Top 5 Holidays That Aren’t Christmas
Last week I shared a running podcast, and said that I usually listen to podcasts for information, as opposed to entertainment. There are a couple exceptions to this, and one of them is Christmas Countdown, which I just discovered last December. The two hosts have a countdown every week, such as “Top 5 Christmas Albums” or “Top 5 Smells of Christmas.” This week, they had their first off-season episode, “Top 5 Holidays That Aren’t Christmas.” That was fun, and made me think about what my own five would be. I usually say I like all holidays, but when I started really thinking about it, I realized there are a lot of holidays I’m lukewarm about, and some that I outright dislike. I have my top five, but first, I’m going to talk about the holidays I don’t like. New Year’s Day This was on the podcast’s Top 5 list, and I can’t say it’s on mine. New Year’s is a hard time for me, because I get really sad when Christmas is over. I try to rally for New Year’s Eve, but in the back of my mind I’m also thinking about all the work I’m going to have to do to “de-Christmas” the house. Once I get a week or two into January, I start to feel better. Valentine’s Day Ugh. Valentine’s Day always depresses me, and for a long time I couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I had an epiphany. Growing up, I was always depressed in the winter. No one talked about SAD back then, so all I knew was that I had an issue with depression that went in cycles. I was always depressed on Valentine’s Day, simply because it was in the middle of winter. Even though I now live in Florida and February is one of our best weather months, it’s permanently ingrained in my psyche that Valentine’s Day is a time to be depressed. I can’t seem to shake it. Easter Easter is always kind of a bummer for me, because I miss my parents. When my son was little, my parents would spend the winters in Florida, and they eventually moved here full-time. We would always go to their house on Easter afternoon and they would have a little Easter egg hunt for my son, and we would have dinner with them. I know there are other holidays that are more family-oriented- we’ll get to that in a minute- but on Easter afternoon I always have a sad feeling like something more should be happening (don’t worry! This is just a small, temporary sadness. It goes away quickly once the day is over.) Well, that was a downer. Now that I’ve talked about all the sad holidays, let’s get into my Top 5 Favorites (other than Christmas.) Instead of going least to most favorite, I’m going to start with my number one, because it’s so obvious… 1. THANKSGIVING! I love Thanksgiving so much, it almost rivals Christmas. I love the food but also the anticipation that comes with the day. I’m usually cooking in the kitchen while the Macy’s parade is on, but I insist on coming out to see Santa at the end, because it’s the OFFICIAL start to the Christmas season! This holiday has changed a lot for us over the years, but now it’s even more special, because my son comes home from college the week of Thanksgiving. Now, you might be thinking, wait a minute! Thanksgiving is a family holiday! Why aren’t you sad THEN? Yes, the first Thanksgiving without my parents was hard, but the four of us have really turned it into a fun day. We all cook, and have a huge, fun feast. We don’t get together with my sister and BIL for Thanksgiving, because none of us want the stress of traveling at that time of year. But my sister and I text throughout the day, giving updates on our pies and sending pictures. It’s a super fun day. 2. Halloween I’m not one of those people who gets all dressed up for Halloween or throws a big party- but I love the holiday. I love Halloween decorations, and I decorate the inside and outside of my house. I love answering the door for trick-or-treaters. When my kids were little, I loved walking around the neighborhood with them while they trick-or-treated (sadly, those days are over forever… until I have grandchildren?) 3. Fourth of July This is a recent one for me. When my kids were little, I did NOT care for this holiday. I felt obligated to take them to see fireworks, and it was always disgustingly hot and crowded. So stressful. NOW, I really appreciate this day. For one thing, I have the day off, which I can’t say for every holiday. My husband and I usually run a race in the morning, and then we come home and make some fun food for the day (July 4th-themed charcuterie board for lunch, and vegan burgers for dinner.) Also, we realized that we don’t need to leave our house to see fireworks! We don’t even have to step outside- we can look out the living room window and see the incredible displays all the neighbors are putting on. I know… fireworks are really hard for pets. Our black cat, Charlotte, hates them and hides under the bed. I feel bad about that, but I can’t help it- fireworks are fun. 4… Here where I had to start digging deep. I thought about all the minor holidays. St Patrick’s Day? I’m pretty sure I had some fun ones in my youth (although it’s all a blur, ha ha) but this year I forgot all about it. Mother’s Day? Meh- bittersweet. I finally came up with, and I hope this counts… My Birthday I don’t always have my birthday off from work, but I try to celebrate on a day close to my birthday. This year I had a long trail run and a nice
Weekly Rundown- A Big Week!
Well, it was quite a week! My daughter was on spring break, I celebrated my birthday, had an epic long run, and oh yes… South Florida is in a frenzy over March Madness! Thanks once again to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s do this! Monday The week actually got off to a shaky start. Remember the quad issue from last week? I hurt it on the bike, and then exacerbated the problem doing squats at the gym on Saturday. On Monday it was still sore, and I was worried. I had a big run coming up on Wednesday which I had been looking forward to for a month. Now I was questioning whether I would be able to do it. I ran 4 miles… My quad felt okay when I was running, but it hurt when I stopped and was tender to the touch. I was… a little worried, and thought I might have to postpone my long run. Tuesday It was my birthday, and I hoped for a birthday miracle! My quad felt better when I got up, but still hurt. I went to the gym for upper body. Bench press, lat pulldowns, rows… yada yada. There were some guys there doing super heavy squats, and it hurt just to look at them. By Tuesday night, my quad had improved enough so I decided the long run was HAPPENING. Woohoo! Wednesday Weeks ago, I told my husband that all I wanted for my birthday was to have this day completely to myself. He and my daughter were both on spring break, so they didn’t really need me for anything. I got to the trail and was able to start my run shortly after sunrise. Quite a switch from starting at 9:45 am when it’s already 80 degrees! It was so cool during the first segment that I didn’t even need my ice hat. Then the sun came out… …and I used all my cooling tricks. Ice in my hat, in my bra, an ice cube in each hand as I left my “aid station” (car.) This time I had enough ice, enough water, and plenty of fuel. One big thing I did differently was take in more calories- I had been eating about 100 calories per hour and I found out you should be aiming for 200-300. So I ate more often and it worked well. I ended up running 23 miles! That was my penultimate long run before my race. OH! And my quad held up just fine. It was a little achy during the run and VERY stiff after, but not injured. PHEW. Thursday Getting out of bed, both quads were pretty sore… you know, like they are after a long run! I opted for a nice long walk, and it felt amazing. Friday Still a little sore, but nothing serious. I had an uneventful 4 mile run. Remember all my complaining about the time change? Well, I’m really liking the cooler mornings, as I’m now running an hour earlier than before. I definitely would NOT appreciate this aspect if I lived up north, though. Saturday Day off- although I had my hardest client at work. This guy wants the deepest pressure possible for a 90 minute massage. I was tired! Luckily he’s a nice guy (and only comes in once a month.) So, I can’t believe I used to dislike basketball. I was obviously insane. This year I was so sad when football ended that I made a real effort to appreciate basketball, and WOW! It’s so exciting and fun! And there are two Florida teams in the playoffs- FAU and University of Miami. FAU is right in our town and is my HUSBAND’S ALMA MATER- how exciting! Of course we had to do a special meal for the FAU game tonight. I wanted to do a theme like I did for the Super Bowl, but couldn’t think of what food South Florida is known for (shouldn’t I know this???). All I could come up with was seafood, so I made our favorite Vegan Lobster Rolls. Sunday On tap- leg day at the gym! Ahem. I will not be doing squats- I think I still have PTSD from last week. But I have to do some lower body. I’ll take it slow and ease into it… I’ll do whatever I can do. And then… more basketball! Once again I’m thinking about a theme dinner for the UM game… this recipe for Cuban Black Beans sounds good. How was your week? Did it feel like spring? Are you watching March Madness? – FAU is in the Final Four!
Decisions… and a Birthday Recap!
“Every decision we’ll ever make is made with incomplete information.” I recently read a blog post by Jeremy Enns called “The Impossibility of Right Decisions,” Because we always possess incomplete information, he says it’s almost impossible to ever make a decision that, in retrospect, was the absolute best possible decision. Instead, it’s usually a string of “pretty good” decisions that still move us closer to our goals. While reading this, I was in the middle of making my own big decision. For the past month, I’ve been planning a big long run for Wednesday, March 22nd. This week is my husband’s and daughter’s spring break. March 21st is my birthday, and I told my husband I didn’t want any presents- all I wanted was the whole day to myself on the 22nd (I work on Tuesdays but Wednesdays are my days off.) This meant I could get up, get to the trail and start my run WHENEVER I WANTED! What a concept! Instead of working around my daughter’s schedule, I could actually get started at sunrise to (at least partially) beat the heat. Every hot run I’ve struggled with, I thought “That’s okay- I’ll have my big run on March 22nd. Nothing could go wrong for that one!” I envisioned the whole day, starting with the run, and then a leisurely lunch out- no driving anyone to school in the morning or rushing back for after school pickup. Well… in the days leading up to the 22nd, I was dealing with a painful issue in my left quad. I hurt it on the bike last week and then exacerbated it by doing squats (why, why WHY???) and it was really sore. On Monday, two days before the big run, I ran four miles. The quad didn’t hurt while I was running, but it was sore when I stopped, and was actually tender to the touch, which was… concerning. I was forced to reconsider the long run on Wednesday. Yes, the quad might not hurt during four miles, but how might it feel after running 22 miles? What’s wrong with it, anyway? What should I do? ARRRRRG! Let’s see. The worst case scenario is that I would do the run, seriously hurt my quad and not be able to do my race (which is on April 22nd.). THAT WOULD BE BAD. Best case scenario, I do the run and the