We're expecting.....

A NEW BEER!!!
(what were you thinking?!)

After a somewhat disastrous batch of a coffee porter that tasted mainly like stale, carbonated coffee, we were on a bit of a beer hiatus. But a few months ago we decided to brew again and are trying our first non-kit beer recipe from Clone Beers. It's a clone of Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde - a 9% triple fermented Belgian ale. Blonde in color, like most Belgians it's a complicated beer that is slightly tart, slightly spicy, and all around well-balanced. We've been big fans of Unibroue for at least a decade (h/t to Angela for ordering me my first bottle of Trois Pistoles at Jabberwocky's back in the summer of 2001), and have wanted to try producing our own Belgian ale for some time now.

We brewed back in May before it got really hot. As an example of our dedication to this batch, we kept the a/c at 73F during the primary fermentation so that nothing got too hot. In comparison, we keep the temp around 83 all the rest of the time. That was a gloriously cool week in our house. Even with the cooler temps, we had a bit of a beer explosion and some over spill during the primary fermentation. So far it looks like nothing was contaminated, but we've been biting our nails over the overflow. Nothing like spending months making and fermenting a beer only to have it be a petri dish of bacteria. At this point everything's been bottled and is just hanging out and doing its thing. We sampled an early bottle a few weeks ago and the flavors are getting there. It definitely needs more time in the bottle, but it's pretty close to the flavors present in Fin du Monde. For some reason the carbonation is pretty weak, but we're not sure if that's the whole batch or just that particular bottle.

So now it sits and ages. It should be done in October just in time for a dissertation submission celebration.


Oh yeah, and in order to commemorate the birth of our new brew, we decided to have a baby. It's a boy and he should be arriving in late November - just in time for a nicely aged Belgian. (take a peek at my WIP bar).

Cupcakes!

L has joined the astronomy softball team and last week they had a post-game pool party at one of the guy's homes. Never one to pass up on the opportunity to bake for other people, I decided to make cupcakes. I don't make cupcakes all that often, so I don't have real go-to recipes as for cookies or brownies. But I figured I'd use the chance to feed other people as a chance to try not one, but two, new recipes.

For this get together I made:
- Cook's Illustrated Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake . This is a dark cupcake made with coffee, bread flour, and a dab of ganache on the inside.

-I also made the Cupcake Project's Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake. If you don't know the cupcake project, you should. She got recruited to make unique cupcakes for a friend's wedding and has really tried a million flavors and review. Her notes and recipes are both unique and helpful. This cupcake uses some interesting techniques and a wide variety of fats and liquids (oil, butter, sour cream and whole milk)

For frostings, I made 2 Sprinkle's Cupcakes recipes for chocolate and vanilla buttercream.

We'll start with the easy comments:

Frostings
Both frostings were good, not too sweet and most importantly, didn't melt off the cupcakes. I'd make both of them again, although I'd add cocoa powder to the chocolate to cut the sweet a bit more. They were good, basic, go-to recipes, but not anything all that special or out of the ordinary. And, so someone who has had Sprinkles fairly recently, despite the claim from the bakeshop that they are the real recipe... they aren't. I suspect that Sprinkles bakeshop uses a bit of pastry cream in their frostings. These recipes are good, but the "real thing" is still a guarded trade secret. (I'm late to the Sprinkles craze and thought the whole thing was overblown until actually trying them. Yeah, they live up to the hype and are hands down the best cupcakes I've ever had. And I'm picky about my sweets).

