Twofers, marathons, and Wheat Thins

The Hubby and I are both runners.  He prefers the mud covered intensity of Obstacle Course Races (OCRs) like Tough Mudder, while I'm a dedicated Road Racer.  With two racers in the family though, we have have to have a MASTER calendar of all the events we're signed up for.  "Check the Calendar" is an often heard phrase in our house, and it's an instruction to go check the desk size calendar that's attached to our brag wall.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I'm running TWO races in the same weekend.  I often get carried away by race sign ups when they offer discount codes or when a bunch of fellow racers are all signing up.  That's what must have happened when I managed to sign up for BOTH the Electric Run in Del Mar, CA and the Cardiff Kook in Encinitas, CA on the same weekend.  I've never run a two-fer before, but there's a first time for everything.  And luckily my two-fer is just two 5ks.  Some day I might feel up to running a 5k followed by a 10k or even a half marathon the day after.  Right now I'll stick to accidentally registering for two small races.

During Thanksgiving Break my Daddy (a 100 mile Ultramarathoner) told me I'm ready to run a marathon.  Since I'm like him in every way (except for that crazy 100 mile race thing he's got going on), he must have known that his comment would circle around in my head until I couldn't ignore it.  I found myself checking the most "walker friendly" marathons at MarathonGuide.com  Perhaps this time next year I'll be planning to do one of those . . . if I haven't worn out the legs running 8 half marathons in 2013.

Runners need carbs and lately I find myself fighting against eating conventional processed carbs.  I miss the crunchy saltiness of crackers.  My flaxseed crackers are great, but they're quite delicate, which makes them useless for dipping.  Thank Goodness for inventive cooks who make low carb/paleo versions of brand name crackers!  This recipe for "ALMOND THINS" was found at a website called lowcarbfriends.com, a message board for those following the gluten free or low carb lifestyles.  And I am EVER grateful for this recipe!

Almond Thins

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 packet of Splenda
• 1 egg white
• pinch of salt, garlic powder, & onion powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven 325. 
2. Mix ingredients well. 
3. Place mixture onto a well greased piece of tin foil. Lay a piece of saran wrap over top of mixture. Use a rolling pin to roll out to a cracker thickness. Gently remove saran wrap. 
4. Sprinkle more salt on top if desired and press lightly into dough. Score with knife or pizza cutter into 1.5 inch squares. 
5. Lay tin foil on rack in oven. Bake until golden brown about 10 minutes. Makes around 30 crackers.

Nutritional info: serving size 7 crackers fat 13.1g  sat fat 0.9g  cholesterol 0mg  sodium 12.8mg  carb 5.7g  fiber 2.8  protein 6.4g