Hey there! I have various things to share today. The first is, we finally got the results from my race! Remember, this was a timed race (33 hours) where people could run as many 14.3 mile loops as they wanted. Guess what- one guy used the entire time and ran… 143 miles. WOW.
Twelve people completed 100 miles. Sadly, my friend Ralph was listed as a DNF (noooo! What happened, Ralph?) I officially completed four loops, which was 57.2 miles (ran extra on my own afterwards to make it to 60). There were eleven people who completed four loops and I was fifth!!! I’m in the top half! I’m happy with that, and my time was 15:29.
Nineteen people came out to run one loop, and some ran two or three. So if you live in the area and are interested in a low-pressure but fun trail race, check out Hungryland Ultra. You don’t have to run an actual ultra to participate.
There are also race photos!
Okay, enough about the race. We’re in the homestretch of cleaning the house, as my son and his fiancee (Paul and Isabel) arrive TONIGHT! One thing I did yesterday was clean out the refrigerator, and it turns out we have an olive problem.
Apparently, over the last six months or so, anytime we needed olives for any reason- a recipe, charcuterie board, or a martini- we went out and bought a jar of olives without checking to see if we already had any. As a result, we now have an entire OLIVE SECTION in the newly cleaned fridge- with six half-empty jars.
We will now be putting olives on everything! Like, I made this recipe from Nora Cooks for skillet enchiladas.
This was part of a food prep afternoon, where, inspired by Stephany, I also made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies…
… and waffles. My son requested them for breakfast, and it’s easier to pull them out of the freezer than to get out the waffle maker in the morning. Recipe also from Nora.
Let’s move on to reading. I just finished this:
You know how, when I read a romance, I say “It was good, but wouldn’t it have been even better if they had discovered a dead body and had to solve the crime?” WELL…
In The Bone Collector, Lincoln Rhyme is a former detective who was injured on a case and is now a quadriplegic. Unhappy and bitter, he’s thinking of ending his life. He meets police officer Amanda Sachs, and the two of them have a connection and attraction to each other. It gives off strong vibes of Jojo Moyes Me Before You, except… GUESS WHAT… the two of them team up to SOLVE A CRIME!!! It’s my dream come true!
I really enjoyed this book. Rhyme and Sachs search for a serial killer who is committing some gruesome murders (warning- not for the faint of heart). There’s a lot of analysis of forensic evidence, since that’s Rhyme’s specialty (and one of the few things he can still do). There are some gripping scenes and a big twist at the end. I enjoyed it so much, I ran straight to the library to get the second book in the series.
Link Up With Tuesday Topics
Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts!
Next week’s topic: How do you add more joy or fun into your workouts?
30 Responses
I wonder if you might sneak some olives into the cookies? Or the waffles? No? Hmmm.
OMG, someone ran for 33 hours? And ran 143 miles? THAT’S CRAZY. Good for them, though, quite an accomplishment. I’m sorry to hear about Ralph, though. You never get to know what happens, do you?
I love the picture from your run! You look great!
Thank you Julie! and… maybe waffles with olives? But no cookies- I have to draw the line somewhere.
Fifth out of eleven on four loops is solid, Jenny!! 15:29 is really strong for that distance on a trail. Congrats once again!
I hope you are going to buy that race photo? It’s a good one, and it would be a nice way to remember your 60th.
How is your new focus coming along, the strength training?
Um. To answer your last question, I haven’t started yet! But I set myself a deadline of April 1st, and that’s tomorrow, so… I’ll report back.
Congrats to the top half! That’s a great achievement! You look fantastic, and happy too, in that race photo. I agree with Catrina, you should buy that race photo as a reminder of your 60th birthday.
How sad about Ralph though. I hope he’s ok.
I wasn’t even considering buying the photo (because I never do) but maybe you guys are right. You only turn 60 once!
Sign me up for those cookies! The toasted pecans are perfection.
Poor Ralph! I’m dying to know what happened, especially when there are so many possibilities. Hey, even if this wasn’t his race, I’m sure he’ll be back at the starting line soon with more great life advice to share.
Enjoy the time with the kids this weekend! We’re going to host the fam at our house. The current headcount is 11 people and three dogs.
Wow- you have quite a weekend ahead of you. I feel like we’ll have a lot of people with just six (I’m counting my daughter’s boyfriend since he’s always here). No dogs,luckily- our three cats create enough of a ruckus.
Love the wrap up from your race. I’m amazed that you ran 60 miles. Heck, for my 60th birthday, I ran 6, lol. How far I have fallen… Great race photo too! 100% agree with everyone that you should buy it! I bought all the photos from my Chicago marathons, and I am so glad I did. Even now, I look at them, and it reminds me of how hard I worked to finish strong after I bombed my first time.
Enjoy your visit with your son and future DIL!!!
Thank you Wendy!!! To be fair, most people don’t WANT to run 60 miles on their 60th! Six miles is a nice, reasonable distance. And, I’m really glad everyone is telling me to buy the photo. I never even considered it, but why not? I’ll be happy to have it as a souvenir.