Vanilla Cupcakes
These were really fantastic and I will absolutely make again. They require a lot of ingredients, and the wrappers were a bit greasy after baking, but the cake was moist, light, airy, and really complex for a vanilla cake, just a touch on the tangy side. If you're looking for a step up from your boring vanilla, make these. I also think they'd be great with a splash of bourbon or rum in the batter... of maybe with a buttercream/rum based frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes
You won't believe me when I tell you this. You'll think your IrishRed has been kidnapped by aliens and a doppleganger stole her life... but for the first time ever I preferred the vanilla cakes to the chocolate. These were very rich, and frankly, way too much chocolate and sugar. The ganache melted into the cupcake and was, frankly, over kill. I used the suggested amount of frosting per cupcake, and if the ganache was overkill, the frosting took the deadhorse of this cupcake and beat it some more. It was just way too much of everything, like it was trying too hard. The cake was good and I might use it again, but I'd skip the ganache filling and consider using just a very thin coat of ganache on the top of the cake.

Honestly, they don't hold a candle to cupcake project's Better Than Sex Chocolate Cupcakes. More interesting chocolate flavors, better crumb, not oily, and not overly sweet (which allows the chocolate flavor to really shine). I made these a few years ago and filled them with a dab of orange blossom-water butter cream, finished with the ganache per the recipe. They were outstanding and sophisticated, while the CI cupcakes just felt like they were trying too hard.

Baking

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Friday I finished a major re-working of my last analytical chapter for my diss and sent it to my adviser. Now I turn to make his recommended edits for the first 4 chapters (really only 3 chapters because he told me to cut all but 16 pages from Ch. 1. sob). Once I have those edits complete I can finally send the chapter drafts to the other to members of my committee for comments/review. In the meantime, I have to write my introduction and conclusion. Then I'll have to make the second round of committee member changes. Then send out the intro for comments. Then compile the whole thing (anyone want to help me battle Microsoft Master Document?). It's a lot of work yet to do, but I feel like I've turned a major corner and am getting closer to the end. Here's hoping I'll be finished by late September, early October.... because I need my letter writers to be able to say my PhD is submitted and do job applications (due early-mid November).

So here's hoping the light I see is the end, and not the headlight of another train barreling right at me.

Woohoo!!

Ron Barber beat Jesse Kelly with a 8% win to claim Rep. Gifford's vacant seat. This is a huge win for the dems in a republican state. In fact, Giffords only won her seat by 2% in her last election (also against Kelly). He only gets to hold the seat until the fall election (where he'll run for a seat in district 2), but this is the first time since I've moved here that I've woken up to political news and actually been happy.

Thoughts on Writing

Now that I"m on a solid 18 months of full time dissertation writing, I've learned a few things:

1. Writing, when it's flowing, is actually quite easy. Analysis is a breeze for me, so much so that I can get lost in it. Thinking is hard, but once I figure out my argument I can generally produce a lot of material very quickly.

2. When I'm writing, I'm sure that what I'm writing is brilliant.

3. When I'm writing, what I'm writing is never brilliant. I always hope and pray that my first draft will be close to my final draft. I am always wrong. My first (and second, and third, and fourth) drafts are rough, sometimes much rougher than I'm willing to admit to myself.

4. Writing takes time. Not because the act of writing takes time but because of the truth in statement #3. I need several weeks and preferably months in between drafts in order to get the distance necessary to recognize that my brilliant first draft is in fact a few glimmering sparks in a mound of shite, buried even further under run on sentences.

5. Editing is hard. Not typo fixing, but real editing and fundamental re-writing. It's hard because you have to 1) re-read the crap-you-thought-was-brilliant (see steps 1-3), 2) figure out whether there's material worth saving, and 3) then figure out to make material you previously thought was brilliant into material that is basically comprehensible to a reader other than yourself.

6. It takes a lot of writing and re-writing, but incremental progress is being made.

Quick Dissertation Update

It's been a while so I figured I'd post a quick diss update to let those 2 readers who care. For the rest of you, just bear in mind that the sooner I'm through the diss, the sooner I'm back to regularly scheduled blogging.

Things are better than they were in February and I can see, maybe, a light at the end of the tunnel. For those who are't Hum peeps, here's a glimpse into the general process I'm in/facing:

-I've written 450 pages. My advisor has recommended I cut at least 200. He's not being an asshole, he's actually write. They aren't 450 good pages, and some (half) of the material really doesn't fit this  dissertation. It will become conference papers, articles, my second book.... but really doesn't work with my larger argument for the diss.

