Lady Track Shack 5k and Glazed Orange Cranberry Cake

This morning was the Florida Hospital Lady Track Shack 5k race in Mead Gardens. It was an amazing race that I had really been looking forward to.  The event is to celebrate womens health and fitness and the only participants in the race were women.

There were nearly 2,000 participants; from elementary aged girls to senior citizens and the elderly.  There were “running in memory of…” signs attached to the backs of many runners, and a woman dressed from head to toe in a pink fairy costume. It was an emotional race for a lot of women there, from the snippets of conversation I heard at the start and on the course. On my way out, as I traversed the path that ran along the race route, just coming into the last 0.10 of a mile to completion was a woman wearing a pink shirt, screaming in joy and excitement when she spotted the finish line, both arms pumping the air, smile splitting her face from ear to ear…and soft peach fuzz for hair on the top of her head. Not only did she live to fight another day, but she lived to race another race, and it brought tears to my own eyes to see it.

I did really well in the race and I’m happy with my results.  I came in 94^th in my age division – which could be amazing or dead last, since I don’t know how many were in my age group.  I also came in 568^th overall. On top of that, I beat my best time by more than a minute for a new personal record of 32:35, with an average pace of 10:29 per mile.  I also had my body fat percentage taken at one of the booths and came out with 18.8%. Anything less than 18% is “Excellent” on the chart they gave me, so I have that to strive for as a new goal.

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Glazed Orange Cranberry Cake

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 ¾ C sugar

4 Teaspoons baking Powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon Nutmeg

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Cup fat free milk

1/3 Cup Canola Oil

4 Large Egg Whites, lightly beaten

1 Tablespoon grated Orange Zest

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1  Cup dried Cranberries

1 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar

2 Tablespoons Orange Juice

Orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk together milk, egg whites, oil, vanilla orange zest in  medium bowl. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean; 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To make glaze, put confectioner’s sugar into a medium bowl and slowly stir in orange juice until a thick glaze forms.  Drizzle glaze over top of cooled cake; sprinkle with orange zest Let cake stand until glaze sets, about 20 minutes.  Serves 20.

180 Calories / 4g Fat / 19g Carbohydrates / 1g Fiber / 3g Protein