That’s a great race photo, Jenny! You look so strong! In all of my marathon pictures I looked like I was about to fall on the ground. LOL
Enjoy you visit with your son and future d-i-l! You should put jars of half empty olives in everyone’s Easter baskets. 😉
Hee hee!!! That would be quite and Easter surprise. Also- there were lots of other photos and I chose the best one : )
That’s so funny about the olives! I always buy the little packets from Trader Joe’s to bring with me to work or on a long run so I really enjoy olives but I’m not sure I’d like to put them in every dish.
You did great in your race, and got a nice photo out of it! It’s interesting that they have DNFs in a timed race — I’m signed up for my first one in September and as far as I know, nobody gets a DNF, you just rank higher based on how many loops you got in the time. I’m excited for it as it’s different than all my other races, but it’ll be challenging as it’s a 6 km loop with 2000 feet of elevation gain per loop, which is a lot for a short distance!
Yes, it’s a weird format. If you complete four loop and go out for a fifth but don’t finish that one, you get a DNF for the whole race. Not sure if that’s what happened to Ralph? Also, I think- but am not sure- that there was also an option to just sign up for 100 miles. Not sure why you would choose that option, because if you do the timed version and complete 100 miles you still get the official finish and belt buckle. As I said, it’s kind of a confusing format. I’ve decided that I like timed races- but yours sounds HARD. That elevation would kill me.
Ralph sounded a bit annoying; I hope he’s okay, obviously, but I was glad you didn’t end up running with him the whole time.
I hope the visit with Paul and Isabel (did you these are literally my in-laws names!!! and my wedding anniversary is July 25th) is so much fun. I love waffles and miss being able to make them while we’re here in Europe.
I can take or leave olives (and my son feels the same way), but my husband and daughter LOVE them.
Really- that’s crazy! Lots of coincidences.
There was no way I was going to run the whole way with Ralph- I was already planning how I was going to tell him I wanted to listen to podcasts for the second loop, when we kind of split up naturally.
Well done on finishing in the top half. That is amazing! I am glad the race went so well. You look great in that photo.
Have the best time with Paul and Isabel. It will be great to get to know her better! And olives are always a great snack (IMO – we are big fans of olives).
Thank you Lisa! Yes, olives do make a great snack- I need to start eating more of them. It will help me cut down on crackers (sigh).
Great job on the race. That’s a great pic too.
I plan to run 7.3K on my b-day.
Enjoy your time with your son and fiancee. Exciting times!
Thank you Darlene! And, birthday runs in miles or kilometers are ALWAYS fun.
Mmm. I love olives. Definitely worse problems to have than too many olives!
Enjoy your visit with your son and Isabel! Eeeee! I’m so excited for you!
Yes, we can definitely finish those olives (now that we know they’re there).
I will report back on the visit soon!
Oh, no! Ralph, what happened?! I hate that you gave us a mystery we’ll never be able to solve.
I like olives too much. They sell giant jars of kalamata olives at Costco and you better believe that I use so many olives, particularly on salads, that I go through one of those jars every month.
I don’t really think you can like olives “too much.” I mean, they’re not bad for you, right? Eat the whole jar!
You never know… I might run into Ralph again at another race and will solve the mystery.
Aw, too bad about Ralph. I wonder how many laps he finished?
Congrats on finishing in the top 1/2 of your group. I think finishing at all is amazing.
LOL on the olive collection. Maybe make a tapenade to serve with chips? Yum!
Enjoy having your son and his finacee!
okay, for a minute there, I thought you put the olives in the cookies because chocolate chips looked like olives! And I thought, well Jenny’s certainly determined to use up those olives. I love olives myself, but I’m the only one in my family so we rarely have them, and when we do they last for.ev.er.
You meet the most interesting people on your races! Or maybe you just take the time to notice them?
Your olive issue cracked me up. Congrats on your race stats, Oh, Ralph- where art thou? I’m excited for you for the visit with your son and Isabel. I can’t remember if the wedding will be in Florida. I cannot get over how happy you look while running an ultra. Goodness. Clearly your happy place.
How do I add fun or joy to my workouts?
Honestly, my AirPods and a few good podcasts. I mainly lift since cardio bores me, plus a bad knee, so an elliptic or a bike is what I like. I love cycling, and the instructor always does upper body afterwards, which is good. Weights are not boring to me albeit mine are pitiful 10 and 15 lbs.
Wait! Is that the same Bone Collector as the movie with Ashley Judd and Denzel Washington??? That was a fantastic story. I didn’t realize it was a book!
You did awesome on the race! Congratulations! And poor Ralph! I hope he’s ok!
Have the best time this weekend with your family! It sounds so fun! And I don’t understand “olive problem.” Aren’t you supposed to have multiple jars of olives in your fridge at all times?
I’m just BOGGLED by someone running for 15 hours straight, much less THIRTY-THREE HOURS. Wow, wow, wow. You guys are amazing! And to finish in the top half! AMAZING.
I have the same olive problem, except it’s just me and trying to finish up multiple half-full jars of olives is very difficult. HA.
I’m glad I could inspire some oatmeal chocolate chip cookie baking!