CellCom Marathon

Today was the big day! We were up before 6am and out the door by 6:15 to head to Lambeau Field! It is the annual Cellcom Marathon here in Green Bay! D was going to just do the Kids Power Run, but as soon as he found out that if he ran the 5k, his mind was made up! He was going to run through the stadium!

So, we were off!

The morning was chilly! only 39 outside when we were on our way to the stadium. By 7am (start time) it had only "warmed up" to 41! But the cool air made for easier running!

I kept with D up until just before the 2mile marker to keep pushing him along. Once we got close to the 2 miles marker, I told him he was on his own! He was only a block from the stadium parking lot! Once he got there, it was just a matter of running trough the parking lot, into the back of the stadium, out the players tunnel and he was in the stadium! After a nice loop around the stadium, it was back out the same tunnel, and around the corner to the finish line!

Running though the stadium was awesome. For as many times as I have seen the stadium on TV and driven by it at least one a week, it looked small inside today! With empty stands, it just did not look as huge and intimidating that it appears on TV!

I finished a few minutes ahead of D with a time of 41:44 and D with a time of 44:01. His goal was to finish in under 45 and he did just that! I was shooting for 40 minutes and was a little short - I will hit it next time!

We had out own personal photographer along too!! Thanks Honey! for pics, click here

We have decided that even if we have to walk it, we are going to do the half marathon next year!

Campfire Birthday Cake

Today for John's Birthday, Darrin and I decided to make him this really cool Campfire Cake! Now I actually got the idea from another craft blog. Amazing what you can do with a boxed chocolate cake, a can of frosting and some candy!

The filling on the cake is caramel too! This was the first time that I actually made caramel by boiling Sweetened Condensed Milk! I think I cooked mine a bit too long as it was REALLY thick when I was putting the cake together. The joys of having a high powered microwave - things cook a lot faster than usually called for! But it all came together in the end!

The logs are actually cappucino chocolate filled wafer cookies! (gotta love the Dollar Tree!!) and then the flames (which make the cake awesome!) are actually made from Cinnamon hard candies and Butterscotch candies, crushed and then melted in the oven. My candies were a bit thick and hard to break, but they all came apart with a little work!

Overall, this cake was not that hard to make, just a little time consuming between boiling the caramel, melting the candies and allowing ample cooling time!

Now that John is done taking pictures of it, it is time to eat cake!!

Time for an update...

I guess since it has been a month since I have updated anythign here, I should do it now!

D and I have been consistantly running 4-5 days a week. Last week on Thursday we went to the Y and ran the 5 K loop that we did last THanksgiving for the Wild Turkey run. Back then, we finished the course in 48 minutes, wlaking most of the way. This time, we finished sooner! D did it in 44 minutes, I did it in 42. Considering we did it it the spring heat this time and the first time it was FREEZING cold, we felt great about the times. D set a goal of 40 minutes for the CellCom 5k that is coming up on Sunday.

I also have started taking a spinning class at the Y on Monday mornings, and then the Zumba classses are now offered on Tuesday as well as Thursday morning! WooHoo!!

Now that I have been getting in the exercise regularly again, I am ready for the scale to start showing it!!

I also am on the hunt for a really good (but not too spicy) Chicken Chili recipe! We all relaly likethe Chicken Chili at Erberts and Gerberts, but it gets expensive buying it there all the time! I tried one batch yesterday and it was just ok. I am going to keep looking tho!