This is the longest race report ever. Sort of like this race.

Number of miles: 13.2

Number of steps: 37,000 according to my Fitbit before it gave up and cried.

Number of peanut butter/jelly sandwiches: 3 total

Number of snakes I saw: 1

Number of bugs I ate: 4…One of those WITH the PB&J.

Number of times I cursed the ground Becky walks on: countless

Number of times since I finished that I said “I love Becky!!!”: countless

Number of times I’ve completed a TA: 3

Number of times I will return: Until they scrape my body off the earth

This my absolute favorite trail race of my very short 6 year running adventure. It’s in Summerville, GA which is a 3.5 hour drive from my front door to the incense filled doorway of the Coach Inn. If you like camping, go ahead and try to reserve some cabins now at the James A. “Sloppy” Floyd State Park. Otherwise, embrace the incense.

This year, things got a little interesting. In previous years, all the racers (I use that term lightly. I’m not racing anything but maybe a lizard or two) went around a lake, up Becky’s Bluff and then along the trail ridge for a few miles and then we all came back down to the finish line. Half crazies ran a few miles at the top, Full crazies ran a bunch more miles at the top and claimed they enjoyed it .

BUT, this year, due to F-PAW (Federal Panties in A Wad), we couldn’t run on federal land which included most of the top of the trail ridge. So Becky, in her mad genius skills, decided to try to re-route the whole darn shebang instead of cancelling. That’s how trail runners roll….we get knocked downhill and come up smiling. We also have a polite way of telling people who mess with our trails to kiss it. The new route included 2 loops: Blue and Red. Half crazies ran each loop once. Full Certifiables ran both loops TWICE and that included hauling their cookies up Becky’s Bluff TWICE. Yeah, I’m not one of those. A one-time visit with the Bluff is plenty for me.

So, I ran it. I walked it. I stumbled over the fire break which was described as “gently rolling terrain”. I got out my airplane arms and WHEEEEEEE!!! my way down and then grumbled and whined all the way up. Well, the airplane arms got to be too much of an effort after the first 2 hills of the fire break. Then I just grumbled a lot in both directions. And tripped. And had spastic fits complete with :girl-scream: when a kamikaze bug went in my ear. I bet the guy behind me got a chuckle out of that.

Then I finished the first loop and had to run RIGHT PAST MY CAR to get to loop 2. I could have reached out and touched it. It took a major gut check to keep going for another 6 miles. So, back around the lake. Asking the same question to the nice guy “Are you sure I go up?”. Talking to the same people at the campground “Yes, I’m only on my second loop” and meeting the peanut butter girls at the Marble Mine.

Then…..the Bluff. It’s every bit as bad as I remembered. No….it’s worse. You know that saying “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity”? Yep. It applies here. I imagine it’s like childbirth. If I really remembered how bad it is, I would never volunteer, much less PAY, to do it again.

I finally got to the top and there was Mullet Jesus. When you see him, you know you’re going to make it.

The final 3 miles were a cake walk. I was just so glad to get down off that bluff.

And now, the picture version: (captions on TOP) Remember, trail races are a completely different species than road races. If you want that uptight “oh NO! my tech shorty shorts and body hair are going to create too much wind resistance and slow me down by .000000000000002 seconds!!!” then look elsewhere. Most of us just want to NOT DIE  and it will be a good day. However, there ARE some rules to the trail race.

Everyone milling around, sharing stories, asking questions. Never let on how 1)scared 2)excited 3)confused or 4)clueless you are. Pretend you know everything and everything is awesome. Laugh a lot. No matter what.

A tree. In order to fit in with the trail runners, you must do some stretching using a tree. I don’t know why this is a rule, it just is. Extra points for a groin stretch.

Becky is a table girl. Right now, she’s telling us to use proper protocol for blowing snot rockets.

“Um…since we had to re-route everything, the half may not be EXACTLY right..and neither is the full. Just know that they are somewhere between 13 and 27 miles.”

Going down the path to the first lake and and Damn Dam.

Some new asphalt route. A rest before the technical stuff. But trail runners must NEVER admit that we like asphalt/rest/park benches/non-trail stuff.

Now for the trail again. Dirt. Rocks. Bugs. Stone. Real legit stuff.

We interrupt this report for the cute monkey appearance. Don’t spank it here.

Monkey #2

Here come the hills. The camera doesn’t capture the steepness. My butt, however, captured plenty with each step up.

This is a trail race porta-potty. I know the road runners are used to nice plastic deals with a hole, scented stuff, and toilet paper. These do not have holes, the only scent is armpit and poo, and grab some leaves for your business.

Just kidding. Don’t grab leaves. Poison whatever is probably all around that thing.

More hills. This is where I wondered why I’m doing this. And the only answer I had was “because I don’t know how to get to my car”.

Marble Mine and around that corner, the Peanut Butter girls. They know how I like my pb&J. Of course I felt 200% better and kicked myself for NOT doing the Full. (That feeling lasted about as long as a good long burp and then there was a hill)

Oh fun! Let’s try downhill. Now I know why I didn’t do the Full.

Seriously?

The fun never stops.

Becky’s Bluff. This crap hurts, especially after 9 miles of “fun”.  Ignore the sweat smudges on the camera.

I could kick myself for not getting the last few tenths of the bluff. I was literally stair stepping from tree to tree to keep from rolling backwards. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to go back next year to get those.

Reaching the top. If you see Jesus in a Mullet, you know you’re not dead…and you get to keep living in the nightmare of the last 3 miles.

The top of the ridge. That’s Alabama in the distance.

The last time around the lake.

The little bridge. Then I ran on a little bit of asphalt and across the long bridge to the finish. Not my fastest, but not my slowest. Right in the middle.

The long bridge.

And that’s it. A real gut-buster. I think I saw someone’s large intestine on the last mile of trail. I imagine a few of us are hobbling around a little today, but if we are real trail runners, we consider it a badge of honor. If we don’t hurt the next day, we didn’t play hard enough.

Does anything about that title sound healthy? Not really, but I promise that it is! In the past, I made a very rich flavorful alfredo sauce and loaded up the shrimp with wine, butter, and cheese. I made a few changes with this dish and added a lot more flavor with the Cajun spices., fresh vegetables, and herbs.  And we didn’t miss the butter.

• 1 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp.
• 1/2 cup of onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup of red and green peppers, chopped
• 1/4 cup of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed OR 1 cup of frozen whole kernel corn
• 1/2 lb linguini, cooked according to directions on the box
• 2/3 cup of Newman’s Own LIGHT Alfredo sauce
• 1  cup of white wine OR vegetable broth
• 1 Tablespoon Cajun seasoning
• chopped green onions for garnish

1. Saute’ onions, peppers, celery, garlic, and corn for 4-5 minutes until onions are transluscent. Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning.

2. Add shrimp and cook over medium high heat until they turn pink. Just as they start turning pink, add the wine and use a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan and mix the vegetables and shrimp. Cook an additional 2 minutes until all shrimp are fully pink. Immediately remove from heat.

3. In a 2 quart saucepan, cook the linguini and drain. Add the alfredo sauce and mix well.

4. Serve the shrimp over noodles and top with green onions. This will make 4 servings, heavy on the shrimp and vegetables.

I really can’t complain too much about the “off season” because we really didn’t break a streak. We didn’t have much winter and we fired up the grill in January wearing a long sleeve jacket. Usually, we reserve the grill for steak night. But this go around, I wanted a lot of grilled vegetables and burgers fit right along with it. I had some grilled vegetables from the hot bar at Whole Foods and something about the flame grill hickory/mesquite taste makes vegetables taste extraordinary.  I wanted a big plate of that.

The burger recipe:

• 2 lbs of ground sirloin. I used a cut with a little more fat so it would not dry out on the grill. Grilling 97% lean beef is very difficult because it dries out so quickly.
• 1 teaspoon of the following: minced garlic, salt, pepper, seasoned salt

1. Mix together and form into burgers. Grill 3 minutes per side. Top with chipotle lime sauce (recipe follows), one slice of grilled onion, and 1 ounce of cheddar. Mine is Mediterranean cheddar.

Chipotle Lime sauce

• 1/2 cup of bottled light ranch dressing
• 1/8 cup of light sour cream
• juice of one lime
• 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder

1. Mix well. Use as a mayo type of sauce.

I marinated the vegetables in the following recipe.

• 1/8 cup of low sodium soy sauce
• 1/8 cup of olive oil based dressing (I used Newman’s Own light Sun Dried Tomato Basil)
• 2 Tablespoons low sodium Dale’s marinade
• 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 peppers (one red, one green), 2 portabello mushroom caps sliced, asparagus, 2 medium squash sliced lengthwise.

1. Cut vegetables.

2. Mix the first 4 ingredients and pour over vegetables. Let marinate one hour minimum.

3. Grill in a single layer for 6 minutes/side. The mushrooms will probably only need 4 minutes a side. After they are done but with a slight bite left to them, remove from grill and cover with foil. Serve immediately. Leftovers are GREAT in salads or mixed with quinoa for a heartier punch of protein.

Now the only problem is deciding what to eat now and what to save for later.

I’ve never put greens in a quesadilla before. Then again, I’ve never participated in a Community Supported Agriculture program before where I eat what I’m given. The rainbow chard is something I have never had. I’ve been on a kale kick for the past couple of years and have always had turnip and collard greens. But this stuff was so pretty!

I also love sauteeing some vegetables and sticking them between a tortilla with some cheese to bind it all together.

Vegetable Roll Ups

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups of rainbow chard, stems and leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup red onions
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1/4 cup chopped red peppers
• 1 ear of corn, removed from cob OR 1 cup of whole kernel corn canned or frozen
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 can of black beans
• 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning
• 4 tortillas
• 1/2 cup of shredded reduced fat cheese

What you need to have ready: saute’ pan, sheet pan misted with oil

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, mushrooms, peppers, corn. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until onions are translucent. Raise heat to medium high for two minutes before next step. Keep stirring as the pan heats up more.

2. Sprinkle taco seasoning all over.

3. Add water and immediately add chard. Cover quickly and allow chard to steam 3-5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium. Stir to combine. It’s fine to wait until chard is steamed to mix up the taco seasoning. Putting it in under the chard lets the broth steam in the flavors of the seasoning but taking the time to mix it all up will release the steam and steam is GOOD!

4. Add beans and mix with vegetables. Turn off heat.

5. Heat oven with the BROIL setting on high.

6. Take 1/4 of the vegetable mixture. Place it in the middle of the tortilla. Take 1/8 of a cup of cheese and sprinkle over mixture. Roll up the tortilla and secure the edges similar to a burrito. Place on oiled pan. Repeat with other 3 tortillas.

7. Put pan under broiler for 2 minutes. WATCH CLOSELY because they will scorch. Take them out when they start turning brown. Cut and enjoy!

Dipping Sauce:

1. 1/8 cup of ranch dressing (bottled already), 1/4 cup of reduced fat sour cream, juice of one lime, 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder.

2. mix well

Look what was waiting for me!

This week we had:

• rainbow chard
• strawberries
• lettuce greens
• dill
• sweet onions
• and…..beets…..sigh

The beets are going to be put off until next week and maybe the onions. These are a different variety than Vidalia, so I’m thinking of making and herbed onion/fennel gratin.

The first thing I wanted to do was get into those strawberries and figure out the rainbow chard.

So how did the grocery shopping this week compare to last? With my farmer’s market finds and this bunch of veggies, I bought some additional produce staples (peppers, celery, the baby carrots/beans/peas for snacking, fruit, and green onions), a few canned goods, milk eggs and cheese, and shrimp and beef for grilling. I saved about 65$ this week just on produce. I looked at what I had and planned my meals around the produce. It wasn’t any harder, I just started with what I had instead of making a plan and buying everything. We ate 2 nights of meatleass meals and ate leftovers from grilling one night.

So what is up next week? Using the beets. I got some ideas from Mom so I’ll do some experimenting. Until then, all I can think about is more strawberries! They taste AMAZING. It really makes me want to try for the 3rd time to grow our own.

This post is a day late because I was waiting to see what will be in our first harvest basket from our CSA, Snow’s Bend farm tomorrow. I’m way too excited about this. After getting some good produce from the Farmer’s market Saturday, I was trying to use up that food and incorporate a few things that might need to be prepared and eaten quickly. Sure enough, we are getting some mixed salad greens so I want to use that up this week.

Monday: Sirloin burgers on the grill with squash/mushrooms/asparagus/peppers (to be used for another meal, too).

Tuesday: Roasted vegetables with quinoa, garden salad.

Wednesday: Leftover burgers with dill potato salad

Thursday: Rainbow chard, tomatoes, and onion frittata and sweet potatoes.

Friday: Something in Georgia! Twisted Ankle half marathon on Saturday

Saturday: Celebratory dinner (hopefully!) using up any leftovers AND strawberry cream cheese pie!

This is race week, so my goals are very flexible. I will do one heavy leg day at Crossfit and that will be my only goal with weights. If the other workouts are more cardio heavy, I will do them. If they are very heavy leg days, I’m passing.

Again, with a big race coming up, I don’t have a list of goals that are crucial right now other than one HUGE goal–

1. HYDRATE ALL WEEK.

And, I need to get my head together on some very negative self-talk that has been going on lately. I’ll be doing something this weekend that many road runners will never attempt. My legs, no matter how big they are, are going to carry me through my absolute favorite race. I’m making some very definitive decisions regarding my weight and health and being very proactive in getting healthy again. I need to accept that it won’t happen overnight just because I decided once and for all to do something. I am my own worst enemy and it’s not healthy or attractive. I would never say to another person what I tell myself about myself.

After the trip to the farmer’s market and Whole Paycheck, the only difficulty in planning dinner was deciding what to make first.

I had a lot of vegetables from the market.

And this from WF. That corn was going in the pot tonight!

I had some kale that needed to be used soon so I made sautéed kale with fresh tomatoes and smoked sausage.

Smoked Greens with Sausage and Tomatoes

• 2 lbs of trimmed and washed Kale
• 1/2 lb of smoked sausage
• 1 cup of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped red onions
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cup of broth
• juice of one lemon
• lemon zest

1. In a hot pan, cook the onions, garlic, tomatoes, and sausage.

2. Add the cup of water to hot pan and quickly add kale and COVER TIGHTLY. This quick steams the kale without having to boil it.

3. After 6-8 minutes, stir to combine. Top with lemon juice and zest.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not crazy about cold cream based salads. So when I made some a few weeks ago, I made it and put the bowl in the fridge so it would cool off and kept a bowl of warm pasta on the counter for me. I don’t need it real hot, I just like to eat it as soon as I add the hot pasta.

I’ve been craving artichokes lately so I made sure the other vegetables would work with those. Black olives, green beans, red beans, and the very last jar of roasted cherry tomatoes all work to balance the salty of the artichokes. I use Lindsay’s Naturals brand of olives because the brine water is not NEAR as salty as other cans.

Vegetable Pasta salad –6 WWP+/ serving. Makes 6 servings

What you need to have ready: big bowl for mixing, large stock pot for pasta

• 2.5 cups  of tri-color spiral pasta
• 1 large can of black olives, drained
• 1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 can of green beans, drained
• 1 can of red beans, rinsed and drained.
• 4-6 sliced grape or cherry tomatoes. I used frozen roasted tomatoes from last summer
• 1/4 cup  of Philadelphia Cooking Creme Pesto flavor
• 2 Tablespoons of vinegar oil based salad dressing (I used Newman’s Own light)
• 2 Tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan

1. Boil pasta according to directions.

2. Layer each can of vegetables in a large bowl

3. Add cooking creme and dressing

4. When pasta is finished cooking, drain but DO NOT RINSE. Pour over vegetables and let sit 5 minutes before tossing.

5. Toss and mix with creme and dressing. Sprinkle with parmesan. Serve immediately or place in refrigerator until serving time.

This year, I’m not waiting until JULY to go to my favorite market. Pepper Place is in Birmingham so I have to drive a little over an hour but I usually make a day of it and get my staples from Whole Foods as well. Today was a great day for the market. It was packed with people, kids, and a huge collection of fur babies, some bigger than I am. Everything was so fresh and pretty! By the time I got there around 10am, some stalls were almost sold out which makes me very happy. That means more people are buying local.

How it got the name “Pepper Place”. The market is in the open parking lot of this reformed bottling plant. The building now holds an art gallery, cafe, garden gallery.

Here is what I picked out:

• carrots
• baby potatoes
• sweet potatoes
• spring lettuce/microgreens
• cherry tomatoes
• baby squash
• fresh smoked sausage
• bundle of dill
• jar of jalepeno sweet onion salsa

I probably won’t get back before we go to Colorado. When we get back, peach and tomato season will be in full swing!

I really do not like chocolate and bananas together EXCEPT in my morning protein shake. I’ve had chocolate dipped bananas, banana chocolate chip pancakes, and other various ways to mix chocolate and bananas. I haven’t found any of these to work for me. I do, however, like a little chocolate chips in banana bread.

So when I found a box on my doorstep and saw the box of Banana Chocolate Chip bars from Kashi, I felt a little apprehensive. I have horrid memories of fake banana popsicles when I had my tonsils removed when I was 5 years old. Yes, I’m weird that way. I barely remember anything else except all they had were banana popsicles and they were NASTY. Ever since then, I have almost a twitchy reaction to imitation banana flavor. But, I had a feeling Kashi is a few steps above imitation chemical bananas.

I was right. These were soft chewy bars with some crunchy seven grains on top. The bar itself was full of dark chocolate and REAL banana flavor. They are not overly sweet and have a hint of molasses. It really reminded me of a dense banana bread with the dark chocolate for some sweetness. I loved the crunchy topping on top as well.

I’m hope to hear of more flavors of their new Soft n’ Chewy line of bars. I think they are off to a great start with these Banana Chocolate Chip.