Sunday Brioche

One of my favorite moments of the week is Sunday morning. S and I wake up usually around eight, and quickly get ourselves presentable to the outside world and head to Petsi's.

Well, actually. Every other week for the last month or so we've been running on Sunday morning before Petsi's. We've been cycling through the 5k 101 training program with six day weeks, running every other day. So last week on Sunday morning there we were, sweaty and happy at Petsi's around nine a.m., following our run of three eight minute intervals of jogging. We looked so happy, and were still talking about the high and low points of our run, that the scruffy gentleman behind the counter asked:
"So, has running stopped hurting? Because it's always just painful for me."

We gleefully got to respond, "Yes! No more pain!" Thanks to my new shoes from Marathon Sports.

But our weekend run fell on a Saturday this time around, so straight from bed to Petsi's today.

I walk by Petsi's every morning on my way to work, and it smells amazing even at seven a.m. I often stop for coffee during the week, and have to steel myself against the beautiful delights behind the glass. Sweet potato pecan breakfast bun, filled with a core of sweet potato fluff? Raspberry jam-filled corn muffin? Ginger raspberry scone? I'm a weak person. I barely stand a chance. When asked by an employee how they can help, I often say "I'll just get a coffee," so there's no chance of the kind person asking if there will be anything else.
Sunday is a special treat, though. My amazing husband gets me breakfast every weekend, and it's always the same thing - delicious Rao's coffee (the Petsi House Blend) with a bit of soy milk, and a vanilla sugar brioche.

Brioche is a sweet, eggy, buttery bread, which always (from Petsi’s) tastes like the love-child of challah and a croissant. This special specimen is doused with vanilla syrup, flecked with the tiny black dots of an authentic vanilla bean. They bake the individual brioche rolled in spirals in a muffin tin. So much of the joy is in slowly unrolling the layers of sweet, sticky bread. Today’s brioche was warm. Whether it was warm from the oven or, as I suspect, the microwave, I simply don't care. It was absolutely delicious.

Rapture Day

S and I began rapture Saturday with day two of week six of 5k 101’s 8 week training course. It’s the first day in a while that hasn’t been clouded by rain, so I finally got a chance to run in just shorts and a t-shirt. All the running goods I’ve been stocking up on are getting use. With just a few bites of banana and a glass of water with chia seeds, we strapped into our shoes and left the house.

We started with a five-minute warm-up walk down the hill towards Petsi’s, the sun warming our faces, then broke into the first of two twelve minute jogs. For the past two runs I’ve been logging miles on my iPhone with Nike+, but since my armband hasn't arrived and I’m getting wary of holding my phone in my bra, I clipped my tiny shuffle on instead. This means that I didn’t get the soothing voice of some robotic woman in my ear telling me that we had completed 1 and 2 miles, alerting me to my slightly sub-standard mph, but also that I didn’t have to worry about my phone slipping down the side of my bra.
Typically, running in the morning is more difficult for me, and today was no different. By the middle of the first interval my lungs were tired. They felt tiny, which is a strange sensation. I was grateful to stop for a small recovery, and then was ready to start the second interval. I would say the last eight minutes of that second interval were the easiest of the run, but I was still excited to stop running.

We slogged back up to the house and stretched, noting the mouse that had been left in front of our porch by a neighbor’s cat who loves us, then headed inside for breakfast.

I’ve been eating this protein-laden oatmeal concoction of my creating for a few days, and I keep exclaiming to S about how amazing it is. However, it also prompted a co-worker to comment that it looked like I was eating sewage during rounds yesterday morning. S, ever adventurous, was game to try, so I whipped up a double batch. Here’s how it works:

Ingredients for 2 servings:
 Scant ½ cup rolled quick oats
 ½ cup almond milk (unsweetened vanilla almond dream for us)
 ½ cup water
 1 banana, cut into small pieces (with a few larger ones)
 dash vanilla
 pinch of cinnamon
 4 tbsp hemp protein powder
 2 tsp chia seeds
 2 tsp maple syrup (divided, added at the end to each bowl)
 2 tbsp honey peanut butter (same as for syrup)

How to:
Mix water, almond milk and oats at medium heat, then leave to warm up. When it’s bubbling, add the banana, vanilla and cinnamon, and stir vigorously as the banana breaks down and the cereal gets creamy. It should smell amazing.
When the oats are still slightly too liquidy for your taste, take off the heat and add the chia and protein. Okay, it’s now slightly unappetizing. It’s green, in fact. Remember my oath that it’ll taste fantastic.
Now divide the goods into two bowls, top each with a teaspoon of maple syrup and a tablespoon of peanut butter, and devour. I use a kitchen scale to measure everything out because I like precision, and I like getting every gram of goodness that I deserve.