-I re-arranged the remaining, the rump dissertation, into new chapters by printing out all the pages and physically cutting and pasting, section by section, into a new organization.

-My adviser will read and comment on the 5 new chapters. So far he's read 3. Of the 3 he's read, he's already cut 44 pages out of one of the chapters (only 16 of the 60 were "maybe salvageable" for the intro).

-I'm near the end of chapter 4 (soon to become chapter 3 b/c chapter 1 got the axe) and will send it before the weekend. I hope to re-edit chapter 5 and send it to him before amid June.

-After making his changes, I then send the chapter to my two other committee members and wait for their comments.

-While waiting, I need to write my intro - which b/c chapter 1 has been cut has to be at least 50 pages - and conclusion.

-Then I make all the recommended changes from my committee members.

-Next I anticipate a battle with editing , footnotes, and formatting that is like going to battle against Akroma, Angel of Fury  (6/6, flying, trample, protection from white and blue), when all you've got is a Pestermite. Yes, I just made a Magic reference, do you see what the diss has done to me?

-Then I put together everything and send it back to all 3 committee members, praying desperately that they are so sick of reading my shit that they just rubber stamp the damn thing and send me on my way. More likely, I'll have yet another set of massive changes to make. Then I have to pay an arm and a leg to print the manuscript onto archival paper (oh, they do "electronic copies", but they make them by scanning  the physical copy rather than accepting .pdfs. Don't ask, it's a UC thing), get the appropriate signatures and submit.

Getting there... not yet there. Feeling less crazy about the whole thing, but also incredibly tired of reading and re-arranging my words on the page.

Cinco de Mayo 10K!

On Sunday (May 6), Luke and I ran the Cinco de Mayo 10K. It's a beautiful out and back through Star Pass resort in western Tucson.  The route is full of rolling hills with about 250 ft elevation gain over all. This is one of my favorite races in Tucson because of the atmosphere and b/c they always give the best (gender-specific!) tech t-shirts. I love my t-shirt from last year and I can see this year's is also going to get a ton of wear.

Like most races, it started at 7am. Because it's Tucson, we were already feeling hot by the start.

Luke and I started out together and kept pace for the first 2 miles, and then I needed to slow down to recover a bit. He ran on ahead and I kept a nice and easy pace through the 3.1 mile turn around. After the midway point I was really dragging.  I hadn't eaten enough for breakfast and my legs felt heavy and tired. I had plenty of water, but I needed some sugar and thought "it's only a 10K! I don't need nutrition!" right, unless you only have a few pieces of pineapple for breakfast, and then those sports beans really come in handy.

I had started up one of the hills and locked into my little-engine-that-could mode, when a woman in her 50s jogged up behind me, put her hand on my back and said, "Isn't that easier? You can do this. You can run much faster than this. Go get 'em!" And... I did. Something about her gentle hand on my back and her100% positive enthusiastic support made something click. All of a sudden my brain said, "she's right! you CAN go faster than you are! You won't keel over and die, I promise!" Then my legs kicked in, and I took off flying. I wasn't keeping pace while running, but I"m betting I was doing about 11:30 min miles when she met me. Considering I ran the entire course in 1h2min22sec, I'm pretty sure I ran those last 2 or so miles at near a 9 min mile pace. I was still pretty beat when I had the final incline up to the finish line, but I finished strong and confident. I've never had anyone support me in a race in that way and clearly that is the style of encouragement that works for me. A gentle hand saying: I'm with you, we can do this, let's go faster. (works much better than the coach-style of "you can run faster, come and catch me!" which I don't respond well to at all).

At the end of the race there is a mariachi band and breakfast burritos. Luke finished in 54 min and met me at the finish. Not interested in food, I did scarf down the slushie he was holding. Note to self - a slushie post-race is more refreshing than anything else in the world. Cooled me down and got me the sugars I needed right away! We weren't hungry so we grabbed our burritos to go and ate them when we got home.

