Habitat Trail Run

Just a quick entry today- yesterday I went to Grass Valley with my fellow librarian, Chris, to run in the Habitat Trail Run (Click on Whatizit at the bottom, and then the little green star next to this race for more details). He ran the half marathon, which he won (1 hour, 28 minutes!), and I ran the 10k. I was very proud of myself, because I only stopped to walk for about one minute on one big hill, and ran the entire rest of the way! It took me 55 minutes, 15 seconds (according to my own timer on my watch), and I got 3rd place in my age group! Yeah me! I even got a little medal, which I will hang in my exercise room in my garage along with my number- next to all my triathlon numbers. :) Here's a picture of me and Chris, post-race:


Results are in! I got 16th out of 51 of the 10K runners! Whoo-Hoo! The time they have posted was exactly the same as I timed myself, so kudos to them for being accurate.

Homemade Ravioli

I tried out a new recipe for Prosciutto Ravioli by Giada De Laurentiis for Father's Day yesterday. It is an easy recipe, just very time consuming. I didn't make the the pasta, but used wonton wrappers instead- square ones folded into triangles, and they turned out very pretty. The filling had ricotta cheese, spinach, egg yolk and prosciutto, so it was also pretty healthy. It said 30 min. prep time, but it took me over 2 hours to chop and separate the prosciutto, fill and cook the ravioli- but totally worth it! The recipe also said it would fill 48 wrappers, but I made over 60. Maybe I added a little extra ricotta? This picture is of the pre-cooked ravioli:

They were very tasty, just plain even with no sauce. In her recipe Giada used oregano butter, but straight butter didn't sound so good to me, so I found a light alfredo recipe to use instead with condensed milk, flour and whole baked garlic cloves, mashed. It was the perfect combination because it didn't overpower the filling of the ravioli. Here is a picture of the ravioli cooking, and then cooked (no sauce- they look slimy like little brains):

I also made this cake before I started on the ravioli. It was a recipe for a Patriotic cake out of a Pampered Cheff Cookbook, but I changed 5 of the ingredients to suit what I couldn't find in the store, plus what I already had at my house. It was supposed to be made with pound cake, but I again, I went for a more low-fat recipe and used angel food cake. It was also supposed to have raspberries and blueberries but we ended up with strawberries and blackberries instead. The filling was made with milk, instant pudding, and whipped topping all blended together. It was also super creamy and tasty, and aesthetically pleasing. :)

Hiking Mount Rose

Yesterday was the most perfect beautiful day for a hike, so Kevin and I headed up to Mount Rose to hike to the summit. We've been wanting to do it for quite a while, and since his parents kept the boys for the weekend, we thought it would be a good day to go! It is 4.8 miles from the base of the trail- apparently it's a new trail- the old one was a dirt fire road for a few miles, and not nearly as pretty. There is also a new parking lot and some bathrooms where there were none before. This first picture is of Kevin and Pirate just getting started. You can see a bit of highway on the left, and then just around the bend is this sign with the mileage.

We took the Hikers Only trail up to 10,776 ft, which was 4.8 miles. The trail was pleasantly windy and hilly, and only about the last 2 miles were steep. There was a slight breeze and about 85 degrees for a high and clear skies, but I did noticed that it was a bit hazy once we got above the tree line. Guess that says that summer is a-coming, right? This is the only picture I took of the snow on the trail, but there were a few places where the trail was completely covered and we had to plow through the snow- it was quite slick in running shoes, and made for some muddy spots (and a filthy dog!). And there is the peak up ahead- it looks kinda far from here, but it really didn't take as long as I thought it would to get there.

We passed this awesome waterfall (which I took several pictures of because I have this fascination with moving water- well, all water really, but I'm only posting one here- if you want to see more, just ask and I'll happily show you the whole slideshow!),

and then the most awesome little lapping stream- just the kind I could have sat next to all day as a child building little fairy people and castles on the shore out of leaves and acorns, small stones and twigs. And don't forget the leaf boats setting sail on an exciting journey down the mighty river! I think what I liked the most was how the sunlight twinkled off the rippling rivulets, and how clear the water was with the little pebbles at the bottom... Sorry- I get stuck in my head sometimes... (No, I am not standing in the stream, but on a little rock bridge crossing- couldn't resist this shot!)

It took 2 hours and 10 minutes to reach the summit (we started just after 8 a.m.), and once we got there, we had a little sandwich and trail mix, and then I took four pictures- one facing each direction. Here is the first, the path from whence we came (Northish):

Then a quarter turn to the left, and here is Lake Tahoe (Westish).

Then another quarter turn to the left, and here is the shaley rock we sheltered from the wind behind eating our lunch (it was quite chilly, and there were clouds of these skinny little bugs flying everywhere). (Southish):

And then another quarter turn to the left and there is Reno! If you can see it through the haze, that is. (Eastish)

And finally, we met at the top some other hikers who were willing to take a picture of the three of us, successful sumit hikers!

While it took us over two hours to hike up the mountain, it only took us an hour and twenty minutes to run back down it. We ran about 3 or more miles, walking only where it was too steep or too snowy. It was a fun easy run, and most of the other hikers quickly got out of our way when they saw us barreling down the trail. What a trip! This last picture is of my ankles- no, I don't have a tan- that is dirt! Most of it was accumulated going down and running through the mud- I guess I was more careful going up... A fun, fun day, and I highly recommend this trail to anyone looking for some spectacular views and a hike that's not too challenging until the last mile or so-