quad is fine. In-between scenarios included getting halfway through the run and having to bail (that would be bad) or getting five miles in and having to stop (also bad, but not as disastrous.) The run could be rescheduled for Sunday, which would be okay but not ideal. My alternate plan for Wednesday was taking my car in for servicing, which is pretty much the polar opposite of how I wanted to spend the day. But, I’ve been driving around for weeks with the engine light on and I figured I could at least knock out that chore. Ugh. On Monday night I was seriously thinking that I would not be running on Wednesday. Sadness. Then, I woke up on Tuesday. My quad was not entirely better, but it didn’t hurt as much as it had on Monday, and I calculated that if I had the same amount of improvement by Wednesday…. I could attempt the run. Cautious optimism! There’s a lot of prep involved in these long trail runs (freezing water bottles the night before, getting all my gear ready) so Tuesday night I made my decision- I’m going for it! You guys, I had an absolutely magical run. The universe obviously knew it was my birthday celebration, and cooperated in every way. I’ll share more details in the Weekly Rundown on Sunday, but I ran 23 miles. It was 66 degrees when I started and 79 degrees when I finished- but it was breezy, and I never felt overcome by the heat. I needed some sort of indication that I’ll be able to complete a 50K in a month, and this was it. I have one more super long run before the race, and that one will (once again) be difficult schedule-wise. But no matter what happens, I have this one to look back on. Afterwards I got a falafel sandwich from Maoz: This sandwich had falafel, hummus, cucumber, tomato, red cabbage, roasted brussels sprouts, olives, and tahini sauce. And I got my birthday drink: Back in the day, I LOVED Coke. So, so much. But now I don’t drink sugar-y sodas (sob) so EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE I have a Coke Zero. It’s not quite the real thing, but it’s still delicious. Later at home I took a lovely nap. And even though I said no presents, my husband got me a couple things: For dinner we had vegan baked ziti, roasted broccoli and garlic bread. It was a great birthday! Oh, and how did that quad hold up, anyway? Well, funny thing. I felt it aching a little during the run, but it felt more fatigued than anything. And sometimes I didn’t feel it at all. After the run it seized up and got very stiff, but the next day it felt exactly the same as the other leg- slightly sore, but nothing more. So the next time something hurts, I’ll just go out and run 23 miles! Right? Do you like birthdays? – I like my birthday, although I don’t celebrate it in a traditional way (obviously.) Do you like soda? – I love it so much, but nowadays my fizzy drink is usually flavored seltzer.
Glute Activation Myths- Podcast Review
Between running, walking, and cross training, I’ve had a lot of time to listen to podcasts lately. My newest one is The Run Smarter Podcast with Brodie Sharpe. Brodie is an Australian physiotherapist and the mission of his podcast is to educate people on the science behind all topics running. I like how he refers to each episode as a “lesson” and greets his audience with “Hello, running scholars!” I feel smarter already! I recently listened to this episode, “Glute Activation Myths with Rich Willy.” Rich is a physical therapist and PhD Running Researcher (that sounds like a fun job!) He and Brodie debunk the stories we’ve all been told about how weak glutes cause injuries, how we need to “wake up” our glutes, and how everything in running revolves around glutes. Basically it’s all a load of BS, although they do get into the reasons why this theory became so popular. Rich explains that when you run, your calf muscles (gastrocs and soleus) are actually responsible for 50% of the muscle load. Quads and hamstrings have their roll, and glutes only make up about 15% of the equation (unless you’re running uphill- then the glutes naturally kick in more.) Running is basically a series of hops, and most of the power comes from the spring-like motion of your tendons (mainly, the achilles.) The glutes don’t have as much tendon as your calf muscles, and therefore don’t supply as much power. So what’s behind this glute craze we’ve all been subjected to? Well… there were studies done on runners who had knee injuries, and they found that their glutes were “weak.” Aha! They must have gotten injured because of their weak glutes! But further studies showed that the opposite is true- when a runner sustains an injury, the glutes on that side are unwilling to exert as much force, probably as a protective response to the injured area. It’s not that they’re weak, and once the injury is resolved they’re once again willing to take on an appropriate load. Rich also disabuses us of the notion that if you sit too long, your glutes will “go to sleep” and will need to be activated again. He pointed out that just in standing up, you’re using your glutes. They’re not asleep; they’re perfectly ready to work when needed. There were all sorts of other fascinating topics in this episode, such as what SHOULD you be doing before a run (since we’re not obsessively activating our glutes anymore?) and what kind of strength training is best. I really loved it. I’d totally bought into the “weak glutes” story and have been doing all sorts of glute activations before every run. After hearing this I’m going to stop all that, and focus my strength training at the gym. Obviously, I highly recommend this podcast. Other episodes cover topics like running cadence, nutrition, shin splints, blisters, injury rehab, and much more. Okay, it’s not an entertaining, laugh-out-loud type of show, but if you’re interested in the science behind running, you’ll enjoy these “lessons.” I’m linking up with Kim and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics! Thanks, ladies. Do you do glute activations before your runs? Do you like “informational” or “entertainment” podcasts more? – I like both, but skew heavily toward informational.