Brickle Dip

Let the cooking begin... I am so excited about Thanksgiving and cooking this week. My cousin Stacey used to always make this dip, and I started making it several years ago. It is so good with green apples, and it is good to have around this time of year.

Brickle Dip

2 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 8-oz bag Heath toffee bar brickle
Green apples

Mix all ingredients, except apples. Refrigerate overnight. Cut apples just before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Getting Ready to Earn My Turkey

Well, I intended to try to update a little more frequently on my marathon training this fall, but the blog hasn't seen much action in the last couple of weeks. I figured with the Atlanta Half Marathon coming up on Thanksgiving Day, now would be a good time to update anyone who actually reads the blog on what I've been doing.

I've been pretty happy with the training plan so far, and except for last week - which was a step back week anyway (reduced miles for recovery) - I haven't missed any runs, yet. I took off this morning on my first of three 20-mile runs. The one thing that I felt would have helped me do better in my first marathon was to have run more 20-mile runs and built up my endurance better. The purpose of these long runs is have physical (physical endurance) and half mental (getting used to being on your feet that long). They are supposed to run at a pace slower than your actual race pace so that you don't injure yourself running fast all the time and to get closer to running closer to the actual time you would run the marathon, if that makes sense. So...this year's training plan has three 20-mile runs in it.

But back to this morning's run. It was cold. Real cold. Here was the forecast when I left the house:

Yeah...20 degrees. I decided that that was cold enough to break out the tights. Yeah, I'm not afraid to say it. I've got some cold weather tights...and yes, I wear shorts over them. The thermometer in the car said that it was 21 degrees when I started and 31 degrees when I finished. The water in my Nalgene water bottle froze sometime between the first and second loops around Stone Mountain. Total running time of 3 hours, so it was a good morning all around. Here is a shot of my Garmin 405 when I got done.


I'm going to go easy for the next few days and try to rest up a little for the half marathon on Thanksgiving Day. My main goal is just to do better than I did last year when I finished in 1 hour and 50 minutes. I think this will be a good test of my training program, even though it isn't ideal to do a 20-mile training run five days before a race!

Here's a rundown of my training so far this year compared to last year:

Total Miles Run to Date
2009: 325
2008: 248

Longest Run to Date
2009: 20 miles
2008: 15 miles

Most Miles in a Week to Date
2009: 47 miles
2008: 32 miles

Average Run Length
2009: 7.2 miles
2008: 6.0 miles

So...I feel pretty good about it all, and I am looking forward to the half marathon on Thursday. Maybe I'll blog a report on it over the weekend.

GT 41 - Miami 23

It started with the Ramblin' Wreck nearly running over a few of the thugs from Miami who were "praying" in front of the GT student section (not sure how you can pray and then get up and start jaw-jacking students, but that's what they do at the "U."), and ended with Tech literally running over Miami's defense with 472 yards of rushing offense.

Joy went to the game with me last night. We didn't take the camera, so no photos to prove it, but it was a fun, cold night on the Flats!

Can you smell the fear in Athens?

I'm just sayin'...

Take a few minutes and watch this...

Truly disappointing, but I'm not surprised. We'll have our chance again in 2012.

A Great Read

I read this article from Dr. Mohler's blog this morning. Hope you find it encouraging!

Finally...

A few things to note:

1. I love Georgia Tech football.

2. I love listening to Wes Durham.

3. I was a freshman at Georgia Tech in the fall of 1992, FSU's first year in the ACC.

4. I was in the student section at Bobby Dodd Stadium in the fall of 1992, and I watched Charlie Ward and FSU come from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Georgia Tech.

5. I have been to every GT/FSU game at Bobby Dodd Stadium since that game and one GT/FSU game at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahasee.

6. I have NEVER seen Georgia Tech beat FSU.

7. I was sitting in the stands on Saturday, listening to Wes, certain that FSU was about to score the game clinching touchdown with about 45 seconds left in the game...certain that heartbreak was once again to be delivered by the 'Noles.

That being said, I could watch THIS video over and over and over...

(Sorry for the link...the video's creater has disabled embedding for some reason)