One of those days…
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” -Mike Tyson Maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well last night, but I had one of those days where I felt so burned out from all the trying and coping I’ve been doing lately. Then I heard someone use that quote and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Most of the time I’m pretty cheerful and optimistic, but the last year and a half kind of felt like being punched in the face over and over again. Not in a violent way, but in a “didn’t see that coming!” kind of way. I could list all the things I’m tired of, and all the hopes and plans that came to nothing, but we’ve all been in the pandemic together, so there’s no need. One thing I’m especially tired of is not being able to run, but luckily there was this: This picture was from Monday morning, and just looking at it makes me hopeful again. Yes! There will be running! And sunshine! Life goes on. I guess it’s time to make some new plans. Do you feel like the pandemic made you more optimistic, or pessimistic? Do you get depressed when you can’t run? – Oh yes.
Midweek Mashup
Ah, it feels good to be home! As much fun as vacations are, it always feels good to sleep in your own bed, right? While we were in Austin I couldn’t figure out how the bed was so uncomfortable at night, yet when I lay down for an afternoon nap I would sink blissfully into the soft mattress, and could have slept for hours on end. A mystery! Anyway, here’s a few things from my week so far… I can’t say I exactly missed it while I was away, but it felt good to do a pool run this morning! I listened to this Running Rogue podcast episode, “The Do’s and Don’t’s of Cross Training.” It was exciting to be in Austin, where Chris McClung lives, runs, coaches, and hosts the Running Rogue podcast! Every time I saw someone running I would exclaim “Maybe it’s Chris McClung!” Strangely, my kids did not find this amusing, interesting or even tolerable. It turns out (as Chris explains in this episode) that he’s been sick with Covid, in spite of being vaccinated. His case is mild, and he credits the vaccine for that and urges anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to do so. Hmm, so that’s why I didn’t see him out running! Hellah Sidibe on the Rich Roll podcast Ahhhhh! This episode was so good! Hellah Sidibe talks about his recent run across the country and FOUR YEAR RUN STREAK. Yes! On the day the podcast was recorded, he was on day 1500 of his streak- and every one of those runs was done outside. Just the logistics of that alone is mind boggling- what if you get sick, or there’s a blizzard? He even traveled to Australia and worked his flights out so that he didn’t miss a day of his streak. Best of all, he seems like the nicest, most fun person in the world. And I love that his YouTube channel is called “HellahGood.” One incredible place we ate while in Austin was Rebel Cheese, a plant-based deli and restaurant where they make all sorts of absolutely delicious vegan cheeses. We ate brunch there on our last day, and bought four different cheeses, fancy mustard, and jam to bring home with us. Today we had this vegan charcuterie board to chase away the post-vacation blues. So good… the vegan cheeses we got were brie, smoked cheddar, pepper jack, and ash chevre. What a huge treat! For you streakers, what’s the longest you’ve done? I’ve never done a run streak but I might someday-I like the thought of it! I don’t think I’ll aim for four years though. Are you worried about getting Covid even after getting the vaccine? – I’m so fatigued from worrying about everything over the past year and a half that I’ve given up- I’ve stopped being concerned.
Weekly Rundown- Texas Style
Howdy! Yes, I had to say that. We’ve been in Austin, Texas since Tuesday on a fun family vacation. That didn’t stop me from exercising, of course! I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this weekly rundown- here’s how it went! Monday Always a day off…. BUT WAIT! Not this week! I’m currently on a running build-up schedule where I run every other day, so this week it worked out that Monday was a “running” day. This was the official start of my return to running, and it looked like this: 30 minutes total of activity- one minute of running, nine minutes of walking, one minute of running, nine minutes of walking, one minute of running, nine minutes of walking. Sounds pretty tedious, doesn’t it? As you’ll see, the running increases pretty quickly. PT exercises in the evening. Tuesday Travel to Austin! Did some of my PT exercises in the evening. I now divide them up, and I did the floor exercises- clam shells, glute bridges, side lying leg lifts, all with a band. They’re sooooooooooo boring, but the good part is I can do them while doing other things, like watching TV. Wednesday Progressed to two minutes of running, eight minutes of walking, two minutes of running, eight minutes of walking, two minute of running, eight minutes of walking. No pain at all from my hip, hooray! After the run I did more PT exercises- squats (with a band around my thighs) and side planks. This was the day we did our scavenger hunt in Downtown Austin, and my son’s Apple watch reported that we walked seven miles! That was good, because I feel like we’re in some sort of contest where we have to eat all the vegan food in this entire city- and there’s a lot of it! Fun day. Thursday In the morning I did ALL my PT exercises- the floor ones, the side planks, squats, abs, and some balance exercises. Then we drove to Waco, which is about 90 minutes away, to visit Baylor University where my son will be a freshman in the fall! We got to meet his new trumpet teacher and have a tour of the music building. We did some walking around the campus, but overall it was a lower-activity day. But very exciting for us- because of Covid, the entire application/audition process was done over Zoom, so this was our first visit to my son’s future home! Friday Another run- we’re getting there! Three minutes of running, seven of walking, three running, seven walking, three running, seven walking. The place we’re staying is about a 15 minute drive from downtown Austin, so because I’m doing such a small amount of running we decided to just run in the neighborhood here- I know there’s an amazing hike-and-bike trail around the lake downtown, but I’ll run there on another visit. This was the day of our “infamous” hike. At least that’s the way we’ll remember it. We hiked to two waterfalls, and it was beautiful. And muddy. My daughter fell in the mud, and then fell into the creek while trying to wash off the mud. We had to go to Target to get her new clothes before continuing with our day. While at Target, I had a flashback to another vacation a few years ago where no one remembered to pack underwear for my son. We had to go to Target on the first day of our trip to buy underwear. What would our family do without Target? Side planks after the run and then the floor PT exercises at night. Saturday I broke my “every other day rule” and ran again, because Sunday we leave very early in the morning. This time it was four minutes of running, six of walking, etc. I’ve done this progression before, and it’s interesting how it gradually shifts from walking with running breaks, to running with walking breaks. Next time I’ll be doing 50/50 run-walk! Squats with the band after this “run.” Sunday Travel back to Florida! The good thing about leaving early is that we’ll be home by mid-day. PT exercises planned for evening! Anyone ever have a vacation with kids that went smoothly?- Things always go wrong for us, but I’ve learned to take it in stride.
Adventures in Austin!
Guess what? Texas has hills! Coming from Florida, where everything is flat as a pancake, this is actually a challenge for running. Several years ago I visited my sister near Chicago, and we took up a trip up to Door County, Wisconsin. I did my usual running mileage during that trip, and felt like I was constantly running either up or down a hill- and I returned home with a terrible case of shinsplints. It turns out the “too much, too soon, too fast” caution applies to hills as well. Luckily, I’m just returning to running after the hip injury, so yesterday did my 2 minutes run/8 minutes walk x 3 (for a total of 30 minutes) and tomorrow will progress to 3 minutes of running/7 minutes of walking, x3. I don’t think I’ll do much damage to my shins with that schedule! Yesterday we did a scavenger hunt in downtown Austin. We got clues on my phone and had to walk around the city finding different landmarks and solving puzzles. It was REALLY FUN! Well, except for the incident of the “Capital Clue” where we couldn’t figure it out, walked around and around the Capital building, got overheated and thirsty, and one of us actually cried (it wasn’t me.) But we rebounded from that debacle and went on to finish the hunt! Our team, the “Floridian Fireballs” finished 13th out of all the teams who did the hunt in the last thirty days. I have to admit I’m a little depressed about the fact that we ranked behind a team named “We Tried,” but the important thing is that it built character! And we really did learn a lot about the city. The name of the tour is Urban Adventure Quest, and they have scavenger hunts in 69 different locations. I highly recommend it! The other thing we seem to be doing is going on a scavenger hunt of every vegan place in the entire city. We’ve only been here 2 1/2 days (and spent part of one of those days in Waco, visiting Baylor University) and so far we’ve been to three vegan restaurants, a vegan taco truck (food trucks are a huge thing here), an all-vegan ice cream parlor, Voodoo Doughnuts (which has a large vegan selection), the flagship Whole Foods location, and an all-vegan grocery store. How is that all even possible??? Luckily we walked seven miles yesterday, and today we have a hike planned, otherwise we might all return home weighing 500 pounds. But my philosophy is always to live it up while on vacation! Okay, we’re off for a hike and more eating! Hope everyone has a great Friday! Do you try to eat healthy while on vacation, or throw caution to the wind and just enjoy yourself? Ever done a scavenger hunt like this? – I would even do it in my own city if they had one.