Each Easter as a kid my mom always had a new Easter dress (she usually sewed them for us… someday maybe I’ll be as cool as her) for us to wear to church on Easter. I love doing this same tradition with Brooke and get more excited about it than she does. (PS my dress is from Soel Boutique last year)
The part she was really excited about were her clip-on earnings.
She kept going around to everyone and pulling her hair up so that they could see her fancy jewels.
First, we started off the morning with an Easter basket and egg hunt. The lipstick (she called it that but it was really chapstick) was the best part of the whole experience (and the bunny gummies were for me).
For breakfast we made blueberry muffins together and then got to work on my mom’s favorite cake for dessert that night. She is a carrot cake fanatic (and quite picky about her carrot cake;) and so I took the task for Easter dessert pretty seriously.
My Mom’s Favorite Carrot Cake:
2 C sugar
2 C flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C oil
3 eggs
1 C coconut, shredded
2 C carrots, shredded
2 C pineapple, crushed and drained
1 C walnuts, chopped
1 C raisins
Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, soda and salt and set aside. Beat eggs, add oil, vanilla and dry ingredients. Add remained of ingreients and mix well. Bake in del 9 x 13 inch greased and floured pan at 335 degrees for 45 minutes (sometimes more.. sometimes less… just keep checking with a toothpick until it is done).
Add your favorite cream cheese frosting and you are good to go.
I forgot to take a picture of the inside but here is the top of the cake:) I tried to be creative and spell mom with the frosting.
After church we went to my sister’s for another Easter egg hunt and I was quickly reminded how ridiculously good those hint of lime Tostitos are. My sister and I used to go through bags of those so fast while watching Alias (did anyone else ever watch that show?). The amount of memories I have associated with different foods is kind of ridiculous.
Dinner was at my parents’ house and I arrived to this tower of avocado with fresh pineapple right next to it.
Last week we were trying to figure out who was going to bring different items for a traditional Easter dinner and then we all realized we love Mexican way more and made chicken fajita salads.
My aunt came prepared with games and cash prizes for the games. For this game you had to move M&Ms with your straw into your little bowl. The person with the most M&Ms in their bowl after a minute won. PS my mom had 10 of her grandkids there last night so it was quite a party.
The second game was seeing who could make the most amount of candy corn stand in 45 seconds. The real challenge of this game for me was not eating all of them instead.
And we finished things off with bubbles and dessert. It was a much needed rest/family day and I’m ready to hit up my Monday morning run… are you?!?!
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Here is how training went last week! So far I’ve been able to stick to the Hanson’s training pretty exact but I take my rest days on Sunday instead of Wednesdays.
Monday: 5 miles @ 8:00 pace.
Tuesday: 2.55 mile w/u 4 x 1.5 mile intervals (average pace for these= 6:22) with .5 mile slow recoveries, 1.45 mile c/d…. 12 miles total.
Wednesday: 6 miles @ 8:34 pace
Thursday: 1 mile w/u, 6 miles @ 6:34, 2 mile c/d… 9 miles total.
Friday: 5 miles @ 8:40 pace.
Saturday: 14 miles!!! 7:27 average pace.
Sunday: OFF!
Total miles—> 51
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What was your best run last week? Hardest run?
Any carrot cake fans? Absolute favorite cake flavor?
What was the highlight of your weekend?
If following a training plan right now… which one are you following?
70 comments
Gretchen | Gretchruns
Last week I was recovering from a half, so I have to say all of my runs were the hardest lol! My best was probably running around Gettysburg during a day trip. So beautiful down there!
I’m following a marathon training plan that I found on Women’s Running. It’s called the break 4 hour plan!
Margaret @ youngandrungry
It is crazy how similar our training is and I write my own training plans without even looking at anything! Such a coincidence!
I love the Easter games that you play with your family! We only have a few little ones in our family right now, but I can’t wait to do that once we grow a little more. I love carrot cake and we had some last night, but I use to absolutely hate it! I also love lemon, strawberry, or chocolate!
Natalie
Your Easter with the fam looks so fun! The highlight of my weekend was my usual froyo (I can’t get enough of it!!) and hanging poolside on Saturday. The weather was PERFECT.
I’m not really following a training plan right now but rely on my coach to help me get to my goals. He’s awesome and has already helped me tremendously, so I’m looking forward to a new racing season!
