Feeling Full
Last Sunday was the first day of my son’s spring break. I cooked two huge meals, did loads of laundry, went grocery shopping, got caught up with my son and dealt with the usual daily dramas of my fourteen-year-old daughter. As I got into bed that night I told my husband I was exhausted and he said “Yes, it was a full day.” Interesting, because I was thinking it had been a “busy” day. But as soon as he said that, it shifted my perspective. “Busy” implies lots of chores, a time crunch and has a slight unpleasant undertone. “Full,” on the other hand, has such a satisfying sound. Our house was full. Our stomachs were definitely full. And, at the risk of sounding cheesy, my heart was full. It reminded me of a passage from a book I recently read, Helen Dunmore’s A Spell of Winter. The main character and her brother are preparing to go on a long walk in the country. She says “I was full of excitement. I wanted to walk miles and come home with my whole body aching.” (I know that feeling!) She could have said “I was excited” but I absolutely love how she said “I was full of excitement.” I’m always fascinated by words, and noticing how different words can change my perspective. The next time I’m extremely busy at work, I’m going to say “I have a full day” (and appreciate how lucky it is to have an abundance of clients.) I won’t, however, go around saying things like “I’m full of excitement” or “I’m full of happiness” because that would sound kind of… odd. I’ll be thinking it though! Do you have any words you love to use? Have there been any words lately that shifted your perspective?
Reading and Eating
Hello! Once again I have some recent reads and eats to share. I’ve been reading some great books lately, and have been doing some extra cooking. Starting with books… I had an odd experience with A Spell of Winter. One day I got a notice from the library saying the hold I placed on it had come in and the book was ready to be picked up. Wait… what? I could have sworn I never heard of this book before. Apparently I must have read about it somewhere and impulsively placed a hold on it, but I have no memory of that. Oh well! I picked it up from the library. While I was still waiting to read it, I read a short review of it on Engie’s blog describing it as a “weird little book about incest.” WHAT? WHY did I want to read this book??? I almost returned it to the library, but then figured I would just read a few pages and see what it was like. Yes, there were parts of the book that were a little creepy and hard to read. But I LOVED it. I was immediately drawn into the story (and it wasn’t only about incest, thank goodness.) I loved the writing style so much I looked up other books by Helen Dunmore, and it turns out the others sound quite different. Exposure is a suspense novel that takes place during the cold war- I got it out of the library and am going to start it soon. Anthony Horowitz is becoming one of my favorite mystery authors. The Twist of a Knife was one of his “Hawthorne” series, where he (Anthony Horowitz) is an actual character in the book who teams up with a detective, Hawthorne. This is the fourth book in the series and for maximum enjoyment, I think they should be read in order. This one was a quick, fun read. My son asked for Atomic Habits for Christmas and has now passed it along to me. “Atomic” habits refers to little changes that add up to huge results. Clear explains that if you’re having trouble sticking to good habits or breaking bad ones, it’s not because you’re a lazy lump who can’t do anything right, but rather you’re just not implementing habits in the right way. A lot of things in this book I already know (Gretchen Rubin talks about the “strategy of the clean slate” for example) but it was definitely worth a read. Moving on to food! My son is home this week for spring break, and he requires a LOT of food. The first day he was home I made a big brunch: “Just Egg” quiche (Just Egg is a vegan egg substitute made from mung beans), tempeh bacon, hash browns, blueberry muffins and fruit. This was so good! (Quiche recipe from Nora Cooks.) A couple hours after this brunch, my son drank a protein shake and about an hour after that asked for lunch. My stomach was still struggling to digest the brunch! Have I mentioned that my son is 6’5″? He’s always been skinny, but is now lifting weights and bulking up on calories, and he’s really starting to fill out. Later I made an Asian feast for dinner! It was the same Thai Yellow Coconut Curry With Mango from Minimalist Baker that I made a couple weeks ago. Once again, I added tofu and broccoli and it was DELICIOUS. I also made naan from the same website, and vegetable gyoza from Trader Joe’s. This was enough to fill us all up, although my son made a huge smoothie for himself before bed. I KNOW. He drinks a huge smoothie before bed and then sleeps like a rock for eight hours, not even waking up to pee. How is this possible??? My son is talking about spending the summer at home instead of doing a summer program, and while I’m excited at the thought of him being home all summer, I’m not quite sure how we’ll manage to feed him. I may have to get a second job. Coming up… lots more food (of course- my son doesn’t go back to school till Sunday) and some exciting reads! Have you read any of these books? Are you wishing I would take a photography course and stop posting such terrible photos of my food? I know, they don’t do it justice.
