Paleo Apple Muffins.

It is apple season and thanks to the generosity of our neighbors, we are loaded down with apples right now. We've been eating them and eating them and yesterday I decided we needed to get serious about using them up. So I decided to bake.

Always a good thing, in my book.

I was going to make a regular old apple cake. The same flour-and-sugar filled cake that I've made several times in the past. It is a favorite around here. But it is also -- as I mentioned -- filled with flour and sugar.

I don't eat those anymore and I am trying to get my boys to eat way less of them, too.

So, I figured I would try some paleo apple muffins.

I searched the good ol' Internet and came up with plenty of recipes. The only problem was that they all called for almond flour and, honestly, I wasn't feeling the almond flour yesterday. I wanted something different. Something nut-free.

The time was right to put on my creative baker hat and I fiddled around with a few recipes and came up with one that I love.

Mmmm . . . yummy . . .

My boys have gobbled these muffins up. Gobbled!

If you like apples and you like muffins, you need these in your life. Trust me.

Appley goodness. Let's get to it!

Paleo Apple Muffins
(makes one dozen)

Ingredients

5 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (I use Trader Joe's organic)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut flour (I use Bob's Red Mill organic)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbs cinnamon (don't be stingy!)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 medium/large apples, peeled and chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard muffin tin.

Whisk together the wet ingredients.

Sift in dry ingredients all together. Whisk or mix until well combined. Mix in apples. 

Fill muffin tin with batter and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

   
You'll end up with a dozen delicious muffins that look a little something like this:

Same picture! Two times!

Gobble them up!

OK, sure. These muffins have maple syrup in them. I know that isn't ideal but, really, you need to have a little sweetness in your life every now and then. Seriously. So, splurge on the maple syrup and treat yourself.

Try these! 

Then tell me what you think. 

I can't for a minute believe that my family and I are the only ones who love these!!

Happy baking!

Gone to the mountains.

This past weekend was a wonderfully refreshing one. On Friday, I headed to the mountains -- Jiminy Peak, where Bridget's cousin has a condo -- with four great friends. It was tons of fun!

Saturday morning, Bridget and I got up and went for a 6 mile, very hilly run. Then the five of us went out to lunch and took a ride on the scenic chair lift to the top of the mountain.

Here we are -- all smiles! -- riding up to the top:

Made it! It was such a pretty view, even though it was freezing and cloudy up there:

Kara, me, Janis, Lisa, Bridget

The rest of the day was filled with relaxing, laughing, eating, drinking and just and overall vibe of fun.

Oh, and a flat tire.

Oops!

After the ride to the top of the mountain, we drove over to the little store and when we got there someone told us that my front right tire was flat. I went outside to check it out and, yup, totally flat. We had no idea!

So, there was some flat tire hoopla that turned out fine in the end but forced us to bag our plan to drive into Williamstown for dinner. Instead, we stayed put at the condo and chowed down on our snack food.

Sunday morning I went out for a solo  run that was just what I needed after a night of fun.

It was a super-duper time!

Now, I've got to get on with the week and it will be a busy one at that. Thanks for stopping by -- have a great week!

 

YOUth Make a Difference 5K race report.

No suspense here: I had an awesome race on Saturday and set a new PR!

It was great. The race took place in my town, just 5 minutes from my house. We headed over early so Conal could run the 1 mile run and then I'd run the 5K afterward. 

Conal and me before the race, Conal running strong through the finish line and then sporting his medal.

A 1-mile race is a big deal for a little kid but Conal ran strong! Yes, he took walk breaks but then he started back up and he ended up finishing in 12:17. I was so proud of my little runner!

After that race, I lined up for mine. My plan was to try to run hard and see what kind of speed I have going into the last month of half marathon training. I've run only two fast workouts since coming back from my injury (my fast mile and a recent tempo run when I ran 2 miles in 15:15) so I didn't know exactly what to expect.

I started out faster than I probably should have, going through the first mile in 6:53.

Yikes! I have to admit I was cursing myself a little (OK, a lot) after that fast start. I had to hold on. So I kept pushing through the second mile and I went through it in 7:04.

A drop-off for sure, but not too bad.

The third mile, though, was tough. I was ready to be done and my internal conversation was not all that positive. I kept telling myself I'd blown it. That I had 2-mile speed and that was about it. That I just needed to stop.

But, thankfully, I didn't stop. I kept running and I went through the third mile in 7:14. I picked it up at the end to finish as strong as I could, running the last tenth of a mile at 6:20 pace and finishing the race in 21:37!

A new PR!!!

I never in a million years thought I would have been able to run that fast right now. I've been so worried about re-injuring my hip that I've been very, very conservative with my training. I believe that has been a good plan because, now, here I am running and racing strong!


Race stats:

Overall time: 21:37
Pace: 6:58/mile
Age group place (female, 40-49): 2 out of 30
Gender place: 8 out of 151
Overall place: 18 out of 241  

I followed up the race with a nice and easy (and very hilly!) 10 mile run with Bridget and Elisa at the crack of dawn on Sunday. My legs felt heavy but it was a good run with friends and it felt good to get the miles in.

Nice weekend of running for this happy runner!

Have a great week, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday (first day of school edition).

Exciting times in Happy Runnerville!

 

August recap.

I feel like I haven't done a monthly recap in ages, mostly because I haven't had much mileage to report on this summer. August, though, was different.

In August, I ran. For real. My long runs stretched longer and my regular runs became more consistent.

I've been pretty conservative with my return to running and I think it has served me (and my hip!) well. I'm still taking 2-3 rest days every week, icing, and going to my chiropractor once a week. I've also added a few more strengthening exercises to the rehab mix.

So far, so good. Eventually, I'd like to feel fully recovered and I expect that will happen this fall -- I hope so, anyway! In the meantime, here's what August looked like for me.

August stats:

Running (miles):108.5
Racing: 1, the Clove Run 10-mile race

Not bad!

This month I'll continue to build up for the half marathon in October. I'd also like to add some faster miles, especially tempo runs. I ran one while in Long Beach Island this past weekend and was pleased with how it went. I started with two warm up miles at a 10:00 min pace. Then, I ran two miles at tempo pace, which I set at 7:40/mile. I ended up running the first mile right at 7:40 and I think I was so afraid of slowing down that I ended up running the second mile at 7:35. After my two miles at tempo, I cooled down with 1.5 miles around 10:00 min pace.

At the end, I felt really good. So, for my next tempo run I'll stretch the distance of the faster portion to three or four miles.

But first, I have a 5K to run this Saturday, so that will serve as a little bit of speedwork for me this week. I'm hoping for some speedy miles!

Have a great week, everyone!