Perhaps I Should Just Stick To the Road

There I am in my first official run! It's
the St. Pat's run in 2009!

It's like this ... From my very first official run, the one thing I always do once registered is study the map of the route. I go over it many, many times to make sure I know where I'm going so I don't have to rely on signage or volunteers. I run through it mentally in my head a handful of times. I have driven routes I can't visualize. I've asked race organizers prior to a run about specific parts of a route if I'm confused. Most runs I've entered have had adequate-or-better signage, but I'd prefer to be as mentally auto-piloted as possible. I like it there.

Here I'm literally coming around the corner
out of that loop I thought was a mile but
turned out to be three. At least I'm smiling!

I've certainly screwed the visualization up a time or two, though, especially when driving the route isn't feasible. This happened when I studied the route for my first Half and thought a particular u-turn stretch on the map was a mile long; it turned out to be three (That'll mess with a girl while actually running: "Heyyy, is this ever going to end?" Yikes!). I managed to screw it up in that same race when crossing over a bridge and seeing runners on the route under me knowing that's where I was about to be ... you know, just over the bridge and around the corner. Or not. That underpass was 2 miles away.

Had I studied all of the details of the map and not just the road directions, none of the above would have happened. Apparently, I have that same affliction for blowing detail in the kitchen. A friend of mine read my entry about the Pumpkin Bean Soup. She showed it to her husband and pointed out that I'd mentioned it was heavy on the tomato flavor. His response was, in my words, "Really? That's weird because there's only an 8-ounce can of tomato in there."

Um, not in my creation. I used this!

Whoopsie ...

That is not an 8-ounce can of tomato!!
But, the recipe called for 8 ounces ...

For crying out loud. What is the matter with me?

I will say, though, that we really liked it heavy on the tomato ... perhaps that's what masked the pumpkin -- that I hate -- so well. So, the next time we make it, we're sticking with the bigger can. Just like my runs, things work out!

In the meantime, my shout out for today goes to this same friend who brought me these on Friday:

Sweet potato chips made from ... get this ... just sweet potato! NO
oil whatsoever! Seasoned with a little salt and made in the microwave
on a new Pampered Chef gadget!! I so need this gadget!!

Holy Crispy Goodness, these were unbelievable!! So, so good!! (And, so, so gone very, very quickly!)

And, there you have it. Rest Day recaps featuring the kitchen. I'm very much enjoying this trio of Rest Days ... and I'm looking forward to running tomorrow!! That's how it should be. See you after the morning run! I'm on a pretty solid auto-pilot for these runs, so it should be easy breezy! Even if I stray off course distracted by a penny prospect, Elly is pretty automated on where to go. It's excellent to let the hound do the thinking for me! Thank goodness for hounds and friends!!