Sarah @ SarahRuns26
Well the highlight of my weekend wasn’t necessarily a good one – I had to skip my marathon. I keep telling myself that since I didn’t run, I got to spend more time with my niece and nephews, so that was definitely a win.
I am allergic to nuts, so the only carrot cake I’ve had doesn’t have nuts in it. But I still love that kind!
And now, even though I didn’t actually race, I’m taking some time off from training. It’s been a long time, so we will see how this goes!
Michelle
I love carrot cake! I haven’t had it in forever but now I’m craving it. Thanks for sharing your recipe! Will definitely be trying it out soon.
Love Brooke’s earrings!
Rebecca@RunningFoodBaby
Sometimes I like carrot cake but it has to be fresh and baked from home.
I ran 12K and although it wasn’t easy, it was so sunny out that I didn’t care.
We finished all of our tiling projects at my house. Yay!
Michele @paleorunningmomma
Carrot cake is way up there especially with the frosting! My Sat 20 miler was great but also crazy scary when an unleashed dog came at me at mile 8 – luckily all was fine and I just went the other way and won’t be passing that area again. Your Easter looks perfect!
Laura @ This Runner's Recipes
The highlight of my weekend was Easter church and dinner, it’s definitely one of my favorite holidays. We didn’t have traditional carrot cake though – blueberry pie instead.
I adapt my training plans from Brad Hudson’s Run Faster from the 5k to Marathon. His workouts have a more laidback and intuitive feel early on and then become very race specific, which I like.
kelly
I love love love carrot cake-but without the walnuts. Next favorite non vanilla/chocolate cake flavor is banana cake.
Your Easter games look ridiculously fun! I want to do them with my kiddos for fun.
My runs were great last week-we were on spring break and it was chilly but I had to bust out the shorts (with long sleeves and mittens). My best runs are the ones that are the day after a long bike ride. I just love that feeling of bike sore legs wanting to run.
I took the kids to Lego Land (Germany) on Easter. It was so much fun!
Sally @ sweat out the small stuff
Yesterday was my long run of 8 miles. I thought I was taking it easy but my last 4 miles were faster than my first 4. I felt stronger than usual too. All a good sign. I’m not training for any PRs but knowing I will run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler next week and enjoy it rather than having it feel like a death march exhilarates me. Took the entire training cycle to finally get past the hump.
I had a teary goodbye with the boyfriend last night. He is going on a week vacation with his mom and his daughters. I miss him already but his oldest is already sending me pics. Love them!
Katrina @cardioandkilos
Carrot cake is the absolute greatest flavour ever!! I’m obsessed. Your recipe looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it!
Mexican food in place of traditional turkey also sounds like a dream! It sounds like you had an amazing holiday with your family :)
Ultra Run Couple @UltraRunCouple
Saturday’s run rocked for me! 20 miles with 5 tempo and then 6 half mile repeats thrown in. Then we did another 20 on Sunday but very easy. My post about it will be up in a few hours.
Your family parties seem like such fun! What a blessing to have family! I cannot wait to see my mom in a few weeks and Todd’s folks come back for the Spring/Summer/Fall in one week. Yay!
Kristina Running
Awesome week of running! Since everyone in the run blogger community is talking about Hansons these days I decided to start using one of their Base plans to keep me on track until I begin training for Chicago in June.
I think it’s really good prep work for using a Hansons plan since you’re still running six days a week and getting the effects of cumulative fatigue. I think the only difference is there are no speed days (only strength) and the back to back long runs are shorter. I like that you changed your rest day to Sunday! I’m so used to having a Monday rest day that taking it on Wednesdays now is weird. I might have to switch it around when I start the actual training plan this summer!
Kaci @ Kaci K. RD2Be
I’m following Hal Higdon’s 15k plan for a 10 mile race in May but skipped all of my runs last week. Oops!
The highlight of my weekend was getting a new tv. I really couldn’t care less about what kind of tv we have but it makes me happy to see my husband happy.
Meesh
I enjoy carrot cake (esp the cream cheese icing!!), but strangely have never attempted to make it!
Kathy
I have never seen a bag of chips in an Easter basket before….love it!! You guys must have a great metabolism because with the amount of food in the pictures I can’t believe how fit every one is…..or maybe every second they are not eating they are exercising???
;-)
The Hungry Runner Girl
hahaha the Easter bunny for them didn’t make it to the store in time before all of the Easter stuff was sold out so hence the bag of chips:) But yes, we love our food!
Arthi
I always say I’m not a carrot cake fan but then every time I eat it, I love it and always want more. Somethin about that cream cheese frosting!
