Syracuse Half Marathon 2013 and Zoey’s First Birthday

It was a good day.

It FELT like it was going to be a good day as I ran with Shane for a 2 mile warm up before leaving the house.

It was a PR at 1:46:24, average pace 8:08.  Catherine Valley was a 1:46:48 so it was close, but I’ll take it. It was a good enough time for a 3rd place age group finish.

STATS: Place 238 out of 1014 Finishes.  3rd out of 52 runners in age group.  I think it was due to the really neat course. It was a rolling course with the worst hill (which wasn’t that bad) within the first couple of miles.  I also give credit to 1. The guy I was pacing for the first 8 miles until I decided to talk to him and after a scant conversation he took off faster…oh well   2.  The runners I started my own little private challenge against during the last mile and … 3.  The really tall guy, breathing hard, who I took advantage of, passed, felt him coming up on me in the the last stretch then raced to the finish .  It was a good race all around.

BUT!  To be applauded and congratulated are…

Ted

who completed 13.1 miles with an injured Achilles.  AND…

our terrific sister-in-law Karen who would much rather be on the trails running for miles than on the road.

The race recap:  Terrific course with loads of support.  The police were even cheering us on! Super shirts and good post race eats. Think bagels, oranges, bananas, pizza (4 different kinds), Chobani yogurt, pancakes, sausage, bacon…the only draw back was they ran out of coffee.  Wait! 2nd draw back was they used those nasty plastic cups at the water stations. You can’t squash them together for a splash-free sip. But the race offered GU Gel at a few of the water stations as well as Gatorade and water.  Really good support and THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

For a 3rd place finisher I got a nice hat and chocolate covered something or other.

We had a great day!

WAIT! Not finished yet!  Guess who celebrates her 1st …very FIRST birthday on March 24th?

ZOEY!  We baked her a cake…

In celebration of her first, I baked her a doggy birthday cake with her favorites included: peanut butter and carrots. Since there’s nothing but good stuff from our home pantry, we shared a slice with her.

Here’s the recipe:  Makes one 8” round cake

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (If your dog isn’t allergic to wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 cup shoe string carrots chopped up
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a pan with parchment and spray sides with non stick.  Mix together the flour and baking soda.  Make a hole in the middle then add the peanut butter, oil, carrots, vanilla, honey and egg. Mix just until blended.  Turn into prepared pan and bake for 40 – 50 minutes.

Prepare the frosting

Beat the following together then ice your cake.

• 8 oz non fat cream cheese (if your dog can tolerate dairy)
• 1/2 over ripe banana (I didn’t finish it this morning, pre – race)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp honey

Make your dog WAIT… (or dogs….) while you take a photo.

Make them wait again when the cake has been cut….

DIG IN!

They will want more but not today.

As for the us?  Both Ted and I had a slice.  It was good enough that Ted had a 2nd slice.

Happy Birthday Zoey. 

Whose birthday did you celebrate this month?

We also celebrated: SUE, SAM, NANCY, JACKIE, ANGELA, and ALYSSA.  What a month for birthdays!