Saturday, we leave for Boston.  Wow! I can’t believe it’s already here. Just weeks ago, I was running while fighting the flu, trying to convince myself that it was “mental training” while deep inside I knew it was just foolish.  I made it through and here I am, packing and getting ready to run in a race I’ve watched on my computer for the past two years. I never imagined I’d be in it! AWESOME! 

When the training gets tough and tiresome, weeks before a race, I tell myself that I never have to go through it again. “Just finish this ONE event”.  But that’s not who I am.  I always, ALWAYS have to have a goal.  I’m the type of person who needs a challenge or I get bored.  Taking risks is not a problem for me.  If I’m afraid to fail then I’m afraid to succeed.  It’s the unknown that makes life so thrilling.  It’s the unexpected outcomes that make me push for more.  If I don’t get what I want, I go after it again.  If I get what I want, then I go for more.  To be that way is both a blessing and an onus.   In speaking to my dad the other day, I told him that I take on these challenges and when the time comes to “step up to the plate”, I regret it.  He said, he’s EXACTLY the same way.  “Thanks Dad!  I can’t remember a day when I didn’t want to be just like you.”

Do you take on challenges?  What’s the biggest challenge you have ever taken?

Ryan Hall’s Strategy from Sports ESPN   *I hope Ryan wins the 115th Boston Marathon!

RH: Every race is unique and ends up playing out a little bit differently. Like I said, my strategy is to get to the finish as quickly as I can, and the best way to do that is to pay attention to your body and how it’s feeling and try to get the most out of all the fuel that you have. So I don’t know exactly how my strategy will play out. I like to be very flexible because I can’t tell you exactly how I’m going to feel once I get out there. When my body tells me it’s time to go, I’ll go, and when it tells me, you know, this is not the right time or it’s too early or whatever, I’ll listen to it. Sometimes when you go into a race with a real strict strategy, it kind of limits how open you are and how well you are able to pay attention to your body and the cues that it’s giving you. So I won’t have a whole lot of strategy in mind until I get out there.

RH: For me, it’s a little bit of both. A marathon is a delicate balance between listening to your own body and also reacting to what the other runners around you are doing. I want to use the other guys to help me run faster than I could run if I was out there by myself, and in the same way, I hope to pull the other runners along and help them run quicker than they could otherwise run. So I’ll obviously pay attention to my body and run the right pace for myself, but I’ll also allow the other guys to push me along a little bit at certain points in the race. I’ll use them as a motivator to get me going and to help me through some of those rough spots that inevitably come up during a marathon.

BREAKFAST PIZZA – there’s no better pie!  Pizza pie that is.

We just love breakfast pizza.  Eggs and bread. Nothing better.  I discovered a really good Multi Grain Pizza dough from Hannaford’s Markets.

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Multi Grain Pizza dough is wheat flour, water, rye meal, rolled oats, millet, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, salt, and yeast. 

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Breakfast pizza – makes a 14” round pie

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  • 20 oz Multi Grain Pizza dough
  • 1 1/2 TBS Olive oil + 1 TBS for cooking the eggs
  • 4 whole eggs
  • 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
  • 2 TBS 1% milk
  • 6 chopped cherry tomatoes
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped small
  • 3/4 cup broccoli florets, chop
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup Feta cheese (I used the Tomato & Basil Feta Crumbles)

Form the dough around the 14” pie pan and let sit to relax for 15 – 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Bake the dough for 5 – 6 minutes, just until it rises.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a frying pan with the 1 TBS of olive oil over medium heat. 

Beat together the eggs, Egg Beaters, and milk, plus a little salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into the fry pan and JUST slightly cook.  Leave runny.

Spread the 1 1/2 TBS olive oil over the partially cooked pizza crust.

Put the runny eggs on top of the oiled crust.  Top with the cherry tomato pieces, bell pepper pieces, broccoli florets, and feta cheese.

Now put back into the 450 F degree oven for 12 minutes.

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F A N T A S T I C ! ! !   Another slice… P l e e e e a s e…

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Have you ever had breakfast pizza? What’s your favorite topping?

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