Ended the week at about 48 miles and the best run was probably my long run on Saturday. Not my fastest pace at all BUT my rib cage is finally starting to feel better so the pain was more bearable than it’s been lately!
Hope you had a great Easter!!
Hollie
It looks like you guys had a great weekend. I had clip on earnings for a while when I was young and they actually hurt my ears a lot. I wonder if anyone else struggled with that.
My favorite part of the weekend was definitely winning the Phillies 5k. It was such an incredible experience.
Samantha @ believeandrun
What was your best run last week? Hardest run?
My best run last week was a super early morning with my friend Rachel – it was awesome! Watched the sunrise over Lake Michigan.
Hardest Run – a 3 miler on Tuesday – I am unsure why, but I struggled.
Highlight of Weekend was drawing names of family members and all writing a short letter in cursive explaining why we were happy they were here and a compliment – my family is sassy so it was quite entertaining and sentimental. (Cursive – because it is no longer taught in school – soon will be a lost art)
Hal Higdons Half Marathon Novice 2 is my current training plan!
Meredith @ the cookie chrunicles
Aw I love how Brooke shows off her earrings! I never liked carrot cake but lately I see so many that look good!
brynn
I never cared for carrot cake until recently, and now I love it! But my absolute favorite flavor is a moist white cake or strawberry. The best part of my weekend was watching Mitch find eggs. He is finally old enough to get into the fun activities.
Karrie
Brooke is so adorable with her earrings! I also love those games! I’m going to have to see if my family can play those during the holidays.
My best run was a four miler that was at a faster pace than I’m used to but it felt so good! My favorite cake flavor is strawberry with cream cheese icing. Sooo good.
The highlight of my weekend was watching all my nephews hunt Easter eggs! They had a blast.
Steph @ loveandlunge
I used to hate carrot cake with a fiery passion, but now I can’t get enough. amazing how those tastebuds change haha. except I cannot do pineapple in it at all. it’s a texture thing for sure.
also, those games seem like a blast. is it bad that I want to play them all and I’m an adult? games with candy are the best kind of game if you ask me. and they definitely look like they’re having the time of their lives playing!
Lisa
So I work for Frito-Lay (talk about being tempted by snacks all the time!) and Hint of Lime Tostitos are my favorite Tostitos too! I actually got to be part of an inside panel last week testing a new Hint of Lime salsa we are working on, can’t wait to try them together one day!
The Hungry Runner Girl
NO WAY!!!! Okay, this is so cool Lisa. I can’t wait to try out the new salsa. I would be eating Hint of Lime Tostitos all day long if I worked there!
Tiffany @ The Chi-Athlete
What a fantastic Easter! Those games of y’alls — I gotta get my family on board with playing some of them. Coming back slow and low after injury.:)
Kristin
Your carrot cake recipe looks delicious! Cannot wait to try. I successfully made rice krispy treats this weekend and I would have to say that was a highlight because they turned out edible ;)
My best run was Saturday; 4 hilly miles – first mile downhill and next three miles each with a hill that gets steeper. It was my best because I felt accomplished afterwards!
Jenny
Alias!!!! My sister and I stayed up all night watching the first few season. I love that show so much that my husband bought the seasons for me and now I’m going to have to pull them out to watch them again. One year my sister and I wanted to be different aliases for Halloween, then she got married and we didn’t think her short, strappy dresses would work well with temple appropriate clothing so we never did it.
Best cake to me is cheese cake.
Nina
I love carrot cake but my husband and his family do not so I don’t have people to share it with. (I am discerning, like your mom. No fake overly sugary store bought carrot cake will do).
Saturday’s run was hard, I wasn’t feeling great and struggled.
Best part of my weekend – was noticing how good my husband looks since all of his treatments are done. He put on some weight, his goatee is back and his hair is starting to come back. Plus the tired look is gone. It was a holiday of gratitude for me.
My in-laws had a pasta course, which I made my main meal. I am not a fan of ham, lamb, etc. but pasta? Bring it on. Mexican would have also been delicious.
Salina
I have loved carrot cake ever since I was little but haven’t had a piece in a long time. Your mexican easter salad looks delicious!
Kristen @ Glitter and Dust
I’m not a big fan of carrot cake and will eat only the frosting. Chocolate for the win, always.
The highlight of my weekend –> My husband sent me on an Easter egg hunt in our house and filled a bunch of eggs with gift cards to my favorite stores and restaurants. It was truly a surprise!
