… and Reading
When I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I had a “book dilemma,” Engie commented that she was afraid I wanted to DNF My Brilliant Friend. Fear not! I seem to be one of the few people who likes the book, and I’m looking forward to finishing it this week. It’s funny how we can all have such different tastes. Having different tastes is what my dilemma is all about, but first let’s look at a book I’m currently reading: I discovered Ann Cleeves from Lindsay’s blog. I read the first one in the series, The Crow Trap, and enjoyed it. Now I’m reading the second one, Telling Tales, and I LOVE it! I was drawn into the story immediately and was completely engrossed in the character’s life. This is a book that changes narrators, and every time it changes I’m initially disappointed, because I was loving the previous point of view- but after a couple paragraphs I’m 100% engrossed in the new character. And, since I finished The Crow Trap, I feel confident that this too will be a mystery with a satisfying ending. On to the dilemma. Months ago, I mentioned an elderly client who is an avid reader. Just for the fun of it, I asked her to recommend a recent book she’d read. I got the book out of the library and HATED it. I wanted to stop reading after two pages, but I kept on because I was vaguely curious about one of the plot points- but the ending turned out to be more stupid than I could ever have imagined. The only silver lining is that I was able to read it very quickly. Not wanting to hurt this woman’s feelings, when she asked me about the book I said some things that weren’t lies and sounded vaguely positive: “Wow, I couldn’t believe that ending! That was so crazy!” All was well, until Christmas, when she brought me a nicely wrapped present… which was a book. NOOOOOO! Now, I will say this one doesn’t look as bad as the other one, yet I still don’t feel like reading it. But I HAVE to! Once again, I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Has anyone heard of this book, or read it? Please tell me it’s good??? But my woes don’t end there! I have ANOTHER client- I mentioned her recently- who reads over 100 books a year, buys them all new, and then gives them away when she’s done. You probably know where I’m going with this. Now, I do like mysteries, and I decided to get it over with and read one of them quickly, so I read An English Garden Murder. It actually wasn’t bad- the writing was decent and the story was fairly interesting. But it just wasn’t great, and I don’t want to spend time reading so-so books. And I’m particularly wary of Fatal Fascinator (although, Engie- it’s a “hat shop mystery!”) So that’s my dilemma- suddenly people are giving me books, really NICE people, and I don’t want to hurt their feelings. But I don’t want to read their books. Tell me what to do!!! Life is too short to read mediocre books. What do you do when someone gives you a book you don’t want to read???
Eating…
I know you’re probably excited that I’m finally moving on from posts about my calamity, ER, I mean my race. Yep, I’m ready to talk about other important things again (although there will be a reference to the race in this post, I couldn’t help it!) Usually I pair “reading and eating” but in order to keep this post on the shorter side, I’m splitting them up. Eating today, reading tomorrow. A couple weeks ago, Lisa mentioned two delicious recipes in this post. The first was Asian Noodle Bowls. To be honest, I changed so many things (subbed tofu for the shrimp, left out the eggs, cut down on the sugar) that I can’t really review the recipe. I will say I used it as a loose guide, and my noodle bowl was delicious. The second thing she mentioned was this recipe for Curry Chickpea Salad from Nora Cooks. The recipe has been going around the blog world- I think Birchwood Pie was the first to mention it. Then Elisabeth raved about it, so I finally had to make it. I tried Elisabeth’s trick of using red pepper jelly instead of the chutney, because that’s what I had. I made this right before leaving for my race, brought some along, and left some for my husband. Then, after I dropped from the race and was sitting at the aid station with a mangled ankle, warming up in a stranger’s truck, I was texting back and forth with my husband. Yes, that’s how good that salad was- he felt the need to talk about it at that moment. Hours later, when I had finally been driven back to my car and was on my way back to the hotel, I knew I needed to stop for gas. Leading up to the race I had been so careful about what I ate, but now I was in a “what the hell” mood so I figured if I was stopping anyway, I might as well get a Coke Zero. And a bag of Fritos. I can only imagine what I looked like- still in my running clothes, muddy, and limping into the gas station. I was beyond caring. The cashier stared at me, and as I limped out with my treats, he called after me “Be careful!” Obviously, he was thinking, this woman is very accident-prone. I wish I had a picture of my post-race “feast.” Just imagine me reclining on the hotel bed, my foot up with an ice pack on my ankle, with my Coke Zero, Fritos, and chickpea salad. It was DELICIOUS. The next day I returned home, and my husband made lasagna for dinner, which was once again a recipe from Nora Cooks. It was so good- the “ricotta” is made from cashews, and the sauce is made with red lentils. Best of all, it provided dinner for three nights. Lastly, one more recipe from Nora. Honestly, she’s the queen of vegan cooking. Every recipe I’ve made from her is amazing. This time, I made her Best Ever Vegan Brownies. Now, I didn’t try these- my “what the hell” attitude didn’t extend to brownies. But my husband and daughter loved them. They were easy to make, and came out perfectly. Coming up tomorrow- what I’ve been reading, and a book dilemma! Have you made the famous chickpea salad yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Header photo by Karyna Panchenko on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- Licking My Wounds