Weekly Rundown- My Current Phase
Welcome to the Weekly Rundown, hosted by Kim and Deborah as always. My race is NEXT MONTH, which means I’m now in the phase of training I like to call “AVOID INJURY AT ALL COSTS.” Keeping that in mind, and especially now that my long runs will be in the 20+ mile range, I’m only doing a “long” long run every other week. So this week was a bit of a cutback, and everything went well! Let’s just see how it all played out… Sunday Leg day at the gym- squats, deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats… all my “favorites.” Monday 4 mile run on sore legs! Tuesday Upper body day at the gym- bench press, seated rows, lat pulldowns, abs. I also did some hanging from the bar with scapula retractions, and managed to hurt my thumb. Whatever! It’s always something. Wednesday Funny thing! After last week’s extremely difficult 20 mile run in the heat, I thought “I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for two more weeks!” But then today I was kind of sad not to be doing a super long run- obviously, I have a short memory. This was a 10 mile run, on the trail close to my house. It was only 62 degrees when I started, so compared to last week’s run this one felt like a vacation (until the last couple miles- then it started to get hot.) Because I was doing one big loop, I knew I wouldn’t stop at my car so I carried two bottles with me, one of LMNT and one of water. So, I LOVE the single bottle version of this hydration vest, but I don’t love the double bottle version. The single bottle vest is so light I can barely feel it, and for some reason the double bottle one feels like a heavy weight on my back. I know, it’s weird- you wouldn’t think one extra bottle would make that much of a difference. For my race, I’ll be able to use the single bottle vest because there will be plenty of aid stations. The double bottle, while not as comfortable, worked well for today. After this run I had a doctor’s appointment (my regular yearly checkup) AND an eye doctor appointment, AND then took my daughter to the orthodontist. I’m really trying to cram everything I can into these shorter long run days! Thursday Ugh. Stair climber at the gym! Followed by some core work. Friday 4 mile run! Saturday Usually this is my day off, but I switched things up and went to the gym after work for leg day. Did I feel like it? Absolutely not! And guess who else was at the gym? EVERYONE. Apparently, Saturday afternoon is not the ideal time to go to the gym. I had my reasons, though. Luckily, the hex bar is tucked away in a weird little corner- I’ve never seen anyone else using it. After a warmup I went straight to hex bar deadlifts, and was pleased that I could now put 40 pounds on the bar! (Okay, all you heavy lifters, stop snickering.) The bar itself is 45 pounds, so this was heavy for me! After the deadlifts, my low back was talking to me and it sounded something like this: “Alright, Ms. Schwarzenegger. I’ll make a deal with you. Don’t stress me out any more today, and I’ll behave on your long run next Wednesday.” I listened! Instead of doing squats, I hightailed it over to the leg press machine. I was able to do some hard sets, and it didn’t bother my achy back. And I ended with Bulgarian split squats- my legs were shaking! The reason I went to the gym today instead of my usual leg day (Sunday) is that my son arrived home very late at night!!! Once again, my husband loves picking people up at the airport so he went- but I waited up for them. Of course! Sunday On tap- sleeping as late as the cats will let us. Making a huge brunch and relaxing while catching up with my son. Best day off ever! How was your week? Are you having spring weather yet?- It was 90 degrees here today- UGH. Have you ever tried salt tablets for long runs?- I’m going to try them on my next one instead of LMNT.
March Coffee Date!
It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means it’s time to join Coco and Deborah for our monthly coffee date! I’ll be drinking my Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey tea, of course. If we were having coffee (or tea) together, the first thing I would tell you is that my Baylor Bear comes home tomorrow for spring break!!! That sure went fast- it seems like just yesterday he went back to school after Christmas. I know the time between spring break and the end of the year goes very fast as well, and then he’ll be home for the summer. The only problem is, at that point he’ll be done with his sophomore year which means college will be HALF OVER, ack! You guys, time is going by way too fast. Moving along. After my last long run I decided I need a hat to help me deal with the heat. There are several cooling hats out there, but I decided on this one: Ha ha, that’s seriously the picture on the Ice Running Website. I know there’s a lot to look at in this picture, but try to focus on the hat. You can see there’s a pocket on top and two on the sides for ice. I’ve ordered it and am excited to try it out- I hope it arrives before my next long run. Speaking of long runs, I’m experimenting with different fueling options. I’ve always had good luck with gels, but they get kind of sickening if you’re out there for a really long time. Recently I tried these from Trader Joe’s: They are EXTREMELY delicious! And they’re easy to eat, even in the middle of a run. Here’s the ingredients: I strongly suggest that everyone rush to their nearest Trader Joe’s immediately and try these. You will not regret it. That’s it for this coffee date! Can you believe it’s time for spring break already? – Colleges always have spring break early. My daughter’s is two weeks later. Do you eat anything during a long run other than gels? Ever tried Frooze Balls?