26.2 or Bust

After 9 months of training, I finally did it. I ran my first marathon. I had no idea of what to expect. The internet had lots of "what to expect" and gave me a little insight. This race went nothing like I imagined it would.

The last month, I went back and forth on whether or not I would actually be able to run. I was told I had mono the beginning of September. At the same time, I came down with a bad cold virus. My bed became my best friend. I slept as much as I could and eventually began to feel better. Then last Saturday I had to go into insta care.  I had come down with a sinus infection and the start of an ear infection.  

With all of this, I decided I still wanted to run and I felt well enough to run.

Here is the run down of my BIG race day:

Got up at 3:30 am

Sat on the bus to avoid the rain till race time

Ran a lot 

RAIN

COLD

Bitten by millions of MOSQUITOES

More running, rain, and mosquitoes

Felt like death, but kept running

Teamed up with other runner to run/walk last 4 miles...in the rain

Finished in 5:48 

Honestly, it was the worst running experience of my life. 

Am I glad I stuck it out? Yes.

Did I meet my goal? Yes. It was just to finish.

Will I run another marathon? Yes, just never again in the rain and cold. 

Peach Pie and Training

Last Monday, I completed my 20 mile run! Holy crap, the last mile was tough, but I did it. It's a little scary to think that I will be running 26.2 miles on September 27th...hopefully.

Why hopefully you ask? Well, I've been super tired lately and finally went to the doctor about it. The blood tests came back positive for mono. I thought mono was the kissing disease that teenagers and young adults get. I wish I got it from kissing some hot man, but that is sadly not the case. I have no freaking idea where I got it. I am still determined to run on the 27th. I think it will be possible with a lot of rest the next couple of weeks.

Today, after sleeping most of the day I had enough energy to bake a peach pie. I'm so glad I did because it was delicious. It also made a great dinner.

I found the peach pie recipe while searching on Pinterest. I LOVE Pinterest!!! I find all sorts of fun recipes to try. I adapted the peach pie filling from www.grandbaby-cakes.com. It was just what I was looking for. 

Every pie needs a great crust. I was lucky enough to find one a few months ago on The Pioneer Woman website. Did I mention how much I love this crust? 

Let's start with the crust.

 Here's what you need:

• 1-½ cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)

• 3 cups All-purpose Flour

• 1 whole Egg

• 5 Tablespoons Cold Water

• 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

• 1 teaspoon Salt

In a large bowl, add flour and shortening. Use a pastry cutter to cut in the shortening until it looks like coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add egg to the flour mixture. Add water, vinegar, and salt. Mix together gently until ingredients are all mixed together. 

Separate the dough into two parts. Place each part on plastic wrap and gently flatten. Finish wrapping it up and place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. You'll be thankful you did.

When you are ready, roll out one part of the crust on a floured space. Make sure you roll it out to fit your pie plate with an half an inch to spare. Fold in half and lift into pie plate.

Now the filling:

What you'll need:

6 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4-1/2 cup granulated sugar (adjust this based on sweetness of peaches)
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (go up to 5 if peaches are really watery)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a large bowl, add peaches, lemon juice, sugars, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, flour, and cornstarch. Toss together until peaches are well coated. 

Assembly

What you'll need:

1/4 cup butter, in small slices
1 egg, with 1 teaspoon of water beaten
Granulated sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour peach filling into pie plate.

Dot top of peach filling with butter.

Roll out remaining dough and add to the top of the peach filling in a full sheet, in a lattice design or in another decorative design of your choosing. I choose to try the lattice design for the first time. I did a search for it on Pinterest. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. 

Brush top of pie crush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 35-50 minutes or until crust is golden brown and inside peach filling is bubbling.

I have that you should error on the side of cooking it longer in hopes that it won't be as runny. 

The finished product

I should have let it back and cool a little longer. I was just in a hurry to eat it. 

Do you have any tricks to help fruit pies not be so runny? I really want to learn to make them, so they'll set up nice.