Reading and Eating
Hello and welcome to Kim and Zenaida’s Tuesday Topics! Or, to be more precise, where I link with these ladies, take their Tuesday topic and go off on my own strange tangents. Thanks to Kim and Zenaida for putting up with me! I’ve read some great books lately. In a recent post, I shared that four library holds came in at the same time. I loved two of these books. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was so good! I also read Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and liked that one- but I liked this one even more. I loved the world of video game creation, and the relationships between the characters. There is a very upsetting event in this book (if you’ve read it, you know exactly what I’m talking about) which unfortunately seems relevant to our times. I thought the writing was beautiful. If you love Jane Austen, then you’ll probably love The Murder of Mr. Wickham. I thought the idea behind it was brilliant. The main characters from Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility arrive at Emma’s for a house party (the daughter of Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey is also included.). The diabolical Mr. Wickham shows up uninvited and is satisfactorily murdered, but we don’t know who did it. It was a combination of a fun murder mystery, plus a reunion of favorite characters. I found myself thinking, “Oh, so that’s how Emma’s marriage turned out!” or “So Marianne is happy after all.” Then I would have to remind myself that this was all from the imagination of Claudia Gray, so it wasn’t “really” happening. THEN I had to remind myself that none of the original stories really happened either- they were from the imagination of Jane Austen. So I just let myself enjoy the characters all over again. I thought Gray did a good job of keeping things true to Austen’s style and time period. The Cartographers was interesting, but I can’t say I loved it. And tragically, The Alice Network was due at the library before I could read it. I couldn’t renew it because there were other holds on it, so I reluctantly returned it, but it remains on my TBR. Up next: Remember how I loved Time Management for Mortals so much that I wrote an entire blog post on the first chapter? Strangely, after that I kind of forgot about it. I just picked it back up and am continuing to love it. I’ve been reading a chapter a night before moving on to The Help. I love a book where you easily get engrossed in the lives of each character, but life in the deep south in 1962- YUCK. Let’s move on to eating. Living with 19-year-old boy who is constantly trying to GAIN weight is interesting. During the month he spent in Tennessee at his summer music institute, my son Paul lost thirteen pounds, which he blames on the fact that he was “only” able to eat three meals a day. Now he’s trying to gain the weight back. Strangely, the rest of the people in the family are NOT trying to gain thirteen pounds, so we can only observe this incredible weight-gain journey from afar. The other night Paul decided to make a smoothie before bed. I watched in astonishment as he mixed oatmilk, blueberries, protein powder, peanut butter, chia seeds, and OLIVE OIL in the blender. His smoothie was gigantic, and he offered some to me- NO! Get away from me with that gut-bomb! I really draw the line at the olive oil. Anyway, as you can imagine, mealtimes are interesting. The other night, in honor of my recent trip to see my sister, we ate “Chicago Style” hot dogs. Other than the fact that we were of course eating veggie dogs, I tried to make it as authentic as possible: yellow mustard, relish, tomatoes, onion, peppers, a pickle spear ,and even a sprinkling of celery salt. The only thing I didn’t have was a poppyseed bun. Where in the world are you supposed to get a poppyseed hot dog bun??? The frosty beverage pictured was a Hop Tea. I really like them, but when I let my son try mine he said it tasted like a little bit of beer with a lot of fizzy water and “a tiny spritz of mosquito repellant.” WHAT??? When I protested, he said “Just try it again with that in mind.” Thanks a lot. Two weeks from today he’ll be on his way back to school, which should prevent us from taking out a second mortgage for the grocery bills. I think the reason Baylor had to raise their tuition this year is that my son eats in their dining halls. So that’s it! Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Are you reading anything great right now? Have you ever had a “Chicago Style” hot dog?