Nicole (Cuckoolemon)
Love the easter pics!! But carrot cake is just not my thing!
Jennifer
My daughter turned two this weekend. I made my favorite cake, rainbow chip with cherry frosting chilled in the fridge! It was just as good as I remember! ?
The Hungry Runner Girl
Happy birthday to you little one Jennifer! Oh and that cake sounds amazing!!!
The Hungry Runner Girl
PS PERFECT EMOJI!!
Amanda @ Exploring Life & Things
What a fun Easter! Those games look awesome too, I want to play them at my next family gathering haha. The highlight of my weekend was just eating lots of good food with my family :) 3 whole days of it haha.
I love carrot cake but I rarely ever have it, no idea why! I love lemon and chocolate cake too!
Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious
Carrot cake is my favorite too! Everyone always thinks I’m strange that I like it so much. I will always choose carrot cake over chocolate and I always request it for my birthday too. I joke with people that the man I’m meant to be with will just “know” that I need carrot cake without me asking.
Ali
Oh my goodness!! Alias has been getting me through my treadmill runs this summer! One of the only shows exciting enough to hold my attention on the mill.
The Hungry Runner Girl
AHHH YES!! So glad you’ve been watching it while running, it is such a good show!
Victoria @ Minus Thirty Three
Literally drooling over the bowl of avocado – they’re perfect!
Carrot cake is my favourite also so I think I may have to experience with this one!!
Loribeth
My hardest run was my best run time -wise! The pollen made most of my runs last week feel harder than they really were.
I love carrot cake, but strawberry cake is probably my favorite!
The highlight of my weekend was being lazy with my husband last night……….it had been a hard weekend at work and it was so nice to relax!
I have a half marathon in early June, but I basically make up my own training plans and then get inspiration from others for what to do on my speed days. This week I only get to run 4 days because of some extra work hours, but I hope to make all the runs worth it!
tess
Oh man that photo of Brooke with her little earrings…melt. That was cute.
My mom used to make us dresses, too. I didn’t make my daughter dresses but her birthday is a week from Halloween so every costume ever was handmade and usually some kind of princess or witch or something fabulous. And usually on very short notice. That’s my girl.
Also, I think I’m in love with that bowl of avocado…sigh. I need some avocado today. Right now. perhaps for breakfast with some lovely sweet potato. Yes, I’m hungry. Don’t judge me.
Julie
What an awesome Easter. I need to remember those games, they sound fun, inexpensive, and easy! We played Catch Phrase last night after Easter dinner, that game is always a blast.
I’m a HUGE fan of carrot cake. I’m sure your mom has tried Kneaders carrot cake, it’s one of my favorites. I’m just a huge fan of cake in general though. I was recently converted to the amazingness that is banana cake.
Cynthia
Love all your Easter pictures! Those candy corn would not last 5 seconds in my presence. Carrot cake is awesome. I have my marathon in … 6 days – been following the FIRST/Furman Institute Marathon Training Plan and it’s been tough but I feel like every run has made a difference in my training.
Becky @goodfortheswole
I just can’t get on board with carrot cake for some reason…I don’t know what it is! The best part of my Easter was definitely the Cadbury eggs because…well I feel like this doesn’t need explaining haha
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
Her little earrings are too cute!! Glad you had a good Easter!
Sarah
LOVED Alias!! Never missed an episode and was sad when it went off the air. The highlight of my Easter weekend, besides a wonderful church service, was enjoying my Mama’s cooking!
Amanda
Do you still have your running coach or are you doing the plan independently? Thanks!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey Amanda!! I am just doing the plan independently! I plan on using my coach again when I want to train for a marathon again… but for right now I just kind of wanted to take a step back from such structured running! Hope you have a fabulous week!
Grant
Last week I (unintentionally) set a new record for most miles in one week… 98! That includes two 16-milers and a 17.5-miler (which would be both my hardest and best), so it’s kind of not surprising in retrospect. Maybe that explains why I probably consumed 5000 calories of Easter desserts yesterday!
Carrot cake is definitely in my top 3 flavors of cake, but personally I say no to the inclusion of coconut, pineapple, and nuts. Raisins are acceptable, but I usually omit those, too.
The Hungry Runner Girl
98 miles!!! HOLY COW GRANT!!! You are rocking it! WOW. You deserved every single one of those calories yesterday:) I was a little hesitant about all of the add-ins too!
