Swamp Stomp 2008

Dh, dd, ds, dd2 and I ran our races this morning. Nine year-old Katie did great despite little preparation. She didn't decide she was going to run until we got there and her friend talked her into it. She placed 2nd in the 1 mile Fun Run and got a nice engraved medal. Five year-old Lily and her brother Jake got tangled up at the start and both hit the ground pretty hard. There was a little blood and a lot of tears but Lily finally brushed it off and took off running ... even though by that point you couldn't even *see* any of the other runners anymore. Ds stayed with her and by the time they came around the lake toward the finish line, she'd managed to pass four people (at least two of whom were adults!) and finish in 10th place. :-) She's very proud of her engraved medal and I'm very proud of her for finishing her race.

Oh boy! I knew I'd lost a lot of conditioning while I was sick but I didn't know I'd lost *that* much. :-( Two weeks ago I had a great 5 mile run. I felt like I was flying and like I could have run all day. Well, that was then ... I finished. That was actually my goal so I'm happy I was able to finish but it is so frustrating that my time was ten minutes slower this year than last year. :-(

Dh did great and I think definitely proved that our walk/run plan for the half marathon will be a good thing. I was chasing him most of the race. I could see him ahead of me walking and running but though I ran the whole time I couldn't catch up. LOL! He had a lot more energy than I did on the final mile so I think we're gonna try to go that route for our half this year. It should be fun, actually. After being so focussed on time last year, we missed out on the "spectacle" of the event. This year we can enjoy all the scenery and enjoy spending the day together as we will be celebrating our 13th anniversary by running the race.

As soon as I saw it, I knew that with a little tweaking, we'd love RecipeGirl's recipe for Pan Seared Shrimp with Chipotle-Lime Glaze. I love shrimp but dh isn't a big fan. To get around that I diced up a chicken breast and sauteed it in a little olive oil and seasoned it with some salt and freshly ground pepper. I divided the Chipotle-Lime Glaze and used half on dh's chicken and half on my shrimp. It was a little too zippy for the kids (as I expected) but dh and I really liked it. I only had small shrimp on hand so I rolled it into a tortilla with a little guacamole and it was delish!


Pan-Seared Shrimp with Chipotle-Lime Glaze
Recipe from The Recipe Girl

Glaze:
1 whole chipotle chile canned in adobo, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
4 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Shrimp:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp, (21-25 per pound), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

Prepare glaze: In a small bowl, combine glaze ingredients and stir to mix. Set aside.

Heat ½ Tbsp. of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, toss shrimp, salt, pepper and sugar in a medium bowl. Add half of the shrimp to the pan in a single layer and cook until spotty brown and the edges turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat. Using tongs, flip each shrimp and let stand until all but the center is opaque, about 30 seconds. Transfer the shrimp to a large plate. Repeat with the remaining ½ Tbsp. oil and the remaining shrimp.

After the second batch has stood off the heat, return the first batch to the skillet. Add the glaze mixture and toss until combined. Cover the skillet and let stand until the shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.