Chocolate Zucchini Cake: King Arthur Flour

Chocolate Zucchini Cake: King Arthur Flour.

This is an idea for what to do with part of the Two Very Large Zucchinis sitting on my kitchen table.  I’ll be making pickles with the rest of it.

Nesting

Though I’m not a huge fan of the cold, I try to appreciate the crisp air that autumn brings. The changing colors paint the landscape and the sunsets seem more vivid. I took a few photos on the drive home last week, and I’ll share them once I get them downloaded from the camera.

It’s a nice time of year to bake, which is what I’ll be doing this weekend. I have an order for eight dozen cookies, and then I have apples to use for apple conserve or butter, haven’t decided which.

I’ll be getting the house into the fall mood this weekend too: putting away the last of the warm weather clothes and bringing out the winter wear, extra blankets; making sure the holiday decorations aren’t buried somewhere in the basement.

Transitioning

I have some thoughts bouncing around my brain about beginning a new blog. Running To Sonoma would remain my running-life write space. I’m not sure if it’s the right place for all the rest of it, though, especially since I’ve gotten out of the habit of writing at all.

We’ll see.

Cycling more than running lately

I owe you a race recap (which may or may not happen, as the race was 6 weeks ago!). The short of it is – I made it, fastest time yet, and tk and jd and Charles Dinersign (did I get that right?) were there to greet me. It was truly awesome.

Since the Napa half marathon, I have taken a break from running, and have focused on cycling. Left heel pain is the reason, and it has gotten better the less running I’ve done. I even went out and bought a trainer. It’s all set up in the basement so I can ride inside when the weather outside is uncooperative.

It has been really freeing to go out on an early Saturday and/or Sunday morning and just ride, exploring roads that I’ve never even driven down much less biked down. My longest ride so far has been about 39 miles, and I hope to increase that soon, when I have the time.

As some of you know, I’m having surgery in a few weeks to correct a problem that doctors believe is the reason for the multiple miscarriages I’ve had. I’m trying to get in longer weekend biking while I can, because they tell me I need to take it easy for a while after that.

Anyway, that’s the 5 cent update! Linda, yes, I really do have scars, but they’re fading pretty quickly. Note to everyone – remember your Body Glide!

From yesterday:

In flight. Adele in my ears, and two hours left to go.

Race day is Sunday. The past two months have been a bit of a blur, and yet, here I am. Life outside running has gone haywire since the May race. I began to write a few times, and then abandoned it. But now I have some time.

Where to begin? What have you missed? Well, there was the Lighthouse Run in June, the 10 miler where I forgot Body Glide and have some lovely scarring to serve as a future reminder. It was a hot, humid run, miserable really. I finished slower than I wanted.

Outside of that, training has been remarkably uneventful. Occasionally I would see a fox, coyote, or deer on my morning runs. One morning I heard helicopters on the way out; on the way back home, I saw smoke rising in the sky. That was the Monday morning of the Patrick Cudahy fire. Currently, I have some nagging pain in my left heel, which I attribute to worn out running shoes, kept on past their good life. Though I did get a replacement pair, I took this week off to make sure the heel has some time to rest up before 13 miles.

What else? Oh, I turned another year on my calendar. 33-years-old, about to run m y fourth half marathon. Who would have thought?

Our garden is in, and growing. I have pictures to share if I ever manage to get them uploaded! Four tomatoes have taken over the midsection – a tomato hedge. Also this year, we are attempting zucchini and corn, cucumber, radishes, carrots, three colors of bell peppers and two colors of eggplant. One jalapeño pepper plant, which is doing well. Raspberries. Along the house we have strawberries and three pear tomato plants. In the back of the yard are two chocolate cherry tomato plants. I really need to get canning this year, if I can master it.

Then there’s the matter of the miscarriages. I have been in consultation with a specialist, and we have done some testing which has led to scheduling surgery, about a week after I return from California. Uterine septum is the diagnosis, and so the “cure” (so to speak) is to go in there and resection it. And that’s what we’ll do. Or she’ll do, as I’ll be under general anesthetic. The whole thing has caused a bit of friction in the home; we’re both scared of certain things, and don’t always express that fear in a productive way. We’re working on it. Will the surgery work? (for me?) Only time will tell, but it seems to help others, so here’s hoping.

So this trip to Napa is my escape, my interlude from my daily life. I’ll collect a rental car at the airport, plug in the GPS and make my way to the tkjd compound in the Russian River valley, and catch up with those kids, and meet Charley for the first time! This year will be especially awesome, mostly because tk will be at the finish of the race – quite a welcome change from last year. And Ali will be there in spirit, since she’s stuck with her Real Life in the mountain states. 
Friday, I’ll join the rest of Team Wisconsin at our hotel in the afternoon, and maybe get out to a winery or two. Saturday, I’ve made a reservation for a group tasting/tour at Quintessa Winery on the Napa side of things, and several of us will venture over there.

Of course, then the race on Sunday. About my goals for the race, I am at a bit of a blank. If I had to choose some, they go in this order: Finish; uninjured; and faster than my last race. I suppose I aim for all three any time I race. I’m hesitant to assign a time goal, for fear I’ll fall short. There’s always time to decide on one, though. I’ll be running with the Garmin, which should be fun and help keep me focused.

Anyway, I probably have a dozen vignettes to write for you – the excitement I had with a rabbit trapped in our backyard, finding the foxes on our family bike ride, and then there’s the whole chapter about Scott and his obsession with obtaining a classic car which is driving me insane. Oh, and the weight loss struggle is always a good one – I seem stalled, hanging around the same number no matter what I do. Another story for another time.

Of course…

if you are interested in supporting our race to find a cure for Crohn’s , just go to my fundraising page. The CCFA is a great organization, which uses 84 cents of every dollar donated for research, outreach and support programs.  And did I mention that your donation is completely tax deductible?

Thank you for donating – every dollar brings a cure closer!

Crohn’s fundraising activities

Recommittment is this week. I’m on the fence, but I feel obligated to recommit.

In light of that, plans are in the works for another wine night at Vino 100 in Wauwatosa. Nothing is definite at the moment, but we will hold a raffle with all proceeds going to the CCFA.

Peggy is having a free car wash this coming Saturday, at Mo’s Southwest Grill on Capital Drive in Pewaukee, from 11am to 3pm. All donations go to CCFA. (Peggy needs volunteers to wash, so if you have some time, please come help!)

Also, Peggy has organized a raffle for a hot air balloon ride! Hot Air Balloon ride for 2, by Winddancer Balloon Company out of Waukesha – $10 a chance 3 for $25. Contact me for tickets.

Some team members have put together a beer tasting, which will be on May 30th. Tickets are $30 each, and include 10 beer samples. I don’t remember much else about that, but it will be in the Third Ward. I’ll try to get more details for all that are interested!

That’s just a little bit of what’s coming up in the next few months, before the race on July 19th. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Five days running

That’s what I’m up to right now! This morning marked my fifth day in a row of running, -with no walk breaks-. This is a huge accomplishment for me, and I’m not sure where it came from, but I’ll take it.

All of my runs usually involve walk breaks. But since the half marathon, I’ve been trying to go without them, and succeeding. My goal, of course, is to run the Napa half marathon entirely, slowing down to walk only at water stations.

I would also like to run 60 miles this month, which I am on track to do. My mileage really suffered (and rightly so) in April, and while I don’t intend to push myself to “make up” that month, getting back on track would be nice.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I have some photos that I want to put up at some point too, but I haven’t taken the time to download them off the camera. A few are from the weekend of the race, after which we went to the cabin. Another one is of the HUGE BUMBLEBEE that threatened to eat me after I came home from a run this week.

Kenosha, check. Next up, Racine!

The Lighthouse Run is Saturday, June 20th, and I will be there! Denise and I are registered for the 10-miler. (No, we are not attached at the hip. Really.)

It’s nice to have another race on the schedule, between now and Napa. Ten miles at that time will be nice preparation for the slightly longer distance in wine country.

Short one

Since I was up this morning at 6:30, I decided to go for a small run around the block. 1.15 miles, just enough to test the waters, so to speak. In reality, I could have gone for more probably, because that distance felt just enough to be a warm up!

But I completed the one lap and came home as planned. I feel good now, and I want to stay that way! I do have a second blister, on the underside of my right big toe, that was giving me some trouble yesterday. It appears to have popped, and then reformed last night.

I’ll be taking the remainder of the week easy still, with Team Challenge training coming up on Saturday. Also, there is a session of Milwaukee Adventure Boot Camp earlier on Saturday morning, that I’d like to try out. I’ve been looking at it for a couple months, but haven’t committed yet.

This is how it happened

Friday:
I left work a little after 1pm, and picked up Denise at her house. We headed for REI to make sure we had all the fuel we needed for the race, and then to the spa at the Pfister for express pedicures. Pretty toes after the race take preparation before the race!

