Reading and Eating
Oof! My son has arrived home in his usual swirl of chaos. This time the chaos was especially… swirly… because his car broke down two hours from home and had to be towed to the nearest Kia dealer. My husband went to pick him up, and now we’re dealing with repairs while the car is on the other side of the state… but we’ll get it figured out. The main thing is, he’s home! And he seems to have assigned me a summer reading list. But first, I’m in the middle of this book: At first I didn’t lone it; it felt disjointed and I didn’t feel any connection to the main character (I wonder if that’s because it’s a female main character, written by a male author?) But it got better and better, and now I’m involved in the plot. I’d better finish it fast, because I have two books waiting for me: The Anthony Horowitz is the latest “Hawthorne” mystery. Since it’s a library book, I’ll read that first and then get into the Orson Scott Card. Over the school year, my son read the entire “Shadow” series and is urging me to do the same. I really wasn’t planning on making this ANOTHER summer of Orson Scott Card, but he told me to just read the first book. Okay, I will. But I’m not reading the whole series! (famous last words…) He also has a nonfiction book lined up for me, and then he’s starting another sci-fi series. Well, good thing I won’t be running much next week after my race- I can spend all my free time reading. Eating! Yes, I cooked. I didn’t cook anything new, but I made some old favorites. Inspired by Elisabeth, I made this recipe for Mango Curry. I’m sure it bears very little resemblance to Elisabeth’s recipe, and as a matter of fact my own dish bears little resemblance to the recipe I “followed.” Basically I used it as a rough guide- added tofu, used broccoli instead of cabbage, only used one mango and cut down on the sugar. Other than that it was exactly the same (ha ha.) On Sunday I made baked ziti: This is the same recipe I’ve been making for almost 20 years. The recipe came from the food section of our newspaper. That shows you how long ago it was (we got a newspaper delivered???) It uses vegan cheese, and a creamy sauce made with tofu. So good! And, I made brownies! My daughter requested “Oreo brownies,” but my son thought that sounded disgusting. No problemo! After 15 years, I’m used to accommodating two kids with completely different tastes: I used this recipe from Nora Cooks, and just added Oreos (to half.) it worked out great! What are you reading? Oreo brownies- yay, or nay? Top photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Race… Goals???
My race is coming up this Sunday!!! Final preparations are underway! Let’s look at an excerpt from this email I got from the race organizers: Hello Runner, Sweat, Swat, n’ Swear 50K, 25K, 10M is two weeks away! We hope you have been practicing your “sentence enhancers”! Also, biting flies are real and typically bug spray doesn’t repel them. Some runners believe tying a dryer sheet to their hat or pack helps. Another option is cat nip mist. (Seriously – you can find it in the pet aisle at Walmart). Spray the mist on your hat, clothes, etc to repel them. Ahem! Well as it happens, I did get a chance to practice my “sentence enhancers” on my extremely hot and difficult long run last week. I also got on Amazon immediately and ordered this: The latest email we got said this: The water stations are approximately 5 miles apart and approximately 10 miles between staffed aid stations, so plan your nutrition accordingly. All participants are expected to carry a handheld, waist pack, or hydration pack/vest. It will be HOT (prediction: “real feel” 98 degrees) and access to hydration is vital for success (and your health). Well… a “real feel” of 98 is better than 106, which was the “real feel” at the end of my run last week. I’m prepared for the weather. So what are my goals for the race? Perhaps “goal” is the wrong word. Hopes and wishes would probably be more accurate. Last year I ran the Dunes 50K and finished in 7:30, so of course I would like to do better than that. There are no sand dunes in this race; but on the other hand it will be hotter. Who knows? I think a PR is possible, but as I’ve learned the hard way, nothing is guaranteed. At the end of the day, I want to finish this race and have a great experience. Not every moment will be great, obviously, but I want to look back on it and say it was an amazing adventure. Oh, and one more thing- I want to finish this race with both ankles intact. Obviously. Do you have any adventures coming up this summer? How do you feel about biting flies? – Ha, trick question. Although maybe they’ll make me run faster!
