 am.  I'm not sure why that feels early for a Saturday, when I get up at 5 on weekdays, but.... anyway.  I have zero desire to work out.  I actually came close to just closing down this blog altogether and saying forget it.  No more triathlete.  No more baking.  No more... no more.  Did I mention I don't handle sick very well?  It just seems like after my 5 weeks in crutches, immediately followed by a 3 week cold that I still have, and now this tummy bug on top of it that the world is conspiring to keep me from my goals.  Crawling back under the electric blanket with the cat seems like a viable option.

But if I choose to do so, at least I have cookies to munch while I'm under there......

Best Pecan Pie Ever

I've gotten a bit behind in this blog.  It's been that crazy combination of super busy leading to total sluggishness in the evening.  You know, where all you want to do is watch reruns of How I Met Your Mother and drink tea under a blanket.  I just finished up a busy season at work, paired with some organizational changes that felt like speedbumps.  Plus we've had family stuff on our minds.  We are redoing the kids' playroom from "Toddler" to "Little Kid".  Forget Swim Bike Run - yesterday was Paint Build Sew.  More of that today.  But with their toys and art supplies accessible, a great big new craft table, and reading tent I think it's a win.

Anyhoo, as penance I offer up this recipe - the best pie I have ever, EVER had.  We are practicing for Thanksgiving you see, so after my son made us pumpkin pie, my daughter stepped up to the plate for pecan.  Yes, I did mention it in my last blog post, but man that pie was so good and I've been thinking about it ever since, so it should be shared.

 Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie

Start with a pie crust - you can make your own or use commercial.  Then follow the directions on the Karo syrup bottle:

• 1 cup Karo® Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans
• 1 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla using a spoon. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips (if using). Pour filling into pie crust.
3. Bake on center rack of oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Cool for 2 hours on wire rack before serving.

I love chocolate, so the addition of the chocolate chips was my idea.  It's important to use the mini chips as opposed to regular sized - I have used those before and they don't melt into the rest of the filling - the chocolate sinks and becomes a hard lumpy layer right on top of the crust.

While the pie is cooling, make the caramel sauce.  Caramel is easy - trust me.  We make it all the time for our cupcake business.  All you need is sugar, butter, cream, and a block of uninterrupted time (I know - the last one is the hardest.  But I urge you to pop in a cartoon for this, because I speak from experience that caramel will turn from clear to black in the time it takes to run downstairs to help someone with the bathroom).  We use the caramel recipe from TheKitchn (would recommend halving this recipe for the pie, unless you like extras:

Caramel Sauce

makes approximately 3 cups
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cream

Warm the cream in a small saucepan over low to medium heat. Don't let it boil; just keep it warm.

Stir the sugar and water together in a large, heavy, high-sided pan over high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and allow it to boil until it reaches a deep amber color. This will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on your pan and your stove. You will see pale yellow streaks, then darker ones appear in the center of the bubbling sugar. When you see these, swirl the pan carefully by the handles and be attentive. At the very first sign of smoke from your caramel, turn off the heat. By now it should be very dark amber. (You are looking for a dark caramel here, because you will be adding cream, so don't flinch and take it off the heat when it's still just pale gold!)

Immediately pour in the cream. Use a long-handled whisk to whisk it vigorously. Be very careful — the caramel is going to steam and bubble up violently! Add the butter and salt and whisk smooth. Return to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly reduced.

Let cool then pour into a jar and refrigerate. This will keep in the fridge for at least two weeks.

Pour the finished sauce over the cooled pie and let cool as well.  Heaven.....

_____________________________________________

When not wolfing down 500 calorie slices of pie, I have been picking away at getting back to my triathlon training.  My podiatrist made me some nifty orthotics out of PowerStep insoles to wear with my running shoes, and they seem to help.  I took a few days in between Days 3 and 4 of Cast25K due to some impressive soreness, but I did squeeze in a quick run after work on Friday.

