Reading and Eating
This week I finiahed a GREAT book: I absolutely loved the writing, the setting, the way the characters developed… and the penultimate chapter was brilliant (“round up the usual suspects!”) The last chapter was slightly confusing- I mean, I was pretty sure I knew what was happening, but I was wondering why that was happening as opposed to what I THOUGHT was going to happen. I googled it, and found a spirited discussion on Goodreads. People had all sorts of theories about what the ending means, and cited details from earlier chapters of the book to support them. The ambiguous ending definitely worked, and I think the passionate debate is the sign of a great book. After I finished the book I listened to this podcast, where James Altucher interviewed Amor Towles. It was really interesting to hear about his writing process. They mostly talked about Rules of Civility and Gentleman in Moscow (and, interesting detail- a character From Rules makes an appearance in Gentleman!) I’ll eventually read Towles’ other books, but right now I’m following my rule of not repeating authors (just for now, because there are so many books I want to read.) Next up was this mystery, recommended by Lindsay:: I’m ALMOST DONE, and I really like it. I love the setting, the story, and the main character. Ruth Galloway is an archaeologist who gets involved in a police investigation. One of the things I especially like is that Ruth weighs “twelve and a half stone.” I had to look it up- a “stone” is equal to 14 pounds. Every book I read seems to have a female main character who happens to be slender and pretty- It’s refreshing to read a book where the main character is a strong, confident woman who isn’t conventionally attractive. Let’s talk about eating! There isn’t a lot to report, but I made these chai-spiced teff waffles. on Mother’s Day. They were good! In honor of the day, I drank out of my Baylor Mom mug. By the way, I’ve decided that my husband is officially “holiday blind.” He put that cloth on the table, and didn’t understand what made it autumnal. Um… the colors? The fact that there are leaves on it? Sigh. Well, I shouldn’t be surprised- here’s how he wrapped my Mother’s Day present. For dinner, he made pesto! You might remember that I’m trying to eat less pasta, so I tried to load my plate up with salad and roasted vegetables. I couldn’t resist a piece of bread though. (I also HAD to change that tablecloth!) Have you read anything by Amor Towles? Did you make a special brunch or dinner for Mother’s Day? Top photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash
Transitions
Well, things are winding down here. After two insanely busy weeks, it’s oddly quiet. There are two more regular weeks of school before finals, but all the concerts and special events are over. This isn’t a big transition year for us- my daughter is finishing her freshman year of high school and my son finished his junior year of college (EEP. Next year at this time we will be at Baylor FOR HIS GRADUATION- I seriously can’t wrap my mind around it.) I have to admit I’m still a little sad. My daughter will never be a freshman in high school again- she’s now 1/4 done and it goes so fast. One of the big events was the band banquet. There’s food, dancing, and awards. My daughter won the Outstanding Freshman award! I took a picture of her plaque to send to my son. He won the same award as a freshman, and responded with this photo to remind me what Angie did to the picture of HIS plaque six years ago: Ah, kids. So supportive of each other. Anyway, the banquet is a dressy occasion. Here’s a photo of my daughter and her friend before the event: And in case you were wondering- no, the theme of the banquet wasn’t “The Addams Family.” The girls just, ahem, decided to dress like that. The black outfit went well with my daughter’s blue hair. Moving on! Another transition is the change of seasons. In South Florida, this is not a good thing. Let’s take a look at our weather forecast- pay special attention to Wednesday. BLARG!!! 98 degrees??? I have a TWENTY MILE run on Wednesday! I’m going to DIE!!! Okay, I won’t be running in the hottest part of the day- but I have to drop my daughter off at school so I can’t start until 7:30, so… yes, it’s going to be hot. And don’t forget about the humidity. Seriously, it’s not going to be pretty. We had such a lovely winter, and now we’re going to pay the price. Are you enjoying the change of seasons? – If the answer is yes, you definitely don’t live in Florida. What was your favorite year of high school? – Sophomore year! Top photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Decisions
“Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions.” -Mark Twain Well, it was a week! There was more shoe and foot drama because… well, I guess because I’m me. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s jump right in! Sunday 17 mile long run!!! This run was… fine, for the first 15 miles, and then grueling for the last two. I ran the first four miles in my regular Altras, then switched to the Timps (zero drop shoes.) Then I ran a loop I thought was 8-10 miles, but turned out to be longer. Oops. I did get to see my favorite part of the trail: …but didn’t get back to my car until I had completed 16 miles- I wasn’t going to stop and change shoes at that point, so I just finished the run. I ran out of fuel and water, and ended up running the entire last 14 miles in the Timps. 17 miles the hard way! Monday Both feet felt good during the long run, but now plantar fasciitis is flaring up in my right foot (the “good” foot.) ARRRRG! Unfortunately I have to blame the zero drop shoes- or, more accurately, the person who decided to run 14 miles in them the day before. After I hobbled out of bed (sigh) and loosened up that foot, I went for a 30 minute walk. Then home for the Caroline Girvan Deadbug Workout.. Tuesday In the morning (again, after hobbling painfully out of bed) I did Sally McRae’s Ankle Mobility and Foot Strength workout, and then again the CG deadbugs. In the afternoon I ran 4 miles, and this run was HARD- because it was 88 degrees with a feels-like temp of 92. Well- my race will be hot! I should be ready. Wednesday Gym day!!! 20 minutes on the Stairmaster, then squats, bench press, reverse fly, abs, and Runners Touch . I’m loving the Sally McRae workouts, but they’ve very focused on balance, mobility, and mostly lower weights. So I want to get into the gym at least once a week to lift, ahem, “heavy.” Thursday 3 mile run, then I was going to do the deadbug workout, but on a whim picked a Caroline Girvan 15 minutes abs workout instead. I BITTERLY REGRETTED this decision!!! It was a ton of crunches, which strain my neck. I hated it! Never again! Friday I did a Sally McRae total body dumbbell workout, and then the Caroline Girvan deadbugs. Phew! I’ll never stray again! I’ve heard that deadbugs are better than crunches for runners anyway- don’t ask me to explain why, but let’s go with that. Oh, and look what arrived in the mail… Yes- ANOTHER pair of Altras. They just came out with a brand-new trail shoe with a 4 mm drop- could these be my dream shoes? Saturday 5 mile run in the new shoes! Guess what… I don’t love them. The Timps are more comfortable, because they have a wider toe box. I give up! Just give me a pair of clown shoes with some tread and a 4mm drop, and we’ll call it a day. Seriously, I think I’m going to wear these for my race. I just don’t have time to get used to the Timps properly, and I don’t want to exacerbate the plantar fasciitis flare in my foot. SIGH. I’ve ordered some thinner socks- I’ll make them work! Sunday Off!!! I decided the best course of action is to take a little extra time before my last long run, which will be 20 miles. I’ll run that on Wednesday, and then have ten days to taper before my race. For Mother’s Day, I told my husband I just want two things- to sleep late, and for someone else to make dinner. I think this is achievable! Happy Mother’s Day if you are celebrating! And if you’re not- I hope you have a happy and relaxing Sunday.
Friday Coffee Date
Hooray! It’s Friday! Our super busy week is drawing to a close. Since it’s Friday, it’s time for a delicious hot Earl Grey tea (that IS what you’re drinking, right?) and- wait. Why do I call this post “Coffee Date” when I don’t drink coffee? Must think about that. Anyway… If we were having coffee (tea) together, I would tell you that I’ve kind of, sort of been doing Gretchen Rubin’s “Write 24 for 24” project, where you write for 24 minutes a day (or, if that’s too daunting, 2-4 minutes.) I started on February 28 and was very consistent for about a month- now it’s hit or miss. But something is better than nothing (right?) I looked back at what I wrote in March, and boy… was I whiny. It was right after I sprained my ankle, and there was so much emoting over how much it hurt, how much I hated limping around, and how much I wanted to be running again. And remember how I was thinking of doing a different 50 mile race, but then it got sold out before I could register? THAT was the end of the world, for a couple days. Writing it all out like that was helpful, because it meant I didn’t bore family and friends (and blog readers!) with all my complaining. But reading it two months later, the main thing that struck me was how temporary it all was. All the things that seemed so terrible at the time were actually little blips that mean nothing now. Hmmm. This week’s episode of Sally McRae’s podcast is titled “The Powerful DNF.” Sally talks about how to reframe a disappointing experience by asking “What have I gained?” (I definitely learned a lot from my DNF!) She also points out that whether you finish your race or not, life will go on. The sun will raise again and you’ll go back to work. Soon you’ll be running again and there will be other races- this all happens regardless of your race result. That got me thinking. As sad as I was on February 17th, I’m not sure I feel any differently today- May 9th- than I would have if I had finished that race. As a matter of fact, if anything, I might actually be HAPPIER. If I had finished Forgotten Florida, then the race I’m doing at the end of this month- Sweat, Swat ‘n Swear- wouldn’t have been on my radar. Who knows, I might be moping around right now, saying “Life feels so meaningless without a race to train for”.and instead I’m excited about a race coming right up. The last thing I would tell you over coffee is that our extremely busy season is drawing to a close. My daughter has events today and tomorrow, and then things calm down. It was really only two weeks of insanity. Once again, it was only… temporary. If you’re going through a hard or busy time right now, can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Do you have any “disasters” in your past which you can now see as temporary setbacks? Who else likes Earl Grey Tea???!