Weekly Rundown- There’s Good News and Bad News…
Remember how I took a few days off a couple weeks ago because my shin was hurting? Well, the good news is, my shin is PERFECT! The bad news is I hurt my hamstring while doing some hilly running on vacation. I know- what in the world is going to happen next? Never a dull moment around here! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting this weekly rundown. Let’s get right into it! Sunday Ah, yes- the day of the Great Hamstring Tragedy. It was my last day at my sister’s, and I woke up to rain. Nothing was going to stop me from running though- I was excited to tackle a hilly 5 miler. No pictures, because it was raining pretty hard and I didn’t take my phone. The first mile of that run was probably the best run I’ve had all summer. It was cooler than Florida, and I felt amazing. I was powering up the hills, and on the downhills I focused on pushing my hips forward so I was running quickly and not fighting gravity. Yes, my form was perfect! Who says a Florida girl can’t run hills? Ahem. Somewhere in the second mile I felt a slightly uncomfortable pulling sensation in my left hamstring, which I paid no attention to. I mean, obviously- nothing was going to ruin the best run of the whole summer. But by the time I got to the end of the third mile, it was too uncomfortable to ignore. I was right near my sister’s house, AND I saw a flash of lightning. Done for the day! Monday Woke up in my own home with a sore hamstring and tired from traveling. I did a quick core class and then a 10 minute barre class. (All classes were on Peloton as usual!) I felt like that barre class REALLY helped me. The small, controlled movements in my glutes and legs did not hurt my hamstring at all, but rather it felt like I was stressing the muscles in a good way and getting lots of bloodflow to the area. I felt hopeful for a quick recovery. Tuesday Since the 10 minute barre class was good, I figured a 20 minute one would be even better. But, I didn’t like this one as much. The ten minutes spent on lower body were good, but the other 10 minutes were kind of easy core and upper body moves- I would rather get that from a harder core class. So I did! a 5 minute core class and then an upper body strength class with Matty. Hamstring felt much, much better. Wednesday Sad day! I really thought I was going to run. I warmed up with a 10 minute barre class and then walked for 5 minute- my hamstring felt absolutely fine. But as soon as I started to run it hurt again and I had to stop. I did a 30 minute pool run. Bleh. Thursday Okay, now I’m mad at barre. I decided to take one of my regular glutes and legs strength classes. The problem area is the top of my hamstring, and I know from experience that area doesn’t get a lot of bloodflow, so can be slow to heal. I wanted to give the muscle some gentle stress- not enough to hurt it, but enough to speed up healing. I knew exactly what class to take! Remember how I love Matty’s “Lunge-a-Palooza” class? Well, he has a companion class to that which is all squats and deadlifts. It seemed like lunges would be a bad idea, but squats felt great, and I approached the deadlifts very, very slowly and cautiously. I also did a core class and upper body class. If I’m not running, I want to do as much strength as possible. Friday Okay, fine- I’ll do barre again. There are two barre instructors on Peloton- Hannah and Ally. So far I had only taken Hannah’s classes and well… I don’t want to be mean, but… her personality kind of grates on me. I’m sure she’s a very nice person, but I decided to take one of Ally’s classes instead. I think Ally comes off as a little less flaky, but honestly I’ll just take either one of their classes in the future. After a 10 minute barre class, I had an exciting (?) pool run. Saturday Another strength day! Core class, and then another glutes and legs class with Matty. This time I tried some lunges- it was okay, but seemed a little risky for my hamstring so I subbed split squats instead, and those felt great. And I finally tried one of Tunde’s arms classes! I was curious after hearing so much about her. I liked it. I had wanted to start her four week arm program, but in two weeks I’ll be traveling again (to Texas) and I don’t know what happens if you start.a Peloton program and not follow through consistently- will I get some sort of demerit? I don’t want any trouble! I’ll start her program later in the month. Sunday Sob. On tap for today… probably another pool run. Funny thing- I’ve always been such a cardio addict. But nowadays when I do cardio cross training, it sort of feels like a punishment for not being able to run. But when I do strength, I feel like I’m making some sort of progress and it’s more satisfying. What’s going on? Who am I??? Anyway, I know I need to mix things up so I’ll be in the pool! I’ve got some good podcasts to amuse myself with. That was my week… not what I wanted, but sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad. Have you ever taken a Peloton barre class? What did you think of it? If you can’t run, do you prefer cardio or strength?
July Runfessions- The Chicken of Depression
Well, it’s almost the end of July- which means it’s time for Marcia to open her runfessional. As always, I’ve got a few things to runfess. Let’s get started! First, I would runfess that I have YET ANOTHER… issue. Let’s not use the other “I” word quite yet. When I went to visit my sister last week I did some hilly runs and walks. I was being super careful of my shin, which had been bothering me the week prior- I didn’t want to aggravate it on those hills. I guess I was focusing so much on that shin that I failed to notice my hamstring was getting aggravated… until the last day when I had to cut my run short. I took a couple days off, tried to run yesterday, had to abort that mission and well… this is all causing me to be visited by the chicken of depression. It’s funny- everything else is going so well! I’m enjoying my leisurely summer schedule, work has been good, my son is home, both kids are happy, I’m still doing my other workouts…. it’s just that one thing- not being able to run- that’s really getting me down. Sigh. Go away, chicken! In other news, I runfess that although I can get a free massage once a month at work, I don’t get them as often as I should. This week, with my sore hamstring and also a sore lower back (left hamstring, right low back) I finally went in for a massage. When the therapist started working on me he asked “Do you have a little scoliosis?” Um… no, actually I don’t. At least not that I know of. He decided it was just that one side of my back was extremely tight. Ahem. I really don’t think it’s a good sign when your back is so tight, your massage therapist thinks you have scoliosis. On the other hand, maybe I have developed scoliosis at the age of 56. At this point, anything seems possible. One last runfession, which is actually a “strength-fession.” Once again, I’ve rage-quit my pull-up routine. Three times now I’ve started working on pull-ups, vowing that THIS TIME I’ll keep at it until I can finally do one unassisted. I work at it for months, get discouraged and finally decide that I hate it, and quit. As my son said, I have a bad relationship with pull-ups. Instead, I’m been doing some much more fun Peloton upper body strength workouts with Matty. Not that every second of these workouts is actually “fun” but I don’t hate it like I hated the pull-ups. The good news is I’m getting a more well-rounded upper body workout with chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps. The bad news is, if I’m really being honest with myself, I think working on pull-ups would have given me strong back muscles which would help me more in the long run. Oh well…c’est la vie! That’s it for now… if you want to hear more about my hamstring, come back on Sunday for the Weekly Rundown (I know how excited you must be!) Do you get regular massages? Lately have you been visited more by the Bluebird of Happiness or the Chicken of Depression?
Running, Blueberries and Cats… Trip Recap
Remember when flying used to be fun? I’m not talking about pre-Covid- I mean years ago, when it seemed exciting and luxurious. HA! Those days are sure over. Last week I flew to Chicago to see my sister. The flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Midway wasn’t too bad. At my sister’s request, I wore a mask. She and her husband are “Covid virgins” and they would like to keep it that way. I would say maybe a quarter of people in the airport had masks on? Maybe less. But as I was waiting I could hear an announcement for a flight to the Bahamas that was boarding, and they said “To board the plane your masks must be on.” Apparently they still take Covid very seriously in the Bahamas! The flight was uneventful. I had a window seat and read the whole way. The flight home was a different story- but we’ll get to that. Running I mentioned in my last post that it was hilly where my sister lives (a south suburb of Chicago.). Not hilly by Colorado or Utah standards, I’m sure (I mean, there are no mountains in Illinois) but definitely hilly by South Florida standards. I was slightly concerned that all the hills would bring back my shin pain, so I was monitoring that closely. I did a three mile run on Friday and a hilly walk on Saturday. So far so good! No shin pain. On Sunday I headed out for a planned five mile run. It was cool- by Florida standards- and rainy, and I felt great. It was so fun to be running in a different town, different terrain and different climate. It was the best run of the whole summer! I ran faster! I felt invincible! I— wait… what is that horrible pain in my HAMSTRING? GAAAAAAHHHHH! Yep- I was so focused on my shin that I failed to notice a nagging pain in my hamstring until it really hurt. Right around that time I was passing by my sister’s house and I heard thunder and saw a flash of lightning- and reluctantly cut my run short at three miles. SIGH. Cats But wait! There were lots of good things- all vacations should include cats. My sister and her husband have two of them. One is elderly (they think she’s almost 20) and because she’s nearing the end of her life, they really baby her. One thing she loves is to drink water from the bathroom sink. She’ll meow and meow until they lift her up, put her on the sink and turn on the tap so the water is just dripping, and she drinks right from the faucet. While she’s doing this she purrs loudly. We also went to the “cat brewery.” This place has a real name, but Luther the cat lives there, so they just call it the cat brewery. Luther wanders around happily, saying hello to everyone and getting lots of petting. As a souvenir, I got a “Luther” glass which I will be using for iced tea (and beer of course) from now on. Blueberries As I also mentioned, we went blueberry picking. It was super fun and we may have gotten slightly carried away. It was hard to tell how many we had picked until we were finished, but we had twelve pounds between the three of us. Since I could only carry a small amount home, my sister and her husband were a little concerned about how they’re going to eat all those blueberries. Obviously we had to have a blueberry pancake throwdown. We made two different blueberry pancake recipes and compared them. When I got home and told my son about it, he was laughing at us because he knew that we would have made two “healthy” pancake recipes. He was right- in addition to being vegan, the pancakes had ingredients like oats and chia seeds. And no sugar. I could tell he didn’t think much of our throwdown. And… that flight home… Ahem. I flew home on Sunday (note to self- don’t do that again) so Midway was super crowded. This was also the day that I hurt my hamstring so I was cranky to begin with. Sitting on the plane for hours didn’t seem like it would be helpful. The flight was delayed, and then when we finally boarded it was so full they didn’t have enough room for all the carry on luggage so I had to check mine, ARRRRRG! Of course by the time I boarded all that were left were middle seats- but I’ll admit there was a silver lining. I ended up sitting between two slender women who were both wearing masks. So it wasn’t all bad. The plane landed, I grumbled my way to baggage claim to retrieve my “carry on,” my husband was there to pick me up, and then I was home! Back to my family, work, hamstring rehab… you know. Regular life. I was sad to leave my sister, but it’s good to be home. I’m linking up with Kim and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics. Ladies, thanks for hosting and also tolerating my meandering topics every week! Did you fly anywhere this summer? Did your flight go smoothly? Are you a cat person or dog person? – I like dogs just fine, but have always had cats.