Llamas on the run.....

I'm up to the point in the program where you have to run intervals for a minute.  A minute seems to have become really long to run!  I feel like it's actually harder, because every runner I know, even die-hard marathoners, admit that the first few minutes of every run are the worst.  You never get to get over "the hump" and into "the zone".  Or I'm just a wuss.  Either way....

We've also had our first snow here, which is discouraging for outdoor activities.  But true to New England form, a few days after this picture was taken we had temps in the 60s.  Go figure.  The dark mornings and chill in the air definitely make it harder to get up and out the door to the gym at dark o'clock.  In fact, that has happened only once.  But again, I'm working on it.....

Brrrrr.... no way I'd getting out of bed

This morning Gypsy came and got me for my first bike ride since The Injury.  It's a cold, wet morning, and I was irrationally nervous to get back out on my wheels.  Much better to go with my tri bestie than solo.  Bless her for dragging my sorry balking blerching butt out of the house.  We did a slow (very slow - sucking wind on the hills!) ten miles just in time for the skies to open up and the rain to start.  Chilly, bone-soaking cold rain.  I'm still cold.  Whine.  BUT my foot held up ok, and we're going to try again next weekend.  

I'm getting back to the playroom triathlon for the rest of the day, working on crocheting the kiddo's leg warmers for dance, and generally trying to stay dry and warm.  I think I'll spark up the fireplace.  Yes.  Good idea.

Apple Hand Pies

Some parents love to work from home.  While I am incredibly grateful to have the sort of job that allows me to work from home a couple of days a week, I find it difficult to do so with the kids.  When Mommy is out of sight, she is out of mind.  When I'm in the home office (also known as my bedroom), the kids are forever sneaking in to ask me to play with them, give me hugs, and complain about Daddy's parenting (the ask-the-other-parent loophole).  The kids have so far been very tolerant of Mommy's handicap - they have been bringing me my crutches, fetching me this and that when I can't reach it, and giving me extra hugs.  But their comments of "I hope your foot feels better soon" are starting to shade away from sympathetic and into impatient.  Add the indignity of being present in the house full-time but not paying attention to them, and I'm feeling the full force of parental guilt.

Stop working and play with me!!

That and I have the munchies.  What couch-entrapped person wouldn't at the peak of fall?  Pumpkins, apples - I love it all.  Jedi does not bake when not forced to for the business (and who can blame him?), so I'm on my own there.  This evening I decided to combine my two problems into a single solution:

Apple Hand Pies

These are great projects for little hands, and taste (if not look) just like Mom's apple pie.  Of which my mother's is the best on the planet, just so we are clear.  For this project you will need: 

• One pie crust recipe.  I use Simply Recipe's - it works great.  Just make sure you do actually freeze the butter.  Makes all the difference.  You could use pre-made pie crust but it'd be less fun.
• 7-8 medium baking apples, preferably freshly picked by cute children then peeled and sliced
• 3-4 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• At least one enthusiastic helper, with a workspace and rolling pin for each and extra flour for dusting.

First step is to combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a large Ziplock bag.  MAKE SURE THE BAG IS SEALED  (I cannot stress this enough) and then give to your helper to shake until the apples are coated.

Shaking so hard she's blurry

Shake it shake it!!!!

Next, roll out the pie crust, 1/4 at a time, into large rounds.  As much as possible with kids, try not to overwork the dough.  Place a heaping pile of the coated apples on one side of the rounds, and then fold over turnover style.

Rolling out the dough

Press down the edges of each turnover to seal, and if you trust them to not harm themselves or others doing so, let your child pole holes with a fork in each pie.  Reseal the edges after your child has poked too hard and sprayed out the apple filling again.  It's worth the extra step - kids love stabbing stuff!

Making steam holes

Place on a cookie sheet and into an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the pie crust is lightly browned.  Let cool completely and serve.  We did four large hand pies and each shared one - you could make smaller as well.

I feel better already.....

Product Review and Recipe - PearSports Mobile and Pear Crisp

Disclosure - I have absolutely zero affiliation with PearSports.  I did not get any swag, money, props, bribes or cool stuff of any kind for writing this review.  In fact, I'm quite sure PearSports is blissfully unaware of my existence and will continue to be so for quite some time, if not forever.  All of these opinions are 100% my own.

I'm not a bad runner.  But I am, let's say, a confused one.  I'm confused about correct form.  I'm confused about how to get better without injuring myself.  In the last six months I've needed PT for both knees, both hips, I've hurt my ankle, my back, and most recently sparked up some PF issues.  Grace, thy name is not Miranda.  I'm also quite honestly often confused as to how people who love running.... love running.  I've spent most of my life hating running.  Previous to six months ago, there were two things that would motivate me to run:

BEER

Being chased by a T-Rex

And that was it.  I mean, what the heck - people do this voluntarily??  Insane.  I'm also usually running alone because of my crazy work/schedule.  So when SwimBikeMom posted her review of PearSports Training Intelligence system, I thought hey - something that, for the low price of sub $100, will whisper sweet nothings in my ear telling me how I'm supposed to be training, encouraging me, and otherwise keeping me company on my long fall and winter of running, I got one pretty darn quick.

I love this system.  It's a heart rate monitor, special fancy earphones, and IPhone app.  My IPhone is pretty much surgically implanted, so one more gizmo to use with it was an added benefit.  The heart rate monitor is surprisingly comfy - I actually often forget I'm wearing it after a workout until I shower (which realistically isn't always immediately).  The headphones come with three different sizes of keep-it-in special comfy earpads.  I was actually so distraught at losing one of my size small earpads on a run that I went back to find it the next day in the rain.  The headphones also have a volume switch and a little button that clips to your shirt, and will tell you relevant stats (pace, mileage, heartrate) when you press it.

But the best part of all is the software itself.  First, it lets you listen to your own music while you work out - syncs right into your ITunes.  There are multiple training plans you can download (I'm doing the 10K running plan), with structured workouts that you schedule on given days of the week.  A coach (a famous one, if you are aware of such things, which I am not) will coach you all the way through each workout - giving you tips on form, reminders of what zone you are (or are supposed to be) in, etc.  The dialogue is often, but not so often that it becomes obnoxious or interferes with your tunes.

The home screen

In addition to running plans, there are spinning programs, strength training workouts, and even a guided meditation that you can download and use a la carte.  Yesterday when I couldn't get to the gym because work kept my late in the home office waiting for a critical email, I jumped on the trainer instead and logged a 50 minute spin workout.  The intensity was perfect, the coaching good, and except for the coach calling me "a monkey's uncle" when I was in the wrong zone (British? Aussie?  Just not sure...) it was pretty good.  There is also a free-form workout option that tracks your HR, distance, etc. but doesn't hold you to any particular program.  I've used this for races, and for runs that are longer than what I should be doing per the 10K plan (bad bad athlete).

38%?  I told you I was non-compliant...

At the end of your session, you can see your stats, a graph of what your heart rate was compare to what zone it should have been, and a map (if you workout was non-stationary).

A few nice-to-haves would be if it automatically synced to other apps like MapMyRide (it synces to some, just not my favorites), and if it was a little more flexible it letting you schedule and reschedule your workouts.  Maybe part of coaching is learning to stick to the plan?  I wish the HRM was a little more sensitive too - when I put my phone in my saddlebag on a long ride, it lost signal a lot.  A handlebar mount for the phone would probably fix that (more toys for my toys!!!).  Ditto for Boot Camp.  But that's pretty standard for BlueTooth...

