The Best Advice I Ever Got
You know the Simpsons episode where Homer gives Marge a bowling ball for her birthday? When she points out that she doesn’t bowl, Homer says “If you don’t want it I know someone who does!” and you see that the bowling ball says “Homer” on it. We have a lot of gifts that are “Homer bowling balls” around here. For Christmas, I gave my husband Katie Couric’s book, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives. And I’ve been enjoying it immensely! Katie has compiled stories and advice from dozens of varied and notable people such as Beyonce (“Take time to know yourself”), Donald Trump (“Know everything you can”) (*IMPORTANT NOTE- this book was published in 2012*), Curtis Sittenfeld (“Don’t marry someone who’s more neurotic than you”), and Martha Stewart (“Gather the good things”)- to name a few. But my favorite essay so far is by Wynton Marsalis, the successful and well-known classical and jazz trumpet player. His story was particularly meaningful to me, because my son Paul is a trumpet player. Paul is currently a music major at Baylor University. Baylor has a great Music Education program, and a lot of people go there to get a Music Ed degree so they have something to fall back on if playing doesn’t work out. Paul knows that he doesn’t want to teach- he wants to play, so he’s there for a Music Performance degree. In the book, Wynton describes people’s reactions to his decision to pursue a career as a professional trumpet player.. His teachers discouraged it, advising that it would be too difficult to make a living. People told him he would need a “real” profession to fall back on when music didn’t work out. His mother told him if he went into music, he would struggle and suffer just like his father. But his father, a musician himself, told him this: “Make sure you don’t have anything to fall back on… because you will.” Wynton’s advice: Commit with your whole heart. This makes me think of the common practice of going into a race with an A, B, and C goal. What happens when the race gets really, really tough, and we have a lesser goal to fall back on? There’s a good chance we’ll take that option. I love this race recap by Janae, Hungry Runner Girl, where she talks about reaching her goal of a sub-3 hour marathon after years and years of trying. She got to mile 20 of her race and was suffering so much that she thought, “It’s okay. I don’t have to go any faster than this- I won’t get my sub-3, but it’ll still be a PR.” But then she thought, no! I came to run a sub-3 hour marathon, and that’s what I’m going to do. She describes how she pushed herself so hard that her eyes felt fuzzy in the last mile and she felt like she was going to fall. But she crossed the finish line in 2:59:14 because she was fully committed to her goal. But what happens if we fully commit and don’t achieve our goal? Wanting something badly and putting everything we have into it doesn’t guarantee we’ll succeed. There are always factors beyond our control, and sometimes our best just isn’t good enough. What then? Well… we’ll probably be really, really disappointed and sad. And then, after we get over that, we’ll try again. Maybe in a different way, or we’ll try something new. My son may become a professional trumpet player, and he may not. I hope for his sake that he succeeds. And if he doesn’t I have complete faith in him that he’ll figure something else out. The one thing he’ll never, ever have to do is look back and wonder what could have happened if he had just committed with his whole heart. What about you- do you believe in setting A,B and C goals for big races? What about life decisions- do you like to commit fully, or have a backup plan?
Weekly Rundown- It’s “Florida-Cold!”
What a week! After a warmer-than-usual December and first part of January, winter finally came to Florida! For us, that means nights down into the 50s and low humidity. We can turn off the AC and throw open the windows! It’s our most beautiful time of year, and we make the most of it. I’m linking up as always with Kim and Deborah for this weekly rundown. Let’s get started! Monday The week began with a yoga flow class (with Denis Morton on the Peloton app) and the latest installment of my “pushups project.” supervised by my son. Oof. Tuesday Running day! Last week I started running again with very short runs (after taking time off from being sick, and also getting used to my new orthotics.) I continued with this conservative schedule, but first… I warmed up with some squats. Last spring I went to PT for a hip injury, and the therapist noticed that every time I did a squat, I shifted my weight onto my left leg. I even did it when squatting with no weights, and I couldn’t even feel that I was doing it. The solution to this problem was to do squats with a band around both legs, just above my knees. During the squat I focus on pushing both legs outward against the band and that solves the shifting problem. I did three sets, and then did some lateral squat walks with the band- if that doesn’t wake up my glutes, I don’t know what will! Then I walked for half a mile, and ran for 2.5 miles. Last week every run felt difficult, but this run finally felt good! Wednesday Another yoga flow class, and pushups. Thursday AHHH! This was the first run in weeks where I really, really felt good. I started off for a three mile run… it was raining a little so I wore my visor. Our cold front hadn’t come through yet, but it was cooler- around 60 degrees. Between the light rain and the low temps, it felt amazingly cool. I blame the visor for what happened next. It made it a little harder to see all around me, so I was absorbed in my thoughts and somehow missed the turn I should have taken to make a three mile loop. I realized it about half a mile later, and at that point had committed to running four miles. BUT I FELT GREAT! I was so happy to be running four miles, and even added some fartleks in the last mile. I loved it! Friday Okay, I have an important confession. I don’t actually love the Peloton Strength for Runners classes. I know- blasphemy!!! The ones I’ve taken move too quickly from one exercise to another, and I always feel kind of rushed and frantic, rather than focusing on doing each one slowly and with good form. I get why it’s like that- they’re trying to fit as much as possible into a short amount of time, because who wants to spend a lot of time on strength. I also probably haven’t tried enough classes. But for now, I’m happier doing strength on my own. Having said that, I’m starting back pretty slowly after not doing any strength for months other than the power yoga classes. Today I did the Runner’s Touch exercise that I’ve mentioned before. I really like this because it works my glutes, hamstrings, balance, and when I do it barefoot, it works the muscles in my feet as well. When I’m doing it on a regular basis, I add weights, but for now I’m just doing it with body weight. And… pushups, of course. Saturday Our cold front officially came through! Remember, I live in South Florida. We heard it snowed in northern Florida earlier this month (gasp!) but we’re almost at the southern tip of the state, so this is just about as cold as it gets for us- it was 50 degrees for my run this morning! After my ‘long run” and “speedwork” (I use these terms very loosely and generously) on Thursday, I dialed it back to a three mile run. Preceded by banded squats and lateral squat walks once again. Sunday I kept to my plan for January, which is to run every other day. The problem with that is, it means every other week I only run three times, and I can’t run on Sunday. That’s okay- I did my third yoga class of the week (also following my plan) and completed the pushup challenge my son set for me, which was “ten down.” You do a set of ten pushups, then a set of nine, then eight, etc. down to one. Ideally you’re supposed to only wait one minute between sets, but for the first few sets I rest a little longer. After neglecting upper body strength for a while, it took me a couple weeks to work up to the full ten down. Unfortunately I had to text my son to tell him I completed the ten down challenge, because he left early this morning to go back to school. Yes… I’m sad. But, a couple weeks ago when I wrote about my word of the year, “Start,” Deb kindly and wisely left this comment: “It’s perfect for you as start back into your running gradually to avoid injury, as you start back to work after Covid, and as you start life again just the three of you when your son goes back to school. We’re always starting!” That stuck in my mind, and it really helps. Thanks, Deb! Today will be a little empty (although there is football!) but I’m looking forward to next week. We have more cool weather coming, I’ll get to run four times, and I’m hoping to get a trail run in there. Life goes on! Does anyone have a Peloton SFR class they really love? I’m willing to try again! How was your weather this week? –I know 50 probably doesn’t sound
Movies, a Book and Uitwaaien