One more race after this one and then I'm done for the season. By next Sunday, I will have run 8 races since November - I think I'm entitled to a break :)

Course: Cinco de Mayo 10K

time: 1h2min22sec

Strecca - no knead stick bread

Several months ago one of the food bloggers I follow, stresscake, posted a recipe for no-knead strecca. I've been wanting to try the no -knead method for a while, but lack the dutch oven that most recipes seem to call for. Here was an opportunity to try the no-knead method w/ shaped loaves that just call out to be slathered with brie, camembert, and a few olives on the side.

The basic idea is that the slow rise produces the gluten action that regular kneading does. After a 12-18 hour rise, you do some dough flopping, followed by another 1-2 hour rise, shaping and baking. (Please go to the link above for the full recipe, I don't have permissions to post it and am trying to be better about using other people's work!)

Step one was to mix the flour, water, salt, sugar, and yeast, cover it, and leave it be for 12-18 hours.

In retrospect, you can see that 18 hours in our warm temps is a bit over-proofed. In future I'll move onto the second step after 12 hours, or do the long rise in the fridge. The taste turned out fine, but I didn't get as much rise in the final loafs due to over proofing.

Step two was to pour the dough onto a floured surface, fold over a few time, cover with olive oil, drape w/ a well-floured tea towel, and let rise 1-2 hours.

Note: this is way too much flour. I had globs of olive oil soaked flour stuck to my loaves and had to cut them out. 

In the future, I'm ditching the tea towel and scratching the flour. This dough would have done much better in the 2nd rise if just places in a well-oiled bowl with plastic wrap over the top. Using the towel, I lost dough to the towel and I lost dough that mingled badly with the flour and olive oil.

Also, I had to let my second rise last 3 hours and could have gone longer if we weren't starving.

Step 3: stretch out into long sticks (I did 3 instead of 4), bush with olive oil, top with sea salt, pepper and desired toppings. I did sliced tomatoes, olives, and minced garlic.

After 15 min in the oven - Ta-da!

The flavor of the bread was fantastic. It really needs the final dose of olive oil, and generous salt and peppering - don't scrimp on that step. The flavor was a slight tang from the long rise and the texture of both the crust and the interior was just divine. I now want to buy the book and make more of these recipes.

Little Coffee Bean Cardigan

What has Irishred been up to while she's been gone?

Dissertating!

Cooking!

Running!

Knitting!

I'm refraining from regular posts until I can move beyond angsty dissertation related posts (it's going better than before, my adviser only wants to cut one of the two chapters I sent him...). So I'll try to post knitting, cooking, and running projects in the meantime.

This spring I finished a stash busting project for my nephew, Rhys. He's adorable and growing fast. At 5 months, the 12 month size just fits.

Here is the Little Coffee Bean Sweater:

Adorable isn't he? Yup, my nephew is cuter than yours :) I used a left over skein of Cascade 220 superwash (blue) and some Cascade Heritage Paint sock yarn (multi colored).

The cascade was left over from this sweater I made for L:

Smokin' by Jared Flood from Son of Stitch n Bitch

The design is based on a smoking jacket.

It's so nice to be able to knit things for the adorable men in my life.

Sabino Canyon Sunset Run 2012

Saturday Luke and I both ran the Sabino Canyon Sunset Run. The 12K begins at 5:45 and heads straight into a canyon. By the time you hit the turn around and head back, you're greeted with beautiful view of the Arizona sunset. The route has 500 ft elevation - rolling hills in the beginning and then straight up for the last .8-.9 miles until you hit the turn around. The biggest challenges for me last year were dealing with cramping after I hit the turn around and had to run down hill.

This year, I've been running this as a weekly run pretty much all spring. I'm much more comfortable with the hills and now that I know the route, even the long hill doesn't see that long.