Grant
Also, I love Brooke’s expression in that first picture!
Rachael @ Catch Me if You Can
mmmm carrot cake, I love carrot cake but your mom is right it has to be made correctly! i bet yours was delicious! those games sound so fun and so simple. even better the cleanup is you get to eat the game :D
Morgan
That fajita salad look DELICIOUS. I try to eat an avocado everyday- they are just so healthy for runners.
Hardest run: I’m a collegiate runner, so I ran in a meet this weekend. The meet was close to home, so instead of bussing all the athletes, our coach had us carpool. Of course, I got stuck at rail road crossing because a train had broken down. I didn’t get to the track until 5 minutes before race time! I just had to throw my spikes on and go. That was definitely my hardest race. And plus, it was 10k on the track, which is just a lot of circles. But it did teach me to take a deep breath when things aren’t going as planned!
I love your blog! Thank you for posting!
Liz S
I love carrot cake! Wishing right now I would’ve made some for Easter. Maybe I’ll have to make some for General Conference weekend! :)
I am not following a training plan right now but the plan you’re doing is one I’ve considered. I’ll be curious to see how you like it!
Best run from last week was a 15k trail mountain run my friend and I did. It was so tough with lots and lots of uphill but it was so awesome! Lately I haven’t felt very motivated with running but towards the end of the run when we were going downhill (finally) I felt incredible and just had the best feeling and reminder that I love running. It felt incredible to feel that runners high again and I needed that!
Highlight of the weekend was an Easter egg hunt with my family and friends on a beautiful sunny day! And going to church with my husband and kids. Loved wearing our new Easter clothes too!
Kristin
I love carrot cake. My favorite cake is Raw Apple Cake, very similar to this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8269/raw-apple-cake/. (I don’t know if it is exactly the same recipe.) I add walnuts and raisins also. And the cream cheese frosting is MANDATORY.
Clark
Do not care for carrot cake. I would probably go with red velvet. I’ll send you a pic of the Star Wars birthday cake I made for my daughter’s Bday a few weeks ago.
Tiffany
I LOVE Alias!! I own all the seasons on DVD, and it is a great treadmill running show! :) It sure gets you pumped! Even though Alias in now on Netflix, I prefer the DVD’s because the music is different on Netflix! How obsessed am I that I even know the music of the show?!
Jill @ RunEatSnap
I am a carrot cake fan! I got a recipe from a friend and used to make it for special occasions. No nuts or raisins though!
Meagan Leanne
Those hint of lime chips really are the best. I could pretty easily go through a whole bag with my sister or husband while watching a movie. I am not a big carrot cake fan because of the raisins… but I got plenty of sugar this weekend downing the little sugar shell coated Cadbury eggs. They were amazing!
Sam @ See Sam Run
Your Easter sounds like it was really fun! I love the idea of the candy games. And your mexican dinner is an awesome idea! I was home for Easter for the first time in 6 years, which was really nice. I somehow made it through the day without eating ANY chocolate!
Awesome week of running! I hit 20 miles last week for the first time since I got hurt in July. I was really excited about that!
Rachel @ Simply Rachel Nicole
What a fun Easter!! Your family does such fun things on the holidays. :)
Tracy @ run2wine.com
I love carrot cake, especially J Alexander’s, not sure if you have one in UT. Also, HUB 51 in Chicago’s is amazing too!! I use MPR coaching and follow what he says!!
We found a wedding venue & set a date, so that was the upside of my weekend!
Lee
I love your dress!
Lee
I hit the button too fast! My mom sewed us (4 girls!) dresses for Christmas and Easter every year. One year at Christmas, she made us Annie dresses and got us all black patent shoes. One Easter, she made us all Little House on the Prairie dresses. She was really talented. I sewed my oldest daughter a pair of black and gold sweat pants when I was pregnant with her. They ended up with a lopsided crotch. I didn’t inherit my mother’s skills.
Kay
What a great Easter with your family!
Sam
I love carrot cake!! I will have to try that recipe.
Faith VanderMolen
Sounds like such a great Easter! My Mom always made me and my sister matching dresses for Easter. They were definitely 80s style and definitely embarrassing to look back on, but such fun memories:)
[email protected]
That picture of Brooke with her earrings is so precious! Those candy games sound so fun, what a great tradition! My best run was getting my longest training run in for Boston. It’s such a good feeling to know that the end is in sight, and the celebration of all the hard work is almost here. Happy running!