Freedom Friday
So what do you think? The CDC says “Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.” It’s hard to wrap my head around this, after all this time, but reading that statement makes me want to weep with relief. The thing I’m longing for most of all is to stop wearing a mask at work. I’m a massage therapist, and doing a massage- especially deep tissue, which is a workout- while wearing a mask makes me feel like I’m suffocating. The CDC says masks are still required in healthcare settings. I’m hoping we don’t fall into that category because we don’t work with sick people. My boss however, may feel otherwise. We will see! Anyway! Exciting days ahead. Meanwhile, here are a couple good podcasts from the week: “Sleep is not a disposable luxury– it’s a non-negotiable biological necessity.” This Rich Roll podcast about sleep. It’s long- three hours- but worth it. I listened to it over the course of several days. Rich interviews sleep expert Dr. Mathew Walker about every aspect of sleep- why it’s so important, what happens if you don’t get enough, and steps you can take to improve your sleep. I liked the part where he said the optimal sleep temperature is around 65 degrees (because I always want the house colder than my husband at night) but not that part about caffeine (noooo! I love my afternoon glass of iced tea!). Anyway, I’m highly motivated now to get more sleep- I’ve been working on it. Jason Fitzgerald has been killing it lately with his podcast guests. Yet another great one about strength training for runners. As a matter of fact I’m seriously considering buying Kevin Carr’s book, Functional Training Anatomy. I’ve mentioned that I want to change up my strength routine, and I like what he said about multiplanar exercise. Since running is all about moving forward, we need to spend some time moving side to side. I’m also incorporating more single-leg movements. We’ll see how it goes! And one last thing. Friday is our takeout night, and my usual choice is Chipotle. Last week I decided to branch out and get Blaze pizza. Blaze has the option of vegan cheese and all sorts of vegetables. WELL! When I got home with the pizzas I was extremely displeased to find they had left two toppings off of mine- kalamata olives and arugula. Sure, I still had a couple sad looking vegetables- onion and green pepper- but the olives and arugula were big things to leave off, flavor-wise. Needless to say I’ll be back to my beloved Chipotle tonight. How are you feeling about the new mask news? Excited? Apprehensive? Do you get enough sleep? – I was getting between 6-7 hours a night, now I’m getting 7-8. Baby steps!