The day of the race we had a cold snap and temps in the 60s. Chilly, but a nice respite from the temps in the 80s and 90s, and perfect for running. I ran this much faster than I expected and I credit the cooler temps and no over heating to my faster time. I finished in 1h 14 min. Respectable, considering most of my other runs have dropped down to 10:30-11 minute miles. More importantly, I felt good the whole way. Every hill was fun and I had no cramping or other GI issues. Luke came in w/ a 8:22 average pace - something I'm really, really impressed with.

This is a great local run and just one of the many local runs I've participated in over the past year. Tucson has a really  wonderful running community of all ages and running/walking levels. They have a bunch of small races capped at under 500 people. Once you've been to one, you start seeing a lot of familiar faces. It's nice to be part of such a small and excited community.

Next up on the race calendar is the Cinco de May 10K with a mariachi and breakfast burritos at the finish! I ran this last year and it was a great run through a beautiful neighborhood in Western Tucson. After that, I'll be doing a the Tucson 5,000 5K with my mom on Mother's Day morning. The race is at the park I run around on a daily basis and I'm excited for another (hopefully less dramatic) event with mom.

CSP 5 mile, now with photo-goodness.

I think this is my first really attractive race photo. They were also given to all participants free of charge, which I think makes the Tucson Everyone Runs events the best I've ever done.

Don't I look happy and smiley? (this was before I hit the sand...).

Catalina state park 5 miler

This morning I took part in a 5 mile trail race in Northern Tucson. The course is raced clockwise in the spring and then counter clockwise in the fall. With all the stomach problems I've been having I did this just as an easy run rather than a race . It was a beautiful course and I had a lot of fun.

Course: 5.2 on trail, one point had 90-some stairs to climb. Mostly sand and packed trail.

Time: 58 min

Gear: skirt sport speed silk skirt, brooks long sleeve tech tee, Adidas socks, brooks cascadia, Nathan hydration belt, sweaty band, sunglasses

Fuel: 14 oz water (only took 2 swigs due to stomach), uneaten spots beans

Felt: Good! This was a fun run that I will definitely do again. Small and well organized.

Best part: organizers handed out packets of sunblock.

Lesson learned: running in sand give me side stitches.

Still here, still on hiatus.

I'm still here, I'm still dissertating, and I will surface again when I can wrap my brain around doing so. Until then I'm plugging away at chapters.

Your astute minds have been completely turned into stinking mushrooms.

Quoth Martin Luther, From Explanations of the Ninety-Five Theses, pg. 184 of Luther's Works, Vol. 31

My I present a fun and educational time waster: the Luther Insult Generator.

It's a quick and dirty generator that pulls some of the greatest insults penned by Mr. Constipated himself.

A few of the other gems:

You are worthy only to be mocked by the words of error.

From Explanations of the Ninety-Five Theses, pg. 175 of Luther's Works, Vol. 31

You are full of poisonous refuse and insane foolishness.

From Against Latomus, pg. 140 of Luther's Works, Vol. 32

Your words are so foolishly and ignorantly composed that I cannot believe you understand them.

From Explanations of the Ninety-Five Theses, pg. 87 of Luther's Works, Vol. 31

You conduct yourself like one drunk or asleep, belching out between your snores, "Yes, No."

From The Bondage of the Will, pg. 113 of Luther's Works, Vol. 33


Take a break and see what Luther has to say to you!

Squeezing the Lemmon - Hairpin Rock (Left)

Day 3 - More Climbing!

We tried Green Rocks, but it was a little out of our capabilities so we ended up at Hairpin. Old Pueblo readers - if you climb, Hairpin is a real treat. We had several 5.8s-5.9s to chose from and the rock was close enough to the highway to be convenient, but far enough away that we didn't hear much car noise.

Picking out the rock

S&P were kind enough to lead the walls, set anchors and let us top rope. I think we did 6 routes on this day. Again, I freaked on the 5.8 and did well on everything after that. According to S, I just need to jump right to 5.9's.

