Marathon Weekend 2008 (Kerri's version)

For the second year in a row, it was a crazy, fun and tiring marathon weekend! Here's how it all went down.

Saturday
This year, we (mostly me) decided to enter Eliot in the Diaper Dash, which is a race for crawlers. The race was Saturday morning at 10:30 am in downtown St. Paul, near where the marathon finishes. Since Jason and Les (his marathon running partner - also our friend & daycare provider extraordinaire!) had to pick up their race numbers/bibs, etc. at the Expo in downtown, we brought Les with us. My mom also met us there so Eliot would have a larger cheering section!



We were running late (Yes, I know, as usual, but this time it was Jason's fault!) but luckily got there with enough time to register Eliot, pay the $10 fee and make it to the starting line before they were off and crawling. It was a bit of madhouse with all the babies and their parents. We set Eliot down and he was immediately accosted by a competitor! Dang those adorable baby girls!




When the race started, about 50% of the babies were crying or screaming and the other 50% had begun to crawl the grueling 5 feet toward the finish line. Eliot, having been injured by the adorable baby girl and frightened by all the noisy, screaming babies around him, had a bit of a nervous breakdown and didn't actually crawl at all.


As I kept taking photos, the cruel mother that I am, Eliot's loving Daddy and Grandma swooped in and rescued him from the utter horror that is the Diaper Dash. While they were comforting Eliot, I was secretly smiling on the inside (manipulative mother...) believing this to be a sign that as he gets older, Eliot will be more interested in books, choir and drama club than sports!





After Eliot had calmed down, Jason and Les took care of a critical part of any successful marathon training regimen: copious amounts of caffeine. Me and my mom had some also, but just because it was free, warm and tasted good.


After stopping at the Expo to get their marathon numbers, we dropped Les off at home, had lunch with my mom and spent a couple of hours shopping so Jason could get one last workout in before the race on Sunday...just kidding! We did go shopping but not for exercise! That night for supper, I made Jason a yummy carb-filled lasagna and buttery garlic bread. It was very good and we're still eating it today... I got the recipe from my Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, which I love. The goat cheese makes the filling nice and tangy which goes great with the heavier flavored sauce. Here's the recipe and some pictures:

Lasagna with Turkey Sausage
Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound lasagna noodles

15 ounces ricotta cheese

3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled (I used a nice soft chevre)

1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the olive oil in a large (10 to 12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sausage and cook over medium-low heat, breaking it up with a fork, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.
• Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain.
• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.
• Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch rectangular baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one 1/3 of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

Garlic Bread

• Roast a whole head of garlic at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until soft. To roast, put it in a tin foil pouch with about a teaspoon of olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt and stick in the oven. I used Siberian garlic - a mild, heirloom variety that we bought at our local farmer's market this summer.
• Once the garlic is soft, peel off the bulb wrapper and mash it with some soft butter.
• Spread on a crusty loaf of bread, add a bit of freshly shaved Parmesan and broil for a couple of minutes until bubbly and golden brown.
  

After supper, we got everything packed and ready for the next morning. Since it was going to be just me and Eliot chasing them around, I needed to be super organized. After we had climbed into bed, Jason asked me to remember to bring his Obama t-shirt so that he could change into it before he crossed the finish line. I remembered that last year, people had all kinds of stuff written on their bodies in permanent marker, so I asked him if he wanted me to draw Obama "stuff" on him. Of course he did! Here's my lovely artwork and Jason's political statement:


Sunday
Jason was up by 6:30 am and out of house shortly thereafter and me and Eliot were up by 7 am. I was hoping to leave the house by 8:45 so I could catch them at mile 8 at 9:20, but it was pouring rain when I was getting ready to go and it took me a lot longer to load the car and get out of the house. So I changed plans and went to mile 10 instead. I barely got there in time. As me and Eliot were walking toward the runners, I could see Jason and Les passing me. I ran toward them screaming like a crazy lady. I was wearing Eliot in the front pack, had a backpack on with a bunch of stuff they might need and was carrying an umbrella to keep us dry as it was still pouring rain. I think I must have looked hilarious, but thankfully I caught them.

Me and Eliot continued following them around the course and we were able to see them at miles 8, 15, 19, 21, 25 and at the finish. Yes, they finished! A great accomplishment considering Jason's "training" (if you want to call it that) consisted of less than 15 runs TOTAL. I'll let him tell you exactly how he did and what his finish time was. He did great!

It was a very fast paced day for me and Eliot and he also did great considering he was in and out of BOTH the carseat and the front pack all day. He liked seeing all the runners and the noisy spectators and loved walking around in the rain. He got very excited to see Daddy each time and I think after the first couple of miles, he understood what we were doing. He was all bundled up and comfy - we both stayed dry since our umbrella was great. It stopped raining at around 10:30 am and the boys got to finish their race a little drier (eventually) and a little warmer.

At mile 25, Tammy (J's sister), Nicole (his niece) and her kids, Marisa and Hayes joined us as well as our friends, Jennifer and her kids, Seth and Gabe. Thanks for coming out guys! Because of the rain and because I only have two hands, we didn't use the camera until mile 25...so the pictures are sparse.

At mile 25 and still looking great:


Only 1.2 miles to go (with the Obama shirt on!):


Finally, at the finish:





When we got home, we quickly heated up some lasagna and garlic bread because we were both starving...I KNOW that I didn't work nearly as hard as Jason, but I did lug over 25 lbs (Eliot) around all day and I bet I walked at least 8 miles, so I was starving, too. We ate and then Jason and Eliot took a hot bath. Eliot LOVES to takes baths so there's no way Jason could have taken one without him. Aren't my boys cute?


After their bath, we all crashed at about 6:30pm and didn't get up until Monday morning. Well, actually I got up to feed Eliot at least 3 times but that's normal. Regardless of that, it was a glorious night of sleep which we all needed very badly. All in all, a fantastic weekend. Jason will write his post either tonight or tomorrow (he's doing homework right now). Thanks to everyone who came and watched or cheered him on from home!