A couple of thoughts on heart rate training, specifically for running.  Mainly, it is confusing as all anything.  I've spent all of my time to date trying to go FASTER.  You can't do that with heart rate training.  The voice in my ear wants me to actually warm up and cool down in Zone 1.  Which is just about walking for me.  Today I had a 4 mile "long" run.  (See how I had to put "long" in quotes?  Clearly I still have attitude....)  The first and last half mile the system wanted me in Zone 1 (walking fast) and the middle part in zone 2 (running not at my fastest pace, or even my almost-fastest pace).  For part of the run I was above in Zone 3, and when the electro-coach rebuked me I thought "Ha! I am BEATING heart rate training!"  Oh wait a minute....

Posting my runs to Facebook (which this system also does, even allowing you to select which subset of friends you irritate by doing so) isn't as much fun as usual with these slower paces showing.  Not that I was impressing anyone before, mind you, but still.  My run this morning ended at my kids' soccer practice - if you were to  look closely at my HR graph you would see where I started running again lest anyone not watching their little darling on the field glance over and think I couldn't hack a 4 mile run.  Because I'm crazy like that.  Clearly there is some mental re-shuffling needed to adjust here.... I'm working on it....

_____________________________________________

On the subject of pears, let's flip over and discuss how much I LOVE fall recipes.  Butternut squash, pork roast, pumpkin pie, baked apples - you name it I love it.  This is by far the best time of year for food (good thing I'm still running, huh?).  My family has been doing more than our fair share of apple picking.

Up on Jedi's shoulders

Which leads to much cooking of apples.  Much like after peach picking, I am over-run with apples.  So I make apple butter, apple sauce, and my favorite - apple crisp.  I'm the only one in the house that likes it, but that's ok because I am more than happy to eat the ENTIRE pan by myself.  Judge all you want.  I'm a triathete.  So shush.  Ha!

She's got a little bit of Evil Queen from Snow White vibe going-
I think the pirate scarf helps....

My favorite crisp recipe is actually equally good with pears (Bosc are best) or apples, so I'll share it here:

Maple Oat Pear [or Apple] Crisp

• 4-5 large pears or apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup (real if you have it)
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ginger

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lay the sliced fruit in a 9x9 inch baking pan.  Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of melted butter and the syrup.

Add a little lemon juice to keep fruit from browning, if you like

In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.  Pat onto the sliced fruit to make a more or less smooth layer.

Oven ready

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the apples are just starting to be soft.  This is personal preference, but I feel like most apple crisps are too sweet, and too overdone.  To the point of applesauce under the crust.  This recipe is much more like sliced fruit under and oatmeal cookie.  In fact, that's what my kids call it - "apple oatmeal cookie thing".  Serve with ice cream, with whipped cream, for dessert, or even for breakfast.  After all, it does have fruit and oats....  I dare you!

__________________________________________

The rain is just starting to fall here, and will continue through tomorrow's 10K race that I'll be taking on with Gypsy.  We will be soaked.  I'm not sure I'm even going to bring my IPhone and Pear system, because I don't want them to get ruined.  So think warm, cozy, fall thoughts for me and enjoy!

Happy Fall :)

I Want S'More!!!

S'more cupcakes at our Farmer's Market

It is definitely fall in New England.  Chilly damp mornings give way to warmer days, and then the air is crisp again in the evening.  While many think of s'more as a summertime treat, to me this time of year is the best for campfires.  The hordes of mosquitoes that descend on us in our backyard have died down, it's just cool enough for the fire to warm you, and it gets dark early enough that you don't have to keep the kids up past their bedtime to enjoy a fire.

Which is exactly what we did the other night - two nights before the big race.  I'm going to tell you now one of the most important secrets you will ever learn in your life.  How to make a perfect s'more.

The ingredients

It all starts with the basics - marshmallows, graham crackers, and Nutella.  Wait, Nutella you say?  What about the Hersey bar??  YES.  If anyone has not yet tried this chocolate hazelnut spread (nut allergies beware), you must go directly to the grocery store and buy as much as you possibly can.  It is great on waffles, bread, fruit, and probably even on bugs, snails, iron filings, and all sort of other things as well.  It is also a great cupcake filling and the star ingredient in our Vanilla Nutella cupcakes.  Using Nutella instead of a Hershey Bar means that you get immediate and even distribution of the chocolate throughout your s'more, and you don't have the cracking problem that comes when you try to bite into what is essentially a graham cracker with gooey marshmallow and a still-rock-hard piece of chocolate.  It is genius.  My husband is the original architect of this masterpiece, and I think it's one of the best things I've gained from our marriage.  That and our marshmallow roasters:

Always keep an eye on your child labor when fire is involved

So stab those marshmallows and roast 'em, torch 'em - however you like them.  (I've learned that how one prefers their marshmallow is a very personal and often passionate subject, so I will not presume to dictate the best method.)  Then take your roasted marshmallow, sandwich between graham crackers smeared with Nutella and go for it!

Marshmallow cheeked within 5 seconds.  Amazing, this girl.

Translating this favorite treat into cupcake form is easy.  Bake your favorite chocolate cupcakes, and fill with marshmallow fluff.  I like to use an apple corer to pop out a little hole in each cupcake, then squirt in the very-sticky fluff from a ziplock baggie with the corner cut off.  Replace the cake "plug", and top with vanilla buttercream.  You can mix vanilla buttercream and more fluff together to make a more marshmallow-y frosting, if you like.  Then roll in crush graham crackers.  For our customers, we top our cupcakes with a large marshmallow cut in half with scissors that's been dipped halfway in dark chocolate.  Yum.

_____________________________________________________

So now it is two days after my big race.  Many people have been asking me how I'm feeling.  There's a lot of ways to answer that.  A little tired.  Not at all sore.  But mostly, I feel like I want S'MORE.  As I was turning out the light the night after the race, I told my husband "I feel like Christmas is over".  Except that, instead of just one month of commercialized, anxiety-ridden, joy filled insanity between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there were six months of it building up to my last race in the triathlon season.  I've poured my body, soul, marriage, and social life into training.  I've made new friends.  I've lost some friends.  I've been injured (many times).  In the end, the race went so well I couldn't have asked for anything better, and yet I'm left with the very strong feeling that a) I should have raced an Olympic distance instead of a sprint, and b) I'm not ready for it to end.

I spent most of yesterday in the grips of some serious depression, as well as Race Registration Compulsion Disorder.  It goes something like this: "I can find an Oly this year.  Sure all my weekends are booked for the next two months, so maybe October.  The air temp will be in the 40s, but maybe the water will still be in the 60s, and I have a wetsuit, so that's not that bad....  but wait I have a Sunday two weeks from now!  It's in New Hampshire.  That's a 3 hour drive.  But ok, I can take a hotel if I just do soccer practice with the kids, then deliver that cake, then drive until midnight.  The registration is $150, plus the hotel would be another $200.... so I'll need to book at least one more wedding cake in the next two months.  But all my weekends are booked.  Ok, so I'll just take some more vacation time......"  and so on.

After texting my very understanding sister-in-law who is also a triathlete and personal trainer, my coach, and various other people, I finally wrote to my Tribuddy with the problem.  She is a wonderful friend because she gives great, practical advice.  Like "sign up for a 70.3 even though you've never done an Oly".  Oh no wait - just kidding.  But she is very practical and frugal, and quickly convinced me that my crazy plan was not, in fact, in the same universe as a good idea.  Instead she suggested I focus on my running, which could use a lot of work, and would I like to do a 10K race with her that same Sunday I was targeting instead?  Much better.

Chilling in the grass

So now I'm working on a 10K training plan this fall.  Yes, I've already raced that distance, but I think actually following a training plan might help me build my endurance and speed without having to stop for injury every two weeks.  And it gives me some structure.  And hopefully, fingers crossed, lets me relax a bit and enjoy the fall and the "down time" from all-out triathlon training.