Workouts

I guess my knee has heeled - I haven't felt any tightness recently.  Maybe just another thing about getting older...the occasional ache or pain?

Sun
Snowshoeing

Mon
Rest day

Tues
30 min "cycling class" (self-taught cycling on a stationary bike)
PowerFlex
20 min yoga DVD

Wed
Cycling class X 2 (I took the morning cycling class & then was asked by the noon cycling instructor to sub due to a sick kiddo)

Thurs
Cycling class
PowerFlex

Fri
Cycling class
Run 25 min w/dogs & Steve at a new gravel trail outside of town
Zumba

The rest of the story...

Map for Cutler Draw, the groomed snowshoe/xcountry ski place that allows dogs.  Look closely at the names...

Gidget LOVES snow

One of my favorite pictures of Brewer & me

Steve & sun dappling through the trees

Sun warming the rocks

Guinness & his buddy Steve

Beauty.  Looking into Mutt Meadows

"Hey!  Whadja find?!" (Gidget & Brewer)

This is what happens when you try to capture a picture of Brewer while he's running toward you.

"Wheeeee!  I LOVE SNOW!" (Gidget)

Gidget & her buddy Chick

Cross country skiing/Snowshoeing

On January 2, Steve & I spent a wonderful afternoon at our favorite ski/snowshoe place with the dogs.  Before I continue with the rest of the pictures, please enjoy the hilarity of Brewer jumping for snowballs...

And there you have it...  Brewer jumping like his legs are pogo sticks.

Workouts

I'm unofficially rehabbing a tight "something's-not-quite-right" right knee, so I've tried to stay off running.  I've been working out so much recently that I'm not sure if running is the issue, but it's the most high-impact of everything I do, so I figured it was a good place to start.  The hiatus didn't last long & I ran on Saturday.  The knee is still slightly tight; it's possible it came about due to my sudden increase in working out.

Wed
Cycling class
(Nap thrown in the mix because I had gotten up 4:30 am to volunteer for the free community pancake breakfast put on by the Y)
Elliptical 30 min
Zumba class

Thurs
Elliptical 35 min
Cycling class
PowerFlex

Fri
Cycling class
Elliptical 40 min
Zumba

Sat
*Running hiatus broken*
Run 5K
3X 15 30# db swings, 10 dips, 5 back ext
Impromptu 45 min run in the afternoon

Banana syrup(!?) and Tiramisu

I was at the store recently & happened upon this:

Banana syrup??  I was skeptical at first, but I read the ingredients list: white grape juice concentrate, banana puree, and xanthan gum (thickener).  I love bananas & thought this stuff would be excellent on pancakes (or ice cream!).  So I purchased said banana syrup, excitedly ran home, & the next morning whipped up some pancakes to try with banana syrup.  Below is the final product:

It was delicious!  I heated up the syrup & poured it over the pancakes, topping off with some walnuts.  Very tasty & a great way to add a lil' something different.

My next adventure was tiramisu for a beer-tasting party at a friend's house.  I found this recipe & decided to give it a go.  Steve had the excellent idea of replacing the coffee with his recently kegged homebrew stout - what an excellent idea!  We were going to a beer-tasting, so it was only appropriate to bring a beer-inspired dessert.  I also managed to find mascarpone & lady fingers at Safeway.  In our podunk town of Sheridan, WY, I was mighty surprised.  Especially for the mascarpone find.  A few pictures from the making (of course I forgot to take a picture of the final product, although it looked like the exact same as the website):

I think the lady fingers kind of look like fat worms in the top picture.

Close-up of second layer of ladyfingers before last topping of the mascarpone mixture (which, by the by, is de.li.cious.)

As our "kids," the pups get to help clean the beaters every so often.

Yum yum yum.

Overall, I was very happy with the recipe.  Guilty side note:  I ended up doubling the amount of the cream mixture but used the same size pan.  :)  Let's just say I didn't feel the first layer was quite enough, so I kept adding more until I had to make a whole other batch of the cream.  Also, you'll see I was using a springform pan.  Not for any particular reason other than I don't have any baking dishes.  Note to self: put baking dishes on wedding registry.

The only complaint I have stems from the lady fingers & I'm almost 99.9% positive the issue came from the quality of lady fingers.  I think they weren't great quality - they already looked wilted &; pathetic in the packaging.  Instead of blending seamlessly with the cream mixture, they kind of tasted like soggy cake & I barely dipped them in the stout/Irish cream mixture.  They definitely should not have tasted as soggy as they did after such a quick dip.  I'm fairly certain a better quality lady finger - one a bit drier & perhaps less "puffy" - would do the trick.

However, this dessert was very easy to make, and that, I like.

Workouts

Sun
Rest

Mon
Run 0.75 mi to Y
Run 2 mi on dreadmill
Cycling class
Run 0.75 mi home
Zumba
~I was a very tired lady at the end of the day...~

Tues
Snowshoeing!  Only for about an hour, but it was an absolutely lovely day
PowerFlex

I'm SO EXCITED to see that one of our local sports stores (the same store that puts on the Bighorn Trail Run) will be having a snowshoe race on February 27.**  Now the question is...do I sign up for the 5K or 10K??  Mind you, I've never done a snowshoe race before & even with all the snowshoe "running" I've been doing recently, it's only within the 1-2 mi range.  My good angel (or maybe in this case it's my naughty angel?) immediately says "Yes!  10K!  Sign up for the 10K!  Challenge challenge challenge!"  The other angel is quietly whispering "6.2 miles on snowshoes?  Are you outta your f***ing mind?!  Stick with the 5K, it will be tough enough."

Most of it will depend on the trails.  As you've read in my recent posts, I was only able to do short bursts of running while on snowshoes.  Today, I was out snowshoeing with the pups, but the trails have become much more packed down due to higher volume of traffic & warmer weather.  I noticed I was able to run slowly for much longer periods of time on the packed trails.  Ah, decisions, decisions...

**Note:  If you happened to go to the race calendar website I posted above, you may have noticed the incredibly odd name they picked.  The local sports store is called The Sports Stop, but they created this race calendar website & called it WASP Wyoming.  Oops.  Um, not sure who decided on the acronym or name, but let's just say they probably would not be able to get away with such a name in any other state...  Welcome to Wyoming.

Drive home

The drive home from Sioux Falls after Christmas were some of the worst roads we'd experienced.  It was slow going & dangerous.  Luckily we made it home safe, but here are a few pictures I snapped along the way.

These hay bales are not small...and they're completely drifted in.

The dogs trying to stay comfortable.

Slow going...

Poor guy drove most of the trip - he wasn't too happy with the terrible conditions.

After the constant snowstorms in Sioux Falls, we hadn't seen the sun in days.  I was ecstatic when the sun began peeking through the clouds!

The roads were terrible, but I had to smile when the sun came out.