Log Off, Shut Down, Go Run Virtual 10K Race Recap

Last Friday I worked my first 10K of the season into my schedule! It was the Log Off, Shut Down, Go Run Virtual 10K. It is part of the virtual run series that the website Goneforarun.com puts on, and I first heard about it from my friend and fellow Team Beef teammate, Christy's blog post. I originally wasn't sure about signing up because I'd been experiencing some pain and stiffness in my hip, but once I started getting that worked out and feeling better, I really started looking forward to the run!

My sign up fee was $30.00 and I got a bunch of cool swag-- 

I received a tank top (that fits!), race bib (not pictured), a cool race medal, and a car magnet.

They sent me a packet with a nice tank top, a car magnet, a race bib to wear for the run and a finishers medal! It was up to me to actually complete the race and feel like I earned my prizes.

Before going any further, I want to spend a paragraph or two sharing my take on the whole "virtual run" phenomenon. I've been reading on many other running blogs what other people think about virtual runs and have given it some thought myself. There's definitely a mixed bag of opinions out there!

Personally, I like the idea of virtual runs and they work well for me. I live in an EXTREMELY rural area so it is very, very difficult to find races to do that are nearby, or even within what I consider reasonable driving distance, which is admittedly a much greater radius than for most people! ha! What I like about virtual races is that I can fit the race into my schedule and run it when it's convenient for me at a place that is also convenient for me. Do I miss out on the "race experience" of having race organizers, people all around to run with/against, water stops, bathrooms, food after the race, etc? Yeah, definitely! Those are all reasons I really like doing organized road races. But it's also nice to run a no-frills race on my own terms.

I've had some people say that they think I'm stupid for signing up for a virtual race because, in their opinion, "It's just a scam by t-shirt printing companies to get you to spend money on their stuff." And they may be right in some ways, but if I am still going out there and putting in the miles, then I feel like it's money well spent. 10K especially is a distance that's a challenge for me, so I do have to train for it and spending the money on an entry fee for a virtual race is like a bet on myself that I'll get it done. I'm more likely to get in the workouts and the race itself if I've spent the money to do so, than if I just tell myself "Hey I'm going to go run a 10K for fun this weekend." If I spend $30 to train for and complete a race by myself, AND I get cool stuff for it, so much the better. (And what's it matter to you anyway how I spend my money!?)

So the day I decided was going to be Race Day arrived (Friday, April 24) and I pondered whether or not I should actually wear my race bib that they sent. I'd be literally running this "race" by myself, so no one would see or care if I wore the bib or not. If someone did just happen to drive by on the road, they might think I was silly wearing a bib while out for a jog... But since when do I care what people think of me when I'm out running?! ha! (And how often do people drive on the Minneota Road between Road 200 and the Goldstone Road? Almost never.) I also decided that I didn't want to just feel like I was out for a training jog, so if I put my bib on, it would mentally feel more like a RACE! I pinned on my bib, laced up my shoes, and got ready to take off on my run!

When I started out on my race, it was about 62 degrees, sunny, and about 15-20mph wind out of the north. I had predetermined a route that would be exactly 6.2 miles-- an out-and-back course of 3.1 miles each way from Tom and Carol's house. For those of you who know the area, it's .1 straight west from their driveway to the Minneota Road, then three miles straight north to the Goldstone Road, then turnaround and head back in reverse. So, I had somewhat of a headwind in the first half of the race.

I had looked through my records prior to beginning and saw that my previous PR in 10K was 58:30, from back at Huffing for Stuffing last fall. I had it in my mind to see how close I could get to that mark. I tried to sprint the first .1, then hold a steady, strong pace for the first mile before settling in to closer to my normal roughly 9-minute-mile pace for the "hilly" section of the route.  The first mile has a mild uphill for the first half-mile, then downhill for half a mile. First mile 8:38.5. The second mile is pretty flat-- I covered it in 8:58.66. The third mile is a long, steady uphill for most of the mile. Heading up the hill into the wind was not very fun and I knew my pace would be slower for that mile.  Third mile- 9:13.6. Slower, but not too bad. Once I got to the top of the hill and the turnaround point, I told myself I had to fly down the long downhill to make up time, so I did! Mile four was my fastest- 8:22.89.

I coasted through the flat of mile five as best as I could, then with a little over a mile to go, I really began to struggle mentally. I hadn't actually run more than about 5 miles yet this year, so I expected to struggle a little at the end of this 10K and I did. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy... Either way, I needed a little self-motivation. I repeated a mantra in my mind that our head track coach uses to inspire and motivate our team sometimes: "Your body can do almost anything- it's your mind that sometimes needs convincing." and focused on steadying my breathing. "Find your breath, find your strength." I focused on a two-two breathing pattern-- so, inhale on two steps, exhale on two steps. Soon, I was finally nearing that last .1 and sprinted around the corner to the finish. Last two miles were 8:54.92 and 8:54.52. And... DONE!

After checking my watch, I saw that I had indeed scored a new PR! I finished in 54.01, so I cut 4:30 from my 10K time! Virtual race or not, I know I did the distance, it felt like a race to me, I pushed myself and I'm going to count it.

I snapped my post-race photo with my medal and then celebrated by eating a giant monster cookie! Perks of a virtual run are that you get to decide for yourself what your finish line food will be.

Let's take another look at just the cookie, shall we?

It's a huge cookie! Barely fits in my hand, and I have long hands!  The story behind the cookies is that our head track coach's wife bakes them for the team. Any time a kid gets a new Personal Best or All-Time Best in an event, they earn a cookie. Coach had handed out cookies at practice on Friday, and the other coaches sometimes get any extras. I knew as soon as I got mine that I'd keep it for my race and aim for a PR. There were definitely times during the 10K that I was envisioning crossing the line and devouring a cookie, and that was pretty motivating. They are so good, and definitely worth running for!  This cookie definitely inspired me to a strong finish!

Overall, this virtual race was a positive experience. To me, it was worth the money paid. I hung up my virtual race medal on the same rack whereon I keep all my other medals. Am I going to sign up for a virtual race every month? No. But I will sign up for them from time to time when they fit in my schedule or when I can't find another race or event to do nearby. Bonus if the virtual race proceeds go toward a charity of some sort, and there are a great many of them that do things that way.

Here's a recap of my splits again, for those who are interested:

.1 - 31.37

Mile One - 8:38.5

Mile Two - 8:58.66

Mile Three - 9:13.6

Mile Four - 8:22.89

Mile Five - 8:54.92

Mile Six - 8:54.52

.1 - 27.86

Total Time: 54.01, Roughly a pace of 8:43 per mile. I'll take it! 

Overall, I'm pretty happy because I've been trying to work on quickening my overall pace and times. It's difficult to do that during track season because I'm so busy, so to get a PR feels extra good. I'm at least holding steady with my normal "old" pace, if not getting slightly faster. 

Next race for me-- I'm planning to do the Buffalo Jump 10K in Ulm, MT on Sunday, May 17. I think it's a trail run, so I'm not sure if I'll shoot for besting my PR again, but I'll definitely give it all I've got!

If you're interested, Goneforarun.com is continuing their virtual race series with a Badass 5 Mile run on the last weekend of May. Same cost - $30.00, and choice of a couple different race packet options. I don't plan to do it unless I don't get the Buffalo Jump run in for some reason. Then, I might consider signing up again. We'll see! 

What are your thoughts on Virtual Runs? Do you do them? Avoid them? Are they "worth" the same as a standard road race in your opinion? 

Oh, How the Cookie Crumbles

Today, I bring you the next adventure in my Quest for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe search.

I tried another recipe that was given to me recently by my Aunt Jean. I think it may be my Grandmother's recipe, which I've written about before. Let me just say immediately that these turned out NOTHING like how my grandma's did.  I have many several reasons in my mind as to why that could be, but let's back up a bit first.

Mixing up another batch!

First, in looking at this recipe, I noticed that it was almost identical to the recipe I had tried last weekend. The differences were that this recipe included slightly more flour, slightly more of both sugars, slightly more baking soda, slightly more salt, and half as much vanilla. When I say slightly, I really do mean very slight differences of each of these ingredients. The proportions were very, very similar in both recipes.

The biggest problem I have dealt with so far in making any of these recipes is that I do not have butter flavored crisco or Nucoa brand margarine on hand. Almost every recipe specifically calls for one or both of those ingredients. I do have a large tub of regular crisco, and I hate to waste, so I've been using that. And, I have regular unsalted butter that I've been using instead of nucoa or margarine of any kind. To make matters even worse, the butter I'm currently trying to use up is generic store brand that I bought at the local gas station convenience store because I needed it for something else. Not to be all baking-goods-snobby, but I do believe quality (sometimes expensive) name brand ingredients make a difference when baking. Again, I hate to waste, so we're just going to suffer through for a while longer. And, I live an hour from the grocery store.

Moving on.

Today was not the day to get all experimenty with this recipe, but I did it anyway. I used 1/4 cup of almond flour in place of regular flour when I mixed up the batter. And, I decided to use 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond flavoring, too. The batter smelled really heavenly and I was really excited to bake these up!

Using a fancy schmancy cookie scoop! (Thanks, Carol!)

I formed the dough using a cookie scoop Carol had sent over a few days prior and placed the round balls on my trusty air bake pans, and into the oven went the first batch.

This is what came out of the oven, twelve minutes later:

Super flat, crispy, simultaneously burnt and undercooked, and they didn't scrape off the pan without breaking!

Yikes.