After my fiasco last weekend, this week was all about healing (mentally and physically.) For my ankle, I did what I do for every injury- figure out what I can do without pain and do as much of that as possible. Movement=Blood flow=Healing! I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown. Let’s go all the way back to the day after my race. Sunday After sleeping TEN HOURS on Saturday night, I woke up in my hotel bed. This day was all about packing up my things, loading up the car, and driving home. All easier said than done when you have an ankle injury! Luckily it’s my left ankle. I was able to get my shoe on over my swollen foot, which I considered a victory. And after a 3 1/2 hour drive through the pouring rain (I never want to see rain again) I made it home safe and sound. Monday When I planned this race months ago, I requested this day off work. BEST. DECISION. EVER. My daughter was off of school so I was able to sleep until 8:00. I rested with my foot up for a large part of the day, but I started moving it as much as I could- circles, tracing the letters of the alphabet- it didn’t want to move much to the side, but I did what I could. Tuesday Sigh. I might have been tempted to wallow for one more day, but my daughter had school so we were up at 5:30. After that, well, I might as well go to the gym, right? The good news is, I could put weight on my foot and walk very slowly. Moving it side to side was painful, but I taped it up and carried on. 45 minutes on the bike while listening to this podcast. They interviewed a woman named Angie Moses, who recently completed a 100 mile race. She said running is like a video game. Every time you try a new distance, it’s like moving up a level in the game. You might not beat the level the first time, but then you go back and try again- and you get as many tries as you need to complete that level. WELL. I liked that! I had to go back to work, and I was nervous about that (since I’m a massage therapist… I need to be able to move!) As long as I moved slowly and carefully, it was okay. Not ideal, but okay. Wednesday Let’s try some strength! I did upper body, abs, and decided to try the leg press machine. My foot felt a little achy, but I could do it. This felt good! Thursday Back to the gym, where I did 50 minutes on the bike. Unlike Tuesday, when I just pedaled to get my heart rate up a little and the blood circulating, I made this a harder workout with intervals. Have I ever mentioned that I hate the bike? I wanted to quit after 10 minutes but managed to stay on for 50. Friday Gym again, obviously. I did a lower body workout using machines. Normally I like free weights, but times like this are what machines are for! That felt good, and gave me a break from the bike. Saturday Off! Well, I had no choice. The gym doesn’t open until 8 on Saturdays, and I have to be at work at 8:45. I may be dedicated to working out, but I don’t go to the gym AFTER work- I have to draw the line somewhere. Sunday On tap- for something completely different, I’ll be… going to the gym. I am hoping to graduate from the bike to ANYTHING ELSE. We’ll see. Soooo… how’s that ankle feeling? BETTER. Being on my feet all day at work is hard, so I try to change up my position as often as possible. Now I’m able to raise up on the balls of my feet, and go into a (slight) lunge. The main area that’s still painful is the peroneal tendon, which goes down behind the outside of the ankle. I feel like I’m so close to being able to walk normally, and yet so far. But there was tremendous progress this week- let’s give it another week and see where I’m at! How was your week? Any good podcast recommendations for my gym workouts?
February Runfessions
Well, let’s see! In the past week I sprained my ankle, nearly froze to death, and DNF’d my big race. After all that, what more could there be to runfess? Oh, I can probably come up with a few things! Thanks as always to Marcia. What would we do without her monthly “runfessional?” The first thing I would runfess is that I haven’t really been missing running this week. I know! Who am I? I guess I knew I wouldn’t be running anyway (when I, ahem, thought I would be running 50 miles on Saturday) so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I’ve seen a lot of the bike at the gym this week…. but I’ll runfess that my good attitude might start to wane if I’m on the bike much longer. I’ll also runfess that I’m, er, enjoying my race “swag.” This race was minimalistic in that department. When I checked in I got a nice sticker and a cap. It wasn’t much, but that’s okay (I thought), I’ll be getting a medal at the finish. (oh, no you won’t!) What I did get is a lovely towel- the towel they wrapped around me at the aid station when I was shaking and shivering. Three hours later, no one could remember who it belonged to, and my aid station friend probably just wanted me and the wet, grubby, muddy towel OUT OF HIS TRUCK. So he told me to keep it. That’s it! Come back on Sunday for the Weekly Rundown, where you’ll hear more than you ever wanted to know about my ankle. What’s the weirdest race swag you’ve ever gotten? Header photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash