10-Plus Miles and Cheesecake Brownies

My boss's birthday was this past Thursday and I usually bake whatever the people I work with want for their birthday. She picked cheesecake brownies. I have never made them before, but I looked up a recipe and (finally) whipped up a batch to take today, since I knew I would be going by work when she was there.

I think the next time I make them, I will make the brownies more fudgy and less cake-like. They were quite tasty, though.

So, I dropped the brownies off at work and waited for the shift to end so my co-worker(s) could join me for a 9 or 10 mile walk/jog in preparation for the half. We went in the right direction starting out this time!! I also brought along some Gatorade in a bottle because I only drank water last week and I was concerned when I started to sweat actual salt on the way home in the car. Therefore, I wanted to make certain that my electrolytes were balanced. 

I bought a hydration camel pack, but I've never used it and I was considering returning it to the store because I just don't think I can run with 2 liters of liquid on my back. I decided today that I just can't run with a bottle in my hand. It's awkward and irritating and it gets hot really quickly! By mile 5, I had the drink finished just because I wanted to throw the bottle away in the trash can as we passed it. What does that mean? Yep, no drink for the 5 miles back!! I was amazed that we held out as well as we did at that distance (which was new to all of us) and I think we would have been even more OK if we had had a beverage to hydrate with on the way back. I'm considering a hydration belt. I won't really worry about it for the half, because there will be ample drink/aid stands to satisfy my needs.

I think that today proved that finishing the half is going to be completely do-able. In fact, we should finish it with a (fairly) decent time! **fingers crossed**

Well, I'm about to go crawl into a warm bath and try to read a little more of The Graveyard Book before I go to bed for the evening. I'll leave you with a picture of my friend, Paula at one of the bridges we crossed this evening.

Friendly Lunch and a Monsoon

I've been pretty busy lately. Not with anything in particular, just busy days cram-packed full of either work or home stuff to do. I will be a more consistent blogger, I swear!!

Thursday, I had lunch at a brand new Olive Garden with my bestie. I had a great time chatting and catching up and it was nice to finally have some "girl time." We hardly ever see each other anymore and that kinda bums me out. The food was pretty tasty, too! We had an appetizer of spinach artichoke dip (which came out as an entree) and the all-you-can-eat soup, salad and breadsticks (which came out as the appetizer). I learned that the gnocchi soup is pretty tasty (like a very thin chicken and dumplings), but I still like the pasta y fagiolli the best!

That evening, we had plans to meet some friends at Stone Mountain Park to take in the laser show. The weather as of late has been fairly rainy torrential in the evenings, so we were hoping for the best. Once we arrived, everything looked promising.

We brought a tent to set up on the lawn because there are usually a ton of bees swarming the grass in front of the carving. That ended up being the best idea EVER!! The afternoon went splendidly. The kids played with bubbles and we threw frisbees and played and danced. The laser show doesn't start until 9:30pm (to guarantee darkness). At 8:50pm, it started to sprinkle. Then, it started to pour. Everyone was running off the lawn to get to shelter. A few people brought tarps and were standing under those on the lawn. But WE had a tent!!! Ohhhh yeah! All 8 of us piled in, hoping it would soon pass. It let up long enough to enjoy about 5 minutes of fireworks, but the laser show was cancelled.

See? No rain. It lasted about 5 minutes before it started up again.

Of course, by the time we got confirmation that the show was cancelled, it started to pour again. The guys had to pack up the tent in the pouring rain while the kids and us ladies went to guest services to obtain rain checks. Despite the weather and the lack of lasers, we actually had a lot of fun! 

I'm still reading The Graveyard Book. I haven't really had time to dig in to it. (Haha! Unintentional Pun). Maybe this weekend.

Tomorrow's agenda? I'm baking cheesecake brownies for my boss's birthday and I am going to go for a 9 or 10 mile run (assuming the weather agrees). Not too much longer before the half!!