The drive to Pleasant Prairie was uneventful, and we found our way to packet pick-up in the hotel.  My race number was 1915, easy to remember.  Once packets were picked up, we checked into the hotel, found our room, and made ourselves comfortable.  I sent text messages to Scott and Carrie, and Denise and I experimented with our own sleep number beds.  Those things are loud!

Soon, Carried called to say she and the fam were on their way over to packet pick-up.  We met them in the lobby, after Carrie got her goodie bag and marathon race number.  33!  Someone registered super early!   The six of us went off to dinner at the attached Chancery.  I thought her boys were so very cute and well-behaved for their ages, and it was a pleasure to meet her husband, whom I’ve heard and read a bit about.

After dinner, it was off to Walgreens for a quick errand.  I had forgotten my ibuprofen, and other emergency supplies were needed.  My body hates me, I tell you!  Back at the hotel, we each prepared for the next morning:  attach race number to shirt, make sure it’s not too high/low; choose fuel, pack hydration belt accordingly; lay out all needed clothes; attached timing chip to shoe; pack bags for quick deposit in car before shuttle leaves.  I think that was about it.  We had the TV on for a bit, but not too late.

We did it!

Denise and I finished the half marathon! I got a PR along the way as well! Injury free and ready for more!

(Better race report later!)

The day approaches!

Saturday is just around the corner, and I am as ready as I’m going to get to run another half marathon. I went for two small runs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it felt pretty good to get back into a rhythm.

The Wisconsin (half) Marathon will be my first half marathon in the state, and I’m looking forward to being close to home, relatively speaking. The only travel I’ll be doing is driving with Denise to Pleasant Prairie tomorrow afternoon. The plan is to relax, hopefully meet up with some friends, and get some good rest before being on the shuttle at 5:30 Saturday morning!

I just need to remember to avoid the onion rings for dinner Friday night! (They did a number on me before the Napa half last year.)

This may not be my best showing, but I’m feeling optimistic anyway. This will be my third half marathon, and I’m getting more comfortable with the distance, mentally. Let’s hope any rain in the forecast holds off until 11am, just to be safe, though.

I’ve been away awhile.

The past three weeks have gotten away from me. I haven’t been writing, and for the most part, I haven’t been running. That’ll make the half marathon next weekend verrrry interesting.

I wasn’t mired in work, or overwhelmed with training. I was pregnant. Then I was scared, because the last two pregnancies didn’t work out too well, so I decided to take it a little easy. I ran with the Team Challenge group, nice and easy pace, and that’s about it.

Last Monday, the 13th, I went in for an ultrasound, to check on things and date the development. I should have been 7 weeks, 5 days. Instead, the embryo was dating at 6 weeks, 3 days. And no heartbeat. Another ultrasound on Friday, the 17th, confirmed that there was no growth, no heartbeat.

Though this wasn’t a planned pregnancy, I was crushed. Since I had no signs of trouble, I had hope that this one was going to make it. It would mean giving up the July race, but it would be worth giving up for a successful pregnancy. I even began to clean out our third room, which we use as an “office” of sorts now, but was always going to be the nursery, when the time came.

The hardest part is watching the ultrasound, eyes glued to the screen, hoping, searching for that little blip that signifies a heartbeat. And finding nothing. Again.

I had my third D&C on Saturday, the 18th. Many thanks to Deanna for being with me for the day, and taking care of me. Scott had business he couldn’t reschedule, out of town, and I was advised to have the surgery sooner than later.

It’s been a rough week, but my friends have been so very supportive and comforting, and their displays of love and care have rendered me speechless (not that you can tell in this post). I’ve also tried to focus on other things, such as work, and Team Challenge.

This Saturday is the date of my fundraising event at Vino 100 in Wauwatosa. Silent auction items include a month of boot camp from the Milwaukee Adventure Boot Camp (which I may just bid on!), dancing lessons from Fred Astaire Dance, a private shopping party from Magnolia in Tosa, and several other items. I’m definitely looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and talking about the program and raising some money for such a great cause.

Then, it’ll be time to focus on running.

April 25 – Vino 100 Event

From 11am to 5pm, Vino 100 in Wauwatosa will be host to a silent auction to benefit Team Challenge and the CCFA. Denise and I are working to get a great variety of items for your bidding pleasure; some already include a sampler pack from Oro di Oliva, and a private shopping party from Magnolia!

We’re hoping to get in touch with some wine distributors as well, to arrange a tasting of wines for the day. The theme ties in perfectly with the Napa to Sonoma race that is the culmination of all this training and fundraising!

Add it to your calendar, and we hope to see you there!