Guess What I Did Yesterday?
…I ran a 50K! Not a race- I ran it on my own as a training run. Our heat is back- it was forecast to be 80 degrees by late morning- so I started at 5 am. I ran the first 10 miles back and forth on fairly well-lit and well-traveled streets, for safety reasons. This was my view for about seven miles: Then the sun started to come up, so I branched off onto some side streets. After 10 miles (1/3 of the way through already!) I got on the trail. I broke it up like this: an 8 mile loop, stopped at the “aid station” (aka my car) to refill water. Then another 8 mile loop. At that point I was at 26 miles… 5 to go. I stopped at my car again where I had my secret weapon… I’ve never drank a Monster before in my life, but I knew I wanted to try it out prior to my race. I wanted to make sure it didn’t make me jittery, or throw up. The whole can has 200 mg of caffeine, and I drank about 2/3 of it. It did NOT make me nauseous or jittery- in fact, it gave me a second wind and I will DEFINITELY have a can of this during my race. During the last mile I started to die a little- but I think that was psychological. I think my brain decides that I’m super tired when I get towards the very end. But, I did it!!! There were a few moments during this run where I just wanted it to be over- but overall I enjoyed this adventure! What was the last thing you did that you’d consider an “adventure?” Do you have any unusual hobbies!
Valentine’s Day Recap and FIGS!
It’s time for Tuesday Topics, which I host with Jenn from Runs With Pugs. This week’s topic is What habit(s) are you trying to strengthen right now? The area I need to work on most is sleep, but since I’m not currently doing anything to strengthen good habits in that area, I’d rather not discuss it. Instead, let’s talk about Valentine’s Day! This year I tried to embrace it, a little. February 14th is also Foxy’s birthday- he turned one! I made a cake! Just to be clear- this was a cake for people, not cats (although Foxy and Muffin got a little taste of frosting). I used this recipe for Nora’s strawberry cake. Also, in full disclosure, I made the cake on Sunday, since people were busy on Valentine’s Day. Everyone loved it! My daughter’s best friend and boyfriend came over to eat cake and celebrate, and I was grateful for quirky people who are willing to indulge my silliness (I mean- who really needs to celebrate their cat’s birthday?) Here’s a photo of the inside: In other cat news, I was at Hallmark on Friday (my daughter needed a bag for the gift she gave her boyfriend) and saw this book: Here’s one of the poems: I ended up buying the book for my husband, and he was pleasantly surprised because we usually don’t exchange Valentine’s Day gifts. Enough about Valentine’s Day! Here are some other, little FIGs from the week (joining Elisabeth in “Finding Joy in Gratitude”). Looking in the mirror and noticing how clear my face is! I always notice when my face looks terrible (thank you, rosacea) but somehow I usually neglect to appreciate it when it looks good. I credit this gel I bought for less than $8 on Amazon. Good books. I finished Sky Daddy (review coming soon!) and am enjoying the reread of The Age of Innocence for Engie’s book club. I also started and am enjoying this one: Sleeping later. During our “cold” spell I ran in the afternoon rather than the frigid mornings, and I’ve kept that schedule for the past week. This means I can sleep until 6 am, and I’m loving it. Chocolate! I didn’t eat any of the cake because I don’t eat sugar (I know- it’s sad) but I did have my favorite chocolates. I don’t get them often because they’re expensive, but I splurged for Valentine’s Day. Join us next week —> Free Topic Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter What kind of poem do you think your cat would write for you?
Weekly Rundown- Mixing It Up
After our “Florida cold spell” last week, we had more seasonal weather this week. It was still cool enough later in the day to run, so I took the opportunity to sleep a little later in the mornings. I was glad of the mild temps because there was not one, but TWO bloggers visiting our area this week! They got some nice weather (and we’ll see who they are in just a moment…) As usual, I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Here we go… Monday In the morning I did my hip stability exercises and a short lower body strength workout at home. In the afternoon I got out for a 4 mile run. Tuesday Again I split my workout- in the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, and later in the day I did upper body strength. Wednesday It was a “long cardio” day at the gym! At this stage, I’m only doing a long run every other week and next week is a 50k. So I mixed it up today- 30 minutes on the bike, 30 minutes on the elliptical, and an hour of running on the treadmill. Funny thing- when I started running, my legs felt so heavy (after the bike and elliptical) I was convinced the treadmill was at an incline even though I had it set to zero. I was so positive the treadmill must be broken, I switched to a different one. Ha- nope, it’s my legs! They felt better after about a mile or so. Thursday In the morning I did Caroline Girvan’s Stellar Abs workout and my hip stability exercises. Then, after work, I met Debbie and Darlene! We went for a walk at Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Debbie’s husband was also there with his camera. Later Debbie told me he took 4000 pictures of the birds and other wildlife!!! I took this one: Friday In the morning I did Carline Girvan’s deadbug workout again, and then later in the day I ran 4 miles. I’m embracing these late afternoon runs! Soon it will be too hot and I’ll be back to early mornings. Saturday I had a run planned for the afternoon, but I felt a tiny twinge in my foot. Nothing really worrisome, but at this point I’m not taking any chances. I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical instead, and then, since I was there, I did a lower body strength workout. THEN, I got out a mat and had a nice stretch session. Overall I felt like it was more effective than just running would have been. Sunday On tap for today… sleeping in and rest! And yoga- I can feel my low back from those squats at the gym. Also, I kind of blew off Valentine’s Day so I’m planning to bake a heart-shaped cake today. How was your week? Did you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
Anti-FIGS (and One Happy Thing)
Right after I wrote my FIG post earlier this week, I ironically had a very anti-FIG-ish day. Even as it was happening, I was laughing at myself, so don’t worry- nothing really bad happened. Just a series of small to medium irritants. It started at Starbucks where they were- gasp- OUT OF EARL GREY. Nooooo! They had to give me English Breakfast tea instead (I mean- I still needed my caffeine) and it just wasn’t the same. To pep it up a bit, I got it with steamed soy milk, which was possibly a mistake (we’ll get back to that…) When I got to work, I grabbed my shaker cup of protein powder (I add water and gulp it down at lunchtime). The lid wasn’t on securely, and it opened, spilling powder EVERYWHERE, including (but not limited to) my phone, laptop, library book, clothes, and the seat of my car. ARRRRRRG! In addition to the mess, this meant I had no lunch. But that turned out for the best, because right around this time my stomach started to hurt. Was it the soymilk in my tea? Or the fact that I had nachos and beer for dinner the night before (Super Bowl festivities)? Whatever. It’s really hard to be cheerful and positive while your stomach is hurting. There was no choice but to start working. My first client was a woman who just wanted to relax. About halfway through her massage, the peaceful atmosphere was shattered by a loud drilling noise. NOW what??? I don’t know where it was coming from- they hadn’t warned us that there were any repairs going on. The drilling continued on and off throughout the rest of the poor woman’s massage. I had plenty of time to contemplate this situation, and I decided that a drill is one of the most stressful sounds in the world. I tried to decide if hammering would be worse, but no- the drill is worse, as it conjures up unpleasant associations. Which brings me to… the next day (yes, I made it through Monday. This too shall pass!) I had to go to the dentist to get two cavities filled, sigh. I haven’t had a cavity in a long time, how did I end up with two of them??? I’ve probably mentioned before that I don’t get numbed up for cavity drilling. I know there are other people who skip the novocaine, and for those of you who think that’s crazy, I can tell you that it really doesn’t hurt. If they were drilling deep enough to hit a nerve, you’d probably be getting a root canal (and I DO get numbed for that!) Anyway, the procedure was mostly painless (other than the cost- since when does it cost $500 to get two cavities filled???) but once again, it’s the sound of the drill that’s the worst part. When will someone invent a silent drill? I can’t leave this post on such a low note. In honor of Elisabeth’s Happy Things Friday, I’ll share a happy thing. Two bloggers were in town this week, Darlene and Debbie, and we all were able to meet up yesterday at Wakodahatchee Wetlands for a lovely walk! It’a a beautiful park with a boardwalk trail, and I remembered how lucky I am to live in a beautiful location where bloggers like to visit! What would be more annoying to you- hammering or drilling? Do you get anesthesia when you get a cavity drilled? Do you get many visitors to your town? Top photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash