Twilight Run (Race Recap)

The Fort Whyte Twilight Run on Thursday was my first 10k race.  No, this did not include sparkly vampires or werewolves.  It's a night time race where everyone wears headlamps and other accessories that light up the night.  I wasn't too confident for this race from the get go.  I had not really been focused on training recently and had not gone for a run since a 9k run out at the cabin last Saturday.  Tuesday I picked up my race kit and met Kyle there.  The kit included my bib, timing chip, head lamp, a map of the course and vouchers for a smokie and s'mores.

Wednesday morning, I woke up with a sore neck.  I attempted to stretch it out and used my inversion table, but I still felt discomfort in my neck and back.  I also strayed from my pre race ritual of carb loading 1 or 2 days prior, so I didn't even eat any pasta this week.  This was also an evening race.  I normally eat light prior to a morning race.  This being in the evening, I bbq'd a couple of chicken burgers and ate that about 3 hours before the start time.  Not the greatest of ideas.

It looked to be a hot one for the race.  The high that day was 26 C and it had rained earlier that morning, so it was very humid.  At 8PM it was 25 C, but felt like 30 C and at 10PM it was 22 C, felt like 27C.  I made sure to drink lots of water throughout the day because of this. 

I picked up Ed, Jay and Steph and we went to Fort Whyte Alive.  On the way, we passed Sky Zone.  It had just opened up a couple weekends ago and is basically a trampoline center with basketball hoops and dodge ball.  Looks like fun and hope to check it out soon.  We arrived and parked, then found Bryan immediately.  We got ready, attached our bibs, applied bug spray, put on my race belt to safe guard my keys and iphone and put on some glow sticks.  I had a green necklace and stuck 4 sticks through the laces of my shoes.  I chose to wear my volt colored Air Pegasus due to it's brightness.  While walking to the race area, I bumped into Cheryl and her daughter, who were running the 5k race.  Met up with Kyle near the starting line who just came from hockey.  I finished my water and decided to return to my car to put away my bottle.  On the way back, I ran into Sandra and Steve, who left their second baseball game early to attend the race.

Prior to the race.  Our group is standing at the top left, next to the group in yellow

For my costume, I took the Iron Man mask I used for Color Me Rad and painted it with glow in the dark green acrylic paint and the outer part, just regular red.  I searched everywhere for glow in the dark spray paint, but one lady at Walmart told me that they don't carry it until closer to Halloween.  I also got a red tee shirt, cut out a stencil out of duct tape, stuck it on the chest and painted an arc reactor, again in glow in the dark green.  To finish it off, I got some glow sticks.  Unfortunately we didn't snap any pics prior to the race and it was fairly dark afterwards, so no race real race pics.  Bryan sported a shirt with a light up arc reactor that shown through his chest.

My costume post race

The runners were then asked to line up at the starting line.  I activated my Soleus watch to find a satellite signal, got MapMyRun ready on my iPhone, put on my Iron Man mask and my head lamp, setting it to the second setting.  The first setting lit up half the LED lights, second lit them all up and the third strobed them.  Despite charging my mask and shirt on a very bright light, when it got dark, it failed to shine bright as I hoped.  Oh well.  The race started at 8:45.  I started both my Soleus and MMR as I crossed the starting line and tucked my iPhone away in my racing belt's pocket.

You can see my right foot at the bottom right with a glow stick tucked in my shoe laces

It was a congested, narrow path to start, so I could only run at a fairly easy pace as we headed north.  Further up, the path widened and the faster runners were able to break away from the pack.  The Iron Man mask was a bad idea and I had a feeling it would be.  I found it very hot and it was difficult to breath.  At this point, I was able to make adjustments on the left side of the path, while allowing others to pass on the right.  I removed my head lamp, mask and buff.  I adjusted my buff, placed my head lamp on and then my mask on backwards.  I vow not to dress up that elaborately in future races longer than 6k.

It got dark very quickly by the 1km mark.  I could feel my neck was impeding my running and I couldn't look over my right shoulder without feeling pain.  I know my posture wasn't great due to this and made my back sore.  Definitely wasn't a fun run for me.  I found myself constantly looking downwards to watch for possible hazards.  This too didn't help.  Seeing as the rules said no earphones, I didn't carry mine, but saw quite a few people who disregarded this and wore theirs anyways.  So I turned on my tunes and listened to music via the speaker.  My stomach wasn't feeling all that great either.  I probably shouldn't have eaten so heavy before the race.  Live and learn I suppose.  I'll know better for the next race.  If I recall correctly, it was about the 3.3km mark that we reached a hill.  We ran around to the back and climbed the gradual slope to the top.  From the top, I could see a stream of lights of people running the stretch I had just completed.  It was a cool sight to see.  I didn't stop to admire it, because I was busy running a race.

Marshalls instructed us to circle the pylons and descend to the left.  We ran back along most of the same trail, but veered left near a pond (marsh).  It didn't smell very pleasant here.  Now we entered a more wooded area, making it very dark.  This is where we relied heavily on our head lamps to navigate through the course.  Many paths were blocked by ribbons or pylons and some even had Marshalls directing traffic.

Somewhere around the 5km mark, Marshalls instructed that water was available about half a click away.  It was much closer to 1km, as I recall looking at my watch and noticed I had ran 0.5km, and again 0.8km without seeing the water station.  I finally reached it and grabbed a cup gatorade.  I felt that 1 water station wasn't nearly enough for this particular distance.  If I remember correctly, I believe both halfs I ran previously included at least 4, maybe 5 or 6 drink stations, and that's just a little over twice the distance.

We arrived back to the right of the Start/Finish line and was now running south maybe 7.5km into the race.  A little ways up, there was two way traffic and I noticed a photographer was set up and was taking photos. I then recognized Jay's COD running towards me, so I greeted him as he ran by.  Further down, a Marshall directed us off the gravel path into an even more wooded area.  I couldn't hear her clearly due to my music, but I heard her say something about keeping left.  I ran into the woods and had to stop due a trio standing at a fork, looking confused.  On girl questioned "she said to stay left, right?"  "I think so", I said.  They took the left path and I followed.  As did some behind me.  The trail got very narrow, had rocks and roots sticking out and low hanging branches.  We slowed down to a hike to prevent injuring ourselves on hazards.  It also ran very close to the water, close enough that one false step, you could fall in.  The girl ahead of me was calling out rocks and roots for me and I did the same for the girl behind me.  She did happen to trip and stumble, bracing herself on my back with her hands to keep from falling.  My shirt was drenched at this time, so it was probably pretty gross for her.  I asked her if she was alright and she said yes.  The lead guy said he could see lights up ahead, so we carried on this improvised route.  We finally got to a clearing and saw that the path was ribboned off to our right.  We ran past the ribbon and rejoined the race.  This was silly that through the race there were ribbons, pylons and marshalls directing the runners, but in the area most needed, there was nothing.  This little detour added about another 0.5km to our race at a hiking pace.

I carried on and a lady joined me by my side because I had music.  We chatted a bit, about what, I don't remember.  What I do know is she didn't run off course.  After a short bit, she ran ahead to catch up to her friends.  Now closer to the end, the trees got thick and it was pitch black.  I was now running with another girl.  I told her we should be nearly done, maybe 200m.  But given that I ran that extra 500m, the finish line didn't come soon enough.  The path was now winding a lot and I wondered if we were running in circles.  We then questioned if we went the right way, as we past what looked like a path.  We kind of stopped and went back to look, but it led to water.  So we continued on.  I recognized the area where the photographer was set up earlier, so I knew the end was near.  I picked up the pace and crossed the finished line to cheers from some of my friends.  According to MMR, I finished in 1:20:20.  Not great, but not bad considering.  I was hoping to finish under 1:15.

We discussed the race a bit, especially the fact that most of us strayed off course and got lost.  Steph fell in line for the freebies, as she had her vouchers with her.  I got several cups of water, which was warm.  Jay, Ed and I decided to return to the car to change our shirts.  I brought the car closer and we returned to the bbq.  I got my s'mores package and smokie, but they didn't provide a bun.  I wasn't feeling so hot, so I decided to take them home.  They were now deflating the finish line.  Ed told me to run through again and he'd take pics.  I removed my chip to prevent the possible miscalculation of my time and gave my food to Ed to hold.  He also lent me his head lamp as I left mine at the car.  He took a few pics as some people laughed at my reenactment.

Reenactment of me crossing the finish line 40 min later.

