Sunrise Run Race Report, I2P Pizza Party, New Recipes

Alright, before I get into it - just a quick BT50k training update. One word. TAPER. Not too much to talk about here! Saturday is the big day, and I'm pretty excited! I'm running BT50k basically to have a good time, not to race - as NC 24 training will be on as soon as BT is over! Tons of awesome people have signed up to run the 50k, so it should be good times! I can't wait to see everyone!

Impossible 2 Possible Pizza Party and Fun Run!

This event is geared toward children, and everyone is welcome! Please come to our home on August 7th. We will have speakers here that will be talking about everything from ultra running to ultra mountain biking to ultra giving. We will have pizza and s'mores. Weather permitting there will be a bonfire, along with music and an AWESOME 1 mile fun run for the kids. The run will be through the woods - so bring extra clothes. The woods can get pretty muddy after a rain, so hopefully it will rain LOTS that week! Adults are welcome to stay with their kids and run the fun run as well. All I ask is that everyone bring a dish to share! We'll have tons of fun while learning about the non-profit organization Impossible2Possible! Please let me know by August 1st if you are coming, and how many people who are coming with you. Hope to see you then! View the invite at:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=727743691&v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=134414096586793&index=1

Sunrise Run Race Report
Well my goal for the run was to beat my hubby, and I did not. He blew me away! He's getting faster every day! I ran with both my husband and super fast Geoff Weber for awhile, then it was kind of like: "See ya!" My time for this race was almost 1 minute slower than last year :-( I came in first for my age group, 4th woman overall. I'm a bit bummed but still had fun. I haven't got my road legs back 100% yet, but it's coming! Just one more trail race and then it's mainly road training for NC24. The race today was my last lower mileage race until after the Northcoast 24 hour race, as it is just too much trouble to fit in training days and rest days for these races. It was almost miserable this past week trying to pack all the miles in during the week so I could have a couple rest days. There was definitely some overtraining going on as I didn't take a rest day after my 25 miler on Sunday. Booooo! No more of that business! I have my goal and I am completely focused on that and that alone. I will be at Johnnycake on Sunday to cheer on my NERC peeps though! My husband and son are both running it, so I'll see everyone there and be cheering for all of you!

It was great seeing everyone today at the run, and was great meeting new people as well. The NERC seems to be growing, and that's great! There are tons of great people in the club, and it's so much fun standing around talking with everyone before and after the race. The Painesville race is a very low key race, but seeing everyone made it worth it. There were some aggravations today - as the city did not have any t.p. in the port a potty. (Officials were told early on - but that was pretty much ignored.) One port a potty, no t.p. SWELL. No mile markers, no people calling out times during the race. Ah well. Like I said before, at least a lot of NERC people were there and that made up for everything! After I finished I walked the course in reverse until I saw superwoman Jean Toth - an awesome lady! In her 70's and still running marathons - she did great today! 55 mins finishing time, and smiling! When I saw her I turned around and ran with her until she got to the finish line. She's an amazing lady and a great person to talk to. I enjoy hearing all her running stories so much! :D Jean's a superstar!!!!!!!!!!

Recipes

So thanks to the heat my garden is exploding! I had to do something with all my zucchini. These things were ENORMOUS! I found some great recipes online, switched a few things around to make the food healthier, baked everything and separated it all into single size servings and froze it all. Three recipes I tried were zucchini bread, zucchini cookies, and zucchini cake. The bread will make for a good healthy breakfast meal, and the cookies and cake will make for a nice small snack when we are crazing something sweet. Here are the recipes - ENJOY!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup plus tbsp Splenda sugar blend
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
2 tbsp Splenda brown sugar blend
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
1 cup vanilla non-fat yogurt
2 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 bag dried cranberries
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, sugar, and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

Spread zucchini onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; cover with additional paper towels. Press down firmly to remove excess liquid.

Combine yogurt, egg, oil, and vanilla in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in zucchini.

Add zucchini mixture, pecans, and cranberries to flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Zucchini Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup SmartBalance light butter
3/4 cup Splenda sugar blend
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add to zucchini mixture. Stir in nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.


Zucchini Cake

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8” cake pan with cooking spray. In medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs and stir in oil. Beat dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with yogurt. Stir in vanilla and zucchini. Pour batter in baking pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.