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Be Baking

Posted on: Friday, September 20, 2013

Finally... the season of spices and scarves,  pumpkin and plaid, candy and corn, fog and football, harvest and homework, tea and teammates, and bundling and BAKING has arrived! (well, officially on Sunday)

As if that isn't reason enough to spend some quality time in the kitchen, I just recently acquired this pretty white KitchenAid (which I will now refer to as Pearl) from my mentor, Shirley Lockhart.  

I wanted  to make pumpkin muffins for my teammates after our long run this week, but I thought it would be even better if I could make them more protein packed, with an energy boosting twist.  So... through my hodgepodge of ingredients (or auj-poj as I like to call it) I came up with...

Pumpkin Spice Espresso Quinoa Muffins
(Gluten-Free)


Here are the rough measurements of the ingredients I played around with:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 is cup stevia
1/2 cup GF flour
1/2 cup flax
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinammon
2 tsp baking powder
3 packets of espresso instant coffee
A little less than a cup of cooked quinoa
6 tsp butter
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup whipping cream vanilla creamer combo
A little more than 1 cup pumpkin pure

*quinoa is the highest protein grain, and it is also rich in iron (which us distance runners lack always need) and the espresso packets give them that caffeine kick

Bake on 375 for 20-25 minutes
(Makes about 23 muffins)




"Taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8



BE Bonded, Braided, Beavers.

Posted on: Tuesday, September 17, 2013

This past weekend the team competed at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle, Washington.  It was a great 4 day trip full of bonding, bus ride movies, hotel ice baths, Seattle exploring, and placing second only to UW (ranked 3rd in the region and 5th in the nation). 


Here are some of the highlights from the weekend.  Highlights can also be found at @beaverxc on instagram. Follow us as we literally chase down our dreams!



Fueling: pre race meal at Il Fornaio a nice little italian restaurant in downtown Seattle


Squeezing: we make it work


Freezing: classic trips to the ice machine filing up the garbage cans in our room for our ice baths


Striding: practicing the "getting out"


Praying: Possibly my favorite part of the whole day.  Praying on the line before the race with all my teammates.


Silence.... andddd BAM!!! 
Cool-down: taking it down a notch down by the water


Really cooling down.... 


Puget Sound: Ice bathing in the Puget Sound while we serenade the seals (see video on @beaverxc instagram)


Sticking together: The Gum Wall! 

Celebrity appearances: we met the real Jerry and got free Ben and Jerry's! Jerry says GO BEAVS!



Sunset: sleepless in Seattle wandering around the waterfront 



Brilliance: Stopped to admire this trio (note the passed out dog) playing outside the market.  After this song I went up and asked if his "drum" was an old suitcase... he said he made it and installed the old snare drum! One of the girls on our team even bought one of their CD's which they were selling for 10 dollars wrapped in paper bags with hand drawn graphics on the front. 

We also walked through the public Market, watched some fish throwing, went to the very first ever Starbucks, indulged in the deliciousness of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, made many trips to Whole Foods, and drank Pumpkin Spice Lattes like water. 

Here's some more pictures taken by our team photographer Stoddard Reynolds who voluntarily drives to our races to document all our shenanigans! 






Our team moved up 2 places in the regional rankings after this race!!! So proud of my boss teammates.

There's ALWAYS MORE to look forward to and be excited about.  The season has only just begun...


BE INSPIRED

Posted on: Monday, September 9, 2013



The 2013 XC Season is here!
As I was lying awake in bed one night a couple weeks ago, I thought of a neat way to share/display our goals for this year's cross-country season!  This year for our goal setting I had each of the girls bring a pair of insoles from their old running shoes.  On one sole, I had them write down 3 goals:
1. Personal goal
2. Short-term goal
3. Long-term dream
On the other sole I had them write down a creative word that cohesively represents all three goals.  The team kept their sole with the goals on it, and hung it up on their lockers in our locker room.  Then I complied all the soles with the words that each girl came up with, and I archived them in the shape of a heart to hang up in our locker room.  The picture below is the WIP (work in progress). I'm thinking of painting the "run with..." part on the two panels of the pallet inside the heart.... 

Run with heart and "sole"


A couple weeks after our goal setting night, we had our first race at Blue Lake Park in Portland, Oregon.  As I was praying for my teammates, I decided to write a prayer that incorporated the words from our soles! Below is a prayer for each of the girls goals and dreams.

Dear God,
This is our race day prayer.  Give us the COURAGE to RISE UP and BELIEVE that TOGETHER we can CONQUER new PEAKS.  May we step to the starting line with PASSIONATE DEDICATED hearts that are willing to TAKE RISKS.  Let us run with RESILIENCE towards a finish line of REDEMPTION.  I pray that we would persevere with PATIENCE and that our TENACITY would lead us to triumph.  We believe that you called us to be WARRIORS, so when we step to battle, assure us that we have everything we need already inside of us.  And when we think we don’t have anything left, be our UNRELENTING reminder that we ALWAYS have MORE.  May our CONSISTENT COMMITMENT to each other, to this sport, and to you, lead us to victory.  We DEDICATE this race to you.  Amen.




I'm gonna try to BE a more consistent blogger this year... so more to come in my next post about my first cross country race in 2 years!!! Praise the Lord. Always. More.

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