We decided to call it a night and I drove those who came with me, home.  At home, I realized that I didn't find out whether or not the smokie was pork or beef.  I cannot eat beef due to medical reasons, so unfortunately I had to toss it.  Some of my friends are already talking about doing this race again next year.  It's too early for me to say, but I've done it once, and I didn't find it too enjoyable.  That and the fact that no medal was provided.  I have nearly a year to decide.  Next race I'm thinking of doing is the Winnipeg 10&10 on September 8th.   Most of my friends are planning on doing the 10 miler, but I don't think I'm ready for that this soon.  I have now registered for the 10k race and will prepare for the WFPS half in October. 

30 Day Challenges Abs to Arms

30 days, 1610 sit-ups, 2115 crunches, 904 leg raises and 23 min 17 sec of planks, I have completed the 30 Day Ab Challenge. 

And yes it was a challenge.  Much hard than the 30 Day Squat Challenge that I did from June-July.  My abs do feel stronger, but they are unfortunately still hidden underneath my gut.  I challenged some friends and a stranger (a friend's friend from Facebook) to do this with me, but have not checked in with them to see if they completed it yet.  I know a couple of them had kept up, while another is extending it to do at her own pace, which is fine.  I myself was not without my own struggles.  I have some tight muscles which causes some discomfort on my spine.  I am seeing a Chiropractor for that.  While doing this ab challenge, especially during the second week, I've noticed that my back has been much tighter.  I am hoping that since I'm now done, my back won't cause me as much problems.

2 weekends ago, I was headed to the cabin for 2 nights, which turned into 3.  I decided to skip a rest day and get ahead in my challenge.  It was a good thing, because I missed a workout and drew even.  That next week, I ended up falling behind a day as well.  Day 28, I did catch up and was able to completed the Challenge within the intended 30 days.

This weekend is another cabin weekend, so Steph and I decided we'd start the 30 Day Arm Challenge on Monday.

 I'm hoping those who did or at least tried the ab challenge, will join us again for the arms challenge.  I've also recruited a couple others and hope to convince a few more.  I'm thinking that I'll use 10 lbs weights.  I'm sure that 10 bicep curls will be pretty simple, but by day 30, 150 will be tough. I've created a spreadsheet with the workouts specified for Aug 26-Sept 22. 

Let me know if you intend to join us for the arm challenge, and if you do, good luck!

The World's End

Following Dirty Donkey on Saturday, I came home, showered, ate and relaxed.  As I was cruising Facebook, I saw that Virgin Radio posted a picture for a caption contest with the following photo.

I then submitted the following caption.

And I actually won.  I scored a Capital Cities - In A Tidal Wave of Mystery CD and 4 passes to the advanced screening of The World's End with Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Star Trek movies. 

I've sorta of been listening to the CD in the car.  I recognize Safe and Sound which gets radio play.  So far it's pretty mellow with some funky beats.

I invited 3 friends to join me on Wednesday to see The World's End, Sandra, James and Sam.  Sandra came with me and we met up with James at the theater an hour before the show.  It wasn't busy and managed to get good seats.  I went out to meet Sam to give him his ticket and to get a drink.

There were two trailers, both DeNiro films.  The first was Last Vegas with Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and Michael Douglas.  Basically looks like an old man buddy movie where they take a trip to to Las Vegas.  It looked pretty hilarious.  One that I'd go see.  The second co-starred Michelle Pfieffer and Tommy Lee Jones in The Family.  DeNiro's character has worn out his welcome with the mob and is relocated to France as part of a witness relocation program.  The mob finds him and hi-jinx ensures.  Looked alright.  Not one I'd see in the theater though.

The feature presentation started.  On top of Simon Pegg, it starred Nick Frost, also from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, as well as Martin Freeman, who was most recently in the Hobbit.  Without giving away too much, it's about 5 former high school buddies who return to their home town to walk the Golden mile, to have a drink at all 12 bars, which they were unable to complete 23 years ago.  The movie was hilarious.  Lots of good one liners, but took a strange left turn halfway through.  Despite the weird plot, it continued to provide laughter.  I thought it was a good movie, very funny, had a good premise, but the second have could have been written better.  It was worth the watch, but I don't think I would have paid to see it in the theater.  Free is free, so I can't really complain.  I'd say wait for it on video.

Gru's Crew (Race Recap)

Saturday morning arrived and it was time for Dirty Donkey, a 5k obstacle mud run.  Jay picked me up with Jenn in the van.  We then picked up Ed and Kerri before heading out to Spring Hill for the event.  At the turn off, we could see a few obstacles and the finish line.  Further down, we reached the parking area and met up with Bryan.  We then started work on our costumes.  $3.50 yellow tee's from Michael's, blue duck tape as suspenders and 3D glasses with the front frames spray painted silver and the lenses popped out made up our minion costumes.  The night before I also made myself a cyclops eye for a bit of variety.  We geared up headed down the road away from the entrance towards the starting area.

Bryan, Ed, Jenn, Kerri, Jay, Me

Along the way, we saw racers running along a path in our direction.  Many people pass by recognizing us as minions and told us how awesome our costumes were or just shouted out MINIONS!.  We even passed by Ace Burpee (a local radio host) who finished his race and wished us good luck and to have fun.

It was about a 10 min walk to the starting area and we used the Porta-a-potties.  Problem, my drawstring to my shorts broke with one end stitched inside securely.  I had to wrap it around my waist and secure it the best i could.  It worked ok, but I had to keep tugging up my shorts.  Wasn't too big of a deal as I was wearing compression shorts underneath.  Everyone, but me, had been wearing the glasses, as I was wearing the cyclops goggle.  Some had removed them and had them resting on their heads when I noticed silver on the bridges of their noses.  Haha, some of the paid had rubbed off the glasses.  Seeing as I was the only one not wearing them, Jay jokingly accused me of pranking them.  Would have been a good prank if it was intended.  Anyways, we waited for our heat to start and observed the other team's costumes.  Very few stood out, except a couple dressed fully in a unicorn and zebra costume.  Lots of matching t-shirts with their team names written on them and matching accessories like tutus, bandanas, knee high socks, etc.  Many more people acknowledged our costumes.  Felt good.  Jay then nominated me to be our costume designer for future races. 

11:30 arrived and it was time to get marshaled in.  We waited at the starting line for the horn and we were off.  The first obstacle was the hay bails, which were easily scaled. Further down, we had to crawl through a mud pit on our hands and knees.  We got to a set of hurdles.  I jumped over the first and saw people crawling under every second one.  There were no instructions, but I heard someone say that this was the over under, so I followed suit.  Speaking with a friend afterwards, she thought they were just hurdles and jumped over them all.  Who's to say what they actually were.  After this, my memory kind of lapses.  Not sure the order of the rest or if I'm missing any, but I'll try and recollect as many as I can.  There was definitely a wall with a horizontal rope that you had to hold onto and shimmy your way across.  I was unable to do it, so in order to bypass it, I had to do 10 burpees.  Moving on, there were balance beams, which were easy enough to do.  If you fell off, you had to restart.

We arrived at the main road and had a long run towards the hills.  Here we passed by more people walking from the parking lot to the starting area.  We got even more acknowledgements of our minion costumes.  We cleared a cut out area in the chain link fence and ran up a hill.  This was where I started to slow down.  It was a long winding path to a series of tires that we had to step through.  We neared the top which featured a cargo climb.  One side was closed off because of an injured girl that was being attended to.  It appeared to be a leg injury, knee or ankle maybe.  We ran down the other side of the hill.  The terrain was rocky and steep.  Was definitely more difficult than it sounds, but the rocks were pretty hard on my feet as I was wearing my vibrams.  We ran right and then up the hill again.  Not fun.  At the top was a high wall which we had to scale.  These strong guys were sitting on top assisting people up.  One guy crossed his arms and grabbed a girl's hands.  He lifted her up while twisting her and sitting her on the edge at the top.  My turned came and I tried stepping on the foot hold, but slipped off, unable to grab the top.  They guy on top coached me and said to try again and grab the ledge.  I jumped up off the foot hold and realized there was 2x4 secured at the top to hold onto.  I was impressed that I managed to pull myself up without any assistance.  The other side had foot holds and ropes to climb down.

