The Devil Went Down to Cape Town

I leave two weeks from Saturday for the Two Oceans Marathon. This doesn't leave me a lot of time left to train. Should I be cramming a bunch of miles in? Should I be tapering? Should I be carbo-loading? Praying? Making a deal with the Devil? After all, it helped Johnny get a new fiddle, so maybe it'll help me finish a long f%*#@ing race in under six hours.

After reading Dr. Ross Tucker's extremely encouraging, informative and easy-on-the-eyes blog on the Two Oceans website, I've decided to maintain these last few weeks (rather than increase or taper) the level of fitness I've gained from the last few months. Doing anything drastically different in my fitness routine just doesn't feel right. Last week I ran the most I remember ever running in one week, 53 miles. When I started training for this race it seemed difficult to get 40 miles a week in, but now 53 feels easy. This week I'm going to log at least 40, including whatever mileage I can get into a 3 hour run on Saturday. I'll rest when I get to Cape Town.

Last night I ran in a free JackRabbit group run 'round Prospect Park. Turns out I really don't mind running with people. I brought out my favorite tank top to run in (purchased from a clearance rack at Target) and let my skin breath a little.

If you're still with me after all that talk of mileage and tapering, here is a recipe for pancakes that I made up this past weekend. A pancake is one of the first things I remember making on my own when I was a kid. (The very first thing I remember making y'all is instant grits, before sitting down to watch Inspector Gadget.) These pancakes require more than adding water and stirring, but they are still super easy. And they are packed with nutrients and fiber, and still manage to be light and fluffy.

Ginger Banana Pancakes
Dry
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup bran
1/2 cup of brown rice flour
1/4 cup flax seeds
2 teaspoons ground ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Wet
1 1/4 to 2 cups of milk (I use whole milk) 
3 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 banana diced and 6-8 dried figs chopped (remove the stems), or  2 bananas diced

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together (start with 1 1/4 cup of milk). Combine the dry and wet mixtures together. Slowly add additional milk until you get a smooth, loose batter. Add the banana and figs (or double the banana and leave out the fig).

Heat a frying pan with butter and make your pancakes. Top with whatever you like. I used honey!

This pancake batter lasts a couple of days, but the next day you'll want to add some additional milk. 

Oscar, get out of my photo shoot!

And just because...