Reading and Eating
This was a fun week of reading! I had a reread: I started reading Agatha Christies in seventh grade, and by the time I was in my early 20s I had read them all. Sometimes I can reread one and still be surprised at the ending… sadly, that was not the case this time. About halfway through I remembered who the murderer was- it was a little tiny detail that jogged my memory and then it all started coming back to me. I still finished it, because it was kind of fun to get a “behind the scenes” look at how it was put together. The misdirection! So cleverly done. Just like in my teens, I stayed up way too late to finish this book. Next up is another scifi/mystery mashup: I read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, another weird book, and enjoyed it. This book has a completely different premise. The world has been destroyed by a black fog that swept the planet, killing everyone except for the inhabitants of an island village. Scientists have managed to erect a security system around the island to keep the fog at bay. For the most part, the villagers live in peace… but there are mysterious things going on beneath the surface. There’s also “Abi,” a collective consciousness that can speak to everyone and read their thoughts. Then there’s a murder that must be solved, or the protective fog barrier will fail and what remains of earth’s population will be wiped out. Oh, and Abi doesn’t always tell the truth… she has her reasons, which are not clear yet. As a matter of fact, many things are not clear yet but I’m sure they will be eventually. I’m about 1/3 of the way through the book and enjoying it so far- update to come when I finish it. Eating-wise, I managed to rally and cook a couple decent dinners. The first was Vegetable Biryani from Nora Cooks.. Tragically, I forgot to add the green peas. I did add tofu, but the peas would have been nice too as a color contrast. It was good, but we all agreed it needed a squeeze of lime to pep up the flavors. Next, I made one of my old favorites, Gochujang Bowls. The recipe calls for chicken but I make it with tofu. The great thing about this meal is, EVERYONE in my family likes it, including my daughter. That’s a major victory. Next week I’ll be upping my game- my sister is coming to visit, and my son and I are cooking two big meals. One will be a “build your own” burrito night, with various fillings and toppings, and the other will be a “gourmet” pizza night. Photos to come! What are you reading now? Favorite gourmet pizza toppings? – We’ll make several pizzas and are still coming up with ideas. Top photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash
Summer, So Far
We are into our second full week of summer now (I count “summer” as starting when school ends, not June 21st) and I have some reflections! Some of these things seem very obvious, but are hitting me in a different way than I expected. 1. It’s hot. Oh, really? (you might be thinking.) You’ve lived in Florida for 25 years and never noticed that summers are hot? Well, yes I have. Our summer weather is typically in the low 90s every day, which, with the humidity, puts the “real feel” in the 100s. (Last summer was extra-special, as it was even hotter than that- we set some records!) In other words, it’s super unpleasant to be outside. I accept that, and we understand that running MUST occur early in the morning if you don’t want to have a heatstroke. I think it’s hitting me extra hard this summer though, because next week my sister and her husband are coming to visit and we’re trying to figure out WHAT we’re going to do while they’re here. The beach would be an obvious choice, but honestly, it’s so hot I don’t even want to go to the beach (we might go in the evening, but that’s the only time I want to be there.) I’ve tried googling “indoor activities in South Florida” and I get suggestions for things like trampoline parks and ice skating rinks. Let’s just say that’s not exactly what I’m looking for. There are some art museums, and we will probably visit those. But I don’t want to go to a museum EVERY day- that would be kind of strange. This isn’t a trip to Paris. So… I’m struggling with this a little. (Any suggestions???) 2. Everyone is home. Yes, this is what I wanted and looked forward to- my son is home!!! ALSO, my husband is a teacher so that means he’s home now as well. Ahem. The house is….a little crowded. I had to move my “home gym” (aka dumbbells and yoga mat) out of my son’s room, into our bedroom. That’s fine- I do that every time he’s home. The problem is, working out in the bedroom isn’t always feasible. It was especially challenging last week, because my husband and son had just returned from California on a red-eye flight, and their sleep schedule was MESSED UP. I never really knew when people were going to be asleep or awake, and there were mornings where my husband was still sleeping while I wanted to use my weights. I moved everything to the living room, but then the cats wanted to get in on the action. Try doing lunges while holding dumbbells overhead, WHILE A CAT ATTACKS YOUR LEGS. At one point I lurched in a weird way to avoid stepping on the cat, and felt a jolt of pain in my knee (Bad Muffin!!! Very bad girl!) Well… this gives me extra motivation to GO TO THE GYM for my workouts. 3. Sleeping later is overrated. Remember how happy I was NOT to have to get up at 5:30? Guess who didn’t get that memo- THE CATS. For the first week of summer they woke me up at 5:30, meowing loudly and excitedly for breakfast. It was rough. It has gotten better- the cats slowly adjusted. But now I’m just “feeling the summer vibes” and staying up too late reading. I can’t sleep THAT late, because I do still have to work (darn!) and, as I mentioned before, running must occur early in the morning. What I really need to do is pretend it’s not summer and just go to bed early- but so far I’m not doing a good job of that. Don’t get me wrong- I really am enjoying the more relaxed feel these days. But I’m realizing summer success doesn’t just happen- I may have to work at it a little. How is your summer going? Any challenges so far? Top photo by arty on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Baby Steps
Hi there! Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted by Kim and Deborah (thanks as always for hosting, ladies!) This felt like our first official week of summer, and I have some big plans! I want to work on strength and speed… but my #1 priority is to NOT GET INJURED. As you will see, I started things off with that in mind. Monday First run back after my race! My right hip was still feeling cranky but I decided to try 2 miles. It felt good! I followed it up with some planking, including side planks. I’ve decided that side planks are my new thing! Tuesday Back to the gym! I hadn’t done lower body strength in over two weeks, and I hit it pretty hard. I started on the Stairmaster for 10 minutes to warm up, then did Bulgarian split squats, single leg RDLs, squats with the bar, and ended with side planks. Everything felt good, but my legs were shaking by the end. Wednesday Ah. I woke up to that VERY SPECIAL FEELING, the one you only get the day after leg day (after not doing legs for two weeks.) My legs and hips were SO SORE, I literally couldn’t sit down or get back up without groaning out loud. I went for a 3 mile run, and while I was running the pain mysteriously disappeared, only to reappear the moment I stopped (why does that happen??) My grand plans to do side planks every day immediately vanished- my legs were so sore, I couldn’t even imagine it. Thursday Still sore! I did a total body workout from Sally McRae’s app- focusing more on upper body. There are some lunges, which I did with very light weights. Ouch. Friday STILL sore! (Or, sore all over again?) But I reported to the gym for some speed work on the treadmill. Yes, this is one of my goals for the summer. I started off VERY cautiously- after a warmup, I did intervals of one minute of running at a pace faster than normal, but not quite at my 5K pace. At least, I HOPE this isn’t my 5K pace, but I really have no idea. If I ran a 5K right now I would probably run way too fast for the first mile and then collapse by the side of the road. So what I’m saying is- speed work is definitely needed, but I have to ease into it. I actually like speed work on the treadmill- or, put another way, the treadmill and speed work were made for each other. I ran a total of 3.5 miles and then did some ab work. Saturday OFF! My legs were happy for a rest. Sunday On tap- “long”-er run with “hills.” This is another thing I’m implementing, but have to ease into. I’m determined to get some hill work in this summer, so the plan is to go to a nearby park with a cross country trail. I’ll run on the trail- 4 or 5 miles for this week- and then go out to the road where there’s a very slight hill, which will probably feel like a mountain to me. I’ll run up and down it a few times and call it a day. Once again- baby steps! How was your week? Do you feel like summer has started? Do you have any special training plans for the summer? Top photo by Simon Infanger on Unsplash
Ultimate Coffee Date!
Woohoo! It’s the first Friday of the month, which means it’s time to join Coco and Deborah for their Ultimate Coffee Date. I have plenty to share, so get out your coffee/tea and let’s get started. In Tuesday’s post (“What’s Next?”) I mentioned that I had my eye on several races but didn’t feel the need to sign up for anything right away. Birchie commented “Ha ha I’m pretty sure that you DO feel the need to sign up for a race this very second! I always used to get a thrill from the moment when I registered for a race.” Well… OKAY. She was right. I signed up for the Treasure Coast Ultra on November 9th. I chose it for several reasons, one of them being that it’s in a state park only an hour’s drive from my house. There’s a 6 hour and a 12 hour option, and I chose the 12 hour. You run multiple loops of a 5 (ish) mile trail for as long as you can/want to, up to 12 hours. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to approach it- run a 50K and call it a day? Go for a new distance PR (anything over 31 miles?) Or, run for the entire 12 hours??? I’ll decide when it gets closer. It all depends on how my training goes, and what else I have after that- I haven’t decided on my other races for the year yet. I’m excited! Speaking of excitement, my son and husband are back from California. They were attending the International Trumpet Guild, an annual conference for trumpet geeks everywhere. There are concerts, competitions, master classes, exhibits, and my son’s trumpet ensemble- the same group that competed (and won second place) at NTC earlier in the year- competed in the “college chamber music” division. THEY WON! Well- they tied for first place. They tied with a brass quintet from ICELAND, how cool is that??? It was an incredible experience, and so fun for my husband to be there to see it (I’m envious!) There was a cash prize, which, split six ways, came to $550 apiece. Great! Now all we have to do is add another zero onto that, and it would have paid for the damage to his car. Sigh… I might have mentioned that my son’s car “broke down” on his way home from college- but the truth is, he rear-ended someone. I didn’t want to incriminate him initially, but what the heck. He crashed the car, no one was hurt, the damage to the other car was minimal (they didn’t even want to call the police and my son just gave them $150) BUT the damage to his car turned out to be substantial. He needed a new radiator and a new part for the AC, in addition to the external damage. So, the lesson learned is- don’t buy a Kia Soul. They just crumble to pieces at the slightest bump! I mean, he was only going like 10 mph. As you can see, our summer has really started with a lot of excitement, but as always you have to take the good with the bad, right? What would you tell me over coffee? Any excitement to start your summer?