Cookies, knishes, and Apr 11-17 weekly recap

The stress of the NHL playoffs is wearing on me. We're less than a week in and there have already been a lot of shocking developments. I joke about people telling me how wrong I am in my predictions. However, I can't imagine anyone would have foreseen the Kings and the Ducks going a combined 0-4 in each of their first two games at home.

It's going to be a crazy, crazy week of hockey ahead!

Speaking of my favorite hockey teams, back in February I wrote about the privilege of watching a Blackhawks game from a suite for the first (and probably only) time ever. I'd mentioned getting two Blackhawks logo cookies from the dessert cart that night:

As I said back then, the cookies were too cute to eat. I took them home and have kept them to this day as artistic masterpieces.

Wouldn't you know it? Over the weekend, Adam and I discovered the source for these cookies: a north suburban restaurant/deli/bakery called Max and Benny's.

Check out some of their cookie creations!

It wasn't just about stumbling onto those cookies, either. I always enjoy exploring any of the restaurants featured on Chicago's Best - and Max and Benny's was highlighted for their matzo ball soup. Adam and I love traditional Jewish delis so we went to check it out.

L: San Francisco Reuben and potato pancake
Top R: Lox platter
Bottom R: The legendary matzo ball soup!

The food was really good. We were both stuffed, but that didn't stop me from popping into the bakery/deli afterwards. I bought a spinach/feta knish and a Reuben eggroll to take home. After my long run yesterday, I devoured that knish so quickly that I could have gotten arrested in at least four, maybe five states. (Sorry, no picture since I ate it too fast.)

I think race organizers should start serving knishes at their post-run refreshment tents.

On the note of long runs, here is how the week's training went:

MONDAY - Rest
TUESDAY - Yoga class, 45 minutes lifting
WEDNESDAY - Zumba class, run 3.5 miles on treadmill
THURSDAY - 10 minute warm-up on stationary bike, 55 minutes lifting
FRIDAY - Yoga class
SATURDAY - 30 minutes of stationary biking on "hill" setting, lift 15 minutes
SUNDAY - Run 12 miles with intermittant inclines

For yesterday's long run, I thought I'd do 10 miles outside with some random hills, then come home and finish with 2 miles of focused treadmill hills. That didn't end up happening for two reasons: 1) the random route I was running outside didn't get me back into my own neighborhood until about the 11.2 mark, and 2) my legs simply weren't having it.

I did fare pretty well on the intermittant hills, including a series of hill repeats around Miles 7-8. However, I am still in so much trouble for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. Despite all the effort I've put into hill training over the past few months, I think it's going to be too little, too late.

On a more positive note - I've been testing out doing long runs without wearing my Cho-Pat knee straps. So far I completed both a 10-miler and yesterday's 12-miler without issue. This is great news, as I've had to wear the straps for years!

Ideally I would like to run the Pittsburgh Half sans knee straps, but I'm also a little nervous about taking that risk on race day (May 1). This week is a stepback week, so I won't get much more opportunity to really test before then. Maybe I'll start the race with the knee straps, then take them off and give them to Adam at some point mid-race? TBD, TBD.

Who raced this weekend? Special congrats to all of you who PR'd and/or BQ'd (Xaarlin and Pete!) Who is running/watching Boston today? 

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Linking up with HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap.