Racy Runners: Hit the Trail

I hit the reservoir trail at Thompson Park today---it is a 1.5 mile trail and if I start over at Cross Farms in Holmdel---I can get a 5 mile run in (3 miles trail)--perfect! I actually planned this run for the group on Thursday, but I wanted to see if the trail was OK, since I had not run it since November.

I had my Monday morning tennis clinic (one hour instruction with one hour of doubles play) and then I headed over to Meridian Occupation Health in Holmdel to get my PPD read (negative--such a pain to have it "read" and I actually have to have it repeated on Friday, as if a repeat test 7 days later will pick up recent exposure---yesh!--I recently accepted a position as a PerDiem nurse in the OB clinic. I am excited to get back into the "hospital " system. I love having my own company, but I sometimes feel like I am missing out on things. This position opened up and it is perfect for me. I can't wait to get started; orientation is in a couple of weeks.).

Cross Farms is always cold--it is a perfect location for a wind farm (you heard it here first Monmouth County). I changed from my tennis skirt into my Nike cold gear sweats--I love these pants (I have 3 pairs to prove it). I ran with music for the first mile, but when I hit the trail, I took the earbuds out. I wanted to run and think; unfortunately, the park is doing some major grounds work that involves "clearing" different areas of "infestation", so the sounds of bulldozers was all I heard--this took away from the scenery big time.

Here is some signage posted at the track around the rugby field:

Note, they did not say what caused "infestation"--pretty vague signage, written with the intent to make people happy with deforestation, but I am not sold. I loved the rugby trail loop, an old horse trail a little over one mile long. The best part of this loop was that you did not feel like you were running in a circle. The natural foliage prevented you from visualizing other parts of the track, so you just felt like you were running in the woods. Running around and around again in a circle sounds tortuous to me and is the main reason I have never actually run on a track (when I start to incorporate more speed work into my agenda, I will stick to flat routes instead).

Here is the new view of the back 1/2 of the trail which used to be completely "woodsy"---so depressing to me:

The reservoir trail was as gorgeous as ever it was unfortunate that the sun did not make an appearance until after my run was completed. Here are a few photos of the trail:

I got the 5 in--it was not my best run ever--meaning I did not feel as strong as I should have. It was a hard run and I sucked wind, but I am glad it is out of the way. This week I am going to try to make my runs a little longer and see how I feel.

I made an awesome dessert yesterday. I actually got the idea from Woman's Home Journal--please do not judge. My mom gets a free subscription when she orders it and has it sent to me. Typically the magazine has nothing of interest in it (to me)--but this one recipe caught my eye--so easy and get this--I actually had all the ingredients. Usually when I think a recipe looks good, it requires food shopping at several different stores to actually round up all the ingredients that are required. So I gave this one a shot--SUCCESS.

I will call it, Casi's Jam Rollups (I do not typically make sweets--I am a "salty" girl, but I could not resist):

Pie Crust
sugar
Cinnamon
Jelly
Nuts

1) Spread sugar cinnamon mix on your counter top
2) Roll out pie crust (right from the box--who has time to make it from scratch) and place it right on top of the spread sugary concoction--I even patted it down to make sure the sugar stuck
3) Evenly spread jam on the pie crust (raspberry is my preferred jam)
4) Crush pecans (handful) and spread evenly on top of jam
5) Roll the pie crust into a log
6) Slice log in 3/4 of an inch pieces
7) Place on cookie tray and bake at 375 until crispy on outside (the jam will leak out a bit--but trust me, the caramelized jam tastes delish)

Quick and easy---guaranteed to satisfy any sugar craving you may have.