It Was Icky

That's precisely how I often felt when I first started running. Icky ... Hurt ... Boring ... Not Worth the Effort ... Owie ... I'm pleased to report that it has been worth the effort to see beyond the immediate feelings, make a goal, and set off on a path to achieve it. (Yes, I, too, can hear the orchestra music swelling in the background!)

What was icky, though, was that cake recipe that showed up in yesterday's email ... it was a 5-minute microwave recipe. You put together tablespoons-worth of ingredients to make this:

Smelled pretty good; not quite right on
the taste, but we'll see ...

Then, you put that mug of batter in the microwave for three minutes, and it comes out looking like this:

Looks weird, but smelled delicious! All
Pit Crewers came around the corner ...

Then you let it cool for a few minutes before dumping it on your plate:

Looks awful, but I'm not in the game of
life for all things to be universally pretty ...
(Have you seen me after a long, hot run?
I'm good with it, though, because I just
accomplished a long, hot run!) I digress ...

We all had a bite ...

Ick ...

And it went away. It wasn't exactly terrible ... but it wasn't good. Have you ever used a microwave to make scrambled eggs and they're all dense and weird? That was the texture of this cake. I'll stick to the boxed cakes. Why mess with what I'd call perfection? Besides, we're not usually allowed to take many short cuts in life, so I'll let boxed cake be a celebrated short cut while I pound out the long way of doing things when it matters.

With Rest Week closing in on its end, I deem this microwave cake a very fun experiment but something from which I will run far, far away ... And, what a bonus to not be tempted by a chocolately treat!! Yahoo!! Excellent silver lining! May you find one for yourself today! Happy Friday everyone!