Continuing on, there was a slip and slide going down the side of the hill.  Even with the fire hose, I couldn't get enough momentum to go down and had to use my hands and feet to push myself down.  At the bottom, we had to drag a pallet on a rope down a stretch, around a tire and back.  They said one per team, but split our team into 2, so we were 3 per pallet.  Was kind of silly, but we got through it.  Great, one more climb to the top of the hill.  Here was a large crate filled with muddy water.  7 golf balls were hidden at the bottom and if you found one, you won a $25 gift card to the Running Room.  I made a half assed attempt to find one as I crossed the crate.  I jumped out and followed my team to a pair of long tents that went up hill.  The clay we crawled through had formed tracks to follow.  It was actually really hard on my knees and I attempted a few times to raise up off my knees to my feet without my back hitting the inside top of the tent.  As I exited the tent, there was inexplicably a crowd of spectators.  This confused my team mates and they ran right instead of left and around the ropes.  I followed them and we hopped the rope to the final obstacle.  We arrived to another mud pit which had a chain link fence covering it.  So we entered the pit on our backs and pulled ourselves through by grabbing the chain links. It was a muddy run to the finish line, but not before we took one group pic by one of the official photographers.  At the finish line we were congratulated by volunteers handing out orange ho rags (buffs).

My bib and finishers Dirty Donkey Ho Rag (or buff)

We grabbed a free vitamin water and walked over to the area where firemen were hosing people down.  We got hosed down by freezing cold water the best we could, but we were still very muddy.  Everyone's duck tape was all flapping off by now, so they ditched it, while mine was still intact.  We walked towards the parking lot and I got my phone to take some after pics.  Unfortunately we were no longer at our muddiest.

Back - Bryan, Ed, Jay - Front - Kerri, Me, Jenn

Just me, post race.

We cleaned up the best we could with Jay's baby wipes and changed. Jay and Ed had fabricated some make shift shorts out of garbage bags to protect the van which looked more like giant diapers.  Seeing as the beer gardens, etc was quite the trek, the majority voted we just pick up fast food on the way home instead.  I would have liked to check out the festivities, maybe run into other racers I knew, but was no big deal.  Bryan departed to his vehicle and we lined the car with blankets and towels and left.  Kerri's mom was going to pick her up to go to the lake and we waited for her closer to the entrance.  Kerri left with her mom and we headed back to Winnipeg.  We ended up at St Vital Centre and picked up food from the food court.  Jay got Subway while the rest of us got pad thai.  Jay then dropped us off as I retired to my home to properly shower and eat my lunch. 

Maple Sunrise

This is just a quick entry leading up to an incident I found humorous.  It was the night before Dirty Donkey and I had planned to check out the Kyiv Ukrainian pavilion for Folklorama.  Tyla was hosting and she invited her friends to attend.  Roni had made reservations for us, Rui, Marlene and George.  I did not cook my usual pre race spaghetti like in the past and decided to get my carb load in the form of perogies.  I got the adult meal which included 3 perogies, 3 cabbage rolls, kubasa, a pickle and an imported beer.  I also ordered a side of 6 perogies and was given 3 more from Roni and Rui who ordered extra.  As we ate, the show began.  It was an entertaining show with the crazy dancers and some singers and more crazy dancers.

Afterwards we cleared out, we decided to check out a second show, the Canadien-Francais pavilion.  By then, I was craving something sweet.  I ended up getting a farlouche, which is a white cake topped with whipped cream and caramel.  I picked it up from the serving area, paid the cashier and dropped it off at our table.  I then needed a bevie.  The sign had something called a Maple Sunset.  So I walked up to the bar and asked the server what a Maple Sunset was.  She then said she prefers the Maple Sunrise and explained that the Sunset was a shot of whiskey, maple syrup with Pepsi and the Sunrise was the same, except ginger ale rather than Pepsi.  She served it to me and advised that I stir it properly before drinking.

Following suit as I did with the desert, I walked to the 2 cashiers with my $5 in hand and placed my drink on the counter.  "This is a Maple Sunrise", I stated
The girl then asked "how was it?"
I said "not sure, I haven't tried it yet"
Girl: "well try it then and let me know how you like it"
Me: "I have to stir it first", stirred it and sipped it.  "Mmm, it's delicious"
Girl: "It's tasty, it's one of my favorites"
I waited a bit expecting to pay, but there was a short awkward silence.
Guy cashier "Do you need anything else?"
Me: "I'm here to pay for the drink"
Girl: "Oh, how did you get it?"
Me: "The girl gave it to me" as I pointed at the bartender.
Guy: "Really?"
Then it dawned on me and I said: "Oh, was I supposed to pay for it first and give her a ticket?"
Guy "Yes, but at least you're honest", and we had a laugh.