Climbing is a very serious sport and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

L was able to do another lead climb! 

Me looking up at L

The truth is, I'm terrified of heights. I had the same problem (still do!), when I started skiing. I can't shake the paralyzing fear. It's not about making a wrong move and slipping, it's just this irrational "oh shit..." that sneaks in whenever I look down and process the distance between myself and the ground. Fortunately, I recognize what it is and I'm learning that my new process is 1) get to height. 2) freak out. 3) cry. 4) get to solid ground, take lots of deep breaths and focus on the ground. 5) Keep breathing to try to relax the knots in my core. 6) begin to feel better. 7) realize I CAN do whatever it is I'm trying to do. 8) get back up and try again. 9-many more times) Success!!! My issue is not lack of skill and technical ability, so once I calm the flight-instinct I can generally remind myself that I'm ok, and pick up and carry on.

Me on a 5.9

L said it shows I have tremendous character and he was really proud of me for not letting my fears get in the way of things I want to do. (this is hands down one of the most touching compliments he's ever given me. I got all verklempt.) S echoed what he said and commented that she was really impressed at how willing I am to keep trying things, even if I find them scary. I'm still undecided as to whether I have character or I'm just stubborn, but I'll take the compliments either way.

Squeezin' the Lemmon: Jailhouse Rock

unwinding

We spent our second day of S&P's visit trying to find some climbing spots on Mt. Lemmon.

S&P also helped us de-virginize the rope we received from SC friend's as a moving gift well over a year ago. We'd have taken it out ourselves, but we're not certified to lead climb and have none of the necessary gear.

Mt. Lemmon is Tucson's big mountain and it has well over 1400 climbing routes on it. Because it's warm at the bottom in the winter, and cool on the mountain during the summer, it's really a climber's paradise. We used a combo of the 12-year old guide Squeezing the Lemmon (be sure to get the mile marker updates online!), and Mountain Project  in order to find routes.

We tried mid mountain first. Windy Point? Aptly name, too windy and cold. Ridgeline? Would have been great if we could find it.

Jailhouse Rock? Check!

The day was warm in the sun, but chilly with winds averaging 20 mph and gusts up to 40mph (brr). I simply could not get or stay warm. However, the short hike out to Jailhouse rock and the climbing itself was fantastic.

 I stuck to my consistent pattern of freaking out and only getting 1/2way on a 5.7, and then going on to climb 5.9s with ease. I confuse myself, but at least I"m consistent.

Me, about to get stuck on the easiest route of the day.

S&P kicked ass, took names, and looked good - all while building anchors that could support 8,000 lbs (yes, you read that right).

But the real highlight of the day was watching L do his very first lead climbing outside. If you look at the above photos, you can see the rope is holding us from above. (you can see the rope red through the blue anchor above my head). This is called top-roping and is very secure b/c you are held throughout the climb. 

In lead climbing, the rope hangs off the bottom of your belt and every couple of meters you clip it into a carabiner, creating a mini-top rope situation. But, once you move above the clip, if you fall, you fall back down below the most recently clipped clip. Basically it's scary, but it's how you get the rope to the top and allows you to climb in many more places.

L about to clip with his left hand

S, our ever-vigilant photographer, captured the climb on video. (you can also see the windy conditions we climbed in).

L all the way at the top

The panned out view of L at the top

4 of us after a day of climbing

Buzzin' Round the Old Pueblo

This past weekend two good friends came to visit. They came to network at the U and maybe do some city-scoping. We'd love for them to decide to move here and expand our friend network from 2 to 4. Avid outdoors folks, we tried to show them a lot of what the Southwest has to offer. Particularly in February.

Day 1 - 8 mile RT hike to the 7 Falls.

By far my favorite hike in the area. Beautiful, not particularly strenuous, runs a long a river, and ends with waterfalls. Hard to beat. After all the running, this felt like a really long hike. My quads were definitely heavy by the end, but it was nice to take a long distance at a slower pace in order to really enjoy the scenery, rather than stare at my feet and try not to trip over rocks, as I do when I run.

The mighty saguaro

Lunch Stop

See, there is water in the desert!

P resting on water-smoothed rocks

Splash!

Headin' home

Skirt Chaser 5K

This past Saturday my mom, Luke, and I all ran the Skirt Chaser 5K in Tempe. The idea behind the race is that the women get a 3 min head start on the guys, and the guys have to chase them to try to catch up. Cute? Yes. Oddly gendered? Oh, yes. But perfect fit into the schedule and supports Nicole De Boom, skirtsports, and getting women out and moving? hell yes.

My mom has been preparing for the race with the Couch to 5K program. She started in December and made it through week 3 before she got hit with bad calf cramps. It took a few weeks to figure out the culprit (needed more vitamin D and potassium), but she did a great job of walk/run training and is going to keep going with the program over the spring. 

We decided that mom and I would walk/run, and Luke would just run and meet us at the finish line. As we get there I make a quick stop in the porta-johns only to discover that my fucking period started. I had no idea it was coming so I wasn't prepared. It's 15 min before the gun. Luke kept going on his warm up while mom and I asked around for a first aid tent. 

No one knew where the first aid tent was. So I'm at ostensibly a women's race and there's no available "feminine products" (god I hate that term) and I can't find the first aid tent for the life of me. It's now  5 min to the start. 

My mom was worried and wanted to stay with me. I told her to go on ahead, that she's been training for this for several weeks and she should run. She took a deep breath and got to the start to begin her first race ever, and without the daughter she was hoping would be there to support her. I'm so proud of her for doing that.

I, on the other hand, googled a pharmacy and found one about .5-.75 miles due south of the start. I took off running. I realized that if I ran fast enough I could run to CVS. Buy tampons. Get prepped. Run back, and hopefully hit the start only about 15 min into the race. My mom was doing just under 15 min/miles. If I then continued to run, I knew I could catch her.

Am I crazy? Yes. But you already knew that. What was my other option? Just wait at the finish line? Pshaw.

By the time I did my shopping and hit the starting line, the clock had been running for 14 min. I pushed, pushed, pushed, and caught up with the stragglers in no time! Keeping my eyes peeled, I managed to catch my mom as she rounded the 1/2 way point, yelled "WAIT!!" and jogged to her side. We then finished the last 1.5 miles together.

Going strong at mile 2! Damn, my mom's cute.

We pulled across the finish line in 43 or 44 min total. Luke, the sweetheart that he is, had finished much earlier and headed back to the car to get our stuff and the camera. He finished a 22:32 5K. I'm constantly amazed and impressed by his running.

Apres-race is basically a big party. The race is sponsored by 4 Peaks Brewery and it's so close to ASU that it had a college-party atmosphere. After some wrangling for a wrist band, we snagged our two free beers and sat out in a sunny 80 degree Tempe February (yes, I'm bragging).

Pre-race at mom's. The purple skirt was the "race T". I now have more of these than I am comfortable admitting (all bought 1/2 price!).

Immediately after the race. I need to get Luke a bright shirt so I can spot him! 

In which we drink all the beers.

Even mom posed with a red cup.

The race was a lot of fun and I would certainly run it again. I'm looking for another 5K to do with my mom in April/May, once she's a little further along in her training. I'd love to do one with mom and sister. Luke and I likely have the Sabino Sunset Run 12K in April and the Cinco de May 10K in May. I'd also like to add a 10 mile trail race in April - but we'll see. I love racing and I love racing with my family. It's inspiring to see my mom tackle new challenges in her 6th decade, and I am always impressed and inspired by watching Luke gracefully lope along a trail as if it's no effort at all.

Love

I'm not a big valentines day fan- hallmark mafia and all that. But I'll take any excuse to eat cheese and drink champagne. Humbolt fog + champagne + futurama = perfect holiday.