I did salvage some of the cookies from the first tray.
This picture makes it look like they're in jail, which is how I feel about them anyway. 

These were just as bad as the very first batch I made, following the recipe from the back of the chocolate chip cookie bag. I already had dough on my second pan, so the first two pans both turned out sad and holey. Pictures don't do justice to how crispy and crunchy these were.

Sad, broken cookies. This is how the cookie crumbles, folks.

That's when I nearly lost it. I was so excited for this batch of cookies, but they were turning out terrible! Jeff, the ever-eager cookie sampler, tried one with me and we both agreed that they tasted terrible, too! bleh. I was trying to continue scraping cookie parts off the pan, but they kept breaking or sticking to the pan and making a mess. I was getting really frustrated then, so I turned off the oven in a huff and attempted to put plastic wrap on the remaining dough, but it kept sticking to itself instead of the bowl... By now, I felt like nothing was going right at all and I myself was teetering on the edge of a chocolate chip cookie meltdown!

Jeff, my ever patient husband, was trying to help me figure out why they weren't working and eventually suggested we try adding extra flour to the dough. Perhaps we should have made adjustments for high altitude? There was nothing to lose at this point, so we added another quarter cup of flour and two teaspoons of water, and tried another batch in the oven.

These came out a little bit better. They held together better, but still spread out quite a bit and were very crispy.

After adding more flour, the cookies held together better.

We decided to add more flour still, and try again. This result was the best tray of cookies so far, although they still didn't taste great, and were still really crispy.

So, this was the first of what I would consider to be a true bust in my Quest. You know it's bad if Jeff hasn't come back to sneak any more cookies throughout the day.

Thoughts as to why these turned out so bad:

• Almond flour maybe isn't exactly interchangeable with regular flour, even though the package says it is.
• A little bit of almond flavoring goes a LOOOOOONG way!
• Once again, altitude seems to make a difference. Recipes that I get from my friends and family in the Midwest will likely need to be adjusted.
• I didn't use butter flavored crisco, or nucoa, as the recipe suggested.

I decided to research the altitude thing a bit more and dug out my trusty High Altitude Baking book to see what they say about cookies. The book suggests that most baking recipes will need to be adjusted for altitude at 3500 feet above sea level. That's pretty much exactly our altitude, so it makes sense that some recipes would need to be tweaked. Here's an excerpt:

Cookies: Although many sea level cookie recipes yield acceptable results at high altitudes, they often can be improved by a slight increase in baking temperature; a slight decrease in baking powder or baking soda, fat and/or sugar; and/or a slight increase in liquid ingredients and flour.

So then I went back and compared this recipe to the one I did last week. Remember how I said they were almost identical? If you take the suggestions from High Altitude Baking and apply them to the recipe I used today, you'd pretty much end up with the recipe I tried last week. Interesting, no? Once again, we've more or less proved that altitude DOES make a difference! Not that that excuses my almond obsession for these cookies, or the fact that I had the wrong fats...

With each addition of flour to the cookie dough, the cookies held together better and better.
Can you tell which cookie was baked first, second, and last?

Better luck next time! Thanks go to Jeff for keeping me sane! I definitely owe him some better cookies, and SOON! :)

Bulls of the Big Sky

As promised, some more photos and information about Bulls of the Big Sky, the bull auction we went to this past Monday.

I love this old-style sign that Billings Live Stock Commission has. You can see it from the interstate and it is fantastic.  Anyway, people in the know just refer to it as "Billings Live" for short. :)

 All the animals are held in pens behind the sale barn.  It's necessary to arrive a few hours before the start time of the sale and walk through the pens to check out the animals.  At this point, most of the bulls are yearlings-- not full grown yet-- but still big!

It's also a good idea to get them to walk around so you can see their shape better, as Jeff is doing in these two photos.

This sale featured mostly Simmental bulls, and SimAngus, which is a cross between Simmental and Angus.  There were just a few full Angus animals.

 This guy was pretty gentle and definitely curious about people.  A mild demeanor is a noted and desirable trait of the Simmental breed.

Below is a still of the sale arena.  The bulls are walked into the arena through the gate in the left side of the photo.  The auctioneer calls the sale and takes bids, and the bull is walked out the gate on the right side of the photo.  Each bull is sold in about 30 seconds.  Pretty crazy.  If you haven't already, check out the video I took of the sale in the previous post.

There were just over 200 bulls sold at Bulls of the Big Sky. The auction itself lasted about 3.5 hours.  The highest selling bull went for $11,000.  I would estimate that the average for the sale was between $3,000 and $4,000 per animal.  Pretty crazy...

These are clearly NOT bulls!
My sister-in-law made these delicious and superbly decorated cookies, which we enjoyed during our stay with her and her husband, prior to heading to Billings for the bull sale. Pretty impressive! :)