Well, I’m emotionally exhausted once again, because my son and I just finished re-watching all the Harry Potter movies, and then we watched the 20th anniversary special on HBO Max, where the cast members returned to talk about filming the movies. What is it about Harry Potter? Just like when I finished the books, at the end of the last movie I felt like there’s nothing left to say or do, or experience, or learn, ever again in life. It’s all been done… that was the official end. Luckily, I finally recovered from that after reading the books (although it took a month) and just finished reading Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. This book has been on my TBR list for years, because it takes place in Scotland during Christmas. I kind of wish I had read this a month earlier, because the story leads up to December 25th, and it would have been fun to read it before Christmas. But I enjoyed it now. One thing I liked about it was the detailed descriptions- when a character went to buy Christmas presents, we’re told exactly what she got for each person. And instead of saying merely “they bought food for the party” we know exactly what they bought, including how many bottles of wine and whiskey. I love details like that in a book. Overall the writing was beautiful, and the story tied up neatly and happily. Towards the end my eyes were tempted to roll slightly upward at just HOW neatly everything tied up. The story ends very happily, and even though the characters experienced some adversity, everyone behaved admirably and kindly throughout. I would describe this as a kind, gentle book- which was soothing to read. I’m a little scared to start my next one- I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. I have a feeling it’s going to be the polar opposite of “kind and gentle.” But I’m ready for a page-turner. I’m also ready for some uitwaaien! What in the world, you may be asking, is that? Well, this article explains that “uitwaaien” is a Dutch word that means “to walk in the wind.” It describes the act of undertaking some sort of outdoor physical activity in windy conditions. “Wind, as local wisdom goes, refreshes and recalibrates you.” The article describes our relationship to the wind and the health benefits it provides. Wim Hof, who developed a breathing program designed to bring the wind into our bodies, says the wind “is inextricably linked to how we connect with our physiology and achieve optimal health.” Well! I never thought much about the wind except as an annoyance- most of us don’t like running on windy days. But now I have a whole new way of thinking about it, and I’m kind of looking forward to the next windy run. I’m ready to be refreshed and recalibrated! Did anyone else watch the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special? Have you ever heard of “uitwaaien?” –I’m going to change my attitude towards the wind after reading this!
January Goals- I Have Some!
I know… I’m a little late to the party here. A third of the month is over and I’m just now setting some goals. Furthermore, I don’t intend to implement one of them for another week. My son is home until the 16th. I don’t think I’ll look back and regret that I didn’t get more sleep for these weeks, but I will be sad if I don’t make the most of the time I have with him here. Speaking of sleep… Goal #1 If I said my goal was to get more sleep, that would be an oversimplification. I’ve been saying I need to get more sleep for months (years?) now, but being sick the week between Christmas and New Years really brought my sleep issue into focus. For that week, I slept better than I’ve slept in… oh, I don’t know- nineteen years? For seven nights in a row, I crawled into bed and slept solidly for 8-9 hours. I would wake up once to use the bathroom, but then immediately fall back into a keep sleep. The night before I went back to work, I suddenly had trouble falling asleep. I wasn’t anxious or worried- I was just aware that I had to get up the next day at a specific time and be somewhere, and I couldn’t fully relax. I proceeded to eventually sleep fitfully, waking several times to use the bathroom, and woke in the morning feeling unrefreshed. And the problem is… that is my norm. Right now my son and I are watching all the Harry Potter movies in the evenings, which isn’t conducive to getting in bed early and sleeping well. That’s okay! But starting next week my goal is to at least get into bed eight hours before I need to get up. I’ll give it until the end of January, and if I’m lying in bed for eight hours but still not sleeping well, I’ll consider a further sleep intervention for February. Goal #2 This one is more straightforward! I want to read four books in January. For the past few years, I’ve had a (modest) goal of reading 50 books for the year. I haven’t quite reached that goal, but I’ve come much closer to 50 than if I didn’t set it at all. Last year I was doing great, until I re-read all the Harry Potter books, which led to an existential crisis, where I felt like I couldn’t read anything else ever again. Luckily I finally got over that and am working my way through my Christmas books. Four books in January is definitely doable. Goal #3 Fitness! I’m going to continue to run every other day during January, building up my mileage slowly. That’s the easy part. Everything else gets more complicated. I loved my yoga challenge for November, where I did a yoga class every day. I realized yoga is important for me and I want to keep up with it. However, I need to add in more specific strength training (during my month of yoga, I counted the power yoga classes as my strength training.) So my goal, for January, is to do yoga three times a week, and add some running-specific strength at least twice a week. And pushups. Must keep doing pushups. Those are my January goals… the hardest one will be the sleep one. We’ll see how it goes! Did you set January goals? How’s it going so far?