See Lari Run

43:38


It won't set any land-speed records.


But I still think I'm all that.


I had told Lane to meet me at the finish line at 8:15 because that was the absolute soonest I would be there. The ABSOLUTE soonest. I really figured I would be closer to an hour.


As Kassie and I approached the finish line, and I could see the time clock, I was really blown away that I was under 45 minutes.

Jack got tired of being slow with Kassie and I, so the last few blocks he ran ahead. He finished at 42:48.

I had to give myself a hand for a race completed.

I would totally do it again. I WILL do it again. I just have to find another one that fits my schedule, doesn't cost to much, and doesn't require me to travel very far.

I was surprised at the number of people who walked the entire way. I never thought about entering a 5k before I could "run." Everyone should do it - it really is a lot of fun.

It was fun to see some people I know there: Kendall, one of my best cheerleaders through my C25k training, my visiting teacher Lynn (count it - we chatted!), and Krista - same time next year, my friend!

I also need to thank Lady Gaga "Bad Romance," U2 "Beautiful Day," Maroon 5 "Harder to Breathe," Charlie Daniels Band "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," Pink "Perfect" and "So What," Journey "Seperate Ways," Hairspray "Good Morning Baltimore," Ryan Shupe "Even Superman," The Killers "Spaceman," and, of course, the Beatles (how's that for an eclectic play list?) for making each running session go by faster.

Thanks also to Kendall, Molly and Stephanie (I did apologize for the "stupid" remark, but I had to rescind it after hearing about the Ragnar thing), Kassie for not bailing on me, Jennefer, Danna, Craig, Kari and all the others who wouldn't let me give up on myself. It isn't a huge thing, my 43:38, but I'm as proud as if I had won the whole dang thing.

So who's joining me for the next one?

Family Day Hike

Pleasant Grove City Recreation does an amazing job of keeping this city recreated, in my opinion. Even though this isn't quite the one-horse town I grew up in, it is still no metropolis and I think our recreation department is awesome. They offer a huge variety of programs for an affordable price. I can't think of a bad experience I have ever had with them - except maybe that creative writing class my mom made me take when I was little. But certainly as a grown up, I think they are the best.



For a few years they have offered a Family Day Hike and Breakfast and I've always wanted to go. The stars have never aligned on the scheduled date so we have never gone. This year, we did get the perfect alignment, so we went.



I need to mention that it is more suited to families with kids younger than mine, but we still had a good time. They had a door prize for every family, and the breakfast was actually better than I had expected. I had just figured on something like muffins and juice/milk, which they did have, but they also had a variety of fresh fruits and even hot scones. We ate pretty quickly since I didn't have little kids who needed help, and off we went on the hike up to the waterfall (the 1st waterfall in Battle Creek Canyon, for you locals).



Since we were among the first to head up the trail, the rec dept workers were still getting some game stations set up where the kids could stop and do different sorts of little games. I'm not sure what the games were, but they were all going strong on our way back down the hill and the kids all seemed to be having a lot of fun.



So to make a long story even longer, my point is that if you haven't participated in the Family Day Hike and Breakfast, you should. Especially if you have small-ish children. They hold it in June and there is no charge, which makes it even better!

Taylor and Jack just starting out on the hike. Taylor was NOT in the mood for family fun.

Addie was really proud that she made it all the way up. We did this hike last summer, but she was faster this time, and Taylor and Dad didn't finish, but she did!

Jack and Addie in front of the waterfall.

Ummm . . . did Jack finally pass me up in height?



The theme this year was "Up," so they released a bunch of balloons. We didn't see it until they got pretty far up in the sky and kinda dispersed out.

So who is ready to go on this hike with us? It doesn't take very long, isn't very steep, and isn't very far up the canyon. Let me know - I'll go anytime.

For Stephanie

It came to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes great epiphanies come to me that way, but the problem is that when I wake up I can't remember the epiphany, just that I had one. But somehow this one stayed with me.

Remember the missing roll recipe? It finally dawned on me that it's a Taste of Home recipe. Not only that, I even remembered the name of the rolls. And so I give you:

Potluck Pan Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1-1/2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup water. Add the butter, eggs, milk powder, salt, 3 cups flour and remaining sugar and water. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down. Divide into 27 pieces; shape into balls. Place 18 balls in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan and remaining balls in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 27 rolls.

If I want to make bread bowls, I just follow the same recipe but only divide the dough into about 8 parts and bake them on a baking sheet for a little bit longer.

Enjoy!!

Buffalo Chicken and Ranch Wraps

For a change, I'll write about something other than my running, and go back to my constant fall-back: FOOD.

There is a website called allrecipes.com that I use all the time to find whatever recipe I think I might want to try out. I have also subscribed to their service that sends recipes to my email box every few days, and many of them have been wonderful! Tonight I tried out Buffalo Chicken and Ranch Wraps. YUMMY! Not only that, it was also fast and easy and got it all done and on the table at our normal time, even though I worked all day.

Here it is:

• 1 pound thin-sliced bacon
• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup Buffalo wing sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup diced fresh tomato
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing, divided

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble when cool.
2. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings, and cook and stir the chicken breast chunks until browned, about 10 minutes. Cover the skillet and allow chicken to continue cooking until no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, about 10 more minutes. Stir in the Buffalo sauce and melted butter until chicken is thoroughly coated. Stir in the crumbled bacon. Keep the mixture warm.
3. Heat the tortillas, one at a time, in a large ungreased skillet over medium heat until they begin to form air bubbles and small brown spots. Fill each each warmed tortilla with about 1/3 cup of the chicken filling and a tablespoon or so of tomatoes; sprinkle the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. Wrap the tortilla around the filling; serve warm.

I prefer to make my own sauces whenever possible, so I made my own Buffalo Sauce to use in the recipe. Also from allrecipes.com:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup hot pepper sauce
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons honey

1. Combine the butter, hot sauce, ketchup, and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Use as a sauce for cooked chicken wings or pieces.

Everyone ate it all up, and I hurried and set some aside for Lane's lunch, otherwise there would have been no leftovers. If I was to make it again, I would amp up the "zippiness" a little bit. I do like my Tabasco. It is a perfect warm weather dinner, although my kitchen did get a little warm while I was cooking. And then there is always the problem of the stale bacon smell that sticks around . . . and sticks around . . .

But my windows are open, so hopefully it will not be so bad.