Adventures with Stevia (and a Long Run)

My dad and I are running the Cannonball Half Marathon here in Greensboro in October.  I have 54 days until go time, and I have been really lax about training.  Why?  Well, part of it is that a half-marathon sounds so doable after a marathon.  Hubris? Probably.  Will it bite me come October?  Again, probably.  Also, I started school two weeks ago.  Working sure takes a bite out of running time, especially when the only showers at your place of work HAVE NO SHOWER CURTAINS.  That's just not going to happen.  Add to that the heat wave that has just begun to abate, and it (at least partially) explains my lack of running.

Yesterday I ran 8.5 miles with a friend from my son's school.  It was great to run long, and she was also a fan of taking walk breaks.  It was fabulous.  I tried my first Chocolate Mint Gu, and I loved it.  I had Gu down my sports bra and Gu Chomps- watermelon, of course- in my skirt, with a water bottle in my hand.  I was well-fueled.  It was hilly and humid but not quite as hot as it's been.  Right as we finished the thunder and rain came, so the timing was perfect.

When I got home, I decided to make my favorite brownie recipe.  I always made them as a child and memorized the recipe by about age eleven.  Yesterday, however, I tried something new- stevia for baking.  The bag said to substitute it cup-for-cup with sugar, so I tried.  After dumping the gloopy, slightly-curdled looking mass from the mixing bowl to the pan, I decided to read the rest of the bag.   It said to substitute stevia for up to half of the sugar in the recipe; also, it might require more egg white or baking powder.  Oops.  The resulting brownies were short, hard, crumbly, did not taste sweet, and tasted like egg.  Disappointed?  You betcha.  I still ate some, and the bambino thinks they are delicious; then again, he hasn't had much experience with brownies...

This week the weather is supposed to be a little cooler.  I plan to take the bambino for at least two stroller runs and then run longish on Saturday or Sunday.  Friday my parents come to town to play Spades, maybe I'll even get my dad to run with me Saturday... We'll see!