I then paid for the drink, thanked them and went back to my seat to enjoy the tasty beverage and desert.  The rest of the show was good.  A variety of dancing and singing.  Some reminded me of Stomp the Yard, while others were mid evil like dancing or river dance tap dancing. 

NB - I sure hope I'm not mixing up the names of the two drinks.  Pardon me if I'm wrong, I don't remember.

Veggie Quinoa Burgers

At Mud Hero, I tried a delicious alternative to beef burgers, a quinoa burger.  Unable to eat beef due to my ulcerative colitis, both the burgers and hot dogs were out of the question.  These were all served on a flat bread rather than a bun and with some zesty sauces that I have no idea what they were any more.  I decided to attempt making my own and found a recipe for a quinoa burger.  Now this was also my first attempt at making home made burgers of any kind, so it was a learning process as well.  Below is the recipe I followed.

Veggie Quinoa Burgers

    1/2 cup quinoa
    1 cup water
    2 teaspoons olive oil
    4 carrots, peeled and minced
    2 stalks celery, minced
    1/2 red bell pepper, minced
    1 onion, minced
    4 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
    2 cups minced fresh mushrooms
    1 (19 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
    1/2 bunch fresh dill, chopped
    2 cups chopped fresh spinach
    1 egg (optional)
    1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
    2 tablespoons sesame oil
    4 slices shredded mozzarella cheese
    salt and ground black pepper to taste
    1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

    1. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat and lightly oil the grate.
    2. Combine quinoa and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place lid on saucepan, and cook until water is completely absorbed, about 15 minutes; Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
   3.  Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir carrots, celery, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, and mushrooms in the hot oil until softened, about 10 minutes; set aside to cool.
    4. Mash kidney beans with a fork in a large bowl; add quinoa and the carrot mixture to the means and mix.
    5. Mix dill, spinach, egg, bread crumbs, sesame oil, mozzarella cheese, salt, and pepper into kidney bean mixture; shape into 8 patties.
    6. Brush the 1 tablespoon olive oil evenly both sides of each patty.
    7. Arrange the patties into a large baking dish.
    8. Grill on preheated grill until hot in the center, 7 to 8 minutes per side.

So as I've said before, I don't fully follow recipes.  I omitted the carrots, celery, ginger root, egg and mozzarella.  I also only used 2 cloves of garlic and half an onion, although it was a fairly large onion.  Spices, I added dill, garlic powder, seasoning salt and pepper.  Now after preparing the mixture, I scooped them into a hamburger press or whatever you call it, which I borrowed from my mom.  After a semi successful burger, I intend to invest in one.  I started off by making 4 burgers and did a poor job of making equal portions.  2 were the right size, one was rather thick and the other was too thin.  I put them on the BBQ and  prepped the remaining mixture and came out with 3 more burgers which I refrigerated.  Dan arrived with Carrie so she could borrow my tent for the long weekend.  I gave her the tent and chatted with them out front for a short while.  They were on their way to Dan's brother's for supper and finally ended the conversation to leave.  Ih no!  I forgot about my burgers.  I raced through the house to the BBQ in the backyard.  I flipped them over and discovered them to be a little charred on one side.  The thin burger had also broken into 3.  I probably should have used an egg in the mixture to help keep them intact.  I cooked them a little longer on this side and removed them from the grill.

Quinoa Burger

 I decided to have the thick and thin burgers for supper and placed them on some flat bread buns, dressed with Dijon, hickory BBQ sauce, jalapeno Havarti cheese and spinach.  Hindsight, I probably should have sliced some onions while chopping them early and had sliced tomato available.  Next time.  Now it was time to try them.  I chose the thick burger first.  It was delicious.  Being thicker, I probably should have cooked it longer, because with each bite, it started to squeeze out the sizes.  Now there's no meat or egg in there, and most of it was cooked before grilling, so being under cooked wasn't a concern.  I also couldn't even taste the little bit of char.  I suppose they didn't burn too deep and I caught them just in time.  Upon consuming the first burger, I ate the thin burger.  This one broke apart and pieces fell out.  No big deal.  I ate those rogue pieces afterwards.  Now I was fully satisfied with how these tasted, but they could have still been better in terms of portion sizes and durability.  This being summer, I will definitely attempt this recipe again as well as other non beef burgers like ground turkey or pork.