Weekly Rundown- All About the Long Run
As the title says, this week was all about getting that long run done. It was my last long run before my race, and I absolutely HAD to do it on Wednesday. I couldn’t put it off because as it is, I only have a ten day taper. But our temperatures spiked up crazily, and Wednesday was forecast to be 98 degrees, ARRRRG! Read on for all the gory details… But first- I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown- thanks for hosting, ladies! Monday 4 mile run, followed by a Caroline Girvan standing core workout. Meh… the deadbugs are definitely more intense. But at least it wasn’t crunches! Tuesday To rest my legs for the next day, I did an upper body strength workout on my Sally McRae app, and then back to the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout. It’s officially the best core workout ever. Wednesday 20 mile long run!!! This was the hardest long run I’ve ever done. Or, let’s put it this way- if I ever had a run this hard in the past, I didn’t end up completing it. This was the hardest run I’ve ever had where I didn’t just bail in the middle. Knowing it was going to be extremely hot, I considered starting in the dark and getting at least an hour done before taking my daughter to school- but since this was the ONLY 20 mile run of this training cycle, I decided it would be more beneficial to do the entire thing at one time. So, I couldn’t start the run until 7:30. I had a cooler in my car with ice, water, and fuel, and circled back to it several times. I thought of it as like an aid station in a race. The first eight miles were okay… … and after that it got hard. By mile 14 it was so hard, I pulled out my secret weapon for desperate times, which is to run for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds, over and over and over again until I (hopefully) start to feel better. This works really well- I mean, I won’t be setting any PRs this way, but I’ve found that I can always convince myself to run for 30 seconds, and as long as I keep up a brisk pace on the walking intervals, I don’t really slow down THAT much. At least, not as much as if I just walked or- obviously- stopped altogether. By mile 16 I had a second wind, and was able to run continuously again. That took me to mile 18 and then I just gutted out the last two miles. I was literally counting down the tenths of a mile, until I got to mile 20. When I finished, I looked at the weather on my phone- it was 96 degrees. And the “feels like” temp was 106. Oh yeah- THAT’S why it was so hard! Have I mentioned that there’s NO SHADE on my trail??? I actually think my race will be a little easier than this run, or at least a little cooler. It’s in Central Florida and I believe some of the trails are shady. Shade would be nice. Thursday You know how, when you finish a workout, your Garmin tells you how many hours of recovery you need? After yesterday’s run, it told me I needed THREE DAYS to recover, ha. I did feel pretty wiped out, so today I just walked for 30 minutes, and that felt great. Friday Okay, enough rest. I went to the gym, did 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, and then did some heavier squats. My quads were still a little sore from the run, but squatting actually felt good- it somehow stretched them out? Followed that up with some work on the abs machine. Saturday 4 mile run! My legs felt really heavy- probably still some lingering fatigue from the run on Wednesday, plus the added fatigue from the squats. Not to sound like a broken record, but it was also… hot. Sunday Alright, I’m ready for a taper! This week will consist of some short runs, very little lower body strength, lots of sleep, and then my race is next Sunday! I’m excited. I’m excited for the race, and I’m excited to NOT do any more long runs in the heat. How was your week? Is it hot where you are? Would you rather be extremely hot or extremely cold? – During this long run I was trying to remember how miserable I was during my race in February, where I was so cold, I was shaking. I guess I would rather be too hot.
Friday Coffee Date
Oh hi there! I have several things to share on this coffee date, so get out your mug of coffee, or Earl Grey tea, and we’ll chat. The first thing I would tell you is- I did my 20 mile long run!!! The hay is in the barn, although the horses may be a little hungry this year. Because of the weird timing (spraining my ankle, DNF’ing my race, and then frantically finding a “replacement” race) I didn’t do as many long runs as one would normally do for a 50K. But that’s okay! I’ll still be able to complete the race and have an interesting experience. Remember how I was dreading this run because the forecast showed a VERY hot day? Well, I decided to follow the advice, “If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” I packed up my cooler with lots of ice, water, LMNT, and snacks (Lara bars, gels, and Tailwind.) I even made a special playlist for this run (which I titled “98 Degrees,” ha.) And… I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but it was SUPER HARD. Here’s me at the start looking optimistic and jaunty: … and here’s me at the end. You might notice a couple wardrobe changes! Even though my shirt was a crop top, I had to take it off. It was just this soaking wet…. thing against my skin, and it bothered me SO MUCH as the run went on. And I switched to wearing my ice hat around mile 14- the hat with little pockets for ice cubes. So, note to self- don’t even think about wearing a shirt for this race, and wear the ice hat. Anyway, I’m glad that’s over. The next thing I would tell you is, my son is coming home! He’s on his way from Waco, driving- he’s going to stop in Tampa to visit a friend, and he’ll be here Saturday! HOORAY! We need an infusion of joy right about now, and my son will be just that. The last- and possibly most important- thing I have to share is, I solved my email problem. I was getting so many junk emails that I was missing real emails from actual people. At one point I took the time to unsubscribe to each and every one, and the problem just got WORSE. I was literally getting about 100 emails a day about “Biden’s bombshell,” “Russia’s terrifying new weapon,” and “Bank accounts frozen! Yours could be next!” And on and on. I was getting at least ten emails a day trying to get me to purchase a “Trumpinator bobblehead.” I mean, how stupid do these people think I am? How did they get my email address, anyway??? Then I heard on the Happier podcast that Elizabeth had the same problem- and the solution is to block the senders. She said if you unsubscribe, it just makes the problem worse, because then they know there’s an actual person dealing with the emails (only unsubscribe if it’s something you originally signed up for.) It turns out it’s REALLY easy to “block senders”- just mess around a bit with the options and you’ll find it- and it works! All the annoying emails have disappeared. Of course a couple new ones crop up every day, but I just block the senders and that’s that. What would you tell me over coffee? How was your week? Do you get annoying emails? Top photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash