monday rewind

Are you still recovering from last week's perpetual food coma? I know I'm still recovering. It's like the never ending story of leftovers. God help us all.

I do hope that your thanksgiving was full of family, food, and fun. 

My Thursday was full of running, family, food, and fun. Troy had it's annual turkey trot and Ryan and I did the 10K. And after eating everything we did, we definitely needed the extra calories. Although I'm pretty sure they were gone before dinner even started...macaroni and cheese is my downfall. 

One thing I noticed out on the course was that a lot of runners seemingly NEED to listen to music on their runs. While I admit I once needed it to get started running, I never listen to music on my runs anymore. It's just me, my shoes on pavement, and the ever present city hum. Can someone explain the music thing to me? Do you focus on the music? Do you zone out? How do you mull over your first world problems? Please tell me. Pretty please?

Anyway...on Smashrun, I'm getting pretty close to the last few badges I think I'll get this year. Since I kinda screwed myself over with a short thirteen mile week two weeks ago, I'm forfeiting some of the bigger ones I was working on. But there's always 2017!

How are you working off the holiday calories? Do you have a plan or are you being proactive and avoiding them to begin with? If it's the latter, please tell me how you have so much self control. The cookies do me in.

And mac 'n cheese. Always.

Until the next food coma, peace out, lifers.

- Allison Rae

fitness recap

Remember last week when I said I wanted my legs to get their act together so I could get in some serious runs? Well it turns out, my legs weren't the problem. Migraines and other drivers were.

A migraine on Wednesday threw me for a loop that sent me home and on the couch to sleep it off. Although I did manage to head outside and get a super slow run in to keep my streak alive.

Then Sunday happened. 

Sunday was just brutal. It snowed and the roads were complete slush. It would've made my super long run I had planned miserable so I resigned myself to just get an easy 5K in at the gym. Then the accident happened.

On my way to the gym, another driver missed a stop sign and ran into the backside of my car. Thankfully no one was hurt and the other driver accepted full responsibility (silver linings?). Now, it's dealing with the insurance of it all. I have my fingers crossed it's not a total loss.

So despite not wanting to run on slushy roads I did one mile on 'em anyway.

I then spent, literally, the rest of the day baking. I made...

   ▪ dinner rolls, which I can never quite get right,
   ▪ pepper and nutmeg popovers, that desperately needed some gravy,

   ▪ herbed flat bread, that made perfect pizza bases,

   ▪ an adapted almond pound cake, at Ryan's request, and

   ▪ an apple cake in the shape of an apple!

And while I most certainly bake my feelings, I do have to say that apple cake was the cutest thing I've ever eaten.

Here's hoping the rest of this week goes as planned.

Until the next life challenge, peace out, lifers.

- Allison Rae

definitive rankings of milka chocolate

Now is the perfect time to talk about the best chocolate I've ever had in my life.

It's been a week from hell and I'm hoping that a couple pounds bars of this stuff, a two day work week, and the thanksgiving holiday will make everything better.

Milka chocolate was one of the best things Ryan and I found in Germany. And we tried it ALL. I'm not joking. All. Of. It. Then he told me we can buy it at one of our local delis.

My week's already getting better.

So after we had them all once, we took one for the team and ate them all again. Ranking our favorites and quickly stock piling them. I suggest you scope out your local deli or amazon this stuff quick. Here's our favorites...

Allison
▪ Oreo
▪ Strawberry Yogurt
▪ Caramel
▪ Toffee Whole Nut (toffee ganznuss)
▪ Triple Caramel

Ryan
▪ Marzipan
▪ Peanut Caramel
▪ Daim
▪ Whole Hazelnut (ganze haselnüsse)
▪ Oreo

What's your favorite brand of chocolate? Do you have a ranking? Chocolate is an essential part of my run recovery strategy. I NEED to know.

Until the next sugar high, peace out, lifers.

- Allison Rae

fitness recap

I did it guys! I finishing training and raced my first 15K. Here's Ryan and I on Sunday morning...

That guy in the picture with us is my mom's coworker who was 62 on race day! I'm not even mad when I say he beat me by 10-20 seconds (depending on whether you look at gun time or net time). Even more impressive is that Ed Whitlock, the eighty-five year old who's been CRUSHING distance records, ran too and set yet another record. 

He beat both of us. 

I hope I have a tenth of the energy he has at eighty-five when I get there. 

The stockadeathon was a terrific experience and I already can't wait to run it again. The course is pretty hilly, with back to back hills at mile seven that are downright rude, but overall a great scenic route. And that last half mile that's all downhill is godsend.

So while I didn't get in any other training this past week I did keep up my run streak (currently at day seventy-eight). Here's what it looked like...

My goal for the race was a 11:15 pace but I blew that out of the water with 10:34s. My legs are rebelling this week and I guess I kinda deserve that? I'm just hoping that they get their act together by tomorrow. 

What's on your plan for this week? Running, biking, swimming? Maybe a little strength training. (I know I need to get some of that in.)

Until the next fitness recap. Peace out, lifers.

- A. Rae

it's good to be back

I'm not going to lie, when I first wrote that I typed out bake.

I think because that's been on my mind since I've been back stateside. Well that and work, running lots, and avoiding political ads. Which, are officially now over.

Thank. You. Cheesus.

I know I'm not really accomplishing all of my seventeen before seventeen but I am plugging away at them and checking some off my list.

Top priority right now is trying new recipes. And Ryan and I are plugging away. We've made:

 ▪ trader joe's pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting (delish!),

 ▪ these peanut butter cookies (which a little light on peanut butter),

 ▪ added hershey kisses to these peanut butter cookies for some blossoms (almost there),

 ▪ the best peanut butter cookies ever to have been made (although it might be the filling),

 ▪ harvest loaves from a back-of-the-pan recipe (which needed so much more spice), and

 ▪ a hearty pot roast that was more like a stew than soup (worth making again).

Of course there's so many more things to try. Just look at my pinterest boards. They hold quite a few. And then there's my other list. You know the list of recipes from the cookbooks sitting on your kitchen shelf that you're dying to try? THAT list.

And then there's ones that pop up like triple layer dulce de leche brownie cookie bars. How can you go by a week without trying these?

You can't. I'll tell you about them soon.

Until then. Peace out, cub scouts.

- Allison Rae