Summer Thoughts, and a Reading Retreat
It’s interesting, the different ways people are experiencing summer. For some of us, it’s whizzing by too fast and we can see the end in sight. Others feel like summer has just begun, and in Anne’s last post she said “I’ve noticed that my life does not really change in rhythm when summer begins.” Like most people with school-age children, I DEFINITELY notice a change of rhythm in the summer. And, I’ve been enjoying it immensely. I don’t have to get up in the dark! There’s no rushing in the morning to get a lunch packed and my daughter to school. I can stay up later at night reading! I love it. There are some details about the summer that I’m not loving, however. One is the lack of running. This is the second week of no running because of my calf issue, and even before that running was sporadic (and, sometimes painful.) I’m lucky that I’m still able to do everything else, like walk (ho hum) pool run (arg) the stair climber (ARG!) and weightlifting (sigh.) Seriously, I’m glad I can be active, but my life just seems a little less “sparkly” without running. The other little, pesky irritation about summer is that, while I’m glad everyone is home, it’s just that, well, everyone is HOME. Sometimes the houses feels a little crowded. I don’t mind it at dinner and in the evening- then it feels cozy to have everyone here. But during the school year I’m used to having a little more time to myself, particularly on my Wednesdays off. Last week I read this article on Modern Mrs. Darcy: “7 Tips for Planning Your Own Personal Reader’s Retreat”. Ooooh! I want my own personal reader’s retreat! Unfortunately I can’t do anything extreme like check into a hotel for the weekend, or lock myself in the bedroom for two days. But I’m declaring this Wednesday my “Day of Reading,” aka a mini-reading retreat. Contrary to what the photo at the top of this post implies, I will NOT be reading on the beach, because that would be terrible. My plans for the day include 1) finish the book I’m currently reading, 2) go through my TBR and pick a few books to read next, 3) visit the bookstore and library, where I will browse and return home with a new stack of books. All of this will be done comfortably inside with the AC blasting away. I had some big running plans for the summer, but when I look back on it I’ll think of it as the “Summer of Reading.” I’ll take that as my second choice, happily. How would you plan a “reading retreat” for yourself? If you had to call this the “Summer of —-” what would you say? Top photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- The Week of Strength?
Ah, this was a week of so many things- Strength, hope despair… well, maybe “despair” is too strong a word- it never got that bad! But there were some definite ups and downs. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting… let’s get into the details. Sunday The week began so hopefully! I started with a 1 mile walk and then a 3 mile run… unfortunately my calf issue persisted. I tried some run/walk intervals, but it didn’t make any difference. That painful pulling feeling wouldn’t go away. In the afternoon I was feeling pretty down, so I decided to do a lower body strength workout from the Sally McRae app. It made me feel SO MUCH BETTER, and I decided that since I wouldn’t be running this week, I would do a strength workout every day. The “Week of Strength” begins! Monday But I didn’t want to do ONLY strength… I need my cardio fix. I started the day with a 45 minute pool run… … and then after work fulfilled my strength requirement by doing the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout. Tuesday Gym day! I did 30 long minutes on the stair climber, and then upper body strength. I haven’t done bench press in a long time, and it was immediately apparent. Wednesday In the morning I did a 3 mile walk, where I sadly did not set any new walking PRs. Later in the afternoon I did an upper body “pull” workout. Thursday Leg day at the gym! All the usual moves, but I really focused on squats. I hate them. In the afternoon, I had a dry needling treatment on my calf!!! The PT did a full evaluation first, and told me I need to stretch my IT band (or, more accurately, the muscles around my IT band- IT bands aren’t meant to stretch) and strengthen my piriformis on both sides. Yes, ma’am! Now please stick those needles in. I’m very hopeful this is going to help me, and I made another appointment for next week. Meanwhile I’m stretching and strengthening those muscles! Friday I had been sleeping poorly for the last several nights, so I decided to switch things up. I slept later in the morning, then did the CG deadbug workout before going to work. In the afternoon, I did a 45 minute pool run. A couple people asked about my flotation belt… you can see it here. I think I got it on Amazon? It was years ago, and not expensive. It works just fine though. Saturday Well, the “week of strength” fell apart today, unless you count the PT exercises for my piriformis. No? Then this was just a day off. Sunday The PT warned that my calf might be a little sore after the treatment, but not to worry as it was a good thing- in this case, pain=healing. But she recommended no-impact activities for the time being, so on tap for today- an exciting pool run! Sigh. It was a hard week because I don’t like not running. But, the extra workouts helped my mood tremendously, and I feel like I’m moving in the right direction with the dry needling. So- onward! How was your week? Any unusual ups or downs? Strength of cardio? – I’m obviously a cardio addict, but I have to admit those strength sessions helped my mood this week. Top photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
Friday Coffee Date
Hello! Thanks for joining me for coffee (or, tea!) and random life updates. If we were having coffee together, the first thing I would share is…. IT HAS STARTED! (Warning: the following photo might make you scream in dismay… or squeal with joy?) Yes, this was at Michael’s yesterday! As soon as July 4th has passed, it’s officially “early early holiday season.” I know… it’s too early. But I secretly love this time of year. It’s definitely too soon to start thinking about the holidays… but they ARE coming! So much to look forward to- football, pumpkins, cooler weather (which we won’t get till November, sigh… but it WILL come eventually.) So, why was I at Michael’s? It’s in the same plaza as my new PT office, where I got some dry needling on my calf! I’ve never had dry needling before, but I’ve had acupuncture. In case you’re wondering, what’s the difference?- I would say there isn’t much. In both treatments, needles are inserted into the body- for acupuncture they’re inserted on points along the meridians, and dry needling is more of a western medicine-based approach, focusing on muscles and trigger points. The therapist inserted four needles (two into my calf and two into my IT band) and then attached clamps to them that sent an electrical stimulation deep into the tissues (which is the same thing my last acupuncturist did.) It made the muscles kind of jump around, and felt a little weird and uncomfortable, but not painful. I’m very hopeful about this! I’m going back for another treatment next week and then I’ll see where I’m at. I feel like I’ll be running again SOON. Meanwhile, you might ask, how’s that “week of strength” going? It’s going well… but I’m kind of wishing I had dubbed it the “week of sleep.” Sleep is also important for healing, and I’ve had some rough nights lately. I’m hoping to at least get a “night of sleep” tonight- I’ll take six uninterrupted hours, gladly! Nothing like setting the bar low. How is your week going? Have you had acupuncture or dry needling? Signs of Halloween in July- yay, or nay? Top photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
Reading and Eating
Ah, I finished such a good book! I mentioned it last week. The main character, Jake, finds a portal that takes him back in time to 1958, and he has a plan to prevent the assassination of JFK, which would obviously alter history for the better. OR WOULD IT? This book was so engaging. Will Jake actually be able to prevent the assassination? (As it turns out, the past doesn’t want to be changed.) If he does succeed, what then? Will he go back to his “present day” (2011)? And just how will the future look then- because as we know, if you change one thing, everything changes. My only complaint about this book is- without giving anything away- the ending made me sad. But my sister said she wasn’t sad when she read it- just fascinated at how the story played out. Highly recommend! It’s hard to finish a long book that was so absorbing. I felt like I needed to read something light and easy after that. I looked through my books… Iris Murdoch, no…. Nevil Shute, not quite right either…. Oh, I know! This book wasn’t initially easy, because it’s translated from Japanese, which meant all the characters had- obviously!- Japanese names. In spite of a cast of characters list in the beginning, it was hard to keep them straight (my son happens to be reading a sci fi book translated from Chinese right now, and he has the same problem- we agreed that when these books are translated they should translate the names as well. “Fuginuma Issei” could just be “Joe.”) In spite of that minor stumbling block, I really enjoyed this book! It was eerie, suspenseful, and had a great twist at the end. I ONLY recommend it if you’re a fan of the “locked room” mystery genre though. I liked it so much, I got another book by the same author out of the library. In eating news, I discovered a brilliant new way to cut up watermelon from Diane! Easy to hold, easy to eat, and you don’t get the sides of your mouth all sticky from gnawing on the usual wedge-shape piece of watermelon. Next up, a question: WHY is it impossible to find organic corn on the cob? I mean, literally impossible, not even at Whole Foods or Sprouts. I can buy frozen, organic corn kernels, which presumably came from… a cob? So where’s the organic corn on the cob? Hrumph. Lastly, I did make a pretty good dinner! “Cincinnati Chili” from Brand New Vegan. I made a couple changes to the recipe- used tempeh instead of bulgar, and to my son’s, added Impossible meat. This was possibly the most flavorful chili I’ve ever tasted. I initially questioned the ingredients- allspice? Cloves? But it all worked. The only thing I did cut back a bit was the liquid, because it seemed like a LOT. But my son said he thought it was a little dry- so next time I’ll make the recipe as written. So good! Have you ever had Cincinnati Chili? What are you reading right now? Top photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash